T2 FM: Fables of the Penitent Thief, by Sliptip and Digi (Nov 8th 2010)

Xorak on 12/11/2010 at 09:36

I really enjoyed this mission. I could see how some people might complain about the moving textures, but I didn't mind them, and felt they added to the atmosphere of the village and the style of gameplay. The upside-down house was really well done, probably the best implementation of that I've ever seen in a game. The unique voices of the different characters was also a nice touch. Some of the townspeople's dialogue made me laugh too, and helped suggest the world beyond just that of the player. It all added nicely to the mood of the game. The children's hide-and-seek game was also a brilliant way to cause the player to stick to the shadows.

I'm not sure why, but the rope-beast creature was really the stand-out part of the mission for me. It had the right mixture of stangeness and oddity that made me almost uneasy to encounter and approach it. It really did seem like something out of Cthulu, a bizarre creature from another world breaking into that one.

If I had to find something to critque it would be that the game wasn't linear enough. By that I mean that you could actually find several of the quest-items before knowing the quest/people they were to be used for. To me, this lessened the effect of the "I know what item I need, but how do I get it?" moments. With the apples, I was elated when I managed to find the first one I needed, but disappointed afterwards that I could (seemingly) collect hundreds if I really wanted to. Also, being able to buy rope arrows beforehand, lessened the satisfaction of completing the rope-beast puzzle.

Sliptip on 12/11/2010 at 10:31

Quote Posted by Xiaopang

I finally created an outlined font to increase the game's readability. This is especially helpful if you run the game with ddfix' bloom. Here are some comparison screens. The difference is not that visible thanks to the screenshots' low resolution, but ingame it's a difference like day and night

That's pretty cool Xiaopang. I had no idea we could have more than 1 colour in the text. I'm really curious to see what happens if you change the colour with NV's scripts.

It always bugged me too that the text wasn't easy to read against bright backgrounds. If we ever update the missions (assuming Digi's cool with it too) I'll use that font instead.

Sliptip on 12/11/2010 at 10:42

Quote Posted by Xorak

. . .If I had to find something to critque it would be that the game wasn't linear enough. By that I mean that you could actually find several of the quest-items before knowing the quest/people they were to be used for. To me, this lessened the effect of the "I know what item I need, but how do I get it?" moments. With the apples, I was elated when I managed to find the first one I needed, but disappointed afterwards that I could (seemingly) collect hundreds if I really wanted to. Also, being able to buy rope arrows beforehand, lessened the satisfaction of completing the rope-beast puzzle.

That's a good point Xorak. I must say I've developed a real respect for game designers who make this sort of quest based game. I think Malchy was probably set up the best way (though most ppl would probably have missed it). If you talk to him before you talk to the Gardener he won't tell you anything. The minstrel on the other hand should probably not give you anything until you've spoked with the baker. . . .but that opens up a whole big can of worms.

If I ever do another one like this I'll probably go buy a white board so I can map out the quests easier and try to limit the number of times you have something before you need it.

Unkillable Cat on 12/11/2010 at 10:44

Everybody keeps mentioning how this FM reminds them of this or that game from years ago. For me, it's the Dizzy games.

You're a bloke starring in a platform game who walks and jumps around a colourful and (mostly) harmless landscape, talking to people whom give out their conversations in short bursts while a cheerful muzak jingle plays in the background. 9 times out of 10 the people in the game want you to do something for them, which 9 times out of 10 results in you getting an item you can use elsewhere and slowly but surely make progress towards the main goal of the game. Very little violence is involved in and everything seems to be family-orientated, even down to the puzzles being simple and somewhat logical.

Did I just describe a Dizzy game or Fables of the Penitent Thief?

Regardless, I think it's a good FM. It's a very good break from the norm.

Xiaopang on 12/11/2010 at 11:05

Quote Posted by Sliptip

That's great :) I'm glad I could contribute something to this cool mission. Being totally new to the whole Thief modding scene, I don't get your reference to NV. Anyway, it seems that you can use 256 colors for a font, which means that you could color each glyph in a Thief font with a different color. In fact, I thought about coloring the outlined font. When I play The Penitent Thief I kinda feel that the text should be colored like the rainbow to fit the style of the game a little better. Guess I'll try that now. Also, any leads on how you guys modded the menu color would be nice so that I can restore the original colors or at least change the crappy save menu ones.

Summer on 12/11/2010 at 12:40

Can someone help me? I can't get out of the Wizard's Tower. Please spoil me! :angel:

Nameless Voice on 12/11/2010 at 12:44

Just run around at random until you find your way out! :D

Haplo on 12/11/2010 at 12:46

Quote Posted by Sliptip

This is also one of the biggest challenges that I face when designing my missions. It requires a lot of thought and planning, and the perfect solution does not always exist.

Summer on 12/11/2010 at 12:52

Quote Posted by Nameless Voice

Just run around at random until you find your way out! :D

Thanks :devil: Already been doing that for about twenty minutes! Getting a little... :bored:

Xiaopang on 12/11/2010 at 13:00

Activate your compass and only go west. This should make you go up and down the same set of stairs until you finally find the exit

In other news: I gave each glyph an individual color and that's the result:

Inline Image:

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc273/Xiaopang999/color.png

It's more of a proof of concept rather than anything usable. Originally, the glyphs are a lot more colorful, however, their color is weighed against Thief's standard palette as it seems which changes their original color to a much darker tone. I haven't found a way to preserve their original color. That could most likely be achieved by editing Darkpal.pcx and adding in the colors of the font. Still, as is clearly visible in the screenshot, the colors have a certain transparency. That makes the font hard to read for brighter glyphs that are projected against the skybox. This look is also carried over to the menu. Total control over the game's color rendering would be necessary to create a colorful, yet easily readable font. Since I don't have it I'll concentrate on optimizing the white outlined font instead.