T2 FM - Compulsory Egress [20 July 2019]

Unkillable Cat on 26/7/2019 at 19:08

Quote Posted by Cheela

@Unkillable Cat
For that door that opens partially: is it in the city hall? Have you visited the security room which is locked in from inside ?

It's not quite in city hall, it's in the section on the second floor where you can go west and find the kitchen and storage and sleeping quarters and such. It's the door on the left in the sleeping quarters. It only opens a fraction, but enough so that I can see crates behind it that prevent it from opening fully.

Galaer on 26/7/2019 at 20:18

Quote Posted by Unkillable Cat

I think I know the room you are talking about. Check hole in the Vault. You have 2 passages there to rope up. One leads to thieves hideout and the other to the other side of blocked door you are asking about.

nicked on 26/7/2019 at 22:05

This was an absolute treat. It has none of the usual pitfalls of a debut mission; it's very well designed, particularly in terms of interconnectedness - the way it rewards, but rarely requires, backtracking. It's also wonderfully bizarre - 3D space is expertly utilised to make an Escherian fever dream of a cityscape that doesn't conform to logic, but always to gameplay. The storytelling is great - an enticing mystery that unfolds with excellent pacing, and a lot of good examples of environmental storytelling, leaving you with a clear sense of the drama that has taken place but without clunky exposition.

My only nitpicks are that some of the audio was really harsh and loud, even after I uncommented the ambient line in the settings file, and non-loot items acting as loot felt a bit cheap.

downwinder on 26/7/2019 at 22:36

nicked mentioned non loot items,i was always curios about that,as some fan mission some items can be loot and some not loot,there should be something about loot that a player can tell from non loot like thief 3 did,but maybe a more subtle way???

would be cool to see a list of om loot and a list of non om loot that had been used as loot in a fan mission to see that list also,cheapest loot is the empty blue flower pot,i was like this is loot?then most players will say omg i did not frob a ton of stuff early in mission so they got to back track reloot area's then continue mission

maybe authors can have a list of lootable items list in fan mission folder showing what can be looted as loot,not counting gear items/special items for mission?

so my final view is 2 possible way to solve loot issues for players who might not frob that pile of junk as it was never loot in past missions

either something in game to make loot stand out or a list of all lootable items for missions/missions a pic list would be best showing what is lootable instead of names of items most may not know

DirkBogan on 26/7/2019 at 23:18

Thanks for your comments, nicked! Your tutorial was essential to me becoming at all competent with DromEd; not to mention your more general influence with FMs like Behind Closed Doors: probably the longest FM I've ever played, and yet the objectives and layout ensured that I was never confused about progression or unsure what to do next.

Your audio 'nitpick' is absolutely correct, and sadly it used to be worse: Squadafroin in particular raised the issue of ambient volume during beta-testing. I spent a few days adjusting individual schema volumes and testing line-level output to try and get the ambient volume to a consistent level. I decided at the time that ambient_volume 1100 was the 'optimal' setting, avoiding any clipping (at least for all the ambients I tested!) without being too quiet relative to Garrett's footsteps and AI dialogue. However, I am also aware that I always use a low system volume, so at much higher volume these 'mixing' decisions don't apply as well. I also likely missed a bunch of ambients. It's probably best that players just set the ambient volume to their preferred level!

The 'non-standard' loot concern is an interesting one: Schlock mentioned it during beta-testing, I think more as a curiosity than a defect. I'm actually quite happy with it: some of them are 'unusual', but are loot by default in the stock gamesys (e.g. the collection plate in the home with the gold-brick wallpaper and candlestick thief. I really like the storytelling here -- if he was too dumb to find the lever that opened the wall safe, he was definitely too dumb to notice that the collection plate was valuable!). Others are consistent with or references to other FMs (I am certain other missions have used gold paper trays and small glasses as loot!). Most importantly, I didn't intend for any loot to be deceptive. All the non-standard loot looks like something that could be valuable -- there aren't any shovels or powderkegs that count as loot, for example. However, my understanding of what 'looks' potentially valuable is very subjective, so this is a totally legitimate criticism. :D

If anything, I'm honoured you had so few issues with it. Glad you enjoyed it!

radogoal on 27/7/2019 at 03:56

wow what a great scenic in this down. but i have a great problem . i can't see any guards. or there are some bowmen. i can see the arrows but a i cannot see the man :confused::confused::confused:

Unkillable Cat on 27/7/2019 at 09:50

Quote Posted by Galaer

You're right. I had written that off as not being a traversable path. No loot to be found there, but an enjoyable find nevertheless! Thanks for the help! :)

Lightningline on 31/7/2019 at 20:55

Angel Loader says its junk. Why?

DirkBogan on 31/7/2019 at 21:10

Quote Posted by Lightningline

Angel Loader says its junk. Why?

I'm not sure what you mean. If you mean the file is broken, perhaps you can try a different download or extracting the files manually to a folder in your FMs directory. If you mean the quality of the FM, I'm in no position to judge! ;)

Spyrano on 1/8/2019 at 01:37

Only got 6000 gold, but that was a fun mission! Good mix of T1/T2 textures, that brought a nice atmosphere. Not to mention you made maps! Always good to have.