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Fan Mission: Reap as you sow by Fieldmedic (2011/06/19)


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49 members have voted

  1. 1. Seasonal Theme captured?

    • No Season defined
      1
    • Barely defined Season
      1
    • Season is clear, nothing more
      11
    • Season is captured well
      22
    • Near Perfect, evokes the feel of the Season
      14
  2. 2. Gameplay: Enjoyment. Fun duration. Smooth flow, ect. Versus Bugs. Frustration, Boredom, framelag?

    • *
      0
    • * *
      11
    • * * *
      21
    • * * * *
      12
    • * * * * *
      5
  3. 3. Aesthetics: Visual pleasure, lighting, visual style. Audio, use mood. Storytelling and consistency?

    • *
      0
    • * *
      3
    • * * *
      14
    • * * * *
      23
    • * * * * *
      9


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This is how the tension meter works:

 

When the arrow is on green, the tension is low. Nobody will harm you.

If you do something suspicious the tension goes to the middle = Tension is high. If anyone sees you, they'll either attack you, or flee from you and the tension hits red = Your cover is blown. Suspicious things are: Stealing, KO:ing, going where you don't belong (Like moving up to the door, as to enter the barn, or going past the sign near the hay.)

 

As I forgot to mention that the maze hasn't opened yet (That would have been another hint among the objectives) I say it flat out:

 

"The maze hasn't opened yet, better search the houses first."

 

 

 

I'm really starting to wonder if uploading this was a very smart idea...

 

I get the tension meter - its pretty self explanetory but still don't know where to go as everything I've done except stay in the main courtyard sets it high and someone attacks me. A hint or more would be helpful at this point. I would really like to give this a go as it looks intriguing. Thanks. I haven't tried jumping a wall yet at the front maybe will try that. Again what am I missing?

Edited by Thiefette
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Completed...

 

 

 

Oh man..

 

I wished this to be cool. I wished this to work. But nay. It didn't work for me and that makes me sad.

 

This mission kinda proves my point (until someone proves otherwise with TDM) that daylight missions simply do not work. There were only a few guard patrolling outside but I had to constantly do frustrating save-loading because I got busted within seconds. You can't even peek around a corner without getting the AI freaking out instantly. In the bright locales, there was no-where to run and hide-> reload.

 

The interiors were sane and fun. But the difficulty was so insane that this mission cannot be passed without constant save-loading, something I hate.

 

I did like the sound work you did in the tunnels. Very nice. Got me interested in the mission again as I was just about to give up.

 

The outside environment looked washed out. Most of the geometry was in 90 degree angles. I think many of the appearance-problems would have been okay if the mission happened in the darkness of the night. There were some cool and neat details though, like the windmill and the horse carriage. Interiors were fine, but mostly very simple and could have used some little extra spice.

 

Did you betatest? I found plenty of bugs ranging from get-stuck ladders (tunnels) to disappearing black walls (barn second floor). There was even an inventory crippling bug if the player tries to read the book he gets from one of the corpses in the winter-place. Some of the readables had page-breaks so that the end of the sentence is never seen in the next page. The guy sleeping in the guard house got up, searched for me and then went to sleep floating in the air. The large amount of bugs I encountered gave a very sloppy impression.

 

And then the readables. I know I started the poll and in that I declared I love reading those, but in this mission... Well... I just screamed 'NOOooo!' at the monitor when I encountered yet another book with trivial things or the same story repeated again and again. You could have accomplished a neat information flow with much lower amount of readables.

 

I really wished I had liked this. There were many good ideas, like the tension meter and daylight gameplay with prohibited areas.. But the good ideas fell short and the end product, unfortunately, was not enjoyable for me at all.

 

Season was clear.

Gameplay two stars. (Bugs, insane difficulty, save-loading..)

Aesthetics exterior one star, interior three stars, so the end verdict is something like two stars.

 

 

 

While I cannot speak for the majority of the level, I would like to hear more on your criticism on the readibles. However, as I do not wish to derail Fieldmedic's thread, could we please do it via PMs?

 

I get the tension meter - its pretty self explanetory but still don't know where to go as everything I've done except stay in the main courtyard sets it high and someone attacks me. A hint or more would be helpful at this point. I would really like to give this a go as it looks intriguing. Thanks. I haven't tried jumping a wall yet at the front maybe will try that.

 

The main thing to remember is that as a detective, your job is to investigate. Just because the tension meter goes yellow doesn't mean that you shouldn't go snooping around ;)

Edited by Ziggun

- Writer Ascendant >

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Regarding the daylight sneaking:

 

 

There is only a few places where you'll have to sneak in daylight.

 

 

 

One is the guard patroling the front gravel yard and one in the main yard where the maid is. (The female near the well) so you can get inside the houses.

 

 

and

 

 

When you have reached the snowland, you'll have to do some minor sneaking to dump the bodies. We thought about having to move somewhere else with the bodies, but that idéa was scrapped instantly because it would result in REALLY tedious/frustrating gameplay

 

 

 

 

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I don't want to read any spoilers, but I can't even get started with this mission. How do I get into the hedge maze? The gate is closed and I can't find any way to open it. Everywhere else I try to go I am instantly attacked.

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I don't want to read any spoilers, but I can't even get started with this mission. How do I get into the hedge maze? The gate is closed and I can't find any way to open it. Everywhere else I try to go I am instantly attacked.

 

 

 

I too had this problem. The solution seem to be timing and dumb luck.

 

If you want to know the way I did it then read on.

 

 

 

When the first guard had his back turned and the maid wasn't around I ran very quickly around the fence that runs off the barn, past the well (see map) and hid behind some boxes by the barn so I could time the next run. There's a door on the side of the house that I ran into and waited on the wood pile for the patroling guard to do his rounds - careful he also goes through this door.

 

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liked this mission, but came to a point that i am bugged and cant seem to continue

 

 

just went to the snow scene and shot bernhard, then went to dump those corpses. 1st problem, after dumping to the nearest tunnel, the objective isnt complete, and tension levels remain high. 2nd problem, bernhard's diary cannot be read, otherwise i cant access weapons or inventory

 

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I don't want to read any spoilers, but I can't even get started with this mission. How do I get into the hedge maze? The gate is closed and I can't find any way to open it. Everywhere else I try to go I am instantly attacked.

 

 

As said before, outside spoilers, this is a thing missed on my behalf; There was supposed to be a popup message that tells the player that the maze isn't opened yet, and you better search the private areas like the barn or main building.

 

And this means wandering into restricted areas so the tension will get high if you enter beyond the sign, or try to enter the barn.

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liked this mission, but came to a point that i am bugged and cant seem to continue

 

 

just went to the snow scene and shot bernhard, then went to dump those corpses. 1st problem, after dumping to the nearest tunnel, the objective isnt complete, and tension levels remain high. 2nd problem, bernhard's diary cannot be read, otherwise i cant access weapons or inventory

 

 

 

Thats weird. It seems like the exact bug that Shadowhide had in his mission

 

 

Oh, dear...This mission is broken :(

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I got my problem half solved

 

to prevent the tension level stay high and complete the dumping objective, i must not be seen when i was taking the jewels off lady summer. previously I was seen by a tourist and therefore cannot complete the objective. bernhard's diary is unsolved and couldnt be read.

 

the mission is great, but the problem is, there are too many readables, and even i tried reading all of them(except the one i mentioned that cannot be read), I can hardly remember the details and put them together as a big picture. I find that reading the long diaries quite demanding and sometimes I just dont get them. I'd like to know the story, but most probably I aint gonna read through everything for a few times to know what they're saying(i'm just lazy)

Anyway thanks for the mission and I think with tweaks, it can be even greater than it is now.

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I got my problem half solved

 

to prevent the tension level stay high and complete the dumping objective, i must not be seen when i was taking the jewels off lady summer. previously I was seen by a tourist and therefore cannot complete the objective. bernhard's diary is unsolved and couldnt be read.

 

the mission is great, but the problem is, there are too many readables, and even i tried reading all of them(except the one i mentioned that cannot be read), I can hardly remember the details and put them together as a big picture. I find that reading the long diaries quite demanding and sometimes I just dont get them. I'd like to know the story, but most probably I aint gonna read through everything for a few times to know what they're saying(i'm just lazy)

Anyway thanks for the mission and I think with tweaks, it can be even greater than it is now.

 

Good

 

 

I'll have a look at the readable bug after work. I tried the mission and noclipped right out to the eyes and stole them and got to the winterland, but I couldn't experience any problems with the readable. It is most probably something that happens on the way when you play regularly without noclip.

 

 

 

Thanks for the input. Yes, there is numerous readables, but as time went on this mission developed to be a mission meant to break boundaries. It is not a regular TDM-mission being you are not a clear thief, but rather a corrupted private eye. My friend wrote the readables and I thought they were really good, but long! But I took the chance to put them in to see what the community thought about it. Someone may like them, some other's may not. It was a chance taking but I can promise you that I won't ever be breaking 5-6 pages on a single readable ever again :P

Edited by Fieldmedic
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This mission it's really strange, i like it as to experiment some new gameplay.

 

I was in real touble at the beginning, always spotted by the sentinel. It was real difficult (and a little frustating) to me to adapt to a new gameplay without the darkness at the start and the *tension* system rather then our lovely gem.

But the use of the maze and the design IMHO it's very good. My congratulation :laugh:

Edited by Ladro
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Regarding the daylight sneaking:

 

 

There is only a few places where you'll have to sneak in daylight.

 

 

 

One is the guard patroling the front gravel yard and one in the main yard where the maid is. (The female near the well) so you can get inside the houses.

 

 

and

 

 

When you have reached the snowland, you'll have to do some minor sneaking to dump the bodies. We thought about having to move somewhere else with the bodies, but that idéa was scrapped instantly because it would result in REALLY tedious/frustrating gameplay

 

 

 

 

 

Another is

 

 

 

the maze. My tension meter has never come off high so as soon as someone spots me of course their all chasing me and with so many AI in there I'm finding it nearly impossible to get through. I acheived some objectives in there but get killed before I can figure out where to run next. Will probably keep trying but maybe later.

 

Oh one other thing several people have mentioned a winter scene including in this post and am wondering if I missed something and that's why I'm having trouble in the maze or is this later in the mission? The only hint of winter I've seen is in the tunnels with the glowing skull on a post.

 

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Another is

 

 

 

the maze. My tension meter has never come off high so as soon as someone spots me of course their all chasing me and with so many AI in there I'm finding it nearly impossible to get through. I acheived some objectives in there but get killed before I can figure out where to run next. Will probably keep trying but maybe later.

 

Oh one other thing several people have mentioned a winter scene including in this post and am wondering if I missed something and that's why I'm having trouble in the maze or is this later in the mission? The only hint of winter I've seen is in the tunnels with the glowing skull on a post.

 

 

If the tension ever reaches red, it won't ever drop and the guards will never stop chasing you. Even though you won't fail the mission by being detected (on normal/hard) the session is basically screwed as you cannot drop the tension by killing anyone. This is a big drawback with my mission as it forces ghosting onto players, I'm aware of that but I'm totall positive that there is possible to improve the tension meter much more via exellent AI-scripting in future missions, if anyone dares to make one :)

 

But as I said earlier, this is a totally new kind of map/gameplay, and can be seen as an experiment and boundary pushing mission. One of the big reason (only reason?) I chose a daytime mission is because I wanted to really go with the season theme. I felt winter would be too obvious and easy in comparison. So I guessed I would be the only one foolish enough to try making a daytime summer theme and so I made it totally summery with birds and cows and in total daylight smile.gif I guess it was spot on in that regard! biggrin.gif But yes, this choice has severe negative effects on gameplay, but again, I think it could be improved with clever scripting.

 

Because it's hard for me to tell what you've done and not have done, I'll post a walkthrough, step by step.

 

 

Begin by sneaking into the main building. Get upstairs and read the report about the irrigation tunnels. Take the key to Carl Powells study.

 

 

 

Get downstairs, beside the small food storage area, there is a hatch in the floor. Go down there, through the door, past the guard. There is Carl's study. Get inside, read his diary and take the key to the irrigation tunnels.

 

 

 

Go back to the room with the water wheel and enter the door to the irrigation tunnels. Move through until you come to a room with a small totem, a skull on a pole. Pull the lever on the wall to open the hatches. Get out of the irrigation tunnels.

Watch out for the guardian!

 

 

 

 

 

Now the maze is open. Get inside the maze and find the statue which was stolen from the pagans. Steal her eyes. This will send you to the cursed snow land and there you'll have to kill Bernhard. When you've done this, you'll get teleported back, together with the corpse of Carl and Bernhard.

 

 

 

Dump the corpses in the nearmost hatch without being seen.

 

 

 

When you frob Bernhard you'll get his diary, which for some reason is bugged for some people. Here is what it says

It reveals that Bernhard is responsible for the pagan attack. The pagans saw the stolen statue and cursed it, making everyone who claims to be the Lord of the farm, be departed to the snow land.

When you frob Carl's body, you'll get his family ring. Dump this ring in Alma's bedroom.

 

 

 

When this is done, you shall go to the nearest exit, if you've collected all special loot and got the right amount of loot.

 

Edited by Fieldmedic
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Great, now I have 3 fms to play!

 

Congrats Fieldmedic!

 

 

Thank you :)

 

Before you start this one, you better check some of the tips mentioned in the thread. Nothing spoiling is outside spoilers so to speak.

 

Don't go to the maze at once, start searching the houses and watch out for people when you're in the restricted areas!

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If the tension ever reaches red, it won't ever drop and the guards will never stop chasing you. Even though you won't fail the mission by being detected (on normal/hard) the session is basically screwed as you cannot drop the tension by killing anyone. This is a big drawback with my mission as it forces ghosting onto players, I'm aware of that but I'm totall positive that there is possible to improve the tension meter much more via exellent AI-scripting in future missions, if anyone dares to make one :)

 

But as I said earlier, this is a totally new kind of map/gameplay, and can be seen as an experiment and boundary pushing mission. One of the big reason (only reason?) I chose a daytime mission is because I wanted to really go with the season theme. I felt winter would be too obvious and easy in comparison. So I guessed I would be the only one foolish enough to try making a daytime summer theme and so I made it totally summery with birds and cows and in total daylight smile.gif I guess it was spot on in that regard! biggrin.gif But yes, this choice has severe negative effects on gameplay, but again, I think it could be improved with clever scripting.

 

Because it's hard for me to tell what you've done and not have done, I'll post a walkthrough, step by step.

 

 

Begin by sneaking into the main building. Get upstairs and read the report about the irrigation tunnels. Take the key to Carl Powells study.

 

 

 

Get downstairs, beside the small food storage area, there is a hatch in the floor. Go down there, through the door, past the guard. There is Carl's study. Get inside, read his diary and take the key to the irrigation tunnels.

 

 

 

Go back to the room with the water wheel and enter the door to the irrigation tunnels. Move through until you come to a room with a small totem, a skull on a pole. Pull the lever on the wall to open the hatches. Get out of the irrigation tunnels.

Watch out for the guardian!

 

 

 

 

 

Now the maze is open. Get inside the maze and find the statue which was stolen from the pagans. Steal her eyes. This will send you to the cursed snow land and there you'll have to kill Bernhard. When you've done this, you'll get teleported back, together with the corpse of Carl and Bernhard.

 

 

 

Dump the corpses in the nearmost hatch without being seen.

 

 

 

When you frob Bernhard you'll get his diary, which for some reason is bugged for some people. Here is what it says

It reveals that Bernhard is responsible for the pagan attack. The pagans saw the stolen statue and cursed it, making everyone who claims to be the Lord of the farm, be departed to the snow land.

When you frob Carl's body, you'll get his family ring. Dump this ring in Alma's bedroom.

 

 

 

When this is done, you shall go to the nearest exit, if you've collected all special loot and got the right amount of loot.

 

 

Thanks Fieldmedic. I think I'll go back to a previous save or start over as I'm having no luck right now.

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liked this mission, but came to a point that i am bugged and cant seem to continue

 

 

just went to the snow scene and shot bernhard, then went to dump those corpses. 1st problem, after dumping to the nearest tunnel, the objective isnt complete, and tension levels remain high. 2nd problem, bernhard's diary cannot be read, otherwise i cant access weapons or inventory

 

There's a way around that first bug.

 

You need to drop the bodies into the hatch while still on the maze level, then the objective will be completed. If you climb down with a body and dump it inside the tunnel (like I did at first) it won't register it.

 

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