john9818a on 17/1/2021 at 03:57
Quote Posted by <Username>
I personally don‘t consider it an Ironman anymore when I could fall back to a save. Having a save file removes the tension you get to experience when failure means in the loss of all the progress you have made.
Nothing wrong about playing the way
you like it best though. :)
You could always immediately alt-tab out of the game and then delete the save file. :)
john9818a on 18/1/2021 at 05:29
Quote Posted by nicked
Oof, this was amazing!
If this wasn't made by
Sliptip, then it's the best damn forgery I've ever seen.
Beautiful architecture, lovely atmosphere, well-designed, balanced stealth and puzzles. Just wish it went on for longer!
I agree 100%. I really enjoyed this mission, made to the
rooftops, and now I'm trying to locate the last bit of loot.
Dr.Sahnebacke on 18/1/2021 at 21:28
Quote Posted by Akai™
Finished the Mission.
From the 6 Contest missions i ve played yet its the best designed mission.
Things That I liked:
Architecture and design belongs to the best i ve every played (I loved the smooth sun beams in front of the windows)
The new textures and objects are smooth and beautiful
ambient sounds fit well except the loud one in the seminary
Additional Mission goal on expert difficulty is nice
Interesting Readables
Things I did not Like/could be improved
the seminary ambient sound was loud and gave me head ache. I really loved the seminary design but that sound made me want to leave the building as fast as possible so i kinda rushed through it.
Npc dialogues and briefing to make the mission feel more alive.
In the missions readable its mentioned the there are strange things going on in the seminary (maybe Ghost, Pagan rituals ...) it would ve been great if we could ve experienced one of the strange things
Overall very nice mission.
I agree with Akai, what a wonderful daylight mission. Amazing "true looking" textures and friendly places. Much effort in the future!!
taffercobbles on 20/1/2021 at 14:57
Is it possible to raise the portcullis next to the City Watch (the one facing north behind which there is a stone staircase)?
Very enjoyable mission, although I'm missing around 800 loot, as per usual.
klatremus on 20/1/2021 at 15:12
@taffercobbles: I don't think that can be raised no. As for missing loot, there is an apartment in the far southwestern area of the map, one that you have to swim under a divider to reach with 3-4 pieces of loot in it. I didn't find this place on my first playthrough. But then afterwards I was in that area to look for a missing pickpocket and I heard a door opening and closing. Turns out there was a patroller in that apartment even. He had a purse, there was a bottle behind a generator, and some coin stacks + ring in the bedroom (if I remember correctly).
taffercobbles on 20/1/2021 at 18:36
Thanks - I doubt I would have found that apartment without the hint. With the loot from there and another scout around, I finished up with 3103/3383, which I consider acceptable. There's a coin on the floor next to one of the front pews of the chapel, and more coins in a small brown bowl on the floor in an alcove near the City Watch. I also managed to miss a valuable rug next a grave in the crypt, first time round.
klatremus on 20/1/2021 at 19:39
There's a hammer on a ledge in the crypt also, in the room with the stairs. That was the last one I found. A purse in the water in sewers also, and a nugget in corner of underground passageway beneath seminary. Those are hard loot items off the top of my head.
john9818a on 21/1/2021 at 03:54
Quote Posted by klatremus
There's a
hammer on a ledge in the crypt also, in the room with the stairs. That was the last one I found.
That was the last piece of loot I needed to get 100% loot. Thanks :)
klatremus on 21/1/2021 at 06:48
Thank fortuni. He nudged me in the right direction on that one. :)
Twist on 21/1/2021 at 18:28
I tend to agree with Username on ironman rules. For me the thrill comes from the total immersion and immediacy of accepting the consequence of every decision and action and moving forward. Having a save, even if I don't use it, changes my psychological state as I'm playing, so I considered that a failed blind ironman attempt. Karras judge me. Though for what it's worth, I did go back and successfully ironman the mission on expert afterwards.
Having also replayed this mission with saves to experiment with some different things, I did notice something cool I'm sure some of you have noticed, but since I haven't seen anyone comment on it: If you choose to disable the generator and then fully explore the seminary after disabling it, you get a fairly different experience. The generator doesn't just disable the main lights, it also enables dim yellow safety lights throughout the seminary. Having dimmer lights with a different color lighting the space from different locations changes both the visual composition of the area and, by changing the shapes and locations of shadows, it slightly changes the gameplay. I thought that was a creative design feature, even if the flow of progress through the level makes it so many people won't have a chance to notice it.
The other thing I noticed -- and maybe I'm wrong and it's just a coincidence -- but is the basement area of the seminary a bit of a Dishonored reference? The area where the boat floats in the water where the cellar connects to the canal looks quite a bit like the cellar in Lady Boyle's Last Party, where you take Lady Boyle if you're going for the non-violent (but very disturbing) solution to the mission. I suppose only the author can answer for that, and maybe it's just a coincidental similarity.
If it is a reference, it makes for a nice callback to the earlier days of Thief FMs, too, as that mission in Dishonored is largely credited to Purah, of Calendra's Cistern and Calendra's Legacy fame.
