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Fan Mission: Down by the Riverside, by Dragofer (2016/09/25)


Fan Mission: Down by the Riverside, by Dragofer (2016/09/25)  

40 members have voted

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

    • Poor
      1
    • Tolerable
      1
    • Good
      16
    • Excellent
      17
    • Near Perfect
      5
  2. 2. Appearance: Visual pleasure, lighting, visual style, deduct bad texturing etc.

    • Poor
      0
    • Tolerable
      0
    • Good
      2
    • Excellent
      20
    • Near Perfect
      18
  3. 3. Story & Text: Story. Text. Briefing. Graphic storytelling

    • Poor
      0
    • Tolerable
      0
    • Good
      9
    • Excellent
      12
    • Near Perfect
      19


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Posted

That's a class description! Congratulations on the release.

Will try it this month hopefully. Already now I can feel that you should be proud of yourself.

"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

Posted

Great mission so far, but I'm stuck.

 

 

i've drank the first of the phials and teleported to an area where there's a teenager trying to get away from his uncle.

 

 

I've

found the hidden key and escaped to the outside of the house, and I've found enough loot (playing at easy difficulty) to satisfy the loot objective.

I'm still trying to get these objectives:

 

Escape from the effects of the phials

 

 

Get this inheritance

 

 

Find something really valuable.

 

 

What do I do next? Thanks in advance!

 

Also, I think I found a bug.

In the room in this world which is (I guess) the kid's bedroom with a ship's wheel on the wall, if you frob the obvious book under the bed, you lose the ability to switch weapons or do anything with your inventory.

 

 

- prjames

Posted (edited)

@prjames:

 

The inheritance is buried in the fenced herb garden - take a look along the wall.

 

 

That bug looks like part of the readables text file went missing somewhere down the line. Edit: I've looked into this again: the mission archive you get from the ingame downloader is identical to the one I uploaded, and when I use the downloader's version that part is working fine for me. I really can't say what made that particular (flavour) readable misbehave, maybe the download didn't fully complete?

Edited by Dragofer
Posted

I need a hint.

 

 

I'm at the second place - the chapel. A readable there talks about "extinguishing candles from the outside where the window is at such a sharp angle to the ground" to get access to a storage room. This has me stumped. Which candle(s) and which window? If I previously extinguished this candle from inside, am I stuck?

 

 

Thanks!

 

- prjames

Posted (edited)

Well done on an amazingly detailed and very atmospheric mission. I love the new textures and meshes, and the overall originality is exactly what I was hoping for.

 

I'm completely stuck in...

 

 

 

...the church, as I have no idea how to access the storage room (despite the clue in the journal). But I'll keep looking :-)

 

 

 

Also, in the beginning...

 

 

 

...the first guard had already been alerted when I entered the mission, no matter how often I restarted. Something to do with a lit candle that goes out as you spawn into the game? Seems it'd be better to just not have that candle there at all. Anyway, I don't know if it'll affect my stealth score yet.

 

 

 

Thank you for all your hard work :D This FM is a massive improvement over One Step Too Far, and I enjoyed that mission too. Congratulations!

Edited by Kerry000
Posted (edited)

@prjames

 

Hint:

 

 

 

Candles :-)

 

 

 

Stronger hint:

 

 

 

Overlooking the pews.

 

 

 

 

Solution: You can find the key by...

 

 

 

...toggling the one lit candle on the landing where the woman was sitting. Just extinguish it and then click on it again. A key will fall out :-)

 

 

Edited by Kerry000
Posted

Thank you for all your hard work :D This FM is a massive improvement over One Step Too Far, and I enjoyed that mission too. Congratulations!

 

Thanks, I'm pleased to hear this. Also thanks to everyone else for the congratulations :)

 

A little correction for your spoiler in answer to prjames:

 

When the priest writes about '...extinguishing' the candles, he actually means fiddling with a secret mechanism under one of them.

 

The candle in question is the second from the left on the landing, the side where the lady isn't sitting. The fixture on which it rests will rotate when frobbed and release the key.

 

  • Like 2
Posted (edited)

Playing on hardest and achieved the loot objective in the first section but failed to find the special valuable item

At the end of the game

escaping the flames - I didn't get the hint in the Haunting Tomb until I tried to kill the skeleton with holy water etc, - is that hint supposed to appear without that

 

Edited by Oldjim
Posted

Playing on hardest and achieved the loot objective in the first section but failed to find the special valuable item

At the end of the game

escaping the flames - I didn't get the hint in the Haunting Tomb until I tried to kill the skeleton with holy water etc, - is that hint supposed to appear without that

 

 

The special valuable item:

 

This is the golden chalice that appears in the coffin in the second part if you manage to pickpocket the key before you're seen.

 

 

The hint at the end of the game:

 

The tome's first hint is when it says it needs someone capable of a leap of faith. You get another hint either when you get hold of the key or when you attempt to fight.

 

  • Like 1
Posted

Re the special valuable item

that chalice gets you the objective for 700 loot but the find a valuable item objective isn't there at that time - this assumes that you are referring to the coffin when the skeleton is walking about

 

Posted (edited)

Do you want me to create a thread over at TTLG?

 

I'll take that up myself actually, thanks for offering to do this.

 

 

Re the special valuable item

that chalice gets you the objective for 700 loot but the find a valuable item objective isn't there at that time - this assumes that you are referring to the coffin when the skeleton is walking about

 

 

 

This objectives arrangement is something I've been thinking about after releasing the mission actually, it's not a bug. If I remember right my reasoning was that the 'valuable item' objective was linked to the manor, and that's long forgotten by the time you're on the Invernesse. But yes, it could be more consistent, so I think this would be something for v1.1.

 

Edited by Dragofer
  • Like 4
Posted (edited)

Congrats! Downloaded just now, and I hope to play very soon. Unfortunately, I'm dealing with some medical issues just now but I will jump on this ASAP!

 

 

(wait, I'm not sick, I am a caregiver for a parent with some issues, hopefully nothing too serious)

 

P.S. I see I have no warning points, how do I earn some?

Edited by montag
Posted (edited)

Thank you Dragofer!

Again, a most wonderful mission!

I expected a mansion mission, with a beautiful mansion to work in.

I got what I expected in that regard, even more so, for many an aspect of the mansion design was most sublime - once again

some perspectives and rooms made me stop and marvel at finely crafted interiors.

I entered the mansion by climbing a tree, enjoyed the possibility to do that, and found myself in a moody bedroom,

going further from there.

I expected some two hours or so of domestic exploration - and found myself in a mission that led me quite a bit around the globe -

what started as a mansion heist grew into something much bigger, and the mission just went on and on and it was and stayed so

good and fascinating and I just could not bring myself to stop playing, even when I was already tired, because it kept me drawing in.

Phew! (Something like that also happened when I first played Deus Ex - almost addictive)

For those who want to play this mission I would advise to set aside a well-stocked time budget and some drink and food - those will be

probably be welcome soon enough. Those who like really big and long missions will find themselves with plenty of booty.

Especially impressive for me was the skillful design of the ambient elements - be it the moody fog, which worked wonders for

immersion and mystical-shadowy vibes, or the noises and windows in the ship, which conjured skillfully the impression

of cold and icy storm outside.

I played on highest difficulty, and found myself rewarded with lots of demanding challenges, which always were fair and

also allowed for ways to circumvent problem spots cleverly or rewarded observation, skill, patience and sometimes even

a bit thinking out of the box.

A delicacy for the larcenously minded, with a rich story on top of the thievish fun.

 

Also - the paintings used in the briefings and loading screens - very classy. Exactly what is needed to bring oneself

in a fitting mood right from the beginning.

 

Edited by Outlooker

"Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly while bad people will find a way around the laws." - Plato

"When outmatched... cheat."— Batman

Posted

I got done with half the mission and so far it's a stellar experience. You can definitely see a lot of work went into this, thank you so much for making the mission, Dragofer. -_- I think my favorite part has to be

the grey, foggy ambiance of the manor house and the attic. Oh also, the ratty that choked on a ring.

.

 

I may post some further thoughts when I'm finished. For now I wanted to mention that the FPS when inside

the abbey

is poor because a window somewhere is leaking (missing visportal) and the outside yard isn't hidden in wireframe view.

My FMs: The King of Diamonds (2016) | Visit my Mapbook thread sometimes! | Read my tutorial on Image-Based Lighting Workflows for TDM!

 

 

Posted

 

 

void church_noblewoman_panic()					//in case the player throws the rats at the woman

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheDevTeamThinksOfEverything :blink:

(Bug note: in the second mission I caught the captain treadmilling against his desk.)



For the purposes of http://wiki.thedarkmod.com/index.php?title=Fan_Missions_for_The_Dark_Mod does this series have a particular name, or shall I just enter it as the One Step Too Far series?

Some things I'm repeatedly thinking about...

 

- louder scream when you're dying

Posted (edited)

Congratulations on a release of this interesting mission, Dragofer! :)

 

I have two questions, because now I am stuck no matter what I do:

 

 

 

- how was I suppose to open the locked door in the uppermost part of the abandoned mansion (1. mission, 1. house which you reach right after getting of the ship)?

I was able to get wood saw into my inventory and whenever I used it it glow green. I tried to saw off the planks off the barricaded door on a ground floor, but that didn´t work. I got into the room with coffin by noclipping, because I wasn´t able to open it in any way.

 

- now I am at the boat stuck in ice, looking for proof for the young lad. I thought the proof might be captain´s journal, but when I dropped it inside the Nathan´s cage, nothing happened.

Second thing I was thinking about was journal of the inventor/navigator (the one in the room where there are maps laid on table), but that readably is read-only.

 

So what is the proof and where shall I find it?

 

EDIT:// Nevermind, I was able to find out you have to drop the cap´s journal on Nathan´s body, that will do the trick.

 

 

 

 

Edit:// I have beat it! :)

 

Interesting mission with unusual story setup, though I must say I felt lost several times

- like it took me a while to realize you´re helping write/reshape Nathan´s story by drinking that fluid and experiencing his past.

I am not even sure if I got it right.

 

Mechanical wise, I did not like the fact I had to jump down the stairs - completely at the end - only in a selected spot, while on the stairs themselves was invisible wall - I would be able to make it, I had enough health to run down the stairs and survive.

Also, I am sure that fall, if it would not be the proper way to finish this mission, would kill me.

 

Storywise, I didn´t like the deus ex machina part in the cave - this man appearing out of nowhere far North (North Pole? Antarctica?) just in a right time and taking Nathan´s body.

Unless this is a setup for missions to follow and will be explained, in which case disregard my comment.

 

 

 

 

Setting is original

(almost jungle-like forest, rock formations, ice cavern, icebreaker boat,) and I must say I didn´t expect that second mission :)

 

Edited by Tarhiel
Posted (edited)

Thanks very much Outlooker and Spooks, it’s wonderful to see other people enjoying one’s own creation.

 

For those who want to play this mission I would advise to set aside a well-stocked time budget and some drink and food - those will probably be welcome soon enough.

 

That really sounds like great advice right there

 

 

Also - the paintings used in the briefings and loading screens

 

John Atkinson Grimshaw captures phenomenal amounts of atmosphere in his paintings of 19th century harbours, misty forests and roadside manors, while Ivan Aivazovsky is incredibly skillful in how he portrays ships, the sea in all its forms and faraway coasts. It’s a joy to view their works.

 

 

because a window somewhere is leaking (missing visportal) and the outside yard isn't hidden in wireframe view.

 

I’ve taken a look and double-checked: the windows and doors are all functioning there, but random pieces of the outside do render. I’m supposing it’s part of the engine problem where things in closed visleaves bleed through.

 

@VanishedOne, for the time being this is the Of Brambles and Thorns series.

 

@Tarhiel,

 

Access to that room is gained in other ways, you need to take the saw to the outside basement door and from there you’d find a way. The barricaded door on the ground floor also has planks, but it’s blocked from both sides.

 

There were some readables in the basement that might’ve helped indicate what the phials were all about, which was to explore whether a fantastical story in a dusty old book was real by experiencing the author’s life first hand.

 

Regarding the man in the North Pole, this isn’t exactly nowhere in particular. It’s an entryway to what appears to be a humongous cavern filled with a treasure hoard that’s ‘vast beyond imagination’. What queer things one might find in such a place... (and yes, it has to do with my next mission).

 

Edited by Dragofer
  • Like 1
Posted

Great stuff. Everything worked fine and I was able to complete it without getting stumped on what to do next (had to reload the very end bit once to think about what was meant). Much longer than I thought it'd be, too! Some novel stuff in here like the electric lights on the ship that flicker and are permanently disabled (they blow) if you turn them off and that rat bit mentioned which I didn't even know about but feel tempted to load up a savefile and test out.

 

Really tight patrols in both missions so I basically knocked everyone out. Most everything about the mission was excellent-- visuals, performance, not too long or short, never got stuck.

 

Just a bit vague on the story (although maybe this is on purpose given what you said was the inspiration)...

 

 

 

The body in the coffin which the house's owner extracted the fluid from is maybe not really Johan but instead the malicious ghost? Johan (?) seems to be dead in that cave with the crystals and disturbing sounds. Some ship hauled the coffin off in one of the scenes in between areas as well so it's kind of implied it's not really him. There's also no real indication of what happened to the house owner -- did he escape the same way? You're maybe continuing this mission in the future, though.

 

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