Galaer on 1/8/2021 at 17:38
MCLEOD'S REVENGE
It's a blocky mission, which means that all rooms are huge and there is a lot of walking. Author put some ropes to climb. But every rope is made out of many ropes. While descending on it is easy, climbing is very slow and you need to occasionally jump to next rope within rope, so it will allow you to continue climbing. And jumping out of this rope is really hard, because you immediately grab different rope. Also save of this mission is called "Kingdom in the Clouds!".
Strafe run along wall, mantle on ramp and wait for elevator. At the top go to SE area and mantle on stone behind bot, then on wall and on the other side. Go into water and strafe swim around underwater Mechanists into tunnel. You have barely enough time. In cave there are spiders patrolling, but after 2 rounds they will stop and become stationary. Go left and drop into fire surrounded by rocks. Grab Fire Talisman from water and mantle out of it. Don't continue to room with spiders. Instead climb huge stairs.
Behind banner is passage mask worth 50 loot, but you need to cut banner, so I'm gonna skip it. Use valve and run behind watcher. Behind safe is a key, another key you can frob through safe. Bot behind hangar door can see you though door, so go to other side to shadow under ramp. Wait for watcher to look away, mantle and strafe run up. Return to start of cave and drop into water under chest. Swim to gate and open it.
First Mechanist has invisible key, which you don't need. At the cemetery there is pedestal and 2 rubbles. I don't really know what pedestal do, but I put 2 pieces of rubble on it. Go north and frob torch to open gate. Very important - don't close this gate until you will collect Air Talisman and The Eye. If you do, then later you will be permanently stuck in this place. Jump into water and strafe swim for Water Talisman. Go to Prison.
Lots of shadow. Don't go too close to cells with thieves or they will spot you. First go along right wall to lamp and lean left to observe watcher. Strafe run behind him, go to lamp and run along left wall. Wait for darkness to happen and go to last door. Use switch and grab 4 pieces of loot. Return to cemetery and go south. Sneak to hole for Earth Talisman. go to west pool and swim down. On your path will be 3 breath potions. If you are efficient you can survive drinking only 2 breath potions.
Go east and rope up to platform above ghosts. Drop under angle and mantle on platform with Air Talisman. Drop on slope and swim west. Here are 3 annoying ropes you need to climb. Behind haunt is 2nd rope arrow. On last tomb is The Eye. Rope up and go to the end of path. Strafe swim though giant roller to Prison Area. Now you can close gate leading to it. Go to SW area. Under book is another invisible key you don't need. Behind cistern go right, use lever on wall and ride elevator up. Finish mission by pressing switch.
STATS:
Time: 0:34:35; Loot: 420/470
Pockets Picked: 0/0; Locks Picked: 0
Back Stabs: 0; Knock Outs: 0
Damage Dealt: 0; Damage Taken: 0; Healing Taken: 0
Innocents killed: 0; Others killed: 0
Iron Beasts Destroyed: 0; Disabled: 0
Secrets: 0/0
GHOST: CHEMICAL SUCCESS. I needed to use 2 breath potions to survive long underwater tunnel.
PERFECT GHOST: IMPOSSIBLE. must skip maks worth 50 in secret passage behind banner.
Pickpocketing invisible key from Mechanist near cemetery somehow doesn't count as pickpocket.
Galaer on 1/8/2021 at 17:40
M.S. GOLDS - RUST
MISSION 1
This mission has only 4 zombies. First 2 spawn and then quickly vanish if you go forward. First one must be avoided from left. Second will on metal floor, so crouch walk forward to avoid alerting him. Third zombie is unavoidable, because he guard one of precious items, so you must alert him (ghost bust #1), run around house, take High Tech Compass and hide in shadow on crate. Fourth zombie will appear during elevator ride. Most likely he will just 1st alert to you. This ends mission 1.
STATS:
Time: 0:17:25; Loot: 450/450
Pockets Picked: 0/0; Locks Picked: 0
Back Stabs: 0; Knock Outs: 0
Damage Dealt: 0; Damage Taken: 0; Healing Taken: 0
Innocents killed: 0; Others killed: 0
Iron Beasts Destroyed: 0; Disabled: 0
Secrets: 0/0
GHOST: IMPOSSIBLE
MISSION 2
This mission is full of really loud alarm sound. It doesn't alert enemies, it's just annoying. After grabbing Tool Storage key elevator with bot will ride down. To avoid being spotted by bot strafe run to vent. Bot will fly high above elevator. If he will 1st alert, he will fall and go into search mode. In my stats there is Body Discovered Stat and now I wonder if this search mode isn't triggered by bot seeing destroyed bot. I guess later in the mission, it could fall.
Zombie protecting panels controlling Safety Doors is impossible to avoid (ghost bust #1). Just run away from him, take glasses and key and use all 3 panels. Then unlock door and lock it behind you. You are forced to use crowbar to unlock door, so that's a damage property (ghost bust #2). Next is another vanishing zombie. Just strafe run forward towards him and he will vanish before spotting you. Last zombie protects room with panel opening door with lots of bones and coins behind. Just slowly walk along right wall to avoid being seen by him.
STATS:
Time: 0:31:50; Loot: 972/972
Pockets Picked: 0/0; Locks Picked: 0
Back Stabs: 0; Knock Outs: 0
Damage Dealt: 0; Damage Taken: 0; Healing Taken: 0
Innocents killed: 0; Others killed: 0
Iron Beasts Destroyed: 0; Disabled: 0
Bodies Discovered by Enemies: 1
Secrets: 0/0
GHOST: IMPOSSIBLE
klatremus on 2/8/2021 at 05:23
Nice work on another TDM report, Galaer! Keep it up :thumb:
klatremus on 2/8/2021 at 23:45
Game:
Thief 1FM:
Between These Dark WallsGhost -
SuccessPerfect Thief -
SuccessSupreme Ghost -
FailedPerfect Supreme -
FailedTime - 1:21:00
Loot - 4000/4000
Pockets Picked - 7/7
Locks Picked - 4
Backstabs - 0, Knockouts - 0
Damage dealt - 0, Damage taken - 0
Healing taken - 0, Other Kills - 0, Bodies Discovered - 0
Consumables - None
See the entire report with screenshots (
https://www.klatremus.org/BetweenTheseDarkWalls.htm) here!
Loot list (
https://www.klatremus.org/BetweenTheseDarkWalls_L.htm) here!
YouTube let's play (
https://youtu.be/Ngj8aKR7LqQ) here!
Comments:I can’t believe I waited nine years to play this Skacky gem. One of the best, yet most overlooked fan made missions of all time. Yes, it probably doesn’t quite reach the levels of Endless Rain or Sound of a Burrick In a Room, but those are also quite exceptional missions in comparison. If you like verticality and the thieves’ highway, this is for you. If not, you’ll hate it, but your loss.
All I had to do was teach Messer Beric a lesson and steal his amethyst necklace. His castle was on the other side of town and most likely difficult to enter. I also needed to find 2,850 worth of valuables and make it back to the starting point. Time to get climbing!
Go WestAfter taking the purse from the guard in the initial streets, I immediately ascended the balcony to the south. I wanted (and was forced to) stay elevated for the majority of the mission. Moved west into the Tyrell estate without issues. I took the northern exit first and cleaned the area around Tol Camrick & Sons as well as Castle Spaulding. I was sad to find you couldn’t enter the latter. I was worried I was going to get spotted along the upper ledge on the north side of Harcourt Street, going for the coin stacks in the window (image below). The guard across the street faced north for a bit, but there were intermittent patches of shade that kept me safe.
Inline Image:
https://www.klatremus.org/BetweenTheseDarkWalls_files/image001.jpgHad to return to Tyrell’s to continue westward. I eventually ended up at the hammerite priory, looting what I assume was the high priest’s quarters. Found a key there that I brought along, but I couldn’t continue further west past this point. Instead I found a hidden chute that took me to the adjacent public works building. I couldn’t close up the chute on my way out in conventional fashion. I had to block the sliding panel with a healing potion and replace the crates from the inside, which was a bit fiddly (image below). I could have gone back up there from the inside and closed it up later, but that would involve an awful lot of backtracking. This solution was a lot easier. I would have to return the potion for Supreme, but the one I brought along was located pretty close to the starting position. The gate on the roof was easy to close from the inside, then run out.
Inline Image:
https://www.klatremus.org/BetweenTheseDarkWalls_files/image002.jpgTo loot Grimshaw’s estate I had to leap across the marketplace from the balcony below the sleeping thief (image below). Like before, I thought I would get caught by guards below, but the lights from the surrounding buildings and street lamps didn’t illuminate as far as I anticipated. There were a few convenient patches of shade inside the estate also that kept me safe from the patroller and Grimshaw himself. Leapt back to the roof afterwards by timing the wandering archer, grabbing the rope in the jump.
Inline Image:
https://www.klatremus.org/BetweenTheseDarkWalls_files/image003.jpgDodged the aforementioned archer going north by waiting on the railing, stealing his purse in the process. Finally entered Beric’s castle through a window in the northeast. There was a hidden goblet on a sill above the entry window, and it was very tough to safely get back down from the outcropping beam. I ended up grabbing it from the rope without ever mantling up fully (image below). That way I could mantle into the castle and continue on.
Inline Image:
https://www.klatremus.org/BetweenTheseDarkWalls_files/image004.jpgBeric’s CastleThe only issue before reaching the sanctuary was the woman in the western bedroom on the top floor (image below). Her door had to be picked open in order to get the basement study key, and unfortunately she heard the lockpicks and thus busted Supreme. I could return to her room later without further busts, even returning the key to the floor without as much as a peep, but those lockpicks tickled her ears just a tad too much. The rest of Beric’s estate was no problem.
Inline Image:
https://www.klatremus.org/BetweenTheseDarkWalls_files/image005.jpgNext I cleaned the sewers and the hammerite wine cellar. This was the only way to approach it without picking the lock on the doors to Beric’s basement or the Public Works from the streets. The secret panel accessing the wine cellar had to be timed well, otherwise the patrolling swordsman heard it, but other than that this section posed no issues.
The sanctuary also went trouble free. The only minor problem was getting the gold nugget atop the bookcase near Ingvar’s chambers (image below). A patrolling keeper with a long route walked through here, but he wasn’t the issue. Of bigger concern was the stationary guy on the balcony. He pivoted, but did so quite frequently, plus he heard me drop to the ground unless I landed on the rug. The best way I found was to attach a rope to the bookcase right on top of the ladder. From atop the rope I could reach the nugget and then drop straight onto the ladder, lowering myself silently to the floor from there. The keeper had to face south the entire time not to give any comments.
Inline Image:
https://www.klatremus.org/BetweenTheseDarkWalls_files/image006.jpgThere was an insanely well-hidden piece of loot in the hallway just outside the barracks. It was a diamond behind the foot of a statue (image below). It was so concealed I almost couldn’t see it even when I knew it was there. The only hint to its presence was the patrolling keeper in this area who walked out of his way a bit when he did his patrol. He didn’t stop by the statue, but walked at an awkward angle, enough for me to notice something was off. I didn’t see that during my practice run because he was already knocked out, but when ghosting it was apparent. This was the only piece I needed help from the forums to find.
Inline Image:
https://www.klatremus.org/BetweenTheseDarkWalls_files/image007.jpgAfter taking the medallion, I went back and replaced the shrine key, the wine cellar key and the basement study key. Had to lockblock the wine cellar door in order to get back in there. Reset the switch and lever for the sanctuary entrance too. I left via the small study on the floor above the dining hall. There was a secret exit there that led to a machine room in the southwest corner of the marketplace, and it didn’t require the picking of any locks.
Back EastI could now leap across to the north and grab the windowsill goblet. This I could’ve taken from Beric’s castle earlier, but that would’ve required picking open the balcony door. I got down to street level via the red roof to the south, landing silently onto the gallows (image below). The patrolling archer was wary, but the stationary swordsman on another planet, hardly noticing anything. The shadows in the plaza dictated quite well where I could walk safely. The northern side of the well was dark, and approaching it from the west was possible, though challenging. From here I could access all the side alleys with no alerts and get the two remaining purses off the wandering guards. Since I had to return the hammerite key, I realized it had been a mistake closing up the gate and panel to the public works building from earlier. I should much rather have left them open and climbed the balcony in the northeast corner of the marketplace. There was a convenient ladder there that, coupled with a rope arrow, would’ve provided easy ascent. I’ll definitely do that for the let’s play. Instead, I had to go back via the streets and return to the high priest’s bedroom the same way as before.
Inline Image:
https://www.klatremus.org/BetweenTheseDarkWalls_files/image007.jpgNotes- Got a first alert from Lady Beric when picking the lock on her bedroom door. You have to enter that room to get the basement study key. Supreme bust.
klatremus on 3/8/2021 at 23:32
Game:
The Dark ModFM:
Mission 1: A New JobGhost -
SuccessPerfect Thief -
SuccessSupreme Ghost -
SuccessPerfect Supreme -
SuccessTime - 38:26
Times saved - 42
Damage Dealt: 0 Damage Received: 0
Health Restored - 0
Pockets Picked - 1
Loot Acquired - 703 out of 703
Killed by the Player - 0
KOed by the Player - 0
Bodies found by AI - 0
Alerts - 0 Suspicious, 0 Searches, 0 Sightings
Stealth Score - 0
Consumables - None
See the entire report with screenshots (
https://www.klatremus.org/TDM_ANewJob.htm) here!
Loot list (
https://www.klatremus.org/TDM_ANewJob_L.htm) here!
YouTube let's play (
https://youtu.be/W1Zn1bhXbXU) here!
Comments:Although there is no official campaign for this mod, this is the mission recommended for new players, after finishing the training mission. It's a short, but nice introduction on how to apply your skills in a real burglary situation. Nothing special, but good enough to be enjoyable. I found all the loot on the first playthrough also, which doesn't happen too often. I am slowly but surely taking a real liking to The Dark Mod. Seeing as it is 14 years old now, it's about time.
All I had to do was break into the Canonbury Tavern and steal Rothwick's ruby collection. There was also a 640 loot requirement, before finally meeting my contact in Royston Court. Besides that I wanted to get used to and experiment quite a bit with enemy alert levels. The biggest difference between TDM and Thief is their ‘Suspicious' level, which includes two types of alerts; a first alert with only verbal remarks like in Thief, but also a more severe type of alert where they give a verbal cue, but also stops to look for you. This last one isn't the same as hunt mode in Thief, because they don't leave their route or station, but they are suspicious enough to take the time to look. As of writing this report, we are disallowing the latter for regular Ghost. All alert types are disallowed for Supreme, which is my preferred mode.
StreetsI started in a side alley south of the tavern. A homeless guy close by didn't alert to my presence in any way that impacted ghosting. I had to pass through a small plaza just west of here, and I assume the intended way through was mantling onto a large pipe by stacking one of the smaller crates. For Supreme, this crate would have to be returned and there was no way of doing that and still end the mission later. Experimenting a bit, I found I could instead jump to the pipe directly from a barrel with a bag on top of it (image below). The mantling action is different, but much better, in TDM. If the mantle is difficult, Garrett takes a bit longer to pull himself up. This is more realistic, but can also be misleading, because at first it seems like you won't make it.
Inline Image:
https://www.klatremus.org/TDM_ANewJob_files/image001.jpgAfter listening to the guards and dropping to the street level around the tavern, I played around with alert levels some. I had previously downloaded a Stealth Statistic tool made by Dragofer, found here. This makes it possible to check your stealth statistics from a radable in your inventory. It updated real time, which was just perfect to gauge what guards allowed or not. Both alert levels 1 and 2 triggered the ‘Suspicious' category of the document. The only way to distinguish it further was to read the end statistics when finishing the mission. You can cheat your way there prematurely by pulling up the console (ctrl+alt+tilde) and writing ‘tdm_end_mission', sort of like the ctrl+shift+alt+end cheat in Thief.
Only one piece of loot existed on this side of the tavern; a ring in a bird's nest in the west alley. I mantled up a few overhangs and a nearby wooden roof to get closer. There was a small pipe crossing the streets below that had to be traversed. Dropping onto the pipe made a lot of noise, but mantling up it did not. There is no silent outer edge of surfaces in TDM, so mantling thus becomes a more important ability in this regard. To get back from the top pipe without alerts, I had to do a running jump all the way to the wooden roof (image below). This made noise, but not enough to trigger any alerts if the patrollers were far away.
Inline Image:
https://www.klatremus.org/TDM_ANewJob_files/image002.jpgThe side door to the basement was the intended way into the tavern, but it was pickable and not possible to relock. The front door, however, was unlocked, and it was no problem to sneak in behind the helmeted sentry's back unseen.
The Canonbury TavernI headed upstairs straight away, after reading the guest log. The lone guard up there was wearing an eye patch; the game even made an audio cue about it. I assumed that meant he was blind on his left side, and indeed he was. He stopped at either end of the hallway, plus directly outside room III. I snuck in after him as he headed down to the end and slipped into Rothwick's chambers (room IV). The sir was sleeping, but woke up if I stepped too loudly. His loot-filled footlocker was pickable, but the key on his belt also worked. In those cases, Supreme requires relocking it, and since I wanted to avoid the unnecessary lockpick count, I snagged the key from his snoring side. It was stuck to my inventory and couldn't be dropped, just like many keys in Thief. I'm not sure if I could've replaced it without waking him up. He didn't hear any sounds from the footlocker or the cabinet, but as pointed out in Galaer's ghost report, he does “alert” to opening the secretary desk. The only reason I could confirm this was from the stealth statistics document. Rothwick neither woke up, nor made any verbal or physical remarks of any kind. Closing the desk didn't trigger any further alerts, nor did opening it a second time. This is thus a type of alert unique to TDM, one that never would've been detected in Thief, and one that without the stealth tool would've been near impossible to know where came from. I suspect this to be poor coding of the engine rather than a proper alert worthy of a Supreme bust. I'm not sure if there is a property in the editor that determines whether sleeping enemies will give alerts of type 1 or not. Perhaps not.
After discussing this situation with Galaer on the forums, he claimed he had been able to pass Rothwick's room without any alerts at all. I had a hard time believing this, but I went back to try nonetheless. Voila! He was right indeed! When I triggered the alert earlier, it must've been from my feet tapping on the wood and not from the desk. If you move without creeping, even in the slightest, an alert will trigger in the stats. As long as you hold creep, you are good, but you must keep creep pressed until after letting go of run forward. As you can see from the screenshot below, I obtained the diary from the desk without any alerts whatsoever.
Inline Image:
https://www.klatremus.org/TDM_ANewJob_files/image003.jpgI haven't found a way to eavesdrop on doors in TDM yet, so I had to guess a bit when leaving Rothwick's room. Or perhaps it's just not as effective, as I didn't hear much of a volume increase leaning into the door. I grabbed the loot from room III also and headed back downstairs. The innkeeper's room wasn't that tough as long as I creep-crouched. I could mantle over his bed unseen. I knew the safe combination from the wine bottle in the basement in my first playthrough. Successfully relocked the safe with no alerts also. I was even able to get his cash box key from the desk unseen (image below). Just like Rothwick's key from upstairs, this one couldn't be dropped back, but was necessary to relock the cash box behind the bar counter.
Inline Image:
https://www.klatremus.org/TDM_ANewJob_files/image004.jpgThe restaurant itself wasn't that tricky. I stole the cash when the maid was out. She even headed down to the basement occasionally, in which case she was gone for quite a while. Although I didn't need to get to the north end of the restaurant, creep-crouching along the bar counter did the trick. I was far enough away from any of the lights to avoid alerts.
Left via the front door and met my contact in Royston court. No big deal. Successful Perfect Supreme!
Galaer on 4/8/2021 at 07:15
I watched your TDM video, klatremus and I'm surprised that you always walking through street part of mission. I mean, beginning is empty, so it's much better to always run. Also on cobblestone you can crouch run and still you will avoid being heard or seen while you are in shadow. Dropping on pipe from roof on the same level doesn't make noise, it's only dropping from higher pipe to lower pipe makes and drop is possible. Your enemies must be far away. Also to get to nest I used conversation, because just like in Thief enemies don't see or hear that well during conversation. The wooden ledge under last window can be reached from barrel. It actually surprised me that this mantle was possible due to how high wooden ledge is.
As for eavesdropping, I said it earlier, but I'm gonna repeat. Instead of leaning forward towards door, you need to lean left/right towards door.
klatremus on 4/8/2021 at 19:56
Thanks for the feedback Galaer. I dont have always run on, so I forget to hold run most of the time. Still trying to figure out the drop height allowance for making noise too. I tried several times to mantle from barrel in practice run but couldn't get it. Mantling is very different from Thief. I'll try the eavesdropping trick next time.
marbleman on 4/8/2021 at 19:58
Heh, I don't even have the walk key bound. It's either run or creep for me. :D
Galaer on 4/8/2021 at 20:49
About jumping from barrel - you must run and jump. I think you tried to do jump while walking and that's why it wasn't enough. Personally for normal mission I use toggle run found in darkmod.cfg.
klatremus on 5/8/2021 at 01:34
Toggle run sounds like a good deal. I'll try it out. :D
