Comments will from now on be posted directly on your entry (we'll be moving the leftover comments here shortly if they haven't been addressed yet).

EDIT: Make your submissions in the Contest section of the forums! :)

Hi there,

I'm wondering if my entry has been deleted or just lost?

(I still can see it in my profile)

Quest Creation Contest, Part Deux

The first question we asked you to answer in order to narrow down the scope of the contest was: what type of quest do you want to create? The vote was clear, all you space explorers were interested in creating a Solo quest!

Because a solo quest involves a little less interaction and should present fewer implementation challenges than co-op, we've decided to give you more leeway, with a quest comprising up to three chapters. What's a chapter? A chapter is basically a step, it has objectives that you need to accomplish, sometimes gives you choices. Let's look at an example:

[table="width:800,align:center"]

Title

The Price of Freedom

Description

"In the midst of a small asteroid belt, your scouts have discovered a tiny, abandoned space station. You find no clue as to the identity of its creators, but as your ships approach, you discover that the station is repeatedly broadcasting a single, cryptic, message.

The message is a crude holographic star chart, indicating a distant point in the galaxy. The point is labelled "Free Rocks Here."

Free rocks here?"

Objective01

Reveal the indicated Node.

Outcome

You've reached the location marked on the map. As promised, there are free rocks available. Hooray?

Gain 10 Titanium

Title

The Price of Freedom: Part 2

Description

"While loading up on free rocks, your crew decrypted another signal--this time originating from a nearby barren planet. Take Rocks And Go Away, it reads.

Something tells you not to stick your nose where it doesn't belong, but your scanners are picking up strange signs of activity on the planet. Perhaps you owe it to your crew to find out who these mysterious rock philantropists are."

Objective02

Send an Expedition to the indicated Curiosity on [targetplanet]… if you think it right.

Outcome

Searching the planet has proved rewarding: you find a small cache of Dust, but the barren landscape appears to hold nothing else of interest.

Gain 200 Dust

Title

The Price of Freedom: Part 3

Description

"As your expedition party prepares to leave, your camp is finally approached--by a solitary, eight-foot-tall Plume. As your men and women gather around, the friendly Plume reveals that the planet is home to a vast subterranean population of Plumes, only a decade or two into spaceflight. He explains the largest ecological issue facing their generation: they believe that the growing population of Plumes is making the planet too heavy, causing it to inch closer to the sun. Plume climate-change activists are urging for increased offloading of the planet's heaviest rocks.

Before he can finish, a loud rumbling heralds the arrival of more Plumes--and these don't seem nearly as friendly.

"Get off... my… PLANET!" bellows the leader. He hefts a large boulder and hurls it at you, scattering your crew."

Objective03

Survive the battle… if you can!

Outcome

Your forces have slain a few of the most aggressive Plumes and driven off the rest, but your friendly Plume seems to have slipped away in the confusion. You depart the planet in a pensive mood, your ship laden with an extremely heavy "metal thing" that your friendly Plume left you as a parting gift.

Gain 150 Hyperium

[/table]

This is a fairly straightforward type of quest, with linear narration. You can choose other types of scenarios, up to a limit of 2 choices per chapter in 2 chapters.

The event above follows the narrative structure of the picture on the left.

YOUR SUBMISSION MUST HAVE

• A name (50 characters max). The name will be the same from one chapter of the quest to the other, like Event X, Event X Part 2, etc.
• A description (500 characters max).
• Up to three chapters, comprised of only one step (objective) each
• An objective, or a choice between two objectives to accomplish per chapter. The objective is a descriptive text ("Explore planet X") (150 characters max per objective). You have up to a limit of 2 choices per chapter in 2 chapters.
• A description for the outcome of each objective, with a target and duration if applicable (instant, or X turns; on hero, system, planet, fleet, empire, etc.), eg: +X approval on System for 10 turns (250 characters max)
• Please provide a graphical representation of your event showing its narrative structure. Feel free to inspire yourself from the two structures shared above. It doesn't need to be pretty, we just want to make sure we don't misunderstand what's going on. :) 

GUIDELINES & ADVICE

• You are limited to one submission. Please also note that we will only accept submissions posted in English.
• If you want to modify your submission, please edit your post (don't repost your submission)
• This quest can have several possible outcomes. If you offer several outcomes, make sure there isn't an obvious "worse" choice!
• KEEP THE CHAPTERS AS SIMPLE AS POSSIBLE! If your quest is convoluted because you're trying to fit in an 8 chapters quest in 3 chapters, it won't work.
• It's a solo quest. Outcomes should only involve the recipient of the quest (no "eliminate X population on random enemy system").
• Outcomes should be limited to one per step of the quest. Find what your event is about and make it count.
• You cannot participate if you have already won a previous Endless Space 2 creation contest. The list of winners so far is o0ber and Epikuros. Feel free to give feedback on one another's events! 

DEADLINE

Submit your ideas before June 22nd. We’ll be closing the thread at midday (CEST). We will then put all submissions that meet the required criteria to a multi-entry vote (where you can support several ideas), from which the three most popular will be selected for the G2G vote.

PRIZE

The lucky winner will receive the following:

• Your name in the game credits.
• An Endless Space 2 t-shirt that will be the envy of your friends.
• Two copies of the game when it comes to Early Access, for you and a friend! 

CLICK HERE TO MAKE YOUR SUBMISSION

Please note that Amplitude reserves the right to modify the proposals and will work with the winners to finalize the design and adapt it to development constraints. Modifications might affect descriptions, scope or outcomes. 

Good luck to everyone!

EDIT : Answering questions on the contest:

HappyHead wrote:
Can there be an element of chance in one of the chapters?
Like, say there's a coin toss in the very first chapter and the result leads down one of two different paths.

Yes, you can have an element of chance. :)

Lynx_gnt wrote:
So, objectives are not supposed to be only "do something / sometime / somewhere / somehow", but player can just choose between two options? (like a Dilemma)

There can be options, but these options lead to something that the player has to accomplish. In this case, for instance, the objective to accomplish is paying something, which could lead to having to gather said resources, etc. In general if there's an element in your quest you're not sure about, just put the question at the end of your message and we'll try to address it ASAP. :)

quaedam wrote:
Hey guys ;D
Some clarifications on differences between Quests and Events.
As you know, Quests have objectives, which means that the player needs to do something to complete the quest, contrarily to Events, where the player can only suffer the effects.

About Effects and Rewards: this is probably the most confusing part.
Events, indeed, have effects: increase or decrease FIDSI production, spawn an enemy fleet, immobilize a fleet, etc.

Quests however, have rewards:
Because the player completed an objective, they receive something (interesting and useful preferably :D )
This something has no “duration” (contrary to the effects :) and the player is able to decide where and when they want to use this reward.

Some examples:
•Technology
•Strategic Resources
•Luxury Resources
•Ship modules (support/defense/attack)
•Star System Improvements/ Buildings or Wonders
•Armies
•Hero Skills (very rare)
•Hero Modules
•Dust
•Influence points
•Diplomatic relations increase