Anarchic Fox on 15/7/2021 at 15:59
For the curious. Digi asked me to emphasize that this departs from the original vision for CoSaS.
I screwed up in the original attempt. I'll just make one last revision and post it by hand. Please do not try to make this. This is just a story.
trefoilknot on 16/7/2021 at 01:15
Not sure if it's just my browser, but it doesn't appear to be a clickable link.
Anarchic Fox on 16/7/2021 at 06:06
Mission One:
Gathering at the InnThis is a homage to “Gathering at the Bar,” the first FM ever made (though not the first released).
Gathering at the Inn: (
https://www.ttlg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=64716)
Anarchic Fox on 16/7/2021 at 06:11
Mission Four: For the Love of Art (or, For Love and Art)
Dante has now participated in many missions. Stone has deemed him ready to be the lead agent on a minor one. The goal is, once again, the Ivory Rose -- this time a literal rose carved from ivory, once an heirloom of Cloud's family, now seized by the Bank. It's held in a vault in a Bank branch. The members of the team are Dante as lead, Steel as support, and Stone as coordinator, a role Sheam normally fills. Steel and Dante are infiltrating the same building, a local branch of the Bank; however, their mission areas do not overlap (to avoid unneeded complexity). Steel deals with the portions of the mission involving guards, as he's better than Dante at combat, and Dante's equal at stealth. Dante's mission area is the outside of the Bank, and its various mechanical obstacles; its access and ventilation systems; and at the end the vault. (There's a parallel with Stone's role in MX.) More importantly, he must make critical decisions when Steel requires one. Once again, there are multiple outcomes, though this time they should be "good, better, best" instead of "bad, good, best." In the better two outcomes Dante even has to do some impromptu therapy when Steel's resentment bursts out. Steel says that he's the better agent, but has never been lead agent, and the only reason Dante has the role is his relationship with Sheam. Stone and Dante burst out laughing, knowing something Steel doesn't, but they do explain to him that an agent's social skills are as important as their stealth and combat skills. What Steel doesn't know should be made easy to figure out: Nightfall has nothing to do with this mission. Stone arranged it based on an idea Dante had. After retrieving the Ivory Rose, Dante delivers it, a courting gift, to Sheam's mailbox, and the mission ends.
Anarchic Fox on 16/7/2021 at 06:12
Mission Five:
Switching RailsSR Prototype:
(
https://www.ttlg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=150640)
So, speaking of Mokkis and bandidos, mission five is Switching Rails. It has little plot significance, but I put lots of work into it dammit. Byron has become slightly more powerful in his magic, and his portfolio of spells is much larger, reflecting the fact that this mission is reality, as opposed to the fiction of 9YS. However, his magic is based on necromancy, and very strange things happen to the dead in The City. So, only the easiest magic works as it should, while everything else has progressively stranger side effects or misfires. This is, flat out, a comedy mission, not a challenging one -- Byron is overpowered compared to city guards, criminals and bandidos. The fun in this mission should be seeing what strange and wacky things happen when Byron tries his necromancy in The City, with the side benefit of hinting at future puzzle solutions, which will require him to work around the flawed magic.
Anarchic Fox on 16/7/2021 at 06:14
Mission Six: Weighing Fact from Fiction (or, Why Fox Fails at FMs)
Mission six would be my version of The Return of the Obra Dinn. Byron is still missing some key information, but he knows of a small library specializing in City history, near an exit from the underground tunnels. The library has one guard and a few night owl scholars, and poses little difficulty in stealth. However, there are thousands of books, every single one of which is readable (with text mainly drawn from stuff like The Gutenberg Project). Higher difficulty levels simply include more books, and at the highest level there are as many books as the Dark Engine will support. Byron has three writing kits (a la MX), and must find at least one of three key books by figuring out a big damn logic puzzle. These key books allow him to infer the location of The Circle. However, all he has to guide him in his search are the library's records, its spotty organizational system, and an obscure branch of magic called “library magic,” a tome of which is placed prominently at the front of the library. If you're wondering about the alternate name, this mission is a good example of why I should not design games.
Anarchic Fox on 16/7/2021 at 06:15
Mission Seven: Trimfect's Labs
Dante has proven himself as both lead and support agent, so now Nightfall and Sheam are going to try him out in the coordinator role, which previously only Hallming, Sheam and Stone have performed. This is our introduction to Hallming and Hallming's Labs, which is the play area. The equipment that Sheam uses to coordinate agents is a mixture of high and low technology, and Dante must learn to use it to guide field agents effectively. We get to meet Hallming, but Hallming, being very paranoid, quickly excuses himself and locks himself in a safer portion of the lab, so mostly you interact with Sheam. The mission is a simple one: the Museum, which Nightfall patronizes, has reported suspicious activities and missing items. Nightfall's magic has detected something amiss; it's Byron, of course, who burglarized the Museum. Lesser agents have been dispatched to investigate in secret. There's no fail state (except maybe as an easter egg), but you still want to guide the agents' activities to avoid detection. At the end, you've gathered both mundane and magical evidence about the burglary. The mage on the team reports that the dead are in motion, and that Nightfall needs to hear about this soon. The main objective completes, but the mission does not end; the objectives screen gives no clue about what is going on. However, if you explore the Labs after that point, you will discover a door previously locked is now unlocked, and you may now reach deeper into Hallming's territory. At the Labs' innermost sanctum, you find Hallming, dead. While the agents were investigating the Museum, Byron had already begun to infiltrate the Circle, and has now assassinated his first target.
Anarchic Fox on 16/7/2021 at 06:15
Mission Eight: Breaking the Circle
A Byron mission. Byron is in The Circle proper, with one objective: Kill Nightfall. However, Nightfall is forewarned by Sheam and Dante, and is ensconced in his office/quarters, protected against magical attack and divination. In addition, all agents have been alerted, and will enter The Circle as the mission progresses. This is the first hard Byron mission, on the level of MX. Not only are there skilled guards, technological snares, and magical wards, but also various agents will attack in various ways, including our beloved Steel and Stone, with Stone the hardest by far to handle. If Byron kills/disables an agent (say, Steel), an optional objective will pop up already completed, saying "Kill Agent Steel" or "Disable Agent Steel." At the start, there are a few agents already in the building, albeit serving relatively tame purposes. For instance, a scribe studying in the library is me, Agent Feather. I'm inconveniently placed and easy to kill. Anyway, if fast or stealthy enough, Byron can avoid all agents but one, Agent Glass (Dante). Glass, who was already near The Circle when he sounded the alert, awaits outside Nightfall's chambers, and cannot be avoided or bypassed. Byron must confront and defeat him, an easy task compared to Steel and Stone. However, Glass cannot be killed; no matter what, the optional objective says "Disable Agent Glass." After all, the plot must continue from this point. With the last obstacle subdued, Byron can finally enter the sanctum, where Nightfall awaits in his private office. When Byron enters, Nightfall stands from his desk and detonates the dozen fire crystals lining the room, killing them both; the mission fades to black. However, time passes and the mission does not end; instead, with a whisper, a unit of Byron's magic meter disappears, and Byron gains one point of health. The units of his magic meter were souls sworn to his cause, and one of those souls just sacrificed themself to resurrect him.