Building the Mission

Creating the contents of the mission is a nuanced process. There are many different elements that can be included in a mission, and many different ways to use them.

The Basics

Every mission should contain a clear direction for the players to move in. It does not need to be exhaustive, but the players need to be able to easily understand the premise of the mission, and what they need to do to complete it.

Examples include:

  • Go to X and search for intel about Y.
  • Go to X and destroy Y.
  • Search the area for X and bring it back to base.
  • Someone went missing around X, go find them.

The Goal of Mission Making

The goal of mission making is to create a fun and engaging experience for the players.

A mission should be challenging, engaging, and rewarding. It should never be intentionally frustrating, tedious, or punishing.

The mission should be difficult enough that the players need to work together to complete it, but not so difficult that they are unable to complete it. Mission failures should be the result of the players' actions, not the mission maker's.

Avoiding Rails

A mission should not be a linear experience. The players should be able to choose how they want to approach the mission, and the mission should be able to adapt to their choices. Triggers should be used to react to the players' actions, not to force the players to do something.

Triggers should almost never be chained together, the conditions should be set up with the minimal amount of "gatekeeping" possible.

If you find yourself using a lot of triggers to force the players to do something, you should consider reworking the mission to allow the players to make their own choices.

Dynamic AI modules are preferred over predefined routes and waypoints. They allow the AI to react to the players' actions, and can be used to create a more dynamic experience. Players should not be able to predict where the AI will be, or what they will do. Players shouldn't feel like they have "missed out" on something because they didn't do it the "right" way, as there is no "right" way to do complete a mission.