Fan Mission: Requiem by Gelo "Moonbo" Fleisher (2013/10/6)

[Oldjim]

Finished it - a truly impressive mission

The clues were absolutely essential and really contributed to the storyline

As I only found just over half the loot I have to wonder where I missed it all so that alone justifies a second run through

Graphics were superb overall with only a very very few minor glitches and the sound track and voice acting were excellent

 

A question

when I was in the room upstairs from where you place the 2nd and 3rd seals - the one with the fire arrows - a thing ran past the door very quickly.

I tried to find it afterwards and couldn't

Is it worthwhile placing a mine there in advance to kill it

 

Edited October 13, 2013 by Oldjim

[Moonbo]

Hey OldJim,

 

 

 

It's just there to startle the player, and can't be killed.

 

 

[prjames]

I just finished this mission and wanted to say, this is a truly awesome mission and speaks well for both the future of the Dark Mod (especially now that it's stand-alone) and your future as an FM author.

 

More! More! More!

 

- prjames

[Tarhiel]

Hello Moonbo,

 

This mission ranks among the best here, namely Heart of the Lone Salvation and Glenham Tower. Certainly ranks among my personal best.

 

Beautiful mission in story (!), the way how it is slowly unfolding before the eyes of the player, in atmosphere – clearly one can see you are a writer; readables have this novelic, story-ish quality to them, which helps tremendously to tell a story.

 

But to see a writer who is good at programming as well? Now that´s something: – level design and technical quality of the mission are both high (I have a low-end computer and 1.0 version of this mission is running just fine).

 

Where to begin?

 

First thing I noticed, there was no loot objective, which is a welcomed change – I usually try to do the loot objective as first, which makes me look in every nook and cranny of the maps for gold, so I can concentrate on the story later. This time around, I could concentrate on the story right away. I did not tried to steal everything.

 

I liked the even distribution of verticality and horizontality, in fact; I think there was a bit of everything in this mission (street level, dungeon, loot in unexpected places...).

Not to mention lot of unseen textures&sounds!

 

That song in the church was beautiful! Sound familiar right away, I have heard different version from Jan Garbarek&Hilliard Ensebmle. I couldn´t bring myself to steal anything in that church - I saw there are coins in the baptismal font and bracelet on the hand of the statue on the other side - awe and humbleness struck me and I just took the key and went on - after the music stopped . Music in general was just...spot on.

 

 

 

loved the idea with fallen hammerites and how you had to steal their crowns – instead of trying to stay in the shadows and avoid contact with them, you were encouraged to approach them unseen as fast as possible and quickly take off their crowns (if they saw you it was impossible to take it off, if I am correct, or there was some technical difficulties with frobbing these NPC´s while in attack mode) - original change in mechanics.

 

 

I also liked the kudos towards modding community on sepulchres

And when I saw “Brother Brosius: Who silent the Evil” my soul was squeaking with joy and I was laughing out loud: D

 

 

And yes, as Melan already noted, this mission has a Lady Rowena feeling to it – by the way, one of my all time favourites is her Seven Sisters – I was practically drooling the whole mission.

 

 

Out of curiosity: what will happen, when we will take the golden skull from greengrocer before finishing the main quest? Except that he will walk away. I thought I will find him with his wife in their bed, but he wasn´t there.

 

 

It´s missions like this one which makes me want to make one of my own.

Edited October 13, 2013 by Tarhiel

[Moonbo]

Hey Tarhiel,

 

Thanks for taking the time to write just a detailed workup!

 

 

 

Hah! I like your taste in music :-). My favorite version is actually by the Hilliard Ensemble alone - they have a great album of Perotin's songs.

 

For the fallen Builders with the crowns, they actually have invisible "frob blockers" in front of their heads which makes it impossible to grab the crowns from the front, only the back. Technically you could snag it while they are alert but given that they'll be charging at you it's pretty hard to do.

 

Sadly the only difference on what happens when you finish the greengrocer's quest is whether or not the scare sequence will happen. If you defeat The Evil and then take the skull, then nothing will happen.

 

 

 

Thanks again for posting Tarhiel . If you have the mapping bug, definitely try making a level! The people on the editor sub-forum are very friendly & knowledgeable, and feel free to ask me how I did anything too.

Edited October 13, 2013 by Moonbo

[id3839315]

Congrats on your great mission! I'm sorry but I had to rate it with 5 stars.

[eqagunn]

Can I get, just a little help. I'm stuck.

 

 

What am I supposed to do after I open the trap door with Lava Key? How do I open the portal?

 

[Moonbo]

Hey Eqagunn,

 

 

 

Drop the Soul Jar into the lava .

 

 

[eqagunn]

I can't believe I got stuck right at the end, that's like the last part to do. Haha.

This was the best map I played so far. Amazing work Moonbo.

 

 

Haven't realized at first that some of the windows could be opened. It was after I found gambling location on the roof, and went down into the house that I saw I could open one. That gave me options to look for.

 

I removed the skull before finishing the quest, and as I was facing the altar, I didn't see him walking away (as I read here he should), only thing I heard was the spooky music. I did however notice that his body went missing.

 

I used two mines I had to kill those first two ghosts. I don't know what they are called because when you carry the body it only says "Corpse".

 

After navigating through the yard of the undead, and climbing the rope up, I made second two ghosts to chase me over the hole with the robe. They would fell in allowing me to proceed in peace.

 

The main temple was the hardest part. Was to be expected being the last part and all. Somehow I managed to get to the top, acquire the Lava Key and open the trap door.

 

This is the part I got stuck at, stuck in a funny way. I knew I had to throw the Soul Jar into the lava, but I was trying to do it by pressing Enter instead of R. Totally nubish. Haha.

 

While I was stuck, I thought maybe I need to kill them all, so I was hoping I could make them chase me over the trap so they would fall in and die, but sadly, for some reason, they just run over the hole like it isn't even there. When I try to run over it, I just fall in.

 

Anyway, after reading your reply, reading the word "drop", it immediately came to my head that in Thief's Den FM, I had to drop the letter inside a chest using the drop key (doh!). I just said: "OMG, I'm retarded!" and finally went to finish the mission.

 

 

In the end I had 8860 gold. It took me 3 hours and 20 minutes in total and it was pure fun.

Thank you for this awesome FM. I hope you decide to make more because you sure know what you are doing!

 

P.S. I found a spot where player will always get stuck and unable to move.

 

 

It's located outside that small tower right after you go underground.

 

 

Edited October 14, 2013 by eqagunn

[EbonKnight]

Sweet freaking jesus. This is.. this is..wow. You are definitely one of the veteran modders here in disguise, this is just simply way too magnificent a map to be done by a first-timer. I mean, this was basically better than a fair few parts of Thief 1 & 2, a lot of of Thief 3 and quite a few of the maps I've played of Dark Mod, which are, themselves, usually of a stellar quality. Seriously, you should work in the game industry, if you don't already.. absolutely amazing job, really complete full marks, and please release more soon, especially as the storyline has potential for a sequel! My god, how I've missed dark mod and fms like this!

Edited October 14, 2013 by EbonKnight

[Moonbo]

@Eqagunn - glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for the write-up!

 

@EbonKnight - . I've definitely been part of the modding and game dev scene, but almost exclusively as a writer (probably the project most people would know about is The Nameless Mod for Deus Ex). Outside of a test map I put together in UDK as part of an abandoned indie game, this is indeed my first map. Maybe hanging around other mappers rubbed off . Anyways, thank you for your kind words, and I'm really glad you enjoyed the mission!

[7upMan]

@Tr00pertj: I've put a video up showing how I get from behind the guard station to loads of places without touching ground level (except for when I bork the jump). If you can't be bothered to watch the whole thing, skip to 9:00 where I get to the place I shouldn't be : -

 

At 1:16, when I first jumped I became stuck in the geometry when I landed. I had to noclip out of it to progress.

 

At 1:27, I do not have the foggiest idea how you made this jump. I tried that by running and then jumping, but I always fell down at half-way. What did I do wrong?

[simplen00b]

At 1:16, when I first jumped I became stuck in the geometry when I landed. I had to noclip out of it to progress.

 

At 1:27, I do not have the foggiest idea how you made this jump. I tried that by running and then jumping, but I always fell down at half-way. What did I do wrong?

The 1:16 jump is really tricky - think I may have got stuck once or twice, but more often I do what I did in the first attempt and end up saying "Arrggh! Hello! Aaargh!" to the Builder's hammers (if the fall hasn't killed me first).

 

The 1:27 jump is mainly timing - get as far back as you can (which isn't much), stand up, start running and then almost immediately jump (I'm guessing it's something like 1/10th of a second between starting to run and making the jump. You've got hardly any run-up). If you get the light gem lined up as it is at 1:30 in the video, you should be pointing in the right direction. Hope this helps.

 

BTW, since making the video, I've discovered there are good mantling opportunities even before you get to the guards' station.

[EbonKnight]

Ah, Nameless Mod, that was another absolutely fantastic experience I don't mind recommending to anyone here. Anyways, yeah, I'm amazed at how talented people on here are, we are talking exceeding the original thief games in terms of both game mechanics and atmosphere/storylines at times, and that's truly an achievement. Keep up the great work!

[7upMan]

The 1:27 jump is mainly timing - get as far back as you can (which isn't much), stand up, start running and then almost immediately jump (I'm guessing it's something like 1/10th of a second between starting to run and making the jump. You've got hardly any run-up). If you get the light gem lined up as it is at 1:30 in the video, you should be pointing in the right direction. Hope this helps.

 

Thanks, man. I'll be sure to try that out.

 

Moonbo, your FM so far has been terrific. I just listened to the song in the church, and it was a beautiful experience. I wish more mappers would use such ideas.

[Tarhiel]

@Eqagunn - glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for the write-up!

 

@EbonKnight - . I've definitely been part of the modding and game dev scene, but almost exclusively as a writer (probably the project most people would know about is The Nameless Mod for Deus Ex). Outside of a test map I put together in UDK as part of an abandoned indie game, this is indeed my first map. Maybe hanging around other mappers rubbed off . Anyways, thank you for your kind words, and I'm really glad you enjoyed the mission!

 

You wrote script for The Nameless Mod? :OOO Now I am officially in perpetual state of awe That´s definitely one of the best DE mods out there, I haven´t played the new Nexus or 2027, so far though, Nameless is my personal best far and wide.

Edited October 17, 2013 by Tarhiel

[Moonbo]

Haha, I only *helped* write the script/readables for TNM. Jonas Waever was the lead writer and it was really his baby, but after him I probably was the person who wrote the second most (so for example I wrote a good chunk of the core-story convos with Scara B. King). But yeah, definitely don't want to take away from Jonas on that one .

 

If you're looking for another really good DX mod, you should try ZODIAC, outside of TNM its my personal favorite.

[Obsttorte]

Mhh, I have DX lying around somewhere. Really have to play some mods mentioned here. Fo me personally, Deus Ex is the best First-Person-Shooter ever.

[lowenz]

Haha, I only *helped* write the script/readables for TNM. Jonas Waever was the lead writer and it was really his baby, but after him I probably was the person who wrote the second most (so for example I wrote a good chunk of the core-story convos with Scara B. King). But yeah, definitely don't want to take away from Jonas on that one .

 

If you're looking for another really good DX mod, you should try ZODIAC, outside of TNM its my personal favorite.

It's amazing how good projects like TDM attract capable people all over the modding scene

Edited October 17, 2013 by lowenz

[lowenz]

Mhh, I have DX lying around somewhere. Really have to play some mods mentioned here. Fo me personally, Deus Ex is the best First-Person-Shooter ever.

http://kentie.net/article/dxguide/index.htm

[Moonbo]

Fo me personally, Deus Ex is the best First-Person-Shooter ever.

 

Yep, same here, and there really are some quality mods out there. I actually think The Nameless Mod might take the prize for being the largest, most ambitious mod ever released (and not just because I was part of the dev team , it's probably 4 times as large/complex as T2X).

[Sotha]

What an amazing mission!

 

Wow. Makes me speechless. Er. Where to begin?

 

It's your first map and the quality is extremely high. Impeccable geometry detail, custom AI, steel sharp plot.

The only gripe I have is that there were a few rough-on-the-edges spots, but given the length and the overall quality of the mission, I'm not gonna even consider talking about those.

 

Wow. I really, truly, hope -nay, beg- that you will continue your mapping hobby...

 

Another masterpiece to the TDM hall-of-fame.

[Moonbo]

Thanks Sotha . I'm going to do another novel next, but after that who knows. I do have an idea for a non-standard mansion mission...I guess only the future will tell.

[pwl]

Moonbo: This was an AMAZING mission!! One that I will play more than once. Thank you for this GEM!!

[STiFU]

Praise the master (map-)Builder!!! Excellent job, Moonbo. Thanks! I actually just bought your novel, just because I felt like giving something back for these awesome 4 hours I just had.

 

 

Those 'things' were definitely one of the most fearsome gaming-monsters... Great idea!!