My first FM "The Mystery Man" released! (26/03/2001)

fortuni on 27/12/2017 at 18:25

No. But little bugs occur, especially with the older missions, sometimes it's because your using darkloader which can misread the authors instructions (that's why it is recommended to use FMsel or NewDarkloader), sometimes it's your windows giving you grief and other times it's Newdark. Dromed is a 20 year old engine, you wouldn't expect to drive a 20 year old car without the occasional splutter.

stevedonkey on 10/3/2019 at 19:16

I've got the same problem. No place to put the Earth Talisman, and the links to quicksaves are dead :( Can you post them again or send them to me? I could host them indefinitely on my server if you want so future generations don't get stuck.

Awesome mission by the way. I think I like it as much as or more than Constantine's place in Thief1.

fortuni on 10/3/2019 at 23:25

Here's that (https://www.mediafire.com/file/lfgdkjzyk0tr4o7/quicksave_MysteryMan.zip/file) save again but I have a habit of deleting saves from my Gdrive regularly so yes please host it on you server.

btw what Newdark version are you playing via 1.26?

Unna Oertdottir on 11/3/2019 at 08:24

Can someone please provide a savegame for that invisible/vanished earth ward issue?

LostCitizen on 11/3/2019 at 18:34

I wanted to post mine from nearly 2 years ago, but somehow I do not have any "saves" folder in this particular mission anymore. :( (can't remember why).

radogoal on 15/3/2019 at 15:39

i cannot find the master key . and where can i get informations about nobels and the mystery man ?can anybody help me please

SlyFoxx on 15/3/2019 at 19:39

(https://www.ttlg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=63692&highlight=mystery+man)

<Username> on 22/4/2019 at 09:36

I am happy to report I was able to complete The Mystery Man without needing any hints. :D I played on the easiest difficulty, but since I also found the fire poker, the crystalline scepter, and the note on why Garret was targeted by the assassin, I completed all objectives of the hardest difficulty as well. Finished in 1 hour and 56 minutes with 11069 of 15169 total loot.

This mission does a great job at rewarding the player for exploration. It feels like there is some loot or even a secret area hidden in every room. The puzzles are not too difficult, but players can easily get stuck if they miss one of the hidden levers or items. For example, the first time I searched Alexei's room, I did not see the crystal shard lying on the floor. I was also thrown off by the map a bit: After I got Lan's key, I looted the "treasure room". However, I did not realize there was a second "treasury" close by. I thought this was the same room, so I totally missed Nina's Heart. I had to comb the mansion again after I cleared the Western tower to realize this.

The Mystery Man features one of my favorite settings in Thief fan missions: I loved the mystery of an unseen master who communicates with his guards and servants by leaving messages in the rooms. Not even they know what he looks like. And then there is something pretty gruesome going on behind the walls, something to do with a rumor of noblemen disappearing in the mansion. That was excellent.

Some nitpicks: Many players need hints to complete the mission when they miss one of the many hidden levers or a puzzle clue from a readable in this huge mansion. The architecture is good, but not stunning. Other authors have raised the bar since The Mystery Man was released. Also, the final confrontation felt a bit anticlimactic: A glowing haunt appears, you defeat it, and that is it? There is one journal with the line "I am standing behind you, Garret": That always feels like a bad cliche. And "Masamune" sounds like a sword that belongs in Japanese folklore, not in Thief.

Overall, I rate this mission 8/10.

Unna Oertdottir on 19/5/2019 at 13:26

I found the culprit for the lost earth ward. It's miss15.mis.dml that's in TfixLite

646 is the Earth Ward in Mystery Man (miss15.mis). It's in the solid/void after installing TfixLite
This is unique to Darkloader users, but not FMSel.

Warning for Darkloader users: Do not use Tfix/TfixLite combined with FMs. This will load dmls in a way which is not intended. Not good for you. It can break the mission. Use FMSel, NewDarkloader or Angelloader and you're fine.

Thanks for the savegame, stevedonkey

baeuchlein on 21/5/2019 at 13:22

Unna, is this meant to be a DML fix with the filename "miss15.mis.dml", for use with FMSel and other modern FM loaders? And if so, should the file not begin with "DML1", then?