Fan Mission: Alberic's Curse by b1k3rdude (Updated: 01/11/2014)

[Bikerdude]

heh, thanks Springs ;-)

[7upMan]

BD, right at startup I have this fountain of little black particles (see red square). What do you make of this? Since no one has mentioned it, I'm wondering if something is wrong with my install.

[AluminumHaste]

BD, right at startup I have this fountain of little black particles (see red square). What do you make of this? Since no one has mentioned it, I'm wondering if something is wrong with my install.

 

Do they move?

[Diego]

BD, right at startup I have this fountain of little black particles (see red square). What do you make of this? Since no one has mentioned it, I'm wondering if something is wrong with my install.

 

I did see that but forgot to mention. I'm guessing he just forgot to remove it before packaging

[AluminumHaste]

I see that it's a particle emitter, and a func_static.

 

Entities #2409 and #2405

func_emitter_29 and func_static _2080

[Bikerdude]

Hmm that only thing what would cause that is if the particle file is missing from the particles folder.

[7upMan]

Yes, it's moving like a fountain. So this is just an oversight and can totally be ignored?

[Bikerdude]

Its a custome particle I created so when you see black squares it means the file is missing, no one else reported this (at least I don't think they did) as it is, just ignore it, its very minor.

[lost_soul]

Almost done, just can't find the

scepter

[Bikerdude]

Go to the back of the cloister on the ground floor, look for a broken window...

[lost_soul]

This was another great mission.

I like the sounds in the environment. It used a similar ambiance as Flakebridge, but with lots of startling noises! Each area sounds different, whether it be the basement, the main hall, or outside. As I said way earlier, the visuals are also great. I voted 5 stars here. Lots of detail everywhere, be it spider webs, statues, etc. Only bug I found was a couple of candles that weighed as much as a human being; I could pick them up and barely move them. My favorite part of the mission was the bell tower.

 

 

A suggestion to Bikerdude and any other mappers up to the challenge.

It would be interesting to see a daytime version of this mission with human opponents. Given the amount of windows and both an outdoor and indoor section, it could result in good gameplay. Maybe if Bikerdude is willing, a newbie mapper could build a "restored" version of the FM where Builders have re-populated the cathedral and restored it to former use.

 

Edited August 6, 2011 by lost_soul

[Bikerdude]

A suggestion to Bikerdude and any other mappers up to the challenge.

As Ive mentioned before, after I release a mission people are free to use the contents there in, all I ask is myself and Flanders to be credited etc.

[ECHELON]

First, very nice mission.

 

Second, i've done all ecxept find the doll. Even with the hint of page 2 i can't find it.

A bigger hint?

[Bikerdude]

First, very nice mission.

Second, i've done all ecxept find the doll. Even with the hint of page 2 i can't find it.

 

First - thanks :-)

Second - look for an out-house.

[pepelevamp]

I signed up to the forum just so I could say this map was great fun. Took me forever to figure out where to drop the skull. It took me two evenings, four coffees and two pairs of underpants to get through this.

[Bikerdude]

hehehe, excellent.

[Tels]

Its actually a phantom torch inside the wall, that I couldn't find it in Darkradiant.

 

I saw the same two torches, I think it will be possible to edit them out with a text editor - this will improve performance, because they light up a lot of geometry from inside.

 

Other errors (which I am not sure anyone posted):

 

* on the cemetry, the two monuments near the climbable wall float both 50cm of the ground

* the two crates in the room with the hole in the floor are stacked inside each other, if you touch one, the lower one falls through the solid floor, blocking the room below

* there is a revenant (zombie?) trying to step over a fallen statue in a room with books, and he is stuck there, never making it over it

* also saw the black squares (missing particle)

 

 

As for the rest of the mission, it is VERY well executed! The details are amazing, there are no misaligned textures, the objects are well placed, including the grass in the cracks etc.

 

The only complains I'd have about the gameplay:

 

* I did miss the instructions given to the player (because the first action was to pick up the book near the campfire and read it), and I never suspected I had something else already in my inventory. It would have been better to make this important readable something the player picks up near the start, to draw attention to it. (Or include the info in the briefing) So for instance I wondered all the time if I need

to sneak around the spiders, or only the big ones, or what "become a ghost like they are" means (can I killl zombies? or spiders?) Likewise, I did found the armory after I was nearly done with the mission, which no only made it pointless, but I also wondered "can I even use the weapons?". I discovered that the small spiders are harmless during the last minute of the mission. Oops

 

 

* the layout of the interior is very very confusing (because everything looks alike). Not only are important rooms missing (there are no toilets, no outhouse even, no toolshed, no rooms to store anything) but it seems 80% of the interiour is corridors and hallways. Having even a crude map would have helped tremendously here. Not only did I find the

armory

by accident, after I got the key to it I couldn't find it again even after running what seemed 3 times through every door! And after I was done, I was missing loot, so the mission became a loot-hunt (which I don't really like). And during that loothunt (which I in the end used noclip because 20 minutes sneaking through the same hallways was boring) I accidentily discovered the

canteen + kitchen, and some sort of burial room.

So the layout was so confusing that I never saw them during the hours before! This makes me wonder how many builders starved because they couldn't find the damn canteen in the morning

 

So in a nutshell, I was quite a bit lost during most of the mission, and the interiours could have used a bit more decorating with rubbish and things left over from the ransacking.

 

Don't get me wrong, the "all looks the same and I am lost" feeling is good during the start of the mission, but later there need to be some hints for the player that he is in fact in the second floor, and not in the hallway in the lower floor, because both look 100% alike That's why I gave the gameplay only a 3 - it was 5 during the start of the mission, and became more like a 2..3 at the end. Which is a shame!

[Bikerdude]

when I update the mission I will go through this thread fixing all the bugs etc. :-)

[Robert]

Loved it! One of the best TDM missions I've played so far! Visually extremely pleasing!

 

 

 

I didn't know there was a note in my inventory until I finished the mission and read in this thread. That was quiet unfortunate, because I was a bit confused as to what the background story here is. Why am I here? Why do I want to get a book and a scepter? Maybe I would have found it if it wasn't for this book next to the fire, that appeared to be my mission briefing ;-) ...

 

I got in through the tunnel that one guy made and explored the crypt first. The crypt looks very good. I especially liked the spiderwebs everywhere and the dust in the air. One or two of the zombies should have been awake though to make it a litte more challenging. I found his skull and tried to bless it in the pond directly opposite of his tomb. I never understood this thing with the differently coloured pools. I just threw his skull in every pool I could find until one of them worked!

 

Having left the crypt I slowly made my way upstairs. I like those exploration type missions and I didn't really get lost. Of course pass throught the same rooms more than once while trying to find your way, but I think thats ok. I also liked the many different ways to navigate through the cathedral! The book was very easy to find but I had some trouble getting into the room with the scepter. (I missed the room with the key while I was up there for the first time.) The "difficulty" of the exploration was exactly right for me as I did find everything I needed without it being obvious or me having to look for help on the forum. Perfect!

 

I did not like the autoclosing doors. I know it's for performance reasons, but it makes me think "Oh ... the door is autoclosing for performance reasons!" every time I see it, which kind of kills the immersion. (People with low-end systems should just close the doors by themselves ...) The last pages of the golden book also killed the immersion .... though they were a litte funny ...

 

I didn't find the doll though. I suspected that it's probably somewhere on the outside, but when I finished the mission, I was too lazy to look for it. It didn't make any sense to me to look for a pagan girl's doll anyway! ...

 

Bugs:

- Revenant gets stuck on the statue on the floor in the room close to the white pool.

- Extremely heavy candleholders!

- Books on the shelf in the hidden room (the one opened by the book lever) looked completely black to me.

 

 

 

Keep up the good work bikerdude!

[Bikerdude]

Glad you licked it :-) props go to Flanders who was the keen mind behind the story :-)

[zergrush]

I got one small suggestion for the update biker. Add a simple wind sound outside. I recall some people mentioning the mission didn't feel very autumn-y because of the clear sky and the crickets singing, which are more akin to a warm summer night. I believe a simple wind sound would help boost the mood.

[Bikerdude]

will do.

[lost_soul]

Here's a video playthrough of this with commentary (not by me). Bikerdude should enjoy watching this while eating dinner or something. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbNfVTmb_Bc

Edited February 14, 2012 by lost_soul

[Bikerdude]

Here's a video playthrough of this with commentary (not by me). Bikerdude should enjoy watching this while eating dinner or something.

LOL you cracked me up when you froze in the graveyard and verbally said "im not here" - as if that was even going to help you in the slightest..heheheh.. But ithe various issues you had and not knowing where to go etc will be fixed when I get around to updating it..

 

RotfL....just watched your other vids of my mission - you so need to improve your thief skills....

[lost_soul]

Like I said, it wasn't me. But I guarantee you will laugh in part 3 at time index 3:20. I sure did! You got em. You got em good.

Edited February 14, 2012 by lost_soul