The Phantom on 6/3/2008 at 13:52
Quote Posted by SlyFoxx
[SPOILER] The big pool in the dungeon is very handy for drowing the guards. I should round up some more for a Silent Project screen shot. I guess I've got about 12-14 guards drowned in there right now. Just make sure to attach a rope before playing ring around the rosie with a few of your closest friends.:devil: :ebil: [/SPOILER]
Heh, managed to drown one as well. It made me wonder if there's something in the water, since it doesn't even reach their shoulders :joke:.
Found the mosquito swarm in one of the cells to be another fun way of dealing with guards (one at the time though). It requires some running around, but it's hilarious to see an AI die by a few stings :laff:.
I tried this mission years ago, but never got far into it.
Returned to it recently and after venturing deeper into the mission (castle) I feel ashamed for never finishing this before. It's surprisingly good, and much bigger then expected.
The harbour area at the start sets a nice mood. The thick black fog, that
ends when you enter the city is a great effect.
The street area that follows isn't spectacular but is only meant to lead the player to the castle. And the castle (and what's found beneath it) is just... WOW!
Probably the most authentic and detailled castle i've ever seen in a fan mission.
Great piece of design! The (decorated) interior and exterior locations seems very authentic. Some castle/fortress missions include some elements that ruin the medieval atmosphere (like a modern toilet), but I haven't seen anything here that feels out of place.
I like the alternative ways of entry intro the castle (used the toilet above the moat to get inside), the full accessibility (like roof and beams as alternative routes), and the size of the place.
It makes me wonder if it's based on an existing castle !?
The underground dungeon is not only one of the most atmospheric I've ever encountered, but also fits perfectly into my definition of a dungeon. Dark, old, badly maintained, and a confusing maze of passages and corridors.
It makes sense to see plants and grass grow between the walls, torchery devices with a skeletons in it, and executioners wandering around. Stunning achievement!
My favorite location in the mission must be the small passage leading downwards into
a zombie crypt :D. The collapsed walls and stair, cobwebs, mushrooms, together with some nice variation in brick textures, brilliantly indicates a poorly maintained, deserted area, long forgotten. Great place! This attention to detail around the level is something that many other authors can take learning from!
Beside the praise, some points of critcism.
Playing on Garrett (expert) difficulty was incredibly hard. Normally I don't have much trouble with KO restrictions, as long as the AI isn't so damn sensitve. Even the slightest sounds alerts every guard in the vecinity. Even though I find this realistic for a castle mission (things of echo's in stone halls and corridors) it becomes pretty frustrating eventually. It forces the player to be extra careful, and to use a slow approach from time to time.
But because of the size and complexity of the map there were moments I liked to run instead of walk, with the result of 5 guards on my back in no time. And because guards run faster, see you from a great distance, and are alerted for a longer time then in most other missions it is more dangerous to deal with them.
For fully exploring the map, like I tend to do, without being on high alert for another guard with lantern passing by, required a replay on a lower difficulty (where would I be without my trusty blackjack ;))
Secondly, I failed to figure out the locations of a few important keys myself because of a lack of clear hints to get to them (at least I can't remember reading them). Imo this should be essential with such an outstretched place.
Finally, the english translation is incomplete. The readables and the objective screen may be in english, but things like map, bodies and, not unimportant, the briefing at the start are still in german. And some objects (bj, lockpicks) aren't even labelled.
I also experienced that the mission crashed to the desktop after completion, and clicking 'continue' in the stats screen, But perhaps that's just me.
Despite this, I can fully recommend this mission to everyone :thumb:. It's clear that a lot of time was spent to create this mission. The main story is immersive (with several side quests available), there's plenty of exploration to do and the mission includes some refreshing new elements.
But be warned with playing on the highest difficulty.
About the loot hints in the slave's scroll, I managed to find the
magpie nest but can someone tell me where the
main bar of the tower is where loot is supposed to be hidden in a small hole?
Reading Nepumuk's
testimony at the end, leaves open the possibility of a sequel. Sounds intruiging.
Quote Posted by DarkTemplar
Hilly towns (it's unbelievable how many words sounds equal in German & English); my next mission (35% finished), hills en masse and huge/high (I think over 100m in real liefe) buildings.
Is this a continuation of the story? It was posted almost 5 years ago, which makes me wonder if it's still alive :erg:
DarkTemplar, if you're still around, can we still expect this to be released?
Statistics:
Difficulty played: Garrett (Expert)
Time Taken: 3 hrs, 2 mins, 2 secs
Loot found: 3469 out of
4739Lord Spoochyspoochy on 16/3/2013 at 02:52
This was an amazing mission! Surely one of the very best missions I have ever played. It has it's own distinct and very cool style.
I made a thread requesting missions heavily influenced by the Middle Ages and The Phantom suggested me this mission. I'm gonna copy-paste an excerpt from there:
Quote:
Phantom thank you!!!!!! That mission right there has the feeling I'm talking about! For me, it has to be the best mission I have played, stylisticaly. I owe you and the creator of that mission. So thank you again! I was trying to find that guy and I saw that he had signed up back in 2003, but sadly he didn't stay here for long.
The mission wasn't exactly how I had it in my mind (I thought of a more light side of the Middle Ages, with the knights, the noble ladies and men, some romance and generally a shakespearian kind of view), but this darker view is just as real, characteristic and enticing, with all the extremely old, and seemingly countless, dungeon corridors and broken steps (I could almost smell the moss sometimes), the
torture chambers, the paintings in the castle walls, the
hangman swinging on the gallows pole, the architecture of the buildings and all the textures used for just about everything, even the autumn trees and it generally had that medieval feel.
It had some issues though, the storyline wasn't as strong as I'd like it to be (although, all those amazing places almost make up for it). The
lever for the hidden part of the wine cellar which was necessary to find, was unessecarily hard to find and without any clues. I was sure I had thoroughly searched the
wine cellar, even every barrel on its own and all around the place, but I hadn't seen anything. Maybe something about it was mentioned in the
readable in the kitchen, but although it could be highlighted, it didn't frob, even in german. So finally I was forced to read the thread here and cheat.
But other than these, I'll never forget this mission and I'm going to play it again, that's for sure.
It's a GREAT shame that this guy (Dennis) didn't make more missions. I wonder if he's still here and using another nickname.
