T2 FM 'The Seventh Crystal' - 8th Nov 2001

David on 11/11/2001 at 10:16

The very last part of the main mission before the EndGame....

<blockquote>Spoiler:<div style="background-color:#000080">You bastard Saturnine, you scared me shitless! Oh and I love the floor that moves to become stairs, excellent!</div></blockquote> <img src="graemlins/thumb.gif" border="0" alt="[Thumbs Up!]" />

Challenger on 11/11/2001 at 10:33

Just d\l from Apache's site at 550K took less than 1 minute,that's the fastest speeed I've ever downloaded at!

UnderTow on 11/11/2001 at 11:46

I'm proud to say I did everything in order, no bashing down doors for me. Even though it took me 2h 11m to complete. <img src="tongue.gif" border="0"> <img src="smile.gif" border="0">

Very nice mission saturnine <img src="biggrin.gif" border="0"> <img src="graemlins/thumb.gif" border="0" alt="[Thumbs Up!]" />

Kyra on 11/11/2001 at 23:35

Quote Posted by Wynne

Kyra, some detailed help--

Wynne, perfect, thank you. Had already searched there but he had fallen in such a way as to hide what he had and there seems to be no auto-item-pickup so I failed to snag it when I hoisted him.

Now I can go back and finish the rest. I'm so excited. :)

Keeper of Metal and Gold on 12/11/2001 at 01:05

don't forget to get the Seventh Crystal patch if you already downloaded the initial release - it fixes a few things like the doors and the map and the boundstrigger problems - get it here: <a href="http://thief1.math.uh.edu/thief/missions/" target="_blank">http://thief1.math.uh.edu/thief/missions/</a>

also, for other questions on this mission, see this thread: <a href="http://www.ttlg.com/forums/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic&f=32&t=000863" target="_blank">http://www.ttlg.com/forums/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic&f=32&t=000863</a>

Ramirez on 12/11/2001 at 04:46

Finished this mission yesterday, and I found it to very cool, especially in effects, though i didnt go for all the failed love stuff <img src="graemlins/weird.gif" border="0" alt="[Weird]" /> <img src="graemlins/erm.gif" border="0" alt="[Erm...]" /> Also, its too linear the way certain events controll your progression through the game, whic meant i did a whole lot of running around looking for keys, especially to the servants quarters.. <img src="graemlins/sweat.gif" border="0" alt="[Sweat]" /> still, i suppose there was a story to be told, and i DID manage to do it w/o blasting any doors open. An excellent effort, and one of my all time favourite missions. Gimme the sequel <img src="graemlins/thumb.gif" border="0" alt="[Thumbs Up!]" />

Bruny on 12/11/2001 at 18:26

Usually the stories in FMs don't enhance my enjoyment of the mission. Sometimes the stories are so contrived and forced on us they *detract* from it. But there was one place in this mission that truly affected me.<blockquote>Spoiler:<div style="background-color:#000080">At first I was somewhat understanding of Alexandria's pain and her decision to take a lover because of the cold distance her husband kept. But then when I read Saturnine's poignant journal entry I felt nothing more than contempt for her. That heartless bitch!</div></blockquote>That was a very nice touch. Not too complex so as to get lost, Simple, yet an effective way to twist and manipulate my feelings. Bravo!

Keeper of Metal and Gold on 12/11/2001 at 19:10

I agree that I hung on this story far more than usual for an FM. I was actually really wondering who was going to doublecross who and what was going to happen, like a good movie! Only I was "playing" the movie!

Darkwarrior on 12/11/2001 at 19:59

For all of you saying this is gold hammer stuff, it isn't. I hate to say it, but, truthfully, I have to say the gameplay in this mission sucks. No atmosphere is built up in either of the two playable missions (other than the cinematic ones)and Saturtine's mansion is just the stereotypical key hunt and find the secret switch (sound familiar from Thief 2?). I have to admit the technical stuff in the mission is absolutely stunning, as is the architecture, but I am not the glazed over gamer who is impressed by pretty graphics and cool special effects. When I play an FM, I want to feel like I am there. I want to actually enjoy playing through and get into the story, not be shyed away from tedious key hunting. Act 3 was just boring, except for when you discover the secret, mainly because the ambient sounds were virtually non-existant and there was not much of a challenge. I was going to write a review, but I'm afraid that most of you would get angry if this mission didn't get its "earned" gold hammer because I know it doesn't deserve it. The Inverted Manse deserved it because I actually got deeply into the story, not to mention the fact that the atmosphere built up was nothing short of impeccable. The architecture may not have been as pretty as T7C, but the gameplay has yet to be beat; I actually felt nervous and scared as I played TIM, but no such feeling of any kind (enchanted, awed, scared, etc.) came to me when playing T7C.

However, despite all this, T7C is one of the best fan missions to come out in quite some time, and while I didnt care for the ending, it was a stray from the norm and I give T7C credit for being different. I also give it credit for the excellent architecture and technical feats which are currently unmatched. However, I do solidly believe that the level design, as far atmosphere (again), gameplay, and sneakitude could have been greatly increased, and I fear they may have neglected this in light of the cool technical effects.

I am sorry if this offended anyone on the T7C team or Saturntine, but I just couldn't hold back my opinion. Congrats to Saturtine on an excellent job...but I am sorry, it could have been better.

Architecture: 10 Atmosphere: 3 Gameplay: 4 Story: 7 Technical Effects: 10 Sneakitude: 6 +5 for butt-kickin' technical effects and customization Total: 45 Average: 7.5 (8)

DARKWARRIOR'S HAMMER SCORE: 8 SILVER HAMMERS And he's stickin' to it!

Boy I am I gonna get yelled at by everyone for this... ::Holds hands in front of face to guard against incoming stones::

[ November 12, 2001: Message edited by: Darkwarrior ]

[ November 12, 2001: Message edited by: Darkwarrior ]

DarkRaven on 12/11/2001 at 20:32

(TWOCENTS)As an avid Thief player and now semi-avid Dromeder (I havent actually released anything yet) I offer my opinion on this FM with a huge grain of salt. I have to say though that I agree, somewhat, with DarkWarrior, my earlier post about T7C was just before I finished it and I still stick to that one but, truth be told the ending was somewhat of a let-down. My heart-rate did jump like a sonofagun though at the end 'surprises' and my GF watching over my shoulder let out a few gasps as well. Personally, now that I have finished it, I think the atmospere was there and was very good, but I do agree with the seemingly general consensus that the overall ambience of the level could be improved. On the whole it was a great story and a technical feat that I would describe as nothing less than excelent, but for the Thief style it was a bit too linear (read item A get key to item B open door to area C etc... ) and that leads to some monotony in gameplay and seriously hurts replayability. The ending, though beautifull, was a little too straight-forward. I know that after a year of working on it you must have been itching to finish up Saturnine, (and Crew), but like a full game released before its time there is room for some improvement. All that aside T7C was handsdown, one of the best FM's I have played yet. With that said "Let the flaming begin..." <img src="wink.gif" border="0"> (/TWOCENTS)