Fan Mission: By Any Other Name by joebarnin (2022/3/10)

[joebarnin]

NOTE (3 March 2024): This mission has problems running on DarkMod 2.11. Be sure you are running the DarkMod 2.12 or later.

 

Update (5 June 2024): Version 3 of the mission is here: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/2mjncfiq72qblbn1wc9fy/byanyothernameV3.pk4?rlkey=bxx061ahw4az7f5554r72apwy&st=zjj8mj06&dl=1

This version removes the custom tdm_weapon_* scripts that I implemented to suppress weapon usage. Doing this was fragile and unsupported, and is going to break in a future version of TDM. So I fixed it now. Thanks to @stgatilov who identified the problem and proposed a solution for me. This version also contains a minor audio bug fix.

A rare artifact, the Builder's Chalice, is available for the taking. Looks pretty straightforward, but looks can be deceiving...

Yes, another mission for 2022. I think this makes eight this year already; we had eight for all of 2021! Great work, everyone!

This is a smallish mission. It does not have any spiders or undead. It is a puzzle-heavy mission, with a built-in hints system in case you get stuck. This mission contains a couple of small homages to Grayman.

 

This mission requires TDM 2.10. It uses some 2.10 features (subtitles, secrets, volumetric lights). Note that the volumetric lights are used in a specific way, such that your "Shadows Implementation" can be either Maps or Stencils, the volumetric lights will work either way.

 

 

Have fun! 

 

Special thanks to JackFarmer, who created some wonderful and appropriate ambient sounds. He also did some Alpha testing to catch some early mistakes.

 

Also thanks to the Beta testers, who struggled with some frustratingly-hard (or impossible) early variations: Cambridge Spy, Acolytesix, wesp5, datiswous, Bienie, Shadow

 

Thanks to Chloe for some great voice work.

 

I made plentiful use of sounds from freesound.org:

https://freesound.org/people/HerbertBoland/sounds/75194/
https://freesound.org/people/craigsmith/sounds/482781/
https://freesound.org/people/InspectorJ/sounds/403005/
https://freesound.org/people/rhodesmas/sounds/322930/
https://freesound.org/people/fisch12345/sounds/325112/
https://freesound.org/people/BockelSound/sounds/489507/
https://freesound.org/people/ultradust/sounds/167747/
https://freesound.org/people/Crinkem/sounds/496328/
https://freesound.org/people/LucasDuff/sounds/467697/
https://freesound.org/people/RuidosoSoundFX/sounds/507161/

 

As always I've used some of Springheel's modules and Orbweaver's ambient sounds.

 

And finally, huge thanks to the developers of The Dark Mod, especially 2.10, another milestone in this fantastic game.

 

A few more screenshots

 

Spoiler

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 5, 2024 by joebarnin
new version

[thebigh]

Congrats on the release!

[nbohr1more]

Congrats!!!

Added to the mission database!

https://www.thedarkmod.com/missiondetails/?internalName=byanyothername

[datiswous]

Congratulations on the release.

5 hours ago, joebarnin said:

Note that the volumetric lights are used in a specific way, such that your "Shadows Implementation" can be either Maps or Stencils, the volumetric lights will work either way.

Interesting, can you elaborate on that? Could this be a solution for other missions?

There have been 8 missions released now in total in 2022, same amount as whole 2021..

 

Your mission introduction screenshot with the text on the 2 walls left and right, that is eddited in right? I wonder how it would look when applied on textures in the same view.

Edited March 11, 2022 by datiswous

[NeonsStyle]

Congratulations on the release. I'll download n look forward to a play . Thanks

[Wellingtoncrab]

5 hours ago, datiswous said:

Interesting, can you elaborate on that? Could this be a solution for other missions?

This is already possible via a spawn argument - the catch being that on stencil shadows the light volume will not interact with any shadow casting geometry - so it will go through walls, pillars, etc.

So to answer your question: it depends.

Congratulations on the release!

Edited March 11, 2022 by Wellingtoncrab

[joebarnin]

10 minutes ago, Wellingtoncrab said:

This is already possible via a spawn argument - the catch being that on stencil shadows the light volume will not interact with any shadow casting geometry - so it will go through walls, pillars, etc.

So to answer your question: it depends.

Congratulations on the release!

The spawnarg is volumetric_noshadows=-1. Here's my question and answer in the 2.10 Beta thread: 

In my mission I use volumetic light in a single room. If you have stencil shadows, you can notice a little bleed through a floor - a minor issue that I chose to ignore. I just really needed the volumetric effect in that area.

 

[GUFF]

I finished it. It's a fairly good puzzle mission with some physical timing/movement puzzles with the colored orbs, light zones etc. Nothing quite as frustrating as some older puzzle heavy missions for Thief/Thief2.

Just a few things I couldn't figure out:

Spoiler

The safe outside of the target mansion behind the package you can move, couldn't find any hint as to what the combination may be.

The wine cellar near the beginning, couldn't find a key or a way in. Even using tdm_show_keys and noclip, the only thing that would open it is the master key hidden outside of normal playable bounds.

Couldn't find a use for the room key xx found in the same maze as room key 3. Seemed like it perhaps shouldn't have even been there since it didn't create the same noise the other maze keys did when you got close to them before picking them up.

 

 

[joebarnin]

1 hour ago, GUFF said:

I finished it. It's a fairly good puzzle mission with some physical timing/movement puzzles with the colored orbs, light zones etc. Nothing quite as frustrating as some older puzzle heavy missions for Thief/Thief2.

Just a few things I couldn't figure out:

  Reveal hidden contents

The safe outside of the target mansion behind the package you can move, couldn't find any hint as to what the combination may be.

The wine cellar near the beginning, couldn't find a key or a way in. Even using tdm_show_keys and noclip, the only thing that would open it is the master key hidden outside of normal playable bounds.

Couldn't find a use for the room key xx found in the same maze as room key 3. Seemed like it perhaps shouldn't have even been there since it didn't create the same noise the other maze keys did when you got close to them before picking them up.

 

 

Glad you liked it. As for your questions

Spoiler

The safe near the front entrance - the guard in that area has a scroll that you can pickpocket, it has the combo. Opening the safe is one of the secrets in the mission.

The wine cellar is also a secret - there is an unlit wall lamp near the door (hard to see) - frobbing it will open the door.

Yeah, that key shouldn't be there - it is leftover from when that puzzle was more complex. But you shouldn't be able to get to that location - were you nocliped at the time?

 

[joebarnin]

14 hours ago, datiswous said:

Your mission introduction screenshot with the text on the 2 walls left and right, that is eddited in right? I wonder how it would look when applied on textures in the same view.

Yeah that was done in Adobe Photoshop Elements, using horizontal warping to give the effect of looking at the wall at an angle. If I understand correctly, your suggestion is to put the text straight on the wall texture, then see if you get the angled effect when looking at it from down the hall. Interesting, maybe I'll give that a try

[GUFF]

6 hours ago, joebarnin said:

Glad you liked it. As for your questions

  Reveal hidden contents

The safe near the front entrance - the guard in that area has a scroll that you can pickpocket, it has the combo. Opening the safe is one of the secrets in the mission.

The wine cellar is also a secret - there is an unlit wall lamp near the door (hard to see) - frobbing it will open the door.

Yeah, that key shouldn't be there - it is leftover from when that puzzle was more complex. But you shouldn't be able to get to that location - were you nocliped at the time?

 

Spoiler

Yes, I was zooming around after finishing the mission normally to see what I missed which is how I got the door xx key.

Can't believe I missed that scroll but I guess it blended in with what the guard was wearing.

 

[JackFarmer]

Hello Jeff!

Congratulations on the release!

A premiere, the first mission with pure focus on puzzles!

[NeonsStyle]

I enjoyed this, was very well built. Some really cool things in this map, the switching around of rooms was cool, though I'm not much into Puzzles, it was still very well done and quite enjoyable. Thank you. 

[Araneidae]

I encountered a rather annoying little bug with this mission.  I normally play with "Open Doors on Unlock" set to "No".  Unfortunately I ended up trapped and had to redo that part with the setting set to "Yes".  I'm glad that I guessed correctly that this was the problem!

I guess this is a combination of a scripting oversight in this mission and an unfortunate interaction with the engine, I know that other missions have ended being broken due to this setting.

[joebarnin]

25 minutes ago, Araneidae said:

I encountered a rather annoying little bug with this mission.  I normally play with "Open Doors on Unlock" set to "No".  Unfortunately I ended up trapped and had to redo that part with the setting set to "Yes".  I'm glad that I guessed correctly that this was the problem!

I guess this is a combination of a scripting oversight in this mission and an unfortunate interaction with the engine, I know that other missions have ended being broken due to this setting.

I'm sorry you ran into this issue. Can you let me know where it happened, so I can fix it in a future release?

[Araneidae]

17 minutes ago, joebarnin said:

I'm sorry you ran into this issue. Can you let me know where it happened, so I can fix it in a future release?

I think my entire answer has to be a spoiler:

Spoiler

I suspect every door in the puzzle area will be affected, because each door unlocks and opens automatically on completion, but I encountered the problem immediately after the first long monologue from our host -- as soon as she finished there was the sound of the door unlocking, but it didn't open, I couldn't frob it, and I was trapped.

 

Edited March 12, 2022 by Araneidae

[joebarnin]

On 3/12/2022 at 11:28 AM, Araneidae said:

I encountered a rather annoying little bug with this mission.  I normally play with "Open Doors on Unlock" set to "No".  Unfortunately I ended up trapped and had to redo that part with the setting set to "Yes".  I'm glad that I guessed correctly that this was the problem!

I guess this is a combination of a scripting oversight in this mission and an unfortunate interaction with the engine, I know that other missions have ended being broken due to this setting.

I have fixed this problem, and uploaded a new version of the mission to dropbox (see the first post in this thread). Could someone please update the mission database too? Thanks!

[tapewolf]

That was nice and mind-bending.

I had some fun

Spoiler

jumping back out the front door before the gas hit.  I also made a habit of sneaking into the variable maze before the door closed so I could watch the walls change, and managed to get myself stuck in one of the walls.

I had to resort to hints for

Spoiler

The floor tile memory puzzle.  While the concept was pretty obvious, the implementation was not, for instance I was absolutely convinced that I had to traverse all the squares before the time stopped, not simply land on the next one in the sequence.  Given the prompt from my host I also tried standing in the appropriate position for the second playback of the sequence only to be disappointed again.   Not sure how best to improve that, it was the only part where I got really, really stuck.

Impressive stuff.  I am still missing a secret, though.

Spoiler

I found the wine cellar, and the safe by the house, but there's something else that eludes me.

Anyway, there's been a crop of great maps recently, and this is definitely one of them.

[nbohr1more]

3 hours ago, joebarnin said:

I have fixed this problem, and uploaded a new version of the mission to dropbox (see the first post in this thread). Could someone please update the mission database too? Thanks!

Seems like I am the one to go to these days... The mission database has been updated with the latest version.

[joebarnin]

@tapewolfThanks for the compliments; I'm glad you liked it! As for your hidden comments...

Spoiler

Sneaking into the maze room before the door closes. Clever you! I didn't think to test that. I really should prevent the player from doing that, it kind of spoils the effect of the maze walls changing.

 

As for secrets,

Spoiler

there are four total, the two you found, plus: 1) close to the start, there's a window with a wooden awning. Climb up on it, there's a broach on a ledge above the awning. 2) After the art gallery, right after you go through the arched tunnel, there's a balcony with a table and chair. Climb up in it (use the nearby barrel), and look for a switch.

And there's one 'unofficial' secret, I don't think anyone has found yet:

Spoiler

On the window sill outside of the pub, there's a gold coin (Special loot). Grab it, and then give it to the beggar you saw earlier. Put it on his crate.

 

[tapewolf]

14 hours ago, joebarnin said:

@tapewolfThanks for the compliments; I'm glad you liked it!

As for secrets,

Ooh, so close.  I had examined both of those locations for goodies, but clearly not closely enough.  And yes, I had wondered if there was anything I could do for the beggar as well.

[id3839315]

15 hours ago, joebarnin said:

As for secrets,

  Hide contents

there are four total, the two you found, plus: 1) close to the start, there's a window with a wooden awning. Climb up on it, there's a broach on a ledge above the awning. 2) After the art gallery, right after you go through the arched tunnel, there's a balcony with a table and chair. Climb up in it (use the nearby barrel), and look for a switch.

The Dark Mod By Any Other Name = Thief Ultimate

I was wondering if the light switches in the art gallery and in the mansion are part of a secret because they don't seem to have a function.

 

Edited March 15, 2022 by id3839315

[joebarnin]

2 minutes ago, id3839315 said:

I was wondering if the light switches in the art gallery and in the mansion are part of a secret because they don't seem to have a function.

 

Actually both of those switches control a light on the outside of the building. 

[Kopfrkingl]

Nice! I like it when seemingly straightforward missions have a twist and mission authors do their own thing. This was as much a puzzle mission as a stealth mission, with the former being the focus. The outside part was decent and offered some nice sneaking around, a solid enough background for the meat of this FM. Once the plot took a turn and Michael found himself trapped like a rat in a maze, I was hooked. The puzzles were fun to figure out, not hard but enjoyable to get through. Good story too, I like the idea of the protagonist's victims getting their revenge. 

The secrets were a nice touch, as was the secret objective. Little things like that make exploration feel meaningful, thanks for that!

Spoiler

I kinda cheated in the room with the guards, but that's how underhanded rogues do it. After knocking out the guard carrying arrows, I looted an arrow from him and headshot both helmeted guards through their caged visors. Puzzle solved, perfect stealth.

I was hoping to rob my captor blind again and avenge my capture, but I guess that's for the sequel. 

 

[joebarnin]

@KopfrkinglThanks for the comments - glad you liked it. As for the 

Spoiler

room with the guards...As much as I test and think about what players might do, someone always figures out something I hadn't thought of. Head-shotting the guards - brilliant! It had to be a one-shot; otherwise they would have had time to be alerted. Great stuff!