I have been asking me this question and I thought that I should bring it up here.
What´s most important for a plug the graphic ,the storyline ,the universe ,the mission or the outfits?
Personaly I think that the missions are pretty important because are there boring mission the plug goes to the trash after a while.
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This is no training this is really a reply!
(This message has been edited by alexzander13 (edited 04-25-2001).)
I would have to agree that the missions are most important, although good graphics does not come in far behind.
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You don't have to do this! Life is too precious! Good, good, slowly, everything will be OK. Now, put the trout down...
I'm gonna be shallow and say graphics, but missions and plot come a VERY close second.
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I'm going to have to go with something you didn't mention: game balance. I've seen a surprisingly large number of plugs where you can cram enough shield generators on a fighter to make it invincible - from there out the missions are easy, and you can finish the plug in record time. Then there are the ones where the starting area is riddled with hideously overpowered pirates... There are lots of ways to get game balance wrong, and all of them lead to a less interesting (and in some cases less playable) plug.
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(Insert Signature Here)
I agree that missions and balance are important. Graphics are nice, but a good plug need not have spectacular eye popping graphics. I think a very important feature in new plugs is innovation. Do things that haven't been done before. When I see somthing done in a plug, that I thought wasn't possible under the EV engine, that makes me have a lot more respect fr that plug. Frozen Heart is a notable exapmle.
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"I don't want to insist on it, Dave, but I am incapable of making an error" - HAL 9000
Correct spelling, grammar and punctuation is the most important thing in a plug-in. No matter how brilliant the graphics and game play are, most people will give up playing after the first few spelling mistakes because they yell out 'poor quality' faster than anything else.
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M A R T I N T U R N E R
I think that everything needs to go together and kinda intertwine with eachother, but here's my list in order from most important to least:
missions
graphics
soryline
outfits
universe
It's a close call for all of them, but like I said, they all need to be twined together or the plug will suck.
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Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah!!
Uniqueness and excellent execution. Meaning, it doesn't matter how well you've made the missions, graphics, universe etc. if it's been done already many times. So, get an interesting concept, and then go from it. Graphics are nice but not essential to be spectacular. Quality is important, important, important! Get beta testers! Spell-check!
Ok, that may seem like the obvious, but there does seem to be a problem sometimes with poorly-made plugins...if that makes sense. lack of sleep
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Quote
Originally posted by alexzander13:
**I have been asking me this question and I thought that I should bring t up here.
What´s most important for a plug the graphic ,the storyline ,the universe ,the mission or the outfits?
Personaly I think that the missions are pretty important because are there boring mission the plug goes to the trash after a while.
**
It's all about storyline, plot, etc. Graphics are a close second. After that, there's nothing close.
_bomb
Storyline. Followed my missions. IMHO, I think it just comes of me being a writer at heart.
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Lead plugin programmer, Corsair Development
Depends.
I think everything's important.
I love a thought through storyline though. Maybe even a story someone could publish. Such as Frozen Heart and Femme Fatale.
The storyline was awsome I have to say. I even downloaded the Novel and read it 3 or 4 times.
As for the Plug, the graphics were pretty good, the story was the best (As I've said), everything was evenly balanced even the intro music was cool.. HECK
Why do you think they've been he most best rated and successful plugs ever? Eh?
Well, as you see, a good plug is made of everything.
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(url="http://"http://www.wwiiplug.f2s.com/")WW2 Plug-in for EVO(/url)
Plug-in I'm working on with a couple of others.
(This message has been edited by Black Beard (edited 04-17-2001).)
1: Completeness. No outfits without graphics, ships without targetting images, missions that say "description goes here" or anything like that. You wouldn't believe how many plug-ins don't have this.
2: Proper spelling and grammar. If you can't do this, get somebody to spell-check your plug-in! There are few plug-ins beautiful enough to make somebody ignore atrocious grammar.
3: Originality. There are a million plug-ins out there that add a new gövt and six new systems. Make it special.
4: Good storyline and mission strings. 'Nuff said.
5: Graphics. Some people say this should be first, but I don't think so. Awful graphics will ruin a plug-in, yes. But, all other things being equal, a plug-in with fantastic graphics is only marginally better than a plug-in with so-so graphics.
6: Sounds. Hell, grab sounds from wherever you want, nobody ever seems to care, considering that all games seem to use 90% of the same sounds. Original sounds are nice, just don't say "bang" into the microphone and use it for a weapon.
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Giule out.
I'd say orginality is key, with the ammount of plugs these days that just add a couple new ships, some extra governments and a couple missions. You've got to pick something really different if you want your plug to be a success.
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Quote
Originally posted by Giule:
**6: Sounds. Hell, grab sounds from wherever you want, nobody ever seems to care, considering that all games seem to use 90% of the same sounds. Original sounds are nice, just don't say "bang" into the microphone and use it for a weapon.
**
Dude, I could see someone doing that... That's one of the funniest things I've heard in weeks... 
_bomb
In the grand classic golden age nostalgia days where there was only EV, the very greatest of plugs roamed the starscape undaunted by the myriad minions who would one day aspire to topple them from their pedestels.
I am of course refering to:
Angels of Vengeance
Eye of Orion
Clavius and Beyond
What did they have that many modern plugs don't have?
A single 'big idea'.
For Angels it was the whole Amazons v Maursians thing, all very tongue in cheek.
For Eye it was the Indiana Jones in space thing.
For Clavius it was the Neutronics research station and where that took everything.
A new splash screen
You knew you were playing a 'great' plug rather than just an add on because there was a new splash screen. The one from Angels has never been surpassed. The screen set the tone - Angels, bracing, exciting and a little kitsch, Eye, underplayed but deeply mysterious, Clavius - well, they had to ban the splash screen of Clavius, if you know what I mean.
Straight in with the action
For all three, you didn't have to spend years doing the same old EV missions before you could take the new missions. They were straight in.
A single strong storyline.
Everybody seemed to get hung up on multiple storylines when EVO came out. Original EV really had just one (although you could play it as Confed or Rebel) and these plugs really did just have one.
Lots of incidental detail
That said, a lot of the side missions added nice touches of colour
Challenges that you never met in EV
Clavius was definitely the hardest, but all three brought new challenges, which got tougher the further you went.
Stuff kept in reserve for the end
The really big enemies, and the really excellent outfits and ships were reserved for the end, so there was a real climax
New twists on the game engine
Clavius introduced a space station that was actually a ship. Angels was the first big plugin to properly use visbits, and also stealth ships. Eye used the previously unused fail mission bit, gave us the amazing comet, and then walloped us into the further reaches of the galaxy with visbits
Slightly more powerful ships to play with
We all got tired of shuttles. Clavius gave us the Neutronics Kestrel, Eye gave us all kinds of upgrades, and Angels gave us a whole host of new stuff to play with. These weren't 'super ships' at the start of the game, but they were enough extra powerful to make us want to try them all
New cultures and governments
Each of them gave us new friends and new enemies, with their own nicely described and distinct cultures. Not just another bunch of pirates or renegades with slightly different agendas.
Bonus 11) Quality
They all worked, from beginning to end, and didn't let you down: well spelt, well punctuated. A joy.
But now back to the miserable present, where the gold of glory has gone out of the world. Where now the horse and the rider? As sometimes throughout middle earth walls piled by the hands of giants...
... sorry, a little carried away there.
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M A R T I N T U R N E R
Those are some good points there.
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2nd generation idiot and proud of it.
hehe, fraction of a second before you.
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2nd generation idiot and proud of it.
I've posted a new section on the FAQ which picks up on this from this discussion and from earlier discussions.
(url="http://"http://www.AmbrosiaSW.com/cgi-bin/ubb/forumdisplay.cgi?action=topics&forum;=EV+Plug-in+Developer+FAQs&number;=29&DaysPrune;=#cat5")http://www.AmbrosiaS...DaysPrune=#cat5(/url)
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M A R T I N T U R N E R
