Downtown quests

[Jonas]

It's a little late, so I'm not making a lot of decisions right now, plus some more discussion might be in order, but here are some of my immediate thoughts:

1. Phasmatis forcing you to do some stuff Downtown seems fubar, he wants Trestkon to visit Kashue and start helping PDX ASAP.
2. I don't think I really like the idea about an insult contest. It's funny, but it's a little out there (okay, the whole mod is, but I think this may be even further out there ).
3. Personally, I think Revenge of the Llamas and Apartment Adventure would be the quests to use. The Downtown sector has no sewers, I haven't the faintest idea where you picked up that notion, Shane.
4. A gatekeeper could work, but I prefer making the ticket REALLY ridiculously expensive and changing it to a one-month pass instead of a day pass. Something like 1000 credits would make sure the player has to explore most of the map and handle all of the missions.
5. Random idea: We shouldn't rule out the option of just asking people for money. A few lines of conversation could enable the player to convince somebody to loan him money, and this might have some small neat consequence in mission 22, where he can choose to pay back the loan or not. jimmycracker comes to mind, right now he's just a random NPC with some barks, we could use him for anything.

And your questions:

Why isn?t Deus Diablo invincible when we meet him? Is the player told why?

It is made clear that Deus Diablo is not invulnerable anymore because he is no longer within the atmosphere of Forumplanet (he is on the space station). In space, his moderator protection does not apply, this is the reason Trestkon needs to get up there and save him, because PDX believes WorldCorp already sent Kylie up to kill him while he is vulnerable. If you work for WC, Scara informs you that you must kill DD while he is on the space station, because if he returns to the surface, it will no longer be possible. In other words, yes

What happens if the player doesn?t bring the Firestaff along with him?

Hm... I wonder this myself. I distinctly remember taking this into account, but I don't recall what I decided or whether I implemented it. I gotta look into that. Off the top of my head, I'd say the staff can grant a user access to leave the atmosphere, and this is done when you bring the staff back to Kashue / Scara. After that, it won't matter if you throw the staff away.

Thanks a lot for all your great ideas guys, hopefully we'll definitively figure something out tomorrow

[Trestkon]

Phasmatis forcing you to do some stuff Downtown seems fubar, he wants Trestkon to visit Kashue and start helping PDX ASAP.

I partially agree. It does seem a little odd, but Trestkon *has* been gone a long time. However, if they called you back, they likely think you're already capable of handling the situation.

I don't think I really like the idea about an insult contest. It's funny, but it's a little out there (okay, the whole mod is, but I think this may be even further out there ).

Agreed. Also, what would determine the points value of each insult?

Revenge of the Llamas

I think this one is an excellent idea and should certainly be done.

Apartment Adventure

Also an excellent idea. In my mind, the apartment level has always felt under used. Perhaps locating the hidden room would indeed be a good idea. This would give players the first Easter Egg basically for free, but it might be nice to bring them to the players attention so they know what to look for, anyway. Or, if we don't like that, they Easter Egg room could just have a secret entrance near right near your objective in the aprtment.

The Downtown sector has no sewers, I haven't the faintest idea where you picked up that notion, Shane.

True, but I think the idea of a rescue mission is excellent. Someone could always have had an accident in one of the many buildings around the area.

A gatekeeper could work, but I prefer making the ticket REALLY ridiculously expensive and changing it to a one-month pass instead of a day pass. Something like 1000 credits would make sure the player has to explore most of the map and handle all of the missions.

I agree, but they should still have *some* choice as to which missions they actually do. So perhaps they only have to complete 75% of the available missions.

Random idea: We shouldn't rule out the option of just asking people for money. A few lines of conversation could enable the player to convince somebody to loan him money, and this might have some small neat consequence in mission 22, where he can choose to pay back the loan or not. jimmycracker comes to mind, right now he's just a random NPC with some barks, we could use him for anything.

I think that's a good idea, as long as it only provides a portion of the money you need.

[Moonbo]

I second Trestkon on this one, I like the idea of only having to do 3 of 4 possible quests, with the 4th just being some extra money in the bank if they do it.

It looks like the insult contest is a no-go , Just so everyone knows what the idea was, I was thinking something along the lines of the "insult sword fighting" from the Monkey Island adventure game (where the person would insult you and you had 3 or so choices with one of them being the proper "retort" that would win the round). But, no need to beat a dead horse I suppose . And bumming for change certainly would be easier to implement .

-Gelo

[Jonas]

Okay...

Price for a month pass: 1000 credits.

Day passes are unavailable, the only ATM in the sector has been vandalized. Player begins game with 0 credits.

Cash available:
Safe in Capt. Apollo's = 350 credits
Cash register in parking diner = 90 credits
Safe in Sol's Bar: 125 credits

In total = 565 credits

Missions available:
1) Kill SymGeosis for Kunio = 275 credits
2) Retrieve unconscious Llama from goats for Abom = 380 credits
3) Fetch jimmycracker's painting from apartment building basement = 350 credits
4) Neutralize a gang of thugs for a firewall agent = 500 credits

Missions 2, 3, and 4 can all be accomplished legally and will produce exactly 1230 credits.

Mission details:

1) It's in the design doc

2) The Llama is a temple guard who is being held in the condemned apartment across from Rent 'n' Repent by a small group of Goats. He was being interrogated by a Goat Templar until he dropped out of consciousness just prior to Trestkon's arrival. Mission is completed by bringing his body back to Abom. All Goats can be knocked out.

3) jimmycracker was recently evicted from his apartment because he played loud music. Unfortunately, he forgot to clean out his basement storage room. All he wants back is a valuable painting he inherited, but the guards are trigger-happy lunatics as we all know, and will shoot him on sight as a trespasser. There is one patrolling rent-a-cop in the basement, he can be killed, knocked out, or avoided at your leisure. The painting is in a poster tube (stroke of brilliance: already modelled).

4) The firewall agent in charge of Downtown lockdown enforcement has been instructed by Phasmatis to give Trestkon a chance to clean out a gang of n00bs who are causing a ruckus in the dark alleys. Their leader is known to hang out in the theme restaurant Helga's Kraut Kastle. This mission can be solved by convincing the leader to quiet down his peepz, yo. It can also be solved by killing the leader and telling his gang, scaring them out. Or finally, you can just kill the whole gang and report back, in which case Phasmatis will castigate you, but you'll get the money. Stroke of brilliance: By Gelo's suggestion, the bodies of the gang will be found in mission 22, surrounded by firewalls.

[that guy]

how are you going to explain the fact that PDX is completely unwilling to finance your efforts?

[Jonas]

Should be easy enough: The ATM in Downtown is busted, so Phas can't withdraw any of his own money for you, and KK can't transfer some to your account. You'll get compensated once you save SD.

[that guy]

why doesn't he have enough money for subway ticket on him?

also why is phas just hanging around in his appartment?

[Jonas]

He doesn't have enough money because it's 1000 credits! You don't just have that lying around. Presumably, he gets free transportation as a moderator, and he probably assumed he could just withdraw money with an ATM if he'd need it.

As for his hanging around in his apartment... I'm sure he has a good reason, don't question the moderator.

[that guy]

I'm sure there could be plenty of administrative tasks he could be doing at home or whatever.

Am I to understand that there are no working atms in the downtown sector?

[Jonas]

Indeed. I will place one ATM at the parking diner, but it will be sparking and unusable. When the player leaves Downtown, it will be replaced by a usable one.