The Abominable Dr. Dragon (01/04/03)

Brass Rose on 20/8/2003 at 00:42

Is mask that you are all talking about in the place underground? The door that only opens with a special key? Is there a skeleton behind it? and if you turn around there is another skeleton holding a sword that is uncovered partly behind the wall?
If so, then we got it with out the key. I told my husband to ummm....

[SPOILER] (not sure if that worked) lean his head in. Dadgummit, I jumped when I saw that skeleton standing in there and then he shifted his weight to his other foot. [/SPOILER]

Someone tell me if that didn't get hidden. Or if it needs hidden by the blue box.

Edit: I added the spoiler cover for you. :) Next time, just click the little box that says "Spoiler" that you'll see above the place where you write. Then type the stuff you want hidden in the box that pops up and the spoiler cover will add itself in automatically.

jericho on 5/10/2003 at 07:04

I've just finished this FM and I enjoyed it. However I had a poly problem, not sure if I have the right version (DLed from epitumia's site) When I started, and looked in the direction of the castle, I had approx. 900 polys rendered. I mean fine, this is acceptable for my comp, but I think a little bit above the average.. OK, I started exploring and at some point I climbed up onto the roof (broke the window in the attic and used the rope arrow) and then it crashed, since I had 1200 polys rendered when I looked around from the roof (I checked that using Dromed).

This spoiled the fun, which I had with this nice FM. I'm not sure whjy this FM was released with such poly problems (or again, maybe I'm using the wrong version). In some places on the upper level of the castle I had 900-1000 polys, which is still OK for my computer, but slowed the game play down in a nasty way. A few vision blockers and the problem would be solved...

Did anyone have similar problems?

epithumia on 5/10/2003 at 16:33

This mission has views with incredibly high poly counts, and it is possible to crash out completely by looking in the wrong direction on occasion. When it starts getting slow, just look at your feet and you should be OK.

jericho on 5/10/2003 at 18:03

That's what I did, I looked at my feet in game in the places with such an incredible poly count. Still this is not too comfortable way of playing and what I wanted to say is that it spoilt my general impression of this great FM!

Dafydd on 7/10/2003 at 05:15

[Folks]

Huh. I've been ghosting it so far, and I haven't had any trouble staying totally out of sight.

[spoiler]I just got the berserker mask, so I'll see if I can still manage to avoid detection, even when (as I understand from reading this thread :tsktsk: ) a bunch of long-dead Hammerites spawn when I get back up into the castle. I got enough loot, saw the corpse of the wife, and so forth.[/spoiler]

I had to forgo a bit of loot, particularly that in Frank's room, since there is no way to get past him without alerting him. But other than that, ghosting is working pretty well. (I often save, knock everybody out, take a look, then reload from before the KOs and continue ghosting.)

Dafydd

Dafydd on 7/10/2003 at 08:25

[Folks]

Came to my first real snag in trying to ghost this FM.

[spoiler]After seizing the Berserker Mask, I snuck around, jumped into the well, and swam back to where I started from (the campfire thieves were gone... presumably off sacking the castle). I got out past the treebeasts and around to the gate, where the Hammers are now holding court.

Only one is left alive. Alas, he stares fixedly in the general direction I have to go, and it's bright that way. I can't seem to sneak past him without him seeing me. I burned my only invisibility potion, hoping that maybe once I got to the portal area, there would be an easier way back; alas again, after entering the gate, the only path leads to a bridge on which there are two people, both looking directly towards where I come from. There is too much ambient light to sneak around them and no torches to douse.

I saved my ghost game and killed the female; she exploded in a puff of smoke, and the male spooked. The haunt (or zombie?) with the one-handed crossbow that shoots blue fireballs got suspicious. I ran past him just to see what was there; in the few seconds before dying, I saw the Horn of Quintos, or whatever it's called. I think I could kill the woman (with a broadhead), the guy runs, and I could probably get close enough to throw the poison on the haunt/zombie, which would probably kill him. But (a) this would bust my ghost wide open, and (b) I would still have to get past the Hammerite at the gate to get back to starting point. Since my ghost would be busted, I could just shoot him from ambush, but....[/spoiler]

But is there any way to ghost the remainder of this mission, so I don't have to blow it all at the very end?

Is The Abominable Dr. Dragon ghostable? Or am I barking up the wrong dog?

Dafydd

Dafydd on 7/10/2003 at 10:32

[folks]

I hate to contemplate it, but I wonder if I have a savegame from before I grabbed the Mask?

[spoiler]If so, maybe I could skip the mask for now, jump in the well, and get over to the Horn first. Maybe it's the same situation, with the two people on the bridge -- but maybe not; maybe that happens after the Mask is taken. If so, I could grab the Horn, return the way I came (past unalerted guards at the gate), then swim in as I did at the beginning, swim past the well to the south pool where you enter the zombie area. Then up into the graveyard and get the mask, back to the well, and north and out the way I came in. I could sneak past the treebeasts (which I already know I can do) and back around to my starting point to end the mission.[/spoiler]

The big question is, if you go for the Horn before the Mask, is the setup behind the portal gate still the same?

Dafydd

Dafydd on 7/10/2003 at 11:58

[Folks]

Well, I finished the mission, but I don't think it's ghostable. At least, not if you read the scroll that gives you the Horn of Quintus as an objective.

[spoiler]It turns out I did have a savegame from before I took the Mask... right before! Literally, the only pre-Mask savegame was with me crouching in the tomb, about to open the golden door! :weird:

So I left it where it was and returned topside. Only the two treebeasts between me and the campfire thieves, easy to sneak around them. As I suspected, with only the two unalerted guards in their cute, little houses by the front gate, it was easy to slip past.

Alas, when I got to the Horn bridge, there they were again, just as I feared: woman and man on the bridge, staring directly towards me. Haunt-that-sounds-like-zombie waiting by the portal. I tried every way I could to get past, but the woman always spotted me. So what the hell; I stepped up, she screamed and ran (with her lily-livered boyfriend, Dr. Dragon), leaving the zombie-haunt all alone. I killed him by throwing the poison, then collected the Horn and returned back the way I came to the graveyard.

Once there, I skipped down and got the Mask. When I came back up, I was about to start the long slog to the other end, down the ladder, through the sewer, up the stairs, and through the castle to the well, when a lightbulb lit over my head. The only thing standing between me and a sneak I had just done successfully were the three newly spawned treebeasts -- and I still had my inviso potion from the lab! Duh.

So I ran past them and snuck past the other two. Only one thief left; the other must have gone to join the fun in the castle.[/spoiler]

I completed the mission, but the best that I can say is that I ghosted all of it except the Horn part. The mission is definitely ghostable... but only if you avoid reading the captain's diary, or whatever it is that gives you the objective to heist the Horn. I would be pretty shocked (and embarassed!) to find out that somebody managed to ghost that bridge!

[spoiler]The only possibility I can think of would be to get as close as possible but still in shadow, stand, swallow the inviso, and run like hell across the bridge, grab the Horn, and try to make it back before you materialized again. I wonder if that's possible?[/spoiler]

Hang on, let me give it a go....

Nah, can't make it under normal steam. Or maybe I could, if I tried it a dozen times or so to get the timing just perfect.

Is there a speed potion or another invisibility potion in the Armory? I never got in there. (I never even found the key!) You also need some moss arrows to blanket the bridge, else the people spook at the sound of invisible footsteps.

Dafydd

Dawggon on 14/7/2004 at 04:39

Just played this FM from March, 2003. Don't know how I missed it. ChiefDreams is the author and it was his 1st FM. Brilliant, creepy, and startling. Lots of new situations, so get ready to jump out of your skin.
I need a gentle hint..or push..to find the Horn of Quintus; can't find a clue on it. Has anyone else played this?
BTW, am I supposed to be able[SPOILER]to pick up the fighting hammers and just throw them in the drink?[/SPOILER] :confused:

Nightwalker on 14/7/2004 at 13:36

I'm reasonably sure that it's [SPOILER] found behind a gate out past the front gate. [/SPOILER] Not positive though, as it's been a very long time since I've played it. Great FM, though, I agree with a lot of very original things in it.