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

[Unwanted Guest 1]

On 10/25/2012 at 2:24 PM, melrief said:

I think this is the best mission for TDM, thank you Grayman for this wonderful masterpiece.

I just played this, it was awesome!!! Amazing work, loved the snow, blue rooms, great ambiance, well thought out story! Thank you so much for taking the time to create this gem,  allowing so many others enjoy such a great game. Looking forward to playing your other missions, thanks again!

[grayman 2951]

Glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for playing.

William Steele missions 2 through 5 are released. I'm working to complete 6, 7, and 8.

[Hugo Lobo 16]

I just finished this FM and i am quite impressed. The level design is very good (although sometimes confusing -- that is, until you get used to it) and after i finished this FM i was amazed by how big it was.  

Spoiler

specially considering that the whole level is just one house.

For me, a good FM should have a good amount of lore (i really like to read) and this FM didn't disappoint me. Sure, most of it was not important to finish the game, but it is what makes a FM a good thief game.

I also appreciated that touch at the end of the mission - you don't fell an abrupt end with the default (and immersion breaker) "mission completed" screen and gives us a smoother experience.

So i really enjoyed it and i must thank grayman for the time i spend on it.Next stop: WS2.

Edited February 24 by Hugo Lobo

[grayman 2951]

Glad you enjoyed it.

Thanks for playing!!

[OrbWeaver 598]

A spent a good few hours playing this mission and although I eventually got stuck and did not complete it, I still thought it was a very good mission and will provide my feedback now rather than waiting until I eventually get around to finishing it.

• The architecture was excellent. I particularly liked the fact that everything was realistic and believable. The walls looked like walls, the stairs looked like stairs; there were no unsupported flagstone textures on the ceiling threatening to fall on my head, and no awkward-looking half-courses of bricks on stair risers and above doorways.
• You certainly hit the jackpot with the "non-linear" aspect. The whole mansion was like a rabbit warren, with multiple routes everywhere. On the downside this did make things somewhat confusing, although the maps did help.
• Most guards were blackjackable and there were no forced-ghost objectives, so thanks for that. You even provided some extra ammo and resources in the armory, although I had explored most of the map before I noticed it was there.
• I feel that having both a "church" and a "chapel" in the same map is rather confusing, and might be even more so when translated. Judging from some earlier posts in this thread, it seems that other players did get the two mixed up.
• A minor audio nitpick, but I felt that some of the ambient sounds were both too loud and too small in radius (e.g. the bubbling pot on the stove in the kitchen, the wall clock in the kitchen, and the dripping around the well). You wouldn't hear them at all from a couple of meters away, but when you got up close it was suddenly the only thing you could hear. I suggest leaning in the other direction for more realism: wider radii but lower volumes, so the sounds fade in and out more naturally.

I do want to have another go at this and get to the end because from some of the other posts it seems like there is an interesting ending.

[grayman 2951]

If you need help getting unstuck when you replay, ping me for hints.

[OrbWeaver 598]

I completed it!

4645 loot and about 2:14 completion time, all optionals completed (on Easy).

I really liked the "old hidden area"; very atmospheric with some great lighting and architecture.

I didn't quite understand the ending though, it seemed to be

Spoiler

A guy lying dead in the snow with another guy looking out from the top of the castle. Did this indicate the Harckoff had been killed by someone, maybe Trumble after I left the evidence on his bed?

 

[grayman 2951]

Spoiler

There are two possible endings:

1. Drop Harckoff's journal on Trumble's bed - When you get back to the end of the secret tunnel, Trumble's read the journal and knows what Harckoff's been doing with the women, especially Mary. The cutscene plays, showing you that Trumble has tossed Harckoff off the roof. Good riddance!

2. You decide not to leave the journal - the mission ends in a normal manner with no cutscene. Trumble and Mary leave the castle, neither the wiser to Harckoff's bad behavior.

 

Glad you (finally!) finished it.

Thanks for playing.

 

[blaa 8]

I give up, how do I get into the catacombs?

EDIT: I watched a speedrun on YT and saw it. I even tried interacting with those things but I guess I missed the only relevant one.

 

Finished it with 5295 gold and both objectives. A great mission, I got away with reloading only a couple times even though I was chased more than once by guards, however the level allowed me to get away and hide every time, which is a huge plus for me. Interesting lore and great level design. I´m also impressed that there´s an additional ending sequence if you do the optional obj, very cool.

Regarding my search for the catacombs,

Spoiler

the way the to-do-list was worded made it sound like taking the candle off would trigger the mechanism, not that you had to take it off and then trigger it manually, which added to my confusion after removing all the candles in the chapel without anything happening.

 

Edited September 22 by blaa

[grayman 2951]

Glad you enjoyed the mission, even with the candle confusion.

 

Thanks!