Fan Mission:Dragon's Claw by b1k3rdude (31/10/2011) updated

[Bikerdude]

Hello everyone, Bikerdude's made significant updates to this mission and it's now fully playable in 2.08.  Available in the in-game downloader or Download here!

We'll update the OP to reflect this. Thanks!

“I usually welcome the shadows, a place of refuge for a master thief like me. However, there are dark places that even I fear. That place being the plague ward at the edge of town. Rumour has it that it was cursed by a pagan witch and its inhabitants died from an incurable plague..." 

Build Time:  

Update Build Time:  

• Original version - 3-4 weeks. 
•  Updated version - 2 days 

 Credits: 

• Flanders - Prebuilt maps and textures  
• Readables – SirTaffsalot. 
• FeildMedic - ghost begger (which I fixed and updated). 
• Springheel - jack-o-lantern (gotta have them) 

 Thanks:- 
Special thanks to my beta testers: Flanders, SirTaffsAlot, nbhormore, Pranqster, RPGista, Thor, Xarg, Glyph Seeker, Amadeus, Garret42 & Bluerat. 

[SiyahParsomen]

Congrats on the release Biker! You made it just in time!

[nbohr1more]

Congrats.

 

(I believe that I stated that the deadline was Midnight "Pacific Standard Time US"... ? Good to see you make it in time for your time-zone )

[lost_soul]

Darn... I made plans to go out this evening. Guess I'll have to wait until late tonight to play this FM... but on the positive side, that should help the atmosphere!

[Bikerdude]

@ nbohr, oops - better late than never.

 

Now I am orf to bed, will put the poll on thread tomorow.

[nbohr1more]

You're early Biker, not late

[nbohr1more]

Also... your thread needs a Poll

[PranQster]

If anyone using Linux experiences a game freeze or fps dropping to 0, I don't yet know the cure, but if you press ~ for the console, it opens in a minute or two and you can type 'exit' and eventually TDM will close.

Posix_QueEvent : overflow

That's the error I was getting while beta-testing. I'm about to check if the final version has this issue.

[RPGista]

I did get a freeze on the previous version - it lasted like 5 seconds but then I was back and had no more issues, it played normally after that.

 

Anyway, congrats on the release, you obviously put a lot of work into this!

[PranQster]

I did get a freeze on the previous version - it lasted like 5 seconds but then I was back and had no more issues, it played normally after that.

 

Anyway, congrats on the release, you obviously put a lot of work into this!

I had the same, but If I kept moving it was just a few seconds... if I stop where the freeze happens, that's when I get the big problem.

This version is vastly better than the previous one I played. But...

 

I got the Dragon's Claw, then it said to go to the tavern and meet my contact. I went to the tavern (next to the dragon statue) and went in and approached everyone in there, even the guards playing cards. I found no contact and found no other tavern to visit. I have no idea how much loot I am after (playing on expert) but I only found a few items in the plagueward... in an attic and by the dragon's claw.

 

[PranQster]

I opened it in DR. I think

that the clip brush for info_tdm_objective_location in the tavern might need to be taller. It looks short enough that the player's head might be sticking out of it. It certainly looks wide enough to trigger the objective, especially if you are standing in it. But maybe if the player's head is sticking out, it won't trigger. I did not try to approach the mage while crouching. That might be why I never got the objective.

 

 

Ok I got it now. That was a mission exit objective... I didn't have the loot objective yet, so it didn't trigger.

Edited November 1, 2011 by PranQster

[notsowelltyped]

loving it.

you absolutely need to make finished and polished version 2.

 

 

 

golden lions on a rooftop - that was funny.

 

also, in a riverwalk location - it's easy to get the dishes, but because guards are not patrolling - getting back on a streets in kinda tricky.

 

 

[AluminumHaste]

OMG Another one?!?!?! I just finished playing all three of the others back to back to get some screenshots

Can't wait to play this one, been waiting Biker

[nbohr1more]

Added to the wiki and I created a thread at TTLG:

 

http://www.ttlg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=137361

 

 

(I couldn't get to the image at the head of this thread so I subbed your Moddb shot instead...)

[Bikerdude]

But maybe if the player's head is sticking out, it won't trigger.

I did a quick run through before releasing and all the loot objective works, an the complete the mission you just walk upto the fireplace in the tavern next to the mage (the mage is mentioned in the briefing...)

[Bikerdude]

you absolutely need to make finished and polished version 2.

 

it's easy to get the dishes, but because guards are not patrolling

 

 

Yeah, I almost considered not releasing becuase this mission needs so much more work.

 

and I did a fresh dmap before releasing, so why do my mission keep having that issue..?

[Sir Taffsalot]

Congrats on the release Biker! I'll wait until I get back from my trip next week to play the halloween contests entries. Can't wait to see what the official version looks like.

[Melan]

I must keep missing something incredibly obvious. How do I get from the (really nice but emptyish) streets to wherever the mission is supposed to take place?

[Sir Taffsalot]

Hint: what's the name of this map?

[Bikerdude]

@Melan

 

Heh, I completely forgot to put a readable or hint - I just thought players would figure the way in being seasoned master thief's :-)

 

@ All, I had added the poll to the 1st post.

[Melan]

Bikerdude, your poll does not follow the Halloween contest specifications: please adjust it so we can vote on it.

 

My impressions: this is a very good-looking mission where too little happens. I spoilered the details just in case:

 

 

The architecture of the place (occasional minor bugs notwithstanding) is up to very high standards, and sometimes it is even hard to determine whether we are seeing very good patch/brush work or very good models. Smooth. As a lesser technical issue, I must remark that applying the caulk texture on unseen surfaces is good practice, as long as these surfaces are really unseen: in a lot of places, they aren't, since it is both logical and very easy to climb up to them, resulting in a break of immersion.

 

I have problems with the gameplay. The map is very empty, which is a problem from two respects. First, a lot of it is spent admiring the scenery but not actually interacting with your environment beyond going through it. There are streets, then more streets where you can occasionally find places to climb up to, but there are no guard patrols to evade, citizens to eavesdrop on or even many readables to read. You aren't kept busy, and the AI aren't really a challenge. Much of the exciting scenery is kept from you, since there is no reason to get up on it.

 

Second, the emptiness of the level becomes a frustrating puzzle when you have to find the way from one part of the level to another. To me, it was like finding a needle in a haystack - I even searched the general area, and even saw the place, but never made the connection - instead spending a lot of time trying to find an entrance at two other parts of a level - which seemed like logical ways into the plague ward (and guarded appropriately) but weren't. I think this could have done with more hints - and as much as it pains me WRT the city architecture, <em>maybe</em> that entire section could have been cut and used elsewhere (actually, it would be cool if the locales of some missions would be revisited in different contexts, like Ambush / Trace the Courier in Thief2 or various fan missions reusing the originals). The FM would have lost nothing if it started in the tavern and the streets were closed off - and been less confusing!

 

In comparison, the final objective was a cakewalk, and I would not have minded if it was more of a challenge - extra lights, more AI, some sort of puzzle to it all, or extra challenges on the way back (and I don't mean the "try to get into the well, not the top of the well, damnit!" thing).

 

[nbohr1more]

Biker.

 

Please make your poll match the other contestants.

 

Thanks.

 

[Bikerdude]

Ok did that, but yet again I cant see the votes, I will have had to vote in my own poll - why is this..? (I knwo I have ask this before, but I though that the new forum would have more/different options.

[Melan]

Still needs adjustments, since you are using a four-star scale and the contest uses a five-star one!

Edited November 1, 2011 by Melan

[AluminumHaste]

Ok did that, but yet again I cant see the votes, I will have had to vote in my own poll - why is this..? (I knwo I have ask this before, but I though that the new forum would have more/different options.

 

Nothing wrong with voting in your own poll, like politicians who vote for themselves in elections it's perfectly normal to me.