jay pettitt on 10/1/2006 at 15:14
Modest is good.
The Baron's Estate doesn't sound very modest though. But otherwise - I'm interested.
Howz about a tweak.
After the events of Deadly Shadows the ex-keepers are feared and generally ostracised. With the Balancing influence gone there are various power struggles between city officials, factions and so on. And with Garrett effectively retired from thieving action a terrible and brutal Over-warden gains power and fills the gap in the thieving market. The City grows unruley.
Mercier is an ambitious and zealous city official keen to wrestle the city into proper order after the fallout of Deadly Shadows - in anticipation for the Baron's (rumored) impending return. It is Mercier who orders the Night of the Long Knives.
Mission 2 is at Mercier's Mansion - where the plot with the Over-warden is uncovered.
Mission 3 - Power behind the throne, occurs not at the Baron's Estate, but at the Over-warden's sprawaling underground lair. What better challenge for a master thief?
STiFU on 10/1/2006 at 15:15
Hmn i must say i like it! But I'd prefer if garrett wasn't killed but taken to some prison instead. There he would be tortuned, just to make him know that the new Overwarden is playing any games and because of that his hatred against the Overwarden is growing. Mission 1,5 would be then to escape from the prison. Sure an old hat but it would be cooler in my oppinion than killig garrett. Then garrett meets the other Keepers that are not killed yet and your mission 2 follows. All in all we would have 4 missions then.
@Jay: I liked the Baronial Estate, because it is just so classic!! :) I always loved the first level in thief 1... Played the demo a hundred times!!! :D
jay pettitt on 10/1/2006 at 15:27
Bafford is not The Barron
The reason I suggest not with the Barron's estate, is that those would potentially be 3 very ambitious and big hitting missions in the space of 3 missions. Sometimes it's nice to have a bit of a breather for the sake of varying the pace. Player gets some respite - yet another mansion mission is pretty much home ground - and the big missions get to make that much more impact.
Also there is some value in keeping the Baron as an unknown element.
New Horizon on 10/1/2006 at 15:43
Just a quick note.
I should have the installer finished by Friday.
Ziemanskye on 10/1/2006 at 16:25
Does anyone currently have even a "working prototype" for a rooftop mission?
(As an aside - my light-less project has grown - I've decided to build a Thief Variant of FF7's Junon in the fog... :erg: You should be able to get to the roofs just by jumping down over the barriers on each 'floor')
Otherwise, that 3 mission plan sounds okay to me - though I think it may end up being load-zoned (to A - make it easier to build, and B - mean we can have more people working, there's quite a few volunteers for this, but not currently a lot of work to go around). I think I prefer Jay's version with the last level the sprawl rather than the mansion, but either way could work.
ascottk on 10/1/2006 at 17:13
I was thinking along the lines of a 3 mission campaign too.
I think it'd be wise if we don't use a mod because:
* Players may not like the mod.
* Players have a choice of mods. They can use any/none.
* As for the Realist: it's still a WIP & experimental.
* Ziemanskye is picky :joke:
I'm still up for using T3EnhancEd though.
Also I have ideas about the objective structures too & I may post a diagram later.
Here's a quick & dirty one:
Quote:
PlayerStart
|
Difficulty Choices (with each choice the content/objectives shuffle)
[INDENT]
* Objective 1 activates
* Objective 2 activates
* etc.
[/INDENT]
Along the course of the mission the content/objectives evolve according to the player's actions. If the player goes left in a fork in the road then that (de)activates NPCs, objectives, etc. but if the player goes right then there's a new set of content/objectives. I thinking of replayability & a normal walk-through won't work because the missions change each time.
str8g8 on 10/1/2006 at 17:19
Quote:
Mercier is an ambitious and zealous city official keen to wrestle the city into proper order after the fallout of Deadly Shadows - in anticipation for the Baron's (rumored) impending return. It is Mercier who orders the Night of the Long Knives.
Yes, I think this is better :) as you say, I think there is something in keeping the Baron as an unknown ...
Quote:
But I'd prefer if garrett wasn't killed but taken to some prison instead. There he would be tortuned, just to make him know that the new Overwarden is playing any games and because of that his hatred against the Overwarden is growing. Mission 1,5 would be then to escape from the prison.
I like this too, a bit darker, and it provides a personal angle. And we get to meet the antagonists sooner. :thumb:
I would still like to make the case for the Baronial Estate. I understand the reservations, and although big I don't think it would be hard - precisely because it is such well-trodden ground.
I was thinking more along the lines of Truart's Estate than Bafford's though. The estate would be situated on a headland between Dayport and Eastport (the Baron's Way runs West-East through Dayport). A fortified wall would enclose large landscaped gardens, trees, folies etc. The building itself would consist of the original Keep (basically an old stlye Castle) with more modern wings extending on each side. As one of the oldest and most impressive buildings in the City - on a par with the Cathedral and the Museum, it would be a fitting climax.
(
http://www.michaelp.org/photos/scotland2003/edinburgh_castle.jpg) pic for inspiration
I'm OK with the alternative outline however, if the estate doesn't grab.
As for load zones, yes, I would imagine each mission a seperate map, and possibly even split the Estate into interior and exterior. I know how unpopular load zones are, but I think they have a place for optimzing 2 very distinct areas like this, where each would have it's own set of smeshes and textures and very little overlap ...
cheers
str8g8
Ziemanskye on 10/1/2006 at 17:32
Quote Posted by ascottk
Ziemanskye is picky :joke:
:thumb: Yup.:p
That's Edinbrgh Castle - I live reasonably close to it, so I might be able to get more pictures/maps for the place. It's been a while since I touristed it, but I seem to remember it's quite a lot of buildings, rather than just the one, so you could argue in favour of it being quite a few load-zones. Be one hell of a showpiece mission though.
str8g8 on 10/1/2006 at 17:51
Quote:
Be one hell of a showpiece mission though
I used to live in Edinburgh too which is why I had it in mind. Do you have a digital camera? I'm thinking texture reference as well :) Inside the walls it's a jumble of different buildings from different periods. As you say, it would lend itself to load zones, and multiple authors.
Re your earlier question about rooftop missions, I have thought about it quite a lot, and in my current FM I have a large bridge where it's basically open to the skybox on almost all sides. It's amazing what you can get away with if you get a nice skybox going.
str8g8
Ziemanskye on 10/1/2006 at 19:27
I'm not actually in Edinburgh, but I can get there easy enough, and I have access to a digital camera... Wonder how extortionate the entrance fee has got since last I was up that hill?
Still, if people are willing for it to be a good inspiration for the Baron's compound I can get over there tomorrow (if the weather is okay, Scotland + winter = cold + miserable).
