[Developer Commentary Added] T2 FM - Lingering Whispers - (8 Sept 2011)

Agent Cooper on 16/9/2011 at 12:26

That generator room door only connnects to a (red lit) manhole in a big warehouse box above which also mysteriously closes at one point, safe to ignore.
What's the deal with that secret safe compartment ?
All i see is a statue in a niche .....

+1 on the lootlist/secrets spoiler requests !
This is a fine and ambitious mission, big thanks for that !
A few little tweaks as already mentioned and it could be a classic imho.

Cheers,
Cooper

scarykitties on 16/9/2011 at 13:58

That big "vault" door in the generator room is the main boiler. You are able to enter the boiler and climb up a ladder inside to come out in Warehouse beta. However, once you turn on the main power, those doors seal because the boiler fills with water. I tried to keep with the "when a door closes, a window opens" sort of thing.

As for the secret compartment, look closely at the statue. There should be a gem in its eye.

Hmm... I could release a 1.1 version making some tweaks such as the jeweler's door being frobbable, a few more flashbombs to find, the doors not automatically closing anymore, etc, if folks would want. I can't do a whole lot for the pathfinding and sound bugs, I'm afraid, since most of those are beyond my control.

Also, I suppose I could raise the brightness of the level a bit to not be so very dark. Anyone have feelings on this?

As for the lootlist, I'll try to get around to completing the one prjames started for me this weekend.

JonesCrusher on 16/9/2011 at 14:14

super mission!

I only have the few minor points against giving it full marks,ie

Bay doors closing after another opened...although I did trap a metal Mace under one of the doors stopping it from completely closing, and which I could hear grinding away in the mines.. which helped me know which direction I was going,lol
A difficult chemistry set(I too just flicked on anything and managed, at least, to get a couple of healing potions)
The plant blocking the ease to get to the two control switches...I must have shouted "Garrett you STOOPID W***ER" a bazillion times for falling whilst trying to get through the broken windows to the control panels,heheh
Apebeast Sounds filtering in the mine,which gave away the surprise of where he actually was.
I never did find the vine arrow(Perhaps someone could hint where it is and I can go back and get the tomb secret)
Karras ghost sounds filtering through to the mine also was a little offputing,as I expected him to be coming round any corner in a particular area,when he was in fact a floor above.
Zombies getting stuck,but they are always badly behaved :) so I just worked around them.
I managed to get a burrick egg and displce one stuck zombie,but the Pop Beast egg,hatched and just sat there a few feet from a zombie and neither reacted to each other.
Some of the terrain in the Burrick tunnels got me delayed and gassed, before I could get out of the way,causing asphyciation :)

other than that...you are brilliant!! keep em coming!!:D:D
And THANK YOU.

scarykitties on 16/9/2011 at 14:52

I appreciate the feedback!

Let me know if you think a 1.1 version would be a good idea. Most of those issues that people don't care for aren't really problems per se, but more design decisions that weren't accepted as well as I had hoped. For instance, the idea behind having bay doors auto-close was to create kind of a risk-reward system for strategizing where to go. That's the same reason that there are those plants in the middle of the door control system. In the end, though, it turned out to just be annoying, based on responses. I'll see what I can do if people are interested.

Agent Cooper on 16/9/2011 at 16:28

Quote Posted by scarykitties

Hmm... I could release a 1.1 version making some tweaks such as the jeweler's door being frobbable, a few more flashbombs to find, the doors not automatically closing anymore, etc, if folks would want. I can't do a whole lot for the pathfinding and sound bugs, I'm afraid, since most of those are beyond my control.

Also, I suppose I could raise the brightness of the level a bit to not be so very dark. Anyone have feelings on this?

As for the lootlist, I'll try to get around to completing the one prjames started for me this weekend.

Thanks for the help !

Re an (only slightly !) tweaked 1.1, it's your call (and your work ;) ) but the mission would deserve it, definitely. It would not take much to raise it to full points, imho.
Brightness was perfectly ok here, neutral about the auto-closing doors, a few more flashbombs would be nice.
Just an idea, couldn't you perhaps replace/bypass Ol' Stinky with a piece of brickwall that can be blown up with a barrel ? Would still put up a logistical challenge to bring the barrel to its destination without being busted by the baddies, but then you could leave the auto-closing doors intact (not a bad idea at all, in principle), as most of the repetitive climbing/jumping would be gone ...
Anyway, I enjoy the mission a lot, thanks again,
Cooper

Nightwalker on 16/9/2011 at 19:24

I've played through twice now and thoroughly enjoyed it for the most part. I do, however, have to agree with most of the flaws that have been mentioned. I think updating it with another version would be well worth your while as overall, it's a terrific mission with some really nice twists, lots of bonus objectives and of course, the 2 endings which give it lot of replay value. Perhaps while you're at it, you could include a few more vine arrows too?

I'm still looking for a couple of aspects of the Mask but I may have to restart to find them as I've lost track of which ones I'd already discovered in the saves I have. I may leave that for later if there's the possibility of an update.

scarykitties on 16/9/2011 at 19:44

Most vine arrows are in Warehouse gamma. However, there is one vine arrow on the vine in warehouse beta. I'm sure you'll smack yourself when you find it for not seeing it before. ;)

Yeah, I'll be releasing a 1.1. Just need to get it all tested.

Things that won't be changed:

1. Apothecary Apparatus. I know that it works fine from extensive testing and it is meant to be a puzzle. If it's difficult, I'm sorry, but keep trying. ;) The tools to succeed are all in the game.
2. There will not be more vine arrows added. They are there and not only have their locations been hinted at (or outright told), but the location of where the "vine" arrows are is fairly self-evident as there aren't too many vines that need to be searched. Sorry! There are 5 to 6 vine arrows in the game, so I hesitate to add more. Final hint: vine arrows look like moss crystals, so look for a green pseudo-cylinder.
3. Voices will not be changed. If I had a better mic, I would re-record them, but I can't do much better with this mic. On that note, can anyone recommend a better mic for me to get? I just don't know what is worh purchasing.

Cooper: Who is "Ol' Stinky"?

Agent Cooper on 16/9/2011 at 20:52

Quote Posted by scarykitties

Cooper: Who is "Ol' Stinky"?

Lol, inofficial name ! :p
The plant between the separated dials for door control, responsible for some arguably repetitive gameplay.
I kinda like the autoclosing doors, and getting them to work initially is great, just the constant climbing to two locations gets a bit old after a while.
Call me lazy .... :eek:
Cheers,
Cooper

frobbin hood on 16/9/2011 at 21:10

I seem to be missing something here...

How do i get to the smelter ?
I read here it's in 9624.
Ive entered the code, the wires are sparking, frobbed the control panel. The outer doors open, but when I rush over the boxes to 9624, it's still shut.
What am I doing wrong?

Nightwalker on 16/9/2011 at 22:53

That's my fault then as I only found 2 vine arrows. I found the apothecary set-up quite ingenious and not too hard to figure out once I had the books.