<Username> on 30/5/2023 at 12:28
Over the years, we joked a lot on these forums about how the huge size and the lack of clues on the obtuse objectives in JIS' Elevator Mission T1 tend to grind down even the most ambitious of players. I believe Kings & Queens is even more daunting.
IronEagle's mission is gigantic, highly creative, and very ambitious. Some areas feature stunning architecture. It is a grand story and an epic quest. At the same time, Kings & Queens is a mess: There are many construction errors, misaligned or broken textures, brushes you get stuck on, holes through which you fall into infinity, even entire walls are missing. The mission is also virtually impossible to finish without a walkthrough due to a multitude of tiny levers hidden at random places, invisible keys and other quest objects, near-impossible jumps, endless forced backtracking, and a scarcity of clues on what to do or where to go next. A side area in which IronEagle attacks several members of TTLG who gave constructive feedback is downright disgusting.
Without fortuni's walkthrough or hints from this forum, I would never have finished the mission. I could have used less hints had I opted to search the whole mission again and again each time I pulled a lever or found a key without a clear indication of what they did, but I chose not to because this did not feel like a good way to spend my time. Still, even with the walkthrough, Kings & Queens was one of the most time-consuming fan missions I played.
Stats:* Expert difficulty
* 5075 loot
* 18 hints used
Elements I liked:* Some areas are stunningly beautiful. Kings & Queens is a close contender for the best looking one among around 50 fan missions created for T3.
* I enjoyed traversing the dangerous terrain of the fire area. This area was particularly engaging.
* The reflective water surfaces are nice, even though I can tell they were created by duplicating the room and placing it underneath the water surface, inverted at an 180° angle.
* The effect where images is projected onto walls looks nice.
* The bald man trapped in a wooden barrel and the Alcoholics Anonymous meeting are nice little touches.
* I noticed the Bafford "B" east of the Hammerite Church. I think that's even the same texture as T1.
* Despite the mission's huge size, there are no loading zones.
* I never encountered the "floating Garrett" bug.
Could be improved (briefing & story):* The mission title is "Kings & Queens", but there is only one king in the story. "King & Queens" would be more correct, but doesn't have as nice of ring to it.
* The briefings in Italian and English contain different bits of information. The English briefing is reduced to 2-3 sentences. The Italian briefing is much longer.
* The mission objectives don't line up with the (Italian) briefing: In the briefing, Garrett is interested in the legends surrounding Tower of Havok and decides to explore it. But when you start the mission, you get a list of mysterious items you are supposed to steal. I can only assume Garrett did some research and found out that yes, these mysterious items are in the area around the tower.
* In the English translation, the spelling keeps switching between "Havok" and "Havock". Not sure which one is correct. In this post, oped for "Havok".
* In scrolls, there are several messages by the author to the player that break the fourth wall.
Could be improved (menus):* In FMsel, the mission shows up as "KinGs And Queens".
* All keys in the mission are unlabeled, and there are a lot of them. It would be a great help to players if the keys had labels.
* The objectives in the mission info screens are unchanged from the Blue Heron Inn training mission. The real objectives show up after you start the mission.
* If you switch to the map, it shows the layout of the Blue Heron Inn.
Could be improved (general):* The mission is almost impossible to finish without a walkthrough due to a multitude of tiny levers hidden at random places, invisible keys and other quest objects, near-impossible jumps, endless forced backtracking, and a scarcity of clues on what to do or where to go next.
* There are a number of useless keys and levers in the mission which only serve to confuse players.
* Some areas appear to be hastily built, with basic architecture and mistakes like roofs without supports or floating objects.
* I spotted several instances where textures on walls or doors were moving.
* Some textures still contain the logos and the URLs of the companies who made them, e.g. "psdGraphics".
* There are quite a few places where the player can see light from the void surrounding the built area shine through cracks. Sometimes you can see far away rooms in other parts of the map. There are several instances where you can fall into the void if you are not careful. It is odd. IronEagle is such a talented author, yet I have not seen sloppiness like this in missions that were much less ambitious.
* All NPCs keep holding on to burning torches after they are knocked out.
* It looks like many of the cobwebs are placed incorrectly: They cut of in a straight line at the bottom, as if the object is supposed to be touching the floor.
* If you pick up the first equipment item of any time, a hint on how to use it is displayed. This should be turned off in fan missions, since players should already be familiar with their equipment from the original game.
Could be improved (pub):* There is no way to sneak around the pub unseen, so I just ran in, knocked out the lone Hammerite at the bar, then ignored the screaming civilians around me.
* There are two completely translucent glass objects on the counter and one on a small table next to it. I am not sure this is intentional.
* You can get stuck between the tops of the shelves in the storage room.
Could be improved (prison):* It appears to be impossible to get by the bald guard sitting in the first corridor of the prison without him spotting you. I took him out with a broadhead arrow from afar.
Could be improved (Doctor Floyd's):* The chest in the first room is pickable, but does not contain any loot.
* Doctor Floyd does not react to noises nearby or when you stand right in front of him.
Could be improved (rich neighborhood):* There are two chests in a bedroom of the luxurious house in the west. They are both empty.
* In the bedroom where you find the journal of Halarus about entering the tower, there is a victrola that can be frobbed but does not play any sounds.
* In the circular hall in the west, a set of books floats in the air, unsupported by a book rack.
Could be improved (Tower of Havok):* I experienced vicarious embarrassment when I came upon the small area with scrolls mocking some members of TTLG. Does the author not realize what he does makes him look like a nasty, repulsive person?
* You can softlock the game if you save inside the Tower of Havok without finding the hidden lever to open the doors at the bottom first and don't have a save from before you entered the tower.
* The near-impossible jump to the platform with the lever hidden inside a lit torch is one of the meanest areas I have ever seen in hundreds of Thief fan missions. The lever is literally invisible. I could not do it without cheating by increasing the run speed in SneakyTweaker.
Could be improved (area with floating towers above frozen lake):* My framerate in this area was rather low. I guess if I had a full gaming PC my experience would have been better.
Could be improved (wood nymph area):* You can take falling damage when you are teleported to this area after stepping into the pond. I was able to avoid the falling damage by jumping as far into the pond as I could before the teleportation was activated.
* The demon women will run after you, but they won't attack. If killed, their bodies will dissolve, but their magical glow and - creepily - the outline of their facial features won't.
Could be improved (cloister of Auximes):* The text of the journal entry of Halarus is also found on a plaque in the center of the cloister of Auximes. I think this is a mistake.
Could be improved (Lady of the Water area):* You can frob the healing fountain through the closed door.
* If you pull the lever on the wall next to the door leading to the healing fountain, the door opens and two demon women drop down from secret compartments in the ceiling. They will run towards you but can't attack. This does not seem intended.
Could be improved (temple of Clotilde):* One of the two pagan women in a sitting position does not sit on a bench. Instead, she floats in the air.
Bugs:* The stats are broken. They showed 0 minutes and 0% loot after the mission ended.
Hints needed:[SPOILER]
* Missed the key to Doctor Floyd's place. The key is invisible. I had blind-frobbed the big fish at the market before, but not at exactly the right spot.
* Missed the small lever in Doctor Floyd's consulting room.
* Missed the ring of the Lady of the Wood. It is under a boulder in some random corner, completely obscured from view from any angle.
* Missed the crawlspace that opens silently after you pull the lever hidden inside the fireplace in the bedroom where you find the journal in which Halarus describes how he entered the tower.
* Missed the tiny lever hidden underneath a large pot in the crawlspace. I think what happened was: When I picked up the pot, the light gem obstructed my view of the tiny lever. When I dropped the pot, it rolled right back onto the lever. Bad luck.
* Hard saved and quick saved inside the Tower of Havok without first finding the hidden lever at the top of the tower. My heart sank when I realized my last hard save was from a day before. It was such a gut punch I did not touch the game again for over two weeks.
* Looked up the places where you can use the unlabeled keys found in the area with the floating towers. I felt exhausted by the mission at this point and did not want to go through the whole big mission again, trying the keys on all remaining locked doors.
* Looked up what the two levers on the side of the 'Water I Am' tower in the area with the floating towers do. I felt exhausted by the mission at this point and did not want to go through the whole big mission again, checking every area for new openings again.
* Found the keys to the 'I am Earth' tower in the wood nymph area, but since the key was unlabeled, I did not know where to use it. I looked this up in the walkthrough instead of trawling through he whole mission again.
* Missed the tiny lever in the wood nymph area that opens the gate to the cloister of Auximes. The lever is hard to see, even though it is at least not fully invisible like some of the other objects in the mission.
* Missed the cathedral key in the north bathroom of the last house of King Havok. I was so exhausted by this point I stopped searching the rooms properly. Otherwise I would probably have spotted it.
* Missed the ring of the lady of the air in a random spot in a patch of grass on the ground.
* Did not frob the skull on the floor by the north wall of the cathedral twice.
* Missed the lever hidden on the backside of a column in the cathedral.
* Missed the frobabble skull in the fire area. I was busy avoiding the lava and it does not light up unless you are standing close to it.
* Found the lever to the final exit, but did not frob it twice.
* Looked up what the lever inside the coffin of the final resting place of king Havok does.
* Looked up what the lever inside the small tower in the jetty area does.
[/SPOILER]
I played Kings & Queens v3.0.3. This version is not available on the usual Thief fan mission sites, but you can find it on the web. Two possible download locations I found are (
https://www.moddb.com/games/thief-deadly-shadows/addons/kings-and-queens) ModDB and (
https://www.gamepressure.com/download.asp?ID=72897) Gamepressure.
