deathshadow on 15/4/2010 at 11:19

---

'mixed' (not that there's any real indication other than the sound of someone pissing in a pot of it being "mixed"), does not work. Cannot use it on that metal cube thing in anger's hidden room

I did notice that you can attempt to mix it more than once - first time tinkle, second time no noise, lather, rinse, repeat.

But even so, doesn't work. Am I just playing a broken copy? (I suspect so since that 'arrow' list seems to not have anything at those locations!)

I tell you these "puzzles" are doing a great job of sucking any fun out of this one - especially given how vague any form of 'instruction' is. Last time I was this frustrated by a game it was Kings Quest V (randomly clicking on the screen blindly in the hope it will do something).

I think I'm done with this one - I keep posting I'm going to end up saying what I REALLY think, and that will get me banned.

deathshadow on 15/4/2010 at 11:31

---

That's the thing, I usually LIKE puzzle missions - but at least usually puzzle missions will TELL YOU what's a puzzle.

Though I'm really wondering if a lot of it is some weird comprehension issues... like I'm still trying to figure out what "color causing a fright" even means. It's like the writer was trying to sound profound, and failed MISERABLY. I can only assume the bad engrish transratron is what's nebfering me so much.

242 on 15/4/2010 at 12:38

---

To all who complain about difficulty: what difficulty you're playing on? I mean if someone plays on Largo and complains about difficulty it's strange.

rant

Besides Thief FMs I play other games quite often, and honestly, this FM REALLY is medium in terms of difficulty if compared with many action/adventure games I played. You people just don't know what a hard game is :) F.e. I don't think that puzzles/deciding about "what's next" and "where should I go now" in Arx Fatalis is any easier. If you want to check what a hard game really is, try Siren1/2 (a surhor based on sneaking/puzzles). After all, it may be only fair that we got Bioshock, TDS, and DeusEx2 as they came off, because with such urge to get immediate rewards, indisposition for proper exploration, and absence of patience (and that's on TTLG (!)), we really deserved them.

/rant

Unkillable Cat on 15/4/2010 at 14:12

---

You are mistaken. I never even got that far to get annoyed by it. ;-)



(counter-rant) ;)

I certainly do, and I've learned to spot them from a mile away, which is why I ignore a lot of the games that are released every year. Not because they're too hard for me, but because their levels of difficulty are only placed there to artificially add content to an otherwise weak game. (Hint: If a game has unlockable difficulty modes, you have a game that uses difficulty as a crutch.)

Nevertheless, I play some "hard" games here and there, but those games usually either have a really strong lure to drag me in, or promise to reward me handsomely for my effort. Like I've said before, King's Story fails on the first, while I'm not in a position to comment on the second...though at a glance it does appears it fails there as well. From what I see, the only Thief FM's that are equal to (or harder) than KS in difficulty are the Gauntlet FM's and GORT's infamous Rebellion Of The Builder, possibly Ruins of Originia as well.

What I would consider "hard" games I've played through are the DROD series (there are some real puzzles there for you), the Eye Of The Beholder trilogy (don't need an automap) and the Rick Dangerous games...speaking of that, any game that is solely based on you memorizing a series of events to stay alive is also devoid of real content.



You are wrong. We certainly did not deserve to get these games. They are forced upon us because unchallenging games sell. For years, computer games had a stigma of being unforgiving and challenging, but when the gaming industry went mainstream with the PS2 and the internet, greedy publishers saw a need to sell more copies of their (crappy) games. Whatever idea works to sell more units, they ran with it. So out went the difficulty, along with many other vital elements. No wonder the gaming industry is in such dire straits: We see almost nothing these days but "me too"-clones of the latest bestseller, with virtually nothing added to them except a higher production value. Innovation and variety has been pushed out of the picture so that brand-name exploitation can thrive, as your game examples clearly show, they're all either watered-down sequels or remakes of earlier titles.

Nothing is sacred to game publishers these days. As we speak, "remakes" of old classics such as Syndicate and X-Com are in development, and nobody that actually remembers those games is amused by that fact, because any idiot can see what they'll end up like. Syndicate will be just another Call of Duty wannabe in a cyberpunk setting, while X-Com will be another System Shoc...ahem, Bioshock clone. :rolleyes:

But to name a game series that is exactly what you describe as being missing in modern games, there are the Gothic games by Piranha Bytes. They are tough, they encourage exploration and it takes a while to master them. So all is not lost...yet.

(end counter-rant)

canetoad on 15/4/2010 at 22:01

---

I agree and wish to thank Zontik for the amazing job he has done with this mission.

It was not without some bugs and a lot of frustration but in the end it was worth it to experience this beautiful mission. I'm now starting for the third time; first playthrough I was completely baffled a few times but always found an answer here on the forums. I still need to find the slow fall potion and moss arrows in the first part and want to try to achieve the happy ending.

A possible bug I've found - if you reload the OMs during King's Story then return to it, all saved games are gone. This has happened twice, hence the replays.

In the end I believe there were only two doors that I hadn't opened - the parlour and the shoe room, but as these are accessed via a different route, I don't think it was relevant. I haven't found any easter eggs yet, but will try next time round. I had problems with the low book in the library. As other players have said, could briefly make it active but couldn't do anything else with it.

Where others had problems with or did not enjoy the first mission, I breezed through it. The keep to the path objective was logical in that it meant instant death if you didn't. Many events and discoveries on the first mission only became apparent on the second playthrough, with the benefit of having played the second mission. First time through, I had forgotten about the hat, clothes and book in the lair near the waterfall. Not mission critical, but very satisfying to see the pieces of the story fall into place.

On the whole, I give the mission a big thumbs up for it's beauty, story and entertainment value which far outweighed the few frustrations that accompanied such an ambitious project.

Now if someone could give me explicit instructions on how to find all the secrets and the happy ending, I'll be really happy.:thumb: