Eshaktaar on 10/9/2003 at 16:50

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Heh, that's more or less coincidence, MaddogCT. I was thinking of Bart Simpson when I picked the name Bartholomew, though :)

DarkUnderlord on 13/9/2003 at 04:44

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A fantastic mission. I thought I'd take the time to give you a detailed break-down of what I thought about it, considering the ten months you spent on it. For those that haven't finished, I hope what I say doesn't spoil anything but in any case you may want to skip this if you haven't finished yet.


Story
The overall plot is excellent. A typical "simple mission turns into saving the world" type scenario, but it's handled brilliantly. The books and notes hinting about what's underneath the manor and thinking that I might potentially end up down there, and then of course, finally ending up down there, was all good. I liked how the Hammers were in the guest rooms and how they had a purpose that fit into the overall story. I like how everything had a purpose. The guards on strike was an especially nice touch. Seeing them camped outside with signs up was quite funnny.

The correlation between the notes and books was also fantastic. Reading about an earthquake in one, how an earthquake might disable the vault door in another, how an earthquake killed someone and of course that there was an earthquake recently. The consistency within the story is superb. There's nothing like reading one book and then reading another that contradicts it to make you go "huh?". This level doesn't do that.

All in all, the story does what it's supposed to do. It draws you in and makes you want to keep playing. You want to find that extra book, just that one more note that'll tell you just that little bit extra about why something has happened, or where something might be. Then finally, in the end, the story makes you satisfied that you've done what you came to do and that it's over now.


Level Design
Excellent level design. There weren't what I call 'stupid rooms'. The layout made sense. The little things like the arched ceilings in tunnels, the skirting around the bottom of the walls in places and all the right textures make it really feel like a proper thief level. The house has an excellent (yet quite simple) design. It's not overly elaborate with over-done huge rooms. The rooms I felt were quite small, but they worked well.

The crypts are especially nicely designed. They aren't too big and they're not too small. Some levels feel the need to throw in an insane amount of passages, tombs and walkways that in the end, just make you feel lost. You handle it quite well though. With really, only four significant areas in the crypts (Sewers, Sword, Kadras' Chambers & Family Tomb) and with each of those areas being relatively small and easy to traverse, it's quite amazing that such 'small things' can combine to create an over-all great level design. Again, the level of detail in those areas really makes it feel worth-while.

There are also things like Nathan Farrington walking to switch on the lights if you disturb him, the guard walking to turn off the sprinkler system. There are excellent things in this level that have been designed solidly. They work well.

As a whole, the design uses quite it's array of secret passages, special items and what I call a 'save the world' story, but it does it all quite nicely. It doesn't once feel over the top, or contrived. It's balanced and makes sense. The plethora of special items fit within the game world and within the story you've created. It makes sense for these things to be here and it makes sense that I should be able to find them and use them.


What I Liked
Atmosphere. Creak, creak as you walk passed that barred room. Then realising it's a rope and understanding why... The sound when you stumble across the ghost of Edward Farrington and he disappears. The ghost walking towards me as I leave the Beta Chamber, the performing of the ritual itself, the guards on strike (I especially liked that one. Of course they all got whacked after I drew them out one by one by throwing the shovel around the place). Turning on the sprinklers to distract the guard outside the charcoal chute and hurriedly picking the lock and racing down... The moon, the beautiful moon. All of that combined make for one hell of an atmosphere. It has the right sneaking feel, the right ghostly feel and the right story feel.

Benny's Locker. A classic. Reading all those notes and thinking "What's in Benny's locker that he's protecting?" and then finally finding it, opening it and having its contents spill out on to the floor. I was actually laughing (Poor Benny wasn't though, he was already out with a sore lump on the back of his head).

The optional (and bonus) quests. Love them. Absolutely love them. It really makes the level dynamic and feel like 'I can do something' when, after finding a letter, or a diary I have the option of helping someone out. As for my sense of the dramatic and being noble, I loved them both too. :) It's often the little, seemingly meaningless things that can add to the overall experience.

The notes everywhere were good but perhaps too obvious? It's a difficult balance though. At times I felt it was too much and the notes were far too obvious. It wasn't until I tried to figure out the 'water the seedling and light the way for the dead' encryption that I realised how stuck I would be without them. I was running around the conservatory looking for something before I remembered Jeffrey's note and read it again, then promptly solved the problem. As it is though, while at times they made things bleeding obvious, I feel you've pulled off a very delicate balance.

A Holy Sponge, a floating skull, combining parts of a diary together, using a hooked stick to open the attic doors. The 'special' items work wonderfully together (Incidentally, before I found the attic hook, I thought I'd end up using the sceptre that was protected by the electricity in order to open those doors).

While I got stuck at times, it seemed there was always a secret switch just behind the barrel or behind the tapestry or even a book or a note that could save the day. I spent more time thoroughly exploring each individual room then I have in a long time for a thief mission (and that's a good thing).


What I Didn't Like
There was nothing in the level that I absolutely didn't like. The overall package was perfect. There were however, one or two things that I 'didn't get'. The first of these was the wire. "Oh, that's a wire?" was what I thought when I eventually took a slash at it and found I could cut it in two. I thought it was a safe with two bars and an electrical "force field" of some sort preventing me from opening it. Hence I spent quite a while firing fire arrows at the generator in the room in the basement as well as thinking that leaving the Holy Sponge in the furnace might actually stop the fire and turn out all the lights, along with the security system (I thought the flickering light in there was a sign that my bold plan was working). With all the notes about everything else and labels and signs everywhere, I expected to find a note mentioning the security system. Even a plaque with "Electrical Wiring" below it would've made me twig. As I say, with all the other helpful hints in the level, I thought something could be added with regards to the wire. At one stage I even thought you'd made an error and put SunSpark in a safe (which I thought it was at the time) in the North-West tower, instead of the North-East as you'd mentioned in a note (thankfully that thought vanished when I realised I hadn't been in the NE tower at that stage yet).

The entrance to the Dawn Mages. Being trapped in that room for a few minutes before blowing the horn out of sheer frustration, then finding the hole. I didn't twig that it was the horn that opened it (I thought I'd just missed the hole previously) until I read Lord Farrington's book. I figured the book where it mentions 'blowing the horn to confuse the Burricks' wasn't based on my actions. I therefore figured it must be necessary to blow the horn in order to get out of that room and therefore that was the secret mages' entrance as mentioned in the letter. It was on my second run-through before I noticed the symbol on the trapdoor. I don't think there's much you can do about this though, I was just a little slow.
[spoiler]Of the eight secrets, one of them was very, very lame. In Kadras' quarters, after I found the switch to slide back the wall behind the mural (I'd already opened the mural itself with a few fire arrows), that other 'secret' inside is not a secret. With a noisy spider sitting in front of it, your attention is IMMEDIATELY drawn to that area, the spider and then the switch. I personally wouldn't have made that a secret.[/spoiler]
The painting, oh the painting! I KNEW it was the clue to the switches (how could it be more obvious) but having to turn away to bring up the painting so I can look at it, then looking back at the switches, it doesn't click inside the game. I've seen the overlay image in this thread and seen how it fits, but I feel that it isn't conveyed properly inside the game. At first I thought the little arrows under the shiny spots were indications of the direction for switches, before realising those 'arrows' are just a part of the painting. If I could somehow prop the painting up somewhere next to the switches, it might be more clearer.

Find information about a secret mages order. Reading that letter didn't make me think "Oh, there's a bunch of mages underneath the house here". There was something else I read (I can't remember what though) that made it more obvious about the mages underneath. What I'm thinking of may well have been inside the mages area itself though. Regardless, I felt that the letter wasn't enough 'evidence' to complete that objective.

Why is the Captain's Quarters locked (I should actually say 'unpickable')? I can understand having some rooms locked and inaccessible without the proper key (it adds to the adventure), but I can't figure out why the Captain's Quarters should be locked in such a way. The balcony is locked because of the extra treasure, the attic to sensibly keep people out, Elizabeth's room to further the story, the cold room because of what's hidden inside, but with the Captain's Quarters I just felt that he should not only be able to come out and find "who's tapping about" but also that his guards should have access to him, with him being the Captain and all (Incidentally, with regards to the cold room, I never slashed at it with my sword as you suggest in this thread. I instead fired a fire arrow directly at the rather obvious lump of ice after I'd read the diary).


And Finally...
(http://users.senet.com.au/~dbschah/images/job_well_done.jpg) Congratulations on a job well done!
(I think Jeffrey Farrington might be more than a little concerned when he comes to visit tomorrow. He'll find all the guards in the cold room but won't find the key. ;) )

By the way, who's the poor sod that died chained between the floors in the room just above the kitchen? Is there a story for him?

jericho on 14/9/2003 at 18:28

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I'm almost done with the mission (a great mission, indeed!). I have a problem with the "another way to leave the manor":

[SPOILER]I get into the burrick arena and after I read Lord Farindton's letter, I'm stuck with the burricks. I killed them all, but still, there seem to be no way out. I must be missing something. What did I miss?[/SPOILER]

jericho on 14/9/2003 at 19:42

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Um, I won't help you much, but

[SPOILER]I got to the "other" attic area through the roof and using the attic windows key. There was a fallen furniture and the stairs are probably under it, there seemed to be a frobbable secret door, but I wasn't able to open it. You might want to try it... Maybe these are the stairs you're talking about. I don't have part 4 of the diary, either. :([/SPOILER]

Hit Deity on 14/9/2003 at 20:59

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I finally finished it, but I never did open that door that I found locked. Must be a secret.

Thanks for the help, guys! :thumb:

Awesome mission!