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New mission: Lockner Manor


buck28

  

13 members have voted

  1. 1. Gameplay: Enjoyment, fun duration, smooth flow, etc. vs bugs, boredom, frustration, frame lags

  2. 2. Appearance: Visual pleasure, lighting, visual style; deduct for bad texturing, etc.

  3. 3. Story: Story and text, briefing, graffic storytelling

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Completed on the hardest setting with a stealth score of 8 and no knockouts etc,

A very good first mission with only one slight complaint

It finished up as a loot hunt as there wasn't much margin for missing things and a lot of the smaller items were well hidden

A question

was there a readable somewhere about the hidden area under the stairs as I only found that by cheating (show loot)

One final question

Did you do something special to use perspective in the manor as I haven't noticed that effect before. I was thinking about the ceiling with the big glass roof area where the tiles seemed to reduce the further away they were

Edited by Oldjim
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What I found good:

 

 

- The starting area with the guard in his gatehouse, and in particular the inn was very homely and it felt like legitimate thievery to steal things there even though none of them were hostile. I especially liked pinching the purse from the men at the counter as I casually walked by.

- The AI routes were properly done and had all those moments like slinking past citywatch on the streets, or pressing against the wall crouched to get past a brightly lit guarded window.

- The large size of the whole mission and the variety of settings, such as an inventor's home, a rat-beggar's attic, a hotel, and still visibly giving every room attention and a consistent level of gameplay throughout. In my case I could even get lost in the city.

 

 

On the other hand

 

 

- Unnecessary use of doors with very little cracks in them that result in the room behind being rendered even when the door is closed; that's probably what pulled down the performance in my case

- Visually there's room for improvement even for a first mission, although I found places like the inn and the manor's fireplace quite good. A handful parts were below the standard of the rest of the mission, such as the bare secret room which stretches out into the distance with a chest at the end (I think that counts as odd architecture). I would have hoped for more to see there as it was so anticipated, even if it's just some chains or hooks, or even better some evidence of the lord's unfashionable hobbies. On the streets there was one or the other boxy roof. Also, the floral-design desklamps painted jarringly sharp pictures on the ceilings.

- The mansion was quite airy and would probably have had a more impressive effect on me if it had all the same contents but in a smaller space (although that might be the result of accommodating for the large staircase model).

 

 

 

In the end I had a good time exploring here and I even loaded it twice in a short time simply to have another look at the city part.

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@Oldjim.

 

 

Yes. The readable is upstairs in the bedroom, on the dresser, next to the key. ;)

 

No I didn't add anything that wasn't stock.

Edited by buck28

Quando omni flunkus moritati" ("When all else fails, play dead")

Halloween Contest Winner 2014

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@Dragofer

 

Everything was stock. The fancy lights were models, and could not be changed. (By me anyhow.)

When you are working with stock items, and are not a programmer, you use what you have.

Hope you had fun, none the less. :D

Quando omni flunkus moritati" ("When all else fails, play dead")

Halloween Contest Winner 2014

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Just played through again - definitely worth another play through - now to see if I can get nearly all the loot

Re the readable upstairs

 

That only says that he should hide the key in the sock drawer which he obviously didn't and there is nothing about a hidden cupboard

 

post-8491-0-53209200-1407441094_thumb.jpg

 

 

There is also a sound leak in the upstairs room as there is a maid saying "If he wants that doing etc."

 

There is an invisible wall here

 

post-8491-0-21693100-1407441097_thumb.jpg

Edited by Oldjim
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Oldjim Posted Yesterday, 02:55 PM

Just played through again - definitely worth another play through - now to see if I can get nearly all the loot

Re the readable upstairs

 

I wanted you to be able to figure this out, without me pointing it out. ;)

 

 

No hidden wall, just player clip to keep you off of the clothesline. Will rework in update.

 

 

Thanks for your feedback :D

Edited by buck28

Quando omni flunkus moritati" ("When all else fails, play dead")

Halloween Contest Winner 2014

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Nice mission!

 

 

The city part was interesting and very well done.

The architecture in the Manor was a bit 'weird' though and felt more like a labyrinth than a manor.

The balance was lost here. On one hand the overly large empty entrance hall and on the other hand

a number of hallways on the upper levels that lead nowhere else than to other long hallways, with barely any rooms.

And why would you face the backside of the main.staircase when you enter via the front-door?

 

Edited by gnartsch
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@gnartsch

 

Thanks.

 

Not being a programmer, and being my first; I didn't want to get too engrossed in an intricate Mansion.

 

I'll try to do better next time.

Edited by buck28

Quando omni flunkus moritati" ("When all else fails, play dead")

Halloween Contest Winner 2014

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Love Heavy Metal! Fun and with great music :smile:

 

Now, back to the FM:

I swear, I've gone through every inch of that game room, and can't find the damn switch mentioned in the note in the lady's room! Please, where is it?

Help!

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  • 2 weeks later...

mw41Si.jpg

 

Congratulations on your first FM!

It's another manor FM, but hey, you gotta start somewhere right? And this one is simple but fun!

Things that are worth mentioning:

 

+The tip to find the secret room doesn't make things too easy or too hard. Finding and looting the secret room was satisfactory.

+It was fun to notice the writings inside the public bathroom, I never saw this in any other FM.

+I threw an unconscious person into the sewer water and I had a very pleasant surprise when I noticed that he drowned! Since when this feature is present?

 

*Touching in this energy beam (http://imagizer.imag.../904/6r1Ae3.jpg) should at least hurt Corso.

 

Bug report:

-This guy (http://imagizer.imag.../742/9oTsyA.jpg) has a propensity to get stuck in the couch, apparently.

-"Do not KILL any humans" objective doesn't work for me.

-This pipe (http://imagizer.imag.../538/wwjUn9.jpg) seems to be bugged.

 

 

Thanks!

Edited by Jon Irenicus
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@Jon Irenicus said: Posted 23 August 2014 - 02:40 AM

+I threw an unconscious person into the sewer water and I had a very pleasant surprise when I noticed that he drowned! Since when this feature is present?

 

 

 

 

It is actual water. If you drop a candle in it, it will go out. If you drop an unconscious body in it, they will drown. (if they don't wake up first)

The Pipe end is a model and is that way normaly. I forgot to crate a shadow patch on it.

The guy on the couch must be too close. I never had a problem but will look at.

The Do not Kill any humans objective I will look at.

 

 

 

Thanks for playing and congrats on your stats. I am making a tweek list for a future fix. ;)

Edited by buck28
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Quando omni flunkus moritati" ("When all else fails, play dead")

Halloween Contest Winner 2014

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A good first mission. Just needs some work on lighting and architecture/detail stuff, and I'm sure that will come with time and practice.

 

 

 

The story felt a little disjointed in places, though it was fun with some interesting areas. I particularly liked the initial tavern (and attic), Inventors quarters, and the fireplace in Lockner's quarters. Good detail in these areas that made the area feel 'true to life' and authentic. Interiors need trim/baseboards/corner mouldings/crown mouldings/chair rails/etc. particularly for an opulent manor.

 

It felt a lot like there were several places in the map with not much purpose, and a few of the areas were oddly connected. For instance, having two hallways on the first floor of Lockner's manor that are running parallel to each other with only a wall separating them. Your sense of scale was fairly well pulled together however the large marble manor entry felt out of place and gigantic compared to the rest of the manor. The short small stepped/angle hall that connected the two rooms of the manor bedroom also felt weird like you were leaving one room and entering another when it was all the same bedroom.

 

I did enjoy the number of different paths, hatches, windows and sewer tunnels that allowed the player to access areas 2-3 different ways.

 

Maybe if you had kept the mission a bit smaller you could have focused less on the city expanse and more on a core theme that would make the fm a little more coherent (at least for me ;) )

 

For me though it did fall more on the side of quantity over quality and to be new to mapping myself, that is completely understandable.

 

 

 

Overall though, some of the areas felt extremely good, lived in, and authentic and I look forward to your next FM.

 

Congrats on your first FM and thanks for the experience!

Edited by Lux
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Congrats on the release of your first mission.

 

Finished this up today (playing catch up on the summer missions) and found it enjoyable. Got all the loot after spending a large amount of time on getting what looked like loot in the tavern - it wasn't so was a bit disappointed in that. I also didn't realize the people were friendly (someone mentioned in forums) as I thought only the maids were so ended up gassing and KOing everyone to get in there.

 

I liked the different places to "visit" along the way to the manor. Took me a bit to figure out where the payroll chest was but finally found the switch - good clue that there must be something there.

 

The stairway and entranceway seemed a little large compared to the back half of the manor but other than seeming a little empty was visually appealing - liked your skylight above the stairs. Also, I liked your windows, helped to get my bearings when I looked out them.

 

 

Thanks for all your hard work and I look forward to more from you.

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@Lux

Posted 31 August 2014 - 01:42 PM

A good first mission. Just needs some work on lighting and architecture/detail stuff, and I'm sure that will come with time and practice.

 

Thank you for playing and glad you enjoyed (some of it anyway). Another is in the works right now.

 

I deleted the baseboards and etc from the mansion, as they created a shadow problem for some reason? :unsure:

Edited by buck28

Quando omni flunkus moritati" ("When all else fails, play dead")

Halloween Contest Winner 2014

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@Thiefette

 

Posted 31 August 2014 - 03:39 PM

Congrats on the release of your first mission

 

You are welcome and thank you for playing. Another one is on it's way; hopefully even better. :D

Quando omni flunkus moritati" ("When all else fails, play dead")

Halloween Contest Winner 2014

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  • 4 weeks later...

Finally a calm evening to play TDM and check out this mission. :) For a first effort, this is quite impressive!

 

It felt enjoyable to actually locate your main target in the city. Most FMs tend to skip this part for "budget" reasons, but here, your efforts plainly pay off since it gives not only extra gameplay, but a send of "groundedness", believability. The multiple places to explore and go through the mission were a welcome feature of this design. Nicely crooked and odd, too. I think you have a good eye for detailwork which you can develop with a bit of practice. Sure, a lot of the mission looks relatively simple, but there are places which shine - the crumbling cellar, the tavern, and particularly the fireplace (which is the best I have seen in TDM) already show progress. Elsewhere, you've got neat little ideas that make places come alive, helped by a good soundscape.

 

The mission does have a bit of an invisible wall problem, where places that look climbable aren't, and a few places that don't look climbable are (at one point, I could move around in midair in the library, probably not the effect you were looking for ;)). The sense of scale is off in the manor, although, admittedly, the immense staircase room was cool on its own. And the level of details is inconsistent, which is a bit jarring. But again, for something you used to learn the editor, this is big, and full of cool ideas! I hope you will create more missions in the future!

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Come the time of peril, did the ground gape, and did the dead rest unquiet 'gainst us. Our bands of iron and hammers of stone prevailed not, and some did doubt the Builder's plan. But the seals held strong, and the few did triumph, and the doubters were lain into the foundations of the new sanctum. -- Collected letters of the Smith-in-Exile, Civitas Approved

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