164 replies to this topic

[Sotha]

Thomas Porter is back in a TDM FM called...

The Phrase Book by Sotha

Quote

My situation seems rather bleak. The haunting from the Glenham Tower, the Hag, seems to be determined to do me in. She has attacked me a few times already, but so far I've managed escape with my life. I must stop these attacks before she succeeds in whatever that may be her sinister plans.

I believe everything is tied to this strange book, De Vermis Mysteriis, which I obtained from the tower. The book is written by some unknown language that I cannot understand, but somehow I am certain that the answer to my predicament is hidden within the dusty pages of this tome. It may very well be that the Hag is after me because I possess this book. Can the dead be afraid of what is written on these dusty pages? I need to find out everything I can...

Release notes:
If you find something called "softened lead ball" do note that it will not KO AI in TDM 1.07. Once 1.08 comes with its new features, the ball should work. While waiting for 1.08, the ball might still work as a distraction.
The mission uses heavily RITs, so guard activity should be more interesting and challenging.
The mission randomizes the location of few critical objects upon map start, so that coupled with the AI RIT behavior the mission should be more replayable than any other missions TDM has seen thus far.

Please use spoiler tags. I do not recommend you read further as someone always fails to use spoiler tags.

Download:

There was a bug in the initial release.

New version is here:
http://www.sendspace.com/file/ml95jo
http://www.thedarkmo...ndetails/?id=61

Fixes:
Increased font size to make briefing easier to read.
Fixed a stupid unpickable door issue.

ENJOY!

[Fieldmedic]

Holy shit! A new mission from the finlandier! Must play when time comes...!

[lowenz]

Downloading! New masterpiece incoming?

EDIT: Amazing! It's why i *love* TDM!

Spoiler

Edited by lowenz, 11 May 2012 - 06:49 PM.

[nbohr1more]

This calls for an

Downloading with FURY!!!

Dropbox Mirror:

http://dl.dropbox.co...phrase_book.pk4

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/17706561/phrase_book.pk4

Edited by nbohr1more, 11 May 2012 - 10:02 PM.

[ungoliant]

I gotta say, this FM has converted my briefing preference to your hybrid model. Only way this could have been improved would be with a voiceover that could play, skip, and replay based on which arrows you press. Even without vocal narrative, that briefing was impressive as hell.

[Andrey]

Congrats, Sotha!
This mission for Beginners contest? Or Thomas Porter 5?

[nbohr1more]

Thomas Porter 5...

[grayman]

So far, so good. Briefing is excellent, except for the eeny-weeny-teeny-tiny font. Bring your glasses!

Oh, I should note that I'm playing with SVN, so there might have been some font changes. Don't know.

[ungoliant]

grayman, on 11 May 2012 - 10:09 PM, said:

eeny-weeny-teeny-tiny font.

No problems with standard 1.07 at all.

[PranQster]

Awesome! I had a lot of fun with this one. I only played on medium since I love to KO. I missed a bit of loot, so I'll have to go back in and find more

Spoiler

Did I mention that I love to KO?
 shot00183.jpg   170.57K   15 downloads

Edited by PranQster, 12 May 2012 - 12:16 AM.

[Bikerdude]

@Sotha, I copied pasted your post over on the ttlg forums.

[Sotha]

Bikerdude, on 12 May 2012 - 03:04 AM, said:

@Sotha, I copied pasted your post over on the ttlg forums.

Thank you!

[lowenz]

Another beautiful shot!

Spoiler

[Sotha]

ungoliant, on 11 May 2012 - 09:45 PM, said:

I gotta say, this FM has converted my briefing preference to your hybrid model. Only way this could have been improved would be with a voiceover that could play, skip, and replay based on which arrows you press. Even without vocal narrative, that briefing was impressive as hell.

Thanks! I am really pleased with how the briefing turned out. I think the briefing could easily be edited to play a sound when a certain page is visible. This means that voiceover would certainly be possible.

On the downside, the briefing still has the huge limitation that the page flow is difficult to bend to work with campaigns. If you plan to do a campaign, this briefing may not be the one for you. It is very good for single missions, though.

Unfortunately (for the community) / fortunately (for me), I've promised myself that I don't need to do any more advanced briefing gui work. So if campaign support or voiceovers would be made, it should be someone else to do the work. I promise to help and guide if need be.

[SiyahParsomen]

congrats!

I'll save it for later when I feel really hunger for a fm.

[RPGista]

Lovely! I'll be downloading this soon as I come back. Thanks a LOT!

[simplen00b]

Only been able to play it for about ten minutes so far, but it's already hitting my sweet spots -

Spoiler

love starting high above the streets, love the gas flares (or whatever they are) on the pipes (well, I'll love 'em until I have to try and get past one anyway), and done a little bit of fab mantling already.

It's a small point, but I really appreciated being able to climb at least onto the edge of the roof where I took this screenshot (roof can just be seen in bottom LH corner). I guess it's an fps issue, but a lot of FMs seem to make most rooftops completely unattainable even if they're within reach, so it was great to be allowed to jump onto this one (and not fall to a horrible death).
 shot00003-g.jpg   175.6K   26 downloads

It's a busy weekend, but I hope I'll be able to give it some more time tomorrow

[SiyahParsomen]

simplen00b, on 12 May 2012 - 08:23 AM, said:

Only been able to play it for about ten minutes so far, but it's already hitting my sweet spots -

Spoiler

love starting high above the streets, love the gas flares (or whatever they are) on the pipes (well, I'll love 'em until I have to try and get past one anyway), and done a little bit of fab mantling already.

It's a small point, but I really appreciated being able to climb at least onto the edge of the roof where I took this screenshot (roof can just be seen in bottom LH corner). I guess it's an fps issue, but a lot of FMs seem to make most rooftops completely unattainable even if they're within reach, so it was great to be allowed to jump onto this one (and not fall to a horrible death).
shot00003-g.jpg

It's a busy weekend, but I hope I'll be able to give it some more time tomorrow

I didn't read your spoiler but image made me think about you climbed to a spot where you should't be. Is this really possible? Because Sotha is extra careful on this. If you really managed, I will respect your skills

[simplen00b]

I assumed it was deliberate design, but if I've managed to find somewhere I shouldn't have gone in one of Sotha's maps, my levels of self-congratulatory smugness will reach new heights .

Route was

Spoiler

exit through east(?)-facing window of door-banging thugs area onto platform below; jump onto nearest wooden block sticking out of wall on the left; shuffle backwards till you can stand up; jump onto roof edge.

[Diego]

Great mission! A bit hard but, well, I did play on the hard difficulty so I can't complaint!

Minor bug:

Spoiler

Getting back to the clock tower didn't finish the mission.

[Sotha]

Diego, on 12 May 2012 - 09:42 AM, said:

Great mission! A bit hard but, well, I did play on the hard difficulty so I can't complaint!

Minor bug:

Spoiler

Getting back to the clock tower didn't finish the mission.

Mission not finishing if objectives are completed is not a minor bug, it is a major one. Please give more details.

I tested hard difficulty and it worked for me. Did you go back to the starting room?

[ungoliant]

simplenoob, I was about to post a shot of a place you missed, but then realized its the same spot at a different angle

[AluminumHaste]

Were there many changes since the beta test?

[Sotha]

AluminumHaste, on 12 May 2012 - 12:31 PM, said:

Were there many changes since the beta test?

No, I fixed the most critical things like the carpets and the readables. Moved a few sleeping AI. That sort of thing. I left most of the visual improvement suggestions undone as I was pleased myself with the end results and did not want to make the mission more choppy for the low-enders. (Plus spending hours on visual tweaks is not my thing.)

Therefore this mission-not-ending issue reported by Diego freaks me out. Does the mission finish properly for people? If not, please, provide detailed description with spoiler tags.

[AluminumHaste]

I believe I had to actually get back to the starting room for the mission to finish. Just getting back to the tower didn't work. I had to climb down the ladder and go stand on my bed then the mission ended.