Jump to content
The Dark Mod Forums

Fan Mission: Shadows of Northdale ACT I - A Curious Mind by Goldwell (2018/03/23)


Goldwell

Recommended Posts

One thing I have to add though - this mission is supposed to be taking place in a city that's set in the mountains. This is suggested not only by the description but also the loading screen artwork (which is very nice BTW). However, when playing the mission I just don't get that feeling of a cold, snowy environment. I can't even remember seeing any snow having fallen on rooftops or on the ground, though my memory might be failing me. Of course maybe it's set at a time when there is no snow, but for some reason I was primed to expect a cold environment and didn't really feel it when playing.

Mission 1 is set right in the center of the city so you cant see the mountains because theyre blocked by buildings (and its a very foggy night, even the sky is barely visible).

 

The location of the artwork is actually the final mission and not of Northdale. Its where everything leads to eventually.

 

Mission 2 is in the Grimwood district, and there you can see mountains and trees because its on the edge of Northdale.

 

Remember this is just the first of five missions.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Superb mission.

Got frustrated a few times because even though it's a small area ,I keep on missing the entrance way to his apartment.Doh!

Edited by raymeld
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Superb mission.

Got frustrated a few times because even though it's a small area ,I keep on missing the entrance to his apartment.Doh!

 

Glad you had a good time minus the frustrating bits. There are 3 ways to get inside Jordan's apartment but some of them aren't too obvious at first. :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Oh my stars this is good, this is going to be a campaign ? :D:wub:

 

--EDIT--

 

OK just finished, on Master with a stealth score of 12 as I tried luring AI to where I could get 'em, all secrets and 2694 loot plus the 1500 in the safe - how much does this man drink to run up a bar bill that high ? ... and what bar man lets him ?

 

That was amazing, this is right up there in the best missions for TDM

 

I had one issue

 

 

The frob distance on a window leading to a dingy apartment containing one of the secrets was a tiny bit low, it's the one you need to rope down to and there's a wrapped up picture leaning against the wall between the window & the bed, if you don't know the one I mean I'll sort out a screenshot, I ended up jumping at it to frob it & then landed back on the rope, then I could climb in, not a huge problem though, may even have been intended, it was hiding a secret and they are supposed to be hard to find after all

 

 

I love the way the guards eyeball you while you're wandering around, like "I know you're there, what are you doing ?"

 

The fence was brilliant, the little speeches he comes out with were perfect, the thieves highway induced sweaty palms, there were multiple routes to objectives, tight little backstreets and that shop with the skeleton :o

 

 

Someone didn't have a very good time there but I didn't spot the story that related to it, or I didn't make the connection which is more likely, what happened there & where did the skeleton go

 

 

This was tons of fun to play, thank you

 

I'm just desperate for part 2 ... and any subsequent parts :D

Edited by esme
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Oh my stars this is good, this is going to be a campaign ? :D:wub:

Yep! And most of it is already built. Its just a matter of final polish and testing for each mission. So I dont plan to have long wait times in between releases.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

OK just finished, on Master with a stealth score of 12 as I tried luring AI to where I could get 'em, all secrets and 2694 loot plus the 1500 in the safe - how much does this man drink to run up a bar bill that high ? ... and what bar man lets him ?

 

That was amazing, this is right up there in the best missions for TDM

 

I had one issue

 

 

The frob distance on a window leading to a dingy apartment containing one of the secrets was a tiny bit low, it's the one you need to rope down to and there's a wrapped up picture leaning against the wall between the window & the bed, if you don't know the one I mean I'll sort out a screenshot, I ended up jumping at it to frob it & then landed back on the rope, then I could climb in, not a huge problem though, may even have been intended, it was hiding a secret and they are supposed to be hard to find after all

 

 

I love the way the guards eyeball you while you're wandering around, like "I know you're there, what are you doing ?"

 

The fence was brilliant, the little speeches he comes out with were perfect, the thieves highway induced sweaty palms, there were multiple routes to objectives, tight little backstreets and that shop with the skeleton :o

 

 

Someone didn't have a very good time there but I didn't spot the story that related to it, or I didn't make the connection which is more likely, what happened there & where did the skeleton go

 

 

This was tons of fun to play, thank you

 

I'm just desperate for part 2 ... and any subsequent parts :D

 

Thanks for the kind words in the review! The fence was a lot of fun to implement, that scripting was handled by Obsttorte and he was voiced by SlyFoxx. In terms of level design I really tried to open things up this time around, a common piece of criticism I heard in my past missions was that it was too linear, so this time I made 2-3 entrances in each important place which helps to open it up. And i'm glad to hear that it's paying off :)

 

spoiler 1

 

 

I too noticed that getting into that window was quite tricky, for some reason whenever the player uses a rope arrow near a window it makes the frobbox a lot smaller. However there is a way around that, if you press the left mouse button (or whatever attack is mapped to) then it causes the player to swing on the rope which can make frobbing the window a bit easier.

 

 

 

spoiler 2

 

 

In regards to what happened at the candleshop, that actually came about from a conversation I had with an awesome ttlger called FireMage, we were talking about how a world should be created in a way to exist before you were there and not created for the player. So I made that there because really it's not the players concern what happened as they're just there for loot, there might be a curiosity of course but like all things in life there isn't always an immediate answer.

 

With that said though there are some events that occur that you can followup on in later missions, i've definitely invested a lot of thought into this world and it evolves as you play along. I think when mission 2 is out people will really start understanding what that's all about because you visit the city hub again however it's different due to the events that occured in mission 1.

 

It's great to see a ripple effect of the players actions

 

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

That was low key ?

 

Yeah, the main part starts slowly, and it ends with gathering partial evidence and returning to your room. There's a bit of explaining here and there, and actually I had impression my character knows more than I do when it comes to the world and what to do. That definitely whets the appetite for more, at least for me :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Really great and high quality mission, I can tell a lot of work was put into it and I enjoyed it a lot. I'm not sure if it's just me or not because it seems like nobody else has mentioned it in this thread, but aren't the footfalls a bit quiet? On my normal volume settings it sounded like there weren't any at all, especially on the metal pipes which seems like they're even quieter than stone and wood. It seems like the noise levels are still the same, so AI still reacts to the footfalls the same as usual. I guess this isn't really a problem for veterans, but it's still a bit jarring and it'd be pretty confusing for people who are newer to the game.

 

I'm looking forward to the next part.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

...if you press the left mouse button (or whatever attack is mapped to) then it causes the player to swing on the rope...

 

 

I always forget I can do that, I don't think I've used it since the training mission, I shall give it a try thank you

 

One possible suggestion for future work

 

 

If there's a thieves highway, have it overlay some of the ground routes so you have to contend with possibly being seen by the patrolling AI, and once they see you up there then you're toast when you come down again, so if you want to appear an honest citizen on the streets & wander around unmolested you need to remain unseen as well as not falling off

 

 

Says me, who's never created a TDM mission in her life and has no idea of how much work is involved

Edited by esme
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Really great and high quality mission, I can tell a lot of work was put into it and I enjoyed it a lot. I'm not sure if it's just me or not because it seems like nobody else has mentioned it in this thread, but aren't the footfalls a bit quiet? On my normal volume settings it sounded like there weren't any at all, especially on the metal pipes which seems like they're even quieter than stone and wood. It seems like the noise levels are still the same, so AI still reacts to the footfalls the same as usual. I guess this isn't really a problem for veterans, but it's still a bit jarring and it'd be pretty confusing for people who are newer to the game.

 

I'm looking forward to the next part.

 

Thanks for the kind words! Glad you had a good time.

 

The missions uses a mix custom footsteps from sound packs and quite a few from the Volta campaign which are softer sounding and much more pleasant in my opinion. If it really bothers you you could extract the contents of the Northdale pk4 into its FM folder, go into the footsteps folder in sound and delete them. Then ingame you would have the default footsteps sounds.

 

 

I always forget I can do that, I don't think I've used it since the training mission, I shall give it a try thank you

 

One possible suggestion for future work

 

 

If there's a thieves highway, have it overlay some of the ground routes so you have to contend with possibly being seen by the patrolling AI, and once they see you up there then you're toast when you come down again, so if you want to appear an honest citizen on the streets & wander around unmolested you need to remain unseen as well as not falling off

 

 

Says me, who's never created a TDM mission in her life and has no idea of how much work is involved

 

 

That sounds like a great idea for a mission of yours ;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

 

I'm late into this and I must be a special kind of dumb-dumb but... how do I open the boxes at the apothecary containing the sleeping potion? I can do anything with them. The solution is probably something super easy but I can't figure it out. It's late and I'm out of brain power today.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

I'm late into this and I must be a special kind of dumb-dumb but... how do I open the boxes at the apothecary containing the sleeping potion? I can do anything with them. The solution is probably something super easy but I can't figure it out. It's late and I'm out of brain power today.

 

 

Just use your lockpicks.

 

After you read the contract the lid on the one with the readable on it becomes frobable. The sleeping formula is in there.

 

Your lockpicks are in your hidden stash behind the painting in your home if you dont have it yet.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks, Goldwell. Like I said, a special kind of dumb-dumb today :D

 

 

Just use your lockpicks.

After you read the contract the lid on the one with the readable on it becomes frobable. The sleeping formula is in there.

Your lockpicks are in your hidden stash behind the painting in your home if you dont have it yet.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks, Goldwell. Like I said, a special kind of dumb-dumb today :D

 

No not at all! I always seem to run into problems that are obvious to others when I play FMs so I know the feeling. We all just solve problems differently :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

No not at all! I always seem to run into problems that are obvious to others when I play FMs so I know the feeling. We all just solve problems differently :)

 

It didn't work.

The lockpicks, I mean. The place is a back alley with a note about a delivery to an apothecary, right? The delivery guy left the boxes out there in the alley, two big unfrobbable ones, and two smaller ones. Neither of my lockpicks work on the smaller boxes. Whether I use my mouse or Enter, nothing. Or am I in the wrong place?

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

It didn't work.

The lockpicks, I mean. The place is a back alley with a note about a delivery to an apothecary, right? The delivery guy left the boxes out there in the alley, two big unfrobbable ones, and two smaller ones. Neither of my lockpicks work on the smaller boxes. Whether I use my mouse or Enter, nothing. Or am I in the wrong place?

 

 

You need to use it on the lid of the big box that has a readable on its side. Make sure you have read the contract too as in opened it and closed it (as this activates the contracts

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

You need to use it on the lid of the big box that has a readable on its side. Make sure you have read the contract too as in opened it and closed it (as this activates the contracts

 

 

Thank you, Goldwell. Worked like a charm. Finished the game. Such an awesome mission. Can't wait for the sequel. Kudos!

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

How do you access that shop with the skeleton that has been mentioned a few times now? I can't seem to find it, and I don't have the slightest idea from what the people keep talking about it where it could be. Is it the museum, or is it some other place?

 

Edited by Silverflame3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

How do you access that shop with the skeleton that has been mentioned a few times now? I can't seem to find it, and I don't have the slightest idea from what the people keep talking about it where it could be. Is it the museum, or is it some other place?

 

 

Probably the easiest way there is goto the thieves guild entrance that has the rope arrow hanging down and the metal bars that are raised by the lever.

 

Climb up the rope arrow, go ahead and then drop down and then left. Youll see a window that is frobable down there. And thats the candlemakers shop

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have really enjoyed this mission!
I've completed it, but the fact that I'm still missing one secret is driving me bonkers. I think if I were missing more than one, it wouldn't be quite so bad, but the whole 'You're only missing ONE!' is driving me batty. I wasn't keeping notes as I was finding them, and I can't recall one exactly (I keep remembering things that I don't believe were secrets) but I do recall these, and believe they were all actual secrets:

 

Coin bag under a desk in Walter's place

The hidden urn
A hidden chest in Wiverton's house
A coin bag in a room you have to rope down to

In bookcase in Garrett's shop

 

 

Plus loot 4085 out of 4404. On that, I say 'close enough!' and am very pleased. But the secret, OH the secret, that one secret!

 

The only issues I noted were that it felt strange to have to swim to my apartment, though I can understand after perusing this thread (looking for my missing secret), though I wish the guard would make snide remarks about my dripping wet clothes. :P Also, the drunk's voice (Farnham?) is too quiet to really understand most of it, even if it is mostly drunken babble.

 

Edit: Ok, can I just add that a few things stopped me in my tracks due to their wonderful detail? Like that ritzy apartment in my apartment complex, with the sink that fills and drains. I loved that!! Completely inconsequential detail, but I LOVE stuff like this.

 

I am so excited for the rest of this campaign!

Edited by Shaz
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Pretty sweet mission so far. Love the vibe, music, and sounds of home. I just encountered a bug, though. Got a "Visual Studio Just-In-Time Debugger" pop-up saying, "An unhandled win32 exception occurred in TheDarkMod.exe [6956]"

 

Here is what I was doing:

 

 

 

I shot and killed a guard named Horace because he was alert for some reason. Maybe he saw me commit a crime earlier and I didn't notice him do that. Regardless, after killing him with two or three arrows, I grabbed his body and placed him off the beaten path. Then I went back to where I killed him and used a water arrow on the blood stain. After doing that, I then tried to grab his sword off the ground. (The way his sword landed, the edge was pointing to me, so I didn't know it was a sword; I thought it might be an arrow because of its narrowness.) Right after clicking the sword to pick it up, the game screen froze and the hard drive kicked in. In the middle of the game screen was a Windows spinning wheel popping in and out while my hard drive was thinking. I tried ALT+TAB'bing and ESC'aping back to Desktop, but they didn't seem to work -- or were just delayed in working. After right-mouse button'ing, TDM closed entirely and I was able to see my Desktop. At Desktop, there was a "Visual Studio Just-In-Time Debugger" pop-up saying, "An unhandled win32 exception occurred in TheDarkMod.exe [6956]"

 

 

Edited by Darkness_Falls
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.


  • Recent Status Updates

    • Petike the Taffer

      I've finally managed to log in to The Dark Mod Wiki. I'm back in the saddle and before the holidays start in full, I'll be adding a few new FM articles and doing other updates. Written in Stone is already done.
      · 4 replies
    • nbohr1more

      TDM 15th Anniversary Contest is now active! Please declare your participation: https://forums.thedarkmod.com/index.php?/topic/22413-the-dark-mod-15th-anniversary-contest-entry-thread/
       
      · 0 replies
    • JackFarmer

      @TheUnbeholden
      You cannot receive PMs. Could you please be so kind and check your mailbox if it is full (or maybe you switched off the function)?
      · 1 reply
    • OrbWeaver

      I like the new frob highlight but it would nice if it was less "flickery" while moving over objects (especially barred metal doors).
      · 4 replies
    • nbohr1more

      Please vote in the 15th Anniversary Contest Theme Poll
       
      · 0 replies
×
×
  • Create New...