The Mike on 7/1/2006 at 18:56
Hey, just had to stop in to commend you on what has to be one of the greatest FMs I've ever played. The first FM was good fun, and the second was nothing short of brilliant. How long until part 3? This wait is going to be complete torture...any screenshots at least? :confused: I NEED MY FIX MAN!:erm:
Seriously though, while both FMs were fun, the jump in quality from the first FM to the second was incredible. It's amazing how much you apparantly learned about game design from one FM to the other. The first FM was a fun city mission which had some problems that kept it, at least in my mind (though I tend to have overly high standards), from being the classic the second FM was. In my opinion the layout of the city streets was too maze like which made it confusing to navigate (might have been intentional, if you were trying to put across the fact that Garrett was in a new environment where he was totally lost), and the gameplay essentially boiled down to a key hunt with overly obscure key locations (such as under an immovable block of wood). I don't mean to sound too harsh here, the mission was really damn good. What kept it as a "must play" for me was that one moment right after you [SPOILER]grab the cellar key[/SPOILER]- HOLY **** MAN! Scariest moment in FM history, next to that damn screaming zombie in Profane Ascention. You sir, have a very sick mind (in a good way).
The second FM though...just wow. Gone was the key hunting, somewhat confusing architecture, and for the most part, pixel hunting (y'know, when you realize there's a key or a switch nearby, but you can't see it, and you end up slowly moving around the room tapping the use key like a mad man). [SPOILER]I still have no idea how I missed that glyph in the tunnels, when you walk by it you even hear a mysterious voice whisper something in your ear as a hint. I had the volume kind of low so I didn't really understand it, but I'm guessing it was something along the lines of "Look around, dumbass."[/SPOILER] This mission was just sheer brilliance. The atmosphere was perfect from start to finish. The underground tunnels were dark and creepy enough to really make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up, and the security areas had this great feeling of something terrible being just outside the walls. Even the safety area had this depressing, closed in feel that was perfect. My only complaint is that we never got to see one of the contaminated zones first hand (a later FM maybe)? If we never got to see them, it would seem like kind of a waste after all that build up. Though, I guess the old saying is "the scariest things are what you don't see".
No offence on my couple of negative comments on the first mission- just a bit of constructive criticism, even though after playing the second mission, I don't think you need it. A couple more suggestions before I stop rambling. If you ever release these FMs in a big campaign once they're all done and feel like going back and tweaking them, maybe you could go back and make the key locations in the first mission a little more obvious and complete the english voice overs. [SPOILER]I'm mostly talking about the voice overs during the cutscenes. I actually think that having the souls speak a different language made them a little creepier. The french voice work sounded well-done, I'd like to understand what Garrett is saying during the briefings without having to constantly look down and read a translation. Might I suggest getting Slyfoxx to dub over the briefings? He does one of the best Garrett impersonations out there. Also another minor suggestion, I'd make that door that the zombie is trying to break through in the second mission non-frobbable, being as it makes things kind of confusing.[/SPOILER]
Mosley on 7/1/2006 at 21:20
Je suis sur le point de terminer "Découverte". Avec ces deux missions tu viens de rentrer de belle manière dans la cour des "grands". J'ai beaucoup apprécié l'atmosphère glauque et inquiétante. Cette fois pas de chasse aux clés mais aux glyphes ! Je m'y suis bien laissée prendre. C'est astucieux de ta part d'avoir ainsi changé les orientations de la mission. Quant au réseau 21, c'est une pure merveille qui rivalise parfaitement avec le célèbre berceau de "Deadly shadows" ! Tes nouveaux zombies sont très effrayants et beaucoup plus réalistes que le zombie classique auquel nous a habitués Thief. J'ai également noté une ressemblance frappante entre le repère de la secte des âmes et le "Keeper compound" de Deadly Shadows et suis etonnée que personne d'autre n'y ait fait allusion. J'aime personnellement résoudre des énigmes dans les fans missions (celle de Gaëtane dans "L"Antre" autour des cinq sens de la tapisserie de la Dame à la Licorne était intéressante) et peut-être (humble suggestion de ma part) l'hypothèse d'une bonne petite énigme dans les prochaines missions de Rocksbourg serait-elle à prendre en considération ?
Why not ? J'attends la suite avec impatience. Merci pour la qualité de ton travail, ces deux missions sont parmi les meilleures auxquelles j'ai joué, "Découverte" étant ma centième fan mission. Ca s'arrose :thumb: :laff:
Mosley
Cool, Calm, Collected
DrK on 8/1/2006 at 02:06
wow...
Aspirin, I won't give any clues to the easter eggs. Still, some players found them, so anybody who find the "official" easter eggs might post spoilers in here, but don't count on me for that ;)
and how in the hell did you get in the 'forbidden zone' without crate climbing !? Through DromEd ?
(About the "strange architecture, well that's because you never was supposed to go here, so I didn't work on it. Anyway, I almost reached the brush limit so... )
Damn, I'm glad to see some people consider my fms as some of the best fms... I never expected that much ! Thanks for all these compliments (how many times did I wrote that ? :cheeky: )
I noticed I forgot to reply to Slither, so "general answer": I know there are a lot of little troubles in my fms (frustrating at moments, taffers that go where they are not supposed to go...), but hey don't forget : I am just a human and these are my first attempts of work on a video game ;)
The Mike, I'm currently working on 3rd mission, just wait for a few months :ebil:. Btw, I already gave 2 screenshots of 3rd mission, check in the thread, previous page...
Quote:
In my opinion the layout of the city streets was too maze like which made it confusing to navigate (might have been intentional, if you were trying to put across the fact that Garrett was in a new environment where he was totally lost
You got the idea ! It was purely intentional. Furthermore, Rocksbourg city is inspired by medieval architecture, so it's totally different than the Old City.
Quote:
key hunt with overly obscure key locations
As I said, Namez is insane, so can't be logical, AND he is aware about Garrett and challenges him.
Quote:
we never got to see one of the contaminated zones first hand (a later FM maybe)
Maybe, who knows ? :p
Quote:
the scariest things are what you don't see
Exactly my idea about fear : the scariest thing is what you don't know and what you can't see
for the voice in the briefing video : At the beginning I wished to do some voice recording ! I know about Slyfoxx. But when translation time came, I realized I lost my video project during a hard drive accident. So I only had the video done, not the project. And so, I decided to do some subtitles, as I didn't want to edo the sounds/musics/timing and all... Believe me it's a lot of work, and I am alone. I did the effort to rewrite the beginning quotes and to do some english voice recording for conversations.
Mosley, in future fm you can expect other kind of puzzle, such as the key hunt in first fm with hints given in Namez diary that you need to fully understand. Well, okay I'll try to make them easier :cheeky:
Indeed, you're the first one to compare the 'Laboratory' and the 'Keeper compound'. I added some T3 elements in a T2 mission. Btw, I started my missions before I ever knew about thief 3, as I started in December 2003. Guess I was right somehow :cheeky:
And for the monster and the tunnel 21 atmosphere... consider them as my tribute to one of the best game ever done with Thief, and so one of my favorite : Silent Hill :ebil:
bob_doe_nz on 8/1/2006 at 03:51
Quote Posted by Aspirin
Bob_doe, I know "crate climbing" (although I have problem to do it succesfully every time), but I wonder how can you blackjack HIM behind glass window... :confused:
Now who said I blackjacked 'him'? :confused: I certainly did not.
No, I used the remaining gas arrow I had on 'him'
He was close enough to the window that at times he was sorta popping out a bit.
The one overlooking the mechanist building and the one overlooking Sewer 21 could both be blackjacked. I also gassed the one over at the zombies roasting over an open fire.
I think its possible to get to 'him' on the thin tower using crates, but I cannot be taffed doing so.
The Mike on 8/1/2006 at 03:53
DrK, don't pay much attention to my few negative comments in my earlier post, I just felt like mixing some pointless bitching in with the endless gushing.
Anyway, I forgot to mention that I really liked how you tied in Thief 3 style architecture and story elements into the FM (as you mentioned). Too often FM authors seem like they're trying to forget that T: DS ever happened, which is too bad, because it was a great game overall. In your FM, I actually thought I was fighting the keepers for a while when I entered the [SPOILER]"Soul's" hideout[/SPOILER] because it looked so much like the keeper library, finally I realized that none of them were calling each other "Keeper".
Speaking of T: DS, that screenshot of yours reminds me alot of an area from the keeper compound mission in T: DS. Maybe it's just a coincidence...
Slither on 8/1/2006 at 05:19
Drk, I forgot to mention: Those sewers were just about the scariest thing since The Cradle. Great use of atmosphere and lighting to give players the creeps.
Orfeus21 on 8/1/2006 at 08:01
Im in tunnel 21 and Im tryin to find a way to the next part of town!
Is there a key for a certain door somewhere or some switch?
I found the switch for the secret place with the thugs's treasure but notin more...
I still havent found a sword and only got like 1680 loot!
Aspirin on 8/1/2006 at 08:17
Quote Posted by DrK
Aspirin, I won't give any clues to the easter eggs. Still, some players found them, so anybody who find the "official" easter eggs might post spoilers in here, but don't count on me for that ;)
and how in the hell did you get in the 'forbidden zone' without crate climbing !? Through DromEd ?
:( I hope, somebody help me with easter eggs...
You said you had took big care about impossibility to climb behind the scene. But you forgot one (I found only one) place near start point, where the rope arrow could be used... ;)
Better hint:
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http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d104/pnowak/dump021.jpg)
(
http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d104/pnowak/dump022.jpg)
Quote Posted by bob_doe_nz
Now who said I blackjacked 'him'? :confused: I certainly did not.
No, I used the remaining gas arrow I had on 'him'
He was close enough to the window that at times he was sorta popping out a bit.
wow...
Orfeus21: look for [SPOILER]another ladder in the canals!!![/SPOILER]
