Newdark Novice Contest - Just My Luck (Feb. 22, 2016)

JarlFrank on 22/2/2016 at 17:36

Ah, that explains it. I thought with the suicide of the shopkeeper, the hand would simply have become owner-less. Once the owner is dead, the next guy who takes the hand will be its new owner, this is the way I understood it: the important part is not that the owner is murdered, but that he is dead from whatever reason. So slashing the body with my sword was just a "let's see if this works" thing, and it did work, so I assumed he wasn't actually dead

Dia on 22/2/2016 at 18:12

Quote Posted by Unna Oertdottir

This is important
hint
take look at the stairs

I'm stuck in the same place that JarlFrank was stuck. Okay, I've I've searched over and over the only two staircases (one in the library & one in the fishmonger's) I found in this small village and can't see anything. No secret switches or levers. Could you please be a little more specific? Thanks.

Grandmauden on 22/2/2016 at 18:24

Dia: Don't think of a full staircase, think of a few stair steps.

Another hint: Read the greengrocer clerk's diary. She mentions someone acting suspicious in front of one of the buildings.

JarlFrank on 22/2/2016 at 18:25

Quote Posted by Dia

It's not as much of a staircase as it is a tiny little stair made up of two steps: just crouch down in front of the door in question and look at the side of its stairs, the key is hidden in a tiny niche there.

Cardia on 22/2/2016 at 21:45

Mission finished, Thank you for this nice mission Grandmauden, for a first map its well built, beautiful atmosphere, and
enjoyable gameplay.

Thank you guys for the hints regarding the hidden key and how to lift the curse :D

downwinder on 22/2/2016 at 21:50

great little mission ,1664 loot out of1699 3/3 secrets found,,i did peek on board for a couple small hints,too me 35 min ,thank you for making it you did very well,look forward to a bigger mission by you

FenPhoenix on 23/2/2016 at 07:20

[video=youtube;SXrbGzF2M9M]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXrbGzF2M9M&list=PLOHOw55MgFTSz9zT_Oy_vJoWR8fCPD613&index=3[/video]

The first thing that stood out to me was the nice ghostly atmosphere; the second thing was the writing. The townsfolks' notes about each other are entertaining and the lucky hand's backstory I thought was really interesting and detailed. Rather than just having a generic cursed artifact, it gives a full explanation of why and how it came to be both blessed and cursed, and said backstory is vivid and memorable.
The gameplay is mostly not too complicated, but there were two spots that gave me trouble, one was the key under the steps and the other was lifting the curse. I solved the latter by swinging at the guy on a whim, but I had to look up the former in this thread. All in all though, I really enjoyed the mission. The pace moves along nicely and the story is engaging and well told.

Kurhhan on 23/2/2016 at 10:33

Congratulations on the release Grandmauden ! Good luck in the contest. Good story and objectives, great atmosphere, nicely matched sounds.

Grandmauden on 23/2/2016 at 15:50

Thanks, everyone! Glad you're enjoying it!

(And apologies if I made those spots way too tricky)

fortuni on 23/2/2016 at 17:46

What a cracking good mission Grandmauden.

Usually missions with over long books and scrolls are a bit turn off for me (1 page max please) but your mission had a cracking good story that had me riveted. The build quality is superb (as it was with all 3 contest missions) and with just the right level of puzzles / well hidden keys and clever ideas I could not find a single issue that I was unhappy with.

Thank You!