Cradle. Dear God... - by mol
Lizz the Blizz on 4/7/2004 at 14:08
I just finished the level...
Somebody hold me... :wot:
bujin77 on 4/7/2004 at 16:54
I haven't visited this forum for a long time, but I've just reached this level in the game and HAD to come along to see what everyone else thought!
At least I'm not the only wuss then! :cheeky:
Since I last came to this forum, I've become a paranormal investigator and frequently spend my nights in allegedly haunted locations. This level reminded me a lot of one such location - Gwrych Castle in North Wales. It had the same damp, dark, derelict feeling to it. But the Cradle is MUCH scarier!
I had to stop playing after a short while yesterday because I was physically feeling panic and fear. I was even getting pains in my chest from the stress it was causing me! :wot:
I know that it's just a game, but it pulls you in so well and emerses you into the experience that it kinda becomes a reality!
I have glanced over some of the spoilers on this thread but not read any of it in depth. All I know is that I'm yet to get to the scariest bit, so that will only make it even MORE scary for me!!! :eek:
bdkl on 4/7/2004 at 17:20
Having finished T3 ( after much time spent streamlining Windoze ) , I have to agree . This game rocked and the Cradle was the center of this masterpiece . I haven't had the daylights so thoroughly scared out of me since that one brief moment playing T7C . Those electro-chamber dudes made me jump clear out of my chair , and the rest of the level never let up - what a blast . The big thing now is that we need fan missions for this game , because after playing the cradle nothing else quite measures up .
SmallFish on 4/7/2004 at 23:30
Quote Posted by ETI_Caligula
Now that you've read about the loading zones in the Cradle and about the monsters inhabiting it, how on earth do you expect it to scare you? :wot:
Don't know, but here's my experience. I don't usually go for spoilers or walkthroughs unless I'm really stuck. Esp. in the Thief series, it makes the game much less enjoyable.
After about half an hour in the Inner Cradle and my first encounter with one of the inmates I took a deep breath, had a cigarette and promptly downloaded the walkthrough for the level. My only wish was to get out of that place asap, I wasn't really interested in fair play, loot, ghosting or seeing the sights... And even with the walkthrough, I was crapping my pants. :-D
I hate survival horror etc. games, 'cause deep down I'm a real chicken, but I have to say that the Cradle is probably the finest piece of level design I've ever come across. Nevertheless, I really hated the place and WILL NOT do it again if I have a choice. :-D Still, magnificent and certainly memorable (though trying to forget) gaming experience.
dryhte on 11/8/2005 at 09:31
The only scene that scared me as much as the Cradle mission in another recent game was the haunted Hotel in Vampire: Bloodlines.
There is no violence whatsoever, other than some 'environmental' threats ;) exploding lamps etc..., basic poltergeist fare, but I've played through that mission several times by now, and the sound effects and wiggling objects and hints-you-only-see-from-the-corner-of-your-eye get me jumping each and every time... Coupled with some scary newspaper articles, the creepy drawing of the 'evil daddy' and the oh-so-cute toy dog that comes rolling out of the playing room all by itself and says 'ting' right by your foot... ouch! The tension is as bad as the Cradle!
Fish-face on 12/8/2005 at 10:57
I've actually been scared in the tribes-like game, Legends. Not real terror like in Cradle, but the sounds of the weapons are fantastic: If there's wall or something between you and a blast it becomes muffled, and when the heavies come in to bombard the base, if you're inside it's a whole barrel o' fun. Of course, if you're hiding and have the flag, when the rumblings go off it's even better... Strategies of the enemy can force you to hide with little equipment, health and armour so you are very vulnerable.
Musopticon? on 15/8/2005 at 11:29
Quote Posted by dryhte
The only scene that scared me as much as the Cradle mission in another recent game was the haunted Hotel in Vampire: Bloodlines.
There is no violence whatsoever, other than some 'environmental' threats ;) exploding lamps etc..., basic poltergeist fare, but I've played through that mission several times by now, and the sound effects and wiggling objects and hints-you-only-see-from-the-corner-of-your-eye get me jumping each and every time... Coupled with some scary newspaper articles, the creepy drawing of the 'evil daddy' and the oh-so-cute toy dog that comes rolling out of the playing room all by itself and says 'ting' right by your foot... ouch! The tension is as bad as the Cradle!
I agree on your sentiments. But one point; in Deadly Shadows you're basically as weak as it gets when compared to your opponents(mages, ghostly warrior priests, treants, etc). All paranormal is a real threat, which adds some flavor to the horror; survival becomes a factor. In Bloodlines however, you're an undead bloodsucking freakin' assault trooper. And the opponent is what? A ghost?! :laff:
Unteroffizier on 21/8/2005 at 07:27
Quote Posted by Jomero
Great mission. I "mostly" ghosted it my first (and so far only) time through. After I got into a situation where I had to kill a puppet, I quickly realized to my horror that I couldn't pick up the body. And to me, that meant "This thing is not dead and will probably be quite pissed off when it wakes up." So I opted for having most of them not know I was there, than knowing I was there, waking up, and hunting me down.
I agree on this, the first time i took down one of those "Jason/ Friday the thirtheenth" pupets with 6~7broad head arrows, and tried to pick the fallen body up, it awakened and killed me in one pass...these things can outrun Garret! I have read other forums and some says that you can take them down for good with Holy Water.For me, i used land mines and always played it in such a way that i will make noises and get the mine to work on 2 opponents in one shot!
Unteroffizier on 21/8/2005 at 07:54
Quote Posted by Airs
The Cradle is indeed one of the greatest achievements in level design ever IMO. I’ve played through both T 1 and 2, and although I’ve been through levels like the Haunted Cathedral and have mooched around the haunted library in the mansion (Casing the joint), I’ve never come across a game that has scared me as much as T3 and the Cradle. It’s the whole story behind it that makes it so damn frightening. Rather than just stick in those freaky, shaky inmates, or even a dead little girl who talks to you, they’ve fleshed it all out with a very, very dark and twisted back story about both the building and the inmates. Add to that the fact that the building feels alive and you’ve got a total scarefest, and I love it!
But, even with all of the ‘atmosfear’, it’s the small things that really get me. Such as the sight of a person in the distance, or the fact that even the mighty Garrett sounds like he’s a bit shaken by the whole thing. And, there’s the possessed fruit!!!! Has anyone else found the apple on the table next to the letter in the first part of the cradle? I found it, picked it up and then dropped it. But then is started to roll along the floor all by itself!!!!! Okay, I know this is most likely a glitch in the physics system, but by god, it certainly unsettled me as it tried - no matter how many times I picked it up and dropped it – to get to its destination…
Metal Age has etched some memories of the gameplay unto my brains with the haunted Cathedral and the catacombs where those fast moving Hammer undeads' rusty clinking chainmail surcoats sung on patrol. The library ghosts in "casing the joint" also sent shivers down my spine back then. You will not want to forget the re-anactment of the massacre of the pagan villagers by the mechanists too in one of the levels.
However, Ion storm complements LGS and has also proven that they can do it (with the help of some former LGS staff) with the Abysmal Gale undead ship level and not until i started playing the cradle did i realised that the best has yet to come. Like what Garret say during the mission briefing about the melancholic, sad and forebodding past of the cradle...musch less robbing it. Garret robs from the rich and bad guys....but from a cradle with a sad, hauting and tormenting past......
Unteroffizier on 21/8/2005 at 08:01
Quote Posted by EmperorSteele
Pfft, pansies.
AI are AI.
Even though both the residents and the "staff" were some tough ass AI.
Though a nursery AND an insane asylum, all in one? that was just effin twisted =P
But, ok, i admit: i was a bit hesitant to open up that attic door, too =P
btw: did anyone notice that when you're in "the past", the clouds outside moved REALLY freakin fast?
yes i see the clouds from the attic moving real fast like i am playing star trek :laff: high up in the attic
