SpiffyMario55 on 21/2/2023 at 20:23
so...I decide to be a nice person and try to free the prisoners in the factory (which I assume you're supposed to do to there being levers in front of the cells] and what is the thanks I get?? I get frigging whaled on! That's right! They actually resorts to attacking me! Which is odd because when I reloaded they actually did run away that time! a bug?
Master of Dromed on 21/2/2023 at 21:21
They behave a bit buggy i know.. i tried to set them to run when they see the player but due to their aggressive nature many times they attack the player instead of running. Sorry for that.
Plibb on 23/2/2023 at 20:34
Finished on Expert with 6377 loot with zero secrets found, finished in 2 hours and 20 minutes in-game but probably took me close to 4 or 5 hours IRL. Despite some grievances that have been talked about in this thread, I thoroughly enjoyed this missions gameplay and it was a treat to look at. With the rate that you're improving I can see your next mission being even better :D
szabikka on 25/2/2023 at 09:24
Phew, this was tough!
I've just finished the mission and I have to tell you it is superb. This is a very complex one with meticulous archiectural design. It is simply beautiful to look at, especially the dockyard area. Others mentioned that the rooms are cramped with furniture, I didn't have a problem with that. It never resulted in my capture. My concern was that in the castle - apart from the catacombs area - every light is electrical... actually it puts such a strain on the grid that many lights are blinking in the castle (or at least that's what I think the cause is for the many blinking lamps).Hence, water arrows are completely useless in this mission, didn't have to use a single one.
Finished about 500 loot short, found 1 secret. I think the loot goal could be much higher on expert. Loot is literally everywhere, it was the loot goal that I managed to complete first, when in other missions it's usually the last one.
All in all, it is a prime example of a good mission with a lot of fun and furthermore it can easily be ghosted.
Thank you for the fun Master of Dromed! :thumb:
karlpet on 4/3/2023 at 21:11
This mission is awesome. I'm a bit lost in finding all masks, but for some reason I'm enjoying getting lost in the huge mansion.
There is a dream-like quality to the layout, which I find myself really enjoying now.
The outside megastructure of the mansion is just fantastic, absolutely beautiful, the graveyard side area was striking as well.
I would say that the journals seem less relevant, and there are a bit too many people sleeping, it is almost as if your methodology when building this map (x amount of sleeping people in beds, x amount of geometrical complexity, x amount of models in rooms, etc) might have been a bit too strict. There is definitely a very strong cohesion to the entire level, which I enjoy. I just think that relaxing some of the methodology might have been interesting. I really liked how the sewers/factory stood in contrast to the smaller mansion that was more trickstery. I'm struggling to phrase this in a good way, uh, thief is a game about contrasts, and sometimes the cohesion could be relaxed in a way that could emphasize contrasts.
I barely even know what I'm talking about. This level is great, it looks awesome and there is a dream like quality to it. It feels like the inside of the mansion is bigger than the outside of the mansion as well, which is interesting. Super good stuff, keep it up!
I really like the usage of mats/carpets, like the overlapping ones, there is so much visual ingenuity on display here.
[Edit] Found everything. What a mission, fantastic stuff.
mungomango on 7/5/2023 at 12:57
A really nice mission Master of Dromed! I enjoyed it a lot. I'm not going gripe about anything as the work you have put in is enormous, and it's a million times better than what I could achieve. Keep up the good work please :)
cavador_8 on 18/4/2024 at 16:06
I agree with much of the criticism concerning this mission. I've played some of the other missions by this author and they are very similar in terms of maze-like designs and using extremely basic low-res Thief 1 looking textures with numerous plain bare rooms. I would tap the breaks on the whole "master of Dromed" thing and maybe consider a name that is less vain.
Karras35 on 20/4/2024 at 19:30
I finished in 2:35 on Expert 6807/7215 loot, 1/3 secrects, 61 knockouts :joke:
While I really enjoyed playing your last FM "Into the Dark Forest" alot, with this FM I have mixed feelings.
I want to mention the beautiful architecture desing, nice textures and many interesting objects. I liked the singing bard near the water and the bums in the sewers.:cheeky: Inside the castle I found many pretty paintings that I liked. Everything looks absolutely gorgeous and I love the maze like structure of your fms! Very nicely done! :thumb:
One thing I remember fondly of your previous FMs, are all those guard conversations that make the level feel more alive. In this FM however, there were no guard conversations anymore, moreover the servants didn't even mumble their usual mumbling, unless alerted. (guards did)
Also soooo many servants were sleeping and because there were only very few guards, the world seemed a bit lifeless and empty. There was no interaction happening.
The main quest (saving Ballsy) was relatively quickly done compared to the side quests and clearing all the other areas (the Hammerite factory, the town, the castle). The Hammerite factory and all the areas and houses in the town took me a while. I took time exploring, climbing over rooftops and sometimes it felt like I was in a place I wasn't supposed to be. :joke: Then I cleared the first floor. After I had cleared the first floor (most people sleeping...:erm:), I went straight for the catacombs.:idea: I bullied the zombies with my sword and annihilated the Lich and his skeleton slave with holy water and a flash mine. Then I found Ballsy and quickly after I easily found the way to the gem. (rope arrow) I enjoyed this little body recovery mission.
Sadly after this, the rest felt quite boring and pointless due to a lack of a challenge. Even though the castle is very beautifully desinged and I can clearly see that you put alot of love and devotion into this level. There was just no real excitement anymore after finishing the missions main goal. Almost everyone was sleeping and there were hardly any guards and there were zero challenges or dangers in the castle. The masks, the crown, everything was unlocked and very easy to get. The raging mage girl caught me by surprise though and was a refreshing change.
Still, I want to thank you very much for this nice FM! I highly appreciate your hard work and I hope if you make any future FMs, please don't put so many nps to sleep and make it more challenging again, like in "Into the Dark Forest 2.0".:cheeky: