The Dark One on 26/3/2017 at 07:32
Guh. Been a while.
Lords and Legacy(by Kvorning) is a mixture of city mission and mansion mission. This time, Not-Garrett has been hired by a coalition of townspeople and nobles who want to get rid of a noble who’s oppressing them all. Sadly, his brother likes him, so there’s no arrowing him in his sleep. The plan is to steal a family heirloom and plant it in the brother’s safe with a fake note indicating that the brother was planning to have his brother killed and make it look like a robbery.
The mission is quite large, and is split into The Slums, The Commons, and the manor itself. The second could almost be a (small) mission unto itself. Graphics-wise, it’s quite nice looking, with more of blue tint to everything, much different from what I’ve seen in missions up to this point. Everything looks well, with the only real error being a door that leads out into blank space, but to be fair you have to go out of your way a bit to find it. However, the proportions felt off. It’s very hard for me to describe, but I felt like the inside of the apartments in The Commons in particular didn’t match the outside. I was somehow ending up on the other side of the map when I shouldn’t have been there, it felt like I was bumbling through the TARDIS at points. This might just have been me, but I noticed the same thing on a replay. Same thing with The Slums, check the perceptions of the lady’s apartment and where the side door takes you.
On the positive side, I did like the layout of the estate itself: Three semi-connected towers. A little linear, perhaps, but different from the norm.
Difficulty-wise, it's up there. I don’t think that the loot goal is that hard to hit, but be prepared to dig through the level (and people’s pockets) for it. Thankfully, you can break into people’s homes to find what you need. I always like this part of city missions, and want plenty of it. I just wish it was a little more clear which places you could get into. The higher levels have (thankfully) optional objectives which require you to avoid getting seen and refrain from knocking people out. The former is definitely possible and I’m assuming the latter as well. The layouts are set up to make stealthing possible. There is one portion that I feel to be a tad unfair, as it suddenly puts you up against a character with no warning, and with little chance of escape. Either you know it’s coming, are very fast, or break the AI. The guards also have annoyingly good hearing, especially at the estate. As in, “Can hear you clomping around outside one floor up” or “Can hear a board creak one floor up and one room over.” It’s almost random how it works, and can be annoying. The creaking boards idea is interesting though.
Speaking of layouts, I want to go from there to another completely unrelated topic: atmosphere. One of the best parts of city missions is the little ideas and tidbits scattered around, and this mission has them. From a low-key love story, to a creepy haunted apartment, to a serial killer lurking in The Commons, it’s all done pretty well.
All in all, solid mission, with only a few slip-ups here and there. Recommended.
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Something for Tannar and others' sake: All of my reviews up to this point are for The Dark Mod, and will remain that way until I can actually figure out how to play Thief fan missions. :P If I need to make it clear in my posts, do say.
Melan on 27/3/2017 at 21:04
Unexpected Detour by
DarkMaxThe Darkstone Gem series gets a new mission, and it is continuing the trend: it is getting better and better. As the meandering storyline has progressed, the missions have grown from good to excellent, the style has embraced a strong Thief 1 aesthetic, while experimenting with different mission types and moods. This is no longer a mini-series, but, after the closure of the previous “chapter”, turning into a full-blown campaign with several expansive and complex FMs.
Unexpected Detour is a combination of the mines from Cragscleft Prison and an enormous crypt in the vein of the Bonehoard. Neither of these are commonly explored in the FM community, and good mine missions are particularly hard to come by. Fortunately, the mission looks and plays very well. It creates the feeling of being lost in abandoned, half-collapsing tunnels or passing through the vast halls of the dead with appropriate architecture, creepy ambients, and only a few lights (all screenshots have been brightened). While it follows Thief 1’s style very closely, it is more ornamental, and has its own interpretations – the mines are multi-level in very pleasing ways, and the crypt section is recognisably Bonehoard-inspired while making clear that this is a Pagan burial ground – all with careful, consistent texture selection and a new, creepy enemy type that’s just cruel.
Sneaking is not particularly hard except for a few select places, but navigating the darkness and spotting carefully hidden loot is a challenge. This is where
Unexpected Detour is truly excellent: the loot placement is logical but requires careful observation to obtain, while progressing through the dark underground is a ton of fun in the mostly non-linear environment. Of course, it works best with a low gamma in a dark room – it is proper dark dark. There are a few mini-puzzles and one larger, important one, but they are all on the easier side. This mission is primarily about exploration, loot hunting, and drinking in the mood – and there are plenty of opportunities for all three.
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https://68.media.tumblr.com/1b1c2b6a744a7739492204f5d4f5f6cc/tumblr_onhrptmIoo1rxmn3vo7_540.pngnickie on 29/3/2017 at 09:16
Quote Posted by The Dark One
Something for Tannar and others' sake: All of my reviews up to this point are for The Dark Mod, and will remain that way until I can actually figure out how to play Thief fan missions. :P If I need to make it clear in my posts, do say.
It would be helpful to have TDM added to the reviews.
If you want help with playing Thief fan missions, just post.
Latest reviews added to OP, thanks guys!
The Dark One on 31/3/2017 at 04:27
Quote Posted by nickie
It would be helpful to have TDM added to the reviews.
If you want help with playing Thief fan missions, just post.
Latest reviews added to OP, thanks guys!
Aight, fair enough. :P I'll put it in the title of the post. I'd like to play Thief fan missions, I need something else to distract me from being productive, but I don't even have the first two games. :P
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The Parcel (by Xonze is a short and sweet little mission. Not-Garrett has had his parcel stolen, and goes to break into a place and steal it. That’s it. That’s the plot. Though the reveal of what the parcel is and who Not-Garrett is stealing for does raise some amusing mental images.
Graphics-wise, it’s no better or worse than average. The snow is nice, and I think it’s one of only two missions I’ve seen that incorporates it. The layout of the house is plausible, and I like the way it looks from the outside, with some nice lights in the windows, though I don’t think that they match up with the outside that well.
Difficulty-wise, higher than you’d expect. While it’s not hard to evade and/or knock out the guards (this is one of the few missions where my stealth score is 0), the loot is well hidden, and careful searching and unconventional frobbing is a must. There’s also a needed key shoved on someone in a different position than normal, which can jam you right at the end of the mission. But other than that, it’s a pretty smooth ride.
All in all, a short little Christmas mission. Short, but Recommended.
The Dark One on 13/4/2017 at 22:47
Sons of Barltona 1 (by Carnage) has a one in the title, but since there hasn’t been a two, I’ll just treat it as its own thing.
This time, Not-Garratt is named, though I can’t recall it. Anyway, his mentor has vanished while investigating a merchant, and he’s angling for some answers. Hence, breaking in. The break-in is oddly difficult. The house itself is lightly guarded, and once you get to the second floor you more or less have free-reign of the place. Getting in, however, requires you to dance around a whole circle of torch guards, with little room for error. You can find a trick or two to get around, but expect more than a few issues on a first playthrough. This isn’t helped by the fact that one of the optional objectives is to not be noticed, which is a bit of a wonky trigger at the best of times. Sometimes a well-fired water arrow gets the guard to draw his sword, but the failure doesn’t trigger until a bit later.
Loot-wise, it’s hard. The available loot comes close to the goal, and you’ll have to look carefully for it. Those of you who won’t rest until you get every single bit of change will be frustrated, because part of the loot is in the pockets of guards. Who are in the light. Who are angled so that you have to be crawling on them to grab it. Thankfully, they’re not needed. Unless you want all the loot, in which case, good luck to ya.
As stated above, the mission starts difficult before dropping down again. Once you get into the house it’s much easier, with the only real sticking point being finding an office key on one of the guards, and even then you don’t even need to go in there, I recall. Getting out is the same as getting in, though I feel I should warn that the passage you use to get in can’t be opened from the inside. If you don’t realize that, then you’ll be forced to run out one of the doors and make a break for it. Personal experience, yes.
Also, fair note, apparently the game locks if you go on the roof. This isn't something you can do accidently, but it's worth noting.
All in all, a decent mission that needed a better difficulty curve. Recommended, but don’t make it your first mission.
Thor on 14/4/2017 at 13:43
I imagine I would like to do some reviews again as well sometime, even for missions I've reviewed (a revisit after so many years will no doubt be worthwhile for some good missions). But I feel like I should up my game if I do so. I should do it with a GoPro or something similar, somehow. I need to get a real job in order to have the spare money and shit for that, which is in the works, but christ, it's such a pain when you're me.
Happy crucifiction day everybody!
Renault on 14/4/2017 at 14:50
Yeah, I don't think a GoPro is what you think it is. You really want some video capture software, like Fraps or Bandicam, which you can get for around $35. I think there are some free options out there as well, with limited capabilities.
Purgator on 14/4/2017 at 15:22
No! Totally go with a Go-pro!
You could start a new trend.
Bruder Murus tried to start something similar with his cell phone recordings and the results were stupendous!
Just turn it off for potty time, capiche?
Thor on 14/4/2017 at 20:57
Brother Murus is ^&&*. But his hologram tech was good for its time.
Yandros on 15/4/2017 at 01:31
He was talking about BruderMurus, not Brother Murus. A recent incendiary fellow here who recorded his LPs with a camera or maybe his phone. The results were... unimpressive.
