Fan Mission: In Plain Sight by Frost_Salamander (2022/08/07)

[Frost_Salamander]

 

I'd like to announce the release of my 2nd fan mission: In Plain Sight.

 

"You are an intelligence officer tasked with revealing the source of a political uprising in the city of Watchgate"

 

Mission Type: City Missions

Credits:

• @Frost_Salamander: Author
• @Airship Ballet: All custom content, including signs, loading/menu screens, in-game map, menu music and creative input. Also sets the standard for beta testing.
• W10 (my son) and @Frost_Salamander: Mission briefing

Beta Testers:

@AluminumHaste @nbohr1more @Obsttorte @Mawerick @madtaffer @wesp5 @Airship Ballet @Acolytesix @Cambridge Spy @jaxa @prjames

Notes:

• TDM 2.10 required
• This FM rewards stealth play, although it can be done without KO'ing anyone
• Read the readables! They trigger some mandatory objectives that aren't initially visible.  Follow this and you shouldn't have a problem figuring out what to do next.
• There are multiple ways to access some parts of the city.  Some are riskier than others!  If you are finding it too hard, maybe there is an easier way
• The only differences between the difficulty levels are the (optional) loot objective, the availability of some player tools and the difficulty of the bank objective.
• There is an in-game map. It's found in a location near the start.
• This FM contains 5 secrets (hints below for anyone who's given up )

Secret hints:

Spoiler

1. Search carefully the area above where you start the FM
2. Search carefully in Pembroke's bedroom
3. In Mrs. Bourchier's apartment somewhere there is a destructible wall hanging
4. Search carefully in the little watch house with the City Watch sign hanging outside it
5. Search carefully in Eaton's study

Secret spoilers (did you mean to look the hints above instead?):

Spoiler

1. The window above the player start area is in fact openable.  You just need to get close enough to it.
2. There is a switch behind the dresser in Pembroke's bedroom.  It opens something behind the privacy screen in the same room.
3. Destroy the wall hanging behind the toilet in Mrs. Bourchier's washroom and you'll find a loot stash.
4. There is a bit of loot under the fireplace in the watch house
5. There is a switch in Eaton's study behind the sofa.  It opens a door to a new room.

Download link until the mission database gets updated: https://github.com/FrostSalamander/tdm-fm-inplainsight/releases/download/v1.4/inplainsight_v1.4.pk4

Screenshots: https://www.flickr.com/photos/196169449@N05/albums/72177720301116716

NOTE: Some of the initial versions have bugs.  Ensure you have the latest version (currently 1.4)

Edited September 8, 2022 by Frost_Salamander
add note about bugged version

[Airship Ballet]

Congrats on the release, it's a certified banger! 

[Frost_Salamander]

Already found a bug - version 1.1 incoming shortly...

[Frost_Salamander]

7 minutes ago, Frost_Salamander said:

Already found a bug - version 1.1 incoming shortly...

Updated link above with new version: 1.1

[Dragofer]

Congrats on the release!

[thebigh]

Congrats on the release! Downloading now

[Amadeus]

Congratulations! Very much looking forward to playing this tonight 

[Marbrien]

I've only just started this, and it looks great so far.  One small anomaly I encountered was that when loading the mission for the first time the Dark Mod logo (the gear with the light rays behind it) did not just play once as it normally does, it kept playing over and over.  It was only when I pressed Esc that I was able to move on to the briefing screen.  Not a major issue, of course.

[Kopfrkingl]

Fond of your first FM, I was quite eager to jump into this one. The story had me hooked right away. Pretty great idea on your part - putting the player in the shoes of an infiltrator tasked with unraveling a conspiracy and searching for a missing agent. You really managed to find a good reason to give the player the incentive to steal while playing a character who is not a thief by nature.

The map is well designed, with plenty of paths one can take to reach another place. As I am fond of tight alleyways and verticality, this was a joy to explore, especially since there is plenty to discover, be it secrets or readables adding to the story. The rain was neat and added to the gloomy atmosphere, another thing I enjoy in FM's. The optional side objectives were a neat addition too. The only difficulty encountered was that at times I had to abandon my current path and hunt for a key to unlock the way forth, but nothing to seriously disturb the flow of the FM. 

Found 3/5 secrets, so there is still more for me to explore. The secrets are really well hidden and yield nice rewards, I'll get back on the weekend and hopefully find the remaining two.

Thanks for another wonderful FM!

Possible bug

Spoiler

After escaping the trap through the exit in the garden, I have decided to explore the map a bit more and eventually went back into the crypt via the secret switch entrance in the church again. This resulted in the conspirators respawning in the main chamber where they originally were. They did not react to my presence and I could knock them all out.

 

[Frost_Salamander]

19 hours ago, Marbrien said:

I've only just started this, and it looks great so far.  One small anomaly I encountered was that when loading the mission for the first time the Dark Mod logo (the gear with the light rays behind it) did not just play once as it normally does, it kept playing over and over.  It was only when I pressed Esc that I was able to move on to the briefing screen.  Not a major issue, of course.

Hmm I'm not sure what's causing that issue with the menu, but thanks for raising it 

[Frost_Salamander]

52 minutes ago, Kopfrkingl said:

Fond of your first FM, I was quite eager to jump into this one. The story had me hooked right away. Pretty great idea on your part - putting the player in the shoes of an infiltrator tasked with unraveling a conspiracy and searching for a missing agent. You really managed to find a good reason to give the player the incentive to steal while playing a character who is not a thief by nature.

The map is well designed, with plenty of paths one can take to reach another place. As I am fond of tight alleyways and verticality, this was a joy to explore, especially since there is plenty to discover, be it secrets or readables adding to the story. The rain was neat and added to the gloomy atmosphere, another thing I enjoy in FM's. The optional side objectives were a neat addition too. The only difficulty encountered was that at times I had to abandon my current path and hunt for a key to unlock the way forth, but nothing to seriously disturb the flow of the FM. 

Found 3/5 secrets, so there is still more for me to explore. The secrets are really well hidden and yield nice rewards, I'll get back on the weekend and hopefully find the remaining two.

Thanks for another wonderful FM!

Possible bug

  Reveal hidden contents

After escaping the trap through the exit in the garden, I have decided to explore the map a bit more and eventually went back into the crypt via the secret switch entrance in the church again. This resulted in the conspirators respawning in the main chamber where they originally were. They did not react to my presence and I could knock them all out.

 

Thanks - glad you enjoyed it   And that is indeed a bug, I'll need to get that fixed!

EDIT: @Kopfrkingl I just quickly tried to reproduce that, and couldn't.  Also, the mechanism used should prevent that from ever happening, and it never seemed to happen in beta testing.  Could you maybe DM me the details of how it happened?  Thanks

EDIT 2: Nevermind, I figured it out.  Will patch this today.

Edited August 9, 2022 by Frost_Salamander

[Frost_Salamander]

I've made a new version available: 1.2.  I've updated the top post, and notified the devs to get the mission database updated.

[Marbrien]

I'm playing on the hardest difficulty, and have

Spoiler

opened the safe in the bank vault.  I cannot frob the contents. 

Is that intentional? 

Spoiler

(I know the break-in is supposed to be staged, but wouldn't opening the safe and not taking the contents raise suspicion as to how authentic the break-in was?)

 

[Frost_Salamander]

@Marbrien:

Spoiler

No it's not intentional.  This happened to someone in beta-testing only once, and they reloaded and it worked.  I have never been able to reproduce it myself.

 

[Marbrien]

I just came out of TDM completely, restarted and loaded my latest save game, but the safe contents (three gold bars and two purses) do not highlight.  I've tried crouching, leaning forwards, leaning sideways, jumping, but no joy. 

I'm wondering whether I have a corrupt download.  If I redownload the game and reinstall it, will I lose my save games?

[Frost_Salamander]

2 minutes ago, Marbrien said:

I just came out of TDM completely, restarted and loaded my latest save game, but the safe contents (three gold bars and two purses) do not highlight.  I've tried crouching, leaning forwards, leaning sideways, jumping, but no joy. 

I'm wondering whether I have a corrupt download.  If I redownload the game and reinstall it, will I lose my save games?

Maybe try closing and re-opening the safe door?

I don't know the answer about your save games - maybe try backing them up to make sure first?

[Marbrien]

Closing the safe door and reopening it did the trick.

[Mawerick]

24 minutes ago, Marbrien said:

Closing the safe door and reopening it did the trick.

This actually happens to me fairly often in TDM. Usually with chests. I don't think it has anything to do with this mission specifically.

[Apache Fiero]

How do you get out the first area? 

Been to the pub and secret potion place in the window ledge.

Got the Inn Key and the watchtower key, neither of which work on that one door near one of the railings, and I can't pick it either.

Spent the last half hour or so just running round in circles getting nowhere.

Where do I go?

[Frost_Salamander]

8 minutes ago, Apache Fiero said:

How do you get out the first area? 

@Apache Fiero: hint:

Spoiler

You need to get into the Post Office.  There is a hint of where the key was lost in the note on the post office door, which you should have in your inventory.

outright spoiler:

Spoiler

The post office key is on the patio behind the Inn, near the table and stools

 

Edited August 9, 2022 by Frost_Salamander

[geegee]

1 hour ago, Frost_Salamander said:

Maybe try closing and re-opening the safe door?

The problem happens when there's an atdm:target_set_frobable inside a chest or drawer or whatever, targeted by the lid or drawer.  The contents can't be frobbed until the lid or door is fully opened and the atdm:target_set_frobable flips the switch on the loot from unfrobable to frobable.  If the door opening is interrupted before fully opening the player gets the glitch.  This happens very easily on stuff like desk drawers where the player is standing right in front and the drawer stops when it hits the player.  

A way to avoid the glitch is to set the spawnarg "push_player" to "1" (default 0) so the drawer or whatever will push the player aside and continue opening.

[chakkman]

5 hours ago, Mawerick said:

This actually happens to me fairly often in TDM. Usually with chests. I don't think it has anything to do with this mission specifically.

I don't know if it is related, but, I had that with a cage a few weeks ago as well. When I closed the door and opened it again, I could frob the content.

[nbohr1more]

Version 1.2 is now up in the mission database!

[Heuli]

Congrats on the release! A great mission

[pax-downunder]

Awesome FM!

One question...

I have almost finished all the objectives and side quests but I cannot find a way to remove the bank safe's bar.

Any leads?