Fan Mission: The Lieutenant 4: A Reciprocal Gambit by Frost_Salamander

[High John]

14 hours ago, Frost_Salamander said:

@High John most of this I'll put in spoilers:

In closing - my missions are designed to be on the challenging side. My favorite type of missions are ones where the challenge is in trying to progress to the next area (i.e. player vs architecture).  I don't like key hunts hence the barred doors. Usually the path can be found with careful observation in all directions (including vertically, which people tend to forget), and use of your spyglass.  Either way, I want everyone to enjoy my missions so the feedback is always welcome, and thanks for taking the time to play and comment!

Frost  Don't get me wrong - I greatly appreciate 'challenging'  Which is why I normally do missions on Difficult.

And I don't mind if I spend half an hour working out how to get past a particular 'obstacle'.  If there ends up being a couple of areas where I have to come here for hints, then the difficultly is probably about right(!)

[GUFF]

8 hours ago, Mat99 said:

...and yet you had this written in the very first post:

 

That's correct but many people just use the in-game mission downloader to check for new stuff without even looking at the forums, which is what I did. In the past a lot of missions that required a newer version of the game executable and assets would tell you this when you tried to start them up. I was just reporting on this and that you don't need to reinstall, just update via tdm_updater if you find this issue.

[Guest]

Off topic

Edited February 11 by tib

[schabernack]

Thanks for that great mission @Frost_Salamander!

Maybe I have to change my brightness, but I have to admit I really struggled
 

Spoiler

in fishend jumping to death back and forth, until I recognized the small ledge to get to the last rope.

Apart from that, I'm a huge fan of the barred doors. Great way to be able to backtrack later on and they do indeed help to focus on your surroundings.

Cheers!

[Bergante]

On 6/21/2025 at 5:10 PM, Frost_Salamander said:

Regardless, I'll look into the AI getting stuck thing,  If you find it's happening in the same spots repeatedly, let me know - maybe I've forgotten to add clip brushes and stuff like that.  Thanks!

@Frost_Salamander
Here i am again playing V2   
as told i will report  
at the moment i am about half-way (thirdly-) through V2
and have to give you Part 1 of my experience because something funny happened !
a Question to the other Players : nobody disrupted by stuck NPC´s ?
Yeah this happens quite often in missions ! (and usually does not prevent from continuing to play)
but in this wonderful mission - it diminishes my excitement and reduces the flow of the game - disturbing  

Frosties :  I don´t want to send you my story as bug-report --- but as story-line of the play through (!Subtitles!)

Spoiler

Just noticed ! new install without coordinates - sorry
the first of two discovered construction faults ( don´t mind -Everyone will excuse it.) (at Jump to the Tower)

making Plans --- what happens is just nice 


missing Food discovered 

calling myself to order :

because in V1 i did this way up 

a very small Piece to be handled 
from more far away one may frob

when one gets closer - no more

The first encountered stuck one - her again but now in the Kitchen 

The hardest part in your mision - to rob them without any disturbs !!!!!

the next (second) got stucking - and he knows about 

and the third - that almost prevented me from moving forward. He is not disturbed by the opening and closing.

...... but i did 

thankfully i played this time as Klatremus " Norwegian-style sup.Ghost " (steal everything you can get)
and thanks - now one can take food out from inventar without thats making noise 
? have you changed sound when it falls to ground ? (perhaps more experience in handling - now)

Hopefully, you can figure out why they get stuck; because these are places that are not on their normal route.
I only remember one who had a real problem mastering the passage to a viewpoint. (if you take the upper path - later)
In V1 it happened once - the guard from the back of the pub - paid a visit to the lout on the right side of the pub entrance - and got stuck at the window pane. (Normally he does not pass the entrance.)
if you think - we have to accept these irritation (or you find out there is just one reason for all of them) I´ll stop posting 

Have a nice weekend  
 

[Frost_Salamander]

21 minutes ago, Bergante said:

@Frost_Salamander
Here i am again playing V2   
as told i will report  
at the moment i am about half-way (thirdly-) through V2
and have to give you Part 1 of my experience because something funny happened !
a Question to the other Players : nobody disrupted by stuck NPC´s ?
Yeah this happens quite often in missions ! (and usually does not prevent from continuing to play)
but in this wonderful mission - it diminishes my excitement and reduces the flow of the game - disturbing  

Frosties :  I don´t want to send you my story as bug-report --- but as story-line of the play through (!Subtitles!)

  Hide contents

Just noticed ! new install without coordinates - sorry
the first of two discovered construction faults ( don´t mind -Everyone will excuse it.) (at Jump to the Tower)

making Plans --- what happens is just nice 


missing Food discovered 

calling myself to order :

because in V1 i did this way up 

a very small Piece to be handled 
from more far away one may frob

when one gets closer - no more

The first encountered stuck one - her again but now in the Kitchen 

The hardest part in your mision - to rob them without any disturbs !!!!!

the next (second) got stucking - and he knows about 

and the third - that almost prevented me from moving forward. He is not disturbed by the opening and closing.

...... but i did 

thankfully i played this time as Klatremus " Norwegian-style sup.Ghost " (steal everything you can get)
and thanks - now one can take food out from inventar without thats making noise 
? have you changed sound when it falls to ground ? (perhaps more experience in handling - now)

Hopefully, you can figure out why they get stuck; because these are places that are not on their normal route.
I only remember one who had a real problem mastering the passage to a viewpoint. (if you take the upper path - later)
In V1 it happened once - the guard from the back of the pub - paid a visit to the lout on the right side of the pub entrance - and got stuck at the window pane. (Normally he does not pass the entrance.)
if you think - we have to accept these irritation (or you find out there is just one reason for all of them) I´ll stop posting 

Have a nice weekend  
 

hi @Bergante - Thanks I'll make a note of these for any future updates.  Regarding getting stuck - do you save and reload at lot?  There is a known TDM bug that causes AI to get stuck when doing this: https://bugs.thedarkmod.com/view.php?id=6276

 

[taffernicus]

sorry i didnt mean to throw mud , but the " to rob them without any disturbs !!!!!" part by bergante  is spot on. I used flashmines to knock the lantern off the table to get all the coins, if you use water arrow it's very easy to raise the alertness of the guards(they even entered search mode).

 

Edited June 28, 2025 by taffernicus

[Bergante]

4 hours ago, Frost_Salamander said:

hi @Bergante - Thanks I'll make a note of these for any future updates.  Regarding getting stuck - do you save and reload at lot?  There is a known TDM bug that causes AI to get stuck when doing this: https://bugs.thedarkmod.com/view.php?id=6276

upps  :  in some former Missions doing so was forcing crash to desktop not stucks
              Think it´s been in JackFarmers Beta-testing - but this has been solved 
and yes - i did more than usually - not as much like for V1 - but yes 
because i´m in a testing-Mood - so normal saves after every corner - to have a near start 
and quicksaves/-loads when i try something out ; or to do the Beer-garden robbery without causing suspicious 
Okay - will try again ! (more like in "HazardPay" )  and see if i get less stucks .

@taffernicus 

Spoiler

the one near to the wall is okay - but the one with his back towards the Door -UUUUh
blocking light or sight from the other is nearly impossible - best way - to try it quite cheekily from behind his back

 

[Frost_Salamander]

On 6/27/2025 at 3:20 PM, GUFF said:

In the past a lot of missions that required a newer version of the game executable and assets would tell you this when you tried to start them up.

Does anyone have an example of a mission where this check is done?  It isn't a bad idea, and seems like something the core game should be doing, with the FMs providing whatever metadata they need to enable it.  Something rings a bell recently with maybe some constant being available via script events?

[nbohr1more]

12 minutes ago, Frost_Salamander said:

Does anyone have an example of a mission where this check is done?  It isn't a bad idea, and seems like something the core game should be doing, with the FMs providing whatever metadata they need to enable it.  Something rings a bell recently with maybe some constant being available via script events?

Yes, if you add:

Required TDM Version: 2.13

To darkmod.txt is should warn players:

https://wiki.thedarkmod.com/index.php?title=Packaging_Your_Mission
 

Most authors don’t do it since many missions are still playable with broken assets and they don’t want to exclude folks who can’t upgrade (etc).

Let me know and I’ll update the darkmod.txt in the mission database.

[Frost_Salamander]

11 hours ago, nbohr1more said:

Let me know and I’ll update the darkmod.txt in the mission database.

yes please.

People think TDM itself is broken because of this, so best to warn the player.

[nbohr1more]

All set.

[Johnnytheboy76]

Morning all. I'm very much enjoying this mission so far, but, I'm hitting a brick wall. Literally. I've died several times hitting it. How do I............

Spoiler

Get into the tower. I've managed to jump from a balcony onto the tower balcony with the door that is latched from the inside. Either side of the balcony, I can see what are the only 2 apparent ways in to the tower. I've tried jumping to both of them but keep falling.

 

[Frost_Salamander]

26 minutes ago, Johnnytheboy76 said:

Morning all. I'm very much enjoying this mission so far, but, I'm hitting a brick wall. Literally. I've died several times hitting it. How do I............

  Reveal hidden contents

Get into the tower. I've managed to jump from a balcony onto the tower balcony with the door that is latched from the inside. Either side of the balcony, I can see what are the only 2 apparent ways in to the tower. I've tried jumping to both of them but keep falling.

 

Hi @Johnnytheboy76;

Spoiler

When you come out onto the treasury balcony, follow the ledge around to the right. You'll see an open window on the tower you can jump to. The latched doors you are seeing are more for exits, and the one on the left you can get to by climbing up the pipe if you just want to skip the tower and move on.

 

[Johnnytheboy76]

3 hours ago, Frost_Salamander said:

Hi @Johnnytheboy76;

  Hide contents

When you come out onto the treasury balcony, follow the ledge around to the right. You'll see an open window on the tower you can jump to. The latched doors you are seeing are more for exits, and the one on the left you can get to by climbing up the pipe if you just want to skip the tower and move on.

 

Spoiler

Thanks for the quick reply. I tried that but I just can't seem to make the jump. I'm obviously doing something wrong here.

 

 

[Frost_Salamander]

44 minutes ago, Johnnytheboy76 said:

  Hide contents

Thanks for the quick reply. I tried that but I just can't seem to make the jump. I'm obviously doing something wrong here.

 

 

Hi,

Spoiler

Instead of trying to jump directly across, keep going along the ledge until you are blocked by the rock. Then turn around, face east, and you can take a running leap onto the platform. It's doable the other way too but this should be easier.

 

[Johnnytheboy76]

27 minutes ago, Frost_Salamander said:

Hi,

  Hide contents

Instead of trying to jump directly across, keep going along the ledge until you are blocked by the rock. Then turn around, face east, and you can take a running leap onto the platform. It's doable the other way too but this should be easier.

 

Thanks. While I've got you, I'm stuck in the dock area:

 

 

Spoiler

I've managed to open the dock gates and I've taken care of the Foreigner and chap in the office adjacent to him. I've opened their safe. There are 2 doors I can't open as they are latched from the opposite side, the one with the graffiti and the one at the top of the stairs by the frobbable row boat. I have been able to climb using ropes onto all the windows that I can see to be open but I'm completely stuck as I presume I can't progress through the dock gates until I've completed more tasks.

 

[Frost_Salamander]

11 minutes ago, Johnnytheboy76 said:

Thanks. While I've got you, I'm stuck in the dock area:

 

 

  Hide contents

I've managed to open the dock gates and I've taken care of the Foreigner and chap in the office adjacent to him. I've opened their safe. There are 2 doors I can't open as they are latched from the opposite side, the one with the graffiti and the one at the top of the stairs by the frobbable row boat. I have been able to climb using ropes onto all the windows that I can see to be open but I'm completely stuck as I presume I can't progress through the dock gates until I've completed more tasks.

 

Spoiler

For the one with the graffiti, you need the Fishend key which you get from room 5 in the Inn. I'm not quite sure what the other door is you're talking about?

 

[grodenglaive]

On 6/25/2025 at 3:51 PM, Airship-Ballet said:

I think what happens after detection is the major source of jank in this game vis-à-vis tedious alert states and funky running animations, but I've honestly never had any issue with blackjack behavior.

It could certainly be better delineated in terms of the animation and hitbox since it's a bit flappy and covers the whole screen, but it's as simple as walking or creeping up to someone and bopping them, I don't get it. The answer is certainly not allowing people to bunny-hop up to guards and KO them on the way past 2 seconds after they've already been alerted, nor just lure them somewhere shadowy and blackjack them on full alert, as seen in the dark engine.

The AI is no doubt a long-standing stick in the mud, but I don't think it's blackjacking that's the issue, moreso how detection can work strangely and how most all of the level design goes out the window once the guards are sprinting around the building at full pelt and never going back to idle.

 

 

I have to agree. I've had few issues blackjacking in TDM aside from occasionally hitting a low ceiling or overhanging structure.

[grodenglaive]

Wonderful map. Brutally difficult on "difficult", which of course I like. I'm curious if the mission is any easier at the lower  difficulty settings or if it only changes the loot objective. I only managed 4048, so clearly I missed a lot! 

I only really got frustrated when

Spoiler

I couldn't for the life of me find a way up the the backdoor window that leads to Fishend. 

I ended up using noclip, which I have never done before. I replayed that bit with the gamma turned up after reading another player's post. I found the way, so I could finish without resorting to cheating 

Thanks for the great mission!

 

[EDIT] I went back in and found I missed

Spoiler

the entire Tower section and the art vault 

  ended up with 7088. Well worth retracing my steps for that.

 

Edited July 1, 2025 by grodenglaive

[Frost_Salamander]

4 hours ago, grodenglaive said:

I'm curious if the mission is any easier at the lower  difficulty settings or if it only changes the loot objective. I only managed 4048, so clearly I missed a lot! 

The only differences are the loot count and the player inventory (a few more arrows/mines on easier difficulties).

[esme]

OK, I loved this mission, I've loved every one of the lieutenant series so far

The only issue I did have was a framerate drop on the

Spoiler

Staircase down from the dock level to the subterranean area with the overturned boat, not sure if it was the shadows from the mesh on the lights or all the planks in the steps but something seriously slugged my graphics card in that area

Had something similar on the cannon deck of the ship in "Foreign Affairs" just that one area, everywhere else was fine

I've just realised I played Version 1 so this may have been looked at

Everywhere else was smooth as silk

I got all the loot* & everyone apart from the the non KO guards is asleep, no issues with KOing, spent a lot of time staring at things wondering how I was going to get up/down/across to them & thinking "this is never going to work" except it did, I do like puzzles like that

*

Spoiler

Even the birds nest, that was a sod

So thank you for this

[Frost_Salamander]

59 minutes ago, esme said:

OK, I loved this mission, I've loved every one of the lieutenant series so far

The only issue I did have was a framerate drop on the

  Hide contents

Staircase down from the dock level to the subterranean area with the overturned boat, not sure if it was the shadows from the mesh on the lights or all the planks in the steps but something seriously slugged my graphics card in that area

Had something similar on the cannon deck of the ship in "Foreign Affairs" just that one area, everywhere else was fine

I've just realised I played Version 1 so this may have been looked at

Everywhere else was smooth as silk

I got all the loot* & everyone apart from the the non KO guards is asleep, no issues with KOing, spent a lot of time staring at things wondering how I was going to get up/down/across to them & thinking "this is never going to work" except it did, I do like puzzles like that

*

  Hide contents

Even the birds nest, that was a sod

So thank you for this

Thanks for playing and so glad you liked it!

It sound like you're having issues with the volumetric lights, which are prominent in both of those areas you mentioned.  Nobody else reported any issues - what's your PC setup?

[CountMorillonite]

I'm curious about a few things. I was never given rope arrows at the beginning, and there are obvious placements of wooden beams specifically for rope arrows. Did I miss a pickup somewhere along the way? I'm currently at Armoury St. 

Also, I noticed references to the map. I don't have a map either. 

[esme]

On 7/5/2025 at 8:02 PM, Frost_Salamander said:

Thanks for playing and so glad you liked it!

It sound like you're having issues with the volumetric lights, which are prominent in both of those areas you mentioned.  Nobody else reported any issues - what's your PC setup?

I played on my old ex work machine which doesn't have a very powerful graphics card but it manages most of the time, I should have played on my new laptop really

It's a Dell Precision T1700, 8Gb Ram, Intel® Core™ i7-4770 CPU @ 3.40GHz × 8, NVIDIA Corporation GK107GL [Quadro K600], running 64 bit Zorin OS 17.3 Core

I did look at upgrading the graphics card but decided on getting a laptop instead, I really need to use the laptop more, I did get it for games after all

Regarding volumetric lighting, I just turned off volumetric effects in the advanced video menu, reloaded the game, went back to the stairs & there's no noticeable framerate drop, so as no one else complained  I'd say don't worry about it, I'll play with that setting, thanks for asking though