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Briarwood Cathedral


buck28

Briarwood Cathedral  

42 members have voted

  1. 1. Gameplay: Enjoyment. Fun factor. Smooth Flow, ect. Versus bugs, Frustration, Boredom, framelag.

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

  3. 3. Story and Text: Story, Text, Briefing. Graphic storytelling.



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@Elentarien

 

 

were you able to open the Bishops cupboard, to satisfy the (find info objective?) If so the same key opens the desk. The passageway leads to or from the storage room under the kitchen. There is a button to open the door in the floor in the kitchen, also can be opened from the ladder, under the kitchen in the store room. The two doors that are locked can only be open from the key on the other side. There is a secret button at the end of the long hall that has the hay in it on the other side of the torture chamber. it is on the left wall when facing the hole in the wall with the spider web. It has a glyph on it. It is hard to see but does highlight. You don't even have to get in there to finish the mission, if you don't want to. You might have to fight in there. LOL I hope that helps. As for the bugs, TDM can be buggy for some reason? Some times I restart and the same things don't happen again? Go figure. :P

 

 

Thanks for playing, and I hope you had fun!

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

Halloween Contest Winner 2014

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Thanks. That got it. ;)

 

 

 

I didn't realize that the same key opened both. Could have sworn I tried all my keys. . .but maybe I tried them just before I found that one. Or maybe I went too fast or something.

 

Found the door in the kitchen. . .thank you! And checked out the tunnel. Couldn't get all the way through from that angle, either. (though, once I knew where I was, I wasn't desperate. lol Tried with a restart of the game, and I still get caught on that one archway - making it impossible to get all the way through the tunnel from either end. o.O Weird.

 

And yay! Found the pagan area - thanks to your instructions. I think I missed following that tunnel all the way through. I got *out* of the pirate cave area through there and went 'one' way, and must have forgotten there was more to explore down there. rotflol Feel silly now. But it was still nice to get those doors open. Though the skellies in the upright coffins made me jump fairly high. (heard the haunty noises from them, but didn't see them until one moved and hit me. rotflol)

 

If you were to revisit this mission to fix it up, or expand on it, I'd love to see more 'story' about getting into the pagan area and maybe dealing with the guys down there or something. I actually was hoping the mission was going to lead us to helping the guys upstairs - until I saw their 'interrogation' room. THen I lost all sympathy for them. :P But it'd still be nice to see the actual story expanded to 'wrap up' if you go in there. As it was, it was nice to find, and find out why they were being haunted, but at the same time it sort of felt pointless to be there. Just a thought.

 

 

 

All in all, fun mission, and the cathedral design inside was well done.

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Played this yesterday. It was okay: Detail was fine, the map was large enough, and it had a bit of a creepy effect. I finished the objectives rather quickly however, and pretty much ended the mission before I got a chance to find all secret keys and unlock the remaining doors.

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Firstly, it was MirceaKitsune, and secondly you should be prepared for harsh criticism of your map. Ask why and where people disliked subjective things and ask where and how they broke categorically broken things. Freaking out about it is neither appropriate nor constructive. Sure nobody wants harsh criticism, but if the only way to keep you mapping is by a circle-jerk in your honor, you're not doing it for the right reasons.

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Whoever voted and said that the gameplay was just Tolerable; I would like them to give me the names of the mission's that they have built, so I can play them.

It's people like that that make me want to put no further effort, or long hours into building a mission. Even if I played someone's mission, and totally hated it,

I would not make them feel bad with an idiotic vote like that. What an insult! :angry:

I voted both Good and Tolerable for gameplay, since it allowed selecting multiple options... same way I chose both Good and Excellent for the story. I didn't know I'm the first to choose that option, since you can't see results before you vote. Like I said, I didn't feel that the gameplay is diverse enough, or that the trajectory of the player is as consistent as it should be. So the gameplay simply felt okay, and I wanted to give a vote in between... if I could only choose one option per field I would have likely chosen the middle one (good).

 

It really wasn't an insult though, nor saying the map is bad! It might be best to not have such an option, if you're sensitive to people selecting it. I think you're good at this and shouldn't feel discouraged at all. As for me, I haven't created any missions myself, since DarkRadiant is a nightmare to get working on Linux.

Edited by MirceaKitsune
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LOL I remember when Shadowhide was going around voting 1/5 on every category for every map, and was just incredibly critical. If there was 1 issue with a portion of a map, like a misplaced texture on a stair, he would give it 1 star for visuals lol.

 

I have to say though, voting 2/5 for something should be accompanied by what you didn't like, and maybe suggestions on how to improve things. Useful criticism should always be welcome.

  • Like 2

I always assumed I'd taste like boot leather.

 

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Nicely done buck28 - good sized area to poke around with great visuals. Very enjoyable!

"When you see that in order to produce, you need to obtain permission from men who produce nothing; when you see that money is flowing to those who deal not in goods, but in favors; when you see that men get rich more easily by graft than by work, and your laws no longer protect you against them, but protect them against you, you may know that your society is doomed." - Ayn Rand

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Nicely done buck28 - good sized area to poke around with great visuals. Very enjoyable!

Agreed... the map is nicely designed and of good quality, and has a few well varied areas: Outdoor, church main hall, church hallways (where the priests and guards sleep or work), and the underground area where the undead lie. The story is also clear and somewhat original... you can even find the coffins of the two dead priests, and see the grave which is being dug. So certainly there are good elements!

 

The gameplay just seemed too simple and perhaps a little unfinished. Maybe because I expected something special to happen once completing the obvious objectives... or because I finished the objectives without having to unlock a large portion of the map. Some maps make things more exciting or dynamic along the way, so maybe I got a little spoiled by that expectation. Don't let my slightly lower vote on the gameplay get you down buck28, you did quite good and overall I like this!

Edited by MirceaKitsune
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I seem to be having the same problem as Elentarien.

 

And frankly, something tells me that you've underestimated the amount of readables we can find, buck, as the story pretty much ground to a halt once I went down into the catacombs and maintenance areas. :huh::unsure::huh: At least I couldn't find anything, and I've searched dilligently.

I know there must be some bigger mystery going on, given the enemy types I've encountered, but it just doesn't click together for me on a narrative level. I've read every single text above ground, found virtually none underground and it has left me baffled. Very little is explained and even some interesting and spooky parts of the mission end up as key hunts and item hunts.

Plus, one more, rather major criticism:
Exiting via the well is physically impossible. I've tried 20 different ways of climbing out of it once I've reached the surface, but no amount of rope climbing, mantling and jumping did the trick. There is just no way I can exit the well and I find it completely immersion breaking. It could have been such a cool ending to the whole mission, but being forced to retread through the interior instead, and all the way back to the front gates, really ruins the otherwise good impression I've had of the mission for 80 % of its duration so far. :unsure:

 

Oh, and... Does my tampering with the machinery in the basement amount to anything mission-wise, or is that just for the player to fool around with switches ? I just don't get it... I really hope I don't sound dense, but barely anything is explained in the second half of this mission. There aren't even enough visual connections for the player to figure out things on his own.

 

Sorry that I sound this disappointed, but I found the flow of the mission simply uneven, especially in its final stages.

Edited by Petike the Taffer
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  • 3 weeks later...

Replayed this map a couple of days ago (for some reason).

 

Great choice of effects, the rain, the music and almost everything!

Only thing I wish there would be, is some effects of rain falling on the roof of the church, so that you can get a feeling that it's still raining outside, even if you're in a warmer place.

 

It felt amazing, scary, odd and daunting to get into ththat underground section and all of a sudden, find a room with rain falling all the way down.

Almost as if you're on a totally different level, in a different dimesion, a small world that works on it's own rules - don't all of those underground places do that?
Anyway that's what I remember very profoundly.

 

Edited by Anderson
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"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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Anderson, I have to agree with the contents of your spoiler. That particular section of the level was artistically very creative and immersive. Caught me off guard as well, in the best way possible. Shame for all the other flaws I've mentioned. They're small, but they ruin the good bits of the mission for me.

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  • 4 weeks later...

I've just finished your map. It was really nice, good work \o/

 

I've had a little bug i think : one of the enemy of the catacombs was invisible.

His voice was the same as red clothes skeleton and I was only able to see his shadow (very cool effect by the way)

I've played with TDM 2.03, I'd like to know if it is a bug related to TDM...?

Edited by Apiai
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  • 4 weeks later...

I don't get to play games much these days, but when I do, I play Dark Mod!

 

Just played through this one and liked it very much. The atmosphere was good, there didn't seem to be too many or too few AIs walking about. Rooms felt thoughtfully done, guidance was not overdone or too vague. One minor thing I noted:

 

 

I do wish you could club the rats and spiders, but they didn't function as I've seen in other missions. I can recall rats that squeaked if you touched them, alerting a nearby AI, or spiders that would, of course, bite your ankles to bits.

 

207115_1788633687853_1599901965_31729336_1424191_n.jpg
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Thought this map was gonna be lame from first impression. It ended up being much more than I thought at first and I thoroughly enjoyed it. As you mention, it was a speed build, but going back and adding some more bling to spice up the environment would really take this to the next level. Or better yet, make another map. Great work!

 

 

 

I looked around for a while trying to find a secret switch or power supply to unlock the glass case, turned out all I had to do was lockpick.

 

 

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  • 1 month later...

Finished that mission today.

Was a nice mission.

 

 

 

I liked that outside area. There wasn't much there, but I liked what was, some flowers, the horses (I didn't know it can gallop around, but I got it to do it when trying something), the open graves, etc.

 

The builders church was quite nice, and I really liked the use of the acolytes (I don't think i have seen them used before, haven't played all the missions though). At first i thought they were made custom, and checked how, because I liked the armor and belt parts.

 

It felt a bit lifeless though, more so than the underground. There were quite a few areas that were missing something I had the feeling. (The Stockade, The kitchen, the side room to the the boiler room, the boiler room, the scribe area of the two dead ones, and the area directly above it, the rafters in the altar area & the attic. All those rooms felt superb, there were nice decorations inside, the rooms were nice. But there was nearly nothing to find in them, at most one or two loot items in all I think.

 

The Stockade was a bit bugged, when the last door was opened the builder had troubles walking through the doors. Also the prisoners were weird. They didn't flee (some seemed to be builders, but with such old armor they must have been in there for years). They also reacted to me as if they had spotted me (Driving up the stealth score I am sure from my end score), but doing nothing about it.

The prisoner behaviour all in all seemed off, and there was no readable to shed light on it.

Also the back walls of the cells were not lightable for me, they seemed completly black. I don't know why though, since there is a texture in DarkRadiant there.

 

The skeleton in the torture room was a really nice touch, but I didn't like it driving up my stealth score. No way around it though I am sure, if you want an enemy react to the player, try to attack him mindlessly which is mostly futile though.

 

The underground area was really spooky, well done. I am not much at home with very spooky, so I got some help from DarkRadiant. The tricks you used, and triggers to make that really spooky was done really well. Good athmosphere throughout the area, some small trinkets hidden in most areas, nice ideas to hide things.

I needed much trial and time to navigate that area easily, and for me that means the intended effects worked well.

And those sleeping skeletons - really nice.

 

Lastly: That well. Really problematic. It might be that one can climb out if you know how to, but I tried really long and found no working way. Thats also important as you can climb that well right in the beginning (as I did). And there would be soooo much trial and error to get out of it, that it isn't fun. After all, in Real Life it would be easy to climb out as soon as you are so far up.

 

 

Thanks for the misson, I had a nice time.

 

I've just finished your map. It was really nice, good work \o/

 

 

I've had a little bug i think : one of the enemy of the catacombs was invisible.

His voice was the same as red clothes skeleton and I was only able to see his shadow (very cool effect by the way)

I've played with TDM 2.03, I'd like to know if it is a bug related to TDM...?

 

 

 

That enemy was not a bug, its made this way, I am quite sure. From seeing it in DarkRadiant I'd say all those enemies are only there to do a spooky sound experience (there are many of those enemies, but not many are reachable). And that was very successful.

I thought its a bug too though, when I heard an enemy running around clearly and never reaching anything..

 

 

Edited by DeusXIncognita
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  • 1 month later...

Replayed this map a couple of days ago (for some reason).

 

Great choice of effects, the rain, the music and almost everything!

Only thing I wish there would be, is some effects of rain falling on the roof of the church, so that you can get a feeling that it's still raining outside, even if you're in a warmer place.

 

Hm, is it raining (outside of the church I mean)? If so, then something is maybe wrong with my TDM installation or settings... I always thought it's just an upcoming thunderstorm, since there wasn't any rain outside.

 

And yes, getting the feeling that it's raining outside whenever you're in a certain section of a building would be awesome (very light rain sound when you're in a church, a bit louder when you're searching an attic, etc...). Oh, and those wonderful windows from "A Noble Home" should be default for any mission with rainy weather.

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  • 2 years later...
  • 2 years later...

Damn this was a fun mission! And that it was a speedbuild makes it even more impressive. Here and there I found a few graphics glitches like Z fighting, but it didn't worry me too much.

I finished with about $3,500 loot and wasn't worried too much about stealth; there's one enemy that I don't mind if he spots me. You'll know which one when you play it.

 

9 screaming skulls out of 10.

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My missions:           Stand-alone                                                      Duncan Lynch series                              

                                      Down and Out on Newford Road              the Factory Heist

                                                                                                  A House Call

                                                                                                  The House of deLisle                                                                                                  

                              

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  • 6 months later...

It appears the author of this mission isn't around anymore, but after replaying it, it has one serious flaw.

Spoiler

The builders and the undead are on the same team, which is a huge shame, since it's a rare case where the catacombs are actually reachable by the AI, as opposed to conveniently cut-off by ladders and whatnot. I was so ready to lead the builders into a massive brawl, but alas.

Other than that mishap, it's pretty good. The well was kind of annoying, found it impossible to climb out of.

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You know you can change their team in the .map file if you really have your heart set on it....

This is one of those cases where a little DIY tweaking can be fun (just for your own personal local version).

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What do you see when you turn out the light? I can't tell you but I know that it's mine.

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