TDM FM Review: Crystal Grave

This is a review of one of The Dark Mod’s (a mod for Doom 3) fan missions. It may contain traces of spoilers. You have been warned.

Author(s): ERH+
Version: 1.0
Date released: 11-12-2011
Other info: First completely foreign FM 
Theme: Builder/Haunted
Download FM here

I first saw this FM up for download on The Dark Mod’s official website. But the file was actually hosted over at Darkfate – a thief fan site of sorts. A mirror still hasn’t been put up over at TDM.

I was a bit apprehensive about downloading and installing this FM. I’m just so paranoid, and the last thing I needed was some fan mission made in a foreign country. I tend to get a bit suspicious. That and it wasn’t hosted at the usual place, but off-site, and that made me a little wary.

But security concerns aside, I learnt by reading through the thread over at the TDM forum that this mission was well worth a play. So I decided to give it a go. Starting off, I found myself on an island. I’d somehow rowed out here, got past the large walls surrounding the property, and run aground. Ahead of me lay a large building, surrounded by water – perhaps a moat - which towered into the skies above. My FPS was getting a kick in the balls all ready.

I noticed straight off the bat that there are several entry points – from picking locked doors in the dock below, to climbing up ivy vines and pipes to reach one of the higher floors. I was highly impressed. Once inside, this feeling of amazement was extended by the rather good level design. A good mixture of small, pokey rooms, with larger occupied rooms – there’s not a lot of space wasted here. Everything seems functional. It works, and like I said: there are multiple ways to get from one floor to the next, whether you take one of the stairwells, or climb up a chain linked to a crane of sorts. The layout is rather good. There’s seemingly endless areas to explore. And just when you’ve seen it all, there’s more on the next level.

I will say that despite several keys being around for you to find, there’s once again on overreliance on lockpicking which is so addictive with mappers for TDM. And the locks aren’t even that complex to pick, ironically.

Hover mouse over pictures for captions, if available.

Lighting is used to good effect in most areas, and there are different light sources – not just fire-lit torches, but also electric lighting, too. And most of the rooms have light switches that even AI interact with occasionally. I wasted most of my water arrows and holy water potions dousing a haunt after he saw me when switching on the bloody light in one room.

But despite this one experience, overall there isn’t much challenge as far as AI goes. There are two or three areas where AI is heavily concentrated, which means two things: first off, it’s easy to gain access to the place using most entry points, and two, it’s nigh impossible to get past said areas because the AI have overlapping, confusing patrol routes which guarantee the player will be seen and murdered instantly.

It’s also difficult to know where to go and what to do, as this FM’s greatest flaw is revealed right from the get go (and I mentioned it earlier too): it’s foreign. The objectives are in Polish, the text and readables in-game are in Polish too. It’s been weeks (months now) since its release, and someone has yet to come up with a decent translation for it. So I’m wandering around this otherwise great map but I don’t know what the hell is going on – and that takes away a lot of this map’s charm; it’s done almost everything else right. The good news is that not only will someone eventually get around to getting a translated version up, but from TDM v 1.07, internationalization is being featured in the mod, which is supposed to help in situations like this… somehow.

Crystal Grave (probably the most awesome name for an FM I’ve heard so far) reminds me a lot of “The Outpost” – one of the first TDM FMs ever released, back in late 2009 - except it’s probably bigger, and better in several respects. There are a few niggles with it, such as the ones outlined above. I’ll also add that the texturing could have been better, and there were a few bugs – particularly with lighting. I would stand in shadow and yet my lightgem was lit up like a Christmas tree (sorry for the reference, but it’s December at the time of writing this). That and opening some doors and windows resulted in the infinite looping slamming bug which would really put a damper on things if the AI actually noticed it.

Despite its flaws, it’s not bad; not bad at all.

Pros:

+ Great level design.

+ Layout provides smooth play.

+ Multiple entry points.

Cons:

- Foreign with absolutely no translations for text, objectives, etc.

- Buggy.

- Not too challenging.

FM score: 8.8/10

TDM FM Review: House in Blackbog Hollow

This is a review of one of The Dark Mod’s (a mod for Doom 3) fan missions. It may contain traces of spoilers. You have been warned.

Author(s): stumpy
Version: 1.0
Date released: 2011-10-29
Other info: Halloween Speed Build Contest 2011 entry
Theme: Builder/Haunted
Download FM here

Stumpy has made two missions in the past – neither of which I enjoyed much, to be honest. But “House in Blackbog Hollow” (which I will from now on refer to as HIBH – not a rude word) is mostly better than said missions. In case you’re wondering – the missions I speak of are “Lord Dufford’s” and “Illusionist’s Tower”.

You start off on the streets hidden away in an alley of sorts, and make your way in to the large area ahead. You’ve got two patrolling guards here but they’re easy to avoid. First thing you’ll notice is the large black house – more on this later. The mission is to grab some ancient treasure outside a warehouse nearby. But it turns out it’s not that simple: some bastard got there first and nabbed it – and he’s hiding in the house you couldn’t help but notice earlier.

I managed to enter the place after several minutes of mucking about; missing the obvious way in. After seeing a pumpkin kill a nobleman sitting at a table, I knew I was in for something else. From then on, I was wary of every bloody pumpkin I came across. I tried shooting them with arrows, or slicing them with swords – to no avail.

And there were spiders, too. Very large, patrolling spiders. This mission pretty much has everything scary you could possibly want in a mission. Never mind zombies – they’ve got nothing on seemingly invincible pumpkins.

Stumpy pulls some tricks similar to the ones seen in “Illusionist’s Tower”. Upon entering the house, it grows larger than initially thought. It’s positively massive with several floors to explore. There’s some interesting illusions besides this, such as walls that can actually be walked through to reach the corridor behind. It wouldn’t have been so obvious if it hadn’t been for the spiders, that basically showed me it was possible in the first place. Otherwise I’m sure it might have stumped (no pun intended) a few people. There’s also a crying baby, which turns out… not to be. Rather creepy, that part.

 

Hover mouse over pictures for captions, if available.

There aren’t any guards anywhere, but you’ll come across some corpses every now and again – these are supposedly the people who lived here before the curse came along. I won’t spoil it too much for you, so that’s all I’m saying.

After some looking around, you reach the study near the top of the mansion and discover that there’s more to the pumpkins than you originally thought. The pumpkins you avoided earlier actually need to be collected and taken to a temple beneath the surface. They need to be used to end a curse that resulted due to the mansion being built on top of the temple. Sounds similar to the old “house that was built on top of a sacred Indian burial ground” cliché, but nonetheless. That’s what we were all expecting to come out of this competition: clichés.

So we went from trying to retrieve the treasure to helping end the curse.

The mission was enjoyable in the end. Stumpy pulled out the usual tricks; some new, and others old. From what I can tell, he’s not as amateurish as I thought he was initially and has shown that with some general messing around in DarkRadiant, he can put a decent, and sometimes challenging map together. But this mission is his best so far, because it doesn’t stray too far from the norm as far as a TDM mission goes. The level design isn’t anything too special, but it is a step up from the likes of Lord Dufford’s large, empty, uninteresting rooms. The soundtrack that accompanies the FM consists of some new tracks, as well as some old ones with a twist.

Lord Dufford’s was an average at best mission for several reasons among which included some gameplay faux pas that could have been avoided with some beta testing. That and it was a bit too loony for my liking. And Illusionist’s Tower was too frustrating – it tried to be overly technical. This mission is a sort of happy medium, or balance between the expected and outrageous. It’s not too challenging, and the best bit of the FM will be the story, more than likely, which isn’t bad.

Overall the FM is unconventional, rather wacky, but for this Halloween Speed Build Contest – it works; almost perfectly.

Pros:

+ Good story.

Cons:

-  Not that challenging.

FM score: 8.8/10

Thief and Thief II over at Good Old Games

I received this info this month while visiting Cheap Thief Missions recently. It seems as though GOG finally got a hold of Thief Gold and Thief II: The Metal Age!

Going over there to have a look at the games’ pages, the user reviews are in and it’s 5 stars all round – and it should be, because these truly are classic titles that served to inspire further games that took a more stealthy route rather than all-out gunplay.

They both currently go for $9.99, but that price may well drop as time goes by, as the average price for games on GOG is about $5.99. But still, both games for $20 – that’s not too bad at all. Of course, these are digital downloads and both game are a bout a CD’s content in weight. For those of you who don’t have a decent internet connection, you can still get these games as retail products, with boxes and manuals – everything. And they’re not too expensive. Really, from Amazon you can get Thief and even full Thief series bundles (including Deadly Shadows) if you shop around a bit for less than $9.99 and shipping is free. So while digital might be more convenient for those in the first world, in my opinion GOG should lower the price for competitive reasons soon.

Now all they have to do is get System Shock and System Shock 2 on there – they’ve been two of the most demanded titles yet to appear on GOG for some time now. Then the Looking Glass collection would be a little nearer to being complete.

TDM FM Review: A Night To Remember

This is a review of one of The Dark Mod’s (a mod for Doom 3) fan missions. It may contain traces of spoilers. You have been warned.

Author(s): Fieldmedic
Version: 1.0
Date released: 2011-10-31
Other info: Halloween Speed Build Contest 2011 entry 
Theme: Mansion/Haunted
Download FM here

This FM takes a different turn to fit in with the horror theme expected in this contest. You are a nobleman who moonlights as something a more disreputable (but just barely): a thief. This is an inside job. Instead of having to break in to the mansion, you begin inside one of the rooms. You’re here as a guest but right off the bat, it seems as though somebody knows your ulterior motives.

You exit your room and wander around the mansion. There are no guards about as the lord of the manor does not want any patrols inside. This seems to make life easier as you explore the rooms that aren’t locked. Most of them are and you don’t possess any lockpicks or much equipment at all, initially. There’s a fair bit of lockpicking involved, but numerous doors actually require a key.

Judging by the design and the dates in the journals, Fieldmedic has practically ditched the Middle Ages in favour of a more modern feel, possibly Victorian or Colonial era – perhaps even later. But this isn’t anything new seeing as his previous mission, “Reap As You Sow”, exhibited a similar style. With the large, sprawling, practically empty estate, I couldn’t help but feel that this reminded me of one of my favourite horror-themed games of all time: Clive Barker’s Undying.

You make your way up to the study to steal some blueprints for an airship named Gottfried II – but it seems as though you might be too late. The rest of the mission is spent chasing after an individual who seems to have the same idea in mind as you.

 

Hover mouse over pictures for captions, if available.

There are sections which contain ghostly figures who patrol the dark corridors of the servants quarters’ hallways and passages the lead to the more stately rooms of the manor. Getting near these spirits will damage you. If one of the beings spots you, you die instantly. So extra caution is advised in avoiding these spirits, much like Thief: Deadly Shadows’ infamous Shalebridge Cradle mission. There are pianos that play all by themselves, and you can hear the constant cries of torment coming from the ghosts of the beheaded servants.

Fieldmedic is an FM author who experiments with new ideas, such as “Reap What You Sow”, and obviously knows a little about scaring the player, which was evident while playing an earlier FM of his in “Betrayal”. Here he’s turned TDM in to yet another experience: that of fully-fledged horror, instead of just mildly tense. Once again it feels like a mod for a mod and not just an average FM. You lack most of the gear and weapons. You’re, for the most part, defenceless and vulnerable.

But like “Reap What You Sow”, it is flawed. ANTR has bugs – maybe some of you have experienced these, and others haven’t. But there’s a bloody annoying save game bug where if you save the game after a certain point, the game crashes. Saving the game before you come across the first ghost in the servant’s quarters works; after that point, it doesn’t. As long as you don’t save you’ll be fine. Some people play TDM this way by design. They shouldn’t have a problem (this bug seems to have been fixed since I installed TDM version 1.07 and restarted the FM).

When I first played this FM with this bug present, I hated it. But after I had patched TDM and replayed it, I realised how good it really is.

Pros:

+ Atmospheric.

+ Feels different from the normal FM.

Cons:

- Some bugs.

- Might be too much of a departure from conventional TDM gameplay.

FM score: 8.9/10

The Dark Mod FM Review: The Siege Shop

This is a review of one of The Dark Mod’s (a mod for Doom 3) fan missions. It may contain traces of spoilers. You have been warned.

Author(s): PranQster
Date released: 06-10-2011
Theme: City/Pagan
Download FM here

PranQster, to date, has made one FM, and I’ll say right from the start, that it’s a great one – all ready featured on my list of favourite TDM FMs available to date.

It’s called The Siege Shop, and the very beginning is misleading. You start off in the sewer, and after a minute or two of trying to squeeze in to the narrow pipes on either side of you, you eventually get the idea and climb up the ladder to the surface. After opening the door, you are greeted by a sight completely opposite to what you were expecting a few minutes earlier (perhaps a mission similar to “Special Delivery”).

You enter a cobblestone courtyard and are attracted instantly to two things: the horse (in a non-sexual way of course), and the hot air balloon. This is what you must use to get on to the rooftop of the siege shop, as the drawbridge over the moat is up. And knocking out the balloon operator isn’t enough. You have to jettison him from the craft, otherwise you’ll be too heavy to make it to the roof – very clever bit of programming, and realistic to boot.

I was impressed so far.

Hover mouse over pictures for captions, if available.

Another thing that I found was a nice touch was being able to steal arrows from the quivers. Most of the guards you encounter here are armed with bows and the not the usual swords. So you can get at least a dozen broadhead arrows by pinching them from the guards’ quivers, and you can also obtain special arrows from the quivers in the guards’ quarters on the upper floor. Very handy if you forget something in particular from the buy screen before the mission started, such as not enough water arrows, for instance. And this is good seeing as there are plenty of extinguishable light sources in this mission.

On the floor below this, I heard some funny banging noises and I assumed that it was just somebody in a workshop with a hammer – this was after all, a siege shop. I was certain that some degree of construction must take place here. But another floor down and I, like some others who had played this mission, was flabbergasted to see something moving towards me. It lit up the floor in front of me with an inextinguishable light and made a terrible racket. Even though part of my form was caught in the beam as I desperately hugged the wall, I wasn’t noticed by the contraption – this steam beast had no eyes. This was the first time so far that I’d witnessed any sort of robot in a TDM mission, and I was understandably taken back to those days of Thief II: The Metal Age – the fear of coming across any one of Karras’ dreaded Builder’s Children.

Overall, this mission boasts originality, and like I’ve mentioned above, there are some nifty things that this author put in to make it an unforgettable experience. A very good effort for his first map, indeed.

Pros:

+ Level design.

+ Very inventive and original mission, this.

Cons:

- A few bugs.

FM score: 9/10

TDM FM Review: House of Theo

This is a review of one of The Dark Mod’s (a mod for Doom 3) fan missions. It may contain traces of spoilers. You have been warned.

Author(s): Theothesnoop
Version: 1.0
Date released: 2011-12-04
Theme: Castle
Download FM here

It’s great to see this year that more and more first-time-mappers are getting their FMs done and uploaded to the web for us to enjoy.

I’m not complaining about the existing mappers in any way, but it’s just good to see some new, refreshing ideas perhaps.

Theothesnoop is one of these new mappers on the scene, and after reading the title of the FM, I thought I was in for an adventure with Gary Stu (hey, somebody criticised one of my Thief fanfics like this once – now I’m the critic for a change). But I gave it a go like I do with all TDM FMs.

I started off in the snow on a hill overlooking the sunset. My mission was to infiltrate the castle and uncover some information. Upon turning around, the first thing that caught my eye was this rather large castle standing atop the hill. Conveniently, someone had left a window open and there just so happened to be a wooden beam above it, with a lantern acting as a neon sign highlighting the area. So I had my entry point thrust in my face.

Lighting is an issue in this mission. There’s too much of it for one – too many fire-lit torches, and not enough water arrows. So that might present a bit of a problem. Trying to dash across a corridor, I was sighted by a guard who then followed me down the stairs to my hiding spot and promptly cut me to ribbons.

Another issue this mission has is there’s initially too much backtracking. The mission isn’t entirely linear which is good, but when you creep along a path and all seems well, until you reach a door that can’t be picked and you have no key, forcing you to go all the way back to the area you started in – it feels a bit frustrating, to be honest. Initially the choice of path is just an illusion – there seems to be but one way. Once you get some keys, more pathways are open to you. But I suppose you could look on the bright side of life, and say that at least the mission doesn’t rely heavily on lockpicking for a change. There are several keys needed to make your way through the castle.

Hover mouse over pictures for captions, if available.

I get the feeling while playing this mission that it’s quite like the new Bond game, GoldenEye: Reloaded. You’re often forced to look for other ways around the place, because an area might be too well lit; there’s too much activity, patrols, etc.; you don’t have the damn key, and you can’t pick the lock.

Having said that, there’s a nicely achieved balance when it comes to guard activity. There aren’t many guards in some areas – maybe one patrol if you’re lucky (or unlucky if you come across one in what seems to be broad daylight). Nearer the more important areas like the armoury, and chambers belonging to the royalty such as King Theo, there’s a larger guard contingent and even tougher, more heavily armoured guards are to be encountered at that.

The level design around and inside the castle is rather good – better than I originally anticipated. From towers to wide walkways, this mission does remind me a good deal of the first proper mission from Thief: Deadly Shadows – Garrett’s hunt for the Blood Opal at Lord Julian’s (or was it Lord Ember?). There are several different levels, and these can be accessed from ladders, stairs, and even an elevator. One section of the FM even sees you using a dumb waiter.

The backtracking that initially frustrated me then kind of made sense as the mission progressed. It made it more of a challenge. Without it, this FM probably would have been quite a lot easier, because it’s not that long or particularly difficult if I’m honest.

I quite liked the little side stories that were encountered in the mission, with one readable explaining why the attic was locked. But like with quite a few FMs available for TDM, there’s seemingly no larger plot revealed. Just get in, get the job done, and get out. A somewhat quick, not overly complicated, solid mission, then.

Pros:

+ Different approach to gameplay, whether intentional or not.

Cons:

- Lighting affects gameplay somewhat negatively, perhaps.

- Too much backtracking initially.

FM score: 8/10

TDM FM Review: Samhain: Night on Bone Hill

This is a review of one of The Dark Mod’s (a mod for Doom 3) fan missions. It may contain traces of spoilers. You have been warned.

Author(s): PranQster
Version: 1.0
Date released: 10-9-2011 (Oct. 09, 2011)
Other info: Halloween Speed Build ‘11 entry
Theme: Haunted
Download FM here

This is the first entry in the Halloween Speed Build contest of 2011. The title and loading screen that shows up is quite striking. It could be the name of a horror movie – probably not a very good one, but still.

In this FM, you’re off for a bit of tomb raiding, similarly to “Down in the Bonehoard” from Thief: The Dark Project perhaps. The ultimate goal is to nab a ruby which belongs to a noble family which came from pagan roots. And you plan to do this on the night of All Hallows Eve.

You start off in the graveyard outside and notice that you’ve somehow recently developed the very sneaksie ability to levitate – very handy. This is a bug that has been reported by several people (but I noticed it was fixed on my second playthrough using v 1.07). After deigning to set your feet down on the ground, you make your way past the tombstones and on to the entrance to the mausoleum. Here you see a group of pagans leaving after having paid their respects to their deceased relatives. PranQster was very keen to show off the new “plaque mask” here that was made by Nosslak, as well as the pumpkins by Springheel. But the masks don’t always appear for everyone which meant some had to download the texture separately.

Seeing the candles and the pentacle at the entrance, I got a feeling that things wouldn’t be so serene for long. Inside the mausoleum there’s some nice marble textures, and ahead lies the ruby you’re after. Just snatch it and it’s mission accomplished, right? Wrong. I almost bought in to it. But then the floor gave way and I ended up in water-filled tunnel below. The skeletons down in the water give an ominous look in to what lies ahead. It looks like I wasn’t the first sure-footed* thief to go after the treasure…

Hover mouse over pictures for captions, if available.

Inside the caves there’s a nice showing off of lighting and colourful hues – reds, oranges, blues, greens; all colours of the rainbow from nicely placed light sources. Lovely. The place is filled with spiders, too, and this has led to some of the more anxious types being unable to progress in this mission. There’s some original ideas here, such as bats flying around which cast a light on the walls and ground, so there’s an extra bit of a challenge in avoiding being spotted by the spidies.

And being able to get to the crypt level where the sarcophagi are by climbing the spider’s web is a nice touch. PranQster demonstrated this knack for being inventive and introducing some fresh ideas in his previous, and first ever FM: “The Siege Shop”.

In the crypt area you need to find several switches or levers to find your way around, and this is all while having to put up with zombified skeletons who have sometimes erratic and unpredictable patrol routes (which was intentional on the part of the author). The King’s crypt is in this area and you’ll get some of your objectives here. Some of the loot is hard to obtain though and requires a bit of negotiation. You can also tell that there wasn’t a lot of beta-testing in this FM, as some people would lock themselves in the King’s crypt, and were unable to get out. Beta-testing was closed for this FM, according to the notes accompanying the download.

There are some other rooms that will open up as you accomplish objectives, and one of these areas even has a maze to navigate.

Samhain isn’t a bad mission. It’s got some good ideas. Not doing any beta testing is a recipe for disaster though, generally speaking. I understand that this is a speed build, and it shows off at least above-average quality for such a build - at least superficially, minus a few missing textures and such. But technically it could have used more time in development to get rid of some annoying bugs.

* sarcasm

Pros:

+ Original ideas.

+ Creepy.

+ Not a bad looking mission at all.

Cons:

- Some bugs.

- Some silly mistakes.

FM score: 8.1/10