Fan Mission 48: A Score to Settle, by Springheel (2011/07/01)

[Springheel 4345]

Cool, I was hoping to see one...it's very exciting to see your mission played through someone else's eyes and see what they tried. I too wish I could understand the commentary though.

 

I love the part where he accidently whacks Gridley clear out of his chair with a candlestick.

[lost_soul 127]

Watching that part again, that was pretty funny. "so be prepared for anything... Yieeeeeoh"

[SiyahParsomen 31]

I run the map again to find some hidden place&ammo like Saint Lucia because there are very nice spots in the city streets. But I found nothing! Is there any places like that?

[Springheel 4345]

Not really, no. That wasn't really something I thought much about. It's not primarily a loot map.

[SiyahParsomen 31]

I wish it was. Still it's a great mission.

[Springheel 4345]

Thanks.

[SiyahParsomen 31]

Recorded a gameplay video. Sometimes I'm sick of AI's sharpness, and this is one of them. There's a short killing spree in the begining, but rest is smooth.

 

It doesn't include heavy spoiler.

 

http://vimeo.com/34509020

[Bikerdude 3736]

heheh, note to self - put lots of player-clip to stop naughty Taffer's going places they shouldn't...

[Springheel 4345]

Recorded a gameplay video. Sometimes I'm sick of AI's sharpness, and this is one of them.

 

That's some pretty impressive climbing!

 

I hope you were playing on easy though, because that guard slaughter at the beginning made them look pretty pathetic.

[SiyahParsomen 31]

heheh, note to self - put lots of player-clip to stop naughty Taffer's going places they shouldn't...

 

Actually, this is the freedom I want. Bad part is to get stuck in between tall walls hehe.

 

That's some pretty impressive climbing!

 

I hope you were playing on easy though, because that guard slaughter at the beginning made them look pretty pathetic.

 

Thanks. There are other parkours as well.

 

Yeah, it was on easy. Even though, they hear better than usual.

[Baddcog 114]

Finally got around to playing this map.

 

Nice job Spring. For awhile i wasn't even paying too much attention to the objectives, just fun running around the city. Had a lot of nice touches, intro, extro, load candle...

 

 

 

When I got into the thieves den I had a bit of trouble.

 

1, (on expert) they all got very aggitated when I put out the torch behind the card players. (maybe 30 seconds after- don't know if that was an expert thing or what)) Took a few loads to get past that area.

2- One of the card players looks a lot like the main guy. I spent quite awhile trying to get him down the privy, even noclip dropped him at the bottom eventually. Still no goal complete. Ended up watching the walkthrough vid and realized there are 2 privies, and 2 guys that look a bit alike. After that it went much better.

 

Nice touch on the loot stash, almost missed it.

 

 

[Springheel 4345]

Thanks!

[Briareos H 15]

Hi. After almost a year of having very little time to play, I'm catching up with the latest missions. Right now I'm replaying through A Score to Settle since I never completed it the first time. Anyway, when Gridley is speaking to you at the beginning, he is sitting in a chair, and you are able to push him around easily using the candle holder on the table next to him.

 

 

 

I thought I should report this as it doesn't look too good. Is it a mission-specific bug?

Edited February 28, 2012 by Briareos H

[Springheel 4345]

No, the ability to push AI with movables is a known bug. It just looks much worse when they're sitting.

[R Soul 187]

Note: All the spoilers make this post look longer than it really is!

 

This is the first mission I played since the training mission. For that reason, I started on Casual. First I tried to go uphill, but there were too many guards and the open fire put me off exploring that area. Just as well. It didn't occur to me that it was Sykes' place, but I wanted to explore the easier routes first. I tried the other direction. I managed to knock out a couple of people,just because that's what I do. I found the little room with the straw hat

and some loot.

 

At first, I'd avoided Down Street because having seen the sign in the intro movie, I thought that was the way to Sykes. It was now the only north route I hadn't tried, so I tried it. I then went right, down the dark narrow passage, and saw the

horse

through the gap in the fence. Needless to say, I

knocked it out. I think it should have put up more of a fight, but I don't know if that's just a TDM issue.

 

I saw a woman,

probably a seamstress right? She showed me her leg. Phwoar!

 

It was quite easy to find what's-his-name. This is where I have a minor criticism - the mission is very linear, but that's perfectly understandable for someone's first mission. As for the torch-guard patrolling the area,

I knocked him out.

 

After looking at the map it was easy to work out where I should be to access the back door. In the

narrow path next to the yard I thought about laying a plank across the two walls but it wasn't long enough. I then tried thowring it up onto the little wooden beams jutting out of the building at the end, but I didn't like the noise alerting the guard. I'm a coward/perfectionist who reloads at the first sign of trouble, so I reloaded, and mantled onto the far wall via the canopy on the other side.

 

I was then able to climb onto the wooden supports without the aid of any planks, which was a relief. I dropped down into the yard, and practiced my object moving skills by moving the crate from behind the guard and putting it down without making a racket. Then I was able to knock him out.

 

 

I explored downstairs, but missed the

torture room

, though I found it later on. I got the

privy

objective but it wasn't obvious to me that that's what I'd found. It didn't look

brown enough in my opinion.

I got upstairs by climbing onto

the lift.

In the main hall, I put out all of the wall lights, but did not knock out

The two people sitting down

I waited for the archer to enter the kitchen, but I didn't see him

eating the carrots

becuase I

knocked him out.

I went upstairs and put out the candle, but I'd forgotten we can 'use' them to put them out. I'd just been laying them down till they went out on their own. This got the attention of the people below, but they calmed down fairly quickly.

 

I then got into

Sykes's

room and

knocked him out

. This is where I had lots of trouble (my fault entirely). I'd forgotten/not realised that bodies could be picked up, so I tried for ages to drag him into the you-know-what. I briefly gave up and read his diary, and found the

secret attic entrance.

I read the warning about the

nails

but still got caught by them. I was a little disappointed that we couldn't use

the nearby boxes to block the trap (more on that in a moment) because there seemed no fair reason to make them immobile. I tried using the bundled sacking to cushion the blow, but it wasn't any good. In the end, I just took the punishment and ran in when the nails swung back up. Good job I had two healing potions.

I then had a torrid time trying to deal with

Sykes.

I actually went to the basement in case I could

get him through the bars, but that didn't work. The objective was completed however, but I still wanted to do it properly.

 

Once I realised bodies could be picked up, I restarted (no decent savegames after lots of frustrated arsing about), but used the middle difficulty level.

 

I'm not sure what to think of guards relighting torches. It's good for realism, but it risks wasting a water arrow. On the other hand, as one guard stopped to relight a torch, I took the opportunity to

knock him out.

I may try to make a habit of that; it seems like a good tactic.

 

This time I made the effort to get the boxes from under the stairs, and used them to

block the nails trap

. I don't know if there was a switch for it, but if I were Syke's, I know I'd have one.

 

I didn't like the idea of dropping

from the attic window

so I headed back downstairs and used the

gas arrow from the attic to knock out the two servants.

Before leaving, it occurred to me that since Sykes had dealt with

the other what's-his-name, the ring would either be in the torture room or the privy, so I found that quite easily.

After getting out, I wasn't too keen on the scripted

alert sequence.

I don't mind that sort of event but I think it should have been more randomised. The trigger point was very obvious, and made it seem like I'd done somethig wrong. But as others have said, it ensure that getting to the

exit point was still a challenge.

 

 

In short, despite forgetting how to deal with bodies, I did enjoy this mission, and because it's small I think it was a good mission to get started with.

Edited March 4, 2012 by R Soul

[Springheel 4345]

Glad you liked it. The package you picked up

could be put down over the floor and you can walk over it without setting off the trap.

[Springheel 4345]

A new "Let's Play" is up (with English commentary this time).

 

[Bikerdude 3736]

You here the reviewer giggles at 1:42 when the went in the street says "cheeky bastard" LOL - he didn't comment on the candle in the load screen though and god he needs to learn how to play TDM.:-)

 

Ive left a comment on his channel to do some lines for us, he sounds like the guy who did one of the guards..

[Springheel 4345]

god he needs to learn how to play TDM.:-)

 

Yeah, he doesn't seem to look at his lightgem much...he hides directly under a light on more than one occasion.

[SiyahParsomen 31]

he's not good but he can learn by time.

 

Funny part is he uses bj while he's crouching, then he knockouts AI on the ass. lol

[Springheel 4345]

Yeah, that confused me too...I didn't think you could hit their head while crouched.

[SiyahParsomen 31]

probably he was on slope. Otherwise it doesn't work AFAIK.

[SeriousToni 435]

Funny part is he uses bj while he's crouching, then he knockouts AI on the ass. lol

 

One of these sentences that makes me remember these forums everyday!

[Baddcog 114]

Some funny stuff. Let's parkour 'grunt'... funny to hear a player making grunts while they mantle.

 

Was cool that he mentioned textures were great a couple times. Due to the fact that sometimes they don't get a lot of love even from the team.

 

I don't think he mentioned the candle in the load screen because he had already mentioned a couple times how cool the intro was...

 

He was definitely walk striaght through lights at first, sneaking but not staying hidden.

[simplen00b 97]

Recorded a gameplay video. Sometimes I'm sick of AI's sharpness, and this is one of them. There's a short killing spree in the begining, but rest is smooth.

http://vimeo.com/34509020

Yay! Someone else found the 'leap of faith' as well!* Sometimes I wonder if it's just me.

Mind you, Siyah, you could have avoided all that initial unpleasantness with this:

 

 

My video finishes around where yours starts, and I have to say, Siyah, brilliant jumping & climbing in yours. I got to the small courtyard but all I found to do then was get into that square this way:

 

 

so I didn't find your way round onto Sykes' roof (that leap you do at 1.36 is genius). Which means that you could get (almost) from the mission starting point into Sykes' HQ without touching the ground. Brilliant FM, Springheel, definitely on my top 5, and I've only played on easy so far.

 

*at 0.48 on the video

Edited May 26, 2012 by simplen00b