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Fan Mission: Iris by WellingtonCrab [TDM 2.11 Required] (2022/02/13)


Iris - Connections Contest Scoring  

68 members have voted

  1. 1. Story Quality and Theme (Stars)

    • 5
      48
    • 4
      16
    • 3
      4
    • 2
      0
    • 1
      0
  2. 2. Gameplay Quality (Stars)

    • 5
      56
    • 4
      10
    • 3
      1
    • 2
      1
    • 1
      0
  3. 3. Visual Quality (Stars)

    • 5
      65
    • 4
      3
    • 3
      0
    • 2
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    • 1
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Posted (edited)
On 2/21/2022 at 5:08 PM, Wellingtoncrab said:

 

  Hide contents
  • I had originally hoped to make the opened shortcut gates persistent between playthroughs but doing something like writing to a map file is beyond me and who knows if it is even safe.

There's the Inn Business approach - use the campaign system to run the same map multiple times, allowing for persistent items/variables - but it only works for a finite number of revisits.

Having finished your masterpiece, I just wanted to ask about one room:

Spoiler

The white pyramid decal seems to indicate somewhere to use the glasses, except that I didn't find anything with the decal by the wrapped corpse. Am I missing something?

 

Edited by VanishedOne
  • Like 1

Some things I'm repeatedly thinking about...

 

- louder scream when you're dying

Posted
11 minutes ago, VanishedOne said:

There's the Inn Business approach - use the campaign system to run the same map multiple times, allowing for persistent items/variables - but it only works for a finite number of revisits.

Having finished your masterpiece, I just wanted to ask about one room:

  Hide contents

The white pyramid decal seems to indicate somewhere to use the glasses, except that I didn't find anything with the decal by the wrapped corpse. Am I missing something?

Thanks for playing! I will definitely look at tip about using the campaign system to run the same map!

Spoiler

Yes - I believe there is also second area with the pyramid decal inconsistency and you didn’t miss anything there. This is a byproduct of at one point the pyramid graffiti did not represent this at all so a couple area still need to be brought up to speed. Aware of these for the next patch!

 

  • Thanks 1

-=  IRIS  =-    ♦    = SLL =

Posted

Cheers! If there's to be another patch, I'd just like to alert you to missing surfaces on the sides of this archway in the Plague Ward:

iris_2022-03-11_15_07_26.thumb.jpg.0030f1d4398157985ff85f282ce3e19f.jpg

(Seeing pyramid images everywhere is quite amusing if you've played Control, where an inverted black pyramid is the symbol of the mysterious Board residing on the Astral Plane...)

  • Thanks 1

Some things I'm repeatedly thinking about...

 

- louder scream when you're dying

Posted (edited)

Dear lord this thing goes on forever, it's huge & so many things to explore

Spoiler

I haven't even got to the plague district yet

This is your first map ? 😮

You've set a high bar for any new authors there, this feels a lot like The Painters Wife, so major kudos there 👏👏👏👏

I do have a problem though

Spoiler

I'm in Lady Ursines & can't find the vault combination, I understand her portrait may be the key to this but I can't see a combo on it even using the special glasses

There's rather a lot of blood on the wall, when I use them,presumably from the previous steward, but none on the portrait so maybe it was put there after the blood spatter ?, does it move ?

There seem to be 2 extra faces when using the glasses but I'm not getting the significance

Also

Spoiler

Are there any rope arrows in this mission ?

I've managed to get to some really out of the way & high up places without one, using some fairly hairy acrobatic moves, often finding loot as I do, so I'm guessing it was designed not to use rope arrows

You're going to tell me I missed one under my bed or something aren't you 😂

And finally I would like to say thank you, not just for a superb mission but for including a feature I have always wanted to see
 

Spoiler

I cleaned out both weapons shops without making a purchase YEEEESSSSS!!!

I have always wanted to do that ever since the first smug, smarmy git, safe behind their bars popped up in Northdale

Although in the shop nearest home when I KO'd the shop keeper, one of the water arrows was still 5g while everything else was 0g but not a worry as I also cleaned out the cash box too

That was just sooo satisfying 😈

Thank you

Edited by esme
spelling
  • Like 1
  • Thanks 1
Posted

@esme Thank you for playing! I am gratified to hear you are enjoying it. Yes this is my first release - though I would repeat I have also been puttering about in some form of a game editor almost my entire life - just never managed to finish and release anything - as you can perhaps tell from this mission my impulse control could use some work.

Spoiler
  • It sounds like you have all the pieces you need to solve Ursine’s puzzle and your intuition about the portrait is correct. Perhaps take another glance in the margins.
  • There are no rope arrows in the mission - believe it or not I did try to set some design constraints on the outset of this iteration to keep the myself from blowing up the mission out of my control.
  • looks like I missed a target there on the script that renders the “blackjack discount” on store goods - thanks for catching that and I will add it to the list for the next patch

Thanks again for playing!

-=  IRIS  =-    ♦    = SLL =

Posted

It's really good and has elements that remind me of a lot of things. Thief Deadly Shadows (which in the readme.txt you say you started making it on initially) is definitely aesthetically something it reminds of, but then the vertical elements also remind me of some of the best Thief missions in that regard like ones from skacky. Lots to find if you look up and try to climb wherever you can. A lot of very good looking visual gimmicks you don't see in other missions as well.

I finished it with the the beta version of TDM when that was was required for the 1.0 version of the map, and with the 1.11 version of the map in the current TDM release. The current release changed the way TDM does shadows somewhat and the ability to see in terms of distance in the darkness was different between the playthroughs for me, which is a nice and more realistic effect with shadows that worked well with how this mission used space. I also noticed you added more AIs in the 1.1+ versions, which was good since some areas were felt kind of empty originally. Some of the patrol routes like the pagan with the torch past the sewers that was almost impossible to get past in the first version were corrected, too, even if there was an alternative way to get to the other areas past him.

In my last playthrough

Spoiler

I was able to find all I needed to trigger the alternate ending. Finding all of those items was fairly difficult. I also figured out that where you end up after you "die" depends on whether you killed anyone or not, since after initially finishing the mission I read some spoilered posts on this thread that said people ended up in different places. Sanctuary for no kills and communion chamber for kills.

What's the deal with the builders in the plague ward, by the way?

Spoiler

Just like the corpses, they look different when you wear the glasses and they don't count as kills when you kill them. One of the pagans watching them seems to hint in his journal that they're something else, that they come out at night and flee into their black building before morning. So I guess they're actually some kind of supernatural creature?

Easily one of the best missions I've played of any Thief or TDM mission, but it's definitely not a good fit for beginners due to how much you have to look around and climb about to get things done. The use of space and vertical elements is just great though and really adds to the playtime and amount of things to do.

  • Like 1
Posted
41 minutes ago, GUFF said:

What's the deal with the builders in the plague ward, by the way?

  Hide contents

Just like the corpses, they look different when you wear the glasses and they don't count as kills when you kill them. One of the pagans watching them seems to hint in his journal that they're something else, that they come out at night and flee into their black building before morning. So I guess they're actually some kind of supernatural creature?

Spoiler

They do seem a bit off, now that you mention it.

My gratitude for playing not even once, but twice! I am glad some of the tweaks to the patrol routes paid off. Thank you again!

-=  IRIS  =-    ♦    = SLL =

Posted
13 minutes ago, CountMorillonite said:

How do you "use" the glasses, which I'm presuming to be the "Peculiar Lenses". I know there was a readable about it but damned if I can remember which of the countless readables  reference it.

Spoiler

You equip the glasses and then press the keyboard button for Use in the settings. In the tower where you find the glasses, th note is on the deskboard in the compartment. Then you go back to the beginning of the mission and use it to find Skeleton key. You also need the glasses to find the safe key written on one of the lady's portraits.

 

 

Posted

I just started the map a bit and am impressed by how rich it is.  V2.10 is working wonderfully, too.

Spoiler

I also appreciate the Aliens movie references.

 

  • Like 1
Posted
6 hours ago, CountMorillonite said:

How do you "use" the glasses, which I'm presuming to be the "Peculiar Lenses". I know there was a readable about it but damned if I can remember which of the countless readables  reference it. 

Yes if the question is how do you use the item - when you press the use item key they become equipped and you should an overlay on the screen which indicates this as well.

If your question is what do you use them for that is a slightly different matter.

-=  IRIS  =-    ♦    = SLL =

Posted

I rarely play TDM mission nowadays but was persuaded by a couple of people over at TTLG that this is mission was very much worth it, so I installed 2.10 loaded this mission and intended to spent an hour resetting all the keys bindings to my choosing (I'm left handed) and then intended to practice the very different controls to Thief, but within 10 minutes was completely blown away by the maps design and ambience of the city.

I completely agree with a previous poster that if T4 had been made correctly it would have looked and felt something like Iris. This is an extraordinary mission, not only of the highest quality but something that a well regarded AAA games company would make, and yes it's right up there with some of the greatest fan missions ever made, and that fact that this is your first mission is even more mind boggling. So thank you Wellingtoncrab for a very special experience, even putting to one side that my arthritic left wrist is now hurting like hell. 😁

I finished in the end after nearly 2 days with 9 completed optional objectives and only 9557g.

PS. I don't know if it's been mentioned previously but the taps and valve (and bucket IIRC) in the kitchen of the forgotten house need looking into, they don't show until you get close to the sink, I also got stuck in a couple of places but didn't take note of where I'm afraid, hopefully others have or will pick those up.

 

  • Like 2
Posted

I know this makes me look stupid, but when I equip the lenses (picking it out of the inventory in the same way I choose to equip the lockpicks) then "use" it with the Use Key Stroke (default "Z" key)...nothing happens. No visual change, no access-way opens, no codes illuminated on the walls, nothing. And where am I supposed to Use it? In front of the various triangles one sees throughout the mission, or the doors that wont open that have a picture of the character with a "beak". I'm pretty sure this is why I've hit a dead end in progressing in the mission.

Finally, I've got 2 of these Peculiar Lenses. That makes me think that I can only use it twice, so I'd better know what I'm doing.

Right now, all I can do is search for loot (which is amazing considering there is no rope arrow but lots of woody places all over the map).

Regardless of what my problem ends up being, this is still one of the most enjoyable missions I've experienced. Once finished, I'll HAVE to play it again right away. Thanks Wellingtoncrab for your gift to Darkmod.

  • Thanks 1
Posted
15 minutes ago, CountMorillonite said:

I know this makes me look stupid, but when I equip the lenses (picking it out of the inventory in the same way I choose to equip the lockpicks) then "use" it with the Use Key Stroke (default "Z" key)...nothing happens. No visual change, no access-way opens, no codes illuminated on the walls, nothing. And where am I supposed to Use it? In front of the various triangles one sees throughout the mission, or the doors that wont open that have a picture of the character with a "beak". I'm pretty sure this is why I've hit a dead end in progressing in the mission.

Not at all - you may have encountered a bug of some kind though I am not certain what is causing it. If the glasses are equipped an overlay appears on the screen that looks like the outline of a pair of lenses - if you're not seeing this then it seems there is an issue.

The "z" key is the same key you use to say - use a health potion from your inventory?

The lenses though are not necessary to progress in the mission or even complete it - so if you are stuck in another way I can try and walk through it.

-=  IRIS  =-    ♦    = SLL =

Posted

@fortunithanks for taking the time to play and your kind words! If you've been away for a bit and think you can handle a bit more there are many great TDM missions, but these recent contest entries seem like a very good place to start to get a sense of breadth of what's on offer. As hard as I worked on Iris, there are several times playing them I was like "This is absolutely nuts, I could never pull this off!" - the fact that they were finished in mere months also just boggles.

Thanks for the bug reports as well - got those on the tracker and will attend to them on the next patch. Thanks again!

 

  • Like 1

-=  IRIS  =-    ♦    = SLL =

Posted

When I equip the lens from the inventory and press the "Z" key, (which means "use" the inventory item), it flashes red and does nothing. Alternatively, if I were to choose a flash mine and press the "Z" key, it actually drops the flash mine, which is what is supposed to happen (flashes green too). So in that respect, the lens isn't made available to me. Now, maybe I have to be close to something in order for the lens to work ??

Also, when I equip the lens (choose it from the inventory and it appears at the bottom right of the screen as chosen) I do not get any kind of overlay. So I think there is where the issue resides. Perhaps its a video option I have to tweak ?

Posted
8 minutes ago, CountMorillonite said:

When I equip the lens from the inventory and press the "Z" key, (which means "use" the inventory item), it flashes red and does nothing. Alternatively, if I were to choose a flash mine and press the "Z" key, it actually drops the flash mine, which is what is supposed to happen (flashes green too). So in that respect, the lens isn't made available to me. Now, maybe I have to be close to something in order for the lens to work ??

This doesn't happen to me. I have rebind Use key to R. What happens if you press Y key when you have lenses equipped?

Posted
12 minutes ago, CountMorillonite said:

When I equip the lens from the inventory and press the "Z" key, (which means "use" the inventory item), it flashes red and does nothing.

Something is certainly off - while at one point in beta there were visual artefacts tied to some graphics settings I have not encountered something preventing the item from even being used and haven't run into any tools interfering with it either but there may be some combination of elements here that just hasn't been encountered yet. 

I am trying to put the glasses through their paces on my end to see if I can stumble into the same issue but I haven't run into anything yet. Is there anything about your system you might describe as uncommon - like exotic choice of resolution, frame rate, 32-bit os, etc?

  • Like 1

-=  IRIS  =-    ♦    = SLL =

Posted
2 hours ago, Wellingtoncrab said:

Something is certainly off - while at one point in beta there were visual artefacts tied to some graphics settings I have not encountered something preventing the item from even being used and haven't run into any tools interfering with it either but there may be some combination of elements here that just hasn't been encountered yet. 

I am trying to put the glasses through their paces on my end to see if I can stumble into the same issue but I haven't run into anything yet. Is there anything about your system you might describe as uncommon - like exotic choice of resolution, frame rate, 32-bit os, etc?

The 2 attachments represent my video choices. Using Win10 Home 64 bit

iris_b3b27d80164520b5_2022-03-13_12.19_edited(1).jpg

iris_b3b27d80164520b5_2022-03-13_12.15_edited(1).jpg

Posted

@CountMorillonitewell I wouldn't normally advise running a 16x MSAA for performance reasons and given you are running at native res I would turn image sharpening off for the volumetric lights to look their best, but running at those settings would have no impact on the lenses as far as I can tell - at least they still work on my machine (though the frame rate is unplayable).

You can drop the glasses from inventory - though not sure what the default binding is - it's "Drop Inv. Item" in the inventory settings. What happens if you drop the glasses and then pick them back up?

So far I cannot find a way to replicate this. Perhaps try removing the files from the directory except for the "savegames" folder and reinstalling the mission?

  • Like 1

-=  IRIS  =-    ♦    = SLL =

Posted (edited)
1 hour ago, Wellingtoncrab said:

@CountMorillonitewell I wouldn't normally advise running a 16x MSAA for performance reasons and given you are running at native res I would turn image sharpening off for the volumetric lights to look their best, but running at those settings would have no impact on the lenses as far as I can tell - at least they still work on my machine (though the frame rate is unplayable).

You can drop the glasses from inventory - though not sure what the default binding is - it's "Drop Inv. Item" in the inventory settings. What happens if you drop the glasses and then pick them back up?

So far I cannot find a way to replicate this. Perhaps try removing the files from the directory except for the "savegames" folder and reinstalling the mission?

Now THIS is interesting. When I try to drop the 2 glasses from my inventory ("R" key) the game crashes !

So there is definitely something going on. I will experiment. If your suggestion doesn't work, I may just have to start the mission over again, which isn't a bad thing, because there are plenty of changes I would make on a second  run through. I will let you know if/when this gets fixed. I'm assuming no one else has had this issue.

btw.... the drop inventory key stroke works with other inventory items. So I could choose a flash mine and successfully drop it.

Also, the version of your fan mission I'm playing is ver1 . I think there is a ver1.1. Maybe that is a problem

 

Edited by CountMorillonite
  • Thanks 1
Posted (edited)

I "finished" this absolutely outstanding mission on medium difficulty, ticking off the main objectives and a couple of optionals.

Then I realised I was missing an entire digit off the loot score.

Spoiler

Could someone give me a bit of a tip how to progress towards the alternate ending? I'm sure I've missed a lot but I wouldn't mind a pointer or two.

 

Edited by chischis
  • Like 1

- Blake Casimir -

Melodic Cosmic Space Techno

http://www.blakecasimir.co.uk

Posted
16 minutes ago, CountMorillonite said:

Also, the version of your fan mission I'm playing is ver1 . I think there is a ver1.1. Maybe that is a problem

If it came from the link on the forum of the in game downloader it should be version 1.11 - the in game downloader keeps it’s own versioning and since 1.11 was the first version to be added to the mission database it displays there as version 1.

Keep me updated on how it goes - while no one else has reported it yet it is still quite possible whatever precipitated it is repeatable!

-=  IRIS  =-    ♦    = SLL =

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