Unkillable Cat on 3/11/2018 at 00:43

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No. Don't ever think that.

You were one of many ambitious taffers who looked at DromEd back in the day and not only wondered how far you could push it, but actually went and did it. In doing so you showed others what could be done with DromEd, and inspired them to try to follow in your footsteps. Many of them not only did that, but they then went and pushed DromEd even further. It's fair criticism to say that you did some things in Ruins of Originia that have thankfully not been repeated in later Fan Missions, but that's normal, it's part of the creative process. 'Throwing things at the wall and see what sticks' is a perfectly valid way of doing things.

As for the players, you laid down a tough challenge before them. Gamers being gamers, they eventually rose up to it and overcame it. I'm willing to bet that many of them enjoyed the challenge, despite the "insane" length and difficulty. Your campaign has a certain feel to it that made me (just to name an example) want to see what more was ahead, regardless of what was thrown at me. The difficulty did not bother me as much as the tedium of some of the required actions. Like genociding the burricks (gotta bonk 'em all) or just walking around inside the museum (my kingdom for an even floor!). In my opinion Ruins of Originia is the closest thing Thief players can get to the Ultima Underworld games, and Ashes to Ashes in particular has a strong UUW2 vibe to it.

You should be proud, and it's not your fault that updates to Thief have "broken" the missions. How were you supposed to know the future direction of the Dark Engine back then?

Don't be too hard on yourself. The campaign still works and people still revisit it today, after all these years. That's a nice little legacy to leave behind. :)

Unna: Thanks for that, corrected the error, tested it again... same result. Took the test further this time, reached the Power Cells room with both dml scripts enabled. The Invisible Key is truly and utterly invisible. Further tests will have to wait.

baeuchlein on 4/11/2018 at 21:40

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I have checked briefly with NewDark v1.25, and for me, the Shadowbeasts are also looking like ordinary treebeasts, except for the smoke... they look like farting treebeasts now.:cheeky: The Gem of Oldorf also just adds some colour to the scene, otherwise it doesn't change the beasts' appearance.

I think this is not a game-breaker. I do not know, however, what happens in other parts of the missions where one needs the Gem to reveal invisible things.

baeuchlein on 5/11/2018 at 02:08

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Very good, Unna! The new version of the DML's does work sufficiently with the Shadowbeast in the beginning of the last mission. I did not yet reach other spots in the missions where the DML's should make a difference, so I can't speak of that yet.

klatremus on 18/12/2022 at 22:30

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Question:
In the Loknara exhibit #20, two spiders go full alarm the instant you teleport into the room. However, the caretaker says "she (Loknara) can at times be reasoned with, for something in return". Does anyone know what this means? It seems like a hint that you can use an item in order to obtain something in there, or perhaps make the spiders go away or go docile? Puzzles in this campaign are very obscure, that's the only reason I'm asking.

klatremus on 19/12/2022 at 00:45

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Oh yeah I remember that. I assume that doesn't carry over to mission 4 then, since I definitely freed her in Guilded Rivalry.