Fan Mission: The Imperial Sword [ 15yr Anniversary Contest ]

[Bergante]

On 9/23/2024 at 9:10 PM, Bergante said:

But !    for ( my ) the last secret ! --- That needs to be overhauled
EDIT : This is refurbished  (Tested in version 1.3.4 )

But to my unhappyness the second Way is still not possible 
here - for your amusement - two pictures of my trying to do it :

Spoiler

I was trying to get as high as possible to jump over the invisible barrier indicated by the Potion/Lunte/Letter


 

 

[Cambridge Spy]

Now that the subtitles have been added, here's my playthrough of The Imperial Sword:

 

 

[wesp5]

22 hours ago, chakkman said:

I think it's reasonably difficult to find them.

That said, I think it makes sense nonetheless to make that objective optional. After all, it can't be THAT important.

I agree. And the last ones were really hard to find! The one you only see on your way out after you spend ages to search through the rest of the map, and the one nearby that you can only reach from the roofs, but which looks as if it should be reachable from the exit area as well. Maybe that should be fixed? Also a map would work wonders to find the exit area...

Edited September 27, 2024 by wesp5

[Heuli]

I played through the mission, it wasn't easy and the gate where you end the mission wasn't easy to find either

[wesp5]

2 hours ago, Heuli said:

I played through the mission, it wasn't easy and the gate where you end the mission wasn't easy to find either

That's exactly what I meant. I more or less only stumbled upon this area while looking for the missing plaques ;)...

Edited September 27, 2024 by wesp5

[tib]

 

Spoiler

1. In the intro video it is said that plaques shoud be destroyed, so it is colliding now when it is optional.

2. In the last objective it is said that the exit is by the cinderstone at northwest. That single rock is beautifuly crafted and naturaly set into the city. Use a compass.

It is not necessary, but this mission maybe deserves a nice map. And a continuation.

[BSmitty]

 While I agree with having a map - in all missions, my own play experiences differ somewhat from others. I actually found the plaque objective fun and not overly difficult, nor did the gate seem difficult. The climbing was tons of fun, though after a building is pillaged, it would have been nice to unlock the ground level doors from the inside. I did find the library difficult, but on a second play through to find missing secrets, shook my head as to how I missed it. The sword location didn't make any sense to my very pragmatic mind. I work in the logistics industry and having a secret door next to what's essentially a back door / loading bay just didn't compute whatsoever. I do tend to miss readables, but still... I still have not found out exactly how to use the slowmatch, even though I'm pretty sure what it needs to be used on.

[Knockout Thief]

Is there something you must do before the decree appears in the library because it's not there. I see it on other peoples play through.

[nbohr1more]

1 hour ago, Knockout Thief said:

Is there something you must do before the decree appears in the library because it's not there. I see it on other peoples play through.

Which version are you playing?

Spoiler

In v1.3.4 the decree is right on the table by the window, you might need to lean to see the frob

Spoiler

In older versions, it's on the back of the main library shelf ( facing away from the window).

 

[kin]

This mission got some insane visuals. Also it captures the Dark Project feeling in some areas successfully. Congratuations to the author and anyone involved.

[hightide]

I feel foolish, I'm stuck looking for the 

Spoiler

switch that will open the basement door

to retrieve the sword

[kin]

14 hours ago, hightide said:

I feel foolish, I'm stuck looking for the 

  Hide contents

switch that will open the basement door

to retrieve the sword

look for a

Spoiler

doused torch behind some barrels

 

[MirceaKitsune]

Trying out this lovely FM. I thought I must be missing something, but now I think there may be a bug with the key setup.

Spoiler

I have both the Gallery Key and Display Cabinet Key. Yet I can't seem to open any of the glass cases around the mansion, none of them work! Is this normal, are these other keys despite the names indicating those should be it?

 

[waxhead]

Thumbs up, this mission was one of the better I have played.

[chakkman]

9 hours ago, MirceaKitsune said:

Trying out this lovely FM. I thought I must be missing something, but now I think there may be a bug with the key setup.

  Hide contents

I have both the Gallery Key and Display Cabinet Key. Yet I can't seem to open any of the glass cases around the mansion, none of them work! Is this normal, are these other keys despite the names indicating those should be it?

 

Spoiler

Hint: They have a lock somewhere.

 

[MirceaKitsune]

Thanks, that hint helped. Very good FM overall! Loved the city building and simplistic but detailed layout.

Spoiler

Completed all objectives. I found 4 secrets in total, not bad for something this complex. 2179/2493 loot.

Also wanted to note something funny that happened...

Spoiler

I found the loaf of bread and delivered it to the homeless person, he played the dialogue line thanking me and saying most aren't kind to those like him. I have no idea what that triggered, but the next moment I found myself floating! I floated to a nearby rooftop after which I was set down and everything resumed as normal. I thought it might be a scripted Easter Egg but when I reloaded and tried again I didn't get it a second time: It was fascinating and eerie so get such a specific glitch at such a specific moment

 

[winstonsmith]

Spoiler

Any hints on the location of the imperial decree? I can't tell which room is a library. There are bookshelves in a few rooms. I did find a newspaper on a table talking about the decree but that couldn't have been it since it didn't get marked off my objectives. Is that even the library? I've clicked every piece of furniture and bookshelf I can find. I'm stating to wonder if the game glitched maybe. Love this level though. It's been a blast.

 

[MirceaKitsune]

On 10/9/2024 at 11:44 PM, winstonsmith said:

Spoiler

Any hints on the location of the imperial decree? I can't tell which room is a library. There are bookshelves in a few rooms. I did find a newspaper on a table talking about the decree but that couldn't have been it since it didn't get marked off my objectives. Is that even the library? I've clicked every piece of furniture and bookshelf I can find. I'm stating to wonder if the game glitched maybe. Love this level though. It's been a blast.

 

Spoiler

You need to reach a rooftop.

Spoiler

By walking on electrical wires.

Spoiler

Then look up for an open window.

 

 

 

[Sotha]

This was a cool mission! High quality work all round: story, dialogue, visuals, geometry, atmosphere, patrols.

My only gripe would be these items:

Spoiler

1) No in-game map. There was some pretty complex multi-level sneaking on streets and rooftops, which was very impressive, but I did not have clear sense I knew where I was going.

Instead, I was just wandering around like a fool. Also, the mission exit point was just mentioned as text in the objectives, and I had no idea where it was, and spend a lot of time looking for it. It was not obvious I need to climb out from the back yard of the manor.

2) The get the decree from library objective. There was an unaccessible library from the streetlevel, but also several bookcase rooms (I.e. libraries) in the manor.  I was totally clueless where and how I am supposed get the decree from. it felt logical to be in the manor library, but instead it was in the library on the street, which was not accessible from the street level but was behind an obscure climbing exercise and thus easily missed by a taffer like me.

The climbing exercise was a chore for me, because I did not understand I can climb pipes. Also with aggressive exploratory climbing I could access locations where the geometry started clipping with the sky box, which felt a but jarring.

3) Get the sword objective. There was a sword in the gallery, but I could not pick it up to inventory, so I first thought the objective was bugged.

So,  while the mission was awesome for me in the beginning, I started to grow frustrated because I didn't understand where to go, and had to resort to take peeks from youtube playthrough video to know where to go.

That is not good gameplay at all in my books, so therefore I gave only 3 stars. With a map and better description what to do, it would have been solid six-out-of-five, just like everything else in this mission was.

Thanks for the mission, overall it deserves its place in the TDM hall of legends!

[nbohr1more]

v1.3.6 link in the first post:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mu-FdGH1FivMgt4Fy1OgwiDjvIpA1Uck/view

- The briefing has been tweaked to remove some of the confusing aspects, aswell as the audio, so the narration is easier to understand.

- There is now more than one exit point to complete then mission.
- A number of annoyances that some players reported have been tweaked or outright changed.
- In game map

[datiswous]

11 hours ago, nbohr1more said:

- The briefing has been tweaked to remove some of the confusing aspects, aswell as the audio, so the narration is easier to understand.

Are the subtitles changed for this aswell?

Edit: Already answered by biker (Yes).

Edited October 11, 2024 by datiswous

[nbohr1more]

v1.3.6 is now available in the mission database

[nbohr1more]

On 10/9/2024 at 11:44 PM, winstonsmith said:

Spoiler

Any hints on the location of the imperial decree? I can't tell which room is a library. There are bookshelves in a few rooms. I did find a newspaper on a table talking about the decree but that couldn't have been it since it didn't get marked off my objectives. Is that even the library? I've clicked every piece of furniture and bookshelf I can find. I'm stating to wonder if the game glitched maybe. Love this level though. It's been a blast.

 

Spoiler

You may need to lean forward ( F key ) to see the decree highlight. ( It has a short frob distance )

 

[werner]

I think this spider has to much reach for movement. When played this mission first coming up from the historians room it was direct beneath me. (I am no friend of TDM-spiders anyway) Played today the last version of The Imperial Sword to see if there's something new, I shot the spider when it unfortunately was underneath the window. After quick save I found out that the window can't be open because of the dead spider stuck to it. Game Over

[chakkman]

I wished the spiders were draggable. I mean, they can't be that heavy, right?