Fan Mission: Penny Dreadful by Melan (2013/07/28)

[Melan 1810]

I posted a few screenshots on my Tumblr. No idea how many people following an economic crisis and movie-themed blog are interested in stealth gaming, but who knows.

[Oldjim 154]

This is embarrassing - how do I get back out of the crypt

I have the rope arrows but I can't find anything to attach them to

[Bikerdude 3743]

This is embarrassing - how do I get back out of the crypt

I have the rope arrows but I can't find anything to attach them to

You don't actually need them to exit the crypt, just find

Grimey's key

 

[someTaff 122]

 

Lots and lots of undead!

 

Flawless visuals!

Edited July 29, 2013 by someTaff

[lowenz 612]

 

 

<P>Too much undead for me, but the atmosphere is astronishing! Really an

"ultimate crypt" example! Little bug for zombies with TDM 2.0 (see the

face)

 

http://www.imagestime.com/show.php/876145_penny2013072823.18.16.jpg.html

 

 

 

 

[edited to add spoiler tags--Springheel]

[simplen00b 97]

I plan these missions to be nasty, brutish and short.

Nasty & brutish? Parts of this mission looked so gorgeously horrible I thought I was in Rocksbourg (but fortunately I wasn't), and some of the lighting effects in the power station looked just gorgeous (a screenshot doesn't really do them justice but here's one anyway):

 

 

And short? There were at least three times in the final section when I thought "OK, that's it, pretty much there UH OH NO I'M NOT". And the

 

new skeleton

looks awesome.

 

So, none out of three ain't bad.*

 

And yes, playing a Melan TDM FM is like making love to a beautiful woman... You reserve plenty of free time, eliminate all distractions and then... You just close the curtains, dim the lights, get into the mood and

SLAUGHTER THE UNDEAD! SLAUGHTER THEM ALL!! Wave upon wave of their UNCLEAN FOULNESS may bear down, yet my TRUSTY STEEL shall despatch their VILE SPIRITS into the GAPING ABYSS OF OBLIVION FOR ETERNITY!!!

 

 

 

No I haven't been on a date for a while. Why d'you ask?

 

*Actually, I've just remembered

that spider near the end. Had that had some speed and aggression programmed in?

That was nasty.

[Oldjim 154]

I am not doing well here

I found the key - previously I had checked the body but hadn't looked underneath it - now I can't find anything to unlock with it

[Lux 206]

This is embarrassing - how do I get back out of the crypt

I have the rope arrows but I can't find anything to attach them to

 

 

 

Where did you find rope arrows? Wish I had found them

 

You don't need them though to exit the crypt and once you figure it out you'll kick yourself for being dense (I did. I was like, "DUH!" once I found the way out) I did struggle with it also but it is pretty clear and I just overlooked it initially.

 

 

EDIT: Oopsie!

Edited July 30, 2013 by Lux

[Bikerdude 3743]

@Lux, spoilers mista :-p

[Baal 120]

This is an excellent mission from start to finish. It's executed very well in every aspect.

The different environments are beautiful, varied, distinctive and memorable; the story is simple but well written and the difficulty level is exactly right.

It should also be fun replaying this, since there seem to be many optional, secret areas around.

 

I bet Melan and Bikerdude had an argument or two about the nearly pitch black spots in one part of the map.

[Oldjim 154]

Finished it on expert but it seemed to be a bit of a key hunt at the end but I suppose that this is a side effect of not having lockpicks

The atmospherics were great and the sound effects helped a lot

One thing which I am sure I did wrong was getting through this door

 

where I waited until a ghoul opened it and sneaked through after him. I am sure that there is a lever to operate it somewhere but I couldn't find it

 

Edited July 30, 2013 by Oldjim

[Melan 1810]

That has never happened with me, and isn't supposed to... but hey. Emergent gameplay!

[Bikerdude 3743]

I bet Melan and Bikerdude had an argument or two about the nearly pitch black spots in one part of the map.

I did mention it in testing LOL....

[Baal 120]

I thought that was cool by the way. Straining on the eyes but I liked it. You have to use the lantern to see anything but be careful not to let yourself be seen by whoever is around there.

[Melan 1810]

That was the intended effect. Finding your way in the darkness is an element of gameplay after all, plus everything relevant tends to be highlighted or silhouetted in some way (even if slightly). I think mission authors should be bolder with low light settings, and use that for gameplay (like RPGista's In Rememberance of Him) and aesthetics (bolder contrasts, more prominent shadows).

 

Still a very far cry from, let's say, sperry's infamously nerve-wracking TDP fan missions or even parts of the original TDP, which were dark, and that was something that added to the feeling of vulnerability.

[Baal 120]

bolder contrasts, more prominent shadows

This is the main reason I try to keep ambient as low as possible.

 

Lighting in this mission is absolutely great. I'll have to take a closer look at it, because I'm still struggling to get it right.

[Oldjim 154]

Update - played through again and this time

found the switch which opened the door and also a second way into the passage

I wonder if I can find any more secret passages

I did have one problem in the throne room - I think that this is a v2 problem as I have come across it before when beta testing - I alerted one of the skeletons who started looking but couldn't find me but he didn't drop out of alert state probably because the other skeletons saw the problem and continued the alert. In the end I dropped a mine and blew him up. Once I did that the other skeletons soon calmed down

Edited July 30, 2013 by Oldjim

[raymeld 28]

In the dark I've somehow stumbled into

a room with two statues , the one on the right facing them holding a candle , tomb with skeleton sticking out. Is there a way out of it through the facing doors. To get in I jumped down on the statues.

[ungoliant 120]

That was the intended effect. Finding your way in the darkness is an element of gameplay after all, plus everything relevant tends to be highlighted or silhouetted in some way (even if slightly). I think mission authors should be bolder with low light settings, and use that for gameplay

I agree with this, but I also remember Deceptive Shadows getting a lot of complaints for this. I don't know if its just a matter of implementation, or what, but I guess it seems something that if you're going to do it, you must do it near-perfectly or just not bother.

 

Also, this mission kicks ass.

I will say that the difficulty level made me a little bit uncomfortable, even though I haven't been busted once yet. It's more that I'm used to almost by necessity frobbing for hidden stuff in every conceivable or inconceivable place. The combination of stretches of well lit areas, no-light areas, and the constant patrols make this very difficult. If there was some kind of disclaimer like "theres no ridiculously impossible to find hidden loot scattered in random spots" put into the FM description, I'd have a much easier time enjoying this to its maximum potential (which is a hell of a lot), and not focusing on "ok how do I time my movements to do a quick 3 second frob-spam across this whole area before this AI turns around and comes back"

 

I think a solid objective with no loot objective would of suited this FM very well. It could be like... a "find the sack of something that makes this trip worthwhile" objective, which is just a sack stuffed with looties. My humble opinion in any case. Other than my 100% frobspam all areas difficulties, I'm friggin loving this mission.

Thank you for another quality FM, Melan!

[AluminumHaste 1087]

Man, why does no one ever tell me about these releases? How am I supposed to get screenshots for Moddb if I don't know about the missions lol!!!!

 

 

Congrats on the release, can't wait to try this tonight!

[Obsttorte 1556]

Man, why does no one ever tell me about these releases?

Right upper side of the forum's main page - new threads. Just saying.

[grayman 2982]

Man, why does no one ever tell me about these releases? How am I supposed to get screenshots for Moddb if I don't know about the missions lol!!!!

 

The raven must have been taken out by a well-shot arrow.

[stumpy 243]

I was putting out lit candles with unlit candles by throwing them at the lit candles, and that bigger skeleton wanders in and starts to complain about something, think it was why are the lights out in that area.

[Bikerdude 3743]

I wonder if I can find any more secret passages

Have you found the

very very very dark passage with a pully machine in it

yet..?

Man, why does no one ever tell me about these releases? How am I supposed to get screenshots for Moddb if I don't know about the missions lol!!!!

I thought that was nbohr's job.. ;-P, but if both of you are doing that then I will make a point of telling you both when I update the missions page :-)

[nbohr1more 2268]

I was planning on a mega article with all the Unusual Contest entries plus these missions. Though, Penny Dreadful is noteworthy enough for it's own article... For that matter, so are a couple of the Unusual Content entries... But it'll have more impact when a bunch of missions show-up at Moddb at once.