Fan Mission: Year of the Rat

[snatcher]

3 hours ago, irisx said:

[...] could the ensuing collisions be enough to block an entire CPU core?

Oh, yes. Take the Start Map Example and lure NPCs to a room and gas as many as you can in there. Sooner or later collisions should take your machine to its knees (unless you have truly powerful hardware, I guess).

[MirceaKitsune]

What's strange is I can play through it just fine without any of those issues happening: Physics and collisions should work the same way on all platforms right? It's very dubious why I never caught this if it's an AI / physics problem.

[snatcher]

Spoiler

It is something waiting to happen to some players, but not to all: a guard in the closet at some point in time MUST look behind and MUST see a monster and begin an attack. It all cascades down from there. It could be either:

• Guards get alerted because of a sound that gets through the walls.
• Friendly senses (thievery act spotted) don't respect walls.
• AI is known to sometimes see behind briefly.
• Other...

In any case it is clear to me this is the root cause of progressively decreasing FPS after a good amount of playtime.

 

[boissiere]

@snatcherDo you save and reload a lot?

If so, I think the mayhem maybe due to the known bug where frequent saves and reloads cause AI to respawn in very slightly different positions. Post 2.13 builds (which I think MirceaKitsune are using) contain a likely fix to this problem (apparently ported from Dhewm3).

Spoiler

I too reloaded from a save which had the slowdown and then used no-clip to find the blue room and found a similar situation to the one you reported - the AI were alert and looking for a thief etc.

 

[irisx]

1 hour ago, boissiere said:

Post 2.13 builds (which I think MirceaKitsune are using) contain a likely fix to this problem (apparently ported from Dhewm3).

I have just installed the latest 2.14 dev just to test this. The screams can be heard in the starting area after only a couple of quicksaves (no reloads required).

Spoiler

And sure enough, visiting the monster closet you can see the same situation as before.

 

[snatcher]

11 hours ago, boissiere said:

@snatcherDo you save and reload a lot?

If so, I think the mayhem maybe due to the known bug where frequent saves and reloads cause AI to respawn in very slightly different positions. Post 2.13 builds (which I think MirceaKitsune are using) contain a likely fix to this problem (apparently ported from Dhewm3).

Unless proven otherwise the root cause of the progressively decreasing FPS after a good amount of playtime has already been identified. The solution is to rework the blue room/s and make sure actors stay put.

[High John]

I have so far found 15 circles, and used 15 pieces of cheese.  Yay.

There is one area I haven't managed to get into.  And may even contain the 16th circle.  How do I get into

Spoiler

the blacksmith's?

Lockpicks don't work, and I can't find an openable window.

I would welcome a hint.
 

[MirceaKitsune]

The blacksmith is a decorative door: If you can't frob it there isn't really a way inside.

[High John]

9 hours ago, MirceaKitsune said:

The blacksmith is a decorative door: If you can't frob it there isn't really a way inside.

This is the door in the NE corner of the map.

It is certainly frobable, but not lock-pickable.

[High John]

Ah just found a

Spoiler

window round that back which opens.

 

[MirceaKitsune]

Spoiler

Oh yeah, that's a storehouse and can be entered through the window on the opposite side of the door.

 

[schrumpel]

Same fps problem here. Outside fps drops to 5-10 and not playable. Inside 20-40. I cant remember playing a mission with less than 60 fps. 

Changing graphics settings doesnt change anything. No single frame more if I change setting from ultra high to ultra low. Not even changing resulution does effect on the fps. But killing all AI per console increases fps to 40/50 fps.

I think its a cpu problem. 

In fact my cpu is a "bit" weak (I7 3770, 8GB, GTX 1660).

I also noticed, that there are lots of warings regarding different commoners in the consol. Each second a warning and sometimes more.

90% of the warnings are:

(Warning: comooner_X (xx.xx xx.xx xx.xx) can't sit: too far from sitting location)

There are lots of missions with that amount of warnings. But maybe its a hint. 

EDIT:

For me it seems to start smooth, but each interaction with objects trigers a small bit of a mass panic. But maybe its caused by saving, as mentioned. I save a lot. 

Tested with version 2.14 dev: same problems

Tested with version 2.12: works fine. not 60 frames but playable at about 30-50 frames. Here too its easy to cause a mass panic but there is no frame drop. 

 

 

Edited August 8, 2025 by schrumpel

[irisx]

On 8/6/2025 at 9:03 AM, schrumpel said:

Tested with version 2.12: works fine. not 60 frames but playable at about 30-50 frames. Here too its easy to cause a mass panic but there is no frame drop.

Unfortunately, in my case 2.12 behaves exactly the same: gradual slowdown that becomes unplayable around the 7-cheese-slices mark.

Also using an old-ish i7-3770K here, but never had such problems in other FMs.

[STRUNK]

Meh ... when I started the mission it was low on fps in the outside area but playable, but once I got to the first floor of the police station it got so laggy that it became unplayable : (
I want to feed the rats but I guess I wait for some sort of update first ...

EDIT:

I tried rolling back to 2.12 and that seemed to work a lot better, but crashing to desktop started happening when loading a save. Eventually the fps got worse and worse until unplayable again.
I hope there will be a fix somehow because I like the theme, the look and mechanics a lot.
I play on an old dual xenon workstation with a 1660, but normally I can play all missions on almost maxed settings.

Edited August 27, 2025 by STRUNK

[High John]

On 7/20/2025 at 3:42 AM, MirceaKitsune said:

The rooms seen from the grates aren't meant to be entered: They're decorative, meant to be seen into if you find those vents. I should have considered that may get confusing when I made them.

The 8 circles on the Easy difficulty should be simple to find. For those I can provide a list from memory:

  Reveal hidden contents

1. Church, between the benches.
2. City hall, upper floor next to the center pillar.
3. Building West of the shop, you can jump into one of two small balconies, room in the middle.
4. Top of the watch tower with the archer.
5. Watch station, second floor, next to the stair.
6. Tavern, behind and under the spiral staircase.
7. Inn, second floor next to the stair near the railing.
8. Army chief home, downstairs, over the railing with a window and two statues.

MirceaKitsune:

I would be grateful if you could give a list of the 8 'hard' circles, that are not on the above list.  I have 15 circles, but am spending forever not finding the 16th - many thanks.

[STRUNK]

@High John The most secretive I can imagine atm is the one I found first; it's next to gamestart where you can climb up a building, before you enter the big gate. If it's not that, maybe you can give a list of the seven you found that are not in the "easy list".

 

[werner]

The 16 destinations of cheese pieces:

Spoiler

∙ roof terrace at the starting point
∙ roof of tower
∙ roof of hotel
∙ hotel 1st fl.
∙ hotel tunnel grd fl. (via room 2)
∙ roof btw. hotel & pub
∙ roof chamber west of shop
∙ pub grd fl.
∙ church grd fl.
∙ City Watch 1st fl.
∙ house of Army Chief downstairs
∙ vent tunnel
∙ underground tunnel
∙ guard's room 2nd fl. (west of City Hall)
∙ CH 1st fl.
∙ stairs near pool (CH gardens)

 

Edited October 11, 2025 by werner

[High John]

On 10/9/2025 at 5:57 PM, STRUNK said:

@High John The most secretive I can imagine atm is the one I found first; it's next to gamestart where you can climb up a building, before you enter the big gate. If it's not that, maybe you can give a list of the seven you found that are not in the "easy list".

 

STRUNK - thanks.

First there are the 8 circles that MirceaKitsune quotes for Easy difficulty:

Spoiler

1.  Church, between the benches.
2.  City hall, upper floor next to the center pillar.
3.  Building West of the shop, you can jump into one of two small balconies, room in the middle.
4.  Top of the watch tower with the archer.
5.  Watch station, second floor, next to the stair.
6.  Tavern, behind and under the spiral staircase.
7.  Inn, second floor next to the stair near the railing.
8.  Army chief home, downstairs, over the railing with a window and two statues.

Then I have also found:

Spoiler

 9.  Top of building next to Start, with stone balustrades.
10.  Inside main sewers, to the West of the map.
11.  External SW corner of City Hall, near SW pool.
12.  Inside roof passage a bit to North of SW pool, accessed through roof opening.
13.  Guard's room 2nd fl. (west of City Hall)
14.  Flat roof above Inn.
15.  Sewer hidden behind painting in room on lower floor of Inn.

What am I missing please?

Edited October 12, 2025 by High John

[High John]

On 10/10/2025 at 4:40 PM, werner said:

The 16 destinations of cheese pieces:

  Reveal hidden contents

∙ roof terrace at the starting point
∙ roof of tower
∙ roof of hotel
∙ hotel 1st fl.
∙ hotel tunnel grd fl. (via room 2)
∙ roof btw. hotel & pub
∙ roof chamber west of shop
∙ pub grd fl.
∙ church grd fl.
∙ City Watch 1st fl.
∙ house of Army Chief downstairs
∙ vent tunnel
∙ underground tunnel
∙ guard's room 2nd fl. (west of City Hall)
∙ CH 1st fl.
∙ stairs near pool (CH gardens)

 

werner - thanks, I have now found the 16th circle.  Strangely it was the

Spoiler

roof between the inn and the tavern.

Which is not particularly difficult to find.  Particularly since it was clear early on that you needed to check all the

Spoiler

roofs

to see what was there.  But I somehow missed that one(!)

[High John]

I thought I had done all 16 cheeses, but then saw there wasn't a Red Tick against this under Objectives.

So had to go on a Cheese Circle Tour, and eventually found the cheese in the City Hall had got kicked out of position.

Edited October 14, 2025 by High John

[werner]

On 10/13/2025 at 1:15 PM, High John said:

Strangely it was the

haha, it was the same piece I was searching till blue in the face

[Netos]

Great mission, very fun to navigate

Having said that:, I placed all 13 pieces and somehow nothing happened on the 13th. Who knows which one got knocked or reloaded out of position, I have checked several already. 

Is there a command to complete that objective?

[STRUNK]

@Netos
Playing Mouse you have to get 10 cheeses, as Rat 12 and as Wolverine 16 (easy, medium, hard).
So if you are playing on Wolverine, you still have 3 cheeses to go to complete the mission.
 

Spoiler

On this page there is a list of all 16 destinations.

 

Edited December 17, 2025 by STRUNK

[Johnnytheboy76]

Evening all, loving this mission even though it's a bit clunky (but that's more likely my ageing laptop and shortage of RAM). I have, unbelievably, managed to place all 16 pieces of cheese. Unfortunately, no acknowledgement of completion of that particular task. I followed the next objective of returning to my room and reading the threatening note to see if that would trigger the next stage of the mission but alas, nothing happened. I've been conscious to ensure all pieces of cheese are touching the glowing paint as previously mentioned somewhere in this thread. 

Am I missing something? Do I need to revisited all the cheese placements to ensure I've positioned them correctly? 

 

BIg thank you to @MirceaKitsune for this latest mission. Thoroughly enjoying the unusual but compelling storyline.

*UPDATE: I traced my steps back and found that one piece of cheese had been dislodged by one of the NPC's. Once I replaced it, the objective was then marked as complete.

 

Edited December 20, 2025 by Johnnytheboy76
Update to my original question with solution to my problem

[Thiefette]

Question regarding the cheese. I'm not far into the mission, just up on the tower. I placed a cheese in the circle and it disappeared. I moved on through the tower and saw another circle next to the stairs so placed a cheese slice there and nothing happened. I tried dropping it different ways (touching/not touching) the circle and it was still was there. So now my question is: Are they suppose to disappear when properly placed or not? I used noclip to check if it had fallen through the floor or wall and it is just gone. From reading comments here it sounds like they aren't suppose to disappear, so now I'm wondering if I should reload a previous save so I have it back in my inventory. Don't want to continue if my first placement doesn't count, any advice appreciated.