Dafydd on 18/2/2006 at 10:44
All right, in the Haunts section, I have:
[spoiler]1. Killed the three haunts in the foyer (one female and two males).
2. Pushed the button in the male haunt's guard post.
3. Noticed a picture had slid open in the female haunt's guard post, exposing a lock; cannot unlock lock with keys or picks.
4. Killed the strolling haunt from the garden party (the one with the burning hand).
5. Went downstairs, killed everyone (except I left one human unconscious in his jail cell).
6. In cell where the ghost was, pushed button.
7. In cell across from there, noticed picture had slid back, revealing switch; pulled switch.
8. Poked the button in the central room that opens the floor hatch to the Hand.
9. Used the Seal Key to open the spider cell; killed spiders; can't find anything inside (except spider bodies).
10. Found a locked sewer grating in the floor of the third cell. Can't open it.
So I have a Seal Key that appears to do nothing but open a cell to nowhere. I see a lock that I can't open in the female haunt's guard post (it probably opens the double doors in the middle). I see a sewer that I can't open.[/spoiler]
So what next? Do I have to crash the garden party? I didn't see anything there offhand, either in the pavillion or on the two haunts upstairs in that area. I see a gate, but I would have to carve my way through the two upstairs haunts to get at it... and I'm reluctant to do so unless that's the only place I can go.
Hm... blocked again.
UliB on 18/2/2006 at 13:53
@ Dafydd: check 9. again ;)
smithpd on 18/2/2006 at 17:41
Quote Posted by Dafydd
flashbomb and KO him
I would not recommended this. I suggest that you save your flashbombs until you
really need them
(at the end). Another approach is
run, hide, and ambush. Not so noble, but it works.:)
If you do run out of weapons, however, there is another way:
some work arounds are described above, so there is no need to replay it unless you want to be victorious in the fight.
Yes, sword and BJ are all you really need until you reach
the end.
Dafydd on 19/2/2006 at 09:48
All right, at the endgame of the mission.
[spoiler]I'm faced with a longish, well-lit corridor with three haunts: one to either side and one at the end. There is a doorway, and above it are a pair of crossed swords. This is all very well lit, even after taking out the two torches on either side. I know there used to be a thin thread of shadow somewhere... but I recall it going from one of the side areas -- the left, I think -- to behind the main haunt in front of the door; but now, I can't get anywhere near that without alerting one of the two side haunts, who alerts the other two... and I'm faced with three furious haunts who swiftly slay me.
Is there any way to turn off these lights? Is there any way to sneak through here to get behind haunts? Will backstabbing a haunt on the side -- even if I could do that -- alert the other two haunts? Because as it stands, I don't see how anyone can kill all three. Yet people have finished, so there must be a way.[/spoiler]
By the way, I never found any mines... where were they? I sure hope you're not going to say "back before you take the big swim...!"
If the only solution here is "slug it out and try to defeat them all with your sword," then I'm just going to bag it. This is simple suicide.
Dafydd
jprobs on 19/2/2006 at 13:08
Dafydd, there is a better solution:
[SPOILER]Before you enter the area with the 3 haunts, knock out the "unarmed citizens" and throw 2 of them on the floor switch to hold the gate open. Then run into the area with the 3 haunts and get them to chase you. Run past the 2 guards and jump to the rope arrow hanging over the pit (put one in the closest beam if you haven't already) then watch the guards kill the haunts for you.[/SPOILER]
Dafydd on 19/2/2006 at 15:03
Jprobs, that's clever! I'm going to try that right now....
Well, I'm back. That was quick! I had to do it twice, though: the first time, only one haunt followed me back.
[spoiler]As soon as I read your post, I remembered from last time that the guards were immortal... and that one of them (at least) was immune to knockouts, too. I don't know if the latter is still true, but obviously they still have a million hit points, or whatever the max in DromEd is (something like death stage 12? I don't know DromEd.)
The game ended as soon as I moved the corpse of the Keeper and picked up the Sage Key.[/spoiler]
I still think the mission is very, very un-Thief-like, though that didn't bother me as much this time... probably because I already knew going in. I took only four points of damage this time... all from jumping down from high places (a point here, a point there).
I'm pleased that I was able to KO everyone in the courtyard with the two mages; I didn't bother the haunt garden party.
Ended with 1032 or something out of 1300-somesuch loot.
Thanks, Jprobs, for a brilliant solution to an otherwise intractable problem!
Dafydd
jprobs on 19/2/2006 at 16:11
Your welcome:D
epithumia on 19/2/2006 at 19:30
Folks were asking why I would bother with a rerelease of an old mission. Well, any time an author wants to send me updates they are welcome to. It doesn't matter how old the mission is or how highly regarded by the community, and it's trivial for me to push an update.
It may surprise you, but the original Elevator Mission is one of my favorites. Incredibly bizarre, incredibly difficult and just plain fun. This in spite of the fact that I never finished it. (I only played on expert, and there's that unpickable chest under the water....) Your options are extremely limited in the beginning due to lack of equipment, so you have to do some masterful sneaking until you can get some tools and weapons which let you get further in the mission. Sort of like Tears of Blood, another of my favorite Thief Gold missions. It's been years since I played either, but I can still remember the mission layouts. I can't say that much about many missions.
My thanks to Mr. Smith for continuing to work to bring JIS missions to the community.
smithpd on 19/2/2006 at 20:30
Quote Posted by epithumia
I only played on expert, and there's that unpickable chest under the water....
I believe that this issue has been put to rest by Vlad Midnight, who says that V1 is possisble to complete in Expert. The problem is that there is something you need in order to proceed that is hard to see. Check this spoiler only if you have become frustrated by the swimming puzzle.[SPOILER]There are two chests in the water in both V1 and V2. A blue chest in the light that may be unpickable, and an unlocked wood chest in the dark that cannot be seen unless you are right on it. In V2 the wood one is more easily seen. In both V1 and V2, the wood one has the breath potions. I failed to find the wood chest in my first playing of V1 on Expert, found it on my second playing on Normal, and never went back to try it again on Expert. BTW, the blue chest can now be opened with the JIS key, which was absent from V1.[/SPOILER]Vlad is no-doubt right.
Quote:
My thanks to Mr. Smith for continuing to work to bring JIS missions to the community.
You are welcome.:D You should try playing V2.[SPOILER]save weapons until the end if you want to have a good fight.[/SPOILER]:)
smithpd on 19/2/2006 at 20:35
Quote Posted by Dafydd
Thanks, Jprobs, for a brilliant solution to an otherwise intractable problem!
Yes, the solution is brilliant, but, actually, the problem is tractable if you find the weapons you need, save them until you need them, and fight well. I hope that some players will be motivated to play it the hard way.
