DrK on 5/11/2009 at 14:22
I kinda disagree with you about the "ungarrett-like" behaviour.
Indeed there were a few little things in the story, or the way events happened, which didn't seem logic. But that's not a problem with me as the strong atmosphere made it acceptable.
About Garrett, he doesn't have to be "our" Garrett, the one from the games we all know. I saw him as an alternative, a Garrett who has gone desperate after all the events he went through (Trickster, mechanists, keepers manipulating him...) and decided to be extremely selfish and eventually self-destructive. Not a depressive Garrett, but one who decided to push cynicism to the extreme, he just didn't care.
Overall, as I already wrote, I found the approach very Silent Hill like somehow, brilliant :)
Esme on 5/11/2009 at 18:03
well the ending sets up a second instalment
where Garrett decides that if everyone is dead he'll have no one to steal from so he puts the demons back where they came from
kamyk on 6/11/2009 at 02:33
Completely agreed on the atmosphere.
I suppose I should clarify a bit more though. Self-destructive, yes. Exactly. Garrett has always been self-serving, and self-preserving. Even the line I found distasteful reflects this on a superficial level. Its the deeper level I can't accept, and that I feel Garrett would have been aware of.
The level in which he finds himself alone with no one to steal from but the dead, no one to sell his loot to, no one to buy his inventory from, and eventually no food chain other than foraging. It would destroy his way of life in the long run. He'd be flitting from shadow to shadow - shadows now shared by his biggest threat, stealing pretty baubles that had no value anymore, and slowly starving to death. In light of this, it makes his final line, shallow, stupid, and childlike in terms of understanding the consequences of his actions. Either that or he's become as you said, self-destructive, in which case, why did he bother to leave the port town at all?
Again, this is my only nitpick. Aside from this, I also found this mission masterful.
HipBreaker on 6/11/2009 at 03:06
Good points on both sides.
Here comes a huge blob of spoiler text: The ending explained.
The story was set up to be just that, different. When I set out on this mission I had in mind that Garrett has a weakness, and what if that weakness became his downfall? Turns out to be not only his own, but everyone's. Drucius knew Garrett, and knew that if Garrett went to Port Aerinth, he would find the relics and possibly unleash the threat the Keepers attempted to keep at bay.
I understand the ending can be upsetting, but it's supposed to be. Yes, Garrett knew that the creatures were linked with those relics, it's obviously stated...but his biggest weakness is arrogance. How many times has he beaten the odds? How bad could it possibly be? He has seen and been through things no one could even conjure in a nightmare. He is also going through a rough time. The plunder hasn't been that great lately and now he has an opportunity. He is going through a time of suffering and honestly I would imagine he is running out of places to steal from.
Regarding just looting the city and leaving, he could have done that...but it wasn't enough. He needed something to live on for a while, and he had heard rumors of something incredibly valuable under the city. So he continued even when he had looted the town dry.
Like DrK said, this is not the Garrett you are used to. People do crazy things when they believe they have no other option. Of course he didn't want to deliberately unleash the creatures, but he didn't want to get killed, either. Trapped in the pit, his only way out was to open the portal to the city. This is a judgment call and a hard one to make, and I won't say if what he did was Garrett-like or not, but that's what I believe would happen if he were forced into that situation. Returning to town, there was no way to stop the creatures from taking over. He had to get out to live, but in doing so he allowed the creatures to escape as well.
The last line of the mission was an excuse to himself. He did not say it aloud, he was thinking it to himself. He knew he was wrong...but he's Garrett, a survivor. Did they really expect him to die there? He did not mean to do what he did, but when it happened he had to get out. Of course he will try to find a way to fix this problem, in fact I could imagine him really going out of his way to, but in this current situation he needed to survive, so he did not sacrifice himself for a temporary fix to this unstoppable threat.
Yes, it is an unhappy ending, and who knows what will happen next.
I have no plans for a sequel.
Keep in mind, this is my idea of the situation. I am taking a risk by more or less making a villain out of everyone's favorite hero (anti-hero). I hope it created, if nothing else, a memorable story because of this. None of my previous missions had real stories and I really wanted to present something that would have people thinking about after they completed the mission. I did not want to hold the player's hand through events, and I want the player to come up with what happened to some main characters you read about in the town. Not everything has an explanation.
Thank you for playing the mission and enjoying it, if nothing else for the atmosphere :thumb:
cattamer on 6/11/2009 at 03:40
Alternative end to the mission....
I was able to finish the mission without opening the portal or the west gate, possibly due to a bug.
After collecting the medallion don't open the west gate and climb to Vorenthius' terrace, than his roof and go to the wall over the west gate (keep looking down to prevent crashes) and jump down. you will lose some health points.
Mission finished.
HipBreaker on 6/11/2009 at 04:19
Quote Posted by cattamer
Alternative end to the mission....
I was able to finish the mission without opening
the portal or the west gate,
possibly due to a bug.
After collecting the medallion don't open the west gate and climb to Vorenthius' terrace, than his roof and go to the wall over the west gate (keep looking down to prevent crashes) and jump down. you will lose some health points.Mission finished.
Cattamer has saved the world :)
Tannar on 6/11/2009 at 05:26
My thoughts on the story:
Actually, I always thought that the creatures were capable of getting out of town even without Garrett opening the west gate. First, there's the north gate that Garrett entered through. He was able to approach the city from the north so why couldn't the creatures leave via the north path? Even if one argues that the north way was closed by cliffs (which Garrett must have climbed down to get there at all) there is still the ship off the beach. If these creatures are as intelligent as they seem, what's to stop them from taking the ship? Or following the shoreline? More to the point, why couldn't they climb onto roofs and over walls? Most of the beta testers climbed all over the roofs of the town, cattamer did and I'm sure others will. Why not the creatures? I don't think there was ever any guarantee that what the Keepers did was more than a temporary stop-gap measure.
thiefessa on 6/11/2009 at 12:44
Another brilliant fan mission, thank you! We've all been spoiled this past couple of weeks. :cool:
Thor on 6/11/2009 at 13:51
Wow, I was pissed about Garrett in this mission, but I gotta say, you reason it pretty well, HipBreaker.
One thing, still.
That keeper said he had enough money to last 3 lifetimes (or something to do with 3 in that direction), so why steal more? I don't think he would steal just for stealing. He stole the eye so he could "retire in style", so, explain this.
