Fan Mission: Window of Opportunity by RJFerret (2014/01/01)

[The Black Arrow 18]

There are some grammar errors that I noticed myself, strangely it is very easy to confuse "its" and "it's" even for native-speaking English people. It's on the first paragraph of the mission briefing's, I'm sure you actually meant "its", right? The mountain "possessed" something indeed.

 

By the way, can you add (No killings) and (No blackjacking) in those objectives? I didn't know what conking is, and sometimes I'd rather just read two little words.

 

 

Now, I didn't play this mission fully because I was pretty much taffing around, trying to explore it. I started this on "Ghost" right away, I'm always down for a challenge and I don't care about how tedious it is (not saying this one is/was).

 

I sure loved the cave system, nice idea! It pretty much seems to make The Dark Mod more real than usual; No creepy full-o'-undead crypts, just a very eerie and pitch black cave. It might have not scared me as much as The Lich Queen's Shadows, but pitch black is something people would realistically be afraid of.

 

When I got the objective about killing the Spider Queen, I quickly realized what to do. I say, bad move there RJFerret, it was extremely easy to kill her. You could have tried making it somehow more challenging and thoughtful.

 

I didn't finish this map yet, so I must. Hopefully I'll find the artefact, knowing it is in the cave systems and not in the cabins.

 

 

(Also, I hate my DSPD.)

[RJFerret 270]

Thanks, I hope you enjoy the rest of it too, although an assumption might not apply? ;-)

 

 

Too easy is obviously subjective, that tactic style isn't typical in this genre, with no foreshadowing, it's out of left field, and the reward is minimal, so the challenge of it should be balanced accordingly to maximize fun. Regardless of ease (heck, can accidentally complete it), seems most players avoid/skip that objective as it is, so it's cool you "got it" right away--that's the true reward there. :-)

 

[Springheel 4645]

With one or two little hiccups I quite enjoyed this mission.

 

 

The first stage was surprisingly challenging. I was being fairly casual at first because the set-up looked rather easy, but then I continually had my ass handed to me as AI noticed doors and the lantern guard caught me be surprise at least once. In the end I only managed to get into the wench's wagon by keeping them busy elsewhere with noise arrows (which work SO well in 2.02).

 

The caves were enjoyable as well, although I missed the "temple" people have talked about, and never did get all the loot I needed.

 

Great use of (lack of) ambient light in the caves...made things feel very tense.

 

The only thing that bugged me was the static book, which I already mentioned.

 

I actually considered trying to lure the spider queen onto the lava, but then I found the way out and it didn't try to follow, so I didn't risk it.

 

 

 

A unique little mission that packs more challenge than it seems. Thanks!

[Eldrad 1]

Okay found the way out and killed the spider queen. The way out ends on a cave, so how does one get into the town? The vines are not good for climbing.

[161803398874989 81]

One doesn't get into the town. It's quite different from most other missions.

[Jon Irenicus 18]

Here is my review with spoilers:

 

 

"It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue."

 

Man, excellent work considering this is your first FM! I especially like how you not only didn't made a first default mansion FM, but used a setting and a premise totally original! I was able to complete the mission in the hardest difficulty without reading anything on the internet, and I was really satisfied for it!

 

+Soon after entering the cave, when the ground falls, I got scared by the noise and my heart raced. Staying in pitch black darkness without being able to see anything without the lantern, and having a small field of view with it turned on, created a sense of fear, claustrophobia, vulnerability and helplessness. Not to mention all the other creepy things down there. Playing this on Ghost difficulty is not for the faint of heart!

+I loved the whole atmosphere of the secret underground cave, reminded me a lot of Thief: The Dark Project.

+I especially liked the optional objective of killing the Spider Queen.

+I liked how after leaving the underground, the steam coming out from cracks of the surface ground made perfect sense!

+Ghosting is really challenging.

 

*I wonder who dug all these tunnels. Was it the spider queen? These images (http://imageshack.co...0/42/UCnzoa.jpg , http://imageshack.co...2645/JkKZQ9.jpg , http://imageshack.co...8748/mBgFev.jpg) suggest that the Spider Queen is worshipped as some kind of goddess. Did they built the statue for it or it already existed before? The skeletons apparently are of adventurers that died there, because sometimes there are weapons nearby them. Or they made human sacrifices for the Spider Queen? I would like that there were some readable answering some of these questions, because in the end there are a lot of unanswered questions, and although the mistery is nice, I cannot help thinking that you could seize this chance to enrich the story! I think that putting a diary next to a skeleton would be a perfect way of doing this.

 

Bug report:

-Looks like there's a hole in the wall here that you forgot to close. (http://imageshack.co...2446/5RMkGd.jpg)

-I think this spider is floating. (http://imageshack.co...1817/lH1nyi.jpg)

 

Conclusion:

A very nice FM.

Thanks!

 

 

Edited October 23, 2014 by Jon Irenicus

[Azaran 4]

Not sure if this is a bug, but

the grave fragments won't frob for me

. I'm using the latest TDM

[duzenko 659]

What is the other way of killing the big spider, other than luring it into a bad place?