Fan Mission: The Painter’s Wife v1.2 by Fractured Glass Company (2020/07/01)

[mango777]

Absolutely loved this mission. I wished it could go on and on forever

 

Well done to the entire team for your fantastic work!!!

[MrAxel]

Removed

Edited August 19, 2020 by MrAxel
Removed spoiler

[Araneidae]

1 hour ago, MrAxel said:

Spoiler

In the magic world, where the fire trap is, there is an area with a fountain that restores your health.

 

Please put a spoiler tag on this sentence!

[roygato]

Well, what a banger this turned out to be.

After like a month and maybe 5 hours I'm done. Terms like daunting and labyrinthine don't quite make it justice, it's just insane. On the performance-side of things, my only issue is the initial load of the mission after a reboot, which takes forever (and TDM missions are real slow to load as is, so one can only imagine). Other than that, no crashes, no framerate issues, nothing.

Again, I can only lament the unnecessary knock-out limit on expert, but at least the city is so massive and maneuverable that in theory you should probably get out of harm's way pretty easily. That said, the massiveness comes with a price, that being environmental instability; walls without collision, floors that are apparently sinkholes and random invisible walls blocking some vital pathways. After my initial finishing of the mission, I was really getting angry trying to make my way to the end location, since I was getting manhandled by broken physics. Didn't help that the mission's definition of "west" wasn't exactly what I imagined.

I later (as in yesterday and today) came back after reading this thread, since I had missed some secretive stuff. Honestly, I don't think I would've ever found what I had missed on my own. Those included

Spoiler

1. The miniature world; honestly, this technically shouldn't have been too bad to find with a little exploring, but since it was on the same street as the level end, and I was just sick of it all at that point, there was no way I was gonna take more time than just run through it. That said, it was certainly cool. As if the mission wasn't large enough as is, why not throw in Xen and a mushroom kingdom. Crazy stuff. At least I had found the wind chime apartment where I could use the mask.
2. The mystery stone and the wine cellar. I'm not sure how I managed to not discover the tower, despite running around there, but the wine cellar? If the note at the nearby office worker's apartment was the only clue that it existed, then my god. The mage tower had a note mentioning some nobleman's place at a completely different location, which I either didn't find at all, or it had nothing useful.

Despite missing those, I did at least stumble into the haunted chapel on my own. Also got rid of the big bad non-lethally, because that is just my style. I do think that the large size of the map could've been taken even more advantage of with either expanding the main objective or adding some explicit side objectives. Would've given all the running around more of a purpose. Secret objectives are fine and all, but it may have gone a bit too far here.

I did not find all the secret loot, couldn't be bothered, as per usual. Think I got 9.

So all in all, it definitely has some flaws, but given its size and scope, it's almost a miracle it doesn't completely crumble under its own weight. I don't blame people who find it overwhelming and are turned off because of it, but I think TDM definitely needed something bonkers like this. I tend to enjoy very large missions, and while this was starting to push my patience, it's still a great achievement that the creators should be very proud of.

Edited September 6, 2020 by roygato
asdasd

[vozka]

I encountered a small issue that is unclear to me:

Spoiler

I found the assassin in the hideout with glowing mushrooms outside of the window. Since the difficulty I'm playing on says "no killing, but criminals are fair game", I decided to rectify the situation by shooting her in the effin face, but that got me a prompt game over. I solved it nonlethally no problem, but shouldn't I be able to just kill her and be done with it?

 

[Grazza64]

Hi, I think I've completed most of this fantastic mission. I have a Mysterious Stone and have no idea what to do with it! Also what is this hidden cathedral people mention? Thanks

[Dragofer]

13 minutes ago, Grazza64 said:

Hi, I think I've completed most of this fantastic mission. I have a Mysterious Stone and have no idea what to do with it! Also what is this hidden cathedral people mention? Thanks

Glad to hear that - for using the Mysterious Stone, look around

Spoiler

King's Street

and for the "cathedral" and any other things you might have missed, you might want to look at Lzocast's walkthrough/compilation of points of interest.

[Grazza64]

Thanks dragofer. I've completed all the tasks on lzocasts walkthrough except the stone. I suspect I read someone describing the chapel as a 'cathedral'.

[Sneaker]

When loading the map, it crashes and I get a bus error in linux...  I'll attach the output log, but I do have an old pc with 4gb of ram, with an old video card; I think I read this is expected with less capable hardware... if so ignore.

crash-pw.out

[Dragofer]

8 hours ago, Sneaker said:

When loading the map, it crashes and I get a bus error in linux...  I'll attach the output log, but I do have an old pc with 4gb of ram, with an old video card; I think I read this is expected with less capable hardware... if so ignore.

crash-pw.out 47.32 kB · 1 download

Maybe you've already tried to load the slimmed down version of the mission (in the sense of a large secret area), which can be manually downloaded from here?

[jdtec]

I just wanted to say well done, congrats and thanks for all the effort that went into making this mission! It was amazing and the first DarkMod mission I've played. It felt up to the quality bar of the old thief games and actually probably a lot better in some ways really. The amount of ways to navigate around the thief highways and rooftop areas in the multi-level city is staggering. I can really tell a lot of love went into crafting this.

Loved the plot, side missions, locations and setting... everything really. Hardly any feedback save me finding some objectives a bit confusing to figure out.
 

Spoiler

I spent a long time combing the Marlow estate for him and only after checking the guide later did I find the locked drawer with his letter and realise that he was the guy in green on the toilets I had seen way back at the gambling den. Unfortunately I had already blackjacked him then so unsure if I could still have killed him still which would actually have been my preferred method!

Looking forward to trying out more missions in this amazing game now.

[Xolvix]

Think I'm gonna have to restart this mission. I was certainly enjoying myself although I was having a slight amount of trouble linking the people mentioned in various readables to areas and NPCs I had encountered. To the point where when I finally get to the estate and find he wasn't there, and how I had to find him in a location I couldn't remember encountering and the map not really helping in this regard, I stopped playing for a while. When I tried to continue a few weeks later the confusion returned, so that wasn't great. This map is quite large and detailed, but it does demand a level of attentiveness that I must have lost despite having played TDM for years.

[Amadeus]

Thanks for playing @jdtecGlad to hear you liked it. As far as that objective goes, you should definitely be able to go back and finish the deed

@Xolvix So, Dragofer and Biker have been hard at work making a sizeable update for this mission and if all goes well it should be out this weekend. This update comes with a boatload of bug fixes and quality of life improvements so you might want to hold off until the weekend.

[UnrealOne]

First of all.....CONGRATULATIONS. This is the best FM  that I have ever played. I realy am sad that it wasn't longer. It was a pleasure to have FREE PLAY all over the city and discover missions and secrets along the way. I know that this is made in your free time.....but if you ever decide to make another one......It would be just awsome and hope only it would be even bigger. Again congratulations on something absolutely great.

 

 

Spoiler

PS.....Where is the west gate ??? Literally can't find the exit. I found out where Marlow was, read the note from the assassin that they were suppoesd to meet in the Archway. The X mark in my OBJECTIVES didnt turn red, even after I found out about his whereabouts. Killed him, took Lily home, the painter thanked me. Only objectives left UNMARKED were dont kill anyone, find the place Marlow is at and leave at the West gate. Could this NOT trigger the exit point ?

 

Edited November 9, 2020 by UnrealOne

[Dragofer]

@UnrealOne on behalf of everyone involved, I'm glad to hear this! I really think this is the absolute limit for a single mission, as it's just a few dozen more objects away from starting to randomly crash, and the whole map is already highly compressed in this regard.

Regarding your question, that's a typo in the objective description, the gate in question is actually in the southwest corner of the map at street level. It's one of the many things which have been fixed in v1.1 (which has been perpetually a few final tweaks away from release for a little while now).

[Xolvix]

Well, can't wait to play the updated version! I fear though that there's just too much to see and do - no doubt this is one of those maps that will require a replay since navigation in larger (especially city-based) FMs isn't my strong suit and I keep missing areas of interest.

Edited November 12, 2020 by Xolvix

[Dragofer]

The first update for The Painter's Wife, v1.1, is now out! Taking on board feedback posted by players as well as receiving several additional rounds of betatesting, tons of things have changed. This includes gameplay tweaks, new routes and locations, areas rebuilt for improved performance, scripting fixes, improvements to the map, a new security system for Marlow as well as myriad fixes for mapping issues like nonsolid objects. A full changelog has been added to the first post in this thread.

Special thanks go to Bikerdude for his perseverance in getting much of this done, and Mike_A, Cardia, Garrett(Monolyth-42), Kingsal and Amadeus for giving this mission further extensive testing.

As before, there's also a slimmed down version of v1.1 that can be manually downloaded from the original post in this thread. Use this if you’re unable to run thedarkmodx64.exe, TDM’s 64-bit client, for playing this mission.

[Xolvix]

Much appreciated, thanks! I have a question though, something from the changelog:

Quote

No more knockout limit on Expert

From what I've seen, some FM authors like having knockout limits specifically on the hardest skill and I figured this FM was one of them. To be honest I'm actually happy with the change since it suits my playstyle of rendering as many people unconscious as possible so I can explore in peace, but if people didn't want the knockout limit they could just play on an easier skill level like I did originally for the mission. I've never seen a mission updated to make it easier on the hardest skill level, unless there was a serious imbalance.

[Dragofer]

In my opinion limits on gameplay, such as on how a player may knockout AIs, inevitably prevent players from approaching and enjoying a mission in their preferred way. Some may want to play an Expert-difficulty mission in terms of clues, patrol routes, lighting and more, but don't want to get limited like this. It's imo a hefty price for trying to increase difficulty. Much better would be to create stealth scenarios that allow for multiple solutions and that become harder on higher difficulties.

Another aspect is that there should be a good story-driven reason for the limit to exist, or else it'll feel contrived. In a tense setting like the sheriff's base in T2 it can make sense, but much less if you're just broadly robbing the city at night.

[Xolvix]

It's what I prefer too, but I will say this though - I'm somewhat appreciative of restrictive missions that require either low or zero knockouts on the hardest difficulties, being it means you're forced to get out of your comfort zone of blackjacking everything. Such missions have certainly made me a better player, becoming more patient and more capable of ghosting. But I only like such missions when they're not overly complex in terms of layout (manors and the like); a large city/city block mission becomes a little too much.

Still, having the choice is the best option. I like games which the player can choose whatever means the prefer to accomplish their objectives (like most immersive sims).

[lowenz]

Thanks man!

[Darkness_Falls]

On 10/11/2020 at 10:37 PM, Sneaker said:

When loading the map, it crashes and I get a bus error in linux...  I'll attach the output log, but I do have an old pc with 4gb of ram, with an old video card; I think I read this is expected with less capable hardware... if so ignore.

crash-pw.out 47.32 kB · 1 download

It also crashes to Desktop for me mid-way through loading the map. Not sure what causes it. I installed it through the in-game map downloader and this is my first time trying to play it.

I'm on Win10 with decent PC specs all around.

EDIT: Will try the "TheDarkModx64.exe" executable per the OP, in case I wasn't already.

EDIT 2: Yeah, that was it. It launches now (using x64 executable).

Edited November 14, 2020 by Darkness_Falls

[wotancc]

The best Mission i have ever played! Played for about 7 hours now - and it's really great

But there is a game-breaker for me:

Spoiler

After putting Lily on the bed right next to Andreas, nothing happens.
I dragged her down and laid again many times, but still nothing..

 

[Dragofer]

@wotancc
glad to hear you're enjoying it! Regarding your issue, what I could suggest is going out to the streets and back in. Also, he has to see you carrying her.

If unsuccessful, I'd appreciate a save and a description of what you've done so far regarding the main objectives, mainly concerning Marlow.

[wotancc]

Enjoying is the wrong word - i love this mission..

Tried this, didn't help.
I heard the voice-over that i should put her on the bed. But nothing happened after this (multiple times).

All other main objectives are solved (killed Marlow).

If nothing helps, maybe there is a script-command i can call by console to trigger the event for putting her on bed?
Really would love to play a bit more - there is sooooo much to explore.

If it's important: Version 2.08/64 on Linux.