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Fan Mission: Now and Then by joebarnin (2020/09/08)


joebarnin

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Congrats! Wish I could’ve helped beta this one too! (was that already a year ago??)

Can’t wait to play it once I get some free time 🙂

Edited by Jedi_Wannabe

As my father used to say, "A grenade a day, keeps the enemy at bay!"

My one FM so far: Paying the Bills: 0 - Moving Day

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Congrats on the release, will definitely give this a go soon!

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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Congrats on the release. It was a fun mission to test and I know a lot of people are going to love it.

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My missions:           Stand-alone                                                      Duncan Lynch series                              

                                      Down and Out on Newford Road              the Factory Heist

                                                                                                  A House Call

                                                                                                  The House of deLisle                                                                                                  

                              

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Congratulations on release. I'll go playh it now :)

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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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I found a game breaking bug. This happens in the room with all the light switches. After turning them all off (starting with left of double doors),
then starting to turn them all on. I got two switches on, and crash! Might want to check your script :) Enjoying it though it's a lovely mission

Untitled.thumb.jpg.e2caaa0cc4c8a7601f4e6ea85be6b443.jpg

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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Great mission so far, but now I'm stuck. I got the stuff needed for the time machine, but how do I turn on the power to the house?

Oh and the secret

Spoiler

fireplace

switch, down under

Spoiler

Eloises's apt.

what exactly does that do? I looked both upstairs and around.

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Acolyte6,

Spoiler

douse the fire first.

 

  • Like 1

My missions:           Stand-alone                                                      Duncan Lynch series                              

                                      Down and Out on Newford Road              the Factory Heist

                                                                                                  A House Call

                                                                                                  The House of deLisle                                                                                                  

                              

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6 hours ago, NeonsStyle said:

I found a game breaking bug. This happens in the room with all the light switches. After turning them all off (starting with left of double doors),
then starting to turn them all on. I got two switches on, and crash! Might want to check your script :) Enjoying it though it's a lovely mission

Untitled.thumb.jpg.e2caaa0cc4c8a7601f4e6ea85be6b443.jpg

I recreated the bug, and I have a fix to the script file. [For other players, the problem occurs in the "empty room" (you'll know what I mean when you see it)]. The crash can be avoided if you wait before frobbing any light switch, until the lights are done flickering. Just avoid hitting the switch right away again, after switching it once.

This script fix will be included whenever I next update the mission, but I don't know when that will be. I might let the mission shake down for a bit more?

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Pretty great mission. Definitely your best so far. A lot of exploration including vertical to be found. Not quite skacky levels of climbing about, but satisfying to find the windows and other things you can get to by non-standard movement. With discoverable extra objectives and so on. It's all there and plenty to do besides the main mission. I didn't check this thread until after playing it since I saw the mission show up in the downloader, but looks like I was able to find all of the objectives.

I had the same bug with the multi-lightswitch room as NeonsStyle. I got through it by saving and loading each step of the way once I figured out what to do, but it does still cause the map to crash if you're just feeling your way through it. Another issue is a valuable silver bowl inside a cabinet of the room of the guy who's journal complains about working at the pub next door is not frobbable but counts towards loot so you can't get all of the loot.

Small criticisms here in terms of the story's coherence at the end of the mission...

Spoiler

When you return to the present after stealing the painting in the past, one of the readables about the painting actually changes, as does the newspaper and the advertisement for the display on a banner outside the museum which is a nice touch but not everything changes. You'd think the Thief's journal would at least update so he'd be about wanting to steal the 3 new paintings, but it's still the same talking about the Now and Then painting which is not in the museum in the altered present. The non-inventory readable on the desk in Addison's office doesn't seem to update properly, either, since it still claims newest info on Jenson and Everett even though there's less info than before, just that they disappeared which is never resolved either since their remains disappear from where they were and that's that, but I guess leaving that as-is just means they decided to disappear themselves. Would be nice to be able to use the readable you can steal from Everett to place somewhere for a hidden objective to shake anyone off your trail.

Also, was the mission with a similar theme you mentioned in the OP...

Spoiler

Down by the Riverside? (or its beta version Tales of the Riverside which was different and pretty interesting too)

It's not exactly too similar an idea and the way you time travel in that mission set is... unique, but you executed it well here too.

 

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@GUFF

Thanks for your comments.

Re: updating readables.

Spoiler

Crud, I missed those. I'll fix them in version 2. That's the problem with time travel, you have to think about all of the ripple effects!

Re: similar theme.

Spoiler

The one I was thinking of is A House of Locked Secrets

 

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Hey Joebarnin, terrific little mission (which didn't turn out to be so little after all, took me a good two hours to finish, barely 2,500 loot found).

I find it very interesting how you managed to evoke sadness and creepyness at the same time, without using undead or obvious "scares".

Regarding the time travel, the atmosphere in the house where you go back in time, I couldn't shake the H.G. Wells "Time machine" feeling. It's amazing how the house managed to evoke that creepy what-the-hell-happened-here feeling the first time around, and then just sadness and understanding when you return. There are so many ruined houses in both dark mod and real life that you just keep wondering what happened here, but for this one, you just get to find out enough to open even more questions. I couldn't help but wonder did this theft eventually cause the user to go broke and the house to become abandoned. Also, the two skeletons dumped in the cellar that were gone when you returned, if I understood correctly, they were the two thieves who robbed the house, right? What happened to them? Who killed them the first time around?

 

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This a very interesting mission indeed. I'm in the past now, but I can't find the painting anywhere. I know it's somewhere obvious, yet...

As for the "unique" item I'm supposed to find, would that be in the past or future? Hints please.

As for this other mission "Down by the Riverside". I don't remember that one. Gonna go look for that one now... :) 

AHAA... I was in Sweden last time when Down by the Riverside was released & I wasn't playing here back then. Weird that I didn't catch it when I got home to Florida!

Edited by Acolytesix
update
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@Silverflame3

7 hours ago, Silverflame3 said:

 

  Hide contents

 I couldn't help but wonder did this theft eventually cause the user to go broke and the house to become abandoned. Also, the two skeletons dumped in the cellar that were gone when you returned, if I understood correctly, they were the two thieves who robbed the house, right? What happened to them? Who killed them the first time around?

 

 

Spoiler

 

Yep, the theft of the painting caused Clifton to go broke and abandon the house. This is true whether in the original timeline (stolen the steward and guard) or the altered timeline (stolen by you).

The skeletons where there because the two thieves tried to double cross each other, and stabbed each other to death, shortly after the theft. After you steal the painting, the skeletons aren't there anymore, because they didn't double cross each other, because they didn't steal the painting, because you beat them to it! As to what happened to them in the new timeline, that is unknown. (You might have even killed them in the past, when robbing the painting.)

 

 

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@Acolytesix

Spoiler

 

I'm in the past now, but I can't find the painting anywhere. I know it's somewhere obvious, yet...

Hint:

Spoiler

There's a guard that has a note on his belt - steal it and read it

Answer:

Spoiler

In the basement, the 'power room', look for a switch

 

Spoiler

 

As for the "unique" item I'm supposed to find, would that be in the past or future? Hints please.

I'm confused, what unique item is this?

 

 

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30 minutes ago, joebarnin said:
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Well, you don't have to steal his gold. 😉

 

Right, but what is the players motivation for helping this guy? Seems very random, to allow the player to steal his gold, then give him the option to help him out?

As I picked the lockbox first, then read the book.

I always assumed I'd taste like boot leather.

 

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6 minutes ago, AluminumHaste said:

 

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Right, but what is the players motivation for helping this guy? Seems very random, to allow the player to steal his gold, then give him the option to help him out?

As I picked the lockbox first, then read the book.

 

Spoiler

 

I guess, from the thief's point of view, it's one thing to steal some loot from the shopkeeper. But, reading the journal, you realize that the guy is on the brink of getting put out of business. Whether you steal a few coin or not, he's toast. But, if you get the jade statue, you can save his business (independently of whether you steal the coin). So you decide to be a nice guy (relatively).

Now, if you argue, "you're a thief, why should you care if someone goes out of business?", I can see that. Maybe something touched your conscience with this guy, I don't know. 

 

 

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1 hour ago, joebarnin said:
  Hide contents

 

I guess, from the thief's point of view, it's one thing to steal some loot from the shopkeeper. But, reading the journal, you realize that the guy is on the brink of getting put out of business. Whether you steal a few coin or not, he's toast. But, if you get the jade statue, you can save his business (independently of whether you steal the coin). So you decide to be a nice guy (relatively).

Now, if you argue, "you're a thief, why should you care if someone goes out of business?", I can see that. Maybe something touched your conscience with this guy, I don't know. 

 

 

@AluminumHaste

@joebarnin

You worry too much when the plausible explanation is so close: split personality! :)

Jack

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