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Fan Mission: One Step Too Far, by Dragofer (2014/08/04)


Dragofer

Rate One Step Too Far  

33 members have voted

  1. 1. Gameplay: Enjoyment. Fun duration. Smooth flow, ect. Versus Bugs. Frustration, Boredom, framelag

    • Poor
      0
    • Tolerable
      1
    • Good
      19
    • Excellent
      13
    • Near Perfect
      0
  2. 2. Appearance: Visual pleasure, lighting, visual style, deduct bad texturing etc.

    • Poor
      0
    • Tolerable
      0
    • Good
      12
    • Excellent
      19
    • Near Perfect
      2
  3. 3. Story & Text: Story. Text. Briefing. Graphic storytelling

    • Poor
      0
    • Tolerable
      1
    • Good
      12
    • Excellent
      15
    • Near Perfect
      5


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great FM. the sudden fade out ending was a little anticlimactic though. I was totally pumped and prepared for something scary and then it was over.

 

don't have to say anything about the first part that hasn't been said already. good work

 

the suspension and pacing after the ship wrecking is very well done. after seeing the skeleton move and finding nobody on the beach it felt very eerie and going around and through the empty hut i was totally expecting to find something horrible. when I saw the people returning were just some random thugs i actually felt relieved :D

btw. if you intended to give the feeling that people might just be out for a while and will return eventually you could've put some still glowing coal/wood into the oven. still I did get the message that there have been people staying there not long ago and the corpse in the attic made it clear they were not friendly

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Here is my quick review with spoilers:

 

 

pn6vjV.jpg

"Arrgh!"

 

I was able to complete this FM on difficult without reading anything here.

 

THE GOOD:

+I loved the briefing because it's not just static simple text.

+My favorite pirate FM. I loved the atmosphere sounds, it really helped with the immersion.

+That secret chest with lots of treasure was a sight to behold. I loved the music and the glow that came from it haha.

+Secrets are very good and hard to find.

+Readables and story are excellent!

+Some very well hidden loot.

+I like that when i fall into the water, I don't simply die. Instead, I slowly sink, lost breath, and after some time it begins to darken and I drown. Very creepy way of dying! Nicely done.

+I loved the secret room with the skeleton.

+Original and creepy way of conducting the story, through a haunted tome.

+The objective of not attacking any member of the crew was a wise choice, because otherwise the mission would be too easy.

+I thought the mission was over when I was going to Gert's bed, and if the mission had ended there, would already be good! But to my surprise, shortly after came that creepy and excellent cutscene.

+I liked that part when some guys appeared to hunt me.

 

THE BAD:

-No loading bar or any indications of loading.

-I got stuck lots of times in the confined spaces of the ship. Fortunately, I have a habit of quicksaving a lot.

-No waves crashing into the shore? No damage in the ship after it crashed into a rock?

-Anticlimactic ending.

 

Bug report:

*The "notes" section is bugged (http://imagizer.imag...4192/d09K3q.jpg)

 

 

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I was totally pumped and prepared for something scary and then it was over.

That gives me an idea for a scene at the end, that also leads onto the next mission. Or a scene at the beginning of the next mission maybe.

 

when I saw the people returning were just some random thugs i actually felt relieved :D

I quite liked the butcher appearing in the corridor in the warehouse of Demagogue's Patently Dangerous, so I was curious to use axemen instead of zombies here.

 

if you intended to give the feeling that people might just be out for a while and will return eventually you could've put some still glowing coal/wood into the oven.

I was thinking of them as being out on their boats pillaging nearby settlements so they were out for a longer time, but thanks for the suggestion.

 

 

 

+I like that when i fall into the water, I don't simply die. Instead, I slowly sink, lost breath, and after some time it begins to darken and I drown. Very creepy way of dying! Nicely done.

It was Bikerdude's idea to make the world darken as you sink below the waves, quite moody I agree :)

 

+That secret chest with lots of treasure was a sight to behold. I loved the music and the glow that came from it haha.

That one was fun to put together, and finally it gets mentioned :P

 

 

 

Thanks for playing, and leaving these reviews :)

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  • 2 months later...

Great first part on ship but second part it was just "what do i have to do?". It felt very unfinished. So if you could make second part new mission or just add something to it...

 

I was not able to pick up key in lower left captains drawer, I was not seen in first officer cabin even standing before him in full light, that room is really hard if you dont get that bug. Hard to take loot, read notes, but you can also block captain with box in front of his cabin.

Looks like i found all hidden things on ship, Skipped cabin... so where did i miss 500 look? Was it in cabin?

 

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Haven't finished this yet, but this is a wonderfully atmospheric mission with some excellent level design. I've liked it so far, very well crafted. Hard to believe this is your debut mission, Dragofer ! B)

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  • 4 weeks later...

I somehow missed this mission when it was released, but better late than never! It is one of the most atmospheric TDM projects. The locations are beautifully designed, and it genuinely feels like picking through the holds of a ship embarking on a long voyage. This attention to detail follows through the entire mission. Underneath the believable ship, there is a creepy, creepy story that builds a sense of doom and, later, desolation, so by the time I finished, I felt chilled to the bone. This is not easy to accomplish - being "in your face" is always the easier way, but this is how it is really done.

 

Some of this may be personal. I have childhood memories of a frightening film adaptation of Jack London's Call of the Wild, which had a very similar sense of cold, death and abandonement - even though I suspect your source of inspiration was At the Mountains of Madness. I wonder if the protagonist is a doomed man, destined to die on this forsaken cold land...

 

I did not think this second half needed more exposition, except maybe a pointer to move on.

 

The technical execution of the mission is well beyond the call of duty.

 

Some criticism is due for the gameplay. Sneaking is very hard at the few points where it is required, and it needs a lot of trial and error to get it right. Tight patrol routes, obscure locations, and items which are very hard to frob unless you are standing close by - together, these issues add up to some genuinely unpleasant moments.

 

But all in all, it is an enjoyable horror mission - and this is what horror is about. Waiting for the next part!

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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I am very happy with this mission. It is simply stellar what can be done on the first try!

 

The ship felt amazing, I was walking around it for around half an hour mezmerized by the sounds and the general feel of *something* behind it all.

However, as many mentioned - it takes a really long time to find the loot on the ship. I had to search every hidden shelf for about 2 hours + loading and saving continously. In the end I had to use cheats because many things seemed lootable (but weren't), many chests were closed, even though I apparently had all the keys. This was a little unpleasant.

 

But it was worth it in the end! Great build-up with that music and caves!

It did indeed feel like a Jack London story as others mentioned. I applaud the way how it came out.

If you come up with a follow up or not, matters not! What does matter is that you absolutely had a success here! Great job!

"I really perceive that vanity about which most men merely prate — the vanity of the human or temporal life. I live continually in a reverie of the future. I have no faith in human perfectibility. I think that human exertion will have no appreciable effect upon humanity. Man is now only more active — not more happy — nor more wise, than he was 6000 years ago. The result will never vary — and to suppose that it will, is to suppose that the foregone man has lived in vain — that the foregone time is but the rudiment of the future — that the myriads who have perished have not been upon equal footing with ourselves — nor are we with our posterity. I cannot agree to lose sight of man the individual, in man the mass."...

- 2 July 1844 letter to James Russell Lowell from Edgar Allan Poe.

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I forgot to mention.

You absolutely have to reduce the mandatory amount of loot down to at least 800. 1100 is too much for the easy difficulty.

 

Maybe I'm too unexperienced, but it's really hard to find the last few hundred. And the farther the more challenging it is. You litterly have to rip the ship apart to do it.

"I really perceive that vanity about which most men merely prate — the vanity of the human or temporal life. I live continually in a reverie of the future. I have no faith in human perfectibility. I think that human exertion will have no appreciable effect upon humanity. Man is now only more active — not more happy — nor more wise, than he was 6000 years ago. The result will never vary — and to suppose that it will, is to suppose that the foregone man has lived in vain — that the foregone time is but the rudiment of the future — that the myriads who have perished have not been upon equal footing with ourselves — nor are we with our posterity. I cannot agree to lose sight of man the individual, in man the mass."...

- 2 July 1844 letter to James Russell Lowell from Edgar Allan Poe.

badge?user=andarson

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Thank you very much for your feedback! I had the idea for this mission after visiting Shackleton’s ship in Scotland, so I’m happy to see that you bring One Step Too Far into connection with other such stories of the Arctic and Klondike. And, what I’d be eager to see is missions that take place in the harsh and exposed world of early settlers in Northern America. RJFerret’s Window of Opportunity is already in that vein, in particular with the grey tones and its dark misty skybox. Now that we sailed to the west in a carack, it’s as good an opportunity as ever to produce such a place.

 

Also, I’ve made an update (v1.5) to improve quality of life in several aspects:

  • Everything that looks like loot can be looted
  • Looting and lockpicking on the Captain’s deck are now more comfortable to do
  • Eased the loot requirements. Don't want people unable to advance because they haven't collected enough loot
  • There’s something in the crow’s nest
  • Reworded the Tome to make it clearer how to progress
  • Fixes, such as the Tome not advancing when it was flicked through too fast, keys opening unwanted locks, shadow bugs, assorted OCD-related changes
  • Cleaned up the team-control triggers on the Captain’s deck

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That link is to v1 not v1.5

The update isn't showing either because it is missing the update trigger or that it hasn't been uploaded to the mirrors

 

I've got a Dropbox link in the main post which links to v1.5. Soon this'll also be in the mirrors.

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Thank you very much for your feedback! I had the idea for this mission after visiting Shackleton’s ship in Scotland, so I’m happy to see that you bring One Step Too Far into connection with other such stories of the Arctic and Klondike. And, what I’d be eager to see is missions that take place in the harsh and exposed world of early settlers in Northern America. RJFerret’s Window of Opportunity is already in that vein, in particular with the grey tones and its dark misty skybox. Now that we sailed to the west in a carack, it’s as good an opportunity as ever to produce such a place.

 

Also, I’ve made an update (v1.5) to improve quality of life in several aspects:

  • Everything that looks like loot can be looted
  • Looting and lockpicking on the Captain’s deck are now more comfortable to do
  • Eased the loot requirements. Don't want people unable to advance because they haven't collected enough loot
  • There’s something in the crow’s nest
  • Reworded the Tome to make it clearer how to progress
  • Fixes, such as the Tome not advancing when it was flicked through too fast, keys opening unwanted locks, shadow bugs, assorted OCD-related changes
  • Cleaned up the team-control triggers on the Captain’s deck

Thank you so much! This update will make the mission perfect!

 

I personally had an association with "Love of Life" most of all.

  • Like 1

"I really perceive that vanity about which most men merely prate — the vanity of the human or temporal life. I live continually in a reverie of the future. I have no faith in human perfectibility. I think that human exertion will have no appreciable effect upon humanity. Man is now only more active — not more happy — nor more wise, than he was 6000 years ago. The result will never vary — and to suppose that it will, is to suppose that the foregone man has lived in vain — that the foregone time is but the rudiment of the future — that the myriads who have perished have not been upon equal footing with ourselves — nor are we with our posterity. I cannot agree to lose sight of man the individual, in man the mass."...

- 2 July 1844 letter to James Russell Lowell from Edgar Allan Poe.

badge?user=andarson

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