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Fan Mission: Perilous Refuge by Dragofer (2019/09/10)


Dragofer

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Just played this through: brilliant job!  The mission was more extensive than what I presumed originally;

Spoiler

Just based on the objectives alone, I didn't realize there would be so much to explore on land as well as in the ship!  I only realized that I should start poking around the buildings after I couldn't get enough loot out of the ship itself.

Somehow I did manage to get myself stuck on top of the table downstairs in the shop and had to noclip my way out. Not sure how that happened; I need to kick my bad habit of trying to walk on tables.

And of course, at the beginning, I promptly fell into the harbor after exiting my hideout, not realizing that murky blackness down there was in fact...water and not land! ?‍♂️

 

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Another fantastic mission Dragofer, it was fun, creepy and very atmospheric. Bravo!

 

There was something I wanted clarification on, i'll put it in spoilers

Spoiler

The haunted house was so well done and incredibly creepy! I loved following the bread crumbs leading up to that top room. But I was wondering was it intended to be more than atmospheric?

 

Because how I got in there was I stacked boxes up and entered on the balcony, I explored around the interior (which was beautifully done) and then I tried to get into the attic bit but it was blocked.. so I went outside and saw the connecting rope in that tower, went up that way and then inside.

 

I jumped up to the rafters and explored the rooms, expecting something creepy to be in there (when that window closed I nearly shat myself). But unless I missed something there was no actual monster there.. just a lot of tension.

 

I figured out that yeah the thief made that his new hideout, but what killed him? did I miss a readable or something? In the tower the guy mentioned how inside the house he saw a flames and activity but that was about it for what happened. OH and the thieves journal near the window ledge, but that only mentioned how he made that place his hideout.

 

I was left wondering what or who killed him? Just wanted to see if that was your intention?

This was my favorite of your releases so far! Thank you for all of your hardwork :)

 

P.s. how much gold do I need to bribe you with to convince you to make a zeppelin FM? ;)

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Thanks krrg and Goldwell, I'm really glad to hear you enjoyed the mission as much as you did!

Quote

The mission was more extensive than what I presumed originally

Hehe, it looks like my missions have a tendency of playing out that way, even if it's not intentional.

Quote

There was something I wanted clarification on, i'll put it in spoilers

The haunted house was indeed only for atmosphere and tension. It did cross my mind to add some subtle scripted events, or even a hostile AI that always vaguely knows where the player is, but in the end I was content just to let the ambience and the readables do their work.

The last entry in the thief's desk readable was about him hearing strange footsteps in the house at night. This was ambiguous, as it could either be another human or something haunting the house. Personally I had an apparition in mind, the clue being that the thief's body obstructed what seems to be the only way to get in or out of the top floor. So whatever killed him may still be somewhere on that top floor.

Really don't think you'd need to bribe me to make a zeppelin mission, though around 5000 gold would certainly oil the gears. Really enjoyed the T2 FM campaign The Flying Age. I can definitely see the appeal in a posh luxury establishment high up in the skies (with an industrial underbelly to make it all work).

Edited by Dragofer
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Holy sh*t Dragofer, this mission was fantastic for so many reasons:

Spoiler
  • Atmosphere - Incredibly well done. Right from the get go the environment feels unique and foreboding, as though you're definitely a thousand miles away from law and order out here in Wrecker's Reach. 
  • Audio - Everything from the ropes/sheets flapping against the masts in the wind to the gurgling water for the ship's interior ambiance. Really draws the player in.
  • Attention to detail - So many little things that added to the immersion, like the lamps swaying in time with the ship, the moving/dynamic shadows in the sitting room of the first haunted house, the dagger behind the Captain's pillow (like he doesn't trust anyone, not even his own crew). Really great. 

This is easily one of the best FM's I've played in a long time. 

Could you clarify something for me? 

Spoiler

Maybe I missed it, but what was the story with the body in the chest and the hand in the lady's cabin? It seems like there's a deeper story going on that isn't quite clear. Were the two frigates that were chasing the ship meant to be ghost ships that were somehow related to that body? And what were the bright lights the navigator kept seeing in the water?

One thing to consider:

Spoiler

Maybe it should be clearer that there's no secret room between the cook's larder and the cargo hold (behind the sealed door). What I mean is that it seemed to me that those were two doors on either side of an impenetrable room. I spent forever trying to find a way in there - trying the shutters on the ship's exterior, swimming underneath the ship for a hidden underwater entrance like the ship in the warehouse district in Thief 2: The Metal Age). 

When I eventually discovered that the real dowry's just under a floorboard in the larder, I wished I'd realized earlier that the sealed door in the larder and the sealed door in the cargo hold are actually the same door. 

But hey, maybe it's just me being dumb. Happens often enough ?

Thank you very much for this great mission. I thoroughly enjoyed it and, as a result, have got no work done today!

EDIT: I found 3264 loot and all the hidden areas. A fun map to explore and hunt for treasure.

Edited by Kerry000
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This is extremisticst (a word that I created myself due to the insufficiency of the English language)  good looking.

After 80 minutes I only found 500 loot and I am not even close to the ship...

With AI settings "hardcore" this turns into a nerve-racking challenge for a ghost walkers in a league of their own. :)

Thank you very much for this mission!

Jack

Edited by JackFarmer
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What a nice mission! I can say with certainty that that it's a must-play now that I've finished it. I liked the pacing a lot, with how you can presumably just swim to the ship or work up to a logical crescendo by going through all the neighbourhood in order. I think my favorite part was how you did the broken ceilings with moonlight streaming through them, it's so evocative ?. It's that type of visual synecdoche that really essentializes the atmosphere you were going for. I also liked the custom stuff in the captain's quarters and the cramped stair/balcony interiors, those still feel in-scale unlike in some other missions.

I was playing on Expert and I couldn't figure out if I was supposed to get the Secure Key from somewhere or not (suffice it to say I had to fly about to find it with noclip, curious after I'd done all my other objectives).

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

 

 

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Excellent mission. Worth exploring to find all of the details. You've created a satisfying vignette of that location. I second Kerry000's comments, the atmosphere, sound, and details are superb.

I love some of the little touches, like

the way the hanging pots and pans in the ship gently sway with the rocking ship. Or, the crooked door that won't open because it is hanging off its hinges, in the deserted building connected to Frank's shop. I really appreciate that level of detail.

Thank you!

Edit: forgot to mention, I loved

way that that the ship was jam-packed with cargo. Felt so real. Again, a little thing, but added to the verisimilitude.

.

Edited by joebarnin
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Just finished the mission this evening. Great stuff! Quite the challenge trying to get all the loot with no knockouts, which is how I prefer to play. I really enjoyed

the deeper backstory of the lady, and how spacious the ship felt despite looking small from the outside. But most of all I think I enjoyed the city area with the dilapidated buildings and overall gritty atmosphere and story.

Overall I think this is a must play, at least for experienced taffers. There were very few problems with the mission aside from a bit of performance struggles when overlooking the ship and inside the shipping company (strangely).

Excellent work!

My Fan Missions:

   Series:                                                                           Standalone:

Chronicles of Skulduggery 0: To Catch a Thief                     The Night of Reluctant Benefaction

Chronicles of Skulduggery 1: Pearls and Swine                    Langhorne Lodge

Chronicles of Skulduggery 2: A Precarious Position              

Chronicles of Skulduggery 3: Sacricide

 

 

 

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This has been a cool mission to get reacquainted with TDM after a long pause. Challenging, consistently well written and atmospheric, and always top notch in appearance. An excellent continuation of the nautical themes in your previous missions. Good to finally see Wrecker's Reach put to use, too. I hope the other side of town (which was not featured in this FM) also sees the light of day some time.

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Come the time of peril, did the ground gape, and did the dead rest unquiet 'gainst us. Our bands of iron and hammers of stone prevailed not, and some did doubt the Builder's plan. But the seals held strong, and the few did triumph, and the doubters were lain into the foundations of the new sanctum. -- Collected letters of the Smith-in-Exile, Civitas Approved

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Thanks guys for your kind words!

@Kerry000regarding the aspect you wanted clarification on:

 

 

The lady is a source of bad luck, owing to a family curse that can't be escaped, hence the arm's note. I didn't go into any details, but with the corpse in the dowry chest I was implying that their fortune was built on violent deeds (inspired by a saying I once heard, that behind every great fortune there lies a crime).

This ill fortune affected the whole ship, when they found their destination to be taken over by the Menoans. After a narrow escape they were forced to cross the ocean back, but with too few supplies to make it anywhere else than Wrecker's Reach, a dubious haven.

The navigator's lights were a reference to a mission I intend to make in the future.

 

 

 

 

 

Maybe it should be clearer that there's no secret room between the cook's larder and the cargo hold (behind the sealed door). What I mean is that it seemed to me that those were two doors on either side of an impenetrable room. I spent forever trying to find a way in there - trying the shutters on the ship's exterior, swimming underneath the ship for a hidden underwater entrance like the ship in the warehouse district in Thief 2: The Metal Age).

 

 

Damn, that was something I wanted to avoid when that door came up in beta-testing. Will have to think on that again.

 

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@Spooks I'm glad to see you say that it's worked out for me to capture that mood. 

That secure key is obtained after reading the ship's log found in one of the drawers in the captain's desk. That readable detailed what brought the ship here.

@Bienie Didn't think I'd ever see someone call this ship spacious, especially with this much cargo lying around. Well, I did spend quite some time with the clipper and vertex drag tools to get every last bit of internal space. And yep, no knockouts is my preferred style too for the challenge it brings.

@Melanthere's still plenty of Wrecker's Reach left, and it's a place I'd like to see more of. My aim with this one was to make a more focused adventure, based around my new ship asset, that could be released within a moderate timeframe. Also my first city mission and adopted map, so I was looking to make experiences with that. Let's see where things go from here.

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On 9/14/2019 at 10:44 PM, Melan said:

This has been a cool mission to get reacquainted with TDM after a long pause. Challenging, consistently well written and atmospheric, and always top notch in appearance. An excellent continuation of the nautical themes in your previous missions. Good to finally see Wrecker's Reach put to use, too. I hope the other side of town (which was not featured in this FM) also sees the light of day some time.

I concur, Doragofer, would not have said it better myself :)

I have only 1 question: 

Spoiler

That lady on the boat, is she a cannibal or something? Is the threatening message on her table, held by severed hand, which disappears after reading, something which will be more developed in the upcoming missions or is it just some mystery never to be explained?

 

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Congratulations Dragofer on the release. Will play this tonight. :D

I have an eclectic YouTube channel making videos on a variety of games. Come and have look here:

https://www.youtube.com/c/NeonsStyleHD

 

Dark Mod Missions: Briarwood Manor - available here or in game

http://forums.thedarkmod.com/topic/18980-fan-mission-briarwood-manor-by-neonsstyle-first-mission-6082017-update-16/

 

 

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