The Dark One on 24/2/2020 at 09:08
Get it? It's a money joke.
In the Black (by VanishedOne) is a mission that places you in the role of the best of the best, the spymaster's spymaster. This time, our hero isn't after riches, but taxes, namely the finances of Lord Jaskin for reasons never explained, other than that Very Nice People want them. Not that that is of any concern, since you'll be too busy gawking at this guy's house.
This mission is similar to that rich relative you invites you over once a year in theory for a vacation but also so he can show off the new Picasso that he got this year. This house is one of the largest and finest in The Dark Mod, with modern lights and the sheer sense of richness filling the place. The author admitted that the mansion was in part a set of test rooms that he linked together, which almost makes one think of stumpy's "Lord Dufford's," which also began life as a test. While this mission somewhat suffers from the sheer size issue of its predecessor, it's far better connected and populated, with quite a few guards lurking the hallways. The new technology, sadly, also comes with spherical lights that make this deafening buzzing noise, which even lasts into menus.
Difficulty-wise, it's fairly tricky, less so due to hard guard patrols or lights, and more to the fact that much of the loot is hidden or concealed. Hints are sparse, and while the loot goal is optional, if you want to break it you're going to have to find them. The problem is that some of the hints are vague or nonexistent. Getting access to a large chunk of your loot goal requires you to take note of one random readable among a group of readables with no use. There's another brief horror sequence that's very well done, but can also be skipped entirely by semi-creative means...not that you get any hints that this is possible. A shame, since I've never seen this idea used in a mission before.
There is a story to be told here, but interestingly it's more indirect. If you find the hints and piece them together, congrats, but it's not required for the mission, which I liked. Nothing major compared to some dark secrets in The Dark Mod, but it's nice not to have everything spelled out. The mission also has one of the best interpretations of a Builder chapel I've seen.
All in all, a nice, fancy mission. Could have been tightened up a bit, but good. Recommended, just be aware of the quirks.
And I apologize for the long review gaps, I'm busy and my backlog isn't as full as I'd like it to be. Hopefully I can be a bit more consistent for a bit.
Added - nickie
The Dark One on 9/3/2020 at 06:01
Blackmail is such an ugly word.
Sir Talbot's Collateral (by the combo of Baal and Bikerdude) is an excellent little mansion mission that sets our cautious hero against the titular Talbot. On the surface, he's clean, but he's trolling about for a professional thief, and a demonstration of our hero's skills is called for. And hey, if a little bit of “collateral” is found, all the better...
This mission is quite well-made, and very non-linear for a mansion mission. Once you get access to the wine cellar (which can happen very early), you essentially have access to most of the mansion, via vents and secret passages. On my replay I was worried that you could break the mission this way, but there's enough separation to ensure that even experienced players will have to duck through the halls.
Difficulty-wise, it can be tricky, as knockouts are limited (although only Expert will fail you if you exceed it) and guards are plentiful. You have plenty of places to duck into, but expect some close calls. One oddly placed light in the kitchen gives you a little too much darkness right in the center, even though guards should be able to see you crouching right there! But that was the only odd light I found.
The loot goal is fair, if tight, but higher difficulties will require digging in nooks and crannies to find what's needed. I also sometimes had an issue with guards being alerted seemingly at random. I would put out a light or swipe something, and they would walk past it four times before noticing that something was amiss on the fifth. It didn't seem to increase my stealth score, so I assume it was either a bug or a misunderstanding on my part about the alert system.
This mission is quite fun. The blue ambient light makes it look different, and there is much to be found for the curious thief, including optional objectives. The readables are done well and provide useful hints on how to proceed. What I mainly liked was that the mission rewards, but does not demand, exploration. It's certainly needed on higher difficulties, but if you're playing it casually, you don't need to dig everywhere...but you'll miss out on secrets and equipment. I think this is actually a good intro mission for new players, since it hits a lot of high points but doesn't crush if you miss things.
Highly Recommended (was just Recommended but I decided to bump it up like a year and a half after writing it)
Added - nickie
The Dark One on 30/3/2020 at 06:06
I have nothing witty to say here.
The Gatehouse (by Bikerdude and GoldChocobo), is an atypical mission. For one, it's technical a conversion of a Doom 3 map. For another, this time you aren't playing as a thief, but as Matthias, a Builder acolyte who's reaching the climax of a year-long pilgrimage to track down a sword touched by the Master Builder himself. Obviously it's not just sitting in some guy's attic, but deep in an abandoned castle dubbed “The Gatehouse,” forcing our actual hero to track it down.
This mission stands out from the norm in a third way: It's mainly a puzzle mission. The higher difficulties do toss a few revenants at you to slip by, but for the most part you're solving puzzles and dodging death traps. It's all done quite well, and while you don't have many brain-teasers (barring a mirror puzzle which can be somewhat brute forced with a little observation), you'll have to search and think a bit, as well as quickly react to the latest challenge. Some are fairly creative too, such as one of the final hallways. And the final challenge is one of the most entertaining (if at times tricky) challenges in The Dark Mod.
The mission also has excellent atmosphere, conveying a crumbling, haunted ruin, with dark crawl spaces that you'll be watching in case something nasty climbs out. It's genuinely creepy, with hints of what happened to transform it into the mess it is today waiting for you if you're willing to look. It's a minor element, but executed well. There are a couple of issues that can kill the immersion a bit, such as spiked balls not always hurting you but instead landing on your head so perfectly you'd think that your head was a flat metal plate, but these are few and far between.
All in all, an excellent tomb crawler. Perhaps I'm biased, since I've been wanting one of these ever since I played Samhain Night, but Recommended.
Added - nickie
BR4ZIL on 1/4/2020 at 01:39
It might be because i am very new to the Fan Mission scene in both Thief and The Dark Mod, but this was the first mission to open my eyes on how much you can tell a story just with Map making.
Normal Thief and even the other FMs i had played up until this point had elaborated briefings, dialogues and other "higher production" values that people use to convey a story on whats going on in the map.
TD3: Heart of Lone Salvation had almost none of these besides the introductory slideshow + text, which were pretty much unrelated to the main mission. I just loved how a seemly mundane mansion mission turned into a depressing story of a man that was blind to his surroundings and his actions. I also really enjoyed how Farrell (the protagonist) reacts to these revelations and acts accordingly (all through the aquisition of new objectives), thus hes not just being a blind thief.
The way the map is layed out, with long and narrow corridors, blocked off parts of the house and the spiral staircase that leads to *you know who* all transmit the sense of decadence and despair that reflects the story found in the letters and books surrounding the titular gemstone. The foggy exterior is just a icing on top.
I am sure there are many missions that follow the similar formula and there might be even ones that do this exact style better, but Fidcal's map is the first one that did it for me and really peaked my already increasing will to test Fan Missions!
Fidcal doesnt seems to be active anymore, but i am giving him thanks for those awesome moments anyway! :D
Added - nickie
nickie on 12/4/2020 at 11:52
Up to date again, I think. Thanks guys.
The Dark One on 20/4/2020 at 07:54
Quote Posted by nickie
Up to date again, I think. Thanks guys.
Nono, thank
you. :) I'm glad to see that this thread still gets attention.
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In honor of the speedbuild origins, I present a speed build review. Go.
A Matter of Hours is Springheel's latest mission, meant to show that you too, can make a mission quickly. The Bowley Boys have got their hands on a valuable crown, making them a prime target for Corbin, our hero. Unfortunately, a raid is planned, meaning he only has a matter of hours to sneak in swipe it. This does not mean a time limit, but the mission is hard enough.
Springheel's other missions tend to be more story-based affairs focusing more on unconventional objectives, like tax records or humiliating gang leaders. This time it's much simpler: No readables, no plot, just swoop in and grab it. The mission is well done, with good lighting and enough junk lying around to make it seem like the player is in an industrial warehouse clumsily converted into a hideout. It's not a major part of the mission, but for something made it six hours it looks good.
The mission is also quite hard. Part of this is due to a blind spot or two, such as the one separating the warehouse proper from the hideout, forcing you to duck into the light and pray that no one is there. Some of the loot is also beneath bright lights, and getting at it will all but force you to either have excellent timing, or use your two knockouts (on the highest difficulty), on two particular guards. You will still need to have excellent timing if you do this. A challenge is fine, but the mission came off to me as very tight, and giving little room for misused equipment and knockouts. This is probably due to how quickly it was made, but nonetheless I found it a little vexing.
Exploration is rewarded well, with tools scattered about for the careful thief willing to look in the piles of junk. There were also some reports of performance issues, but I'm pleased to say that my four-year-old piece of junk that sounded like it has a chainsaw embedded in it and was probably clogged with so much dust that there were new forms of life growing in it could run it fine with almost no noticeable slowdown, nothing more than I've gotten in far larger missions.
All in all, a fun little challenge, especially for those who want a bit more careful stealth, and for those who want to know how simple it is to make a solid mission. Recommended.
Final time for writing: About thirteen minutes (and last minute edits that I didn't notice until I posted it on the TDM forums and now on here, a little over a year after I first posted it. I guess I'm not that fast after all.)
Added - nickie
michael a on 9/5/2020 at 16:03
TDM FM: Requiem by Gelo "Moonbo" Fleisher
I returned to Dark Mod after a years long hiatus. The last TDM FM I played was Penny Dreadful 3 (and I hope there would be released PD 4 - at least, in distant future) when it was released, and after that remarkable mission I abandoned this game entirely until now. So I decided to pay some of my old TDM debts including Volta missions (next to play) and, of course, two Moonbo missions. I decided to split my thoughts of those two into two posts each devoted to different mission. So I would speak about A House of Locked Secrets afterwards, and now concentrate my attention solely on Requiem.
Requiem begins in the city section, where the protagonist seeks to steal an important document from the Church of the Builders during the funeral of and requiem for a local priest. The urban part is not very large, but it has its own caches, hideouts and side quests, and, as it turns out later, those quests are intertwined with the main storyline. Subsequently, after the plot twist, the locations change, and we find ourselves deep underground, revealing the secrets of the Builders (Darkmod faction which is seemingly analogous to the Hammerites, but it is quite different) and their mysterious opponents who lived here until the founding of the City. I would not retell all these twists and turns of the "archaeological action", I would say that the mission begins to resemble the Lost City and Bonehoard missions from TDP.
Saying about the plot, I more liked the first half of Requiem, where the plot is presented in hints and equivocations, while the closer mission is to the end, the more “head-on” the flow of important information becomes. In addition, the thief who decided to save the world is not very convincing to me - it looked for me a bit artificial and forced. But from the gameplay point of view, the second half of the mission is just more interesting - it has interesting puzzles, for example with those crowns, almost invisible opponents (barely visible in bright lights and totally non-visible in the dark, which puts player into interesting choice - in order to see them he or she should keep the lights on, and at the same time avoid enemy to notice him or her), and also interesting spatial acrobatic puzzles. At the same time, the author constantly changes the conditions in which the hero finds himself, due to which the freshness of perception is preserved.
The puzzles here are mostly logical and make sense. There are a lot of environmental puzzles in this mission when and where you should "read" the terrain - in both city and underground sections. Some tasks requiring the object manipulation are intuitive and simple - may be, even too simple, especially near the end. In any case, it was joyful and highly memorable experience, full of interesting puzzles and challenges, that immediately hooked me to The Dark Mod again and also to Requiem's sequel. But it is a different story.
Added - nickie
michael a on 9/5/2020 at 18:05
TDM FM: A House of Locked Secrets by Gelo "Moonbo" Fleisher
I liked Requiem and so decided to give a shot to its indirect sequel featured the same hero named Bolen after some time. It is not single mission but small campaign with the introductory mission and main event. After the events of Requiem Bolen decided to completely change his profession and became devoted in Builders' Church. His abilities to communicate with the spirit realm earned him a position of someone like paranormal investigator who can contact ghosts, speaking directly with them. The first mission is some kind of introduction and delicately teaches player how to do so by travelling between "real" and "spirit" worlds and how to use objects in these different worlds. Those skills are very useful in the second mission which is the heart of the game.
This mechanics of walking between worlds somehow remind me of Shalebridge Cradle from Thief: Deadly Shadows but here it is the integral part of gameplay: by frobbing the specific object with Holy Symbol we teleport to a different version of reality and by doing so we can interact with people already died and can change it by performing specific actions. It feels refreshing and changes the "usual" Thief gameplay experience.
The second mission where and when Bolen puts these abilities into practice is one of the best (within last 5-6 years) missions in the subgenre of "haunted house with dark secrets" - along with Scarlet Cascabel (for Thief Gold). It features big and detailed manor where happened and is now happening terrible things and all of it is connected to misty and mysterious past. Comparing to classics (Ominous Bequest and Rowena's Curse), it is (as well as Cascabel) more open and wide and less constrained by keyhunt. You can complete the four main tasks in whatever order as well as some side quests. At the same time plot doesn't stand still, but constantly thickens and develops in accordance with the completing of main tasks.
Compared to Cascabel, by the way, this mission is somewhat smaller, plus subjectively, I'm a little more comfortable in the world of Garrett than in reality of Dark Mod. But here are more interesting and fresh ideas for gameplay, while puzzles are slightly more intuitive. The point of view of a “Builder” investigator (and a former thief who has not abandoned some of his habits - for example, to steal another people's property) is also somewhat refreshing. I played it for 5-6 hours and still miss 1,3 thousand of loot and almost half of 15 secrets. It is one of the best TDM missions (and one of the best Thief missions) I have played and I'm sure I'll return.
Added - nickie
The Dark One on 18/5/2020 at 07:30
I don't have anything to settle, really.
A Score to Settle is probably Springheel's best mission. This time, Corbin isn't after something as prosaic as money (although there's plenty of that), but vengeance. In the time he's been gone ((
https://www.ttlg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=124349&p=2368943&viewfull=1#post2368943) see The Builder's Influence), the Bowley Boys have gained a new leader, Sykes, who's running a vicious ship that has left his gang in charge and one of Corbin's fences dead. Just killing him would make the gang situation worse, so instead a fair bit of humiliation is called for...
A Score to Settle is a very urban mission. Instead of fancy mansions, you're slipping through the mean streets and slums and breaking into a gang hideout. Everything feels grimy and dim, with uneven, stained roads and small tunnels giving the impression that you're creeping down back alleys. It all fits the sordid (and somewhat funny, honestly) nature of what you're trying to do here. It's more story-based than most missions, and while actually breaking the scenario is hard, it is a little too easy to, just via natural curiosity, to complete most of the mission before ever meeting your contact.
Difficulty-wise, it's quite fair. Streets are wide open and made for sneaking, and even the closer confines of Sykes' hideout give you room to maneuver. The loot goal is high, but optional, and most of it is found in one place. I do wish that there were a few more places around the city to slip into for loot, since that's my favorite part of city missions, but that's a mild gripe. The difficulty only really shoots up with the final sequence, which is bound to send ghosters into fits of rage. That being said, it's done well, and creates some good chaos and confusion.
There are also a few other little elements of this mission that I like, such as a trap in Sykes' hideout, as well as how the mission uses the environment to allow you to progress. I admit one needed jump is a little too high, resulting in some (like me) seeing it, trying it, and then assuming that you need to do something else. Some of these elements make it a little hard to recommend to someone new to the mod, since it requires a little familiarity with The Dark Mod.
But all in all, an excellent mission. Recommended.
Added - nickie
Mman on 7/6/2020 at 20:10
Going through the Thief 2 Anniversary Contest Missions. Like the last contest my scores are tentative until I've played through every entry:
The Builder's Paradise - Thief 2
This is a fully Mechanist-themed level; it's set in a sort of alternative Thief 2 universe where Karras survived the Soulforge and Garret tries to stop him by breaking into another Mechanist facility. It doesn't quite go the way of a typical base infiltration though, as the ending of Thief 2 has had some consequences... There's quite a lot of build-up at the start, as you spend a while exploring and seeing the signs of what's ahead before the main tasks fully begin. The setting is some of the most impressive Mechanist design I've seen in Thief, with huge multi-layered areas and interesting machinary in the production areas, and it's further enhanced by some new objects and occasional use of bloom lights. There's some new Karras voice-acting that doesn't fully convince, but I guess it is a pretty hard voice to capture.
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https://imgur.com/ArWfbxv)
Inline Image:
http://i.imgur.com/ArWfbxv.jpgThe facility is full of giant rooms like thisOnce it gets going the gameplay is pretty challenging, with lots of noisy floors and enemies (including some new ones) that can't always be dealt with by standard means, although you do get a new tool or two. Progression can also be tricky, with multilayered areas and the most obvious path being frequently blocked off and requiring alternative approaches; maybe this is related to difficulty, but this actually led to a bit of a problem, as, because I could never unlock the main entrance to it, a large part of the level was locked off behind a threat I couldn't pass twice and I had to use a speed potion jump to get back to that section. In general there's some scripting that seems to act a bit strange if you do certain things "wrong", and, while you can probably still technically finish the level, it will be much more confusing and miss parts of the story. Things did work out, but there were a couple of times I did wonder if I was breaking the level in some way. There's also a lift near the start that only works properly if you press a certain button out of multiple, which made me think it was bugged for a little bit. Interestingly, there's no actual loot objective here despite plenty being around, and the main bonus exploration comes from an optional objective where a lot of the puzzles are contained. Despite the size of the areas it interlinks in a way that makes it feel somewhat compact despite that, and those seemingly-empty starting areas even get a secondary role later (although one that feels like a bit of a pixel hunt). As you start to get to grips with things the setting unravels in a satisfying way, and does great job of making you feel like you've mastered the environment by the end, especially if you go for that optional objective. An excellent level and "Soulforge but better" attempt with surprises that are better off found for yourself, although the complexity combined with what seem to be a few polish issues create some progression issues.
Rating 27/30
Feast of Pilgrims - Thief 2
This is a rooftop-based Life of the Party type mission, with a church as the main target. Like all good rooftop levels it uses the setting to create a varied set of vignettes and mini-storylines to reward exploration outside the main path. Visually it's high-quality and the many buildings you access have distinct styles and atmosphere, it doesn't quite have the height variety and massive sense of scale my favourite city levels like Melan's releases do, but it does provide a larger range of buildings to access overall, and the focus on rooftop action only (bar one or two parts) means more is put into making individual areas detailed. You can actually get to the city floor (which the readme states as somewhat of a "feature" despite not being an intended gameplay area), and while a lot is quite empty there's a surprising amount of detail put into it for a part you aren't supposed to access.
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https://imgur.com/46mcmNX)
Inline Image:
http://i.imgur.com/46mcmNX.jpgYour main objective dominates part of the skylineYou aren't actually Garret in this level, but that doesn't really affect anything beyond having Sean Connery's accent, which is one of the better reasons I've seen to shift character I guess. Like the previous Builder's Paradise a lot of the content and more complex tasks (including some fail-states) in the level are linked to optional side-quests, so how involved you get is somewhat up to you. The varied setting also leads to varied gameplay, with situations ranging from dark rooms where the occupants are asleep, well guarded strongholds, and brightly lit late-night parties full of guests. There's also lots of room for multiple approaches, and the most well-guarded areas almost always have other ways in with a little exploration and creativity. There's so much that, despite going to every building on the map, finishing the side-quests and a couple of seemingly 100% optional sections, I still wonder how much I might have missed. An excellent city map, and while it doesn't have the visual drama of other top city levels that tower over you, it balances that out with the sheer amount of variety it has.
Rating 28/30
Fierce Competition - Thief 2
This entry is a bit more bite-sized, with a small street areas leading to the main mansion target and a few side-areas to explore. While relatively small, there's a lot of attention to detail, with the individual areas having their own style and decoration, and there's plenty of room for vertical traversal. The mansion itself is also well decorated and interlinks on multiple levels with the outside area. Despite nothing notably strange going on the ambient sound and general atmosphere gives a slightly unnerving feel, which is a good sign of the attention paid to that aspect.
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https://imgur.com/ZHwzgTD)
Inline Image:
http://i.imgur.com/ZHwzgTD.jpgThe house entrance room is one of the nicest looking partsThe actual stealth isn't that tough, with the street areas being relatively simple to clear, the mansion toughens up a bit with more noisy floors and bright lights, but there aren't too many threats, and there's still plenty of carpet and darkness to use, along with the multiple entry points. Despite the small area, exploration is made rewarding with the vertical areas and various interactable objects that can hide rewards. The locations of the main objectives aren't immediately obvious, but I found them quite fast by applying some common sense based on what they are, which is a good sign there's thought in their placement despite little in the way of overt clues. A good level, but one that can't really match the larger levels with more content of the same quality or better.
Rating 24/30
Into the Odd - Thief 2
Like Builder's Paradise this is a level who's surprises are best found out for yourself, but let's just say it has the name it does for a reason. The main hub section is a town that's actually set in daylight (and makes some good use of things like bloom to make that fact more prominent), which is contrasted with the dark sewers and... Other places. The level makes use of multiple new/modified assets, and there's also some very creative use of old objects. It's also a map that has actual total darkness in certain parts, but it's quite forgiving with flares (on top of those parts being quite short) to avoid that being a problem. When things get strange it also has some very creative geometry, and contrasts claustrophobic tunnels with larger areas.
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https://imgur.com/7j2NxEA)
Inline Image:
http://i.imgur.com/7j2NxEA.jpgDaylight is such a rare sight in Thief that the amount of bloom manages to feel okayFrom a traditional Thief gameplay perspective the start is actually the hardest part by far, with you stranded in a hostile area with nothing to defend yourself, and the Daylight setting leveraged to make shade quite rare. The progression is also a little unintuitive (despite actually being quite linear initially), especially with the constant threat you are under. After you get going though it starts to both open up and provide more options to deal with things, even if those things aren't entirely familiar... The general layout loops between the town and the underground, with one linking area that feels like a bit of a mix of both in style, and the way half the map involves looking for your basic equipment almost gives the main sections a Metroid type feel, as initially limited areas open up and you acquire means to make exploration easier and safer. The story provides few clues to what is actually happening, and many of the readables are borderline cryptic, but it seems to be fully intentional; the nature of the stranger occurances being left to your imagination just makes them more haunting when combined with the expert execution. Despite the somewhat frustrating start this is probably my favourite entry so far, and one that could be tough for other contenders to beat, with a memorable setting, interesting unravelling layout and constant shifting of mood in a way that could be disruptive but feels effortless.
Rating 29/30
My Favorite Year - Thief 2
This is a mansion infiltration, although with a twist that the mansion is built into a warehouse. The architecture is fine, but on the simple side, with the outside having some nice details on the edges but with a main part comprising of a bunch of giant uniform crates that aren't especially convincing. The interiors are better, with the house parts looking good and having nice personal touches, but the transitional areas are still a bit bland looking. There's a small theme twist at the end that's overall the best looking and most atmospheric part, but it's quite short. The gameplay is relatively straightforward, but there's no map which makes navigation a bit more complex than it would be (especially as some of the basic corridors look very similar), the level isn't especially large though. It does do a good job allowing for multiple approaches, although the lack of a map makes finding other entrances feel a bit incidental. There are quite a few guards, but also quite a bit of darkness and noisy surfaces are rare, so they don't pose much of a threat (difficulty is supposed to change things like the number of light switches, but even on expert there were quite a few). What story there is doesn't develop much, but there are few environmental hints towards something darker going on that pay off a bit towards the end. Decent enough, and the merging of the warehouse with living spaces does give it nice style twist over a normal mansion setting, but it doesn't have much else to stand-out and feels like more of a learning experience for the designer compared to the other contest levels I've played so far.
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https://imgur.com/Zs92HLu)
Inline Image:
http://i.imgur.com/Zs92HLu.jpgThe living areas look pleasant throughoutRating 19/30