twhalen2600 on 26/5/2018 at 01:44
Deep Trouble 2: City Under the Sea (Thief II, 2004), by Dark Assassin, a.k.a. John D.I love horror FMs, and I love Mechanists. John D.'s
Deep Trouble 2: City Under the Sea combines both in an FM that is a cornucopia of Mechanist goodness and is flavored with
System Shock 2 AI horror.
This is a three-part mission campaign, but you can skip the first one. It isn't horror, and only sets the premise: Garrett, intending to be delivered to a lord's cellar, finds himself in the cargo hold of a Mechanist submarine, the Swordfish. He escapes from this onto the Cetus Amicus, which was travelling to the Lost City but had to divert course to the Mechanist's “Central Aqautic Facility.” Things have gone wrong there, and it is the second mission where matters get horrific.
The crux of the mission is the setting itself: an underwater Mechanist complex that has been ravaged by a faulty AI. This AI, “Mother”, has control of the station's security systems and a group of servant-like combatants known as the “Sisters.” When you begin the second mission, Nasty Surprise, you don't know what has gone wrong, just that something isn't right. The bodies of dead Mechanists lie everywhere. These Mechanists weren't just killed, they were brutalized.
Inline Image:
https://thiefdiaries.files.wordpress.com/2018/05/thief-2-final-1-25-2018-05-19_12-14-11.png?w=1024One of the best scenes is in the kitchen and rec room area. A dead body lies face down on stove eyes, a sickening broiling sound coming from beneath it. A dance area, with flashing lights and
Climb from
Quake II (or
The Grinding of the Gears by “Friend Quake”) playing, is littered with corpses and blood stains. Dead bodies can also be found in the freezer, where a ghost scene of the last moments between the two deceased AI plays. Whatever force wrought havoc here, it showed no mercy.
Inline Image:
https://thiefdiaries.files.wordpress.com/2018/05/dump032.png?w=1024The first objective is to reach the Central Control Room. When there, you see screens with the chilling text “Mother is not pleased.” Not pleased, indeed! Near this area you also hear a Mechanist, who is hiding in a storage closet, get killed while a sadistic feminine AI taunts him. Oh, that's right: Mother.
Soon after that segment you proceed through a security checkpoint to the third mission in the campaign, called
Mother's Playground. A sense of horror remains, but it is toned down as beautiful Mechanist greatness takes center stage in this part.
Before things went south, this was a complex built for the pride of the Mechanists, and it shows. Being a lover of Mechanist art and architecture, I drool exploring this section. There are gear icons and Mechanist angel statues galore. The chapel room is glorious. It made me want to join the Mechanists, so in awe of their wonder was I as I gazed upwards towards all the heavenly figurines. The main hall of the complex is also delightful. There is custom art throughout, like posters with Mechanist slogans and soda machines with the name “Karras Cola” on them. My favorite is one of Karras pointing towards the viewer that reads: “We Want THEE / For the Builder's Army.” A highlight in this area is a fountain with gear icons and an angel statue atop. Such...beauty!
Inline Image:
https://thiefdiaries.files.wordpress.com/2018/05/dump070.png?w=1070&h=&zoom=2I have to remind myself that there's a faulty AI commanding a team of murderous machines here. It's hardly a time to be admiring Mechanist art, especially since I'm Garrett. He would only see the smiling face of a fence in any religious artifacts he lays eyes on. That, and the Mechanists are insane, murderous techno-zealots. But their art is so pretty!
Getting back to the mission, I discover that this whole catastrophe was caused by the Commander of the station, Friend Hunday. He didn't follow the orders of his Elder, the infamous Cavador, not to mess with the AI. Hunday tampered with the AI, meaning no wrong. Well, wrong happened, and he regrets his mistake in his diary. The main goal of the mission becomes shutting off Mother via a process Hunday has written down. Part of this involves obtaining a key from the quarters of another executive, Friend Koressa. Her room is lavish and blessed with a personal escape pod. Garrett observes that her leaving in this as soon as disaster struck was very self-serving. It could have held a few more people. But, as SlyFoxx's Garrett also remarks, “Heck, I would've taken off too!”
Inline Image:
https://thiefdiaries.files.wordpress.com/2018/05/thief-2-final-1-25-2018-05-19_13-21-23.png?w=1024There are so many great scenes in this FM series. There are windows that show you the underwater area of the station, such you can look out and see a walkway tunnel that you can actually go and walk through. Then you can look back at where you were before. I love cool stuff like this!
There are a couple exits by which you can swim around outside of it, too. It's a great underwater building design. The feeling of being trapped in some underwater complex where evil is afoot is thick.
Dark Assassin may not be mentioned amongst the FM author greats, but he did a superb job designing the Central Aquatic Facility. Especially knowing how frustrating it is to wrangle with water in Dromed, kudos to him. I'd play dozens of missions set in underwater Mechanist facilities.
I also love that this mission emphasizes the horror aspect of the Mechanists, a la
Soulforge. Little spider bots walk around - one of them caught me off guard. The Sisters speak of hearing Mother's “sweet song.” A nursery shows little children that were converted into young servants. There was an element of horror in
Thief II's story: Karras was a madman and his creations were frightening. I love it when an FM author recognizes this. A good Mechanist horror mission - even a good Mechanist mission - is rare in the
Thief community, brilliant as you are at Hammerite, Keeper, and Undead missions.
Hidden Agenda is the only other one I can think of in the sense of a primarily Mechanist mission (which would exclude missions like
The Greyfeather Gems, since the Mechanists are secondary in those).
If you want a Mechanist horror romp set underwater, this mission is for you. Go ahead and hit Ctrl + Alt + Shift + End to skip the first mission,
The Swordfish. It isn't that remarkable, and only sets the premise of Garrett inadvertently finding himself in a secret Mechanist facility. Get straight to the horror: play
Nasty Surprise and
Mother's Playground, and tell me you don't want more Mechanist horror fun.
Inline Image:
https://thiefdiaries.files.wordpress.com/2018/05/dump030.png?w=1024Added. Thank you!
downwinder on 26/5/2018 at 02:17
can someone please do a full review of "brain child" fan mission its truly amazing
twhalen2600 on 26/5/2018 at 23:53
I hadn't heard of that one. I've just downloaded it and will check it out.
Melan on 8/8/2018 at 06:59
Lord Alexander's Mansion by Bulgarian_Taffer
I played the mission yesterday, and here is what I think:
* It looks decent. Heavy use of Vigil's textures and rich colours gives it a visual identity. It has a pleasing, cohesive "look". I liked the weird
bookcase column. Was that inspired by a real thing?
* The exploration part is goodish, with multiple ways in, although I feel the intro movie spoils half of it. It is logical Garrett might "know" these things, but it still takes some of the mystery out of the scenario.
* The stealth gameplay abuses marble. It is one marble floor after the other, while the rooms are packed with guards on short patrol routes. The
central rooms on both main floors are lit up like a Christmas tree, creating hazardous choke points. Challenging (while ghosting)? Yes. Annoying? After a while. The good part is finding an opening between tight patrols to slip into a room, while tiptoeing on a loud floor. The bad part is that quite a bit of it is sheer dumb luck (
the chapel), and there is not that much gameplay variety. If you like marble, this is your mission.
* The puzzle is one of the ones which have become routine by now.
diary scrap --> find the date --> code number Then again, Thief is turning 20 this year, so it is kinda expected.
* The mission ends when your objectives are done. Mine ended crouched right in the middle of the mansion,
desperately trying to fish a few coins out of a fountain while trying to avoid getting busted. No getaway, although it spared me from more marble shenanigans.
Fairly enjoyable, and a definite improvement in the visuals.
Inline Image:
https://78.media.tumblr.com/6a55b61c7b3a26bc97e6b6d66167736b/tumblr_pd4rc80VbJ1xcdgeso1_1280.pngInline Image:
https://78.media.tumblr.com/111ea03a0d1436d6c4b5a8ed002a4870/tumblr_pd4rc80VbJ1xcdgeso2_1280.pngInline Image:
https://78.media.tumblr.com/5230a94e55e7f4eb3e4003729bfb7248/tumblr_pd4rc80VbJ1xcdgeso3_1280.pngInline Image:
https://78.media.tumblr.com/e4c1caa5056e30f7050416f7fab5e40c/tumblr_pd4rc80VbJ1xcdgeso4_1280.pngAdded. Thanks for the review! Nightwalker
The Dark One on 8/8/2018 at 22:53
Wow, I've been slacking here.
Flakebridge Monastery (by Jesps) is, in contrast to the previous missions, a larger, more expansive one. Our hero, Selis Woderose isn’t after something as mundane as money, but a collection of songs from a famous musician who’s one of many who have vanished in the titular monastery. Oh, but the money is good too.
As stated, this mission goes from the small, linear/semi-linear style we've seen in favor of giving the player access to a large, realistic building. Part of the enjoyment, for me anyway, comes from creeping around this huge place, digging out secrets and loot. Difficulty-wise, it’s not really hard. As you might have guessed, the place is infested with the undead, but they only tend to be in large areas and the occasional connecting hallway, so a bit of waiting will get the player though much of the mission, barring a few areas with plenty of haunts and light hanging around. In fact, there’s almost not enough light; you can crouch in most any room and you’ll be hidden.
Loot-wise, it’s simple enough. Most of the loot isn’t hidden, and you can actually get enough to complete the mission without having to set foot into what’s meant to be the endgame area, which I thought was odd. The creator clearly noticed this, since the objective that takes you there is optional in the first place, but still. The loot that is hidden in that area though, it hidden well and tricky to get at even when you know it’s there, due to a nearby haunt.
The mission is a horror-lite one, with a few creepy moments here and there (mainly around the guest wing), but nothing that will have you looking under your bed at night. Some of them (such as a certain portrait in an exorcist's room) are almost a little cheesy. But the atmosphere of the rest of place keeps it going, and the story is simple and good.
All in all, a fun and large mission. Recommended.
The Dark One on 22/8/2018 at 21:30
Just one more, then we'll do someone else besides Jesps, I promise!
The second of the Selis Woderose series, Rake-Off, presumes that you found that dang map from the first mission. The map leads our hero to an isolated island, home of Francis Rake III, the latest in the Rake family, but lord of a crumbling, snowbound estate. Don't worry though, he's a jerk and worth stealing from.
This was made for a seasons contest, and this mission has a pretty large “winter” theme going through it, with snow-covered landscapes and a crumbling estate filled with snow. In some ways it reminds me of The Crown of Penitence and the rundown estate there, but here it's shown far more successfully and naturally. The main gripe about the layout I have is that, compared to Flakebridge, it's far smaller, though without the linearity in some earlier missions.
Difficulty-wise, it's easy enough. Once again, while there are plenty of guards running around, it's usually simple to work your way around them, or just bash them over the head, barring a couple of tricky torch-wielding guards. The loot is mostly in plain sight this time around, barring a hidden room which requires a basic but interesting puzzle to access. It's very simple, but to my knowledge has never been done in The Dark Mod.
Also of note are the Easter Eggs scattered around the mission. As one commenter pointed out, they're a little too “gamey” and get very little acknowledgement in the mission itself, but tracking them down is fun, if tricky. Although there seems to be a bug in which taking nine completes the objective on Expert, even though you're supposed to get ten. There also a puzzle to solve in the basement, but a tad too easy, and I find it doubtful that no one in the place figured it out before our hero got there.
All in all, while it isn't as good as Flakebridge, it's still a fun and atmospheric mission. Recommended.
Added. Thanks for the review! Nightwalker
nickie on 24/8/2018 at 18:53
So sorry for not adding these last few. I've put them on my to-do list which I'm writing on a very large piece of paper in large letters (so I can see them) with comments in red about my general lack of usefulness recently. 'Could do better' was a mainstay of my school reports. 'Will try harder' was my usual reply.
lpowell on 31/8/2018 at 22:53
Thought I'd try my hand at reviews. I like posting comments on Quake maps on quaddicted.com and this seems the best way to do it for Thief. I'll avoid major spoilers but will inevitably comment on aspects of progression and story that aren't straight from the readme. I'll try to do this with every FM I play. Here goes...
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(
http://www.ttlg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=145777) "The Chalice of Souls" is a two-mission mini-campaign and a loose sequel to skacky's 2014 FM (
http://www.ttlg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=144452) "Endless Rain", though I can't say how as I played that FM a couple years back. It can be enjoyed on its own, though if you haven't played Endless Rain, I don't know why you shouldn't unless you really hate rope arrows for some reason. Anyway, the story goes that Garrett is looking for some kind of chalice that is hidden in a very well-hidden brothel. He doesn't know much beyond the neighborhood it apparently occupies, so the first mission starts right as Garrett is about to begin scouting the area.
The setting of "Chalice" is initially similar to "Endless Rain", placing you right in the middle of a towering gothic cityscape, but this time in the midst of a snowy winter. You won't be roping and climbing all over the place immediately, though. The on-ramps to the Thieve's Highway are actually well hidden, so to begin with you'll be exploring the streets and the wide, frozen canal. It shouldn't take too long to discover your immediate goal, but you'll naturally need a key. You're helpfully told exactly where to find it as long as you have an eye on your map, but to get there you have to take the Thieves' Highway. Figuring out how to access it is the first real challenge of the mission, requiring careful observation and some clever jumping and climbing, and it's likely that the first entry points you'll find will only lead to one of the ample side areas surrounding what is ultimately not a huge portion of The City at least
horizontally speaking, though'll you'll need the loot anyway. The entire edifice is exceedingly well-constructed and thought-out. There are plenty of tantalizing open windows and ledges that aren't accessible when you first spot them, and even routes to high-up places that are more easily visible from angles widely distant from the point of access.
Once you're done with the initial area things could be pretty smooth sailing directly to the brothel entrance provided you have the prescribed loot count, but if you're playing Thief you'll probably want to explore this substantial underground section and at least try to find the hidden areas mentioned in an easily-found letter. I won't spoil anything except to say the hardest-to-find one is probably the weirdest, which is to say the best, so just keep an eye out for places to rope up to even after you've left the city behind. Exploring shouldn't be too strenuous as the whole complex becomes pretty interconnected once you get going.
Once the second mission begins and you're inside the brothel things are going to be pretty tough, especially if you're not using your blackjack to shut people up. Just getting out of the first couple of rooms was a real challenge for me, what with some tough guard patrol routes and stationary placements, not to mention all the civilians roaming around. The floors are amply decked out in marble, though thankfully you can at least spare your water arrows by snuffing out candles with your fingers.
While there are more than a few dark moments in the first mission, in this one the creepiness really comes to the fore. Aside from the suggestive combination of great opulence and great age (red curtains and spiderwebs are used as drapery), it quickly becomes apparent that this brothel has a much older history. If the stained-glass windows and occasional haunted whisperings don't tip you off then the readables will spell it out for you. Yes, this brothel is built over ancient ruins. Why not? Getting into the deeper ruins--a pretty huge, partly flooded are--will require a bit of a scavenger hunt, to be prepared to check odd corners and climb on top of things. The ruins themselves were once occupied by Keepers, but now by craymen (critters I happen to love), and if they feel a bit empty it's understandable given the constraints under which this mission was made (as a contest entry), though the architecture--towering pillars and arches suggestive of antiquity rather than the gothic, and cool things like ruined bridges and a large flooded natural cave area--is never less than impressive.
Overall this is a great two-map pack that serves as a worthy follow-up to one of my favorite FMs. Everything including the brushwork, texturing, lighting, and atmospheric sound is top-notch, and the amount of details, flavoring, and side areas are more than enough to flesh out the experience and keep thieves occupied, even if certain parts are slightly more fleshed-out than others.
Check the other two reviews of this FM in this thread if you want screenshots, I'm lazy. :P
Added.
lpowell on 2/9/2018 at 02:30
Here's a two-fer. This is fun! I have a long weekend so I might do some more, and I'll try to pick missions that haven't been reviewed yet.
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TG FM: Bloodstone Prison (1999)
"Bloodstone Prison" is one of those fan missions from the early days of Thief missioncraft that I've seen consistently cited as an all-time classic, including this (
http://www.ttlg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=121639) interesting old thread here on TTLG. The setup is that Garrett is drafted to recover some items from an abandoned Hammerite prison that is currently overrun with the undead. In a cute bit of implied storytelling the mission starts you off facing a campfire under the night sky, with the prison's front gate just around the corner and a couple of haunt archers right behind it. It goes without saying that you'll want to enter the prison another way.
This initial outdoor area contains the only bit of fan mission jank I found, namely the terrain which, aside from not being exactly gorgeous, is the kind a player might climb on top of hoping for a secret or an alternate path, but instead netting only a faceful of skybox. I'm inclined to be generous though since this is an early FM, and anyway I've seen this sort of thing even in much more recent ones.
Your first entry point into the prison will be the living quarters. Sneaking around initially shouln't be too difficult, as there are some generous shadows in the hallways, not to mention plenty of completely dark side rooms. The actual prison is another story. It's similar in design if not layout to Cragscleft, but what with the several blocked-off or partly-flooded areas and partly destroyed architecture of Bloodstone's cell blocks, your movements will be much more constrained, and the undead Hammerite guards more difficult to evade as you progress. I managed to sneak around most of them but not without messing up a few times. The difficulty progression is pretty smooth overall but I found that a few areas presented particular and not unwelcome challenges to observation and planning, not to mention quick movement once the planning was done.
Getting through the whole prison and finding your objectives is mostly a matter of hunting for keys. The exception is the diamond, which I thought was pretty cleverly hidden in the cell blocks but not behind a locked door. The keys are hidden in pretty organically sensible places, though you'll need to read the readables carefully for clues. The biggest hang-up might be the vault key puzzle, though I managed to trigger it completely by accident before I even guessed what I was supposed to do. (It's pretty clever!)
Aside from the outdoor area the mission is mostly pretty well-designed and built, with the highlight being the cell blocks and the areas immediately following them with their mossy stone that speak of decay, and all kinds of broken structures. It truly feels like a forsaken place only the undead would dare to occupy, but there are also other cool details like the fact that zombies are almost exclusively found in locked prison cells, guarded by haunts. It's chilling to note that the hierarchy between jailor and prisoner is preserved even in death.
At this point I guess I have to admit this isn't my favorite undead-themed mission—if I'm being honest I wouldn't even rank it as high as the undead missions in
The Dark Project—but it's a good one. The theme, mission objectives, and overall progression are well-executed, and it presents a welcome challenge on multiple fronts. If you're a fan of undead missions like I am it's not to be missed, and even if you're not really it's worth checking out if only for its place in Thief history. Given the accolades it's received you might end up thinking I'm underrating it.
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T2 FM: A Gathering at the Inn (2003)
"A Gathering at the Inn" is a remake of "A Gathering at the Bar" (the legendary first Thief fan mission ever and the reason people even got to use DromEd) that also serves as the first mission of an as-yet-unfinished campaign called
The Circle of Stone and Shadow, which I suppose at this point is something like the Mordeth of Thief FMs. The setup is simple but already hints at a much longer story. Dante, a thief in The City, has gotten himself into a pickle that can only be sliced by signing up with one of the City's new Wardens. I'm assuming this is taking place sometime during or before the events of
The Metal Age since Truart is mentioned, but he's not the one writing your orders. Said orders turn out to be a seemingly lengthy list of objectives—scepters to steal, plans to sabotage—but conveniently the targets happen to be staying at the same inn on the same night. Yes, your ingenious Warden has everything to do with that.
You start off in a snowy and very pretty little section of The City just a short walk from the inn. The guard presence outdoors is a mere token so you won't have any difficulty scouting out possible entrances, of which there are several. There's a strong argument for the sewers, which you'll know if you pay attention to your notes (though the number of "hints" you get is tied to difficulty level), but I personally went for a more unorthodox method, which was to stack some boxes on top of the little bridge connecting the inn's second story to the apartments so I could reach the attic window and bust it open. The mission isn't much more linear once you're inside, as you can tackle the guest rooms in any order. I imagine the forced ghosting as far as the guests are concerned could be a hang-up for some players, but the inn has some nice features that should make things go more smoothly if you seek them out.
If there's one thing I'd mention by way of criticism it's the city outside the inn. The outdoor areas are quite good-looking in terms of lighting and texture use, but the few indoor areas you can access are a bit of a missed opportunity. I wouldn't expect a whole lot of them in what is after all a light introductory mission, but the ones that are there feel a bit under-detailed and un-lived-in. It's not a huge deal but it makes things like stumbling on an obviously mission-related item before you even know where to use it feel a bit artificial.
Really though there's no reason to not play this mission unless you're allergic to unfinished business. By itself it's short and sweet and nothing to make you sweat, and provides a good deal of freedom of approach for such a short mission. I'm certainly interested in where this is going, but it's too bad that in 15 years only one follow-up has seen the light of day so far. I've read that it doesn't play nicely with modern computers, though I have not tested it myself. Any experiences?
Added.
nickie on 5/9/2018 at 17:10
Sorry for the delay and thanks for the reviews, lpowell - these are added.