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How often do you play FMs?


Springheel

  

37 members have voted

  1. 1. How often do you replay FMs?

    • Never. I only play FMs once.
    • Almost never.
    • Sometimes. I'll replay really good missions once or twice.
    • Often. I usually replay good missions several times.
    • Almost always. I replay most missions at least two or three times.


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A discussion in the patrol path thread made me curious, so I thought I'd ask. Obviously you're not going to replay missions you didn't like, but otherwise, how often do you replay missions, if ever?

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I started a similar post earlier this year, here:

http://modetwo.net/d...post__p__249826

 

It may be interesting to compare the poll results for this and that thread. :mellow:

 

I play short good missions like Thieves! every now and then. I like how these missions are fast to get into and play.

 

Longer good missions get played maybe twice. Since the mission takes more time, which I often do not have, I have bigger threshold to start it again.

 

Average mission I play only once.

 

I usually cannot bring myself to complete poor / below average missions.

 

The main reason for my low amount of replays is the fact that the second run feels pretty identical to the first one because of never changing patrol routes. This is the main reason why I am pursuing the goal of having some AI patrols totally random.

Clipper

-The mapper's best friend.

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I am a big fan of replyability (sp?) and I'd rather replay a brilliant mission (like Springs) than to complete a average/poor one.

 

However, having said that, the FMs I actually started to play is in the dozends and the ones I found time (or patience) to complete is way under tenfive. Usually I spent what little time I have in development, and never find the quiet time at to actually play TDM.. because as soon as I play, I notice another thing that should be fixed ;)

"The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man." -- George Bernard Shaw (1856 - 1950)

 

"Remember: If the game lets you do it, it's not cheating." -- Xarax

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... as soon as I play, I notice another thing that should be fixed ;)

 

I know dat feeling.

 

Procrastination over a new computer is ending soon, after which I plan to replay every mission.

 

In general, though, I'll replay a good mission a couple times.

 

Part of the problem with being on the development side is that I've replayed several missions so many times to resolve TDM issues that I no longer have to fire up TDM; those missions just play out in my head.

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When I do get about playing a fan mission, I'll almost always play a good mission one more time (usually on a higher difficulty and with a different tactic/technique in mind). First time on easy, I may ghost & mantle & hide. Second time on expert, I might risk swashbuckling or blackjacking my way through. If there's any replayability in a mission, this only can enhance it.

yay seuss crease touss dome in ouss nose tair

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Apart from test playing I rarely ever actually play the same FM again because of lack of time and the abundance of other games. 'Trivial' abstract games like Fracas I've played the same two or three maps hundreds of times as 20 minutes relaxation but I'm unsure that Thief and Dark Mod maps are very replayable, for me anyway. It will be interesting to see what Sotha comes up with.

 

I have wondered about the advantage of complex multi-route games like Witcher 2 because my guess is most people play once so they only see one game anyway. So instead of each player seeing 3 or 4 varieties it may just be millions of players each only seeing one version each (but a different one each.)

 

A more abstract TDM map with little story but massive changes in loot position, plenty of places to ferret around, and very changeable guard patrols might be very, very interesting. Perhaps even some random func_static walls. I think I'd definitely want to at least try that twice

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I usually re-play my favorite missions several times, usually after a week or two.

 

Occasionally I'll decide to re-play a mission completely at random, and by that I mean literally coin flip or roll of the dice type random. I find it interesting playing through missions again when you're not mentally prepared for them beforehand. Sometimes you get a new perspective on a mission you only played once and didn't think that much of the first time through. Of course, it's a bit tricky having the willpower to follow through with what you get sometimes, but it's pretty fun once you get into it (for me at least).

 

I think I find missions very replayable because I refrain from memorization somewhat. Whenever I replay missions I prefer to rely on tactics and methods that I can apply to new missions I haven't tried before rather than memorization of guard patrols and the map layouts. Basically I look at a situation again and play as if I'm missing information I already have, then come up with a way to deal with the situation without that information.

 

More on topic, I think building missions a certain way because you think players will only play them once is self-fulfilling to some extent.

Edited by Professor Paul1290
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it looks like I put up the first "never" vote, and it's true, I don't care about "replayability" (and it irks me when it's practically required in order to experience the full mission, as with "the inverted manse" which I never replayed and know I missed out on a lot). I just don't want to repeat stuff I guess.

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Somewhere above the city, Return to the city, Lockdown... For now these are the mission's I can replay over and over again. Why? First one - great mood, love the outro and all the tense moments like a falling lift or the explosion in the caves. Second one - it's beautiful simply... . Third one - Perfect enjoyment of gameplay, not a moment of being stuck. That's funny as I look at it now, If we mix these missions we'll get a perfect a FM xD.

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After the new shaders came out, I replayed every FM that was released up to this date. By now we take the beauty that the shaders give us for granted, but back then (those few months) it was simply stunning to see a formerly plain looking FM again with new beauty. With the new AI behaviour in place, I plan to yet re-play every FM that didn't totally suck. Especially "Sons of Baltona" by Carnage should see huge improvement with guards being able to re-light electrical light.

My Eigenvalue is bigger than your Eigenvalue.

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RTTC, St Albans cathedral, St Lucia and Fauchard street are the only ones I've replayed. Fauchard street is really fun to play if i don't want anything heavy to play and only have something like an hour to kill. Will very likely replay NHAT, a score to settle and maybe the Thomas porter series in thier correct order. I think I'll also replay the entries for a particular contest when I have a weekend with no plans. Most of them are quite short and fun and not too hard to get into. Anything with a nice city or church to explore will very likely get at least 1 more play out of me.

Edited by Sir Taffsalot

"I believe that what doesn't kill you simply makes you... stranger"

 

The Joker

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I replay small missions more, and epic affairs less often. They fulfil different roles for me - the first as small heists, an opportunity to approach things differently etc.; the second for the story, complexity and whatnot. From the small missions, my favourites are Special Delivery, The Outpost, Thieves and Too Late. I have played all of these 5-6 times; Thieves ans Special Delivery even more.

 

BTW, good to see RttC and Fauchard being mentioned by people - they were missions built with replayability, a variety of approaches and casual gameplay in mind.

Come the time of peril, did the ground gape, and did the dead rest unquiet 'gainst us. Our bands of iron and hammers of stone prevailed not, and some did doubt the Builder's plan. But the seals held strong, and the few did triumph, and the doubters were lain into the foundations of the new sanctum. -- Collected letters of the Smith-in-Exile, Civitas Approved

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I'm with the crowd that replays their favorite missions... but never immediately after completion. I will have fond memories of a certain area or sequence and that makes me want to play the FM again later.

 

It is a bit like a book. If I read through it again, I'm sure to catch aspects I didn't catch the first time. These can be parts of the story, or finding secret areas I didn't see before in the FM.

Edited by lost_soul

--- War does not decide who is right, war decides who is left.

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Pretty much never. Developing content takes a lot of time and like others have said, playing makes me want to develop so that can interfere.

 

Plus I almost always remember the mission anyway. It's the same with movies, there are very few I ever watch more than once.

 

Like I posted in the other thread, I just don't see random patrols and loot placement to be enough to make a good replay situation. If it's still the same layout, same main story then it's the same mission.

 

I've always wanted to use the difficulty settings to make a replayable map though.

ie:

1-regular

2-undead

3-pagan invasion.

 

So it's the same base map, but depending on your choice the textures/ai/loot/readables etc.. all change. It could even be a timeline thing.

 

Player plays setting one, does some stuff, finds an artifact which raises the dead.

Player plays setting 2, then dead have infested 10 years later. Everything is worn out, dark... player kills undead.

Player plays setting 3, 5 years later pagans have taken over the old areas, everything is overgrown with vines, crumbling, etc...

 

It would probably have to be small due to entity counts and whatnot (time, etc...) Maybe need a filter in editor for difficulty settings to keep everything clear.

 

But that would make a mission where there was enough of a change to make it worth replaying.

Dark is the sway that mows like a harvest

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But that would make a mission where there was enough of a change to make it worth replaying.

 

No, it would be more like 3 very alike missions - and we got these already (about 12 "break in", 5 "break out" and 42 general "steal stuff" missions :D

 

But I know what you mean, it is like when you play Half Life 1 - and then play the same from the perspective of the janitor, and then again as a soldier.

"The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man." -- George Bernard Shaw (1856 - 1950)

 

"Remember: If the game lets you do it, it's not cheating." -- Xarax

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I will always play interesting FM's numerous times. It's usually on a rotational basis.

That's what I like about using Darkloader for Thief FM's. It has a sortable "Last Played" column so the ones I haven't touched in awhile are easily found. I just have to look at my comments about each to find the best ones to replay. But, there still are many that never appear on my monitor more than once.

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Wow.. I'm the only one who voted Almost always? :blink:. Guess that's what I get for having a reasonable amount of free time, no significant other and no dependants...

 

Pretty sure I've played almost every mission through at least twice (except the new ones, been playing stuff I got the steam sale lately, haven't even played 2 of the contest maps yet), and some missions (like Sons of Baltona) I've played upwards of 8 times, normally trying to do speedruns (lowest time taken, best stealth score, and as much loot as my pockets can handle without violating the other 2 "rules" of the replay). Even managed to get Heart of Lone Salvation down to just over 40 minutes on the hardest difficulty, though this was before the stealth scores came in, so no idea how awful I did.

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Guess that's what I get for having a reasonable amount of free time, no significant other and no dependants...

 

Cherish that time!! :P

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