Fan Mission: Home Again (by grayman) (2014/2/12)

[Fidcal]

Great rooftop mission and I suspect I didn't find anywhere. I got the loot objective on Difficult but that was only 3/4ths of all the loot available so I missed a lot.

 

It might be me but the AI seemed more sensitive and most everywhere on roofs and ledges, unless I crept (which takes forever) I aroused low level suspicion. I gave up trying too hard to have no suspicions but even so, the stats showed 108 low level suspicions so I reckon some I never even heard or saw. Perhaps it was the context of being out in a city at night and a tiny scratch on metal aroused a guard way in the distance seemed a bit unnatural. Close to, I expect to occasionally have creep on metal past a guard at a desk a couple of paces away, but to have to do it 3/4ths of the time with guards out of sight way down in and along a street got a bit wearing. So, I don't know if it was intended but, just saying.

 

Good idea to repeat some of the readable info to help reinforce the story so I did feel I was in a story even though I doubt I absorbed it all.

 

Overall, very enjoyable except the (apparently) over-sensitive enemy was a mild irritation here and there until I eased off trying to ghost it perfectly. BTW I don't think I used any tools etc except the one rope I kept reusing. I had tons of stuff at the end. Not sure about moss. There were one or two places I'd like to have used moss but I only had one at that time and had to save it in case there was an impossible place where it was needed later. Maybe that's one answer - add a dozen moss at the start and a hint to use them. The sensitivity would then add to the fun instead of taking away.

 

 

 

 

There's an out-of-map area at the Builders. In the passage where there's a boiler or turbine whatever it is, there are tall half-arches. One one wall near a corner, there is a fake doorway with an arched stone surround over the top. I must have got lucky because I mantled that easily first time and got onto the half-arches and walked all round, but much of that is not textured or black or probably caulk transparent. In places on could see out to the city. Later I had more trouble getting up there but it is possible. I believe the first time I mantled straight up (not sure.) Later I climbed on the corner stonework and got up from there. Easy solution to block that door arch or alternatively, texture above and make it a feature, even an easter egg area.

 

In the city watch I felt exposed in the evidence room because I couldn't shut the door and expected any moment for a guard to notice. It seemed odd nobody was bothered that high security door was open. So, a lever inside? I couldn't see one. Possibly I could have thrown the lever outside and ran inside but would I then have been trapped? I daren't try it.

 

Oh, yeah, the lab was a bit too bright considering the inventor was only away briefly and the player was a sitting duck. A couple more shadowy areas would have made that better imo.

 

 

[grayman]

 

 

Being a rooftop mission, it became notorious for allowing the player to climb up to places he shouldn't be, even with all the time I put in trying to prevent that. After a while I just threw up my hands and said, "Enough of this!".

 

The inside switch to the evidence room door is to the right of the wall safe. I had to place it there due to the congested frobbing at the door for the combination lock. Even with the extra frob-catchers behind the buttons and lever, the inside switch was still frobable from out in the hall until I moved it.

 

 

[Anderson]

Took the time to finally go through this FM.

Probably beats some rooftop centered Thief missions for me. Fantastic detail. Everything is spot on. Still strong despite the rising quality of new FM's.

 

 

 

 

Negative points beyond those to which you've already responded:

a. lack of a compass reference on the map. I quickly understood that we're supposed to move towards north-east, but the labyrinths kept confusing me, aiding to another half an hour of exploration.

b. Is it possible to make stepping our foot on the streets not end in a mission fail on easy? It is inconsistent, when you can step on the boat if you come through the canals, a few steps away towards the murder site of the woman and to go back on the ladder back to the roofs, isn't that a breach of the logical objective in a way? It is clear that the mission is designed to focus its detail on the rooftops, but still... quite restrictive regarding no access on walking the streets on easy. I would be happy even with medium quality textures, but no limits about naviagation.

This becomes a problem more and more after platforming for extended periods of time where Doom 3's jumping and movement comes off into attention as somewhat clunky and not "floaty" enough for truly enjoyful jumping and mantling.

c. It feels like the the player is too rich in equipment. Hard to find a use for moss arrows and especially fire arrows are questionable when killing is out of the question.

 

 

 

 

In total took me a little more then 1 hour and 40 minutes (approximately). I think without the aforementioned negative points, this FM would be as good as "In the North". Maybe it was the thematic or something, or the fact that the pacing of the first FM was stronger (if not for the restrictions here). The negative points really brought it down for me. As if hindering my way of going through the FM, in a natural way.

Thus far "In the North" is definitely the best in the series.

 

The story certainly brings a great vibe to it. I hope it will be a revenge by the end. I'm impressed by how much can be brought simply through text and various readables (I wouldn't mind even small hints or the protagonist's thoughts in a bubble in the left upper corner of the screen.

 

Will take a look at Cleighmoor ASAP.

Edited December 25, 2016 by Anderson

[Deadlove]

Am i the only one who thinks dark mod jumping and mantling is more smooth than thief?

[nbohr1more]

Am i the only one who thinks dark mod jumping and mantling is more smooth than thief?

We've heard that before, yes (because it's true, even if you count NewDark's new "new mantle" improvement option).

 

I guess the praise died down a bit because we had one forum user who was a TDM zealot and would trash Thief regularly

for not being as good as TDM in this and a few other areas. It became unpopular to "toot our own horn" about the topic.

[Bikerdude]

I guess the praise died down a bit because we had one forum user who was a TDM zealot and would trash Thief regularly

for not being as good as TDM in this and a few other areas. It became unpopular to "toot our own horn" about the topic.

Yeah but I think he/she was part zealot in response to the then and still luke warm response to TDM over there....

[lowenz]

because we had one forum user who was a TDM zealot

Praise the Builder!

[rich_is_bored]

TDM is not kosher. We need a rabbi to bless it.

[Deadlove]

Let TDM stay forever unbaptised in Pagan glory! :-D

[Anderson]

Am i the only one who thinks dark mod jumping and mantling is more smooth than thief?

I don't know how mantling works in 2.05 but seems fine for me. Jumping is less pleasant. It's just too Doom 3 and seems to be too fast and sudden for a stealth game. It can affect mantling but the detection for mantling is great.

So only jumping remains problematic. Out of place and out of pace.

[Krysiul]

Wanted to congratulate you on that series. I've just finished the second part and appreciate all the subtle side-plot details, as well as small things like custom loading screens and high quality intros that contribute greatly to the overall experience and immersiveness. This really feels like a coherent mini-campaign. I've got only a couple of missions unplayed left in TDM and these two were one of the best ones, even though a couple of years have passed since the release.

 

One thing that could be improved are several regions of the map that are climbable, but clearly not meant to be seen by the player (lacking textures) as pointed out by the others. Another thing - it would be nice to engage in a plot that doesn't advance solely by studying readables that always contain inciriminating evidence against their authors that openly log their malicious activities in detail It would be nice to be forced e.g. to listen to some conversations to learn some secrets or find some less obvious clues which would make the player connect the dots by himself/herself.

 

 

I really liked the end involving following a mysterious figure carrying the lamp. A small detail, but very pleasant, and makes the game setting more dynamic and alive and less static. The same goes for the street fights not related to the main plot.

 

Edited January 2, 2018 by Krysiul

[Reman]

Anyone else getting a bugged skybox in 2.06?

 

 

Specs: W10, GTX 1060, 1440p, i7 7700K, 16GB DDR4

 

e: Nevermind, this showed up on other missions too. I reinstalled TDM and skyboxes are back to normal.

Edited July 28, 2018 by Reman

[joebarnin]

Brilliant mission. You got the Thieves Highway just right - multiple paths, a variety of path types, directionally disorienting (which is good). Then, the city watch station was nicely complicated. Multiple interesting stories. Leaves me wanting for more - on to WS3!

[grayman]

Brilliant mission. You got the Thieves Highway just right - multiple paths, a variety of path types, directionally disorienting (which is good). Then, the city watch station was nicely complicated. Multiple interesting stories. Leaves me wanting for more - on to WS3!

 

Thanks for playing!

[Darkriser]

I was so disappointed when I learned (after finishing the excellent WS1) that this is a rooftop mission.

I don't like these kind of missions.

But WS2 changed my opinion. Excellent one.

Loved the story and the beautiful mission's layout....and the very different game-play at the end...

 

The only negative surprise was the sudden end....really disappointing...

My only hope is that there's WS3 (already downloaded, installed, ready to launch) and I expect the story to continue...

 

[grayman]

Glad you persisted and ended up liking it.

 

It had to end at some point. (The mission is designed so you can travel all the way back to Steele's house and end it there, in case you wanted to make sure you covered all the different routes.)

 

WS3 and WS4 are released. WS3 is more like WS1, and WS4 is a mix of street and rooftop travel.

 

WS5 is in the works, with no rooftop travel.

 

WS6, 7, and 8 are all "mansion" settings.

[Hagatha]

Awesome mission. So much so that when I got lost and started to get frustrated, I kept going. Still stuck, but enjoying it.

[Olivir2016]

So beautiful and fun to play mission, thank you! The two parts of it offer so different gameplay. Luckily, I have found my way through the map on my first attempt, even on the hardest difficulty.

[grayman]

Glad you liked it. Steele's story continues in WS3/4/5. Working on 6/7 now.

[OrbWeaver]

I guess I'm getting the hang of this after all.

Completion just under two hours on Easy with over 4500 loot (which kind of makes me annoyed that I can't spend the loot on anything — it's just a number which means nothing and disappears once you load another mission).

The rooftop journey made a nice contrast from the previous mission and really brought back memories of Angelwatch and the like. And once again, the architecture was absolutely top notch: attractive, varied and believable. I particularly liked the contrast between the functional red-brick city watch station and the gloomy grey cells underneath. The electric lights were a fun new mechanic, and it was a nice touch that the guards turn them back on (although rather amusing that they never become suspicious even if you keep turning off the lights right in front of them).

[grayman]

Glad you liked it.

The inability to spend loot is an irritation, I agree. The optimum situation IMHO would be to have in-game shops where you can buy stuff, and a handful of our missions provide that. Instead, I see Steele storing his gains back at his parents' home, with an as-yet-unknown plan of what to do with it once this particular series of missions is over.

A series of missions using greebo's campaign design allows the player to carry loot over from mission to mission, so you could have meaningful shop visits at the start of missions. Though Steele's is a continuous story, it doesn't use the campaign design, so this type of shopping won't happen. And given my time schedule, I will never go back and turn the 8 missions into a campaign.

So Steele gets to hoard his loot and do something with it afterward. We may or may not find out what that is.

[AluminumHaste]

44 minutes ago, grayman said:

And given my time schedule, I will never go back and turn the 8 missions into a campaign.

 

Would you be opposed to someone else making it into a campaign?

[OrbWeaver]

It sounds like the problem with the campaign system is that it requires authors to release all of the missions at once, rather than in a series of releases separated by long periods of time (which is a much more common situation given how time-consuming it is to produce a mission).

I wonder if a sort of "campaign lite" system could be implemented, whereby authors could simply tag their missions with a unique campaign ID, and the game would automatically link them together and provide a shop at the beginning of each mission without any additional work on the part of the author? This would allow further missions to be released months or years later but still be added to the sequence, complete with spendable loot.

[AluminumHaste]

The issue there might be when the campaign system goes to load the next map and the player doesn't have it, might crash, or just throw a warning.

 

Releasing it as a full fledged campaign would have to be a separate download, and it could be named different like William Steele: Campaign or something like that.
That was people would know that is the full campaign and now play the individual missions.

[grayman]

26 minutes ago, AluminumHaste said:

Would you be opposed to someone else making it into a campaign?

Yes. The transition from WS6 to WS7 would preclude this.