Forum event introduction: The Moon. Is it really made of cheese? Ask a hundred mice and you’ll get a hundred different answers. The time has come for a definite answer to this riddle that has kept countless mice awake at night, staring at the Moon and wondering. We simply have to examine the matter hands-on. We are going to land on the Moon! We’re going to build a whole spacecraft and then launch it into space! But such a colossal task needs everyone to work hard and of course, to work together. Don’t worry, brave mice, you’ll have the chance to write your name in history. So, onwards! To the Moon! And back hopefully…

Cybermouse’s text:

Introduction: Welcome brave pioneer. Well then, you are going to the Moon? To check if it’s made of? A noble quest, but you’ll need a spacecraft first. And I’ll need your help, I have only 4 arms after all… Alright, I’ll give you precise instructions to craft all the necessary parts, just bring the right materials to the 3D Printer and it will do its magic. Then go and place the parts where they belong. Trust me, we’ll have you off this planet in no time!

Recipes: To craft a (insert part here), you are going to need (insert elements here).

Launch: I think that was the final part. Congratulations, you proved yourself worthy of the honor they bestowed upon you. Now, you’d better get ready, the countdown will start soon… Send me a postcard when you arrive, will you? Hehe.

Element bin: Choose the amount of (insert element here) that you need, then press OK.

3D Printer:

Success message: You have successfully crafted (insert part here).

Failure message: Error! Something went wrong with your calculations… Please try again.

Major Tom’s text:

First interaction: Greetings. Our meeting is a surprise for both of us, believe me. I am Major Tom, the sole survivor of a top secret expedition, sent to set up a base on the Moon. Two things you should know: First, the Moon is made of cheese. But it’s poisonous. Second, the Moon is inhabited. The locals, the Moonies, live on the cheese and are hostile. They attacked us, I managed to survive, but they stole our navigation system. And yours was damaged during your landing, correct? We are both stuck here then. I need to guard the base, but you must retrieve the navigation system, so we can return home. Our fate is in your hands.

Second interaction: You made it! You brought back the navigation system! This was a heroic feat, brave astromouse. You saved both our lives today. And now we can go back and tell everyone the truth about the Moon. Hop on and strap yourself!

Cybermouse’s final speech: Major Tom… I haven’t seen you for ages. I am glad you saved the life of this young astromouse. Oh! They saved yours? Impressive! That expedition you were part of, I guess it was so secret that even I didn’t know of it. Now, what are all these wild tales I’m hearing, about Moonies and poisonous cheese…

A rough sketch of the event map. (It’s a large map, you’ll have to zoom in for details):



Here you can read the steps to complete the event:

1. The players will spawn next to the Cybermouse NPC and clicking on him will give them instructions about the gameplay of the event as well as the background story. The players have to perform a series of tasks to complete the event. Firstly, you will have to click on Cybermouse to receive a recipe for a part of the spacecraft. The recipes/parts should be about ten, requiring various numbers of elements and quantities of them.
Spacecraft parts:
Main engines
Fuel tank
Rocket boosters
Cargo bay
Main deck
Crew cabin
Electrical power system
Life support system
Navigation system
Telecommunications system

2. The next step for the player is the elements storage, where they will interact with the right element bins to collect the right amount of each element, according to their current recipe. Upon clicking on an element bin, a popup window will appear where they will be able to increase/decrease the quantity with the usage of arrows, as well as an ok button for when the player is done with this particular element bin. There could be some visual indicators on screen for the player to know what quantities and of which elements they are carrying. The elements should be about ten, again.
Elements:
Carbon
Aluminium
Gold
Platinum
Nitrogen
Titanium
Silicon
Oxygen
Hydrogen
Nitrogen

3. Once the players have gathered all the necessary ingredients for the current recipe, they will have to use the 3D Printer, by clicking on it. If the ingredients and their quantities were successful, there will be an appropriate chat message and the player will be notified they are carrying a new part for the spacecraft, either through a chat or an on-screen indicator. If the recipe failed, there will be a different message shown in the chat window and the player will have to return to step 2, to the element bins.

4. The players will now need to place the part they are carrying at the correct assembly spot. They will climb up the scaffolding and click on the spot, which should be visually indicated, or press space/down arrow when standing at it, to finish this task. There will be 3 assembly spots, used in succession. The completed parts of the spacecraft would appear on the map gradually, as layers. Possibly, the higher parts of the scaffolding could appear gradually also. The players should then return to Cybermouse and receive a new recipe for a new spacecraft part.

5. After placing the final part of the spacecraft, the player has to talk once more to Cybermouse. Who will initiate the launching process, to send the spacecraft to the Moon. There can be a brief countdown “cutscene” of sorts and then, the player will be teleported to the previously hidden part of the map, representing the Moon surface. This is the transition from the first part to the second part of the event and therefore, if there are two rewards, the players would receive the first one at this point.

6. The player will spawn next to the Major Tom NPC and clicking on him will provide the player with instructions and further info to progress the story. The players will have to fight their way through the Moonies to retrieve a spacecraft part, necessary for the trip back to Earth, the previous part of the map, where the space center is.

7. After consulting with Major Tom, the player will set out for the Moonies’ pyramid on the other side of the map, past the crater. Here, the Moonies will be milling around, much like the skeletons and ghosts of the Halloween event. The player has to reach the top of the pyramid, past the Moonies. Attacking them and killing them will work in a similar way, by pressing space. They can also hurt the players by touching them though. There can be a system similar to the one in The Unknown event, with the player having 3 “lives”, shown as hearts on the screen. Each time a Moonie touched the player, they would lose one life. Losing all three of them would result in the player’s character “dying” and failing to complete the second part of the event. The player would have to replay the event map and talk again to Cybermouse, teleport to the Moon and so on. An alternative idea is, when a player dies, to respawn next to Major Tom. It will be possible for a player to time their jumps from one level of the pyramid to another so they can completely avoid any interaction with the Moonies, who will each roam their level but never come off it.

8. The missing part that Major Tom asked the player to retrieve is in a chest inside a pit at the top of the pyramid. The player will open the chest and get the part by pressing space, then climb back on top of the pyramid and return to Major Tom, while avoiding/fighting any remaining Moonies. If the player has not interacted with Major Tom before though, the chest would be empty. Once the player clicked on Major Tom again, they would return the missing part and they would teleport back to the initial part of the map. Clicking on Cybermouse would conclude the event’s story and give the player the second reward.

The map should have layers to represent the various stages of the spacecraft assembly, but that’s not necessary. Perhaps the scaffolding platforms can be hidden behind a layer and shown only when the player’s character is inside the structure itself. The platforms attached to the spacecraft should end to an ice wall, to prevent players from jumping on the ground to save time. They’d have to climb back down through the scaffolding, but this can be adjusted as necessary. The pit where the chest is located should also be hidden behind a layer that depicts the stairs of the pyramid and it would be revealed when the player stands over it.

There can be changes in the gameplay to adjust the difficulty of the event. For example, the number and complexity of the spacecraft part recipes can be changed. I already have a list of 10 parts and 10 elements, but it can be expanded or shrunk as necessary. The access to the elements can become more challenging, with more arcade elements, jumps etc. The same goes for the access to the spacecraft itself and the scaffolding. As for the second part of the event, the interaction with the Moonies can become easier more difficult, accordingly. The number of Moonies per pyramid layer, or the number of layers themselves, can also change, just as their movement speed etc. A riddle could also be added at the chest, before the player can retrieve the missing part. Extra arcade challenges could be implemented in the crater area of the map, if deemed necessary. Another idea to add to the event’s difficulty, is to have meteorites falling on the surface of the moon, on the crater area.

Cybermouse (Dressroom)


Major Tom (Dressroom)


Moonie (Dressroom)

I believe there should be an orb and a title, as rewards. The title can be given when completing the first stage and the orb after the second part is completed. The title can be Astromouse or another space related noun or adjective. The orb can be a cheese moon, it can also have a rocket flying around it:

One of the items that can easily be made into a mouse accessory is a space mission patch, the ones that show a person was part of a particular mission in space. Another item can be a cheese moon amulet. Some of those could even be tail items. I’ve made a few examples for both slots: