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Fan Mission: Chronicles of Skulduggery 3: Sacricide (2020/07/18)


Bienie

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Congrats!

The mission is available in the in-game downloader.

I will update the mission page with more screens tonight.

Edit:

Mission screens added.

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Please visit TDM's IndieDB site and help promote the mod:

 

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An excellent mission! Nice layout and architecture - exploring is rewarded. Wonderful set of interlocking stories, full of politics/factions/intrigue/corruption. Lots of opportunities for thieving (of course) and for doing good. 

Spoiler

Played on medium difficulty. 3:45 to complete main objectives, 6075 loot, plus six of the optional objectives (Clara, Reliquary, Cosimo's letter, Adolfo, Carlo's statue, rats). Only got 2 of the secrets (because I suck at secrets). Later I'll go back and look for additional objectives and secrets. I did not do the 'challenge' objectives, and I likely wont, because I'm not good enough 🤪

No real problems running it. Only noticed one layout glitch - right across from the starting point there are 3 package cubes, and they are floating above the ground a bit. That was the only thing I did a screen grab of.

Thank you, Bienie!

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1 hour ago, joebarnin said:

An excellent mission! Nice layout and architecture - exploring is rewarded. Wonderful set of interlocking stories, full of politics/factions/intrigue/corruption. Lots of opportunities for thieving (of course) and for doing good. 

  Hide contents

Played on medium difficulty. 3:45 to complete main objectives, 6075 loot, plus six of the optional objectives (Clara, Reliquary, Cosimo's letter, Adolfo, Carlo's statue, rats). Only got 2 of the secrets (because I suck at secrets). Later I'll go back and look for additional objectives and secrets. I did not do the 'challenge' objectives, and I likely wont, because I'm not good enough 🤪

No real problems running it. Only noticed one layout glitch - right across from the starting point there are 3 package cubes, and they are floating above the ground a bit. That was the only thing I did a screen grab of.

Thank you, Bienie!

Glad you enjoyed the mission! One of my main goals was to make a convincing web of intrigues and stories that kind of resemble the politics of today, so I'm happy that you found it compelling!

Sounds like you have enough content left to warrant a second playthrough. A couple of the challenges are not skill dependent so I would definitely recommend you give that a go. Most likely you will find things you missed the first time when replaying as well! As for the secrets, the FAQ section can help you out with hints, which should make it a bit more enjoyable to actively hunt for them.

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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27 minutes ago, Jehauri said:

I decided to replay the first two before starting this one, to refresh my memory, only to find that the first one no longer works. Partway through loading I get this error message:

Capture.PNG.a13ca1fa2e4bf7f25c24c3db940bc609.PNG

Any idea what's causing this? Chapter 2 loads just fine.

There is a new version of this mission in the mission database. Delete this one and delete the latest one in the in-game downloader.

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Please visit TDM's IndieDB site and help promote the mod:

 

http://www.indiedb.com/mods/the-dark-mod

 

(Yeah, shameless promotion... but traffic is traffic folks...)

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6 hours ago, Jehauri said:

I assumed that since I'd been downloading all the updates from the in-game downloader it would fix these issues, but sure enough, once I deleted the folder manually and re-downloaded it, it works fine. Thank you!

Enjoy your Chronicles of Skulduggery marathon! :)

 

6 hours ago, kingsal said:

Congrats on the release Bienie! This is a wonderful mission with some great exploration, stealth, and fun world building. Everyone should check this one out!

That's an endorsement worthy of the front of the box! Thanks.

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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7 hours ago, Lzocast said:

Just finished first playthrough on 21/07/2020 Master Difficulty; 8678 loot found, all in game sidequests completed, hidden objective part done and challenge modes found but not yet attempted.

So, before I start cataloguing the usual odds and ends lets actually talk about the experience overall. It was pretty damn fun. No ambiguity the bad guys were almost cartoon level evil which is refreshing once in a while though had to laugh at the number of times...

  Reveal hidden contents

...the bishop writes about his SECRET ROOM IN THE LIBRARY. It was such a good idea you know, and so very secret xD

I was also not prepared for meme-ing Builders either so well played mate.

Good use of keys, very few instances of them being the only way to open something but rather a risk/reward grab from a guard to make moving through a floor quicker.

  Hide contents

Deposit Keys also all opening the door to the room the boxes were in stumped me for a while, ended up combing the Bank thinking I must have missed a key till I key spammed the door just to try it. Not sure the point of the Archive Key and Upper Floor Bank Key both opening the Archives door when both keys are within spitting distance of each other practically.

Little less taken with the number of electric lights especially the frequency of them being over the top of doorways. Often led to situations where the notion of opening a door to cast shadow to observe a new room/corridor from was not possible. Lots of picking locks then crouch dashing into rooms towards the nearest patch of shadow and praying.

Not usually a fan of lethal only missions but I think this worked for the reasons listed above and the bit of Indiana Jones-ing in the graveyard was fun. Thumbs up.

Side Missions (Some started from notice boards in starting area North West near sewer entrance and North East near thief's hideout/back of Mercenaries Stables respectively, and others from reading unique journal entries in hidden houses etc. Even if you have the final item the objective must have been triggered by reading the appropriate note/book to complete)

N/B: Since I'm a Brit I will list all floors in the British fashion first then American after ie: Ground Floor/1st (these are the same thing)

  Reveal hidden contents

Clara's House (Is A Very Fine House) [Locate Clara's Bank Deed from Bank Offices and return it to her desk. You can access her house from the starting area in upper north west; with the large double gates to your left look forward for an awning you can mantle on to in front of the house to the right of the sewer entrance. From here you can reach a 1st/2nd floor window]

Feeding of the Five [Get three loaves of bread for the Deacon of the Poor House on Vicola Diacono (labelled Chapel on Map). One is in the guard tower nearby, one is in the kitchen of the Mercenaries and the last is in the Church. Drop all three one at a time on to the kitchen table in the basement of the Poor House]

Indiana Jones & The Lady's Urn [In the graveyard crypt, turn the wall sconce on your left as you enter to access a hidden area. Find two hidden leavers in the sarcophagus nooks that have gears as their symbol (stand on coffin and look back into the hall and up). Beware you're in for a scare, hope you went Holy Water hunting in the Church first. Now use the slow match you found in the crypt entrance to light the two torches either side of the Lady's statue (Highlight Slow Match, press R and manipulate it so glowing end touches inside of unlit torch) and be ready to get out of range quickly. The statue will have moved and now there is a recess in the floor with your prize. Take it to Father Benedetti's room in the little area above the public prayer/worship area with all the benches and drop it on his bed]

Mob Life [From were you start look at the building to the west and up to the 1st/2nd floor. There is a large window you can open. Inside you will find a letter from a gent who wants to frame the Bishop and turn the mercenaries on him. Deliver the letter to Commander Cavalcanti's Desk on the 2nd/3rd floor of the Mercenaries House]

Trade Secrets [From the bathroom on the 1st/2nd floor of the Bank climb the ladder into the clock tower and locate the power breaker hatch to get a tech spec scroll. Drop this off at the job board around the corner from the Poor House (Chapel) near the thief's hideout]

History Buff [Steal a book on the Puglian Wars from the Library of the Church and drop it off on Adolfo's Balcony. His is the one with planter boxes with mushrooms and other things growing out of it on the first balcony to your left as you come through the tunnel from the starting area]

Art Thief [Grab the bust of the builder from inside the Council Safe Room (code and key found in the mayor's office and key for his office in the secretary's bathroom) and take it to the job board in the North West near sewer entrance in starting area. Your reward appears tucked in a box in the corner to your left immediately as you enter the tunnel to the next area]

Rat Catcher [In the area you start in look for a drop down to a basement window. Inside will be a bunch of arrows and a bucket labelled "Dead Rat Disposal". Kill all the rats in this room and drop their lil corpses into the bucket. If you've read Tessa Zani's note on the North West job board asking you to do this there is now a reward waiting by the steps directly in front of you as you exit the basement area]

Secret Loot 7/13 (This will be updated as more are found. Message me if you think you have something not on this list)

  Reveal hidden contents

1. Bank Archives on 1st/2nd Floor, climb the book stairs far left side of the room for a secret in the shelves

2. Mercenary House Pantry at back of kitchen. Climb the shelves for a rare vintage in a shallow wooden crate

3. In Tessa Zani's basement (Rat Catcher) look behind the mattress on the left wall as you enter for a chalice

4. In the Poor House vegetable garden with the door in front of you look up and right to the ledge and the recessed window. There is a broadhead arrow up there and a 25 gold pouch.

5. Father Benedetti's Room above the Public Prayer/Worship Area in the church. Enter his room, turn to face the door and close it. Now look up at the tiny stained glass window above his door. Jump and spam right-click to grab the gem hidden up there.

6. Exit the public prayer/worship area (door immediately behind the lectern) into the hedge maze. Look right and climb on to the canvas covering then look back at the door to see a set of gargoyles. Mantle on to the gargoyles to reach a chalice hidden on the stain-glass window sill above the door.

7. Mercenaries Stables in the small courtyard at the back of Mercenary House. Look up into the rafters above the stalls for a coin pouch.

Challenge Mode

  Reveal hidden contents

When exiting the tunnel from the starting area on to Vicolo Torcere look right and up for a large openable window. Inside is a bookshelf with a key and warning note about Challenge Mode and a locked chest of draws. SAVE BEFORE OPENING THE CHEST OF DRAWS. Reading the notes inside will trigger optional challenge objectives ie: Ghost, Collect all Loot, Complete all 8 normal sidequests plus main quest, locate hidden item (not loot) around map etc.

Phew and that does that for now I think. Loving the content, keep it up

Thank you for the detailed feedback! I guess I can see how the villains are cartoonish, but the funny (or sad) thing is that it's really not that far from reality today either.

It seems I forgot to delete the Archives key. I initially had several more keys in the bank for individual doors, but my beta team wisely advised me to simplify the setup. I should have probably also mentioned in the ledger in the foyer that only the deposit box keys can open the door to that room, I can see how that could be confusing.

Surprised that you felt the electric lights were too hard, I toned down the difficulty a bit even on Master before release, and the lighting is far more forgiving on lower difficulties. Most doors have keys, or can be circumvented, which is something I kind of expect of the player on Master difficulty. Granted, there are very few light switches available on Master difficulty, which can make some interiors harder.

You seem to have found a lot of the content littered across the map! I see you are summarizing some of your findings. I feel like I should point out though, that there is an FAQ section at the bottom of the OP that covers most of this. Though putting in other words is never a bad idea. It might be useful to you should you replay it to find what you missed and get all the secrets!

I'm thinking though that maybe I should add a section to the FAQ pointing out all the easter eggs in the mission, since there are quite a few.

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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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36 minutes ago, Bienie said:

Thank you for the detailed feedback! I guess I can see how the villains are cartoonish, but the funny (or sad) thing is that it's really not that far from reality today either.

It seems I forgot to delete the Archives key. I initially had several more keys in the bank for individual doors, but my beta team wisely advised me to simplify the setup. I should have probably also mentioned in the ledger in the foyer that only the deposit box keys can open the door to that room, I can see how that could be confusing.

Surprised that you felt the electric lights were too hard, I toned down the difficulty a bit even on Master before release, and the lighting is far more forgiving on lower difficulties. Most doors have keys, or can be circumvented, which is something I kind of expect of the player on Master difficulty. Granted, there are very few light switches available on Master difficulty, which can make some interiors harder.

You seem to have found a lot of the content littered across the map! I see you are summarizing some of your findings. I feel like I should point out though, that there is an FAQ section at the bottom of the OP that covers most of this. Though putting in other words is never a bad idea. It might be useful to you should you replay it to find what you missed and get all the secrets!

I'm thinking though that maybe I should add a section to the FAQ pointing out all the easter eggs in the mission, since there are quite a few.

Like I say mate, not a criticism, it was a nice change of pace to have adversaries who weren't trying to justify their darker desirers or cover for a tragic past and so on. The counterweight to that is that they come off a bit moustache twirly.

Honestly the existence of the Archive Key in and of itself wasn't a bad one, its noted several times as a very important room and makes sense it would be locked with a unique key. 
A little notice at the Front Desk reminding patrons not to loose their deposit box key as it also lets them into the room, throw in a bit of flavour text about how bank staff having no access or some such so folks don't go key hunting like I did and that'd work just fine yeah.
Speaking of keys, would Dark Mod support a set up where guards you have stolen keys from could no longer open locked doors? Thinking back to T2 where I'd pickpocket all the guards keys then enter a locked room, re-lock it behind me with the key I'd just stolen then turn the place. Was a small immersive touch when Ghosting a level to re-lock all the doors behind me.

Hard isn't the word I'd use, just wasn't a fan of the randomised nature of getting caught some placements added to room entry. Just to be clear building entry wasn't an issue, the less conspicuous routes into all the major locales avoiding direct line of sight with patrols and their illuminated main entrances worked just fine. It was some of the interiors. You can still get around it as a player by disabling the option to auto open a door after picking a lock and keeping an ear out for movement ahead though I suppose so only a minor grumble.

I'm so used to there not being guides for these missions and needing to make my own I didn't even look xD Though I'll see if I can find everything myself for a while longer first.
An Easter Egg list would be a great addition.

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Spoiler

Does Carlo's heirloom dagger serve any purpose? The optional side-mission asks to retrieve his grandfather's bust from the strongroom in the bank, but alongside it tucked away in a corner is his dagger as well and dropping it under the bulletin board like the bust doesn't seem to do anything. It doesn't count as loot either, as far as I can tell.

 

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I just finished this mission and I must say I love the way you add sidequests and although the city itself is simpler than those convuluted constructs of missions like "The Painter's Wife", I found it much more realistic and easier to navigate! I had two issues though:

- The number code didn't work. I used the default code from the letter and I hear something being switched but the grate does not open. Do I miss something here?

- I really disliked that two sidequests were hidden behind windows that look like all the other hundred non-openable window textures around the map. I thought there was a kind of code to make openable windows transparent or something to give a hint. Like it's common to add handles to doors that can be openend. I don't have the time and nerve to climb around a map checking all window textures ;)!

Edited by wesp5
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2 hours ago, Bluehawk said:
  Hide contents

Does Carlo's heirloom dagger serve any purpose? The optional side-mission asks to retrieve his grandfather's bust from the strongroom in the bank, but alongside it tucked away in a corner is his dagger as well and dropping it under the bulletin board like the bust doesn't seem to do anything. It doesn't count as loot either, as far as I can tell.

 

Oh my, that dagger was the original item I was going to use for the side mission, but I couldn't get a good looking inventory icon so I chose to use a statue instead. Seems that I forgot to delete the dagger after. Thanks for letting me know.

Edited by Bienie
spoiler tags are B-R-O-K-E-N!

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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1 hour ago, wesp5 said:

I just finished this mission and I must say I love the way you add sidequests and although the city itself is simpler than those convuluted constructs of missions like "The Painter's Wife", I found it much more realistic and easier to navigate! I had two issues though:

- The number code didn't work. I used the default code from the letter and I hear something being switched but the grate does not open. Do I miss something here?

- I really disliked that two sidequests were hidden behind windows that look like all the other hundred non-openable window textures around the map. I thought there was a kind of code to make openable windows transparent or something to give a hint. Like it's common to add handles to doors that can be openend. I don't have the time and nerve to climb around a map checking all window textures ;)!

 

I'm glad you found the mission enjoyable and that Santa Letta didn't pale in comparison to Mirkway Quarter, I was a bit afraid it would seeing as that mission has been worked on by multiple people over several years.

The number code didn't work? That's strange. I assume you opened the door first? Did the lights turn on in the room when you entered the code, but the grate didn't open? Maybe try flipping on and off between the right and wrong code and hope it fixes itself, otherwise you may have to reload to a save before you tried it. Sometimes those things are a bit frail but I feel like I tried to mess it up and couldn't.

You're quite right about the windows... I already had to add knobs to the windows in CoS 2 to signify that they are openable. That was silly of me to forget. I'll put that on the list.

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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2 hours ago, Bienie said:

The number code didn't work? That's strange. I assume you opened the door first? Did the lights turn on in the room when you entered the code, but the grate didn't open? Maybe try flipping on and off between the right and wrong code and hope it fixes itself, otherwise you may have to reload to a save before you tried it.

I already tried wrong codes and it was like you guessed, I opened the door first. In the end I used noclip to get inside I only wanted to know if I missed something and to give you a bug report. As for "The Painter's Wife", in my opinion they overdid it. You spend little time on the ground at all! I love TDM for sneaking, not platforming ;).

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8 hours ago, wesp5 said:

I just finished this mission and I must say I love the way you add sidequests and although the city itself is simpler than those convuluted constructs of missions like "The Painter's Wife", I found it much more realistic and easier to navigate!

TBH, I've pretty much given up on TPW, simply because it is too massive for me. It would have fit better in 3 single missions than in one big one. At some point, without a "city hub" feel, which is well thought out (just like in Goldwell's Shadow of Northdale Act 1), it gets too chaotic, especially as you can't anticipate where the player is going first as a mission designer. I love the work of the people involved, but, with this one, it was simply too over ambitious.

Looking forward to try this mission, as I already enjoyed the former parts.

Edited by chakkman
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Quite enjoyed this one. I tend to be a fan of the really large and sprawling city missions (haven't played Painter's Wife yet, excited), but at least with a smaller one like this, you don't get that overwhelming feeling of being a rat in a maze. Especially when the layout is as well designed as this one; not a whole lot of long-distance running required, to get from place to place.

My only real gripe is the arbitrary knockout limit on the highest difficulty; I really don't like these in general, because there is typically very little sense for them to exist, as far as the narrative goes. Take the city watch mission from Thief 2 as a comparison; you were prohibited from knocking out anybody at all, but at least that was well reasoned in the context of the story. In TDM, like this mission, it's more or less the opposite. "Don't cause too much ruckus" is hardly a compelling argument, when I can book it through town with 15 guards running after me. Considering that we're presumably stuck with three difficulty settings, I would either have the mission designed completely for ghosting (story and all), or leave the "X number of knockouts" as an optional objective. Or I suppose if it's a 10-minute speed-build mission, like Springheel's "A Matter of Hours", then by all means.

I suppose the fair question to ask is, why not just pick a lower difficulty? Which I almost did, but I like to try and finish all of these on the highest one, regardless of the limitations imposed. But after having spent my allotted 4 knockouts and having quite a lot to do still, I lost all patience and resorted to the age-old strategy:

Spoiler

xGnBOML.jpg

I love that you can make the AI beat each other up. I rarely use it, but it's just so amusing. Not pictured are the four guards who were too injured to do anything but run around scared.

Also, related to that, I think I found a bug. I actually killed three or four builders myself, but doing so didn't trigger the mission-fail condition. Killing any other human did.

Other than that, enjoyed having the side-missions return, although I had to read this topic to find two of them.

Spoiler

The environments are too convincing, can't tell which windows are accessible and which pure scenery, lol. Not to mention they were not that obvious as far as placement goes, so well done(?) on that front. Actually come to think of it, even the window that's in one of the offices in the merc house (which you can access atop the stables), I discovered to be operable waaaay after the fact, while running around doing whatever.

I did find the challenge room (I guess the only window I did figure out, since it was slightly open, lol), and I activated all of them just for fun, but didn't really bother going for any, other than the secret objectives, which didn't actually complete for whatever reason.

Oh yeah, also what was up with the Deposit Box 2 key opening the door to the deposit room? I thankfully didn't spend a whole lot of time trying to find a key for that door, it was only after most everyone was dead that I decided to just try every damn key I had. Doesn't usually work, so I was very surprised that it did this time.

I think my final results were about 8300 loot and either 5 or 7 secrets, don't remember. I'm usually not too keen on hunting these, so just found whatever I stumbled upon.

Finally, special mention to the new textures and whatnot in the palace, really great looking stuff.

All in all, well done job again Bienie.

Edited by roygato
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10 hours ago, Bienie said:

I already had to add knobs to the windows in CoS 2 to signify that they are openable. That was silly of me to forget. I'll put that on the list.

Another option is to leave the window slightly ajar. This shows, from a distance, that it is openable. Use the "open" spawnarg (set to '1'), along with 'start_rotate' or 'start_position' (depending on whether the window is a mover_door or mover_door_sliding). Give you total control over how open the window is.

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