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More dubious yeah: there could be a pipe leaking gas or moving machinery with KO stims and the player could lure AI to the area (don't ask me who's responsible for the outcome).

Thanks @datiswous and @nbohr1more (and @Daft Mugi for the icon)

Hidden Hands: Initiation Download via the ingame downloader. Latest update is version 3 (released 16/02/2021) Explore Blackstone Island to become a full-fledged member of the “Hidden Hands”! General: TDM version: 2.06 EFX: yes Play time: ca. 5 – 7 hours (depending on play style and difficulty settings) Type: island with several sections (manor, sewers, cabin, bank, graveyard, church and crypts) Enemies: guards, thieves, spiders, mages and extra-natural entities Known problems: 1. The noblewoman sitting in the pavilion can sometimes not be knocked out without failing the mission in general; decent thieves should leave her alone anyway. (version 1 and version 2) 2. If combination locks do not work when using correct codes, then please go to Settings - Gameplay - and change the option "Open doors on unlock" to the value "yes". (version 1) Gameplay differences (apart from changes in the objectives list): Easy: Less enemies, less lights, many light switches Medium: More enemies, alternative AI routes, more lights, some light switches Hard: Even more enemies, alternative AI routes, even more lights, less light switches Development: Build time: November 2017 – November 2018 Beta testing: November/December 2018 Beta testers: Boiler’s_hiss (aka “The Architect’s Darling”) s.urfer (aka “The Punisher”) Cambridge Spy Abusimplea Performance checks: Duzenko Contributors: - ERH+ arranged/created the setup for the puzzle in Adrian's Crypt - I don't understand what he did exactly (alchemy?), but it works as it should. - Destined provided a custom skin for an interior module and wrote a new definition for the spider bots, enabling those beasts to move through tunnels. - Joebarnin provided a fix to make the combination locks work. - Amadeus revised and edited all in-game readables, maps, and signs. He created the final mission title "Hidden Hands: Initiation" as well as gave some special items heroic names, such as "Axe of Fury" or "Orb of Will". - Grayman fixed the frobbing problems with the hidden wall safe and combination lock. Pilfered items: - Floating boat setup and thief's message box re-created from maps originally developed by Bikerdude. - Patch section with rocks and vegetation surrounding the graveyard originally developed and arranged by Sotha for one of his missions. - Frobbox booster re-created from a map originally developed by Grayman. Special thanks to: - Springheel, Sotha, and Fidcal for the tutorials. Great work from all of you! - Destined, Grayman, ERH+, and Springheel for patiently answering my questions via PM. - Boiler’s_hiss for the hint how to change the church roof section - nbohr1more for moral support during a critical phase of the map development - Duzenko for improvement tips - all others not mentioned here who answered my questions in the Newbie thread or via PM. All new ambient music and sound effects written, performed and mixed by Jack Farmer. "S.urfer's Lament" (.ogg filename: "easyexit") featuring MC Deickler on the drums. More pictures:

Yeah, feels like mapped after too much LSD, thus Hidden Hands: Blackstone Island will replace this mission sometime in the future. It will be a complete remake of HHI as a five-mission campaign. Each area will be build from scratch and two of the original locations (the cabin and the mansion) will be replaced with totally different areas.

After replaying this mission several years later, I see the scale issues that others have reported. Everything is scaled way too large with everything looking horizontally stretched. It's really distracting. Maybe after playing fan missions for so long, my perception has changed. I also experienced some bugs this time such as failing the mission when knocking out a sleeping guard because somehow that actually kills them? There was another bug too where my blackjack disappeared in the cabin area.

Ah, it's the Aniso x16 issue. I forgot to turn it down to x8. That's an issue going way back, by the way: sometimes when you look at a surface at acute angles, you get GPU load spikes, without any visible reason. I never had problems with other games going all the way to AF x16. Wonder what's with that in TDM. Anyway, I tested it with uncap FPS and VSync off too. I've never heard my GPU fans being this loud Default material: Geometry: POM:

Avoiding arguements, made it into a cvar: tdm_invgrid_sortstyle

Don't care. Also, I never added weapons in the grid, so someone already changed that.

LOL, many team members and players objected to the inventory grid feature in the first place. I think most team members are agnostic about any further development on it other than it's visual design. If players really want something improved about it, I doubt anyone but Durandall would be precious about changing the current design. Most of the core team would rather you become proficient with the classic hot-keys and key-rings.

I don't understand Ass Creed and the Ubisoft Template games at all. They are busywork simulators and 90% of the content there is boring indeed - and so many people seem to just love these things... The content is spread so thin that Ubisoft puts paid permanent XP boosters and stuff like that. So they're basically saying, "The game you bought for over 60 bucks is boring, pay us a little extra to make it better". Indie games can suffer from that as well, although typically without predatory practices, so the problem lies more with pacing. I bounced off Void Bastards lately, twice actually, because it seemed repetitive and lacking variety in its opening stages. Or maybe it's just me and my impatience?

Problem with bigger scale is that you both have to fill bigger spaces with more stuff, and that you actually make movement speed feel slower. Running feels like walking, walking is like sneaking etc. Before you start making a mission, it's good to study relationship between player movement speed, FOV, and environment scale, to make most out of it.

OK, finally finished the mission this evening. Overall an interesting concept, and an engaging storyline. I did like the varied environments, but I do have to agree with Judith here. The scale of things are just off the charts. The mansion should have probably been 1/4 of its size, and the bank and church 1/2. The cabin was realistic and challenging though. To be fair I might be slightly biased, generally preferring (and mapping) compact designs. It was a little tedious having to return to the bank in order to hit the vaults of people elsewhere on the island, but the idea is really cool! I think the take away here is to not overreach by trying to put too much into one FM. It's hard, I routinely have to catch myself while mapping. Basically ask myself: I like this idea, but am I ready to put another 100 hours into the mission to fully flesh it out? All in all a great little huge first mission, and it will be fun to see where the Hidden Hands will take us next!

IMO the biggest problem here is scale. Even while running, the distances feel very, very long. There's a good test you can do: set up a few corridors of different height and width, put a couple of objects and lights, and see how much time you need before running or walking in a straight line starts to feel boring.