85 replies to this topic

[Fieldmedic]

It's time to release my entry for the Halloween contest; A Night To Remember

This one took me about one and a half month to complete. It would not be possible without the eminent assistance
of Ziggun and my girlfriend. Thanks a lot!

A thanks goes to Kimdawg for creating the pianomusic.

Thanks to my betatesters - Bikerdude, Xarg and PranQster

Also a big thank you to all the folks that keeps the mod alive and evolving!

Enjoy!



Diary entry, 20th of October, 1721

Say one thing about Sir Henry Doyle, say he's a taffing idiot. Yes, I admit that. Only a taffing idiot would try to rob Lord taffing Cromwell, much less do it while being his honoured guest. I came out here to enjoy the quiet countryside and to study under the great inventor so that I could forget about all the troubles back in Bridgeport. But I suppose they didn't forget about me, nor did the Lady Terevaine. She must've found out I was staying at Cromwell's estate somehow, seeing as she had a letter delivered to me right in the middle of supper. Could barely keep a straight face as I read it. The nerve
of that woman... Thankfully, my fellow guest at the mansion, Father Tellam, had another heated argument with Cromwell about the whole Gottfried II project. Called it a great sin against the Builder and all that. Ironic, considering what
Lady Terevaine wrote to me, but it did give me the perfect excuse to retire for the night. Still, it seems I have yet another job to do for this little shrew. And like always, she promises that this one will be the last of them before she finally
helps me with my debts. For the life of me, I will never understand what she gets out of these oddjobs, but I suspect it might just be some form of deranged joy at seeing me stumble around robbing everyone I know. And this time, she wants me to steal Lord Cromwell's very passion, the blueprints for his beloved airship. That in itself will not be a hard task, given that Cromwell doesn't allow any guards indoors. From what he has told me, I suspect the blueprints to be in his study on the second floor of the east wing. I'll need to be careful, however. Cromwell is a dangerous man and should my hand in this be known, he will make my money problems seem like a pleasant afternoon stroll. I'll need to mask this theft as a robbery, so I should try and steal as much as I can, perhaps smash a window or two along the way. With any luck, I'll find enough goods to actually pay my debts and get free of that taffing Lady Terevaine..."


This is a mission with certain enemies that are extremely dangerous. There are a few known issues on them
but I will give you a chance to play the mission before spoiling the nature of the enemies.

Ver 1.0
http://www.thedarkmo...ndetails/?id=52
http://www.mediafire...d4hch59m4nef3dc


New version 1.1 released 7/11

http://www.mediafire...9z65be9j0rk4jb5

Changes in ver 1.1

Spoiler

Reduced ambient light from the fireplace in tea room. Also expanded the radius of the fireplace light.

Added frobable 0 on all sections of the freezer lid.

Added supports under the balconies.

Removed some unwanted decoration on the exterior and removed misplaced caulk.

__________________________________________________________________________

Spoiler

Are you sure you've played?

Spoiler

I have tried to remove the idle animations on the ghosts but somehow some of them coughs and sneezes.
This shouldn't be impossible to solve but I've had to prioritize more important stuff.

The ghosts will drain your health if you're nearby. This is achieved through the use of trigger_hurt boxes
that are bound to the ghosts. The innermost of these shall kill the player instantly but sometimes this fails
so the ghost will run blindly into you. This seems to be a bug related to the use of trigger boxes.
Sometimes they just refuse to work properly

If you use the sword on the ghosts, the sword will actually hit them, but arrows will go straight through.

If someone has a more slick solution to these bugs, please let me know! :)

Do not read past this line as spoilers may be present in the thread!

Edited by Fieldmedic, 07 November 2011 - 06:33 AM.
added thedarkmod.com download link

[Bikerdude]

Well done on getting this out medic!

[nbohr1more]

Yes!

Congrats Fieldmedic!

[nbohr1more]

I created a thread over at TTLG:

http://www.ttlg.com/...ad.php?t=137347

[nbohr1more]

Holy cowz!

Did you visually upgrade this since the first beta?

It's a beauty!

[lost_soul]

Haven't completed it yet, but...

Spoiler

This is definitely your best mission yet. It also delivers on the scares. I really like how it starts off kind of slow, but you find the ghosts later on. It kind of reminds me of the asylum from TDS.
The part with the creaking door made me jump, as did the parts where the hallway lights went out and the ghost came. I can see someone playing this on Youtube in the future and shrieking when the ghosts come... lol
The two opposing outdoor balconies were a great touch. Were you at all influenced by Resident Evil in the construction of this? The dining room reminded me of it, as did the main hall and a couple of the long hallways that connect these rooms.

[Mortem Desino]

Well done, Fieldmedic!

Spoiler

I like the scares that you used. It is a slightly different method than my FM used, so it was pretty darn effective on me, particularly when I first saw the wandering ghost. Holy crud, I actually shuddered when I saw her pacing the servants' quarters! The next one that I really jumped at was in the tea room, when the painting fell off the wall (seen through the mirror).

One frustration was at the beginning when you're asked to chase down the thief. You might have given the "running footsteps" speaker an actual direction (I.E. following a NURBS curve down the hall). I started getting confused over "Where should I go? Why am I failing the mission?"

The rest of the mission was a brilliantly tense mansion run. The maps were extremely helpful, and the map wasn't difficult to navigate at all. The occasional run-in with a ghost or poltergeist (E.G. the dropping paintings) kept things from getting too boring.

The mansion felt suitably spacious, so that the occasional claustrophobic areas (like the servants' quarters) felt...well...claustrophobic. The murder scenes were macabre, but not to the point of seeming comical. Props for pulling that off.

Maybe it was just me, but I had a bit of trouble finding loot just in this FM. Maybe it's worth a second playthrough.

[Fieldmedic]

lost_soul, on 30 October 2011 - 11:52 PM, said:

Haven't completed it yet, but...

Spoiler

This is definitely your best mission yet. It also delivers on the scares. I really like how it starts off kind of slow, but you find the ghosts later on. It kind of reminds me of the asylum from TDS.
The part with the creaking door made me jump, as did the parts where the hallway lights went out and the ghost came. I can see someone playing this on Youtube in the future and shrieking when the ghosts come... lol
The two opposing outdoor balconies were a great touch. Were you at all influenced by Resident Evil in the construction of this? The dining room reminded me of it, as did the main hall and a couple of the long hallways that connect these rooms.

Spoiler

Yes, my fellow designer, Ziggun is a freak for RE so we pulled a lot of inspiration from that one :)

[Fieldmedic]

nbohr1more, on 30 October 2011 - 09:12 PM, said:

Holy cowz!

Did you visually upgrade this since the first beta?

It's a beauty!

Spoiler

Yes I did. I felt the time was running out so I decided to fix all gameplay stuff and leave a lot of places quite barren. When I had sent out the beta I could concentrate more on the visuals as I had more concern about gameplay. Actually I learned how to create ghost textures/skins the last week of the competition . Springheel helped me a year ago when I started this (the prior work include the untextured hall and some boxes for the two wings) and gave me a skin and textures for a noble man ghost. I tried a lot from there to create my own but the folderstructure of TDM is a pain when you don't have a clue, but now I'm more confident about how the different files collaborate. LOTS of trial and errors :)

[Xarg]

New changes?! Redownloaded, will play through after dinner... gotta get that tick next to it on the mission list (and about 20 others I've already done pre-ticklist)

[poronty]

I just finished the mission (on the highest difficulty, about 600 short of max loot) and I don't even know where to start listing all the elements that were so amazingly well done! It's all just jaw-droppingly good. The only category where I docked one point was the Halloween element, since it didn't really give me a Halloween vibe per se, although it was generally pretty creepy.

Beautiful architecture, great scripted events, just all around hugely fun. Thank you for this gem!

[Glyph Seeker]

Downloaded - gonna give it a go now. =-)

[SiyahParsomen]

Congrats!!

[Glyph Seeker]

Man I am an idiot

Spoiler

I've just found his beheaded body and been told to chase the thief but whichever way I go it says mission failed and I "die". What am I missing here?

=-(

[Ziggun]

Glyph Seeker, on 31 October 2011 - 08:33 AM, said:

Man I am an idiot

Spoiler

I've just found his beheaded body and been told to chase the thief but whichever way I go it says mission failed and I "die". What am I missing here?

=-(

Tcha, no need to feel so glum! Just...

Spoiler

Follow the footsteps. From the study, go left. Then left down the hall. Then left down the door that opens.

[Melan]

This is a mission which deserves top ratings. It is graphically pleasing, technically well-realised and often genuinely hair-raising. It plays a lot like a Victorian ghost story (I recently read a collection of tales by M. R. James, and this one reminded me of them), and the backstory establishes it very nicely - you are a well-rounded character who has a reason being where you are, without getting overwritten. The challenge level and the puzzles are consistent; logical and imaginative. And the little grotesque touches are to die for (heh).

If I were to have a suggestion, I might recommend

Spoiler

...that the ghosts, when the bugs are ironed out, should be submitted as official AI. They look great, their sounds are great, and their area of effect mechanic is both appropriate and it adds its own special gameplay challenge.

Again, outstanding. I gave this FM a 5/5/5 rating.

[kittykat]

Is there a health poison on this mission or do I have to reload a save every time a ghost goes past me. They even kill me through walls

[lost_soul]

@Melan: I agree

[Ziggun]

kittykat, on 31 October 2011 - 12:23 PM, said:

Is there a health poison on this mission or do I have to reload a save every time a ghost goes past me. They even kill me through walls

There are health potions, check your inventory. However, bear in mind that...

Spoiler

the ghosts insta-kill you if they come too close

I know it's hard, but it was meant to be so.

[kittykat]

But through walls is a bit to much

[Ziggun]

kittykat, on 31 October 2011 - 03:01 PM, said:

But through walls is a bit to much

'tis coding, friend, 'tis coding. As far as I understand, there is no way to distinguish between wall or no wall when it comes to damage auras. Or at least that's what Fieldmedic tells a simpleton like me. For all I know about coding he could be a wizard working magic

[fxdwg]

Wow, another fantastically unique mission. Is it just me or does the bar just keep getting set higher and higher?
I had a great time with this one. The ghosts added just enough difficulty. The lightning effects were great. All the scripted events worked well.
Great atmosphere overall.

One thing I couldn't figure out,

Spoiler

what the switch in the master bedroom did.

[AluminumHaste]

fxdwg, on 31 October 2011 - 09:50 PM, said:

One thing I couldn't figure out,

Spoiler

what the switch in the master bedroom did.

Sex swing

[nbohr1more]

AluminumHaste:

Winning the internet one post at a time.

[lost_soul]

Finally casted my votes. I went with 5, 5, and 4 respectively. The only reason I gave a 4 in the last category was that there were

Spoiler

a couple of rooms on the first floor that were inexplicably bright. I guess the ambient light was set higher here than other rooms and it looked slightly out of place.
Still, I think this has a high chance at winning the contest. Also, who *didn't* pick up the pool queue and try to knock a few balls around? Maybe we'll see that momentum transfer bug fixed soon and things like this can be done.