Down and Out on Newford Road by thebigh (Jan 26 2022), Christmas Connections contest entry

[thebigh]

Hmmm...

I am using the camera idling sound, though not the camera itself, for one of the machines down in the builder forge. It's just a looping speaker triggered by a switch. Would AIs respond to that?

[JackFarmer]

12 hours ago, thebigh said:

Hmmm...

I am using the camera idling sound, though not the camera itself, for one of the machines down in the builder forge. It's just a looping speaker triggered by a switch. Would AIs respond to that?

Spoiler

Now that you mention it I think you might be right that there is a connection between these two events in both missions. However, I still do not see how this could then be linked to the alarm triggering when the window crashes to the ground.

I still think that if you cannot find the reason for the problem, the best option would still be to replace the entity in question with a default window that simply opens when the players frobs it.

On the other hand, till now it is just STRUNK and me who had the problem, so maybe the problem does only show up under certain cirumstances.

 

[joebarnin]

Nice mission! Great atmosphere, and an amazing quantity of stuff to do and discover, given how compact it is. I got to the end without finding any secrets, and thanks to the Statistics screen I was reminded that there were some. So I went back and looked - found two, and then had to cheat to find the rest. Some of the obscure areas were fiendishly difficult to find - that's a good thing! The way the various areas are connected was well done - I just love that feeling when you're exploring zone A and you realize, hey, here's zone D!

Spoiler

It would have been nice to be able to use the rope arrow to get up to pick the landlord's key, but that didn't work (I had to read this thread for hints).

Thanks!

Edited January 30, 2022 by joebarnin
spoiler text

[thebigh]

Thanks for playing. I'm glad you liked it. I do like hiding some of the loot well- it adds to replayability and there's nothing more satisfying for a player to find a really well concealed treasure. As long as hitting the loot goal doesn't become unfair.

[Wellingtoncrab]

I really enjoyed this mission!

Spoiler

Man man you made it tough for a clumsy taffer like me to get around unnoticed and I am typically always quick to lean on the blackjack to “solve” most problems but found I really had a lot of fun having to stretch out of my comfort zone little. It felt all the sweeter when I did get my hands on that gear and lots to discover all around.

Great job!

Edited February 17, 2022 by Wellingtoncrab
Threw the details in a spoiler tag just in case

[thebigh]

47 minutes ago, Wellingtoncrab said:

I really enjoyed this mission!

Great job!

Thanks! I'm glad you had fun.

[johlkien]

I'm sure if its just me, but I find the guards very sensitive. Being in the slightest bit of light or making any noise alerts them immediately, and as another said they don't give up. It begins immediately when starting the mission that I cant even get out of the courtyard without two or three coming after me.

[thebigh]

3 hours ago, johlkien said:

I'm sure if its just me, but I find the guards very sensitive. Being in the slightest bit of light or making any noise alerts them immediately, and as another said they don't give up. It begins immediately when starting the mission that I cant even get out of the courtyard without two or three coming after me.

There should definitely be enough shadow to hide in. A few people have mentioned the guards going berserk for no reason, but I have never been able to replicate the issue or I would release a patch for it. Are you using any additional mods or anything like that?

[johlkien]

Nope just the standard game, 2.10 beta 5. It's really strange. The first few steps I take has the guard running at me from down the alley which normally should be far enough away to not hear. 

[thebigh]

That is really strange. I wish I knew what was going on, because there should be no reason for the guard to be so alert. Does it still happen if you upgrade to Beta 2.10b7?

If so, do the guards still freak out if you set "inaudible" in the console? Or "invisible"? Then I'd at least know if it's sound propagation that's broken or not.

[johlkien]

I can try that out for you. 

[Kopfrkingl]

I'm afraid I'm also having the overly sensitive guard issue. I tried setting "inaudible" and "invisible" in the console, which made the guards blind and deaf to my presence. They still go aggro and come running with weapons drawn when the window is removed.

[thebigh]

I have made some progress in tracking down this issue. It seems to be an OS dependent bug in TDM2.10 betas.

https://forums.thedarkmod.com/index.php?/topic/21198-beta-testing-210/&do=findComment&comment=470785

[thebigh]

Original post has been edited to link to a patched version that should fix the sound propagation problem for Windows users.

Edited February 21, 2022 by thebigh

[Knockout Thief]

I find that knocking people out on a slope seems to send them flying and kills them more often than not when blackjacking them.

[thebigh]

10 hours ago, Knockout Thief said:

I find that knocking people out on a slope seems to send them flying and kills them more often than not when blackjacking them.

Welcome to the site! From the sounds of this bug and the one you're experiencing with Iris, there may be something wrong with your TDM install. Can you check to see if you're using TDM v 2.10?

[Knockout Thief]

thebigh, no I am using the latest beta. (my bad, yes it looks like 210 is the latest so yes)

Edited March 3, 2022 by Knockout Thief

[Cambridge Spy]

 

Spoiler

What am I supposed to do with the wine bottle you can find under the hidden floor safe in the thief's apartment? I'm missing one more loot and it's pushed all the way into the void.

 

[thebigh]

13 minutes ago, Cambridge Spy said:

 

  Hide contents

What am I supposed to do with the wine bottle you can find under the hidden floor safe in the thief's apartment? I'm missing one more loot and it's pushed all the way into the void.

 

Spoiler

That's a shout-out to my previous level. It has no other purpose.

What do you mean with "pushed out into the void"?

 

[Cambridge Spy]

2 minutes ago, thebigh said:

  Hide contents

What do you mean with "pushed out into the void"?

Spoiler

I mean, it's too far away from the map. Was there supposed to be a script to move it into the map?

 

[thebigh]

6 minutes ago, Cambridge Spy said:

  Hide contents

I mean, it's too far away from the map. Was there supposed to be a script to move it into the map?

 

Spoiler

I assume you got the holy symbol for the objective?

If you've only got four out of five secrets, I bet I know which loot item it is. Have a very careful look around the bow maker's shop.

I use scripts to physically teleport certain loot items around to prevent them being grabbed through thin objects. In this map that's only the holy symbol and one of the secret items.

 

Edited March 5, 2022 by thebigh

[Anderson]

I found out this is the second part of your series only after completing the mission and reading the description of this topic's OP.

Anyway, just completed and wanted to say that it's really cool how the FM is small but at the same time it's spread all over the place. Lots of pleasant opportunities to think vertically with the rope arrow. Other time it's obvious that only vertical is the way to go. Good call on restricting weapons only to arrows to make the player think more.

Love that you combined different types of enemies in just 1 missions. I adore the casual burglary or tenants and people in the city. Never know what you may find. Very reminiscent of Thief 3 city free roam and Thief 2's Life of the Party mission.

I couldn't figure out for a long time what was the closed un-openable door at the end. Turned out it was the fence. I suppose there shouldn't be a sign for the fence but there probably should be another sign to show what street we're on.

 

Spoiler

I want to point out some instances where NPC's get stuck. Nothing super critical because they were unstuck as I aggroed everyone running around me. But here's a few that I found.

Getting stuck in the corner, near the shining mushroom of the tunnel leading towards endgame.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Suggestion: Do you think the guard on the tower should have a bow instead of a sword? He has a great shooting position and I expected him to have a bow if he ever had a clear view down. Nobody is expected to climb up. And we can only do that once we get the rope arrow which isn't that soon.

Edited March 16, 2022 by Anderson

[Anderson]

Spoiler

And another monk sitting on a chair, near the fireplace in The Builders' chapel to the left. When aggored or standing up, he may get stuck for a while.

https://ibb.co/s2krqXh

 

Edited March 16, 2022 by Anderson

[thebigh]

Thanks for playing! If I end up updating the mission I will have to play around with aggroing everyone to see where they get stuck.

[JackFarmer]

A complete playthrough in 90 minutes:

https://piped.kavin.rocks/watch?v=Tbvt6V_WNH8

I love his voice, so medidative.

Edited March 20, 2022 by JackFarmer