TDM FM: Penny Dreadful 3: Erasing the Trail (2016/07/10)

Squadarofl on 19/7/2016 at 15:32

Oh boy oh boy this mission was really worth the wait, everything was top notch even with two or three imperfections (like the black sky in the court or the fissure to another reality behind the tobbaco-seller :D ); you really know how to make a both believable and fantastic atmosphere, in addition of good challenge, excellent gameplay and your infamous unbelievably good readables.

+ : Increadibly good and moody atmosphere, I must say it again for this easily one of the best DM mission so far. Don't know why but this whole serie have a sword and sorcery feel.
+ : Multiple path and solutions for those who prefers deliver the killing blow instead of falsely incriminate innocents
+ : Feel like each place have it own story and ambiance, very easy to feel an unwanted
+ : Had a good laugh at the dungeon synth tavern; I may play Ishar just for that :laugh:

- : Some puzzles were very obscure, like the goold old newspaper-key trick. How I am supposed to know that without frobbing everywhere like a madman ?
- : Some ambient were really loud and made my walls vibrate, like the passage near the blacksmith

Now for some questions :

How many missions will have this serie?

Is there anything to do with the lion head? What about the architect's repose?

And finally : how do you manage to write readables like this? As I am behind a good half of the readables from Black Parade, I'm very interested to hear how you do it :)

Melan on 19/7/2016 at 17:05

Squadarofl: Thanks! :)

The story of the Grail of Regrets will be complete with the next mission, Vengeance in Green. That doesn't mean there will be no more Penny Dreadfuls after that, and I actually have a plan to continue for at least two more missions, but let's talk about that after part 4. Ideas are cheap, work can be excruciatingly slow...

Do you mean finding the Lion's Head or the Architect's Repose, or more than that?

I have no big secret for readables, although I only write them when inspired. This means a very slow pace, sometimes no more than one or two readables per month. There was one readable (Bellingcourt's Journal) which was a huge hurdle, taking several months until I could get my courage up and write it.

It was actually only around halfway through the building process that this storyline emerged clearly; I always had the basic ideas (killing someone and carrying their corpse to a coffin to make people think you are dead, which is classic Fantômas; or sneaking by the taverns out in the cold night while music was playing inside, etc.), but it took time to coalesce.

It takes even more time to come up with catchy names for people and places. It is easy to do kinda-sorta well, but very hard to be actually good, and avoid being too repetitive (my constant fear - and you actually caught me repeating a street name in one of the WIP screenshots).

Squadarofl on 19/7/2016 at 18:01

Oh sorry I should have detailed my question;

- What is the purpose of the Lion Head beside being a very cool place?
- Where is the Architect's Repose ?

Ha! Just like us; we can spend hours just for searching for a good sounding name or a cool place name, but for places, I found that sometime the grittier the better (Headsman's Court, Dancing Plague Street, Gloomside... &c. ;) ).

Edit : I forgot to ask. I can't help but notice a lot's of reference to your past missions and to The City in general. Is PD in the Thief Universe or in the Dark Mod Universe ? :o

Cardia on 19/7/2016 at 18:17

Quote Posted by Marbrien

Cardia, you should be able to reach the area Grunt is in - if you encounter any locked doors in his mansion, you can find keys to open them. Finding him also gives you access to a new area containing a couple of undead and some extra loot.

Thank you, maybe if i replay this mission in a harder difficult mode i will find a way inside the Grunt room.

MayheM on 23/7/2016 at 01:57

it a great mission,well done. I also love the song that is playing from the vinyl player :p i heard it before in thief but i don't remember which mission.

Melan on 23/7/2016 at 08:44

Quote Posted by Squadarofl

Oh sorry I should have detailed my question;
- What is the purpose of the Lion Head beside being a very cool place?
- Where is the Architect's Repose ?

- It is just for colour.
- Look southwest, and consult The Book of Enigmas.

Quote Posted by Squadarofl

Edit : I forgot to ask. I can't help but notice a lot's of reference to your past missions and to The City in general. Is PD in the Thief Universe or in the Dark Mod Universe ? :o

My attorney has advised me to skip this question. .)

Quote Posted by MayheM

it a great mission,well done. I also love the song that is playing from the vinyl player :p i heard it before in thief but i don't remember which mission.

That song is from Calendra's Legacy, and one of my favourites. The tune playing at the Stone Head Tavern is from Sinful Opportunities, and the one playing by the small canal pub is the tavern tune from Ishar III.

Marbrien on 23/7/2016 at 13:29

Presumably the Architect's Repose is the Lady Rowena tribute area. Is that correct?

There are a couple of levers in that area that don't seem to do anything. Am I missing something? They are an up/down lever beside a panel you pass under shortly after entering the area, and a turnable wheel above your head just before entering the shrine at the foot of the stairs. (There's a third lever on the wall nearby, but I know what that does - it opens the portcullis of the shrine.)

MayheM on 23/7/2016 at 19:15

Quote Posted by Melan

Thanks for reminding me, I am gonna replay it soon :p

Melan on 24/7/2016 at 11:35

Marbrien: They are not entirely useless. ;)

Marbrien on 24/7/2016 at 13:12

Quote Posted by Melan

Marbrien: They are not entirely useless. ;)

One thing I thought was that individually or in combination they might turn off the arrow trap. But several painful deaths later I concluded that was not the case.

Edit: it seems I was wrong in one instance. The lever nearer the entrance does appear to disable the trap after all. But I can't discover the use for the wheel. I wondered if in combination with the other frobbable wheel (the one with the down arrow symbol beside it) something might happen, but that does not appear to be the case.