Fan Mission: The Hare in the Snare, Part 1

[Frost_Salamander]

I am pleased to announce the release of our new fan mission, The Hare in the Snare: Part 1

Mission type: City Missions + Inn/Tavern

Description: People are being abducted off the streets and a Watch Captain requires the services of a thief to help him find out why.

Download link (v1.0.2-release): https://drive.google.com/file/d/1HYvM_u56wDB16uIlb7qgS_q3P24V69MO/view?usp=sharing

Credits:

Mapping and original characters: @Frost_Salamander

Story, readables, custom models, voices and cinematics: @Kerry000

Menu title track produced and mixed by @JackFarmer with selected gigagooga sound samples

Beta testers: 

@Cambridge Spy
@Zerg Rush
@Amadeus
@Acolytesix
@Lzocast
@wesp5
@nbohr1more
@Kerry000
@ate0ate

@Wellingtoncrab

@prjames

Additional thanks:

• @Dragofer, @nbohr1moreand @peter_spyfor technical help
• @Springheel for the modules and tutorials
• @kingsalfor allowing @Kerry000to abuse his manbeast
• everyone else on Discord and the TDM forums who offered assistance

Requirements and notes:

• This mission requires TDM 2.09.  Earlier versions will probably work but you might see one or two missing models.
• You may experience some FPS drops in some areas with lower-end hardware.  Mid-range and above should be fine.  If you have issues, I highly recommend you use shadow maps instead of stencil (settings -> advanced -> shadows implementation).  It makes a big difference.
• For 'Hard' and 'Expert' the light gem sensitivity has been increased by '1' (meaning easier for AI to detect you).  

Screenshots:

 

 

Edited May 8, 2021 by Frost_Salamander

[Frost_Salamander]

The rest of the screenshots:

[Amadeus]

Congrats on the release! Players are gonna love this

[Springheel]

Screenshots look great!  Congrats.

[Hooded Lantern]

splendid. thank you.

[joebarnin]

Congrats!

[JackFarmer]

Congratulations on the release!

[nbohr1more]

Mission database and wiki have been updated.

[Bienie]

Awesome! Congrats on your first release! I've been avoiding spoilers for this one, going to play this tonight.

[Heuli]

Congrats on the release! is soo cool

[Bienie]

Finished it, excellent stuff! Very high production values with the intro/outro videos, and a very engaging storyline with rich worldbuilding. Will definitely be looking forward to part 2!

Spoiler

I played the mission on the highest difficulty and it took me about 3 hours to finish and I enjoyed every minute! Ended up with a stealth score of 20, and I had to knock out a couple of people and extinguish a few lights. Only managed to scrape together about 4000 loot, so thankfully the loot objective was optional. I got 4 out of the 5 secrets, and some of them were quite clever. I never did figure out how to get the Dalton bros. in trouble, though I suspect it had something to do with the bottle of rat poison I found by the pyre. I was also able to mantle up to Twistleton's balcony and was left scratching my head as to how anyone can use that. It was only later I realized that there was a secret passage from inside haha. Had a bit of trouble getting into the attic though, the hole seemed very small and I kept falling back out and landing on the awning causing the guards on the street to have a fit. Is that the only way in? I couldn't find another. I didn't run into very many other bugs or issues, aside from a few things clipping into geometry here and there and some misaligned textures. I did react to the floors not being quite as detailed as the walls and ceilings in many places. It seems a flat wood texture was used and scaled up which looked a bit wonky. I'm also not sure if you meant for Hales to be completely mute, I know that AI is by default but it should be possible to give her a different voice.

I really enjoyed the story element of working for the Watch captain and leaving the evidence on his desk. It provided good flow and it just clicked somehow. The overarching theme of corruption and dark secrets was spot on. The abandoned mines connecting the inn and tenements really reminded me of the town of Hackdirt in TESIV: Oblivion, I wonder if that was an inspiration? ^^

Anyway thanks for making the mission, I had a blast playing it!

Edited April 10, 2021 by Bienie

[kin]

Haven't finished the mission yet but I have to note that for me this is the best "Garrett" voice I have heard. Mission looks professional so far.

[datiswous]

Can't figure out how to get to Twistleton Manor. For the rest good mission. I probably try again later.

Spoiler

I can't pick up this purse. Is that intended?

This guard gave me a scare a couple of times although I already knocked him out before :

Edited April 11, 2021 by datiswous

[Kerry000]

Hi @Bienie,

Thank you for the great feedback. We think alike in terms of tight, detailed FM's so I'm glad you enjoyed it. The small oversights like clipping models and scaled textures are something we might look at in time. Regarding your other comments:

Spoiler

There are two ways into Twistleton's manor. The obvious way is the attic window and the other way, well, what's the point of a secret passage if it doesn't work both ways?  

Yes, Hales does not speak in the mission. The standard female voices are far too silly for someone like Hales, and in the absence of a female voice actor for TDM we chose to make her the strong silent type. Hales is all business, no nonsense. Having her ignore greetings made by the other staff etc. fits well with her character.

Thanks again for playing
 

@kin, thank you kindly. We're glad to hear that.
 

@datiswous, not quite sure where that "purse" is, but I can see from the screenshot that it is not a coin purse. It looks to be one of those tobacco pouches, possibly? And if you get stuck trying to find a way into the manor, see the spoiler about it above (there are 2 ways in).

Edited April 11, 2021 by Kerry000
typo

[darksilence]

The screenshots look great, congratulations on the release! 

[Marbrien]

I played this on Expert and really enjoyed it. I got all 5 secrets but even so, and despite checking round the map again, I could only get 4,941 loot so could not achieve the optional 5,000 loot objective.  The total loot is only 5,081, so maybe the loot objective is set a little too high.  That aside, I'm looking forward to the sequel(s)!

Edited April 11, 2021 by Marbrien

[Frost_Salamander]

2 hours ago, Marbrien said:

I played this on Expert and really enjoyed it. I got all 5 secrets but even so, and despite checking round the map again, I could only get 4,941 loot so could not achieve the optional 5,000 loot objective.  The total loot is only 5,081, so maybe the loot objective is set a little too high.  That aside, I'm looking forward to the sequel(s)!

Yes the expert loot goal is probably a little high, but since it's optional I decided to leave it to keep the even numbers (3000/4000/5000).  I also figured the loot-obsessive types would want to get all of it anyways

[Silverflame3]

What an experience! The realism of the situation was probably one of the creepiest things I've seen in the dark mod, and not a single supernatural element was involved.

It's unbelievable to what a degree each character in the mission had a distinct, well-thought out personality.

Spoiler

Especially captain Williams and lieutenant Hales. For the most part, I was afraid you'd have to go against the captain if he ever saw you in the mission, and since he is a heavily armored combat figure, well, you don't really want to confront him. But to my surprise, I really liked the way he turned out to be a genuine knight in shining armor, and not someone to be messed with at the same time.

 

Can't wait to see the next mission in this series, looking forward to the rest of the story.

Edited April 11, 2021 by Silverflame3

[Kerry000]

7 minutes ago, Silverflame3 said:

What an experience! The realism of the situation was probably one of the creepiest things I've seen in the dark mod, and not a single supernatural element was involved.

It's unbelievable to what a degree each character in the mission had a distinct, well-thought out personality.

  Reveal hidden contents

Especially captain Williams and lieutenant Hales. For the most part, I was afraid you'd have to go against the captain if he ever saw you in the mission, and since he is a heavily armored combat figure, well, you don't really want to confront him. But to my surprise, I really liked the way he turned out to be a genuine knight in shining armor, and not someone to be messed with at the same time.

 

Can't wait to see the next mission in this series, looking forward to the rest of the story.

A really nice compliment. Thank you very much, @Silverflame3
Part 2 is already underway, and both the characters you mention are an important part of it  

[datiswous]

8 hours ago, Kerry000 said:

@datiswous, not quite sure where that "purse" is, but I can see from the screenshot that it is not a coin purse. It looks to be one of those tobacco pouches, possibly?

Yeah maybe. It's just that this is not clear that it's a tobacco pouch and so I keep hunting for a possible light-up so that I can grab it. I mean it looks like an object in a box so logically I should be able to grab it.

Spoiler

It's the middle room downstairs:

 

Maybe in a future update someone could do something about this save. Looks a bit unrealistic. I think the painting should be blocked from sliding up when the save is open:

Almost everything else looks really clean though.

 

Edited April 11, 2021 by datiswous

[Frost_Salamander]

@datiswousyeah that's just a non-frobable pouch, it's not loot.  Not everything in a container needs to be something interactable.  However, if you look closely there IS some loot in that room....

[Petike the Taffer]

Congratulations to the release, gentlemen ! It looks interesting.

[datiswous]

2 hours ago, Frost_Salamander said:

@datiswousyeah that's just a non-frobable pouch, it's not loot.  Not everything in a container needs to be something interactable.  However, if you look closely there IS some loot in that room....

Too late, I just finished it, but got only 3.5 thousand loot and I think only 3 out of 5 secrets. In the end it was not so difficult to get to the manor when you know what can be successfully mantled.. I never found that secondary entrance.. (so I have to try again sometime). I love the story (including everything in the diaries and letters)  and some of the scenery is really atmospheric. Also the video's look really professional.

Spoiler

Dinner is ready!

 

Jumping Guard (feedback):

 

Edited April 11, 2021 by datiswous

[Xolvix]

Looks good, can't way to play it!

Quick question though - those soft shadows are some of the nicest I've seen in TDM screenshots. Which shadowing settings were they set on (stencil or maps, shadow quality) and is it playable or requires a beefy machine? I've been sticking with hard stencil shadows (i.e. Doom 3-mode) for ever so I'm wondering if it's time to take the leap.

[Kerry000]

Hi @Xolvix, I took the screenshots on my home PC, which is not new hardware. This FM is absolutely playable and was tested on various configurations (including an old laptop) during the beta phase. You might experience some frame drops here and there in the outdoor areas, but that's not unusual in any game. My recommendation would be to try it out and see what settings work best for you.

My personal shadow settings for the screenshots were as follows:

• Shadows Implementation: Stencil
• Soft Shadow Quality: High
• Shadow Softness: Low (slider almost all the way to the left)

Edited April 12, 2021 by Kerry000