Fan Mission: Chronicles of Skulduggery 0: To Catch a Thief (2021/11/20)

[datiswous]

10 hours ago, Tarhiel said:

- was not able to find the Marshall rat anywhere, where is it? There were several rats across the map, but I haven´t seen a single one with a red scarf around a neck.

- Matilda´s ring: this one bothers me the most - I found the ring, I found the advertisement giving you clear instructions as to where to put it - only to try every damn window (I noclipped even to those above, I was so desperate) on the Fulke Street, not only on the north end, the whole street, but NONE of them activated the objective completion. So I guess it´s a bug.

 

Spoiler

-1 Check out the sewers.

-2 If I remember correctly, you have to put the ring into something which is placed next to the window to trigger it (this should also be mentioned in the objective).

 

Edited March 28, 2022 by datiswous

[The Black Arrow]

Hey there, this is an amazing mission and a good start to your series, I hope the next missions are as high quality as, if not more than, the first.

Right now though, I have to tell you that I have a little problem:
 

Spoiler

I cannot seem to pick up the "Statue" that is in the chest, inside the cultist hideout.
I tried to hit the statue with my sword to move it, even if it's outside, it is not frobable at all.
I opened the chest with the "Rusty Key", might be the issue? Also, there is a note there but it doesn't seem to be usable either.

I don't want that "little problem" to ruin my, or even your experience though, if I had the ability to vote, I'd give it a 10/10, I enjoyed it very much, I loved all the secrets and easter eggs.

Edited April 3, 2022 by The Black Arrow

[Bienie]

On 4/3/2022 at 12:08 PM, The Black Arrow said:

Hey there, this is an amazing mission and a good start to your series, I hope the next missions are as high quality as, if not more than, the first.

Right now though, I have to tell you that I have a little problem:
 

  Hide contents

I cannot seem to pick up the "Statue" that is in the chest, inside the cultist hideout.
I tried to hit the statue with my sword to move it, even if it's outside, it is not frobable at all.
I opened the chest with the "Rusty Key", might be the issue? Also, there is a note there but it doesn't seem to be usable either.

I don't want that "little problem" to ruin my, or even your experience though, if I had the ability to vote, I'd give it a 10/10, I enjoyed it very much, I loved all the secrets and easter eggs.

Thanks for playing through the mission! Glad you found it to your liking. Unfortunately the chest bug is known to many players, even though I've never had it happen to me. I will fix this in an upcoming update!

[SirGen]

I can't get the mission to run.  After the mission is finished loading a window with this message appears:

 

Game Error

Couldn't spawn " to attach to entity

'atdm_ai_manbeast_spear_thrower_2'

 

I'm running TDM 2.10.  I've tried redownloading the mission from the in game downloader and Dropbox. 

Edited April 10, 2022 by SirGen

[Bienie]

On 4/9/2022 at 5:38 PM, SirGen said:

I can't get the mission to run.  After the mission is finished loading a window with this message appears:

 

Game Error

Couldn't spawn " to attach to entity

'atdm_ai_manbeast_spear_thrower_2'

 

I'm running TDM 2.10.  I've tried redownloading the mission from the in game downloader and Dropbox. 

Sorry that you are experiencing problems loading the mission. I'm not sure what could be causing that, other than a problem with your installation. Can you try and load another mission with a manbeast? Maybe try Volta II: Cauldron of the Gods. If you get the same message I believe you may need to reinstall. You can always try and get more targeted help by making a new topic in the TDM Tech Support subforum. Hope you get it to work!

[SirGen]

Thanks for your response!

Volta 2 works, menbeast and all.

Hopefully a reinstallation does the trick.

[Joachim_Otahal]

I have a problem:

Spoiler

I got the thief. I brought him into the torture room with the blood on the floor, the stretcher, the guy waiting. But it does not trigger objective complete?

I still have things to do in that mission, so far the mission is very good!

Edited May 4, 2022 by Joachim_Otahal

[Bienie]

19 minutes ago, Joachim_Otahal said:

I have a problem:

  Hide contents

I got the thief. I brought him into the torture room with the blood on the floor, the stretcher, the guy waiting. But it does not trigger objective complete?

I still have things to do in that mission, so far the mission is very good!

That's weird...

Spoiler

You're sure it's the right guy right? I think there are a couple of thieves in this mission, at least one other who is dressed as a thief (in the pub). It has to be the thief on the second floor of the mansion. If it is him, then I'm sorry, I don't know what could be happening. You didn't noclip in there right? I feel like that shouldn't matter but it might.

Hopefully it will work for you! Glad you are enjoying the mission.

[Joachim_Otahal]

On 5/4/2022 at 11:41 PM, Bienie said:

That's weird...

  Hide contents

You're sure it's the right guy right? I think there are a couple of thieves in this mission, at least one other who is dressed as a thief (in the pub). It has to be the thief on the second floor of the mansion. If it is him, then I'm sorry, I don't know what could be happening. You didn't noclip in there right? I feel like that shouldn't matter but it might.

Hopefully it will work for you! Glad you are enjoying the mission.

Spoiler

I got the one on the second floor in the mansion trying to open a door. Quite difficult to get him out of the mansion with the guard, and the ragdoll-physics really hate that thief. Once in the garden it is easier, the guards are knocked out and the guy from the pub standing in front of it and beggars ignore me carrying the thief around. Do you recognize him as the right one?

BTW: Very fast answer!

But I cannot send the save game? Well, then as link:

https://joumxyzptlk.de/tmp/The_Dark_Mod_cos0_tief_end_does_not_trigger_Quicksave_0.7z

Edited May 7, 2022 by Joachim_Otahal
This forum software fails to recognize URL correctly because of intelligent "rich text detection"? weird...

[Bienie]

On 5/4/2022 at 11:59 PM, Joachim_Otahal said:

  Hide contents

I got the one on the second floor in the mansion trying to open a door. Quite difficult to get him out of the mansion with the guard, and the ragdoll-physics really hate that thief. Once in the garden it is easier, the guards are knocked out and the guy from the pub standing in front of it and beggars ignore me carrying the thief around. Do you recognize him as the right one?

BTW: Very fast answer!

But I cannot send the save game? Well, then as link:

https://joumxyzptlk.de/tmp/The_Dark_Mod_cos0_tief_end_does_not_trigger_Quicksave_0.7z

Hello,

It was pure coincidence I went to check the forum and saw your post had just come in a few minutes before! Sorry I took longer this time.

Spoiler

I was able to load your save and it works fine for me, but I suspect you didn't carry the thief on your back, but instead dragged him the whole way. That's some dedication! I tried dragging the thief in and it doesn't work as you say. I have no idea why this is. But if you shoulder him (use key) and then toss him down (use key again) it should work for you!

 

Edited May 8, 2022 by Bienie

[Joachim_Otahal]

On 5/8/2022 at 12:04 PM, Bienie said:

Hello,

It was pure coincidence I went to check the forum and saw your post had just come in a few minutes before! Sorry I took longer this time.

  Hide contents

I was able to load your save and it works fine for me, but I suspect you didn't carry the thief on your back, but instead dragged him the whole way. That's some dedication! I tried dragging the thief in and it doesn't work as you say. I have no idea why this is. But if you shoulder him (use key) and then toss him down (use key again) it should work for you!

 

I just noticed the bell that you did reply: Confirmed! I "U"-ed the thief, dropped him and the trigger came as it should.

If you manage to fix this so dragging works too: Make that the default for the highest skill. It was indeed really difficult, but manageable, to get the thief out of the mansion by dragging him from shadow to shadow with all those guards around. Since there is no "knockout limit" only "no kill" it works.

[Xolvix]

Heya, got around to playing this mission. It's become obvious to me that that @Bienie has a particular style to his missions, in that you can miss a LOT even if you think you're trying reasonably well. My issue is that I completed the main mission, completed two of the bonus objectives (the readables on a wall), but ended up with a little over 1000 loot even though I was playing on Expert and needed 2400.

I think my issue is that Bienie likes his windows, particularly those placed up high that you'd normally not think are openable and just decoration. Is the player just supposed to frob every single window in the mission, even ones that are out of the way and not easily accessible? Additionally, I only found a single secret so far (out of 10) and I was starting to think there were no official secrets!

I'm not sure if these are really criticisms though, I actually like this. It's very humbling and a good mission for folk who think they're pro loot hunters. Anyway, back to exploring.

[Bienie]

On 5/21/2022 at 12:51 PM, Xolvix said:

Heya, got around to playing this mission. It's become obvious to me that that @Bienie has a particular style to his missions, in that you can miss a LOT even if you think you're trying reasonably well. My issue is that I completed the main mission, completed two of the bonus objectives (the readables on a wall), but ended up with a little over 1000 loot even though I was playing on Expert and needed 2400.

I think my issue is that Bienie likes his windows, particularly those placed up high that you'd normally not think are openable and just decoration. Is the player just supposed to frob every single window in the mission, even ones that are out of the way and not easily accessible? Additionally, I only found a single secret so far (out of 10) and I was starting to think there were no official secrets!

I'm not sure if these are really criticisms though, I actually like this. It's very humbling and a good mission for folk who think they're pro loot hunters. Anyway, back to exploring.

Somewhat hidden apartments and such is indeed a staple in this series, and how I like to map in general. I think it's fair to have a relatively high loot cap on expert, especially since in this case it's only 70% of the total loot. I feel like it should be pretty reasonable to hit without having to explore every nook and cranny to death. I tend to put only a small portion of the loot in areas that I think will be missed by most players. Well I'm glad you are enjoying the challenge!

[Xolvix]

7 hours ago, Bienie said:

Somewhat hidden apartments and such is indeed a staple in this series, and how I like to map in general. I think it's fair to have a relatively high loot cap on expert, especially since in this case it's only 70% of the total loot. I feel like it should be pretty reasonable to hit without having to explore every nook and cranny to death. I tend to put only a small portion of the loot in areas that I think will be missed by most players. Well I'm glad you are enjoying the challenge!

That's fair I guess, although the fact I haven't yet reached the expert loot cap and that in itself is only 70% of the total loot is a bit surprising. I normally play on the hardest difficultly of most maps simply because they're going to have the most objectives and requirements, so it's a way to force myself to work harder to achieve said objectives. That said, some people set their loot objectives as optional rather than mandatory, but that's mostly an argument for whether the player should have just selected an easier skill level.

If this was Deus Ex: Mankind Divided I would have just enabled that augmentation that allows you to see lootable items through walls and be done with it, but I think it just ends up making me suck when I have to do it myself.

[Kaaiman]

Played this mission on medium level and enjoyed it very much! Don't let my comments disappoint you, this is only minor stuff from perfectionist's perspective.

 

The architecture of the city is very clever and credible, however I actually missed a bath tub and perfume table in the mansion. It might be behind the fixed door in the mansion

Spoiler

where the thief is, but I thought that would be only the daughter's room.

In some readables Pell Street is mentioned, but it's not on the map. Is it outside the ward and inaccessible? Or did I just miss a street sign somewhere?

I stumbled upon the hidden safe

Spoiler

in the wine shop.

I could not frob it at all. No (denial) sounds with the lockpicks, tried all keys, but none interacted. Very annoying! Reading this thread I seem to be the only one experiencing this, as it hasn't been mentioned before. I suppose it might be an incidental bug then.

Another bug I encountered in the mansion.

Spoiler

In the guard's room the sleeping guard is alerted very easily. He gets up and walks very glitchy on the top of the bunkbed and seems to get totally stuck walking and turning around there. It occurred multiple times (I reloaded some times to find out if I could find loot there without alerting the guard... didn't succeed though )

In this thread the Detective Challenge is mentioned, but I can't remember reading about it in-game, for example in the objectives list. Did I miss something, or is it just

Spoiler

finding the occultist's hideout and opening up the priest's room?

Furthermore, I did not understand why I could pick up the loan paper

Spoiler

in the storage behind the priest's room. It mentions a deposit of 5000 gold, but that's far beyond the available loot. But what's the purpose of it? Or the hint in it?

As mentioned before, it was a bit disappointing I couldn't liberate

Spoiler

the girl in the cellar. I don't know if this was a random lady picked up from the streets or the guildmaster's daughter, but in the latter case it would have been great to be able to return her safely to her bedroom (which is not accessible in the mission) and leave some evidence or a warning note to her parents. Well perhaps stuff to put in a version 2 if ever?

Edited July 29, 2022 by Kaaiman

[Bienie]

On 7/29/2022 at 11:03 PM, Kaaiman said:

Played this mission on medium level and enjoyed it very much! Don't let my comments disappoint you, this is only minor stuff from perfectionist's perspective.

 

The architecture of the city is very clever and credible, however I actually missed a bath tub and perfume table in the mansion. It might be behind the fixed door in the mansion

  Reveal hidden contents

where the thief is, but I thought that would be only the daughter's room.

In some readables Pell Street is mentioned, but it's not on the map. Is it outside the ward and inaccessible? Or did I just miss a street sign somewhere?

I stumbled upon the hidden safe

  Reveal hidden contents

in the wine shop.

I could not frob it at all. No (denial) sounds with the lockpicks, tried all keys, but none interacted. Very annoying! Reading this thread I seem to be the only one experiencing this, as it hasn't been mentioned before. I suppose it might be an incidental bug then.

Another bug I encountered in the mansion.

  Hide contents

In the guard's room the sleeping guard is alerted very easily. He gets up and walks very glitchy on the top of the bunkbed and seems to get totally stuck walking and turning around there. It occurred multiple times (I reloaded some times to find out if I could find loot there without alerting the guard... didn't succeed though )

In this thread the Detective Challenge is mentioned, but I can't remember reading about it in-game, for example in the objectives list. Did I miss something, or is it just

  Hide contents

finding the occultist's hideout and opening up the priest's room?

Furthermore, I did not understand why I could pick up the loan paper

  Hide contents

in the storage behind the priest's room. It mentions a deposit of 5000 gold, but that's far beyond the available loot. But what's the purpose of it? Or the hint in it?

As mentioned before, it was a bit disappointing I couldn't liberate

  Hide contents

the girl in the cellar. I don't know if this was a random lady picked up from the streets or the guildmaster's daughter, but in the latter case it would have been great to be able to return her safely to her bedroom (which is not accessible in the mission) and leave some evidence or a warning note to her parents. Well perhaps stuff to put in a version 2 if ever?

 

Sounds like you thoroughly explored the mission! I'm glad you liked it.

As for some of your comments:

Pell Street is visible in the game but not explorable. There is a sign that says Pell Street by the back entrance to the mansion (not the garden but the little back alley). It's mostly there to help players get their bearings in certain readables.

The hidden safe

Spoiler

in the wine shop, did you open the security gate and flick the little switch to open the painting? If so then it's a bug. Sometimes frobbing can be a bit finicky when it's controlled by a switch. Closing the painting and opening it again might resolve the issue. I had several people run into a similar problem in CoS 2 that was game breaking so I had to fix that quickly. In this case I'm not sure what I can do really.

As for the sleeping guard I did notice he is awoken easily, I don't know what that's about, maybe the floor type is too loud. I'll see if I can turn down his hearing maybe.

All the CoS missions (except 1, working on an update though) have challenges the player can take on. They are readables that add new objectives, and they are usually well hidden but all together.

Spoiler

Your intuition is correct though about the Detective challenge. If you want to take it on, in this mission the challenges are found in the apartment high above the south end of the tunnel, you'll have to climb and jump around to get up there. Some of the things you found in the Priest's quarters are evidence you need to link them to the disappearing people around town. The girl in the dungeon is one of these and not the Guildmaster's daughter who is sleeping soundly in her room presumably.

Thanks for the feedback, it sounds like you got quite some mileage out of this mission!

 

[Kaaiman]

8 hours ago, Bienie said:

Sounds like you thoroughly explored the mission! I'm glad you liked it.

Not too thorough, I only found

Spoiler

two or three secrets myself.

But through the years playing TDM there is a kind of default picture of what rooms and services different kinds of buildings should have.

For example:

Basic apartment: only one room (bed, chair and table or desk), shared loo in the hallway. For a meal the tenant has to go to the nearby inn, and to the nearby public bathhouse for washing up (can't remember having ever seen a public bathhouse in any mission, though. Maybe most inns usually provide bathtub service as well?). Lighting only by fire.

Comprehensive apartment: sleeping room, private loo, heated living/dining room, serviced apartment kitchen. Lighting mostly by fire.

Luxury apartment: multiple sleeping rooms, private loo, bathroom with tub, living room, dining room, study/library room, serviced apartment kitchen. All rooms heated. Lighting mostly by electricity.

Manor: multiple sleeping rooms, loos, bathroom with tub, living room, dining room, study/library room, staff rooms, stairway, kitchen, storage room, garden, guards. All rooms for the residents heated and mostly lighted by electricity, staff rooms heated scarcely and lighted by fire.

Fixed doors are a both credible and lazy way to 'hide' several rooms, while keeping the mission straightforward. All kinds of 'missing' rooms can be behind those doors, provided that the building is big enough to contain them. But regarding the organic Bridgeport way of building, most adjacent buildings got heavily intertwined by the years.

Your CoS series makes clever use of fixed doors and these organic building blocks, which makes it both credible and straightforward, saving yourself and the player a lot of time.

8 hours ago, Bienie said:

Pell Street is visible in the game but not explorable. There is a sign that says Pell Street by the back entrance to the mansion (not the garden but the little back alley). It's mostly there to help players get their bearings in certain readables.

Ah, I missed that sign. If it's only for orientation, maybe put it on the map then?
 

Spoiler

8 hours ago, Bienie said:

The hidden safe

  Hide contents

in the wine shop, did you open the security gate and flick the little switch to open the painting? If so then it's a bug. Sometimes frobbing can be a bit finicky when it's controlled by a switch. Closing the painting and opening it again might resolve the issue. I had several people run into a similar problem in CoS 2 that was game breaking so I had to fix that quickly. In this case I'm not sure what I can do really.

As for the sleeping guard I did notice he is awoken easily, I don't know what that's about, maybe the floor type is too loud. I'll see if I can turn down his hearing maybe.

About the hidden safe: yes I did open the gate first. But at the safe there was no highlighting, no sound or whatsoever. I'm not sure if I did hide and unhide the safe after a number of unfruitful tries, though. I even noclipped to peek into the safe, to make sure it should indeed be frobable.

 

About the guard: I didn't find it disturbing that the guard was easily disturbed. I actually thought it was a kind of deliberate taffer's trap, set by you.

But seeing the guard glitchily strolling on the bunkbed I did find disturbing.

 

Spoiler

8 hours ago, Bienie said:

All the CoS missions (except 1, working on an update though) have challenges the player can take on. They are readables that add new objectives, and they are usually well hidden but all together.

  Hide contents

Your intuition is correct though about the Detective challenge. If you want to take it on, in this mission the challenges are found in the apartment high above the south end of the tunnel, you'll have to climb and jump around to get up there. Some of the things you found in the Priest's quarters are evidence you need to link them to the disappearing people around town. The girl in the dungeon is one of these and not the Guildmaster's daughter who is sleeping soundly in her room presumably.

I totally missed out that room, yes. I confess I have a habit of exploring the whole map by noclipping after finishing a mission, to see what I missed and to admire the mapper's work! Only then I discovered that room, and the attic with the secrets by the grass roof. So far I haven't replayed any mission, so when (if) I ever come to do that, I will have forgotten most afterplay discoveries I think.

8 hours ago, Bienie said:

Thanks for the feedback, it sounds like you got quite some mileage out of this mission!

I have sore feet now, hehe!

 

 

 

 

[bar wench]

I love this mission but I'm pulling my hair out trying to find 

Spoiler

Willard's safe, I found the key for the safe, the dropped ring , the trophy the jewel but can't find the safe. Tried console command to show loot there is a safe in the wall behind the [painting but I can't get at it. 

 

[Bienie]

On 8/25/2022 at 10:04 PM, bar wench said:

I love this mission but I'm pulling my hair out trying to find 

  Hide contents

Willard's safe, I found the key for the safe, the dropped ring , the trophy the jewel but can't find the safe. Tried console command to show loot there is a safe in the wall behind the [painting but I can't get at it. 

 

I hope I'm not answering too late but here are some hints:

Spoiler

The ring was stolen by your neighbor Guy Badby. In his little crate stash next to the fireplace. Take it to the north end of the Fulke street tunnel and plop it into the vase on the windowsill. This is basically in the north west corner of the map.

In order to access Willard's safe you have to push a button in the eastern (I think?) bookcase that will pop open the painting, then you can use the key.

The trophy is similarly hidden in the pedestal next to the sofa. The light above the sofa is a secret switch. That's what you call a light bulb moment!

I'm not sure what you mean about the jewel, so I would need you to explain a bit more there.

 

[bar wench]

14 hours ago, Bienie said:

In order to access Willard's safe you have to push a button in the eastern (I think?) bookcase that will pop open the painting, then you can use the key.

YES THAT IS WHERE I WAS STUCK THANK YOU. I found all the other ones so noworries. Great mission I just finished your whole series.

[Bienie]

On 8/30/2022 at 4:08 PM, bar wench said:

YES THAT IS WHERE I WAS STUCK THANK YOU. I found all the other ones so noworries. Great mission I just finished your whole series.

I'm glad you enjoyed the missions!

[varg]

Great mission but ... oh boy, I killed Euronymous.

[minimii]

Great mission. Great atmosphere.

Played it yesterday...instead of jumping through of objektives it forced me to scrath for ervery single penny to get the loot togehter.

I found two secrets, especially the thief like one

But there are still 8 secrets to go...but before I continue the series I think.

 

But where is the secret cage/safe ?!

Edited May 15, 2023 by minimii

[chakkman]

I just finished this. Nice mission.  

Spoiler

Well designed, both architecturally and aesthetically. There's always something "personal" about your missions, which makes them quite pleasing.

The story was good, and objectives well made. I liked the readables also. Also liked that there were several side quests (I especially liked the one with the cultists). 

The difficulty felt right for me. Had some close calls, and quickloads in the Burke manor, due to not being allowed to knock anyone out, and the guard which roams between the ground and the first floor, and covers a lot of the manor, so it was hard to avoid him...

Once again, I found that the voice acting of the thief is out of line with the quality of the rest of the mission. No offense intended.

I "only" got 3 of the 10 secrets, and 2.600 something loot, so, I was close to not making the loot objective, even though I felt like I explored a lot of the map.

Looking forward to play the other missions of the series now (I think I played the one or the other already some time ago).

[Natheist]

Imagine my surprise running into Quorthon and some other black metalists in the sewers doing satanic rituals. Nice.