Ryan101

Enjoyed this one quite a bit - two issues I came across was the switch in the secret passage no longer being frobbable if you accidentally prevent the trap door from opening fully. Kinda game breaking unless you have a previous save. Second was the sacks of loot not being fully cooperative. They're kind of a pain to move around - but I suppose that was the point! Anyway, I really loved the idea of side objectives and hints, they're an excellent use of the before-mission shop. My only complaint there is that there's really no reason -not- to take on side objectives, since they cost nothing, but I struggle to think up a way to make them more meaningful beyond making the player have more stuff to do. Hm... Oh, and the minimalist in me balks at the frankly embarrassing amount of loot in this FM, but that's more of a personal quibble. Was also one of those rare missions where I didn't mind screwing up and killing guards - this is too much money to leave in the hands of mercy, after all.

Excellent work! Nice, mysterious story (lot of omens in this one) that's well told, mostly through readables and judicious use of cutscenes. The ship is very well made and I think my favorite detail was the rather simple addition of swaying that made it seem like we were actually moving. Very life like! I also really like the sequence towards the end with the house - excellent use of music to establish tension. This is also practically begging for a sequel (which I'm pretty sure you're cognizant of ) so get it done quick, damn you!

An assassination mission done perfectly - I like the implications of some of the journals you read, what they say about the main character, and how it calls the central premise into question. Bravo! This really looked nice, too, and I liked how exploiting the AI's tendencies became more about stalking prey, rather than pure avoidance. Very Hitman-esque. I'd have preferred more readables, but what little I saw was brilliantly written and wove themselves into the plot fairly well - favorite bit was the wife's journal. Is this the start of a new series of assassin missions? If so, gimme more

A handsome little mission - I mostly enjoyed the narrative flourishes and voice acting, although at times it all came off as a bit "too" blunt for my liking (I kinda rolled my eyes at the Garret reference, as well as the typical noble "I may be a drunk, but who cares what my servants think?" shtick.) I gotta give props for a good intro with the sewer section - it was very atmospheric and I appreciated the fence character leading you around and explaining the mission, rather than relegating it all to a text dump at the very beginning; it's a narrative technique rarely used in The Dark Mod. I'm echoing Moonbo's narrative bug complaints, btw. Where'd you learn to do the water droplets thing on the windows? Loved it. Gameplay wise, I don't have much to say other than that mission was well constructed. Good work.

I enjoyed this mission a lot - it favorably reminds me of Sotha's "The Phrase Book," with the rooftop focus and endless sprawl of Bridgeport right in the background. Like any good city map, it's densely atmospheric, populated with events and hints of things happening just out of sight. I especially like how you manage to incorporate a lot of the principle TDM factions (the Builders, Inventor's Guild, the Watch, thuggish body guards, aristocratic backbiters, etc) into the map. It makes Bridgeport feel properly claustrophobic and overcrowded with competing influences. Anyway, I'm a sucker for urban settings, so you hit the nail right on the head with this one. My only complaint with the visuals is that a few of the locations feel a smidge too barren - although I'm sure you had to contend with engine limitations after a certain point, so it's easily excused. The chief offenders were the Watch headquarters and Inventor's Guild. I didn't find anything too challenging - actually, the biggest challenge was just in finding my way around. I got lost more than a few times and had to resort to using noclip to reorient myself - some better signposting for where you're ultimately meant to be going would be nice. I also found myself a little too well equipped and not having to use any of my tools that often. Eh. More tool austerity might be fitting. In terms of plot, I really liked how you incorporated the use of recording devices - nice voice acting, too. The readables presented an easily followed, over-arching narrative, awash in the usual blackmail, death threats, and backbiting I love about this setting. I really liked how you kept alluding to where the plot would eventually take us, with all the references to . Nice work. So yeah, overall; really nice work, and I can't wait for the next one

I liked this mission overall...

This is definitely among the best FMs I've ever played for TDM. I'm really not sure what else I can add, as every element of this mission melds together seamlessly to create a sublime experience. No complaints whatsoever - if you don't make any more of these it'd be a travesty.

A really nice FM - the three playthroughs are all fairly solid, although I'd argue that the assassin kinda gets the short shrift and is done far too quickly. It's a little too straightforward, especially if you get into character and don't bother to loot the place overly much. The thief and sabotuer missions give you a slightly better impression of the map - especially the sabotuer, which is very intricate and involving. My favorite playthrough by far. I love all the small details in this map, including the tiny call backs to previous FMs. The architecture isn't particularly striking but it looks very servicable for what the map wants to convey. Nice work!

A truly fantastic little mission - it's got the right amount of readables and environmental story telling to convey the plot. Although undead have kinda gotten to be a stale trope in a lot of fan missions, they're implemented here pretty sensibly. Finally, it looks beautiful - one person summed it up well that you make excellent use of space, making the map appear bigger than it actually is. Vertically oriented maps are some of my favorites. Looking forward to more Penny Dreadfuls in the future! I'm guessing the Grail of Regrets will live up to its name some time in the future...

Just got done with this for the first time - superb mission, basically hit every note it needed to hit in terms of story and atmosphere. What I really liked was how you crafted a small neighborhood and filled it with such unpleasant, incestuous intrigue, which is so perfectly Thief-like. The climax was also well done. Great work!

(I'm unable to view the beta thread, sorry!) Just wanted to mention that I've had a similar crashing issue, with the last save invariably being corrupted - this generally happens at the tail end, so I've mostly gotten a fairly complete experience of the mission without actually having ever been able to complete it, haha. But yeah, I've tried three times to play, have gotten through most of it each time, but inevitably encountered a corrupting crash. It's a great mission overall, I just wish I could finish it, lol. I should clarify that I tried to play through this a few months ago, back when TDM was in 1.08, and still crashed, so while I'm certainly not an expert, my problem at least isn't tied to 2.0.

Very much improved from the original - fantastic job.

Fantastic FM that's not particularly long or confusing. Has just enough of a well written story to drive things forward and offer hints to the player. Very refreshing, actually, haha. Anyway, loved the voice acting, the aesthetics, atmosphere, etc. The voice overs for the enemies were particularly creepy. One particular quibble I have is with the Lich Queen hereself, who sounds like, well, a chambermaid. Give 'er a creepy voice! Voted three in the "unusual gameplay" department cause it didn't feel all that unusual to me - it just felt normal, which is good, I suppose! Anyway, fantastic work, as always. Definitely looking forward to more Thomas Porter in the future.

Yeah, I also wanna emphasize that for a first mission this is amazingly well done, and it even felt like the product of a veteran level designer. Just, yeah, some additional clues would be nice next time

Not a bad FM; like a few others, I had similar problems with the code lock and was forced to use noclip. I also have to echo the complaint about the book not showing up in the orderly room - at the very least move it to a desk, don't put it on a book shelf where it'll just blend in with no highlighting, lol. I also absolutely despise forced ghosting and it proved no small frustration for me, having to constantly spam the reload button the second someone suspected I was there. Make it an optional objective instead, please. This mission was well crafted, though, and I enjoyed what little story there was. Nice work.

My feelings on this FM are overall positive, but tinged with a bit of frustration and boredom for the better half of my play time (nearly two hours, one of which was spent looking for a hunk of cheese :-/) Going through the same rooms over and over again, looking for such an incredibly mundane object is not my idea of fun. The usual technique is to provide the player with written clues as to where some of these things can be found - that's part of the exploration and puzzle element - associating text clues with locations we've visited, or expect to visit, and working out where we can find loot. Most of the text provided is either related to the story (I'm still curious how the spiders are associated with the undead you find roaming around. Zombie plague?) or simply flavor. Which is fine, but generally you want flavor text to actually serve a specific purpose; an example would be, say, a Builder priest moaning about his alcoholism and the bottle of expensive brandy he has hidden in his floor safe. Stuff like that. In this mission, the only connection I could find between documents and the level was the document about the wrench location. Oh, and the robot. But everything else was just kinda flavor and served little purpose. By this token, I often found myself blundering into objectives - the crystals I was able to accept as part of the general exploration element, but the pure water and the provisions (well, one of them, anyway) were all happened upon purely by chance. It was kinda frustrating and, unfortunately towards the end, quite boring. But I loved the design of this level, though, and, as has been said, the non-linearity. There are many legitimate ways of moving around this level, and it was thrilling to unexpectedly run into an undead, knowing I had at least three escape routes I could use to get away from him. I liked the general atmosphere and the presentation - I like it when everything in a level looks and feels like it has some actual real world purpose, AND serves as a facilitator for good gameplay. Well done, on that part. However, again, the actual story details and clues were woefully lacking and the enjoyment I was getting from exploration quickly wore thin Still, I liked this level overall because it looks good and feels good. It just doesn't always play good, lol.

An extremely solid FM. I've got one helluva cold so I can't think of any more specific comments, but maybe I'll add them later. You should feel proud of this, and I hope to see more in this campaign soon!

I thought this was a really nice mission and the story really struck a chord with me. I'm gay myself so I kinda empathized with the poor priest and his former lover-turned-zombie. The romantic drive of the plot was a nice turn away from the usual "gotta pay the rent so I guess it's time to raid a heavily guarded mansion" motivation. The beginning FMV didn't bother me at all and I liked its minimalist style - it doesn't tell you much about who these people are, but the moodiness made me feel for them regardless. There's a pervasive feeling of tragedy throughout this which doesn't make me feel too optimistic for the future of the nameless protagonist and his lady friend. In terms of gameplay, I thought it was servicable; simple enough to navigate, and I easily found that second, alternate route, although it took me a few tries to successfully mantle those wooden posts. Could have done with less worthless rooms and loot that doesn't really contribute towards anything besides player greed... although, maybe that's the point? Heh. Anyway, I liked this a lot. Thanks for making it!