Jump to content
The Dark Mod Forums

Fan Mission: The Sons of Baltona 1 by Carnage (2010/01/09)


Carnage

  

58 members have voted

  1. 1. Gameplay: Enjoyment. Fun duration. Smooth flow, ect. Versus Bugs. Frustration, Boredom, framelag

  2. 2. Appearance: Visual pleasure, lighting, visual style, deduct bad texturing ect.

  3. 3. Story & Text: Story. Text. Briefing. Graphic storytelling (eg, dead nobleman, empty safe open, items strewn.)



Recommended Posts

 

I opened the safe with the button under Anderson's desk, but there were no keys there, just loot. I thought the keys were in the office on the top floor? I've scoured the bookshelf there and cannot find anything that highlights.

 

 

 

 

When you crouch near the bookshelf in the Lord Nelson his study, the book in the lower left corner will be the one you'll need. Shutting the lights might make it easier to see it getting highlighted. The painting behind you will then move. Hope that does the trick.

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Things I didn't like (mostly the same as others have mentioned):

- the interior of the mansion was pretty easy, in stark contrast to the outside (guards frequently stood facing a wall, asking to be KO'd, all lights could be turned off, etc).

 

That's why I added a challenge :). I found it a bit awkward not to place any light switches, otherwise I might had to add in the readables that Lord Nelson couldn't pay his electric bill because he couldn't switch off his lights :P. A main power switch would have solved that problem of course but we learn by mistakes don't we ;).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Never did get to finish this one unfortunately. Got quite a way through , saved for the night , and when I tried to load the save got the message ' 10pvsfreecurrent pvs invalid handle'. Shame , was really enjoying it too.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Never did get to finish this one unfortunately. Got quite a way through , saved for the night , and when I tried to load the save got the message ' 10pvsfreecurrent pvs invalid handle'. Shame , was really enjoying it too.

 

Started again and finished it in just under an hour . Thanks to the maker for this great little mission , can't wait for the next one up !

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Just finished this one, hardest setting (I'm always late playing missions).

 

First off -- before I start nitpicking -- I have great respect for Carnage since he managed to finish and release a complete mission. That's probably more than I'll ever be able to pull off...

 

Most of the issues I had while playing it have been mentioned by others

(got stuck in misplaced playerclip (even in noclip-mode), missed the secret hiding place etc.). Without the help from this thread I couldn't have finished it (teh loot: outside guards, mistook stuff on the dining table for junk).

 

 

Things I like to add are related to the mission's layout and the objectives:

 

 

Layout: Where does this Alice person live? She is referred to as "the lady" and doesn't even have a single private room in the whole mansion? If Nelson really wants her to stay with him he wouldn't treat her like this. Even Elizabeth has a seperate room for herself.

 

When it comes to function I think some rooms were in the wrong place. The Armory would have fitted better on the ground floor (propably changing places with the office). The cell definately belongs underground IMO and the secret entrance really opens up that opportunity.

 

Concerning mission objectives: When you discover your dead buddy you get the "kill Lord Nelson"-goal. At the same time the "do not kill anyone"-goal stays active. While it works in the mission, my real life logic still fails to comprehend how I am supposed to kill someone without killing someone.

 

I think the kill goal buried some great opportunity for nice twists in the story. When it's about revenge: why not let that Nelson person live and teach him lesson? According to his journal Alice is his weakest point. He got involved in crime, even murder, just because he's in love with her. And he doesn't want her to find out. While playing I wished there would be a room of hers where I could drop some kind of evidence.

 

 

As for performance in the outside area it appears to be AI-related.

 

 

When I opened one of the outside doors to rob the guard I got spotted. That caused most of the patrolling guards to investigate that very spot -- including a severe drop in frame rate.

 

 

It took them a long time to finish since the first guards seemed to fall back to an alerted state once new guards arrived at the scene and started investigating the open door. Don't know nothing about AI-internals, but maybe TDM-Guards are missing a way to communicate something like "Move along people, I already looked into this, must have been rats..."

 

I'm looking forward to the next part of this. The author seems to be on a good way.

:)

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

Again, I come late to the voting as I'm late to the playing.

 

But I liked it and even did it on expert with the (progressively more and more) dreaded (for me no knockout, no kill, "ghost it") stipulations; occasionally I can give all that a go, and this was one of those occasions where I was in the mood and trusted that a short mission would suit the occasion.

 

Had some actual full-on freeze-ups in this one... For the first time in TDM:

 

 

trying to get on to the roof from the balcony

 

 

Twice this happened, there, doing that. Had to alt-tab and then kill DOOM3.

"A Rhapsody Of Feigned And Ill-Invented Nonsense" - Thomas Aikenhead, On Theology, ca. 1696

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It happens with some of the visportals and some unknown thing on that map.

The easiest way to reproduce it is by climbing onto the archery target on the balcony and trying to climb onto the roof, it will allow you to mantle altho there is clipping there and as soon as it does that it will crash. This could be a different bug however, but reproduces 100%.

 

The reason I know it happens with visportals is that if you clime the trees next to the start area and try to climb onto the high wall sometimes it will crash while you mantle and other times it will not. The only thing that changes there is that there is a visportal. And there is no clipping to stop you there. There is also another place where there is a vertical (so far both have been horizontal VP's), after running backwards and through it a few times because I saw a black flash it crashed. There was nooooo clipping even remotely near it.

 

Bit of a mystery!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

the mission is nice and looks really big, but there are - with 1.01 - still many image bugs. the light is flickering from normal to dark so that u cant see anything... on many spots of the map, it seems that there are at least to skys at the same time and the game crashes after quickload with this picture...

post-3681-126873287966_thumb.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Finished it this morning, thought I would say thanks for a quite thiefy mission!

 

It started a bit rough when I couldn't get into the mansion... but I see many folks had the same problem with frobs working. There was only one bit of frustrating weirdness that I ran into:

 

 

The hallway guard on the second floor was INVINCIBLE in the entry room, but can be blackjacked in the hall outside Nelson's room.

 

 

It wasn't a complicated plot, in my book, but it was good and well done, adding to the depth of the world.

 

Incidentally, I decided to replay and KO every moving thing for a bit of fun and practice.... the map is so quiet with all the guards stuffed in the garden.

  • Like 1
207115_1788633687853_1599901965_31729336_1424191_n.jpg
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Things I like to add are related to the mission's layout and the objectives:

 

 

Layout: Where does this Alice person live? She is referred to as "the lady" and doesn't even have a single private room in the whole mansion? If Nelson really wants her to stay with him he wouldn't treat her like this. Even Elizabeth has a seperate room for herself.

 

When it comes to function I think some rooms were in the wrong place. The Armory would have fitted better on the ground floor (propably changing places with the office). The cell definately belongs underground IMO and the secret entrance really opens up that opportunity.

 

Concerning mission objectives: When you discover your dead buddy you get the "kill Lord Nelson"-goal. At the same time the "do not kill anyone"-goal stays active. While it works in the mission, my real life logic still fails to comprehend how I am supposed to kill someone without killing someone.

 

I think the kill goal buried some great opportunity for nice twists in the story. When it's about revenge: why not let that Nelson person live and teach him lesson? According to his journal Alice is his weakest point. He got involved in crime, even murder, just because he's in love with her. And he doesn't want her to find out. While playing I wished there would be a room of hers where I could drop some kind of evidence.

 

 

I'm looking forward to the next part of this. The author seems to be on a good way.

smile.gif

 

 

Alice lives with Nelson, so they sleep in the same room. Man and wife should live together right?

 

I agree with the room placement, too bad I didn't think of that.

 

About the don't kill anyone staying active is something I couldn't change, I certainly wanted to. Don't worry about the story, there was a reason that you killed him, you'll find out later :). I already completed the whole story, I just have to build the missions.

 

 

Thanks for the kind words.

 

Note:

 

For some reason I couldn't sign in for a long time and wasn't able to participate in any conversations. I'll participate as much as I can now but I'm still travelling, so sorry if I don't answer in a while.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I enjoyed this very much. Good map, felt big. The AI only got a little goofy one time near the dining room door, where two guards had run into a closed door (one on each side) and just stayed there until I sneaked up and opened the door for the poor oafs.  I played on the highest difficultly and found the challenge to be reasonable, even though there were a TON of guards walking around. It might have been easier sneaking in during the day!

 

Good mission. Keep them coming.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

the mission is nice and looks really big, but there are - with 1.01 - still many image bugs. the light is flickering from normal to dark so that u cant see anything... on many spots of the map, it seems that there are at least to skys at the same time and the game crashes after quickload with this picture...

 

What kind of video card do you have? This sounds like an ATI issue, or at least a driver issue of some sort. I know from your perspective these issues would be 'mod bugs' but in most cases they're simply issues with driver incompatibility, or in the case of ATI cards, issues caused by Catalyst.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 5 weeks later...

Am I the only one who can't find a method of opening the damned vent near the generator to enter the damned tunnels. After over an hour of scouring the our door area, checking guards for keys and items, and checking windows and doors for a way of entry I noclipped through exactly where I assumed the entry point would be, and found that I was correct. The only real problem being that I couldn't find a way to pass through it without noclip. It appears that no one is experiencing the same difficulty I am but it's plain obvious that something is to well hid. I won't continue the game until I discover the hitch that keeps the cover in place and I've already covered then entire park area for some kind of switch.

 

Part of me doesn't wants a hint and another part of me does not. To me it's outrageous that this one hinted-at-from-the-beginning clue can't be discovered easily. And yet I just want to get this experience over with now. I'm not encouraged that it's proving so difficult to ferret out these small details initially. This could mean that the game gets exponentially harder or that after the grating is removed it falls flat on it's face for lack of difficulty.

 

 

 

Another annoyance found in the beginning, I discovered by accident that the second round of gates opened inward instead of forcing the player to vault over them. Considering that many other ep's submitted so far have given the player no choice but to go over instead of through it was confusing to come across an obstacle that I couldn't go over. So it was some minutes before I discovered that the gate opened... and only opened when the center of the screen was directly focused on the joining part of the gate and only that portion of the gate where a lock might be placed. This was an unlocked gate so it makes little sense that I couldn't just push the damn thing open. Know that you can not only open regular doors in darkmod, you can also mantle over them. This would make sense for a gate that's short enough to climb over as well as pass through.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nice story - I especially liked the Anderson\Elisabeth thing. Thanks for this little pretty mission

 

Thank you for your nice comment, makes it worthwhile to continue with the story

 

@ Pigtailsboy: Sorry, I know it's very difficult to find some secrets and will certainly change that in part 2. For now all the solutions are located in this forum and on ttlg as well. That the gate is hard to open is something I couldn't really fix, maybe it was a TDM thing or just my lack of experience. I really wanted the player to open the gate, otherwise it wouldn't make much sense having one. I'm learning as I go, so expect a much better part 2 :D

Edited by Carnage
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Found the damned switch finally after screwing with the gamma levels. But I'll say this. It must be very easy to complete this mission when you're the dunce that created it and not some idiot who's tried to play it. Others may have the tact, grace and good manners to compliment the author of an impossible ep but this doesn't deserve it. It needs fixing so it's less bloody annoying and more bloody PLAYABLE.

 

 

EDIT: Down the final hidden item. But I give. I'm giving up, uninstalling the mission, deleting the save files and then removing the pak. I'm sick of this thing. I'm just trying to relax and forget and all I've ended up doing is stressing out over nothing.

Edited by pigtailsboy
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Found the damned switch finally after screwing with the gamma levels. But I'll say this. It must be very easy to complete this mission when you're the idiot that created it and not some oaf who's tried to play it. Others may have the tact, grace and good manners to compliment the author of an impossible ep but this doesn't deserve it. It needs fixing so it's less bloody annoying and more bloody PLAYABLE.

 

 

EDIT: Down the final hidden item. But I give. I'm giving up, uninstalling the mission, deleting the save files and then removing the pak. I'm sick of this thing.

It's ok to be frustrated about being stuck in a mission, but it's not ok to start name-calling the FM author about that. All others around here are able to formulate their criticism in a more polite way - if you can't see yourself fitting in here, just let me know, ok?

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have to say. Please lets not have a policy of kicking anyone out. Let idiots say idiotic things and if people are bothered by idiotic things said by idiots... they shouldn't be.

 

Free speech is very important and it seems to get stomped everywhere.

 

Just let people say what they want to say; they will only let themselves be known, whether bad or good or somewhere in-between.

 

[/soapbox]

 

Sorry but, it always happens and it's always and ever been the wrong thing to do. So I have to try...

"A Rhapsody Of Feigned And Ill-Invented Nonsense" - Thomas Aikenhead, On Theology, ca. 1696

Link to comment
Share on other sites

people are free to say whatever they think, but this is not the way how it should be. Altough the author said he is sorry about that, that boy still talks nonsense. Go delete all files and make your own fm to tell us how it should be boy, and learn how hard to make a fm then.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have to say. Please lets not have a policy of kicking anyone out. Let idiots say idiotic things and if people are bothered by idiotic things said by idiots... they shouldn't be. Free speech is very important and it seems to get stomped everywhere.

Hey, I know a few people who are chronically impolite and lacking manners. Let's bring them over discussing stuff they don't like, and I'd suggest you do the same with all your friends who have a similar problem articulating themselves in a polite fashion. I'm sure we can build up a nice little fucktard community around here, oh wouldn't this be nice?

 

Freedom of speech is one thing, bluntly insulting community members is the other. If I as a moderator think that people are pointlessly throwing words around, I'll say so, and I'll go as far as kicking them, yes. Showing a minimal level of politeness is not too much to ask for, freedom of speech has nothing to do with that. That freedom doesn't mean I'll have to swallow every piece of shit people are unloading into our forum, just because they think they're anonymous.

 

http://www.techybytes.com/userimages/user2181_1165580782.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Showing a minimal level of politeness is not too much to ask for, freedom of speech has nothing to do with that.

 

Seconded.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, I kinda knew it would get that reaction, but try I do...

 

Hey, I know a few people who are chronically impolite and lacking manners. Let's bring them over discussing stuff they don't like, and I'd suggest you do the same with all your friends who have a similar problem articulating themselves in a polite fashion. I'm sure we can build up a nice little fucktard community around here, oh wouldn't this be nice?

 

Nah. Why? That would be an assholish thing to do and anyone I care to bother about would see it as such and thereafter see us as assholes until we either explained ourselves or further confirmed the fact that we are assholes by continuing to do assholish things. ;)

 

Quite simple really. And then we needn't even bring in banishment, muzzling, threats of such (and/or arbitrary concepts like politeness, vulgarity, minimal... which are "whimsical" -- as in, often used to justify otherwise motivated "moderation").

 

Anyway. I tried. I feel I must always try.

 

Sorry, I'll drop it now as it's off topic and I've said my piece. Thanks.

Edited by aidakeeley

"A Rhapsody Of Feigned And Ill-Invented Nonsense" - Thomas Aikenhead, On Theology, ca. 1696

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Cheers for your comments guys. Too bad that there are always a few people that think it's necessary to flame. I'm glad that the community is very polite (except for this dude) and totally support it to keep it this way. Shouldn't be too difficult I reckon. Lets get back on topic again :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.


  • Recent Status Updates

    • Petike the Taffer

      I've finally managed to log in to The Dark Mod Wiki. I'm back in the saddle and before the holidays start in full, I'll be adding a few new FM articles and doing other updates. Written in Stone is already done.
      · 4 replies
    • nbohr1more

      TDM 15th Anniversary Contest is now active! Please declare your participation: https://forums.thedarkmod.com/index.php?/topic/22413-the-dark-mod-15th-anniversary-contest-entry-thread/
       
      · 0 replies
    • JackFarmer

      @TheUnbeholden
      You cannot receive PMs. Could you please be so kind and check your mailbox if it is full (or maybe you switched off the function)?
      · 1 reply
    • OrbWeaver

      I like the new frob highlight but it would nice if it was less "flickery" while moving over objects (especially barred metal doors).
      · 4 replies
    • nbohr1more

      Please vote in the 15th Anniversary Contest Theme Poll
       
      · 0 replies
×
×
  • Create New...