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OLD THREAD - Fan Mission: The Siege Shop by PranQster (2011/06/26)


PranQster

  

32 members have voted

  1. 1. For a first-time FM, you would rate this as:

    • Total Crap
      0
    • Not Too Shabby
      5
    • Honorable Mention
      15
    • Pretty Darn Good
      12
  2. 2. Was the gameplay:

    • Too easy
      1
    • Not bad, but needs to be more challenging
      8
    • About right
      22
    • Too hard
      1


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Thanks PranQster.

 

I tried to open the map in Dark Radiant and it crashed.

 

Then I tried r_showLightCounts and the game crashed...

 

...but I did get a peek and saw a great number of white areas (6+ overlapped lights). I am not sure if my dmap took or there was simply too many lights in the scene anyway (downstairs long-view hall).

Please visit TDM's IndieDB site and help promote the mod:

 

http://www.indiedb.com/mods/the-dark-mod

 

(Yeah, shameless promotion... but traffic is traffic folks...)

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Rather a general question...is the lantern bot supposed to be "blackjackable" ?

(Thanks to Firehawk @ttlg.de for pointing that out)

Nope. The one and only time I tried to do that I failed. So I didn't know that was possible.

System: Mageia Linux Cauldron, aka Mageia 8

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My review

 

 

I'll review this in two categories; Positive and Negative

 

Positive

 

Much new models (Actually I've not roamed about so much in the model library soo much since the release of 1.06 so some of the models may be added by the team, but anyway, a lot (for me) unseen stuff.

 

Very imaginative with the balloon and much nice brush constructions! Nice drawbridge :)

 

One thing that some people would have put on the negative side is the fact that I couldn't finish it in one session, because of I couldn't find the damn key to the chest! I was about to give up, but I restarted the mission to see if there were any bugs but no. Then I found the key behind the bed. Clever hiding place but frustrating to find. That's actually a good thing! Sometimes it feels like some folks around here are complaining too much when they cannot run through the mission under 30 mins. It's complaints about keyhunts and complaints about FPS-drops and doors with(out) handles :rolleyes:

 

Negative

 

Though every room made sense, some of them could use a little more decoration

 

This is hard to explain, (especially after my little rant above) but a bit too much loot chasing on expert. In the end I had to use tdm_show_loot to see where all the loot were. Some loot was impossible to reach, like the bottles inside the writing bureau. Perhaps there was some secret switch to uncover those but I couldn't get anything more than a locked sound when I frobbed about there. Now I'm also complaining, but I think it's better for gameplay to have a little fewer loot items :) But I don't know about this one...See it as a neutral though :laugh:

 

 

Edited by Fieldmedic
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Interesting mission.

 

There were a lot of good new ideas.

 

The geometry was a bit simple, but it was strange how the mission felt a bit heavy even with that simple geometry. There was a single long corridor with no corners and many AI's and lights -> typical mistake in first map design.

 

I'm probably a fancy pants, but the ambient music selections were really poor. The starting sewers was nice (and the sewer geometry was impressive, even). And after that, I got so mad because of the horrid ambient I started killing people. Odd. After killing a the majority of the AI I found, I simply quit the mission. Maybe I'll try it again later.

 

<self-analysis starts>

The world felt unrealistic with visible pitch blackness, distorted buildings and the building interior geometry felt strange, like in some weird dream or parallel universe. Things looked a bit right, but yet still somehow worng and dreamy.

 

I think the ambients -in addition to the aforementioned things- triggered some sort of suspense of disbelief collapse or failure in me. I concluded it is a game and most efficient way to make progress is to fire an arrow into everyone's eyesockets.

<self-analysis ends>

 

Anyways, every mapper has their first map. It is always a rough learning experience. But I see talent here. I see that with learning you have all it takes to make a killer mission. I'm sure building this mission has taught you very many things.

 

My recommendations for future works (My opinions, everyone are free to disagree):

  • Use reference images from the net to see how real locations look like and try to replicate that in DR.
  • Use reference maps from the net to see how real locations are put together.
  • Choose carefully your ambients. Think about it: the player has to sneak and move slow. He's gonna hang around in the ambient location for many minutes. The ambients should build atmosphere and still be light as the morning dew to not aggravate the player. Even during those many minutes.

Do not give up. With this mission you've just opened your mapping potential. Future works will be shiny and cool.

Clipper

-The mapper's best friend.

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<self-analysis starts>

The world felt unrealistic with visible pitch blackness, distorted buildings and the building interior geometry felt strange, like in some weird dream or parallel universe. Things looked a bit right, but yet still somehow worng and dreamy.

 

What? Pitch blackness? Please post a screenshot of said blackness as during beta test the ambient was at like 10 which was ridiculous so I think it's now closer to 6.

And duh, it's a game about fake stuff that doesn't exist, the entire fucking concept is unrealistic. :angry: Why the fuck am I so cranky today?

I always assumed I'd taste like boot leather.

 

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nice Fm even if it looks awkward (i hope this is the right word), because there are many hard corners everywhere ^^

 

the balloon is very pretty and the idea is fun.

 

after many missions where im just allowed to knock out 1-2 persons ons very hard this mission was a slaughtery for me :rolleyes:

 

cant remeber when i used so many broadhead arrows ^^

 

the funniest encounter was a guard with a helmet (i think it was the one near the balloon) which get a headshot from me and u heard the arrow splintering but the guard died anyway :D

 

greetz Mc

Edited by McPhisto2051
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Thanks PranQster: I this was a great mission the baloon was awesome! and I had a great big laugh when I saw the seige bunny from Monty Pythonlaugh.giflaugh.gif

 

Glad to hear you liked it. I was going to build a large wooden badger, but settled for the rabbit.

System: Mageia Linux Cauldron, aka Mageia 8

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nice Fm even if it looks awkward (i hope this is the right word), because there are many hard corners everywhere ^^

 

the balloon is very pretty and the idea is fun.

 

after many missions where im just allowed to knock out 1-2 persons ons very hard this mission was a slaughtery for me :rolleyes:

 

cant remeber when i used so many broadhead arrows ^^

 

the funniest encounter was a guard with a helmet (i think it was the one near the balloon) which get a headshot from me and u heard the arrow splintering but the guard died anyway :D

 

greetz Mc

I thought about making KO and kill restrictions on the higher levels, but figured each player will play as they wish... Those who prefer to ghost it still can and those who like broadheads can have fun. When I was testing it, I would use noclip and get the attention of the archers, lead them up to the targets and let them fill the targets with arrows. Then fill up on arrows, kill the archers, and have my own target practice.

System: Mageia Linux Cauldron, aka Mageia 8

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I was on the floor above the robot wondering what the heck was making that noise and when I finally got down there I was in the strip of shadow in the middle of the hallway with the robot walking straight at me. I was backing away slowly for a while as I haven't encountered such a thing in The Dark Mod yet and I wasn't sure of how to deal with this unusual obstacle. I ended up hiding at the bottom of the elevator shaft until it turned around.

 

I thought the blackjack was worth a shot and I figured I could retreat back up using the elevator if it deployed razor sharp claws or something.

When I used the blackjack it simply stopped moving.

 

I thought "Hmm... I think I broke it" then dragged it back through the hall and left it at the bottom of the elevator shaft.

 

It was definitely one of the more interesting encounters I've had in The Dark Mod.

 

 

Edited by Professor Paul1290
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You remind me of my own mapping practices, PranQster. I saw the carrots in the cooking pot floating around. A dang cool tiny detail.

 

I like doing stuff like that. But every time I do it, I realize I've wasted an hour on a tiny detail when I could have been building. :laugh:

yay seuss crease touss dome in ouss nose tair

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I thought it was hard... but difficulty is relative here! I always try to ghost, but when I realized this wasn't one of those missions you can ghost (without quick save/load all the time) I let go of my standards and even engaged in a sword fight! BJing, killing with arrows and fighting my way through. It was fun and easy from this point on.

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I was on the floor above the robot wondering what the heck was making that noise and when I finally got down there I was in the strip of shadow in the middle of the hallway with the robot walking straight at me. I was backing away slowly for a while as I haven't encountered such a thing in The Dark Mod yet and I wasn't sure of how to deal with this unusual obstacle. I ended up hiding at the bottom of the elevator shaft until it turned around.

 

I thought the blackjack was worth a shot and I figured I could retreat back up using the elevator if it deployed razor sharp claws or something.

When I used the blackjack it simply stopped moving.

 

I thought "Hmm... I think I broke it" then dragged it back through the hall and left it at the bottom of the elevator shaft.

 

It was definitely one of the more interesting encounters I've had in The Dark Mod.

 

 

 

 

Glad to hear you liked that. I put it in out of curiosity but liked the way it provides light down the normally dark center of the hall. Good to hear you put it down the elevator shaft. I usually just wait it out. That thing wakes back up after a bit and continues on it's path.

 

Edited by PranQster

System: Mageia Linux Cauldron, aka Mageia 8

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I thought it was hard... but difficulty is relative here! I always try to ghost, but when I realized this wasn't one of those missions you can ghost (without quick save/load all the time) I let go of my standards and even engaged in a sword fight! BJing, killing with arrows and fighting my way through. It was fun and easy from this point on.

 

That's what I was aiming for :) As long as it was playable and made a few people smile, I'm happy overall.

System: Mageia Linux Cauldron, aka Mageia 8

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You remind me of my own mapping practices, PranQster. I saw the carrots in the cooking pot floating around. A dang cool tiny detail.

 

I like doing stuff like that. But every time I do it, I realize I've wasted an hour on a tiny detail when I could have been building. :laugh:

 

Yeah, I'm really bad about that. I'll spend several hours each night to make a custom model with brush-work because it's fun. BTW, carrots, onions, turnip and fish are all swirling around in the recently-stirred pot.

System: Mageia Linux Cauldron, aka Mageia 8

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Can't even get started ! Am I supposed to have an air balloon or somesuch in the inventory to get me up the shaft at the start? For some reason too the water stops me getting up the tunnel where the rats are because i can't get onto firm ground. tried to shoot a rope arrow up too. Must be getting too old for these puzzles !

 

Think I'll leave it for now then as no replies , must be something obvious but it's getting boring trying to get out of the cellar or whatever it is , I'll move on to another mission.

Edited by raymeld
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