How do you play TDM

[Springheel]

TDM ai CAN see you in the dark if they are alerted

 

AI can see you when your lightgem is completely dark? That's news to me.

 

Ambient doesn't effect AI does it? I thought it was soley so the player could see, no effect on light gem.

 

Ambient light above 5 or 6 (or thereabouts) affects the lightgem; anything below that does not.

[Shaz]

(A lot of this will also cover how I play T1/T2 FMs, so if I seem to have answered in a way that's not as fitting for TDM, it's because I'm mentally on the T1/T2 track.)

 

I voted 'knock everyone out' but I don't, not really. I'm very, VERY fond of my blackjack, yes, but I don't go out of my way to knock people out and if I feel it's an NPC who won't get in my way much, or if I don't know if I will be able to hide the unconscious body well, they'll be left standing. I've matured in this in TDM, as in T1/T2 I would gleefully BJ darn near everyone, just to run around the map carefree.

 

I quicksave fairly often, and hard save whenever I feel I'm at a 'major point', but that's mostly to soothe my own nerves so that I know I have something 'in case of emergency' (falling to my death or something).

 

I never, ever kill, unless it's required by the game (or unless it's a spider), though if the game's story were to make me hate an NPC enough I would probably consider killing them a 'bonus objective' I gave myself, so I won't discount the possibility. (I give myself my own 'bonus objectives' a lot, depending on the story.)

 

I hoard my tools and only use them when absolutely necessary, and by 'them' I mean the various arrow types as I cannot recall the last time in the past couple of years that I've used a mine or flashbomb. I've become even stingier in TDM than I ever was in T1/T2.

Edited January 26, 2013 by Shaz

[Baddcog]

Alert an ai, run into the dark. they don't loose you just because you gem goes dark. you have to hide when they can't see you.

[Springheel]

Alert an ai, run into the dark. they don't loose you just because you gem goes dark. you have to hide when they can't see you.

 

AI can track you to the last spot they heard you. But if you get into a dark spot and creep away, then they can't see you. It's even more obvious when you have an alert guard searching for you in darkness. They cannot see you if your lightgem is dark.

[Obsttorte]

It seems to me that these issues are quite player-dependent. My opinions (just for the record )

 

No kill: I think that a no kill objective is a must on the highest difficulty if it is not a haunted mission or you are dealing with very, very bad guys.

 

Optional goals: I don't like optional objectives. Either I have to accomplish something or not. I can set optional goals myself.

 

Forced Ghosting: This really depends. If the mission is designed for that purpose, then I think it is ok. My FM builderroads for example goes into that direction. Many people have stated "oh no, forced ghosting", but after playing the mission they were fine.

 

IMO we need to encourage good mapping practices [...]

Actually I like the idea. We should at least have a discussion about that. I think most mappers only think about how to make their map enjoyable and good-looking, but not how to make it really challenging on the highest difficulty.

This may also be some kind of zeitgeist, as nowadays most people seem to see games as a medium for entertainment (what they are), but not as a medium for challenge (what they also should be IMHO).

 

I want to add that I'm a bit tired of the criterion that something is not good if it "forces" the player to play in a certain style. I mean, it is a game, you have set objectives (which you are "forced" to accomplish), the area you are moving in is limited and so are your possibilities to achieve your mission. As a game it provides some rules which the player has to follow. Most of the FM's provide the same set of rules to the player, so they see it as a standard. But stepping away from such a standard does not neccessarily mean that game does not work anymore (or in other words is not enjoyable anymore).

 

Actually it is more difficult to play if you are not allowed to kill someone, if you are not allowed to ko someone or if you even have to ghost. So if the mapper chooses this to increase difficulty, I think it's legit. The pivot is how it comes down to gameplay. If the gameplay still works under that conditions, if the player is still able to achieve his goals, than it's fine. You can always play under lower difficulty levels. (Or you don't play a certain mission at all - last solution ).

[demagogue]

For the record, I also lean against "don't be seen" and "no KO" objectives; I wouldn't do them for an FM I made (but "no kill" is ok on expert for some reason). What I would do if I wanted a special challenge would be like the optional objective I had, where you had to slip right under the noses of guards to do something (a swarm of them would be even better)... So it's not like you're forced to play a certain way, but the situation itself demands you think carefully about what you're doing.

[Springheel]

Split arrow stuff to a new topic.

[someTaff]

I prefer not to knock, it adds suspense when everybody walking around, not resting somewere in the dust)

Edited January 27, 2013 by someTaff