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Fan Mission: Volta and the Stone by Kingsal (05/26/2016) V1.3


kingsal

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Finally finished this mission today. Spent about 6.5 hours enjoying it if you can believe that. Really superb in a lot of ways and its larger that I thought going in to it.

 

 

 

Niggle/rant/whatever:

Only thing that pulled me out of immersion occasionally was texture alignment. Its odd that would even be a thing in a world with such attention to detail. The things that make an inanimate place come to life were all there and well put together to a great degree. There were just so many walls where a texture pattern would be halved and I found it a little jarring. I realize its a pain and probably last on the labor list when building a mission but when you go in a place in real life, you don't see that sort of thing and it really hinders the suspension of disbelief for the game world; in my view anyway.

 

If I were to name just one of the many many things that made me go, "Coooool... that is freaking awesome" it would be the "light off the water" reflections on the walls. Really neat trick there. I was trying to think how you could do that and after looking at it for some time, maybe with 2 opposite spinning cylindrical transparent but opaque brushes shaped like staggered fences and the light in the center....or something (I have no idea). Its really a very warming and eerily calming effect. I know, a magician never reveals their secrets!

 

After coming in through the foggy greenhouse it really sets the tone and makes things feel suitably eerie and that's only the beginning of the mansion segment.

 

 

 

So many cool things packed in to this FM. Just fantastic.

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8 hours on this sucker. Played over a couple days and had to remember my bearings but all the time was well spent and it didn't even feel like 8 hours and I also feel like I missed a ton of stuff in the mission.

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  • 1 month later...

From the oozing sfx at mission start, to the very end it successfully brings reminiscing vibes for that approach that was aimed by you when aiming for TDP-like similarity.

Do you think system requirements, good performance will be more difficult to achieve in the redux version of this FM and the next one for low end PC'S ?

Edited by Anderson

"I really perceive that vanity about which most men merely prate — the vanity of the human or temporal life. I live continually in a reverie of the future. I have no faith in human perfectibility. I think that human exertion will have no appreciable effect upon humanity. Man is now only more active — not more happy — nor more wise, than he was 6000 years ago. The result will never vary — and to suppose that it will, is to suppose that the foregone man has lived in vain — that the foregone time is but the rudiment of the future — that the myriads who have perished have not been upon equal footing with ourselves — nor are we with our posterity. I cannot agree to lose sight of man the individual, in man the mass."...

- 2 July 1844 letter to James Russell Lowell from Edgar Allan Poe.

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Hey Kingsal, you've made a terrific mission, one of the very best, and certainly right up there with the thief feel (although to me it seems to be more Metal age feel than Dark project, but that is all right in my book). :)

 

I am anxiously awaiting the new version (who doesn't?), and certainly look forward to the next one, and there are a few things I would like to ask before that.

Would it be too much to ask for a list of bug fixes for the new version? I know it's not standard practice, but I've seen some mappers edit the initial post with the changelog for each new release (Dragofer, to be precise, but there might be others). It ticks my OCD knowing there is a new release but not knowing what has been fixed.

 

Also, one thing that keeps bugging me: What is that model/object used for room labels? Is it some form of a miniature map, and why that one? At first I though it was a map of the house itself and pointing out where you where (and I thought, he didn't go THAT far, now did he?), but on a closer inspection, I was a bit disappointed to see it was just a generic map texture.

 

Other than that, this mission is pure gold. Keep up the good work!

 

EDIT: One more question. What is that room seen in the last picture in the initial post? I've finished the first version of the map but I don't seem to recall where that might be, so if it's something that was added later on, that could be the reason why I've missed it.

Edited by Silverflame3
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@Anderson - I hope to get more thief-y sounds in the update, as I've learned a bit more about how to produce them. The update won't necessarily be adding more detail per se, but rather touching up some of the architecture, textures, lighting and streamlining the mission flow a tad. If anything, I'm hoping to get better performance out of this version!

 

@Silverflame - Thank you for the kind words! I am glad you enjoyed the mission. You bring up an interesting bit about the changelist. The new version should be considered a 2.0+ so it won't really be easy to catalogue all of the changes. Some of which might even be spoilers. However, I'll try my best to note the major changes. The room you are looking for is the meat locker next to the kitchen ( first floor, north-west side of the mansion).

 

On that note:

As I mentioned, the new mission will be added to the current FM package with an "enhanced" version of Volta and the Stone. I'll encourage folks to re-play the first mission as it will feature a few changes pertaining to the overall story of the campaign. However it won't be mandatory and I'm working out a way for people to skip it by purchasing a store item and using it in-game.

Edited by kingsal
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From the oozing sfx at mission start, to the very end it successfully brings reminiscing vibes for that approach that was aimed by you when aiming for TDP-like similarity.

+1

Task is not so much to see what no one has yet seen but to think what nobody has yet thought about that which everybody see. - E.S.

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  • 2 months later...

Congrats on this excellent mission! It was most enjoyable

 

 


This took me a long time to complete, not only because of the size, but I noticed coins scattered here and there so had to look in a lot of nooks and crannies. I got almost all of the loot except a bag in the mailbox - I could not get it too highlight at all. Not sure if that was my total missing loot or not.

I loved the multiple pathways and finding secrets is always fun - found 3 - was that all of them? I also found a secret key but don't know what it was for. Would love to know what I missed.

 

Oh yes, must mention the view from the top of the tower - very nice!

 

 

All in all, a great mission. Thanks for all your hard work. :) Look forward to more from you, as real life allows me to play.

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  • 1 month later...

 

As I mentioned, the new mission will be added to the current FM package with an "enhanced" version of Volta and the Stone. I'll encourage folks to re-play the first mission as it will feature a few changes pertaining to the overall story of the campaign. However it won't be mandatory and I'm working out a way for people to skip it by purchasing a store item and using it in-game.

Any news?

Task is not so much to see what no one has yet seen but to think what nobody has yet thought about that which everybody see. - E.S.

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The new version is coming along steadily but slowly as real life obligations are soaking up a lot of my time. Its turned into quite a project. Its the same mission, but with revised architecture, all new vocals, and quite a few new areas to explore. ;) The next mission is still the primary focus. Here are a few in progress shots of volta v2:

Thanks man!

 

Very nice pictures, the first one is glorious.

Task is not so much to see what no one has yet seen but to think what nobody has yet thought about that which everybody see. - E.S.

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Right as I finally get my review for version 1 up. How cruel. :P

Because in mystery novels, the first suspect is almost certainly never the murderer. No matter how much unmovable evidence there is, it will all be smashed in pieces by the wrath of the remaining number of pages of the story.

 

-"The Evil Spirit of the Zushi Clan" from Virtual Carnal Pleasure by Yamada Fuutarou

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  • 1 month later...

Yesterday when I played this mission I was a little suspicious since I haven't seen Kingsal's work before. I was also just after trying some other FM which didn't click for me so a little cautious I launched the "Volta and stone" and immediately it appealed to me in the aspect of distinct visual style. However I found it rather linear, especially in the city part and surprisingly barren when it comes to objects, I am not sure if I liked it but then again it seemed like everything was placed there after a long thought process and it gave the whole thing a very clean, nice look, similar to professional missions. It was definetly higher standard work since it had original voice acting and textures. It also scratched a little bit my itch in the story department getting back to one trope from thief universe which I feel we have totally abandoned. Aside from city part the map was well thought out and a joy to play. I hope to see only better from Kingsal. Thank you for making my evening all that more pleasant. ^^

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  • 4 weeks later...
  • 5 months later...

I just finished this mission, great, great stuff. :) Excellent mission design, and nice atmosphere and visuals. As has been mentioned, it resembles the original Thief missions very much.

 

 

What i specifically liked was that there was lots of space to hide, and that the guard patrol routes weren't a mess either, which is often the case in missions where the patrol routes are more random, which can lead to 3 guards at the same time in very small rooms, and you can't hide at all. Not at all the case here, all very fair, even for blackjackers. Edit: The hardest part were the "barracks", where some guy with a candle almost caught me, as i went for the guard in the barracks. Had to react very fast there, and blackjack the candle guy. I liked the "puzzles" too, was fun to figure out what it is with the buttons (i had an idea even before finding the note which explains it). Had a hard time finding the frobbable book though, i thought there was one, but, i always missed it. Also found the key to the room with the dagger (thought i missed it, and took a look in this thread, just to find out that i already found the right key, lol...).

 

 

All in all, i hope there'll be more missions like these, it catches the original spirit of the games more than anything i've played before, which is good in my eyes. Looking forward to play Volta II now. :)

Edited by chakkman
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