Fan Mission: Sir Talbot's Collateral by Baal & Bikerdude (15/04/2015)

[dw1]

Very well-crafted map. I like smaller maps and I like built-in challenges like the one KO limit. When I started playing TDM I was surprised to find that none of the maps had a ghost or ghost-lite difficulty because I assumed a lot of the seasoned players like to play that way.

[Anderson]

Thank you for the brilliant mission that you created. I enjoyed this very much.

The oozing atmosphere, the comfortable design of the house, the nice storytelling that you used through the environement, the details. This made my day end on a very positive note.

 

I was also amazed somewhat by the clever use of that cutscene. Very intelligent use of The Dark Mod engine! I think it's a sensitive string to deliver a quality story (even if not everyone has a lot to say, I always appreciate the effort of it).

[Gantolandon]

Loved the mission and this is coming from someone who doesn't really like mansions.The environment is one of the more beautiful I've ever seen in TDM.

 

The owner of the house is a moron, though.

 

 

 

Let's not count the fact that he invites a master thief to the house where he illegally grows Mandrasola, but the whole generator and elevator setup is cringeworthy from the point of view of someone who actually lives there. It's really easy to get stranded when the generator powers down - on the roof without the means to get down, in the gallery, in the room.

 

 

[Baal]

Thanks all.

 

Let's not count the fact that he invites a master thief to the house where he illegally grows Mandrasola, but the whole generator and elevator setup is cringeworthy from the point of view of someone who actually lives there. It's really easy to get stranded when the generator powers down - on the roof without the means to get down, in the gallery, in the room.

 

 

 

 

He doesn't invite you into his house. That's the thief's plan alone.

 

The generator is only a backup power supply of the house. Electricity is normally provided externally. This is mentioned in Talbots diary.

 

 

[Zaratul]

This is your first mission?! I`m stunned by high quality of this FM.Great visuals and gameplay and optimisation too! Very liked the vents system,hidden objectives and references to other missions(Dufford,Mandrasola).And even

devdrop

makes appearance! I want to thank you Ball(and Bikerdude) for making this great mission!

Edited May 31, 2015 by Zaratul

[Baal]

Thank you. It's not the first map I built. There are earlier attempts but they were too ambitious and/or went nowhere.

 

What is the Dufford reference? I never played that mission...

[Oldjim]

Lord Duffords by Stumpy but it isn't on the in game downloader I believe http://www.thedarkmod.com/missiondetails/?id=73

[Baal]

Ok, but what is the reference?

[Zaratul]

Sorry.I tought Dufford name is for reference.My bad.

[Springheel]

Started playing this tonight. After about 40 minutes of silently gliding around, darting through lit patches with my breath held, marveling at my timing and near ghost-like prowess, I suddenly realized the last time I played TDM on my player's build had been with a friend of mine who set the AI to nearly deaf and blind.

 

Ego deflated....

[AluminumHaste]

Haha that's awesome

[Springheel]

Can't remember if this was already fixed for 2.04, but I'm getting a LOT of audio popping in this mission.

[nbohr1more]

Yes, 2.04:

 

http://bugs.thedarkmod.com/view.php?id=4148

[Bikerdude]

Can't remember if this was already fixed for 2.04, but I'm getting a LOT of audio popping in this mission.

And the reason for this is Baal and I used a lot of info_portal entities to reduce the volume through them. Since 2.03 sounds are traveling a lot further than they should, and Ive been saying this for a while now.

[161803398874989]

 

 

Had fun with this mission. First one I've finished in a while. Apparently I missed a whole set of objectives, which is a bit annoying but eh.

 

The captain was by far the most annoying character. At first I thought the Captain might have some dirt on Talbot so that's where I went first. My first reload happened when I tried to enter his door, but he opened it at the same time and spotted me. Very unlucky timing. Then while I was searching through the captain's room, he came in, sat in the chair, and just wouldn't leave. I had to make some noise in order to get him to resume his normal patrol pattern. I also didn't find any readables in the captain's room, despite checking very carefully.

 

I completely forgot to check the servant's quarters after I got done with the objectives. Is this where the prank objectives originate?

 

The door to the library got stuck, and it led to a glitch with a guard that wanted to go through it. Quite annoying.

 

 

[Springheel]

Finally finished this. Overall, I consider it an excellent mission with fantastic visuals--among the best visuals TDM has to offer so far.

 

Some more specific comments:

 

 

 

 

Pros:

 

-Fantastic attention to detail. Recessed windows, great stonework, and even drains in the sinks and bathtubs. Superb!

- lots of interesting mechanical details--the moving gears on the elevator, the pipes in the greenhouse, etc--gave everything a great sense of realism and intricacy

- the clues were generally sufficient to figure out where to go. I was able to deduce the existence of an elevator and then figure out where the necessary keys were. For most of the mission I felt like I knew where I had to go, which I appreciate.

- the opening vid

- lots of choices to get in and out

- the placement of rooms seemed to make sense--it felt like a believable space

- good nooks and crannies for hiding, but enough light to force you to think before moving

 

Neutral:

- as others have mentioned, there was a fair bit of going back and forth, which makes it awfully hard not to blackjack. It's one thing to leave a guard standing when you're progressing past him, but it's another when you know you'll probably have to pass him multiple times. That said, it's hard to make good use of a small space without doing that.

- I found myself wishing for a closing vid at the end...I wanted to see Talbot's reaction the next morning.

 

Cons:

- I kind of stumbled on the power equipment and didn't really know what it did, because I didn't get the journal until the end (somehow, the first time I tried to open his desk I got the impression I couldn't lockpick it, and so went in random search for a key). So I found it strange that some gates just suddenly opened when turning it on. I also went back to try and turn it off later on, to kill some of the electric lights, but couldn't. Why not? That was one of the times the backtracking annoyed me, since I had to dodge guards to get somewhere that turned out to be a waste of time.

- I wished I had more equipment (played on medium). There weren't many water arrows and AI seemed to relight the ones I put out almost immediately. Since I never found the rope arrows that apparently were around, I didn't feel like I had many options to be creative.

- as others mentioned, many guards were on full alert at a certain point in the mission but I have no idea what alerted them.

- was there a story about the cook? Lots of readables mentioned her in a way that suggested she was important, but I never got any idea why.

 

 

[AluminumHaste]

- was there a story about the cook? Lots of readables mentioned her in a way that suggested she was important, but I never got any idea why.

 

 

That's because she's a hottie who cooks well, so all the males are gaga over her. Other than that, she's a minor character, it's just flavour.

[Bikerdude]

@Springheel, re the cons -

 

- I guess Baal and I didnt place enough information about this bar what was in a diary.

- Noted for future maps etc.

- We had this in beta testing but could not narrow down what was causing it.

- Some people got it and other didnt, AH's explaination is spot on.

[Baal]

Thanks for the feedback. It's appreciated.

 

 

 

The captain was by far the most annoying character. [...] Then while I was searching through the captain's room, he came in, sat in the chair, and just wouldn't leave. I also didn't find any readables in the captain's room, despite checking very carefully.

 

[...]Is this where the prank objectives originate?

 

 

 

 

You can get everything important from the captains room while he is sitting there. Use the rafters.

Only one of the prank objectives (the painting) is mandatory. The second is a secret and not to obvious. I guess most players would miss it entirely if it weren't mentioned in this thread.

 

 

 

Finally finished this. Overall, I consider it an excellent mission with fantastic visuals--among the best visuals TDM has to offer so far.

 

Some more specific comments:

Thanks, glad you enjoyed it. To address some of your points:

• The generator can not be turned off mainly because that would have made the scripting a lot more complicated and I didn't want to put more time into it.
• I like backtracking in games. A map that is not too obviously laid out for the players convenience is more believable and interesting, in my opinion.
• Even with 3 difficulty levels it is impossible to suit every players preferences. I'd rather make a mission to challenging than to easy. I think the starting gear is fine for a small mission like this. There are a couple of arrows (mostly water) to be found in the mission, though.
• I agree about the readables concerning the cook. We should have trimmed that down a bit because it was just ambience.

Edited July 25, 2015 by Baal

[Dark Shadow]

From the very start I was one happy taffer!

 

Of course I was pleased by the great textures and all, but it was the little touches

in even that very beginning that enthralled me! Such as the fireflies flitting around the tree,

and the coins (all four of 'em! lol ) in the fountain!

(I hope the wishes came true already, cuz they aint there anymore!)

 

And

the guard coming outside just as I was about to try the door!

- crap! duck & dive fo da dark!!

 

I entered via

the office window

- and now a question:

 

What the heck did that

book switch near the far door in the room

just past the office activate/open?

Edited August 18, 2015 by Dark Shadow

[grodenglaive]

I hadn't played a mission since about Christmas time and I sure picked the right one to jump back in. Excellent through and through. I just had one moment when I didn't know what to do next to proceed, but a look at the objectives showed me the way

needed to replace the diary

and things ran pretty smoothly to the end. The readables had a really interesting back-story and it felt like part of a larger campaign. I liked that you needed to read the clues in order to advance and then you still needed to think and hunt around a bit to complete objectives - the clues did not spell it out. The guards were the right amount of tricky - I used my 1 allotted knockout

in the gallery

although it could probably have been better spent elsewhere

the guard in the cellar was particularly annoying.

The visuals were very good and I liked the layout of the place a great deal.

Edited August 18, 2015 by grodenglaive

[grodenglaive]

What the heck did that

book switch near the far door in the room

just past the office activate/open?

 

I believe

that opened/closed the hidden door to the elevator, but only when the power was on.

[Dark Shadow]

I believe

that opened/closed the hidden door to the elevator, but only when the power was on.

 

OH!

Ok, Thanks grodenglaive!

 

I guess it's

not on then or the elevator is in another room

 

because I didn't see any change in that room!

 

(I guess this is my own lil OCD but I HATEZ wonderin bout things like

"just what the h-e-double-toothpicks did I do back dere?"

Edited August 18, 2015 by Dark Shadow

[Taquito]

Excellent mission. I really felt like I was one with the shadows. Something that is sometimes lacking in other missions. Everything felt so natrual and fluid. Thanks to the attention to detail of the creators. The object placemente was perfect and for me this is really important for the I didn't had to step on chests to pick the items like in other missions. This enhanced the experience even more.

 

I don't agree with some comments about the backtracking. It didnt felt that way for me. Specially since everything in the map is so adjacent and combined with the fact that there's so many shadows in all hallways makes it exiting and fun. The map is a bit overwhelming at first but the still fun due to it's design.

 

The art direction was great too. The engine room, the winery, the bedrooms. They all had intricated and detailed decorations.

 

10 out of 10 from me.

[Bikerdude]

Glad you enjoyed it and your welcome :-)