darkwater on 28/10/2006 at 18:13
this FM played much larger than the reported size. Wayto get so much bang for our buck. Great mix of indoor,outdoor and underground. The dragons eye pzzle was good but difficult. I don't understand why we had to hit the switch at the bottom of the elevator more than once. It messed me up for a while. :eww:
The forum is a must for FM'S - I find many that are as good (or better) than the original.
Cant wait for the next.
:thumb:
smithpd on 14/4/2007 at 10:00
I just finished the mission in Expert with all the loot. Needed help with the last 20, which was [SPOILER]in a bowl in the graveyard.[/SPOILER]
The mission ended rather strangely.[SPOILER]After completing all essential objetives, I dropped Smith off at the gate, but the misison did not end. I was at the gate, too, of course, so it should have ended then. By going back down to a flat spot and going back up to the gate, then it ended.[/SPOILER]But there is more. Instead of going back to the exit gate, I went back into the mansion to hunt for the last bit of loot. When I finally found it, it triggered the ending right there without my going back to the exit.
I had a lot of fun with the mission, but was quite hard owing to some tricky parts. Two things I needed help with from the forum were:
[SPOILER]The need to trigger the alarm event. I did it and then reloaded, thinking it was just a silly trap. Frankly, I think that this would make more sense if the ladder had come down and the alarm had rung in another way.[/SPOILER]The result of this "error" was wandering around for hours, clueless, trying to find another secret switch.
[SPOILER]The painting puzzle. I had collected all the information over several days, and it just did not click how to piece it together. [/SPOILER]
Anyway, in spite of some initial frustration, it unfolded nicely once I allowed the event to occur.:) I made it harder than it had to be by failing to check the map. Doh!:rolleyes:
nicked on 18/4/2007 at 12:06
Thanks for your comments. Due to the rather nasty keyhunt nature of this mission and overly complex puzzles, my next mission will be virtually free of locked doors altogether. ;)
One of these days I may get around to releasing a version of this with a few bug fixes and a slight simplification of some puzzles.
Aspirin on 7/4/2008 at 06:29
I know I'm a little bit late, but it has some advantages (usually higher version of FM eventually with corrected bugs; and FM thread is full of hints and spoilers... :) )
This FM is great. I have had a lot of nice moments... Good work, nicked ! :thumb:
Spyrano on 7/4/2008 at 07:22
Hear, hear! This is one of my favorites, and it's good to give it a bump once in a while.
DreamWalker on 24/4/2008 at 21:30
Superb nicked!! Looks like you had a lot of fun creating this. Your caves are magnificent. Nice touch for the tombstones. And the feeling of vertigo on the pinnacle of the mast was awesome. Lucked out in finding the security switch earlier on in the game so everything went along smoothly until the event. Really HATED it; but found out it could not be avoided and, therefore, was greatly relieved when I could finally shut it off. Challenging number puzzle ... especially if English is not your first language. And wouldn't advise eating just before (and especially during) your visit to the games room. Sounds like you actually recorded someone experiencing the aftermaths of an all-night binge.
Found an anomaly: Re-triggering the alarm, either in the bedroom or at the bottom of the tower, causes any re-enforcements that were spawned during the initial event to re-spawn to their original location. Fortunately those that had been rendered unconscious still remain unconscious; but, it's still a nuisance. Can this be corrected? Also found that I had to frob a certain book twice for something to open.
Your ending leaves an opening for a sequel ... reunion and revenge. Is there anything in the works?
Meisterdieb on 19/4/2009 at 13:45
A great and enjoyable mission! Can't believe I only came across it yesterday... I really should pay more attention to the Fan missions forum :sweat:
Quite proud of myself in that I -playing on fiendish-found all secrets, all the loot and the bonus objective without any help from the forums. I think that's a first for me, but in this level the loot isn't hidden as devilishly as in some other FM and I usually don't even try to get all the loot anyway. I did check the forum for the secret door in the graveyard, though, since the door was still closed after I came back up from the hideout. I'm kinda not counting this against me but as a bug in that you have to frob the book lever twice...
Only nitpicks are
-that the attic is only reachable after you trigger the "event". There should be a way to go up there and to the smugglers' caves without triggering the alarm. I wouldn't be very secrety otherwise...
-that there are nearly no light switches anywhere. My opinion is either use (gas)torches or have a light switch.
-that the maid in the kitchen could see you through the closed fireplace.
And I think there is a bug with the puzzle for the Dragon's eye:
There is a tiny switch in each of the windows and some posts in this thread even tell you to frob BOTH of them. But I found out that you may only frob the right handed one, otherwise the secret door will not open. So, not sure if this is actually a bug or simply more trickery but there aren't any hints about this special fact in the mission.
Sadly, ghosting wasn't possible on Fiendish. Before the event you have to get rid of the archer standing in the entrance hall as he keeps you from accessing the other half of the house. The rest is ghostable (but then 1 KO is a bust).
And after the event there's no way to get outside -unseen/ ghosting- since all exits are guarded by groups of AI
And, of course, one secret has another forced ghost bust...
There's also a guard waiting for you at the aladder to the atticwhen you return from the smugglers' caves, busting a ghost.
Still, I liked the mission very much, there were mayn great moments. For one, I constantly expected some monster or some ambush in both the starting caves and the caves to the forest. Finding Lord Smith alive was another one. And of course some very funny readables.
Before the "event" I ended up also knocking out the two Nobles ( who I hope were Lord Partridge and son) - as a kind of bonus to my client :devil:
What do you think is the minimum number of Ai you have to k.o. to be able to "ghost"?
nicked on 19/4/2009 at 18:51
I'm not sure - I didn't plan for ghosting the mission while building it unfortunately! Glad you enjoyed it though!
Often thought about making a sequel to this, but never came up with any particularly good ideas.
I'd figured out how to do light switches by Memoirs of a Dead God, and that one should be ghostable.
Garrett's Shadow on 21/11/2009 at 19:27
And, DAMN but this is making me really wish I could Dromed - because it's coalescing some vague ideas I have had and, if the painting history book does not contain clues, then heh heh heh - it has fired a FIENDISH idea all of my own! :devil: :ebil:
EDIT: aha - there is a clue there - but sorry man - not the best of that type I have heard!
(I think my idea is more diabolically cunning!)
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Oh boy! The day these rich moo-rons start actually hiring enough guards to actually watch the bloody security cameras they bother to put in, then Garrett's taffin days become numbered!!! :eek:
Those books! HAHAHA! "Benny's Moment of Clarity by A.A. Member"!!!!
(Benny? A.A? NEVER!!!!!)
Two questions:
Is that the son in the first room after the gallery?
and is that Lord P in the room with the 3 trophies?
(I know it said he's away - but...)
nicked on 22/11/2009 at 09:27
1. Yes, the son is in the room with the crooked rug (I think).
2. Yes, that is Lord Partridge - he was away, but he came back!
