Fan Mission: In the North (by grayman) (2012/10/20)

[Oldjim]

Pleads ignorance - what is RIT

[Bikerdude]

RITs = Random Interesting Things.

 

I will be uploading a map to the wiki at some point that show visually how it works.

 

Or I cam pm you link of you want to have a play with it as it is..

[Obsttorte]

There is already an article about RIT's on the wiki. Basically it's a connection of waypoints. If one waypoint points to several others, the path of the AI will be chosen randomly. If one place some nice animations on the several ways, like starring on a picture or sitting down somewhere eating an apple, such networks can add some atmosphere to a FM.

[Bikerdude]

There is already an article about RIT's on the wiki.

 

But Oldjim might be like me, in that its easier to see a visual working map to understand how it works etc. I'll be adding my map to the wiki article for people like me.

[Obsttorte]

You have a point here.

[Springheel]

He even comments about the mission not having enough guards at one point. My thought was, "Yeah, well what do you expect when you KO them all?"

 

I had the same thought (along with thinking after his comment that it was a bit easy, "Yeah, you chose Easy Difficulty...?").

 

I don't know how many players use the "KO anything that moves" strategy. I certainly used to when I first started playing Thief, so it's hard for me to condemn it now, even though it grates a bit. I don't think the other ItN LPs did the same, so I'm sure there is a large percentage of your audience who does notice and appreciate the RITs.

 

Should have added a no-KO objective, but I know how players feel about that.

 

Alternatives to "no KO" objectives might be fewer gas arrows and more helmeted or elite guards.

[Obsttorte]

Or have a (elite) guard walk to the area where an AI was KO'ed, so if the player didn't hide the body he will run into trouble.

 

IMO the only thing that made this FM a bit easy was the fact that most areas are a bit dark. At least thats what I remembered. On the other hand a FM hasn't always to be outragous difficult. I can't say you've done anything wrong in this one. So keep it this way, especially as almost everybody in this forum seems to love what you've created.

[Oldjim]

RITs = Random Interesting Things.

 

I will be uploading a map to the wiki at some point that show visually how it works.

 

Or I cam pm you link of you want to have a play with it as it is..

I am quite happy to wait - and I like Random Interesting Things in a mission

[AluminumHaste]

I am one of those people who ko every guard but in this mission I held back because the RITs were so fascinating.

You should add a optional objective that limits KOs to 5. And maybe no knocking out important guests or their guards or something like that.

I LOVED the RITs.

[rich_is_bored]

I KO everyone I can because I don't have the patience to ghost a mission. I've tried it in the past because my hand has been forced and I just can't bring myself to enjoy the experience. You've got a bow, a blackjack, a short sword, flash mines and all sorts of other goodies yet there's no room to experiment. If the only thing I'm permitted to do is navigate the map without being seen the game gets boring very quickly.

[demagogue]

I KO'd a good number of AI, but I remember leaving some to still walk around because they weren't really in my way anymore and I didn't want to bother them if I didn't have to haha. The RITs may have actually contributed to that feeling of just wanting to leave them to do their own thing.

[TheDemonFrog666]

An absolutely fantastic mission I really enjoyed the setting, the story, and the various readables! I had trouble with figuring out where the catacombs actually were, but that was probably because I wasn't used to actually having to READ the readables lol. I did a Let's Play if anybody is interested

 

 

Thanks for the great mission, grayman!

[brethren]

Finally got around to playing this. Awesome job grayman. This is definitely the best TDM mansion type mission available. The architecture was incredible in almost every way, and it really felt like a real place. Loved all the various plot and subplots, the readables were outstanding, and sound was used perfectly. Very impressive. My only complaint maybe was that it was a bit on the easy side, I played on Expert and nearly ghosted it, no sightings. Tons of fun though, thanks grayman, looking forward to your next mission.

[grayman]

My thanks to everyone who played since the last time I thanked everyone who played.

 

Hard at work on next mission.

 

William Steele is sitting in his dressing room, repeatedly asking, "Is it done yet?"

[Springheel]

One thing about the briefing that raised an eyebrow for me was the fact that the main character does not seem to be a "thief", but rather an archer/soldier. Is this a topic that future missions will explore?

[grayman]

He is not a thief "by trade" in In the North. He is simply a soldier looking out for his boss.

 

There is a character arc in Steele's story. We'll just have to wait to see what happens when he returns to Bridgeport that gets him started along that arc.

[Sir Taffsalot]

Is the stripy wallpaper a custom texture? I cant see it in the paint_paper texture folder. I'd love to use it in the upstairs living section of a tavern I'm working on.

[grayman]

Is the stripy wallpaper a custom texture? I cant see it in the paint_paper texture folder. I'd love to use it in the upstairs living section of a tavern I'm working on.

 

It's a custom texture. Biker has my set of custom textures and is working on getting them into the Campaign. I offered them for TDM, but I don't know if they've been accepted.

 

In the meantime, you can get your hands on the new wallpapers here.

 

If you use the striped wallpaper, please put this attribute line in your readme.txt file:

 

"Striped wallpaper texture from http://myruso.deviantart.com"

[Sir Taffsalot]

Many thanks Grayman! I'll be sure to credit.

Edited January 8, 2013 by Sir Taffsalot

[Springheel]

Biker has my set of custom textures and is working on getting them into the Campaign. I offered them for TDM

 

I thought Biker was putting them into TDM, not just the campaign...?

[grayman]

I remember him writing "into the Campaign they go" somewhere. Maybe I got it wrong.

[Bikerdude]

I thought Biker was putting them into TDM, not just the campaign...?

I remember him writing "into the Campaign they go" somewhere. Maybe I got it wrong.

Yesh, I did say that and I forgot to do it, so I will do that this week.

[fraten]

I am one of those people who ko every guard but in this mission I held back because the RITs were so fascinating. You should add a optional objective that limits KOs to 5. And maybe no knocking out important guests or their guards or something like that. I LOVED the RITs.

 

I don't think that limiting is solving the problem. People will feel forced to comply. BUT: The author could comment on this in the introduction of the FM (or the thread), saying, if you do KO everyone you WILL miss a lot. Let the players decide for themselves.

[mikenowo]

 

 

I almost fell to the same trap. I too first looked around the church. After cursory inspection of the church sconces I checked the map and realized I was in the wrong place.

 

 

 

 

 

EGADS! I finally found out the same thing that I had been wasting all my time looking through and around the church.. bah! Church/chapel pota-toe po-tah-to .. I was ready to call the whole thing off ;-p Seems a bit evil to me to have a church and a chapel .. so many of us were looking in the church pff

 

 

[grayman]

Sorry about that.

 

Everyone asks for maps, then many don't use them.