Spiderkat on 12/3/2004 at 20:52
I'll second that motion~ this is a fantastic fm. Can't wait for unholy alliance! Eshkatar, care to give us an update? Maybe a new screenshot? Please please please!
Deiyen on 13/3/2004 at 05:30
Well, maybe you have to take me off that list now... I don't know, you decide.
I finally finished it, Expert difficulty, first time through. The beginning is a bit slow, middle is excellent, end is kinda meh. :erg: [spoiler]It just didn't seem to be too authentic or anything. Not entirely original. :p Once again Garrett finds himself manipulated by someone else. Although this time there's a slight twist in that who he's working for is also being manipulated. The end just felt like the author wanted to prolong the mission a bit.[/spoiler]
All in all though, great mission. Someone has to review it for the Circle. I'd say the scripting is the best part of the mission, the story isn't bad, the ideas are great, the plot is the only thing lacking a bit (at the end). The path the player is forced to take is great planning, linear enough to advance the story, but open enough to let the player complete objectives in (almost) any order.
The puzzles were fun, I liked those, for the most part I figured it out on my own (a lot of just accidentally stumbling on a switch or something), but I have to admit I did get two spoilies. [spoiler]I couldn't find out how to get into the tower for the Sunspark, so I looked around the forums for that, and I also (accidentally) read the hiding place of the third journal page. Which figures, since those are the two places I was extremely reluctant to revisit, after being creeped out by the apparitions.[/spoiler]
And like I said before, I love all the little touches that make the mission enjoyable. [spoiler]Too many to list, but a few that come to mind, Benny's Stash, gigantic Crayman statue, the ghost mage in the halls, the sprinklers, the poor burrick that got impaled on the stalagmite... :([/spoiler]
So I'm finally done, the relief in finishing is one of those great feelings that comes with FM's. Once I get over my fears, I'll have to play it again on Normal difficulty to see how easy things become. :p
[spoiler]Oh yea, and one thing left I couldn't figure out. What's with the broken gas lamp outside the boarded up room that won't stay lit? I imagine the author did that to enhance the creepy mood. Every time I had to pass that hallway, I decided to run down the other hall 'cause I was scared of that general area.[/spoiler]
Eshaktaar on 13/3/2004 at 08:59
Thanks for your comments. They're appreciated :)
[SPOILER]Maybe you'll like the ending a bit more when you see the rest of the story in the sequel. Maybe ;)[/SPOILER]
I'll post some more screenshots from Unholy Alliance this weekend.
Vigil on 13/3/2004 at 09:25
I don't think anything was lacking at all in the story department, I loved the twists and turns - but I did feel that the story would have worked better as two missions instead of one. For me there's a certain length a single mission can go on for, and Ominous Bequest reached that length about the point of the first betrayal - which is where LGS would have split into two, perhaps even three missions. Don't get me wrong, there's nothing at all wrong with the story, it's just too MUCH in one hit, and it got gruelling by the end of it, which meant I didn't appreciate it as well as I could have. Rowena's Curse got like that for me as well.
As a side note, I think the limited freedom and interactivity of Thief makes it very hard to make Garrett into an actual protagonist, rather than someone who just <em>reacts</em> to other protagonists. That's perhaps why we see so many Garrett-gets-messed-around-and-then-looks-for-revenge stories.
Eshaktaar on 13/3/2004 at 14:33
That's an interesting point you have there, Vigil. The story grew while I was building the mission, and at one point I played with the thought to split it up. But since Garrett revisits many places, I was afraid to end up with something like Casing the Joint/Masks.
Just before betatesting I took out an entire plot thread because it was way too much to tell the player at once. Instead it's going to be in the sequel now.
The Mike on 13/3/2004 at 17:08
Quote:
Originally posted by Vigil I don't think anything was lacking at all in the story department, I loved the twists and turns - but I did feel that the story would have worked better as two missions instead of one. For me there's a certain length a single mission can go on for, and Ominous Bequest reached that length about the point of the first betrayal - which is where LGS would have split into two, perhaps even three missions. Don't get me wrong, there's nothing at all wrong with the story, it's just too MUCH in one hit, and it got gruelling by the end of it, which meant I didn't appreciate it as well as I could have. Rowena's Curse got like that for me as well.
Maybe I'm just wierd, but that's what I loved about this mission- the huge amount of story that unfolds throughout and how "complete" it feels at the end. I, personally, can't stand the "To be continued" ending- it always leads to you waiting half a year for the sequal, the whole time hoping the author doesn't get too bored with it to finish. This mission's story had a beginning, a middle, and an end- which made it all the more satisfying to beat. I hope the sequal has even more storytelling throughout it. Of course this is just my opinion, and I know nothing about game design, so maybe it would have been more fun somehow as two missions....who knows?
Ominous Bequest is easily one of the greatest FMs of all time, the sequal can't come out fast enough.
Griffin on 13/3/2004 at 17:36
Quote:
Originally posted by The Mike Maybe I'm just wierd, but that's what I loved about this mission- the huge amount of story that unfolds throughout and how "complete" it feels at the end.
I agree. A mission can be too long, like a book you want to finish...just because you've gotten so far. But OB is special because at several points you THINK you've reached the end and then are delighted that it goes on.
The story is compelling enough that you want to go on, and on.
In fact, I felt a little sad at the end because, like a good book, it really was over....for now.
Deiyen on 14/3/2004 at 04:18
Heh, well, I'm not saying the story was bad or anything. The story was pretty good, but to me, a story is made up of two things, ideas and plot. The ideas were excellent, absolutely fantastic, it's just the plot seemed "amateur-ish." [spoiler]I mean, it takes almost the entire mission to find you were you being used. The next twist, the person using you also being used comes like, five minutes later. There's not much of a buildup or time to think about Robert Farrington. The ending after that was incredibly short. After bring back to life the necromancer, you follow a linear tunnel to the craymen place, and find your way back into the tombs (with the open coffin, nice touch). You know you're supposed to get back into the Gamma chamber, but the mission forces you to take a long way around that wasn't difficult at all. So it just felt like prolonging the ending. Because the end (I found) was pretty simple too... Sneak upstairs and whack the book.[/spoiler]
But I'll wait for the sequel I guess, how much finished is it? Maybe it'll tide me over until T3 comes out or CoSaS MX or I get a new computer for DX2. :p
But back to OB, I also thought that the mission should've been split up into different missions (or Acts, like 7th Crystal) but I figured pretty much along the lines of Eshaktaar's thinking. I imagine it makes it a whole lot more complicated to split a single mission into multiple, and a whole lotta problems would crop up, so it'd probably be easier to just put it together.
I agree with The Mike's sentiments about it feeling "complete" as well. You <i>know</i> when the mission is over despite the "pseudo-endings." But it just didn't have the incredible build-up-to-the-climax feeling I got from T7C.
Oh yea, so what's the deal with the gas lamp thing? Was I right?
Eshaktaar on 14/3/2004 at 12:18
[SPOILER]The detour before the ending was due to story reasons (I wanted the player to discover Robert's fate and give an opportunity to see the Burrick trap from above) and because I wanted the player to enter the church from the southern entrance where they're tempted to fight against Kadar's illusionary image, which has its back turned oh so conveniently.[/SPOILER]
The sequel will still take a while, and I'm not trying to race against the release of T3. Release date: When it's done ;)
Quote:
Originally posted by Deiyen Oh yea, so what's the deal with the gas lamp thing? Was I right?
Yes indeed,
[SPOILER]The lamp keeps going out because of the presence of Elizabeth's ghost (like an air draft from nowhere).[/SPOILER]
daveodeth on 15/3/2004 at 13:29
great mission, but what amazed me the most was
[SPOILER]When the guard comes into the room with the secret chamber where the testament is(that freaked me out), he then mutters something and turns out the light. I am hiding just round the corner hoping he doesn't stick his head round.[/SPOILER]
cracking mission.
