Fan Mission: The Warrens (by grayman) (2018/9/1)

[grayman]

Announcing the release of the fourth William Steele mission!



Summary

Steele is in what’s left of the quarantined Warrens, where he searches for the elusive murderer Gyles Deacon and evidence that Deacon was responsible for murdering Steele’s parents.

 

The William Steele Missions

The Warrens is the fourth of several Steele missions. Altogether they'll tell a story of corruption, greed, and revenge. At some point, I might package them as a campaign, in addition to the single missions. (We’ll see about that.)

 

If you haven’t played WS1: In the North, WS2: Home Again, or WS3: Cleighmoor I suggest you complete those before playing WS4: The Warrens.

Download

The mission is available from the in-game download page.

 

In addition, it can be obtained here. Place ws4_warrens.pk4 in your fms folder. TDM will recognize it as a new mission.

Build Time

Nearly 4 years.

 

I18n

 

The Warrens is ready for translation.

 

EFX

 

This mission is the first William Steele mission to take advantage of EFX, so make sure you turn that on.

Thanks

Thanks to the TDM team for creating a terrific platform for storytelling and stealth gaming.

 

Thanks to my beta testers: Abusimplea, Aluminum Haste, Bikerdude, Boiler's_hiss, Cambridge Spy, ERH+, nbohr1more, Ubersuntzu, unfairlight, and Xarg.

 

Thanks to Goldwell for his voice work on the opening monologue and the voice on the cylinder.

 

Thanks to Sotha for a praying animation for the priest.

 

And thanks to YOU, for playing!

 

Known Issues

If you experience low frame rates, please consult the Performance Tweaks page on the Wiki.

Important

This mission requires TDM 2.06 or later.

The William Steele story relies a lot on readables. Please try to read every readable you find.

Most importantly, Enjoy!

Screenshots

 

WS5: Commerce Bank

 

Commerce Bank finds William Steele seeking important information in the halls of a prestigious institution. You can find it here.

[Durandall]

I've never been so excited for a mission. The William Steele missions have been among my favorites in The Dark Mod archives. Thanks for all your hard work grayman. I certainly appreciate it.

[lowenz]

Here we go, guys!

 

Thanks Grayman! SO PROLIFIC!

Edited September 2, 2018 by lowenz

[peispud]

Excellent...I've been patiently waiting. Thank you very much :-)

[nbohr1more]

The mission is now in the mission database.

[Obsttorte]

Congrats on the release. Can't wait for playing it later on.

 

[lowenz]

What an a-MAZE-ing layout! Mind-boggling but with a so "authentic" urban feeling!

 

EFX is perfectly working in 2.0.7 beta

Only found this tiny graphic issue (all that house windows):

Stupid question: why lighthouse beacon room is bricked up?

-> https://s22.postimg.cc/aazruvo7l/image.jpg

Edited September 2, 2018 by lowenz

[Goldwell]

Congrats on the release Grayman! Another fantastic mission by you.

 

The rainy atmosphere was just perfect! Thank you!

 

 

 

First of all the architecture was absolutely stunning, each place felt unique and the designs were top notch, from the lighthouse tower to Deacons hideout, I was just so in love with the detail and uniqueness you provided.

I did find that the city felt a bit bare though, in that while it was large the places to enter were quite spread out and there didn't seem to be many people floating around. However I did love that you rewarded versatility in a few places, it was fun to get up on the rooftop areas.

 

For some reason my compass didn't work?! I even tried spawning in one and it still didn't work, I also found that in the water there was a weird bug where my whole screen would be turned into a box in the corner, never seen that one before!

 

But overall it was an amazing experience, the rain really helped to sell the atmosphere along with the architecture, following the clues to discover who Deacon was was super fun, from finding his bloody footprints in the lower part of the theatre to discovering his different disguises and then to killing him. It all felt very natural and had a good flow, I ended up spending just under 90 minutes in your mission and it saddens me that the fun had to come to an end.

 

Really looking forward to your next instalment in the WS series

 

 

[Amadeus]

YES! Congrats Grayman! Looks like I gotta clear my schedule today and give this a whirl

[chakkman]

 

What an a-MAZE-ing layout! Mind-boggling but with a so "authentic" urban feeling!

 

EFX is perfectly working in 2.0.7 beta

Only found this tiny graphic issue (all that house windows):

Stupid question: why lighthouse beacon room is bricked up?

-> https://s22.postimg.cc/aazruvo7l/image.jpg

 

 

Sorry for offtopic... but... is there a console command to display those hardware stats?

[lowenz]

 

Sorry for offtopic... but... is there a console command to display those hardware stats?

No, it's the RTSS (->MSI Afterburner) overlay

[Obsttorte]

BTW, I don't think those windows have graphic issues. We actually have a red wooden window material iirc.

[peter_spy]

There are also blue wooden doors, so that looks made on purpose

 

Also, as a regular forum nitpicker (*cough* technical artist *cough*), I found several spots where framerate goes down to 30s-40s, but without any apparent reason. No high drawcalls, shadows or anything like that. Will investigate further and post when I'll have something more tangible to present.

 

Otherwise, it's nice and big city mission, lots of small alleys and sprawling corridors to explore. As for EFX reverb, I kinda feel this was tested mostly on headphones, as with speakers the effects are there, but they feel a bit too subtle. But maybe that's the matter of personal taste, more than anything else.

[nbohr1more]

There are also blue wooden doors, so that looks made on purpose

 

Also, as a regular forum nitpicker (*cough* technical artist *cough*), I found several spots where framerate goes down to 30s-40s, but without any apparent reason. No high drawcalls, shadows or anything like that. Will investigate further and post when I'll have something more tangible to present.

 

Otherwise, it's nice and big city mission, lots of small alleys and sprawling corridors to explore. As for EFX reverb, I kinda feel this was tested mostly on headphones, as with speakers the effects are there, but they feel a bit too subtle. But maybe that's the matter of personal taste, more than anything else.

 

The reverb is based on the examples in your EFX thread. I think the problem is that the ambient music is rather loud and it's drowning out the effect.

You can adjust the ambient music volume, of course but we should probably have an "EFX volume slider" that just adjusts the "reverb" flag component of the effect.

[peter_spy]

Yeah, those were made in simple rooms with patrolling guards, no music or anything else really. I'd be careful with a global reverb slider though, as everything can go messy really quickly with this.

[grayman]

Yeah, those were made in simple rooms with patrolling guards, no music or anything else really. I'd be careful with a global reverb slider though, as everything can go messy really quickly with this.

 

So for those of us who know nothing about EFX, and who will rely on the provided templates (as I did), we're going to need instructions on how to adjust the multiple settings to achieve certain effects.

 

I'm not one who's going to read technical EFX docs to learn all the ins and outs. After about an hour, I would prolly say &$^^@*^#!!! and toss EFX entirely. If we're going to use it, it needs to be simple to implement.

 

So: how do you make the reverb louder, to overcome ambient music?

 

I'm also not in favor of One More Slider, because I'm certain volume isn't the only thing a mapper might want to tweak, and tweaking shouldn't be left up to the player, who really really only wants to play the mission, not tinker with his settings and cvars 'till the cows come home.

[grayman]

Thanks to those who've played at this point.

 

Yes, the Warrens is a bit of a funny place, with a guy who decided to paint his shutters red, and another guy who took all the glass out of the top of the lighthouse and replaced it with brick, and folks who're trying to keep the electricity on while the rest of the district has gone dark. (Who wanders around keeping the street torches lit?)

 

I'm sure you'll find a few other odd bits and pieces. Don't consider them bugs (unless they really are); they're just part of the "charm".

 

There will be plenty of formality and stiff-upper-lip and "sticking to standards" in the next mission, which takes place inside a bank. Who wants their bank to exude "charm", eh?

 

[peter_spy]

So for those of us who know nothing about EFX, and who will rely on the provided templates (as I did), we're going to need instructions on how to adjust the multiple settings to achieve certain effects.

 

Those templates are WIP like the whole thread, and they'll need adjusting for every mission, since most sounds and music seem to be set by ear, and there are no volume normalization standards used, AFAIK.

 

But the most simple approach for now is:

a) If you need to make the effect louder, add "room" parameter and start from -1500 (default). Maximum value is 0.

If you need more echo in your location, add or change "decay time" (range from 0.1 to 20 seconds, default: 1.49)

Edited September 3, 2018 by Judith

[peter_spy]

Ok, I did a quick check, IMO the main problem is the volume of desolation_loop: even on my cheap studio monitors (with relatively flat response), lower frequencies are distorted and they create this loud boom sound. That basically obliterates more subtle sounds. You can also add "room" -250 to make effects more noticeable. Here's modified .efx file, see how it works for you:

 

 

 

 

Version 1

reverb "infoloc_market"
{
// City - abandoned
"room" -250
"environment diffusion" 0.69
"room hf" -200
"room lf" -100
"decay time" 3.28
"decay hf ratio" 1.17
"decay lf ratio" 0.91
"reflections" -1200
"reflections delay" 0.044
"reverb" -1800
"reverb delay" 0.024
"echo depth" 0.2
"air absorption hf" -50 // rain
}

reverb "infoloc_start"
{
// short stone corridor
"room" -250
"environment diffusion" 0.6
"room hf" -400
"decay time" 1.2
"decay hf ratio" 0.75
"reflections" 400
"reflections delay" 0.004
"reverb" 1000
"reverb delay" 0.003
"echo time" 0.075
"hf reference" 5168.6
"lf reference" 139.5
}

reverb "infoloc_canal_house"
{
// Small wood room
"room" -250
"room hf" -1200
"room lf" -800
"decay time" 0.79
"decay hf ratio" 0.32
"decay lf ratio" 0.87
"reflections" -500
"reflections delay" 0.032
"reverb" 0
"reverb delay" 0.029
"hf reference" 4705
"lf reference" 99.6
}

reverb "infoloc_center"
{
// City - abandoned
"room" -250
"environment diffusion" 0.69
"room hf" -200
"room lf" -100
"decay time" 3.28
"decay hf ratio" 1.17
"decay lf ratio" 0.91
"reflections" -1200
"reflections delay" 0.044
"reverb" -1800
"reverb delay" 0.024
"echo depth" 0.2
"air absorption hf" -50 // rain
}

reverb "infoloc_chapel"
{
// Medium stone room
"room" -250
"room hf" -400
"decay time" 1.5
"decay hf ratio" 0.75
"reflections" -1000
"reverb" 800
"echo time" 0.12
"hf reference" 5168.6
"lf reference" 139.5
}

reverb "infoloc_dock"
{
// City - abandoned
"room" -250
"environment diffusion" 0.69
"room hf" -200
"room lf" -100
"decay time" 3.28
"decay hf ratio" 1.17
"decay lf ratio" 0.91
"reflections" -1200
"reflections delay" 0.044
"reverb" -1800
"reverb delay" 0.024
"echo depth" 0.2
"air absorption hf" -50 // rain
}

reverb "infoloc_empire_street"
{
// City - abandoned
"room" -250
"environment diffusion" 0.69
"room hf" -200
"room lf" -100
"decay time" 3.28
"decay hf ratio" 1.17
"decay lf ratio" 0.91
"reflections" -1200
"reflections delay" 0.044
"reverb" -1800
"reverb delay" 0.024
"echo depth" 0.2
"air absorption hf" -50 // rain
}

reverb "infoloc_empire_street1"
{
// City - abandoned
"room" -250
"environment diffusion" 0.69
"room hf" -200
"room lf" -100
"decay time" 3.28
"decay hf ratio" 1.17
"decay lf ratio" 0.91
"reflections" -1200
"reflections delay" 0.044
"reverb" -1800
"reverb delay" 0.024
"echo depth" 0.2
"air absorption hf" -50 // rain
}

reverb "infoloc_gold_lion"
{
// Small wood room
"room" -250
"room hf" -1200
"room lf" -800
"decay time" 0.79
"decay hf ratio" 0.32
"decay lf ratio" 0.87
"reflections" -500
"reflections delay" 0.032
"reverb" 0
"reverb delay" 0.029
"hf reference" 4705
"lf reference" 99.6
}

reverb "infoloc_graveyard"
{
// City - abandoned
"room" -250
"environment diffusion" 0.69
"room hf" -200
"room lf" -100
"decay time" 3.28
"decay hf ratio" 1.17
"decay lf ratio" 0.91
"reflections" -1200
"reflections delay" 0.044
"reverb" -1800
"reverb delay" 0.024
"echo depth" 0.2
"air absorption hf" -50 // rain
}

reverb "infoloc_graveyard1"
{
// Small stone room
"room" -250
"room hf" -400
"decay time" 1.15
"decay hf ratio" 0.75
"reflections" 0
"reflections delay" 0.006
"reverb" 600
"reverb delay" 0.005
"echo time" 0.075
"hf reference" 5168.6
"lf reference" 139.5
}

reverb "infoloc_house"
{
// Small wood room
"room" -250
"room hf" -1200
"room lf" -800
"decay time" 0.79
"decay hf ratio" 0.32
"decay lf ratio" 0.87
"reflections" -500
"reflections delay" 0.032
"reverb" 0
"reverb delay" 0.029
"hf reference" 4705
"lf reference" 99.6
}

reverb "infoloc_house10"
{
// Small wood room
"room" -250
"room hf" -1200
"room lf" -800
"decay time" 0.79
"decay hf ratio" 0.32
"decay lf ratio" 0.87
"reflections" -500
"reflections delay" 0.032
"reverb" 0
"reverb delay" 0.029
"hf reference" 4705
"lf reference" 99.6
}

reverb "infoloc_inn"
{
// med-small wood room
"room" -250
"room hf" -1100
"room lf" -700
"decay time" 1.10
"decay hf ratio" 0.32
"decay lf ratio" 0.87
"reflections" -550
"reflections delay" 0.038
"reverb" 0
"reverb delay" 0.029
"hf reference" 4705
"lf reference" 99.6
}

reverb "infoloc_inn_cellar"
{
// Medium stone room
"room" -250
"room hf" -400
"decay time" 1.5
"decay hf ratio" 0.75
"reflections" -1000
"reverb" 800
"echo time" 0.12
"hf reference" 5168.6
"lf reference" 139.5
}

reverb "infoloc_lighthouse"
{
// Medium wood room
"room" -250
"room hf" -1000
"room lf" -650
"decay time" 1.47
"decay hf ratio" 0.42
"decay lf ratio" 0.82
"reflections" -650
"reflections delay" 0.049
"reverb" 0
"reverb delay" 0.029
"hf reference" 4705
"lf reference" 99.6
}

reverb "infoloc_samuel_house"
{
// Small wood room
"room" -250
"room hf" -1200
"room lf" -800
"decay time" 0.79
"decay hf ratio" 0.32
"decay lf ratio" 0.87
"reflections" -500
"reflections delay" 0.032
"reverb" 0
"reverb delay" 0.029
"hf reference" 4705
"lf reference" 99.6
}

reverb "infoloc_sewer"
{
// Medium stone room
"room" -250
"room hf" -400
"decay time" 1.5
"decay hf ratio" 0.75
"reflections" -1000
"reverb" 800
"echo time" 0.12
"hf reference" 5168.6
"lf reference" 139.5
}

reverb "infoloc_smythe_warehouse"
{
// Medium wood room
"room" -250
"room hf" -1000
"room lf" -650
"decay time" 1.47
"decay hf ratio" 0.42
"decay lf ratio" 0.82
"reflections" -650
"reflections delay" 0.049
"reverb" 0
"reverb delay" 0.029
"hf reference" 4705
"lf reference" 99.6
}

reverb "infoloc_theatre"
{
// Medium wood room
"room" -250
"room hf" -1000
"room lf" -650
"decay time" 1.47
"decay hf ratio" 0.42
"decay lf ratio" 0.82
"reflections" -650
"reflections delay" 0.049
"reverb" 0
"reverb delay" 0.029
"hf reference" 4705
"lf reference" 99.6
}

reverb "infoloc_theatre_cellar"
{
// Small stone room
"room" -250
"room hf" -400
"decay time" 1.15
"decay hf ratio" 0.75
"reflections" 0
"reflections delay" 0.006
"reverb" 600
"reverb delay" 0.005
"echo time" 0.075
"hf reference" 5168.6
"lf reference" 139.5
}

reverb "infoloc_warehouse"
{
// Medium stone room
"room" -250
"room hf" -400
"decay time" 1.5
"decay hf ratio" 0.75
"reflections" -1000
"reverb" 800
"echo time" 0.12
"hf reference" 5168.6
"lf reference" 139.5
}

reverb "infoloc_warehouse1"
{
// Medium stone room
"room" -250
"room hf" -400
"decay time" 1.5
"decay hf ratio" 0.75
"reflections" -1000
"reverb" 800
"echo time" 0.12
"hf reference" 5168.6
"lf reference" 139.5
}

reverb "infoloc_watch"
{
// Small stone room
"room" -250
"room hf" -400
"decay time" 1.15
"decay hf ratio" 0.75
"reflections" 0
"reflections delay" 0.006
"reverb" 600
"reverb delay" 0.005
"echo time" 0.075
"hf reference" 5168.6
"lf reference" 139.5
}

reverb "infoloc_tunnel1"
{
// Small stone room
"room" -250
"room hf" -400
"decay time" 1.15
"decay hf ratio" 0.75
"reflections" 0
"reflections delay" 0.006
"reverb" 600
"reverb delay" 0.005
"echo time" 0.075
"hf reference" 5168.6
"lf reference" 139.5
}

reverb "infoloc_tunnel2"
{
// Small stone room
"room" -250
"room hf" -400
"decay time" 1.15
"decay hf ratio" 0.75
"reflections" 0
"reflections delay" 0.006
"reverb" 600
"reverb delay" 0.005
"echo time" 0.075
"hf reference" 5168.6
"lf reference" 139.5
}

reverb "infoloc_tunnel3"
{
// Small stone room
"room" -250
"room hf" -400
"decay time" 1.15
"decay hf ratio" 0.75
"reflections" 0
"reflections delay" 0.006
"reverb" 600
"reverb delay" 0.005
"echo time" 0.075
"hf reference" 5168.6
"lf reference" 139.5
}

reverb "infoloc_tunnel4"
{
// Small stone room
"room" -250
"room hf" -400
"decay time" 1.15
"decay hf ratio" 0.75
"reflections" 0
"reflections delay" 0.006
"reverb" 600
"reverb delay" 0.005
"echo time" 0.075
"hf reference" 5168.6
"lf reference" 139.5
}

reverb "infoloc_tunnel5"
{
// Small stone room
"room" -250
"room hf" -400
"decay time" 1.15
"decay hf ratio" 0.75
"reflections" 0
"reflections delay" 0.006
"reverb" 600
"reverb delay" 0.005
"echo time" 0.075
"hf reference" 5168.6
"lf reference" 139.5
}

reverb "infoloc_tunnel6"
{
// Small stone room
"room" -250
"room hf" -400
"decay time" 1.15
"decay hf ratio" 0.75
"reflections" 0
"reflections delay" 0.006
"reverb" 600
"reverb delay" 0.005
"echo time" 0.075
"hf reference" 5168.6
"lf reference" 139.5
}

reverb "infoloc_tunnel7"
{
// Small stone room
"room" -250
"room hf" -400
"decay time" 1.15
"decay hf ratio" 0.75
"reflections" 0
"reflections delay" 0.006
"reverb" 600
"reverb delay" 0.005
"echo time" 0.075
"hf reference" 5168.6
"lf reference" 139.5
}

reverb "infoloc_tunnel8"
{
// Small stone room
"room" -250
"room hf" -400
"decay time" 1.15
"decay hf ratio" 0.75
"reflections" 0
"reflections delay" 0.006
"reverb" 600
"reverb delay" 0.005
"echo time" 0.075
"hf reference" 5168.6
"lf reference" 139.5
}

 

 

[grayman]

Thanks for doing that, and thanks for the 'room' pointers.

 

I won't be making a version 2 unless there's some fatal error lying in wait, but I can use the suggestions in future maps.

[peter_spy]

Sure thing, it's just kind of nice feature after all. The mission works fine as it is, I didn't encounter anything game-breaking

[LordSoth]

Like the mission so far, like the part to Sir Taffsalot. Now it is a big place to roam around, so wheres is the MAP!!!!.

 

Have a link on taffers to

 

http://www.taffersparadise.co.uk/darkmod/ws4_warrens.zip

Edited September 4, 2018 by LordSoth

[grayman]

As Lt. Benson said in his opening instructions to his guys, "Maps are on the pillar to my left."

 

Go back to where you started to git yerself a map.

[pwl]

A great William Steele episode!! Thank you Grayman loved exploring this one and the memorial for SirTaff was awesome!!

pwl.

[Tarhiel]

Downloading now!