Fan Mission: By The Cookbook

[datiswous]

On 2/2/2024 at 4:45 PM, Skaruts said:

Skaruts has given permission to the TDM Team to add Subtitles or Localization Strings to this mission.

There are currently no actual voices in this fm, so subtitles are impossible. Maybe in v3?

 

On 2/2/2024 at 4:45 PM, Skaruts said:

Download:

• Mediafire (sk_cooks.pk4 -- version 2)

This is a better place for manual downloads:

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

 

The Thiefguild page could also link to that, maybe.

Edited March 4 by datiswous

[Skaruts]

17 hours ago, datiswous said:

There are currently no actual voices in this fm, so subtitles are impossible. Maybe in v3?

Someone else wrote that in the OP, I just edited the source link into it.

There's not going to be any voices.

[Thiefette]

Congratulations on your mission, hard to believe its your first, well done. 

Spoiler

I love a mission that has a secret to discover early on, it makes me search every nook and cranny. I found all of them. I liked that there were different pathways to get you where you wanted to go as well as the clue to the good stuff helped me find all the loot. 

Thanks for all your hard work, I hope to see more missions from you.

 

[STRUNK]

Very enjoyable little mission, I liked evereythig about it!
You should team up with Amadeus!! : P

 

[Amadeus]

This really is a fantastic FM. It's super stylish, oozing with atmosphere and visual detail. I am still one secret short of finding all of them

[Frost_Salamander]

This was super, really enjoyed it.  Although I somehow missed about 1500 loot and 2 of the secrets.  I can't quite put my finger on it but there is something old-school TDM about it that gave me a really nostalgic feeling.

Great example of a small and focused FM and hope to see more from you!

[Skaruts]

Hey everyone.  

I'm working on an update for this mission that I will release soon. If anyone has any further bugs to report, please let me know. 

I've already made a few changes based on what I learned since release, thanks to all your feedback, gameplay videos, etc, and I've also addressed some issues that I hadn't addressed yet.

Most notably:

Spoiler

• I removed light switches. Some people were ok with oil lamps being activated by switches, and some weren't. I grew to dislike the idea. I wanted to switch to electric or gas lights, but I didn't like how they looked, so I left he oil lamps and just removed light switches entirely. You can turn them on using a candle.
• I decided to make the secret windows more noticeable. They were practically indistinguishable from all the other closed windows, and I think that was very unfair to players. Especially since that's not even the norm in TDM, so it was probably misleading players. 
• I removed a secret that was merely a random loot bag on top of a random window frame, which was also not even visible from anywhere. I don't think it's fair to have it as a secret, and I also slightly relocated the item and replaced it with a more visible one, so you don't have to squint to see it, you just have to be a bit observant.
• I've also adjusted some other items to favor observation rather than aimlessly climbing things and blind trial and error. All random loot items should now be somewhat visible from somewhere.

Edited July 4 by Skaruts

[Skaruts]

Updated mission to version 3.  
@nbohr1more

 

Changes:

Spoiler

• added a new secret
• fixed gatehouse guard not being able to re-light the candle (assuming you don't move the candle, he should be able now)
• removed all light switches (more info in my previous post)
• the streetlamp is now lit up in Normal difficulty
• made secret windows more noticeable (more info in my previous post)
• made thug's footlocker key a lot less obvious and easy to get
• added some curtains and light rays
• removed "secret" status from random loot bag, as it made no sense, imo, and removed the item as well (more info in my previous post)
• made some loot items and keys a bit easier to find (more info in my previous post)
• and quite a few other minor fixes and improvements

Edited July 8 by Skaruts

[nbohr1more]

I'll upload tonight unless someone does it before me.

[nbohr1more]

The mission database has been updated with  v3.

Congrats!

[Cambridge Spy]

I'm definitely going to have to update my playthrough video with this latest unexpected change. With the changes to the loot placement, and the new secret area, the overall value of loot is slightly higher. Not to mention with the light switches removed, I'll have to revise how to go about taking out certain lights with only a minimum amount of Water Arrows.

 

Also, I've taken a screenshot, the window underneath the new secret area is bright even when the nearby torch is out. Or is that intentional, to mark the secret area?

[Skaruts]

7 hours ago, Cambridge Spy said:

Also, I've taken a screenshot, the window underneath the new secret area is bright even when the nearby torch is out. Or is that intentional, to mark the secret area?

Bummer... This is actually a mistake on my part. Gonna have to release a new version with a fix.

Maybe I could take the chance to also fix the fact that you could keep the guard asleep by going around through the sewers, which I completely forgot to fix. 

7 hours ago, Cambridge Spy said:

I'm definitely going to have to update my playthrough video with this latest unexpected change. With the changes to the loot placement, and the new secret area, the overall value of loot is slightly higher. Not to mention with the light switches removed, I'll have to revise how to go about taking out certain lights with only a minimum amount of Water Arrows.

I removed the switches but kept the lamps off, though. I don't think there's any gameplay changes there, unless you liked having the lights on (you can lit oil lamps with a candle, but you need water arrows to put them out, though).

Iirc, the only light I moved is the candle in the gatehouse, though I don't think it changes the gameplay  that much. The streetlamp is the only significant lighting change that I can remember, but specific to Normal difficulty.

The loot changes aren't that significant. I just adjusted them a bit for visibility. The new secret is the only more significant change.

 

Edited July 8 by Skaruts

[Cambridge Spy]

And here is my revised playthrough:

 

https://youtu.be/mUaDXcdrPpc

[Skaruts]

Here's version 3.1, which fixes the issues above.

https://www.mediafire.com/file/82unapzjq8f08np/sk_cooks.pk4/file

Hopefully everything is good now.  

@nbohr1more sorry to bother you with this again.

[nbohr1more]

Version 3.1 is up in the database.

In case you are unaware, I have to bump the version to the next integer value for players to see the update alert so the TDM missions page will show version 4 but in-game it shows as v3.1

[Skaruts]

10 hours ago, nbohr1more said:

Version 3.1 is up in the database.

In case you are unaware, I have to bump the version to the next integer value for players to see the update alert so the TDM missions page will show version 4 but in-game it shows as v3.1

Oh! I had no idea.

Wouldn't it be better to bump the version in the pk4 then, just to be consistent and avoid generating any confusion?

[nbohr1more]

17 minutes ago, Skaruts said:

Oh! I had no idea.

Wouldn't it be better to bump the version in the pk4 then, just to be consistent and avoid generating any confusion?

That's what I prefer. Some authors do lots of tiny updates and don't want their mission to show as "version 15" (etc). Some updates are considered small or inconsequential so the author instructs that we don't bump the version flag and just let players delete their current version and download again if they want the improved version.

[Skaruts]

2 hours ago, nbohr1more said:

That's what I prefer. Some authors do lots of tiny updates and don't want their mission to show as "version 15" (etc). Some updates are considered small or inconsequential so the author instructs that we don't bump the version flag and just let players delete their current version and download again if they want the improved version.

I personally don't mind it at all. That was my initial intention anyway, to just stick with a simple iteration number. I went with 3.1 mostly because I was unsure in this case. 

I'll bump it up to 4, then. I'll post it later today. 

[Skaruts]

Alright, here's v4: 

https://www.mediafire.com/file/ov8m8hsxw83v844/sk_cooks.pk4/file

@nbohr1more

 

[nbohr1more]

11 hours ago, Skaruts said:

Alright, here's v4: 

https://www.mediafire.com/file/ov8m8hsxw83v844/sk_cooks.pk4/file

@nbohr1more

 

All set

[dracflamloc]

I joined this forum 20 years ago... to think people would still be coming in and making FMs just blows my mind. Really cool little mission!

[thebigh]

The Thief formula, and TDM in particular, has really proven to stand the test of time. With a solid community and new mappers emerging all the time, I don't think we're in danger of fading away any time soon.

[chakkman]

So few FMs though lately. 

[thebigh]

We've been holding steady at ~12 a year since the beginning. So far in 2024 we've had 7 new releases, so I think we're well on track.

[chakkman]

16 hours ago, thebigh said:

We've been holding steady at ~12 a year since the beginning. So far in 2024 we've had 7 new releases, so I think we're well on track.

Unfortunately, 4 of those are 1st of April specials and very small.

Not complaining, just saying.