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Fan Mission: Samhain Night (v.3.3 update) by PranQster (2020/03/01)


PranQster

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This mission has one of the coolest final sections you can find, pretty tense stuff. Also, lots of diversity in scary situations, felt like a classic D&D horror mission for me. Everyone should try it.

Thanks! I am happy to hear that, especially since this was originally a speed build (about 2 weeks) done by a rookie.

Edited by PranQster

System: Mageia Linux Cauldron, aka Mageia 8

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The main need for version 3 was this:

  • In the pentagonal maze room is an undead guy who drops from a trap door in the ceiling. After updates to TDM, he ended up taking enough damage from the fall to kill him. So I lowered the ceiling.

Also did the following...

  • Brightened up the ambient light in most locations by a factor of .1 or .2
  • Replaced some textures
  • Re-did parts of the stone columns in the tomb
  • Added fog to the graveyard
  • Re-did the recently dug grave to have a better shape
  • Added some decal textures here and there
  • Added another wooden beam in an area where the player could easily take falling damage
  • Removed or moved a few models which were clipping into visportals
  • Softened up some of the colored lighting in places where it was too intense
  • Removed redundant assets from the .pk4 file, which were not yet included in TDM at the time of the original mission, namely the plague-mask and the jack-o-lantern
  • Removed my crappy owl patchwork-model from the tree in the graveyard

I think that's about it.

Edited by PranQster
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System: Mageia Linux Cauldron, aka Mageia 8

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  • 3 months later...
  • 1 month later...
  • 2 weeks later...
  • 8 months later...

Quick review:

 

 

Randomly downloaded this map tonight (Halloween night) and was pleasantly surprised to see carved pumpkins (and other Halloweeny type things, spiderwebs, graveyard, skeletons, etc.) ;) Wish I could have followed the pagan people down the tunnel, hehe.

 

Overall, was interesting design/style throughout. There were some frustrating saves/loads to get through some areas because of enemies ganging up on me without me having a chance to pre-plan fight/escape/maneuver tactics and such; but I also partly chalk it up to me not being a master of the Dark Mod fight system yet (sword not hitting the spiders very well, broadhead arrows not hitting the ending skeleton guy very well or ever?, not being very adept with the sword, the aimer on the bow seeming a little off to the left, etc.).

 

To defeat the end guy (or what I assume is the end guy (the crown protector)), I had to trigger his appearance and quickly run up the stairwell and attack everything from there. Not sure if that's intended, or if that's the primary way to beat them, but is the only thing I could get to work. Unfortunately, one time while I was doing this I got attacked in the stairwell by skeletons that came from behind me from the previous room (they must have heard or seen me). So I re-loaded and then shut the door to that passageway by frobbing the sconce thingy and quickly jumped thru the doorway so the skeletons couldn't get me while I was fighting that main skeleton guy in the room at the base of the stairs.

 

But now I think I'm trapped in that room? I defeated the skeleton and spiders in that room, and grabbed the crown. But the secret door to the stairwell is shut (because I closed it), and there's no way that I can see (yet) to re-open it :( Is there a way out, or am I permanently stuck now? I tried dousing the green torches, and all but one of the candles around the sarcophagus (ran out of water arrows), but that didn't do anything. I don't yet see any secret switches in that room.

 

I might need to re-load an earlier save and not close the secret door this time... but I don't look forward to fighting everything again :( Granted, it won't be too burdensome now that I know how to do it. But, then again, I may very well have to deal with the skeletons from the previous room in addition to the skeleton/spiders from the crown room. *gulp*

 

 

Edited by Darkness_Falls
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  • 1 month later...

Quick review:

 

 

Randomly downloaded this map tonight (Halloween night) and was pleasantly surprised to see carved pumpkins (and other Halloweeny type things, spiderwebs, graveyard, skeletons, etc.) ;) Wish I could have followed the pagan people down the tunnel, hehe.

 

Overall, was interesting design/style throughout. There were some frustrating saves/loads to get through some areas because of enemies ganging up on me without me having a chance to pre-plan fight/escape/maneuver tactics and such; but I also partly chalk it up to me not being a master of the Dark Mod fight system yet (sword not hitting the spiders very well, broadhead arrows not hitting the ending skeleton guy very well or ever?, not being very adept with the sword, the aimer on the bow seeming a little off to the left, etc.).

 

To defeat the end guy (or what I assume is the end guy (the crown protector)), I had to trigger his appearance and quickly run up the stairwell and attack everything from there. Not sure if that's intended, or if that's the primary way to beat them, but is the only thing I could get to work. Unfortunately, one time while I was doing this I got attacked in the stairwell by skeletons that came from behind me from the previous room (they must have heard or seen me). So I re-loaded and then shut the door to that passageway by frobbing the sconce thingy and quickly jumped thru the doorway so the skeletons couldn't get me while I was fighting that main skeleton guy in the room at the base of the stairs.

 

But now I think I'm trapped in that room? I defeated the skeleton and spiders in that room, and grabbed the crown. But the secret door to the stairwell is shut (because I closed it), and there's no way that I can see (yet) to re-open it :( Is there a way out, or am I permanently stuck now? I tried dousing the green torches, and all but one of the candles around the sarcophagus (ran out of water arrows), but that didn't do anything. I don't yet see any secret switches in that room.

 

I might need to re-load an earlier save and not close the secret door this time... but I don't look forward to fighting everything again :( Granted, it won't be too burdensome now that I know how to do it. But, then again, I may very well have to deal with the skeletons from the previous room in addition to the skeleton/spiders from the crown room. *gulp*

 

 

 

Laaaaate comment, but I thought I might as well.

 

 

You are indeed stuck in there, as the creator never put a second switch in, figuring that no one would do that (and underestimating the paranoia of Dark Mod players). Sorry brah. For what it's worth, you don't have to fight everything in there (I gave up after like seven tries). Just stay crouched and to the center as you enter, and you shouldn't be noticed. Then grab the crown through the coffin and run.

 

Edited by The Dark One
  • Like 1

Because in mystery novels, the first suspect is almost certainly never the murderer. No matter how much unmovable evidence there is, it will all be smashed in pieces by the wrath of the remaining number of pages of the story.

 

-"The Evil Spirit of the Zushi Clan" from Virtual Carnal Pleasure by Yamada Fuutarou

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Laaaaate comment, but I thought I might as well.

 

 

You are indeed stuck in there, as the creator never put a second switch in, figuring that no one would do that (and underestimating the paranoia of Dark Mod players). Sorry brah. For what it's worth, you don't have to fight everything in there (I gave up after like seven tries). Just stay crouched and to the center as you enter, and you shouldn't be noticed. Then grab the crown through the coffin and run.

 

 

Ahh, excellent. Thank you for replying :)

 

 

Since you confirmed I was stuck, I loaded a pre-fight save and things were much easier this time around. And then I continued and ended up completing the entire mission.

 

Note: One issue I encountered a few times in different places, which has probably been said before: there were a few places I got stuck. I couldn't move and couldn't jump to free myself. I could only look around. It happened around irregularly shaped rocks in the ground, or behind rocks... where I got into an inescapable nook in the rocks and had to load an earlier save.

 

Edited by Darkness_Falls
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  • 1 year later...
  • 1 year later...
On 2/12/2020 at 6:16 AM, PranQster said:

If anyone would like to test the audio, here's an updated version.

Siegeshop

[...]

 

Also updated:

Samhain Night

  • Added OpenAL EFX.

Is this mission updated in the in-game downloader?

Thanks in advance.

"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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4 hours ago, Anderson said:

Is this mission updated in the in-game downloader?

Thanks in advance.

No. PranQster stated these are "Work in Progress".

I have no objections to uploading them (the updates seem perfectly fine), but he would need to give permission before I do it.

  • Like 2

Please visit TDM's IndieDB site and help promote the mod:

 

http://www.indiedb.com/mods/the-dark-mod

 

(Yeah, shameless promotion... but traffic is traffic folks...)

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I'm going to go through Samhain, looking for outdated textures and things which can be improved upon. It's quite possible that I will do no more updates and have the recent version be the official. 

Once I have finished with Siegeshop updates I will look closer at Samhain. 

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System: Mageia Linux Cauldron, aka Mageia 8

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I haven't found the broken lantern yet, but will check every light source in hidden areas as well as user lantern through the whole mission.

Starting to go through and place missing clip brushes to areas where players can get stuck. Particularly where the floor has collapsed.

Will add a door switch inside the (certain place) for those who re-frob the (certain item) and jump through the closing (certain thing). Either that or I will disable the switch after one use. I need to decide how cruel I want to be. A second switch will probably be best. :)

Changing the tunnel texture near the end and (maybe) adding a few light sources in the tunnel. That dark rock is just a bit too dark and I don't want to increase ambient lighting.

Since there are new textures and models, etc. available in recent years, I'll be looking into updating some things here and there.

 

But I am fine with my "in progress" missions being sent to the mission downloader. The main goal was to add the openal audio support and re-compile with an updated TDM.

Updated versions of Samhain and Siegeshop should be completed within a few weeks.

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System: Mageia Linux Cauldron, aka Mageia 8

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1 hour ago, duzenko said:

I meant the player's lantern

Ok, I will run through the mission and check the lantern in all areas and see if something triggers it to turn off. It's possible that I put a place where the lantern is triggered to turn off on purpose, like it gets blown out, but don't remember doing so specifically.

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System: Mageia Linux Cauldron, aka Mageia 8

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7 hours ago, PranQster said:

Ok, I will run through the mission and check the lantern in all areas and see if something triggers it to turn off. It's possible that I put a place where the lantern is triggered to turn off on purpose, like it gets blown out, but don't remember doing so specifically.

It's specifically the secret tunnel

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Here's version 3.3:

Samhain Night

Changes:

  • Added clip brushes in places where the player tends to get stuck.
  • Changed some textures.
  • Changed parts of the end tunnel.
  • Added a door switch where some players were getting stuck in a room.
  • Changed the total amount of rope arrows in the map.
  • Tweaked some lights and added a couple light sources.
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System: Mageia Linux Cauldron, aka Mageia 8

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  • 2 years later...

Great mission! The jump scares were not so bad but the creepiness was done well. I like that you placed more skeletons instead of zombies. Skeletons feel so underused in The Dark Mod and in Thief especially. I liked the spiders and I was waiting for when the big ones would appear.

Spoiler

For some reason the big spiders didn't seem to want to catch me in the secret room. They were just stuck. I don't know it's intended that way or if we have no chances against 2 huge spiders spawning out of nowhere.

 

On 10/22/2011 at 4:19 AM, PranQster said:

Super extra double-secret extreme spoilage extravaganza!

 

  Hide contents

Look behind the sarcophagus which has the lid completely off, angled down to the floor. Look for a handle there.

 

This secret room was a huge challenge for me because I chose medium difficulty and I missed some loot in the graveyard. So missing the secret room meant that I couldn't finish the mission and had to backtrack. Also not sure if I picked up the ring in the King's tomb after using cheats. In general the haunt spawning and staying on top of the tomb isn't very cool because it's almost impossible to creep around without save scumming.

Overall, I found myself challenged to kill some monsters although I could have been a little more patient until they all calm down by just running back to the main hall and jumping on the second floor. But it all comes back to luring monsters into opened hallways and sealing them inside to make sneaking easier. Cunning mission. Sometimes maybe too much with the game-y spawning in certain corners.

Loved the maze! Reminded me of Harry Potter 4 and The Shining. I love catacomb mazes.

Very underrated mission with nice updates.

Edited by Anderson
  • Thanks 1

"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...

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