TDS20AC Mission — A Shadow on the Water (05/25/2024)

Samantha1 on 6/7/2024 at 20:43

I just finished it and it´s definitely my favourite mission of the contest (not including the T3 one, because I have not played it yet). Stats: Loot 3992/4000; Time: 1 Hour 12 Minutes (most of that time was spent just looking at the amazing weather).
Nicked, you really are my favourite FM-author. You always manage to create such a wonderful, absorbing atmosphere and never fail to give us a new, great story to get into.

I have two questions:
-I´ve read here that the tomb/book can be destroyed. How? I´ve read sth. about a fire arrow but I don´t have one in my inventory.
-I only found 2 secrets (the secret room down the attic and I can´t remember what the other one I found was. I also found 4 special loot items). What was the 3. secret? A good hint please.

Edit: Forget the first question. I went back to the mission and immediately saw the fire arrow:rolleyes:

Severian_Silk on 7/7/2024 at 07:28

Loved this with all my heart. Another gothic, sea-faring story from nicked. He's been making masterpiece after masterpiece in my opinion, and this one's no exception. Superb atmosphere, nods to Thief 3, beautiful architecture and sound. The writing, I think, was splendid all around too. Would love to know nicked's inspirations for this FM and the others.

Samantha1 on 7/7/2024 at 10:24

I couldn't agree more :thumb:
I too would like to know where nicked always comes up with such great storylines. No other Fm-author can hold a candle to him in this regard. Only eternauta managed to create such captivating plots for me, but he only made three of them :)

<Username> on 30/7/2024 at 22:06

Stats:
* Normal difficulty
* 1 hour and 19 minutes
* 3877 of 4000 loot
* 3 of 3 secrets
* 0 hints needed
Elements I liked:
* The mission is immediately captivating. Starting on a boat and with a conversation is something out of the ordinary. The way Basso starts talking to you as the mission starts is reminiscent of Running Interference.
* The interiors and exteriors look stunning. This is one of the best looking T2 fan missions.
* The lightning effect works well. It kept me on my toes because it can reveal you when you are hiding in the shadows.
* The atmosphere with the rain banging on the windows and the lightning outside is excellent.
* The mission is a highly enjoyable homage to The House of Widow Moira, T3's highest rated mission on Thief Guild. Where that one emphasized the emotion of sadness, A Shadow on the Water is geared towards evoking dread.
* Lovecraftian themes and influences.
* Light of some lamps casts the shadow of a winged creature onto the wall. This was delightfully creepy.
* There is an auto note feature.
Could be improved:
* I blackjacked the man sleeping in a chair on the fourth floor. When I returned to the same room later, he was now sitting on the ground, still unconscious.
* I appreciate the effort to introduce T3 style menus, but it does not look very good and the options screen is still in the T2 style. If the game language is German, text may extend beyond the border of buttons.
* If the game language is German, mixed-language Garrett quips in English and German will be used.
* If you take manual notes, the automatic notes will sometimes be written in their place, which then makes both texts almost unreadable. It would be better if automated notes got their separate page.

mungomango on 1/8/2024 at 22:19

Just finished playing 'A shadow on the Water' and absolutely loved it!

Eerie, moody and compelling gameplay. Excellent attention to detail - it actually had me wasting time and just gazing at the beautiful paintings that adorn the walls everywhere! A truly well crafted Thief mission!!

I hope Nicked will make more FMs in the same style. Very much appreciated!

Grandmauden on 29/8/2024 at 07:08

Another stellar mission from nicked! A beautiful and atmospheric love letter to the best mission from TDS. Also a perfect reminder that, as a master thief, one must always remember to look up.

Playing on Normal, found all 4000 loot, all 4 special loot items, all 6 pickpockets, and all 3 secrets.
(A perfect score on my first playthrough?! Wow!)

vincentlancon on 30/8/2024 at 14:46

This surprised me...heh

Inline Image:

https://i.postimg.cc/CxhLHRX8/thiefopps.png

nicked on 30/8/2024 at 16:40

That's fixed (or should be fixed) in the latest version.

nicked on 5/9/2024 at 13:43

Thanks to everyone that voted in the contest! Glad to have won, but the other entries were great fun and worthy as well.

Here's the comments and feedback from the voters, for anyone interested. :cool:

Quote:

Would have liked to have known, in advance, that I couldn't drop a certain item.

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While not the largest mission I've played, the mansion was super fun to explore with multiple ways if entry, plus it's not often I see a thief FM with Lovecraftian elements in a story. And just the rainy atmosphere in general with the way it was executed was enough to win me over as well.

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I think this mission nailed the TDS atmosphere and therefore is probably the most faithful to the contest theme. A lot of care and effort went into details, such as the rain patter on the windows and the soundscaping (excellent remixing of some TDS ambients). The architecture and textures are also some of the best I've seen in a T2 FM, really impressive what was achieved in the Dark Engine. The mission is a little on the short side and, besides the visuals, there is nothing particularly outstanding going on - it is a fairly straightforward mansion heist. This is not a criticism per se, it is just when compared to at least one other mission in the contest, there is quite a contrast in terms of scale. This mission should definitely be added to the list of best mansion missions and I look forward to replaying.

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Nicked managed to pack an outstanding TDS-like mission into Thief2. The storm effects were extra creepy, kept me always on my toes, because I could never know when the shadow I was hiding in would disappear in a moment. The rowboat with Basso was also a cool thing, I don't think I have ever seen anything like that before in Thief2, only downside was that I had to keep repositioning Garrett in the boat because he was not tethered to it and when Basso made a sharp turn, he ended up falling into the water. The invisible enemy in the basement and its sounds were extra creepy, a nice touch. The story reminded me heavily of Captain Moira's from TDS, but this one with him trying to raise his dead wife was much more interesting than the original.

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This mission plays how I wish DS played. Very fun experience.

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A solid mod that really nailed the feel of Thief 3

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Overall, amazing work! This mission is pure TDS style. Everything works nice and smooth. Lightning effect was a nice add and it created more tension to gameplay. Strange priest with a mask added a lot to atmosphere and the readables in his room were the mission's most interesting ones. I would have wanted to read more about this priest's cult and their goals. Only one thing I was hoping for in the end, and it's just I wanted the mission to be a bit bigger. This tells about the quality of this fm, not wanting it to end! The soundscape was great all around, the menus superb!

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Very cute little mansion mission. Nice Thief: Deadly Shadows tribute. Plays it a bit safe (aside from ending section), not nothing to complaint.

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Nicked is a national treasure.

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Love the feel of this one, it mimics some of my favorite TDS levels.

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Very well made, visually stunning, solid gameplay!!

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This is peak comfort

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This was very good - good pacing, good foreshadowing of the battle to come, two possible endings - this was great!

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I would have liked to kill the monster in the basement. Great atmosphere, jumped a couple of times. Mostly great textures. Nice all the clues got written down for you.

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I don´t think I´ve ever played such a great FM in the style of T3. The atmosphere caught it perfectly. For me, definitely by far the winner of this contest.

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The structure of the house meant that there wasn't a good build up to the climax and the story was pretty predictable. However, the atmosphere and level design was really great. I also thought the special loot was a good touch

Excellent "port" of TDS into T2. Some mechanics, and many aesthetics ported from TDS into a T2 FM. Love it both from the atmospheric and technical point of view. Minus points are from the ending location. The final opponent is actually frustrating, and that makes the mission not very rewarding.

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- lack of flashbombs in tight interiors with heavy guard count nudge to blackjack on expert during first playthrough
- exterior lighting was pretty grim (not the good kind)
- plot was a bit too cliche and overdone including the basement
+ appreciate the TDS touches like arrow models, main menu, chests, auto-notes etc

It wasn't bad, just didn't really do it for me in terms of overall immersion despite having some nice rooms.

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Perfectly captures the atmosphere of TDS missions, especially Moira's mansion :D
I appreciate how the flooded basement made it impossible to move absolutely quietly, building up tension.
The gameplay was fine, I like the addition of the "special loot". Overall very enjoyable.
The story is pretty good, too. Not the top tier, but still very good.

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It is simple story mission which I appreciate. During some point I was afraid of doing the "good guy" work, but thankfully we don't. It can be also invitation for sequel in thief style, where Garrett has to deal with consequences of his actions and then get rid of them, by thus rescuing The City from doom. The direction of clues and flow of going through mission is solid good. There is also no innovation (I am not fanmission creator/game designer so I am not able to fully appreciate the craft of hidden mechanisms of the dromed), which is alright. Not every piece of work has to challenge existing formula, nor be a masterpiece. Especially since it is contest mission and priorities has to be made to fit within the deadline.
The story is voyeuristic take on pulp, eldritch horror. As mentioned in the beginning, I am glad how it was resolved as with the experience I had during playing I didn't feel in the mood of becoming the hero
Speaking of the basement I appreciate the Amnesia water monster.

The sounds and ambiance were alright, although there were moments where I felt like it is too obvious for my liking. Some of them were like a laugh track in the sitcom. I am not sure if it was on purpose to emphasize the pulp, or to go with route the player is too stupid to handle subtlety.

Art direction/Graphics wise it is perfect. The choose of custom stuff and being hd, while adapting tds style of menu and design of the gear gives a sweet spot. It is like idyllic idea of TDS art direction for the old and stubborn players. I am not a fan of HD mods and items that has way more polygons and sharp textures, but in the context of the mission and curating the objects, the shapes of architecture, and textures the work is done greatly. An experience of dealing with references is shown there which I fully appreciate.
The architectural elements and amount of clutter and details reminds me movie sets and museums focusing on interiors of the house.

It is good mission and great mission entry, for me the best with adapting TDS vibes to the previous games.

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Great adaptation TDS into T2. Many interesting features and solutions. Good atmosphere and gameplay. Plot is little bit cliche, but makes its work

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Such a low gameplay score because of lever pixelhunting. And overall low framerate.
Amazing custom textures and objects. Love the museum room hommage to A Pirates Downfall FM.

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beautiful faithful TDS mission

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"A Shadow on the Water" is just dripping with that TDS atmosphere, with excellent use of textures and ambient. Not to mention an excellent throwback to "The House of Widow Moira". Definitely my favorite to win the contest!

pwl on 5/9/2024 at 13:54

Congrats on a Great mission! I enjoyed all of the entries but IMHO this was the top.

Thank for this gem!
pwl