Fan Mission: The Lieutenant 2: High Expectations by Frost_Salamander (2023/04/24)

[datiswous]

On 3/8/2024 at 8:09 PM, Frost_Salamander said:

Yep.  I'd gladly include an automap in my missions....  if someone else were to draw them all for me.

If you supply me a list of what info_locations are connected to what locations on the navigation-map I will make an automap. It's impossible to make one without this knowledge. Same for mision 2.

I also understand if you don't want to do this.

[Frost_Salamander]

3 hours ago, datiswous said:

If you supply me a list of what info_locations are connected to what locations on the navigation-map I will make an automap. It's impossible to make one without this knowledge. Same for mision 2.

I also understand if you don't want to do this.

Will DM you...

[Rio_Walker]

Okay... so... I'll be honest.
The verticality of the first mission blew my mind, made me really pay attention, explore. But the verticality of this mission made me frustrated.
It didn't help that I kept stumbling upon things, without context.

Moreover, some areas didn't have anything, but were traversable, while others had a plenty and required not a clear and direct path but some convoluted route that wasn't obvious to me.

And the size of the level... It took me 4 and a half hours to search every nook and cranny, find and complete all objectives and discover the loot. But that time was split between two days, because I could only play before work, and I experienced CTD whenever I'd draw a bow inside the manor. So by the end I ran around like a headless chicken, trying to remember where I've left this NPC and where is that NPC and where the safe is...

Now... some things really gave me a pause.
For example, the direction of our poor LT's life XD
Or the fact that we had such a horrible person working for our Target.

But I really liked the story here. All the twists, the clues (that little thing in the cabinet damn), I liked using Thief's Highway... but man was I lost there.
I would like to know... how was I supposed to find the Barrel? I had no real reason to actually head there aside from "I see a window open". But since I was thorough, I found the Barrel there before the readable mentioning it in the same place. Was there a hint pointing me there to begin with? (Did I miss it, like the combination to the safe the first time?)

Also - the Safehouse dude was freaking me out.

[Frost_Salamander]

9 hours ago, Rio_Walker said:

Okay... so... I'll be honest.
The verticality of the first mission blew my mind, made me really pay attention, explore. But the verticality of this mission made me frustrated.
It didn't help that I kept stumbling upon things, without context.

Moreover, some areas didn't have anything, but were traversable, while others had a plenty and required not a clear and direct path but some convoluted route that wasn't obvious to me.

And the size of the level... It took me 4 and a half hours to search every nook and cranny, find and complete all objectives and discover the loot. But that time was split between two days, because I could only play before work, and I experienced CTD whenever I'd draw a bow inside the manor. So by the end I ran around like a headless chicken, trying to remember where I've left this NPC and where is that NPC and where the safe is...

Now... some things really gave me a pause.
For example, the direction of our poor LT's life XD
Or the fact that we had such a horrible person working for our Target.

But I really liked the story here. All the twists, the clues (that little thing in the cabinet damn), I liked using Thief's Highway... but man was I lost there.
I would like to know... how was I supposed to find the Barrel? I had no real reason to actually head there aside from "I see a window open". But since I was thorough, I found the Barrel there before the readable mentioning it in the same place. Was there a hint pointing me there to begin with? (Did I miss it, like the combination to the safe the first time?)

Also - the Safehouse dude was freaking me out.

Thanks for the feedback @Rio_Walker

As mentioned in other comments in this thread, the optional objective was meant to be for players who enjoy exploring every inch of the map.  If all you want to do is complete the mission via the primary objective it's pretty straightforward.  It was also meant to be sort of 'open world' in that if you explore everywhere you pick up little hints and bits and pieces and put them together at the end to solve that objective with.  It wasn't meant to spoon feed the player. But again maybe not everyone enjoyed that approach.  It was also kind of a knee-jerk reaction to players not liking 'linear' missions.  But it seems some people still do like that 

And yeah, some players don't like big maps.  I get that. I don't like playing them myself a lot of the time 

The issue with the bow crash is a known issue (not just with this mission) which we haven't got to the bottom of unfortunately: 

 

Edited April 6 by Frost_Salamander

[CountMorillonite]

Understanding Objective

I'm ready to go through the prison, but it's hinted that I have to pick up something that belongs to the Cook's before proceeding. I don't know what that something is. The only thing in my inventory related to "Cook" is

Spoiler

Derryl Cook's Key

 

[Frost_Salamander]

10 hours ago, CountMorillonite said:

Understanding Objective

I'm ready to go through the prison, but it's hinted that I have to pick up something that belongs to the Cook's before proceeding. I don't know what that something is. The only thing in my inventory related to "Cook" is

  Reveal hidden contents

Derryl Cook's Key

 

Hi - hint:

Spoiler

I'm guessing you haven't been to Cook's apartment then?  It's in the same cluster of buildings as the safe house.  You can see a balcony for it on the west side of those buildings, facing the Coronet.  There is the landlord (named Anderson I think) and also Daryl's apartment.  You can find what you need in there.

If you've already been to the safe house you know how to get up there.  If not, you can climb up from the east side of that building and enter through a window.

 

Edited June 27 by Frost_Salamander

[CountMorillonite]

5 hours ago, Frost_Salamander said:

Hi - hint:

  Hide contents

I'm guessing you haven't been to Cook's apartment then?  It's in the same cluster of buildings as the safe house.  You can see a balcony for it on the west side of those buildings, facing the Coronet.  There is the landlord (named Anderson I think) and also Daryl's apartment.  You can find what you need in there.

If you've already been to the safe house you know how to get up there.  If not, you can climb up from the east side of that building and enter through a window.

 

Oh Yes ! I forgot about the locked room that I couldn't open....

Spoiler

Cook's Apartment which I now have a key to

So now I can go forward.....thanks for the mission. I didn't like it at first, comparing it to the first mission, but it's becoming very enjoyable. AND re-playable. When I try it again, I'll change which direction(s) to go in early in the mission. I DID note that gameplay alters depending on how you progress on the map. Makes it a different experience.

Thanks again  Frost Salamander

[CountMorillonite]

In an unrelated question....

Are the Safe House Letter + Prison Key always located at the same spot, or do they migrate.  On my second time around, they were NOT where they were first go through. I'm thinking I have to trigger their appearance but haven't done it yet.

[Frost_Salamander]

17 minutes ago, CountMorillonite said:

In an unrelated question....

Are the Safe House Letter + Prison Key always located at the same spot, or do they migrate.  On my second time around, they were NOT where they were first go through. I'm thinking I have to trigger their appearance but haven't done it yet.

Hi yes the safe house objective becomes visible and spawns those objects in the same spot but it is triggered by events.  There are at least 2 things that will trigger it:

Spoiler

• killing Coates
• reading the newspaper in The Review offices

 

Edited July 1 by Frost_Salamander

[CountMorillonite]

1 hour ago, Frost_Salamander said:

Hi yes the safe house objective becomes visible and spawns those objects in the same spot but it is triggered by events.  There are at least 2 things that will trigger it:

  Reveal hidden contents

• killing Coates
• reading the newspaper in The Review offices

 

I thought it might be something like that. I'm going to guess that only 1 of those 2 triggers is necessary to spawn the items because
I don't think I ever 

Spoiler

read the newspaper in The Review Office.

 

[Frost_Salamander]

2 minutes ago, CountMorillonite said:

I thought it might be something like that. I'm going to guess that only 1 of those 2 triggers is necessary to spawn the items because
I don't think I ever 

  Reveal hidden contents

read the newspaper in The Review Office.

 

Yes, although...

Spoiler

...maybe try reading the paper first.  It doesn't really change anything except perhaps change the flow of events.  

 

[Celester]

Howdy!

I never really comment on anything before but I have been playing Dark Mod missions for years. I wanted to say I am loving The Lieutenant series so far. I have played 1 and 2, about to start 3 (super excited). It seems from the thread that some people had a hard time with the optional objective of finding out what happened with Atkinson. I actually found everything on my own. While there were several things to read to complete it, all of the things were not too hard to find. Reading all of the papers, and journals, and checking the wastebaskets, are some of my favorite parts of playing the game. I love poking around. Also, the note saying something stank on floor 2 in the warehouse was a great indicator that something was probably dead up there. I didn't find all the loot in either but it's been fun figuring out your game design style and thinking about where you would hide things. I didn't have an issue making the loot goals for either on hard even though I missed stuff. I appreciate the way your design encourages deep exploration. Stealing, climbing all over the city, knocking people out, and being nosy by reading other people's stuff is why I love the game so your mods are filling all my buckets. Just wanted to thank you for all your work on these!

Edited July 13 by Celester