58 replies to this topic

[nbohr1more]

 

Grrr , Ive annoyingly got stuck on part of the map and need to noclip. Can't remember the right keys to use , tilde plus others I think , can't find a ref anywhere to do it. Thanks for any help. p.s Melan thanks for clue. Annoyingly , I was there earlier and didn't follow it through but all well now.

 

 

CTRL + ALT + TILDE

[raymeld]

Many thanks !!

[raymeld]

Just finished , my first mission for quite a while. Many thanks Melan , very enjoyable , ( and for the little hint too. )

I half expected

Spoiler

Uncle to change into a zombie at the end as I gathered up the remaining loot but.....

Flash bombs were useless , were they supposed to work? And does anyone ever have any success with mines , I never seem to. Certainly an item you could exclude from your equipment pack , maybe pack a fire arrow instead!

[Bienie]

This was a great mission! I especially loved the architecture with dilapidated buildings and scores of rats roaming the streets! Very Halloween-y

Spoiler

I was really expecting a jump scare when I took the testament, but to my relief there was none.

I did have some performance issues on the streets, not sure if it was visportal-related or just the sheer number of rat AI's, and there were quite a few entities that fell through the floor in some areas. Aside from that it was a solid map!

[Melan]

It is probably the long sight lines on the street (a typical design mistake, but didn't have time to rethink and rebuild) along with the number of rats roaming around. Still, hopefully nothing outright terrible.

[Bienie]

It is probably the long sight lines on the street (a typical design mistake, but didn't have time to rethink and rebuild) along with the number of rats roaming around. Still, hopefully nothing outright terrible.

 

Oh no it wasn't terrible, and my rig is quite dated... I noticed a drop from around 30-35 fps down to 15 fps, especially

Spoiler

when climbing up to get the key from the dead guy on the balcony.

I also totally forgot to mention that I loved what you did with the uncle's house! Especially in the kitchen area which reminded me a lot of The Sword from TDP, probably my all time favorite mission!

So anyway thank you for putting in the effort and making a quality Halloween mission!

[Araneidae]

I am perplexed.

Spoiler

I've opened the trapdoor (yes, was thrown by the various problems mentioned here at first), climbed down ... and there's nothing.  I've searched in all three rooms, but they're pretty bare, so if there's something hidden it's pretty obscure.  I have the mission exit open (the shiny key), but I seem to have been everywhere, and I can find nothing.  Alas, I need a hint.

[Melan]

Spoiler

Climb one of the great machines and look around a bit.

[Cookie]

This FM is much easier if you have played previous Melan ones.

 

Spoiler

Always try to reach the highest point of the map, even if it feels like glitching

 

Nice mission, caught the contest theme well, but there are also some bugs/glitches:

 

Spoiler

1. Some of the plants at the start are floating
2. While fighting the zombies on the street, two of them got stuck in each others body and kept on moving as a unit :S
3. After finding the key near the roofs, I tried to head down the rope, but i jumped through it many times.
4. The small chair on the church tower will fall through the ground if the player hitbox touches it.
5. There is a texture glitch after you open the small pathway to your uncles treasures.

 

Other than that, solid mission.

[MVT]

A great spooky horror effort.  It feels like a much bigger map than it really is. I think it invites a sequel.

Spoiler

Read the challenge in the will and consider the collection of magical stuff just sitting around.

Loved the title.  Title of the year?

Spoiler

Perhaps the rats might have had a real role.

Having completed the game, I poked around with NOCLIP,

Spoiler

and ran into things that looked like components that were never incorporated into the game.  For example  there was a crown inside a utility area that I could reach only by NOCLIP.  Is the crown unused or did I just somehow miss it.

Edited by MVT, 08 November 2015 - 11:47 AM.

[demagogue]

Well I liked it. Needed to up the gamma to search for things, but that wasn't too bad. The look of things was great, not only for a short timeframe.

I read hints and maybe made things harder for myself, like getting myself on top of roofs and gargoyles where I didn't need to be,

Spoiler

the key is far from the highest point on the map you can climb to like someone said. They should have just said look for the obvious body up there.

Anyway fun map. More ambitious than most contest maps. I liked The Sword homage.

[Cookie]

Well I liked it. Needed to up the gamma to search for things, but that wasn't too bad. The look of things was great, not only for a short timeframe.

I read hints and maybe made things harder for myself, like getting myself on top of roofs and gargoyles where I didn't need to be,

Spoiler

the key is far from the highest point on the map you can climb to like someone said. They should have just said look for the obvious body up there.

Anyway fun map. More ambitious than most contest maps. I liked The Sword homage.

 

I guess there is always a higher point... But glad you found it anyway^^

[Melan]

Having completed the game, I poked around with NOCLIP,

Spoiler

and ran into things that looked like components that were never incorporated into the game.  For example  there was a crown inside a utility area that I could reach only by NOCLIP.  Is the crown unused or did I just somehow miss it.

That's... uh... an unfortunate oversight. I usually start my projects from the premade startpack found on the wiki, which has a few things set up for you to save time. One of those things is a valuable crown you can use as your default loot item. I forgot all about it, and it stayed in by accident.

[Aosys]

Well, after playing this mission and then spending some time ruminating on it, I thought I'd go ahead and share a review? First time doing this, so here goes nothing...

 

Spoiler

 

I suppose I'll start with the negative, just to get it out of the way (and really there isn't a lot to complain about here, this was a great mission, especially for a speedbuild!). The first is major performance issues, which has already been brought up by other folks. I haven't seen my frame rate take that much of a swan dive since the caves in No Honor Among Thieves, but I have an aging HP Pavilion Slimline that really doesn't do well with gaming, so a lot of this is on my end.

 

Secondly, a pretty tiny nitpick, but I found myself having a bit of trouble with the church roof. It took me awhile to figure out you're not supposed to get in through the belfry, even though it looks like you should be able to mantle onto the gargoyles, then the big hammer, then finally get in through the busted bars. Just something for your consideration.

 

Finally, the woman's voice at the clothier's was a bit confusing, and I never did find out what the deal with that was. It did, however, prompt me to look around further, which is what led me to find the key I needed, so I guess it served its purpose?

 

In terms of visuals, this was a great-looking mission with good use of space. The climbing bits added a nice level of verticality, and the overall flow of the mission seemed pretty intuitive. The difficulty also felt pretty balanced, as the zombies, while an ever-present threat, aren't too difficult to get around if you're careful.

 

I especially loved some of the little details you threw in, for example the hidden compartments in the church. Usually things like that are just McGuffins solely for the player to go find and raid, but incorporating them into the plot like you did added some extra life to the world and story (or so I felt - it seemed like a nice change of pace). Also, the burned stake out front and the note explaining it was delightfully macabre. Definite points for that!

 

 

Overall, wonderfully done, and thanks for the mission!

 

Also, here's a challenge, for anyone who wants one:

 

Spoiler

 

Get your uncle out of the basement, into the church, and to the end of the mission without using console commands!

 

 

I spent an unreasonable amount of time trying to do this. It is possible, but exceedingly difficult (especially with that Builder-damned ladder in the basement)!

 

[Melan]

Thank you for your review, Aosys! I will do a small bugfix release once the contest is over, and will consider your points.

 

And yeah, that's quite an accomplishment... not to mention an appropriate place!

[Bob Necro]

Okay, this'n would be my pick for Best in Show for this contest.

 

Some reflections on my scores:

 

Appearance: 4

Nice and grimy, architecture is interesting to explore and has quite a believable organic feel. Some minor quibbles keeping it from full points include the use of the bland stock TDM skybox, which I've never liked, some minor Z-fighting and and a few decals poking out on opposite sides of walls.

 

Gameplay: 3

In actuality a 4, but a point docked for sub-par performance. The clocktower in particular dropped my framerate into single digits. Of course, my paleolithic hardware is partly to blame, but the vast majority of TDM missions run without complaint for me, and poor performance is something of an unfortunate trademark of your otherwise brilliant missions, so...

 

Other than that, the aforementioned exploration and atmosphere are top notch as always, AI challenge felt just about right, and the rats (triumphant) actually proved something more than mere window dressing:

Spoiler

I was going to use a mine to get rid of one of the zombies instead of risking the damage of hacking it down head on, so I could taff around unmolested in the apartment in question. However, the FURRY LITTLE BASTARDS kept setting the damn thing off wherever I put it ...so after several reloads, I proceeded to spend several minutes sitting at the window picking the rats off with arrows until I could finally arm the mine in peace.

 

Halloween: 3

Ehh, nothing wrong as such, I just happen to find the Dark Mod zombies very unscary, and the spook factor kind of falls down flat because of that foundation. Some nice touches though, such as

Spoiler

the Trickstery (Adversary-y?) house of Uncle Warlock

and the readables were well written as always.

 

Although, that one font can just feck off.

[Loa4ever]

Hello guys,

can anyone giving me a hit abot the paddlock key? I'm sure I am on the right place but it doesn't open :S.

[demagogue]

You mean ... what do you mean? The key or frobbing the padlock? To open it you clear everything off of it obviously,

Spoiler

and push the giant box out of the way so you can stand where the big box was, then frob the lock box so you're not standing on the thing.

[Oldjim]

There is a problem with that padlock

You need to unlock it with the use key not the frob key

Having unlocked it you can then frob it open

[MirceaKitsune]

I knew this would be a mission with great visuals and attention to detail when I saw Melan, and it certainly was! Especially for something done during a speed build, it was quite impressive. I can't say it did a lot in the scare or surprise department however, and I think the lack of more diverse enemies in more areas was a small downside.

 

Spoiler

That padlock key also gave me a few headaches. Since after it took me some time to find it, I noticed that it wasn't working! I had to look through this thread for answers, and someone mentioned that the normal frob key doesn't work and you have to press use instead.

[grayman]

Late to the party.

 

Sort of confused as to where to go. Getting into one of the homes seems to require leaping, which I'm terrible at, and have been unsuccessful in a half-dozen attempts.

 

Will continue wandering around.

[MirceaKitsune]

Late to the party.

 

Sort of confused as to where to go. Getting into one of the homes seems to require leaping, which I'm terrible at, and have been unsuccessful in a half-dozen attempts.

 

Will continue wandering around.

 

Spoiler

Go in the ruined / unfinished building, opposite from the alley you exit through when you start the game. Climb all the way to the top, then alongside the edge of the neighboring building. On that ledge there are some boxes and a dead guy, the key is next to him.

[grayman]

Spoiler

Go in the ruined / unfinished building, opposite from the alley you exit through when you start the game. Climb all the way to the top, then alongside the edge of the neighboring building. On that ledge there are some boxes and a dead guy, the key is next to him.

Yes, I found the key when I was up there and decided to pick up the body and toss it down to annoy the zombies.

I had to read through spoilers to figure out how to use the key; that was certainly a different mechanic than what we're used to.

But I've wandered through as much as I can find, and still haven't satisfied any objectives. I guess it's time to go back to the spoilers.

[grayman]

Was unable to finish this one.

[Ladro]

I really ejoyed your mission, Melan :-)

 

I like your visual style and how you create roof path :-D

 

Thank you so much!