Thief 1 Mission: "Bloodstone Prison"... a Kung Fu Gecko production (Nov 24, 1999) - by kfgecko
Viper6 on 27/11/1999 at 05:29
KFGecko,
OK, now I finished the level. Whacked the Giggiwiggi (Now that I found out who it was, and that he needed whacking, and could somehow be whacked at all. Nothing else worked other than dousing lights and sneaking around him.) That was some fireworks display. Not being real close is good advice. Having a large reserve of health points before you try that stunt is also a good idea. And some "Hammer throwing" practice beforehand wouldn't hurt either.
Got out from the "Humongus Diamond". So used to second story work with rope arrows that I overlooked something more obvious; a ladder up. (C'mon now, nobody devious enough to make you jump down through the c*****e to get into the joint in the first place, would give you a ladder back up. Would they?) And it answered my door not opening question too. There was one key I didn't have. The Boiler Room key.
OK, what was easy? Whacking guards. Haunts typically are not very easy to kill. An old castle full of them looked to be a Mutha. Kinda like tackling an old castle full of rat men like Strange Bedfellows from the original. One whack from behind, or about three whacks toe to toe, and down they went. The Holy Sword earlier in the game would have made guardcleaning a little easier, but not by much.
What was tough? Figuring out what I was supposed to do next. More in-game clues would have been helpful, particularly with your real original stuff. Putting out the ghost guards candle, following him to the wall safe, walking through the guard to get to the safe contents while the guard completely ignores me. Nowhere in any other Thief mission, original or FM has that been done. Now that's original. That takes its place up there with smart AI's that turn lights back on, glass windows that open, lawn sprinklers that work, flush toilets, hot & cold running water, and, oh yes..drunk female AI's with barrels over their heads that want to fight you with a broken bottle.
Your architecture and lighting is absolutely superb. Very realistic. Something we would expect Walt Disney or Universal Studios to create.
Your initial comments stated that this was not intended to be anything special. This is no Gold Hammer, just some fun stuff I hope you'll enjoy. We'll see. Perhaps you're in the wrong line of work, eh.
Bruny on 27/11/1999 at 20:06
I played it last night. A truly awesome level. Don't put in any more hints!!! Your get-the-key quest was a Gold Hammer puzzle, and I don't throw that term around loosely. All the clues were just right, just subtle enough. Killing the jiji... jimiji... the bad guy was Gold Hammer too. Again the clue was subtle and perfectly balanced.
I usually hate froggies but yours turned out to be fun. I had plenty of broadheads and wiping them all out was EXTREMELY satisfying. Ummm, mmmm, yes ... sorry, got carried away!
There was a fun moment with two haunts and the boat. It was challenging but quite good.
The outdoors was great. I'm especially jealous because I spent ALL EVENING last night building a small gnarled tree in one of my bedrooms which pushes up through the floor and cracks the ceiling into the attic above. I wasn't even half way finished with it when my poly counts were up past 600 in that bedroom alone, which was something like 60 before I put in the tree. I deleted the whole thing and went to bed. So your tree thing was great too.
Lots of interesting places to explore in the mission but it could have been even more challenging. There were some incredibly good places with tough challenges but between them there were long stretches of just walking around and exploring with the occasional haunt to whack. Having your haunts patrol in pairs or having a few more situations like in the cathedral (haunt placement and patrolling there was awesome!) or by the boat would have done a lot toward this. Or doing a bit more with tile floors to make things dicier (I know some people hate tile floors, I like just a little bit of them).
You asked to know what we liked and didn't like. You know what I like and I can't point to anything specific I didn't like. There was nothing wrong with your level and I enjoyed playing it and had a good time. Increasing the difficulty in regards to the creatures would have made it even more fun, but that's really all I can come up with. Sorry I can't think of anything bad.
Bruny
kfgecko on 29/11/1999 at 06:28
Has anyone tried the full sneaker method? (Don't kill/bj any AI's? Well, you can kill froggies, just not any humanoids. You can do it!
Even though this is an undead, I avoided "running from zombies" and instead emphasized sneaking just like a human mission. Sneaker, anyone?
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It awaits! Check into (
http://members.xoom.com/geckobeach/pcgames/thief/bloodstone/index.html) Bloodstone Prison (A Kung Fu Gecko mission)
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"gem of a level" "tons of replay" "1.5 to 2 silver" - TDP TEG Thiefs_Pawn on 29/11/1999 at 10:11
First off, that's an excellent level, though I got rather confused with the plot, trying to kill the wrong ghost
Inline Image:
http://www.ttlg.com/forums/ubb/smile.gifApart from that I didn't kill/bj anything (even frogs) until I got the Holy Sword, then I must admit I went back round and 'cleansed' the place
Inline Image:
http://www.ttlg.com/forums/ubb/smile.gifOh yes, the shadows around the underground river and in the torture chamber were really well done.
Are you doing another level?
Thelvyn on 29/11/1999 at 15:10
I just downloaded and played the mission, it seems very well done except it was too easy.
I played it through on expert first time in 54 minutes.
the only problem I had was I died when I used the hammer on the warden, it does create a rather explosive situation doesnt it ?
btw the frogs were quite amusing
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http://www.ttlg.com/forums/ubb/smile.gifDaveboy on 29/11/1999 at 18:48
In regards to being 'easy on Expert' -
At this point, most of the original Thief missions ARE easy(ier) on Expert for most of us. The only way to compensate is to either -
a) accept it and move on, or
b) make it ludicrously hard thereby alienating part of your audience.
This is not a shot at Trickster, but in Death of Garrett there was a part of the level that tainted my memory. It was just ridiculously hard.
A wise forum-goer once said, "Any mission that makes me reload more than 10 times to get past any particular part goes in the trash-bin", and I agree with him. It's better to err on the side of easy than hard.
I myself found Bloodstone Prison to be a perfect mixture of challenge, sneaking, and exploration. Good show KFGecko, and I am lookin' forward to your next mission!
DB
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Is that a blackjack in your pants or are...oh wait, it is a blackjack.
kfgecko on 29/11/1999 at 21:57
Whoops. I can't believe I'm such a lame-o that I mispell my own character's name. It's "Jiggiwiddi", not "Jiggiwiggi". Oops.
If you guys wanna know how I came up with that name, highlight below. You're not gonna like it... heh. :)
Jiggiwiddi is actually, "jiggi with it" pronounced "jiggi widdit" from the happy/goofy-cool hip hop dance Fresh Prince song.
I was looking for a name similar to the Alice in Wonderland book "Through the Looking Glass" character "Jabberwabbi".------------------
It awaits! Check into (
http://members.xoom.com/geckobeach/pcgames/thief/bloodstone/index.html) Bloodstone Prison (A Kung Fu Gecko mission)
Have you visited (
http://members.xoom.com/geckobeach/pcgames/thief) The Library?
"gem of a level" "tons of replay" "1.5 to 2 silver" - TDP TEGGarotte on 29/11/1999 at 22:50
Easy, who says it was easy? Ok then it wasn't the toughest mission yet but definitely not too easy. Great mission KFG with fantastic atmosphere. The lighting was in a class of it's own. Must admit to getting glued at one point (in a tree) but that was my fault. Some of the rooms were maybe a tad on the small side (ones with the chests)and I died a couple of times for no apparent reason. This also happened in a couple of LGS missions and has happened to me whilst testing my own. It's as if Garrett bangs his head on something as it normally happens whilst jumping around. Thankyou for a brill. mission it's got to be a hot tip for the holy grail
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http://www.ttlg.com/forums/ubb/smile.gif------------------
Standeth in front of the Camel.. It bites.
Standeth behind the Camel.. It kicks.
