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Fan Mission: The Beleaguered Fence by Sotha (2010/06/23)


Sotha

Fan Mission: The Beleaguered Fence by Sotha (2010/06/23)  

47 members have voted

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

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

  3. 3. 3. Story & Text: Story. Text. Briefing. Graphic storytelling



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Hello.

Lark is man in the coffin on 1 floor round cells? And Hammerite here sometimes comes.

I don't understand - where need hide body.

 

Check the prison records from the guard booth to see which prisoner is in which cell. Also you were shown a picture of Lark in the briefing.

 

In the objectives it is clearly stated:

"Get Lark out before he is interrogated! Help him hide in the haycart near the way you came."

Clipper

-The mapper's best friend.

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  • 1 year later...

The master at work, another very Thief styled mission. Long, pretty difficult that relies on all the basics to present challenging mission, nicely detailed without doing anything unusual. A master thief at work would have trouble getting out of this place without the guards seeing you, first I distracted them with a noise maker so you'd have to do it a second time if you do not wish to black jack them both. Getting all the keys is rather difficult considering unlocking something standing right behind someone would in real life make noise.. so realistically getting all the necessary keys would be impossible without blacking at least that one guard. But hey, it has to be possible to ghost the mission otherwise it would not be in the spirit of Thief even if a master thief would more likely do something practical & not take unnecessary risks even if it means breaking the illusion that a "ghost" robbed the place when a guard is found with a bump on the noggin.

 

+Visuals

+Difficulty presented is the patrolling guards usually overlap their routes so knocking anyone out is not a good idea, realistically speaking, and the amount of time where a area is unguarded amongst the patrols presents a small window of opportunity so you have to play smart and move fast. Getting the map helps but makes the beginning a tad more difficult as you have to make your way to the evidence key first.

+Readables where nice but

-I couldn't find the captains journal

-that lava area was a tad to immersive breaking for me

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  • 5 months later...

Great FM. Loved it. Here is my feedback...

 

The story says I activated the alarm in The Knighton Manor, but I disabled it. :D

 

Although I can carry 2x Officer's Key (stacked) I can't carry 2x Triangle/Snake Lockpick. I bought Lockpicks and a Map at the begining, so after finding my old Lockpicks, I had to leave them there. What if one of my current Lockpicks breaks? I want a spare pair! :D

 

Sleeping guard in the corner drops through the floor if he wakes up while I'm crouching near his bed. Also, it's just now that I found out sleeping people can be woken up only by my proximity. I don't move at all, yet they wake up just because I'm too close.

 

As for the Heaven Crystal, I did have a Holy Water but as I failed to find a trap door in captain's office so I didn't know what I have to do with it. I just took it and ran, jumped, took one hit and survived. They couldn't follow.

 

Also, even though I found out I can enter through two windows, I didn't see there was a third one, therefore not finding the Lantern and a stash. But, I did found that secret passageway in the wall which leads to the keys cabinet. :)

 

Even though I read in what cell my fence is being held, I decided to let everyone loose just for the fun. Turned out that was a bad idea as I ended up with a stealth score of 71. The alerts from escaping prisoners were added to my stealth score, which would otherwise be under 10 for sure. This is what I get for trying to have a little fun. :P

 

I feared I wouldn't be able exit through the window I entered while carrying the body, but luckily I could, otherwise I would have used the balcony.

 

1bw1.th.jpg

 

 

Also, one thing troubles me...

 

People in this thread are talking about bringing a candle to the cavern and lighting the two statues to open the door. I didn't have to do that, the door was already laying on the ground for me. How come? Did you altered that part?

 

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Sleeping guard in the corner drops through the floor if he wakes up while I'm crouching near his bed. Also, it's just now that I found out sleeping people can be woken up only by my proximity. I don't move at all, yet they wake up just because I'm too close.

 

 

 

Sleepers wake up if they hear something, or if they're touched, or if their nap is timed and it times out. Being close to one w/o touching him has no effect.

 

When the sleeper fell through the floor, where exactly were you? Did he touch you as his wake-up animation played?

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Sleepers wake up if they hear something, or if they're touched, or if their nap is timed and it times out. Being close to one w/o touching him has no effect.

 

I just went to test that out to be sure. Crouch walking near them will wake them up, though they won't say anything, they will just stand up. But, crouch creeping won't wake them up. So yeah, I was wrong, sorry about that.

 

When the sleeper fell through the floor, where exactly were you? Did he touch you as his wake-up animation played?

 

At first I also thought that might be the case, but if he touches me as he wakes up, he will just push me away. I went to reproduce it and managed to do it only once out of 20 tries. But that one time he fell through, it looked like something made him "slide" a bit during the waking sequence, but while still in the lying position.

 

EDIT: Found a way to reproduce it every time. Crouch-jump near his pillow during the waking sequence.

Edited by eqagunn
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If he's sliding toward the edge of the bed where he stands, that might be part of the wakeup process. AI can be given a "sliding" distance that helps them move more toward the center of the bed when they lie down. When waking up, they'd reverse that and slide toward the edge of the bed before standing.

 

The fix to the falling problem was to keep a sleeper from being alerted during the wakeup animation. Since sliding precedes the actual animation, he might be getting alerted during the slide, dropping his origin through the floor and throwing everything out of whack.

 

I'll post an issue for this and examine it for 2.01. Thanks.

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  • 9 months later...

The interlocking stories and recurring characters are a rare treat. Of course, that's the strength of making a series of missions, but it's made to seem more novel because it's absent in so many other TDM missions. The plot, characters, and readables are becoming more of a treat as the series progresses.

 

I'm usually pleased when there are particularly difficult AI paths, or overlapping paths and tricky lighting and such. There were 2-3 places where I'd expect to hear some grumblings about it being slightly unfair to the player, but for me these are welcome challenges.

 

It would be unfair of me to expect an experience as perfect as the previous mission and next mission (Knighton and Glenham), which are, and likely will continue to be, at or near the top of my favorite fan missions ever. But this was a solid level.

The one curiosity I noticed was the redundant equipment in the storage locker which, depending on what items you purchase after the briefing, are made obsolete. I would have preferred to be lacking lockpicks for the early part of the level, for example, rather than buying them and then not having a use for the ones you find later.

 

Also, I was neither for nor against the undead pit beneath the jail cells. It was an interesting find, and thrillingly executed, even if I wasn't quite sure how it was supposed to fit into the setting. The "heart" of the mission, so to speak, was elsewhere, and that was what I focused on.

 

Lastly, the guard at the beginning heard me as I spawned. This may be a 2.02 sound thing that didn't exist before. It wasn't a problem, he just stopped briefly then continued walking, but I wanted to point it out i case it was unintended.

 

 

Thanks as always for you work. I'm looking forward to finishing the series soon.

Edited by Digi

"Fancy burricks are afraid of dogs, if they encounter each other the dog barks and the burricks poop." - Thief: Deadly Shadows Game Designer

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Lastly, the guard at the beginning heard me as I spawned. This may be a 2.02 sound thing that didn't exist before. It wasn't a problem, he just stopped briefly then continued walking, but I wanted to point it out i case it was unintended.

Yeah, that's a known 2.02 issue that affects a few map starts, not a feature of this map. It'll stop happening in 2.03.

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  • 8 months later...

Hi, I am currently playin the mission and so far I really like it (although I also had trouble getting inside...). Anyway, I have a problem right now (I hope I am not spoiling anything, but given that the last entry is over a year old and I don't know how to insert this spoiler thing I will just continue): I have stolen the key from the guard patrolling the cells. Problem is: now he is walking in circles before the door, since he doesn't have the key anymore and thus cannot open the door. He is walking in circles before the door and that is why I cannot pass him. Do you have any suggestions? Otherwise I will have to start over again and just not steal the key from him...

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Which TDM version are you using? Stealing keys should not cause circling issues, so it must be a TDM but. If possible, take a save game when the AI is circling: perhaps it is useful in solving the circling issue?

Clipper

-The mapper's best friend.

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@Oldjim: Blackjacking is not possible, since I cannot reach the guard undetected. At the point of my save, he is just about to reach the door and then starts circling. In addition there is another guard posted there, that would immediately spot me if I tried to reach the other one. The boradhead might work, I will have to test that.

 

@Sotha: I am using TDM version 2.03 and also have downloaded the mission just recently (so I assume it is also the latest version). I have taken a save game whith the AI circling and to be honest this is the problem: I made a Quicksave right after stealing the key (not knowing at this point that I already have it), while in the shadows near the stairs to the cells. That's the reason, why I have to start all over, if I cannot solve the issue :(

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Can you upload the save somewhere? Grayman might be interested to take a look what is causing the circling.

 

Don't start over, just cheat your way past the guard.

 

Open the console (press ctrl + alt + tilde (the button below ESC).

Type notarget (the AI becomes blind and you can walk past him.)

Or type noclip (you can fly through walls)

After you get past the malfunctioning AI, just open the console again and repeat the command to restore normal game behavior.

Clipper

-The mapper's best friend.

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  • 4 months later...

I am playing this missue too on TDM 2.03 and I got another problem, or maybe I am just dumb ;). I sneaked down into the jail, got the diamond by just running past all the undead and found the fence uncouncious in one of the cells (I guess it's the guy with the redish clothes). Now how should I get him outside? You don't expect me to drag him up the stairs and everything! What am I missing here?

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Ah, I almost guessed as much, but couldn't find anything in the controls section. Maybe a hint could be added there?

Found out you can do that only this week while playing NHAT. Surprises!

"I really perceive that vanity about which most men merely prate — the vanity of the human or temporal life. I live continually in a reverie of the future. I have no faith in human perfectibility. I think that human exertion will have no appreciable effect upon humanity. Man is now only more active — not more happy — nor more wise, than he was 6000 years ago. The result will never vary — and to suppose that it will, is to suppose that the foregone man has lived in vain — that the foregone time is but the rudiment of the future — that the myriads who have perished have not been upon equal footing with ourselves — nor are we with our posterity. I cannot agree to lose sight of man the individual, in man the mass."...

- 2 July 1844 letter to James Russell Lowell from Edgar Allan Poe.

badge?user=andarson

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  • 2 months later...
  • 1 month later...

My usual work, as I'm sure you expected, Sotha.

Definitely a lovely mission, although I had some issues with guards getting caught on doors.

You certainly

forced arrow usage out of me for the exit.

 

I can't say I liked the inevitable retcon over my performance in the last mission, so I suppose having a different idea of the continuity in my head will just have to sate me.

 

Hope you find it befitting of your level.

Edited by V-Man339

I like to record difficult stealth games, and right now you wonderful people are the only ones delivering on that front.

Click here for the crappy channel where that happens.

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Ohhh, I was supposed to shoot the crystal in the ceiling! Well, I had all that holy water and those arrows just sitting there anyway....

 

(There's a spot in back of the pedestal that's perfectly dark. Crouch there, shoot noisemaker up the hall to distract, shoot haunt in the back with fire arrow, bless water arrows and soak grouped-up zombies. I needed a few tries mostly bc I hate leaving undead walking around if I can possibly put them down, poor things.)

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