Niborius on 4/8/2019 at 06:42
In this post I'd like to share my thoughts on how well Fan Missions work that my brother (Mercury89) and I played in NewDark Multiplayer.
So far this version of the multiplayer is working much better for us than the OldDark MP patch, which we also used many times.
Each mission will get a compatibility rating (did we encounter a lot of bugs, could we even finish it?) and a rating for how well the mission worked with more than 1 player.
So far we only tried my missions and DirkBogan's Compulsory Egress.
Aurumpendo
Compatibility Rating: 7/10
Multiplayer Rating: 6/10
The biggest issue that we had in this mission is that the player locations were often not synced correctly. The other player would often appear floating in the air or wouldn't appear on the correct floor at all.
One other thing is that once you find your equipment back, there's only one of each item. Think of a blackjack, lockpicks etc. At the same time this made it pretty interesting.
As this mission is pretty linear especially in the later parts, you have to keep each other updated where you are as one player might already be out of prison and advancing the mission while the other is still inside.
The Artifact Returns
Compatibility Rating: 9/10
Multiplayer Rating: 7/10
I can't recall many issues on this one. One enemy got stuck in patrol, and there was a part with steep slopes where as usual the other player would appear to be floating and not actually going down until later.
This mission has a little more freedom but it's still divided in parts that are a linear. Without spoiling too much, the underground dungeon part in the mission makes it very interesting to be played in Multiplayer.
Mystery of the Upper Quarter
Compatibility Rating: 9/10
Multiplayer Rating: 8/10
Again the equipment in this mission doesn't spawn in the inventory but is found inside the mission instead, so there is only 1 weapon of each, same for the lockpicks.
That doesn't take away however that the mission works really well in multiplayer as it is basically a huge open city.
We split up and it took us a long while to find each other again, so in the meantime we had a great single-player kind of experience.
I've read reports that buttons don't work in NewDark MP, but they worked fine in this one.
Compulsory Egress
Compatibility Rating: 9/10
Multiplayer Rating: 10/10
First time playing this mission, and what a great mission it is on its own. It also worked really well in multiplayer.
Lots of rooms to explore, many items to share and it has some hidden elements that are fun to look around for with another player.
Unlike in the OldDark Multiplayer, we could pick up used rope arrows without any problems.
We were stuck for a little while but didn't need to use a guide.
We only encountered 1 issue where the second player (not the host) found one of the turrets moving rapidly across one axis, while it was in a fixed position for the host.
Bathory Campaign
Compatibility Rating: 2/10
Multiplayer Rating: 7/10
Unfortunately we weren't able to finish the campaign because there were too many multiplayer issues. We couldn't complete the first mission because we couldn't pick up an objective item. We did have a great experience until this point however, the mission has a great atmosphere and there are some elements that worked very nicely in multiplayer.
We skipped to the second mission, which also looked like a great mission, but it just doesn't work well in multiplayer. The client can't pick up anything, and sometimes trying so will result in the host no longer being able to pick it up either.
If you want to play this campaign then it is much more recommended then to do so alone :)
Niborius on 14/8/2019 at 09:35
Updated the list again.
If anyone else has played a mission in NewDark Multiplayer, feel free to share your thoughts too :)
Purgator on 14/8/2019 at 10:14
I know next to nothing about Thief multiplayer. Did anyone ever build/attempt a map with multiplayer specifically in mind? Perhaps an arena style map/modified OMs?
InfinituS on 14/8/2019 at 16:30
Up to this point I've played a few with a good friend and I let him host all the time because of the limitations of the client. Since I have more experience with Thief than him I know how to approach certain things so I just support him as the client and help him with puzzles, distracting the guards and various things.
We played Compulsory Egress and with the rules in mind we had no issues with it. Great Mission.
Next up was A Theft in high towne and when we reached the hammerite tower I could not use the elevator. Even when the host pushed the button and was going down, the elevator would not move for me. I let him complete the rest since we were near the end anyway.
A short one after was Hammered the one that won the 10 rooms contest and the issue was again with the elevator but i managed to stack a few crates on a tower and rope up on the top floor.
Father's pride was next and again the compatibility was pretty good and, somehow, even the elevator was working for the client! But even if it didn't there's always the more thiefy approach.
We're planning on playing Behind Closed Doors by nicked. (Don't remember if there's any elevators in it though :cheeky:)
Niborius on 15/8/2019 at 07:53
Quote Posted by Purgator
I know next to nothing about Thief multiplayer. Did anyone ever build/attempt a map with multiplayer specifically in mind? Perhaps an arena style map/modified OMs?
Not as far as I know, at least not for NewDark as ND's Multiplayer has only recently been released. But I'm thinking I might make my missions MP compatible or make a MP mission sometime.
Quote Posted by InfinituS
Up to this point I've played a few with a good friend and I let him host all the time because of the limitations of the client. Since I have more experience with Thief than him I know how to approach certain things so I just support him as the client and help him with puzzles, distracting the guards and various things.
We played Compulsory Egress and with the rules in mind we had no issues with it. Great Mission.
Next up was A Theft in high towne and when we reached the hammerite tower I could not use the elevator. Even when the host pushed the button and was going down, the elevator would not move for me. I let him complete the rest since we were near the end anyway.
A short one after was Hammered the one that won the 10 rooms contest and the issue was again with the elevator but i managed to stack a few crates on a tower and rope up on the top floor.
Father's pride was next and again the compatibility was pretty good and, somehow, even the elevator was working for the client! But even if it didn't there's always the more thiefy approach.
We're planning on playing Behind Closed Doors by nicked. (Don't remember if there's any elevators in it though )
So I know that elevators never worked in OldDark MP, but now some do so that's definitely an improvement (although like you said it still often doesn't work)
Thank you for sharing your experience however. Do you mind if I will copy your thoughts on each mission into the original post?
InfinituS on 15/8/2019 at 09:50
I don't mind, go ahead. You can add another one as well Third Time's the Charm which worked really well. (The elevator at the start, again, didn't work but since it's not necessary to advance further I'd say that's not a big issue)
So it's a 9/10 on the Compatibility Rating and good as a multiplayer mission too since there are so many ways to approach the mission you can't really not finish it.
