klatremus on 20/6/2008 at 22:52
ok the last key is in the same building as you found the statue. Check the bottom floor very closely.
And there definitely should be a door you haven't opened... A door with a note on it. It's in the streets somewhere easily accessible. Its in a small courtyard where you have to drop down.
Gloria Creep on 20/6/2008 at 23:22
Thank you :thumb: Klatremus. I'll go and check it out.
I LOVE THIS FORUM :cool: :thumb:
Gloria Creep :angel:
deathshadow on 22/6/2008 at 05:41
I saw that 3 was out - so a couple days ago I grabbed all three to play from the beginning.
All I can say is... WOW. First off, it SHOWS you know architecture because the various structures feel more 'realistic' than the oversized boring boxes most FM's are filled with. Even the interiors seem to go above and beyond what even the official missions did as most every room has 'knick-knacks' and the like and are a 'realistic' size. On the whole it gets very claustrophobic...
... and despite the relatively small spaces packed with stuff, I had very few movement/collision glitches - in fact the only major ones I encountered was while searching the walls in the Soul Library for those two switch-books, where I got stuck in the wall - and after the keyboard shuffle of mashing every movement combination wildly was able to free myself in just a few seconds. Rarely do you see levels with narrow hallways, archways, uneven floors from section to section without getting 'caught' on them - so from a technical standpoint parts 1 & 2 are most impressive.
The claustrophobia adds to the overall tension in the missions - you are rarely this outnumbered, much less dealing with so many 'clanks' (what I call the guards you can't knock out)... Near the end of the first mission where you finally get that last key - I found myself whispering "There's something in the water" and suddenly wishing I had my trusty Rakow G2A2 assault rifle, and was wondering when the little dead girl in the red dress was going to show up. (Now THAT would be funny, Have Garrett give Alma a dewdrop doll)
That part in particular reminded me of a phrase we had in the Air Force describing a low altitude engagement called "Knife fight in a phone booth" - That's where you and an opponant are at low speed NAPE. Altitude = energy, speed = energy and when it degenerates into a turning fight, energy = life. No altitude and no speed means a tight turning fight without the energy to climb or make an egress, much less getting enough separation to get outside the fusing range of your missiles.
Without a doubt, evading the zombie definately falls into that category (and the tactics are much the same). Feint, keep moving, keep turning to try and stay on his six until help arrives, you get a chance to deliver a fatal blow, or you see a chance to escape the situation.
First time after that little 'teleport' I was only at two-thirds health after taking a light fall in trying to get back down from getting the statue - Z kicked my **** because I wasn't expecting it... killed in one hit (I was turning around dumbfounded going "So... Now what???") - Second time, Hid in the corner so he went to the opposite door first, then just stayed behind him as much as possible. To those of you who have trouble here, the key is crab-walk and remembering that there's more room around the circumferance of the booth than there is straight across. Circles are the key - as is keeping your nose AT what you are evading. If you can't see it, you can't evade it.
The AI of the 'safety zone' in the second one was unnerving just because you aren't used to having that many characters moving around at once WITHOUT reacting to Garret. As a rule that's just not done in these games, so it is VERY unsettling... I kept rounding corners and going "Oh crap, a guard" standing nose to nose with them, only to remember they're friendlies.
In general, again even compared to the official levels you've got more movement and characters making the levels feel more 'alive' - much like the city levels in T3 (one of the few things I praise about DS).
The inclusion of the glyph keys ala Deadly Shadows worried me slightly just because here I was playing great fan levels, only to be confronted by something I really thought was 'hokey' in DS... But you didn't overuse them, though finding a certain one of them that was mission critical was annoying at best (I must have walked right past it like twenty times WHILE clicking blindly). They tied in the 'newer' elements without making it feel quite so silly - in fact yours felt better BECAUSE they were so hard to find and you would walk right past them. These are supposed to be SECRET organizations after all. (beats the tar out of big glowing rocks hanging in mid-air in front of public doorways)
All in all this is the most impressed I've been with fan levels. If part 3 is as good or better, combined these could give T2X a run for it's money - as someone said in another thread "Are you sure that's the Thief 2 Engine" as these levels show just how much life is left in the old girl. (especially at 1920x1200 widescreen in 32 bit color).
I JUST finished part 2 - and I CANNOT WAIT to start with part 3 tomorrow night. (who am I kidding, There's 4 hours 'til dawn, tomorrow's sunday...)
Most impressive considering with the title I was half expecting the soundtrack to be by Haddaway... or at least for a couple of characters named Steve and Doug. I was pleasantly dissapointed.
DrK on 23/6/2008 at 22:13
Thanks for your feedbacks. :D
About the graphics and situations, I mainly worked on realism, especially with the architecture. In fact it's not realist, but I tried to make it believable. It's all about details which it seems you noticed. And by realism of situation, it's the too well hidden loot because people don't want to get robbed, or the barely visible glyph because it's meant to be secret. But this creates problems and frustrations with gameplay, so now I try to soften this and to find a compromise between gameplay and realism of situation.
Nice, some taffers try to escape the zombie, but you just go hand to hand close combat with it :laff: :thumb:
In general, I'm trying to work my missions as a transition between thief 2 and thief 3, taking good elements from the third but transforming it for thief 2. It can be tricky sometimes, and I know I must keep it subtle to make it work.
Glad to see you like the missions that much. :)
Gloria Creep on 23/6/2008 at 23:22
DrK: You're missions ROCK!!! :thumb: :cool:
They're really REALLY very good. I was amazed what you did with the prelogue movie! WOW!!! + the music in the story .... a.s.o. .... a.s.o. ...!!!:thumb:
Is there a walkthrough somewhere for these missions, because I'm stuck again in part 2 and don't want to bother you as much as I do now :eww:
Gloria Creep :angel:
DrK on 24/6/2008 at 12:10
Thanks Gloria :D
I never wrote any walkthrough, and I don't think someone else did. Don't hesitate to ask your questions, I'll be glad to help you out ;)
Where are you stuck ? Which objectives did you complete ?
Gloria Creep on 24/6/2008 at 23:36
I'll get back to you about that.
Tonight I got a request to test a re-test (don't ask!) and I totally got into that FM, so I didn't get to play your mission anymore.
I'll get back to it, when I'm done testing. OK?
Thans for wanting to help me out.
You're definately one of the best FM's makers EVER!!!:thumb:
Gloria Creep :angel:
Mechs Delight on 30/6/2008 at 08:58
I've tried looking behind the vertical pipes in Sewer 13 for the passage switch but I can't find it, and I'm about to pull my hair out!
DrK on 30/6/2008 at 12:09
IIRC, the switch in tunnel 13 isn't behind pipes, but on the bottom of a metal wall in a dead end. There is a female zombie nearby.
Mechs Delight on 1/7/2008 at 03:02
I found the switch, thanks.
