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What makes a good plug-in a good plug-in to you.
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To me, one that has decent grammar, an engaging, open ended storyline, and no "cheaty" stuff to ruin it.
Of course, TCs are always fun, but I enjoyed the James Bond plugin.
------------------ Mantaray's Law: If a topic is born on #ev3, it will start stupidly and end in chaos.
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Originally posted by Mantaray: **To me, one that has decent grammar, an engaging, open ended storyline, and no "cheaty" stuff to ruin it.
**
"James Fond" I believe it was called.
A good plugin starts with one thing: A good idea. To make it truly great, you need to execute your good idea flawlessly. No bugs, no holes, etc... It needs Body as well as soul. By this I mean, a major storyline is of course, necessary. Just don't forget the rest of the universe. Make sure you've got plenty of side-quests and little minor missions. They add alot of atmosphere to the game. Although not a requirement, at least a decent expansion of the EV universe (Ships, Systems, Planets, etc...) helps alot.
Things that tend to kill a plugin:
Crappy graphics. No matter how well thought out your storylines are, many people will take one look at your messy graphics and throw your plug away faster than a used tissue.
Bugs. As stated before, bugs in a plug can kill it. There's nothing more disappointing than playing half an hour through a mission string only to figure out that a bug in one of the final missions is going to prevent you from obtaining total victory (Think early versions of Final Battle).
Playability. In general, the harder your plugin is, the better. Just don't make it impossible and don't force the player to spend hours and hours on a single mission. EVGE is generally a good example. It's difficult at times, but never impossible. Pale is another great balance of difficulty and time consumption. Easier plugins tend to leave people disappointed and unwilling to recommend it to other people. As we all know, it tends to recomendations on the board that cause new people to select certain plugins over others.
Attention to Detail. If your plug has nothing to do with the EV universe (TC), get rid of the EV title screen. Make or find a new transition scene. Get as much of the old game out as you can.
There are a few little tricks that people have been figuring out for years. If you create a new universe that's significantly smaller than the EV universe, you may want to consider creating a replacement EV data file. Arena is the best example of this type of plugin development that I can think of. Little personal touches can also make a plugin more interesting. Some people have rearranged the dlog resources to add a bit of flair to the shipyard and outfitter. I've seen people modify little things like the haiku page. They've changed the credits around. They've swapped out new graphics for the entire main menu. I've seen references to just about every sci-fi movie or TV show ever made, and then some. Just go with what you think works.
I could go on and on but I've got to get to work.
-AJ
------------------ 0-60 3.0s...1320ft/9.2s...Head Gasket Bursts...