Fan Mission: Solar Escape 1

[Tr00pertj]

Hi all,

 

I`ll post my v1.0 mission here in this post and if it gets updated the link will be updated. The mission is a simple one and my first following the Fidcal tutorials online and a lot of assistance and help from the forum users, Thanks to you all.

 

The player comes into the possession of a note that can be used to incriminate another but also contains information about an item of value and possible leads to old order secrets that where never really known outside of the order.

 

Release date: 2013/07/22

By tr00pertj

Big thanks to: Fidcal for his thiefs_den mission and tutorials, Obsttorte, Springheel, Melan & Lux for beta testing, advice and readable corrections, Bikerdude for the earlyuse of his fixed models & ERH+ for advice & help.

 

FM - Solar Escape 1: https://skydrive.live.com/redir?resid=F7539D361BD41522!184&authkey=!AGoDUMy10MrYWu4

Edited August 21, 2013 by Tr00pertj

[grayman]

Congratulations!

 

After I get some work done today, I'll be picking this up.

[Tr00pertj]

Thanks greyman,

 

It's not much but it's a start.

 

Enjoy.

[Sir Taffsalot]

Just finished playing this. Very good for a first FM. It was also perfect for a Monday night. Nothing too difficult, just perfect to relax and spend an hour or two sneaking around in. I hope you build upon this and build bigger and better FMs. Just one thing though, why is there hardly any ambient music? This FM feels very quiet. Ambient music adds a lot to the atmosphere IMHO.

 

On the whole nice work. I look forward to more FMs from you.

[Lux]

Congratulations on the release!

 

Thanks for letting me beta test. This is the first map I've beta tested so thanks for letting me and I hope I could offer something constructive.

 

This was a fun little mission and I'm looking forward to your next one.

[Moonbo]

Hey Tr00pertj,

 

I played Solar Escape and thought it was pretty fun. The good points were:

 

1) Solid fundamentals: everything worked well, from the level construction, to the AI pathing, to the lighting, to the item placement.

 

2) Hint of something larger: I enjoyed reading Creep's journal (even if it was a little dense) and the feeling that there was more going on than just what was in the four corners of the level.

 

The constructive crits I have are:

 

1) Sound and sound propagation: Like SirTaff mentioned, there was a noticeable the lack of ambient music and sounds which made the world feel much more stale that it otherwise would have. Also, because the house had transparent windows, all the visportals between the house and the street were always open. This meant that if I made even a little bit of noise anywhere in the house, then the guard outside would instantly go on alert. This was really frustrating.

 

2) Level progression: this might just me being dense, but I got stuck. After finding the secret door, I couldn't find the key to unlock the chest and thus couldn't progress. Also, while the cave section with Creep's victim was a really nice touch, the sewer after it seemed like dead space. Perhaps if it looped under the house to allow for another way in then it wouldn't seem out of place.

 

Anyways overall I liked the FM, please keep making them and I'll keep playing them!

Edited July 23, 2013 by Moonbo

[grayman]

Playing this with 2.0. So far so good, though I'm stuck.

 

 

 

Can't open the chest in the house's main room. Not sure which chest I'm supposed to drop the note in, though I assume it's that one, because dropping it in the other one did nothing.

 

The sound propagation issues can be cleared up when 2.0 comes out. It has some features that can be used in this map to keep the outside guard from getting alerted every time you do something inside the house. Since the AI are a bit more responsive to sound in 2.0, this would really help.

 

All readables and the briefing need some grammar & spelling love.

 

Loot objectives are the same at all difficulties. On purpose?

 

Love the repeated use of "secret and hush-hush". Reminds me of "wink-wink, nod-nod".

 

All in all, a great first map, from what I've seen so far.

 

 

[Tr00pertj]

Just finished playing this. Very good for a first FM. It was also perfect for a Monday night. Nothing too difficult, just perfect to relax and spend an hour or two sneaking around in. I hope you build upon this and build bigger and better FMs. Just one thing though, why is there hardly any ambient music? This FM feels very quiet. Ambient music adds a lot to the atmosphere IMHO.

 

On the whole nice work. I look forward to more FMs from you.

Thanks Sir Taffsalot ah Monday, Monday hey:) With regard to the ambient music your right it is very quiet I got ambient's in there but they don't seem to be loud or ranged enough. I might see if I can adjust the sound entities for a more ranged effect.

Edited July 23, 2013 by Tr00pertj

[Tr00pertj]

Congratulations on the release!

 

Thanks for letting me beta test. This is the first map I've beta tested so thanks for letting me and I hope I could offer something constructive.

 

This was a fun little mission and I'm looking forward to your next one.

 

Thanks Lux your help was great and sooner or later you know I`m going to ask for it again so Big: THANKS:)

[Tr00pertj]

Hey Tr00pertj,

 

I played Solar Escape and thought it was pretty fun. The good points were:

 

1) Solid fundamentals: everything worked well, from the level construction, to the AI pathing, to the lighting, to the item placement.

 

2) Hint of something larger: I enjoyed reading Creep's journal (even if it was a little dense) and the feeling that there was more going on than just what was in the four corners of the level.

 

The constructive crits I have are:

 

1) Sound and sound propagation: Like SirTaff mentioned, there was a noticeable the lack of ambient music and sounds which made the world feel much more stale that it otherwise would have. Also, because the house had transparent windows, all the visportals between the house and the street were always open. This meant that if I made even a little bit of noise anywhere in the house, then the guard outside would instantly go on alert. This was really frustrating.

 

2) Level progression: this might just me being dense, but I got stuck. After finding the secret door, I couldn't find the key to unlock the chest and thus couldn't progress. Also, while the cave section with Creep's victim was a really nice touch, the sewer after it seemed like dead space. Perhaps if it looped under the house to allow for another way in then it wouldn't seem out of place.

 

Anyways overall I liked the FM, please keep making them and I'll keep playing them!

 

Thanks Moonbo

 

I agree with you the sound problem is an issue but as greyman mentioned in his post above it maybe fixed or better supported in v2.0. I may wait till it's release to fix the map with it and it's resources.

[Tr00pertj]

Playing this with 2.0. So far so good, though I'm stuck.

 

 

 

Can't open the chest in the house's main room. Not sure which chest I'm supposed to drop the note in, though I assume it's that one, because dropping it in the other one did nothing.

 

The sound propagation issues can be cleared up when 2.0 comes out. It has some features that can be used in this map to keep the outside guard from getting alerted every time you do something inside the house. Since the AI are a bit more responsive to sound in 2.0, this would really help.

 

All readables and the briefing need some grammar & spelling love.

 

Loot objectives are the same at all difficulties. On purpose?

 

Love the repeated use of "secret and hush-hush". Reminds me of "wink-wink, nod-nod".

 

All in all, a great first map, from what I've seen so far.

Thanks Greyman,

 

The note can be put in either chest and each has it's own key. One chest has an issue with the noclip entity position. I kept trying to fix it but would never quite work properly. As for the readable's, they were worked on and I thought I got them pretty good, with others that helped from the forums. Creeps`s notes and letters are messy with grammar etc.. on purpose. I should have mentioned that no difficulty levels where implemented so sorry about that It's pretty easy to get the 1500 needed to complete the loot requirements.

 

Looking forward to the release mate

Edited July 23, 2013 by Tr00pertj

[Obsttorte]

Thanks Sir Taffsalot ah Monday, Monday hey:) With regard to the ambient music your right it is very quiet I got ambient's in there but they don't seem to be loud or ranged enough. I might see if I can adjust the sound entities for a more ranged effect.

A good way for ambient music is to use the location system instead of speakers. These are pretty easy to setup and the ambient gets played in every location without any origin or range taking into consideration. I've always used it.

 

http://wiki.thedarkmod.com/index.php?title=Location_Settings

[Sir Taffsalot]

Seconded! The location system is brilliant and perfect for ambient music.

[Melan]

Congratulations! I wish more people built and released simple beginner missions like this!

[Sir Taffsalot]

@ Grayman:

 

 

The key to the chest in the main room is in the veranda type area of the house. Go to the starting area and look up. You have to find the hidden entrance to get there though. The hidden entrance is -

 

 

 

right by the ladder that takes you up in to the attic.

 

[Lux]

@grayman

 

There is only 1 difficulty level which is why you're seeing that.

 

 

 

I think the note placement was slightly finicky someone mentioned in beta test, we're not sure why. The note can be placed in either wooden chest. Make sure you have the correct note and once you have it "in hands" maybe move it around up/down as you place it in the box? Not sure as it worked first time on either chest when I played through.

 

 

[Springheel]

Is there anywhere we can mirror this so that the mission downloader can find it?

[grayman]

 

 

I honestly needed the hint about the access to the roof patio. I only found the ladder to the attic because I bumped into it in the dark and it dragged me up a bit. To realize there's a secret door up there, especially since you have your back to it when you're on the ladder, was beyond me.

 

I got a bit further, dropped the note into the downstairs chest just fine, but came up short on loot. I reached 1225 and I needed 1500. Spent a half hour walking around, but couldn't find any more loot, so I left.

 

 

 

Thanks for a fine, tight map. It was fun.

[Tr00pertj]

Thanks grayman,

 

 

I honestly needed the hint about the access to the roof patio. I only found the ladder to the attic because I bumped into it in the dark and it dragged me up a bit. To realize there's a secret door up there, especially since you have your back to it when you're on the ladder, was beyond me.

 

I got a bit further, dropped the note into the downstairs chest just fine, but came up short on loot. I reached 1225 and I needed 1500. Spent a half hour walking around, but couldn't find any more loot, so I left.

 

 

 

Thanks for a fine, tight map. It was fun.

 

 

Thanks grayman,

There is a slime decal on the wall below the secret door to the patio. it look a little odd from the top of the ladder looking down (use the lantern if needed). Glad you managed to find it though.

Did you get both paintings and there are two loot items in the toilet also check under the lift platform.

 

 

Edited July 25, 2013 by Tr00pertj

[grayman]

 

 

I missed one of the portraits and under the lift. That put me over. Surprisingly, mission stats says there's another 700 to find. I've no idea where all that extra might be.

 

Thanks.

 

 

[Bikerdude]

Is there anywhere we can mirror this so that the mission downloader can find it?

I can upload and do the honours on the main mission page when I get home :-)

[Tr00pertj]

@ Bikerdude

 

I was wondering if it's worth putting on the main missions wiki list and where it should be hosted if so.

I haven't got a mediafire or megaupload account or anything but I suppose I could create one if needed. Any suggestions.

 

You said in your post above that you could upload and do the honors on the main mission page when you get home. That would be great but what would you do, I mean should I have done something on the wiki missions list or something? Are the .pk4 files hosted there or at the Dark Mod site?

 

Please feel free to ignore the questions if they seem a little tedious for you as I imagine they would

Edited July 24, 2013 by Tr00pertj

[Ladro]

I have a problem on running this mission: when loading the mission (after the brefing) I have a seg fault.

 

Here is the what it says from the shell:

 

[...]

 

I opened a thread on the right forum (Tech Support):

 

http://forums.thedarkmod.com/topic/14948-problem-launching-mission-solar-escape-1/

Edited July 24, 2013 by Ladro

[nbohr1more]

Sorry, I thought this was a beta thread for some reason.

 

Congrats!!!!

 

Here is a mirror:

 

https://dl.dropboxus...olarescape1.pk4

 

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/17706561/solarescape1.pk4

 

updated mirror

Edited July 29, 2013 by nbohr1more

[Tr00pertj]

@ nbohr1more

 

Thanks for the mirror.