Vortex85 on 24/12/2022 at 19:14

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Not a secret and there is one, maybe you missed it. ;)

EDIT: sent you PM to double check

baeuchlein on 24/12/2022 at 19:47

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I also seem to have the mission almost finished, but am stuck in the Air Stone section, like JarlFrank. The wind sonds are completely unreliable and do not provide me with usable clues about whether there's a turn in the path or not. Sometimes, a wind sound can be heard where the player needs to turn, sometimes there's no sound at exactly the same spot. Throwing mines and other items onto the ground may help to identify where the path turns, but it's a very tedious thing. I think I'll cheat on this part, as I believe the end is near(TM)!;)

I also have to confirm the problem in the Light Stone area. For me, arrows did still work, but throwing or dropping flashbombs, Garrett's mechanical eye or mines failed, just as fortuni mentioned in another Thief-related forum. However, while at first one savegame made just after the passage with the magical lift platforms always had this bug, that savegame later on suddenly did not exhibit that behaviour anymore. Another save made just before stepping on the platforms never showed the problem, so I just tried that passage again, and the bug didn't happen. Oh happy day!:p

Other than that, though, I noticed no unusual bugs. An AI stuck in a railing and such things, but nothing serious, and nothing I would attribute to the FM, but rather assume that it's a general game bug.

Oh, and I never saw fog anywhere, except for the round spheres floating in the air near the starting point. The line "fogging 1" in FM.CFG made me wonder whether that is what was intended.


Alright, now for the good things.:)

The sight of the castle right after the start is impressive. Also, looking at the large moat surrounding it made me get some ideas:idea:, which turned out to be true later on - namely, the secret passage into the castle did not go unnoticed.

While access to the Stone areas was obscured, and sometimes made with switches being hidden almost too well, anyone carefully reading the books and scrolls should at least get a good idea where to look around, even if there's a slight hint into the wrong direction sometimes, like mentioning the AC maintenance man in the readable talking about the hot room. The AC was not the "hot tip" here.:cheeky: The "switch" in the gallery turned out hard to find even though I already figured out the solution, but I had to get very, very near the spot to make the thing light up. And I needed about three room combings to find the switch below the desk in order to access the Fire Stone area. But still, many of these were not so hard to figure out.

What's also nice about the castle is that it has transparent windows, and despite my graphics chips (one weak graphics card, and one even weaker Intel integrated processor graphics), I noticed almost no stutter when turning Garrett around to take in the great views. Unless it's just a problem with my computers, fogging in the distance could have made the appearance a bit better by partially hiding the rather basic "architecture" of the mountains around the castle and the walls of the moat.

The guards mostly were nuisances, but not impassable obstacles forcing the player to ghost 90% of the mission. A few guards were in spots where the common thief needed to think about how to get rid of them, but that's okay for such a large mission and castle guards who might have some experience. I think this fits into the mood well. I played on easiest difficulty level, by the way.

Some uncommon pathways that may be taken, or sometimes have to be taken by Garrett also are a nice touch. Some amount of thinking is required for some such areas, but I don't think it's too hard.

Of course, the author will be hated forever for what he let happen to poor little Dewdrop - how CRUEL to turn this poor sod into all the devilish instruments of pure evil that befell the poor guards' captain!:joke:


Once the two buggy areas are ironed out - and I already got wind that work on this has already begun -, this will surely be a fine mission that will serve well for many players.:thumb:

Karras35 on 24/12/2022 at 20:46

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Yes, I saved you my friend! But I didn't know where to put you, so I just put you on one of these two beds in the basement where this guard is patrolling in a circle and pauses in 2 spots. Didn't give me a bonus but all that matters is you are save now! :cheeky:



After I killed the evil Dew Drops, I picked them up and put them on Sarnias table for her to eat...:ebil:

Finished this masterpiece!!! Awesome atmosphere!!! Good changing ambience sounds in every floor and even more! Well done!!

10756/12466 gold
3:20 h
8/15 secrets

5/5 stars!

ko'ed only the guards in front of the door to the machine guards

Edit: Oh... I just realized you were already dead... :joke: Doesn't matter! At least I retrieved your body.
I was running away from these Dew Drops with you on my back! Thats why I asked if theres any way without a speed potion. But I made it up this wall with you on my back. Looking back I could have just run up there, kill them and then pick you up after they are dead.
I made it harder :cheeky:

frobbin hood on 24/12/2022 at 21:04

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Wow! Finally finished on expert. This mission is BIG.
2K short on loot and only 5secrets.

Well done Vortex85, loved it.:thumb:

The gameplay was varied, with a few surprises and new angles on things that made it really interesting.

I particularly liked thedark stone area - I knew what was going to happen and spent a while planning my escape. Still took me 3 or 4 goes though. Also the zombie Dewdrop area. Like another, I rescued the captain without realising he was dead! The castle itself was full of interest. The rooms had plenty of content and were arranged reasonably logically.
My only slight criticism would be that I could have used a few more hints as to some of the portal locations.
For example, I thought that the Earth one was well hinted and worked out where the switch would be, whereas the Fire one seemed a little obscure to me.
All in all, though, a fantastic piece of work. One which I shall most definitely replay.
Look forward to your next one soon....:cheeky:

Vortex85 on 24/12/2022 at 22:25

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Oh wow! This is a bug for sure! I know what may be causing it...

Did you have light orbs in the light stone room at the bottom on your return to the mirror portal on your way out or was the bottom empty like when you arrived? The reason I ask is the light elementals are supposed to spawn there and I've encountered issues where teleporting will send AI across the mission in other areas if you do not pause them from moving first. Please let me know because I can fix this. They are supposed to attack with light weapons when they see you and they are brutal.