T2 Campaign - Keeper of Infinity 2: Mission 1 - Bad Venture (6 Jan 2016)

[baeuchlein]

Several things in the campaign version of the mission differ from the single mission published around Christmas 2014. When using walkthrus, playthroughs or whatever, one has to keep that in mind as well.

[Azaran]

I'm playing mission 1, latest version, and completely stuck (playing on normal):

- I'm trying to figure out the 'no available rooms' objective

- I'm supposed to drop a spider on Cleman, but his door is locked

-What are the Keepers hiding? (whatever it is, it's not where Jonas is)

- I have 3 bags of cash, and there's a pawnshop, but I can't do anything. There's an unpickable door nearby with someone sleeping, and if I frob it with the bags they vanish, but nothing else happens


I think I finished the previous version of this, but this one has me stumped

[Soul Tear]

I'm playing mission 1, latest version, and completely stuck (playing on normal):

- I'm trying to figure out the 'no available rooms' objective

- I'm supposed to drop a spider on Cleman, but his door is locked

-What are the Keepers hiding? (whatever it is, it's not where Jonas is)

First make sure that you have completed all other tasks. You need to read 2 guest books in both hotels, to find the spider in the basement of Clean and Cozy, finish all chain of quests by Jonas, steal Thereon's diary, get the key from the Forest and collect loot.
After you finish the main storyline, Garrett says that is time to sleep. Then you need to go to the ST Inn and get rid of the guy who is afraid of spiders.

[baeuchlein]

I'm playing mission 1, latest version, and completely stuck (playing on normal):

- I'm trying to figure out the 'no available rooms' objective

- I'm supposed to drop a spider on Cleman, but his door is locked

-What are the Keepers hiding? (whatever it is, it's not where Jonas is)

- I have 3 bags of cash, and there's a pawnshop, but I can't do anything. There's an unpickable door nearby with someone sleeping, and if I frob it with the bags they vanish, but nothing else happens


I think I finished the previous version of this, but this one has me stumped

The bags of cash are not used in the first mission of the campaign, but in the second mission. Don't worry about them now, but don't waste them by frobbing anything while holding your precious bags! (This was mentioned in the mission's info file, BTW.)

The goal about whatever the Keepers are hiding should be attained while proceeding with the mission. I am not certain when exactly this might happen, and can't check it out at the moment. It may be that the goal gets checked when you discover Jonas' diary in Jonas' hideout in the Inn. Or maybe later on. So, ignore it for now.

The other two objectives you mentioned are somehow linked to each other. Unfortunately, there's a long chain of events which have to occur until you finally can satisfy these goals. Therefore, my post will be quite long. Tell me if you want it separated into chapters.

You first have to read the two guest books in the two inns (the "Stumbled Traveler" as well as the "Clean & Cozy" located near the House of Science) in order to try to get a room "the regular way", but in vain. Furthermore, the door of the "Clean & Cozy" inn will only open once you have done something completely different.

Thus, you should concentrate on Jonas and the objectives you get from him. First, he will send you to investigate the House of Science. Once you did this and found a strange creature above the rear doors of the House, you may return to Jonas, and after speaking to him for quite a while, he should give you a crystal as well as another task. You have to return to the House then and fetch the strange cloud-like creature above the rear entrance by using the crystal on it. Carry the crystal back to Jonas, offer it to him, and once again talk to him repeatedly. In the end, he should first babble about what he's going to do with the creature, and then he should give you some money (accompanied by the standard sound for obtaining loot)and tell you to get a room for the night. Your objective about getting a room should change slightly; in English, it's "Maybe I can find a spare room in that little inn near the HoS. I must also check the guest book in 'ST' inn." (in v1.6 of the campaign). In French, it begins with "Une fois tous vos objectifs atteints ...".

If you return to the "Clean & Cozy" now (yes, that means another trip to the House of Science, they should really install some bus stops there), the door should be open. Enter this inn, read the guest book on or behind the counter, and then search the place thoroughly. You should find some loot in the place, but as well something else you'll need later on: The spider for Mr. Cleman. It's sitting behind a crate in the cellar room. To get it, you need an urn from the kitchen of the "Stumbled Traveler". Use the urn with the spider, pick up the spider-filled urn again, and your special Christmas present for Mr. Cleman is ready for delivery.

Once you have concluded your business in the "Clean & Cozy", look for a note fixed to one of the doors of the House of Science. I think it's the front doors in the campaign version. Anyway, read the note, and if you do it the first time, you should get another objective: Visit Thereon and steal his records. And off you go!

Return to the "Stumbled Traveler Inn", go up the stairs, and check out the rooms there. Thereon's door is firmly locked with a spell, and Cleman's door is not opened either. But the one near the fireplace should be unlocked now. Be careful, there's someone in there who should not see you. Your have to cross this room now (while the inhabitant's back is turned towards you), grab a note from the desk and maybe a purse from the inhabitant's belt while crossing the room, open the window and climb out. It may be wise to save your game before attempting this stunt.

You end up on a metal ledge on the outer wall of the Inn. Sneak away from the window, then close it in order not to alarm the guy inside. You may also shoot some spiders in the space below, since some of them might shoot magical projectiles at you once they see you up there. This can be a nuisance.

Anyway, the idea behind all this is to go around the inn on this ledge and to pick the lock on Thereon's window in order to gain access to his room. Unfortunately, there's a part of the ledge missing near his window, and you have to either jump across the gap while running, or plant one or two rope arrows in the beam portruding from the roof of the inn and then cross the gap by jumping onto the rope and down onto the other part of the ledge. Once again it's wise to save the game before you attempt to cross the gap - and while doing all that, the spiders will usually recognize you up there and start shooting. Sigh.

Once you arrive before Thereon's window, ready your lockpicks and use them to get inside. You will then behold a strange sight: Several floating stones are placed in the room, but there appears to be no Thereon there. Very well, no one to stop you from turning his lair upside down.

Extremely careful searching should yield a broad slot in the underside of the large rock floating before the bed. (This rock is actually Thereon in stone form.) There's a book inside, and this is what you have to steal and read. Read it before leaving the room, or an invisible wall in the window might block your escape. After reading Thereon's notes, you get an additional objective to return with this new information to Jonas. You can now search the room for additional loot (something hidden well, something else not hidden very much) before heading out again.

Go back onto the ledge outside and cross the gap again. You may then either enter the inhabitated room at the other end of the ledge again, or you can try to let yourself fall from the ledge in a way that you don't hit the ground below, but rather some wooden thing down there. That way, you can get down into the spiders' yard without taking damage.

Regardless of how you leave the ledge, take care when you're on the street before the Inn again. One or two guards may have seen you while breaking into Thereon's room, and if they did, they're hostile now. Anyway, your task now is to meet Jonas again. However, once you get into his hideout again, there's no Jonas there anymore. Oh, great! Just what you need to search his room (presumably to find the Keeper's secrets there). You have to discover Jonas' diary now, which is quite well hidden. Behind and to the left of one of the statues in the room, there's a partially obscured button in a wall niche. Press it now, and a small compartment in the wall, to the left of the fireplace in this room, should open. The diary lies in that compartment. Get it, read it, and thus get another idea now: Search for Jonas' second hideout, somewhere in the sewers and near a watch tower.

There's a bug still present in v1.6 of the campaign: If you read Thereon's notes again after reading Jonas' diary, you will get the objective to talk to Jonas again, but you cannot fulfil it anymore, and the mission is broken. Don't read Thereon's notes again after reading Jonas' diary!

The entrance to the sewers in the campaign version of the mission lies between the police station and Lady Adaline's house. Go there and open the sewer hatch with your crowbar, but don't jump onto the hatch - you might alarm the Lady, and that would mean Game Over for you. Once the hatch is open, get down there and travel all the way to the other end of the sewers, where a machine is working in the water. Across two bridges there should be an open door, and that's where another unpleasant surprise awaits you: Jonas' dead body sits there. Now what?

A small key near the dead man should catch your eye. Take it. It opens the attic of the "Stumbled Traveler Inn" - your next destination. You'll find the door to the attic on the upper level of the Inn, near two tables with eating and drinking guests. Enter the attic and read the diary you find there. You will temporarily get an objective to search for Jonas' killer, but even before leaving the attic, Garrett forgets about that again and remembers that Jonas still has that crystal with the strange cloud creature in it. Oh, great... another lengthy trip, this time to Jonas' dead body in the sewers. Did I mention my wishes for bus stops already?

Once you get to the dead Keeper's body again, save your game. Then, frob your dead colleague in order to search for the crystal. But suddenly, everything gets dark, and two huge monsters appear near you. You can either hide in a corner or try to run out of the room. Anyway, you should suddenly be teleported away and then fall towards a blue spot. Hopefully, you will enter this spot without taking damage. If it doesn't work, then you know why I told you to save your game.

When you get to this blue spot, you will be teleported again and end up once more in Jonas' (first) hideout. Very strange, huh? Okay, forget about that crystal. One encounter with these beasts is enough for tonight.

All right, and now for something completely different. You should have another objective now: Change of plans - steal the forest key. Do that now. This key is found in a garrison located behind the House of Science area. There was an opening in the wall near the "Clean & Cozy", and a magic barrier blocked the way before. Now it should be gone. Get through, knock out the patrolling guard there if you wish to, then enter the hut found there. To do that, you have to plant a rope arrow into the wooden part of the roof, close to where the hut touches the city wall. Climb up and find some wooden planks there. Your trusty crowbar will handle them, of course. Once they're gone, wait until a guard has entered the room inside and left again. Climb in now and get down. Walk through the doorway near the table and look to your right for a ragged curtain. You can climb up there and hide from the guard there. And you might even find something interesting there as well, but I'll leave that up to you.

Anyway, once the guard has passed through again, you can crawl out of your hiding place and continue through the corridor there. Passing by a gate and through a door, you will reach another room with a sleeping guard. Creep towards his bed in order to be able to knock him out with your blackjack - otherwise, you'll face a pissed-off guard with a sword in his hand soon after entering the room!

Go into the room beyond this one, and also take the guard with you unless you want his friend from the hut go in there, find his knocked-out colleague, and raise the alarm. In the room beyond, look for that forest key. You'll find it inside a glass case on the wall. Your only way of taking it is to break the glass, and that will alarm the remaining guards. Thus, plan your escape before doing that. You can either open the window in the room of the sleeping guard or pick the lock on the door in the room with the forest key. Either route can be used to escape, although the one through the window might mean you will take damage from the fall. You may also try a third route, through the hut again, but you may as well find more guards there than you like. Pick your choice.

If your preparations are done, steal everything you want to keep from the rooms here, then break the glass (e.g., with the blackjack) and take the key. Guard voices should tell you that the hunting game is up, and you're the prey now.

Once you have successfully avoided the guards, you can finally get back to your plans for Cleman and the spider. Read both guest books in the inns if you have not done so already, then go up the stairs in the "Stumbled Traveler" again. Garrett should say something about an open door, and finally, Cleman's door should be open. Get in, then save your game again. Use your spider urn now by climbing onto the bed and dropping the urn. The screen should turn black, and you should hear the "interaction" between Mr. Cleman and his new "pet". When the lights are back again, you should have a few moments in the now empty room before the "Mission complete!" movie plays. Finally!

If you find yourself locked in the empty room after the spider incident, but the mission won't end, then you most likely forgot to fulfil one objective. Unfortunately, there are some bugs in the mission which can lead to that (one may occur when reading Thereon's notes a second time), and that's why I told you to save this time - and why I wrote a partial walkthrough here. The chain of events described in this huge post can be broken, and maybe you'll see where the problem is if you read this again.

[Soul Tear]

baeuchlein, I admire your enthusiasm.

BTW if anyone need it, then I might release LoD edition. I tested this property in the new chapter, it allows to maintain the maximum value of FPS. Perhaps this is one of the best NewDark features, it really unleashes designers hands.

[rustmite]

Can anyone tell me where the pickaxe is in Keeper mode. V1.3 installed.

I found itjust down the way from the sewer manhole, leaning against a barrel, not at the inn

[Azaran]

Thanks so much baeuchlein and Soul Tear! I'm going back later today, will reply back if I get stuck again

[Azaran]

I think my game might be broken. I got quite a bit further, all I need to do is hit the loot minimum, get some rest, and drop the spider, but Cleman's door won't open. Here's my objective screen

I didn't reread Thereon's notes after the first time

EDIT: Ok, everything got sorted out after I got the loot.

By the way, is there some kind of huge loot stash somewhere? I'm short like 4000 of the total, and I swear I've checked every nook and cranny
(I tried opening it in Dromed to see if there's some ultra secret area I missed, but it crashes every time with this mission)

[baeuchlein]

I think my game might be broken. I got quite a bit further, all I need to do is hit the loot minimum, get some rest, and drop the spider, but Cleman's door won't open. Here's my objective screen

I didn't reread Thereon's notes after the first time

EDIT: Ok, everything got sorted out after I got the loot.

By the way, is there some kind of huge loot stash somewhere? I'm short like 4000 of the total, and I swear I've checked every nook and cranny
(I tried opening it in Dromed to see if there's some ultra secret area I missed, but it crashes every time with this mission)

The only place I remember where quite a bit of loot is (partially) hidden is the cave where you meet Farage. There are several gemstones there (the exact amount may vary among different difficulty levels, but I'm not sure) which should give about 1000. Many of these gems are easy to overlook.

Other areas of note are the wine depot (depending on difficulty level) and Lady Adaline's house. There are three floors to rob. Took me some time until I understood how that Hammerite elevator worked - before that, I only discovered two of the three floors.

Concerning Cleman and the loot: Actually, his door should only open once you have all other required objectives fulfilled, because you can't get out of his room again once you dropped the spider there.

I also tried to open the mission in DromEd, but was only successful after using the "EnableLAA" utility in the "doc" folder of NewDark on "DromEd.exe".

[Azaran]

Ah ok, I guess there's limits to how much loot you can get depending on the difficulty. I got it working in Dromed (thanks!), and there's an area that's not accessible in this difficulty with some extra loot (the wine depot). Will have to replay this in another difficulty

[Soul Tear]

Ah ok, I guess there's limits to how much loot you can get depending on the difficulty. I got it working in Dromed (thanks!), and there's an area that's not accessible in this difficulty with some extra loot (the wine depot). Will have to replay this in another difficulty

http://www.ttlg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=147316

[Johnny01]

I love the novel approach to difficulty where there's less forgiving shadowing and you can't just KO everyone and freeroam without challenge.

Actually I do have some personal criticisms.
Obviously this FM is quite an achievement in terms of graphical detail. But when it comes to gameplay I find that (at least from what I've gone through so far) the level design is very linear, mostly consisting of small areas (that are filled with unopenable doors *everywhere*) that are interconnected and kind of funnel you through a contrived, fairly constricted way to reach the next area. Sometimes with a little sidepath where you can grab some extra loot at the end of it. It does remind me a lot of modern game design and I just kind of hope that Thief FMs aren't headed in the direction of style over substance, what with a lot of people saying that the quality of FMs has gone up so much; I can't help but feel that this is often in a superficial, graphical or cinematic appeal, because I still thoroughly enjoy much older missions that I hadn't played yet (I'm a relatively recent, more casual player). From what I'm seeing in the few comments I've skimmed over so far though, a lot of problems that people are having with this mission do seem to stem from this approach of trying to create something that's overly pre-scripted and cinematic. I personally enjoy missions with an open design, that don't have to look like Thief 2014 in terms of graphics. But experimentation in all directions I think is still a great thing; although the world is already constantly being filled with cinematic linear adventure games.
Just throwing that out there; I may be completely paranoid in thinking that's what people are drifting towards now - from looking at some of the comments I wasn't the only one thinking in this direction - and I may be jumping the gun on my judgment of this mission (but I must say rudely but honestly that I didn't enjoy it much once I got into the castle) I also probably sound ungrateful. I'm not, though. I'm extremely thankful of this community which has already created more entertainment and engaging artistry than I'd ever deserve, especially for free. This mission was sometimes amazing in how it looked (and the readables so far are superb in providing some extra dimension, without too much exposition) but in the end it's making me feel kind of trapped in a way; like trapped on a movie-set or something. So I'm going to put it down for now.

[Soul Tear]

Thanks for the feedback. But I'm thinking about my career and future, and not about what an ideal mission should be for Thief.

[Squadarofl]

Thanks for the feedback. But I'm thinking about my career and future, and not about what an ideal mission should be for Thief.

What do you mean by that? Aiming at impress video game developers with yours FMs?

[Soul Tear]

What I mean is not your concern.

[Squadarofl]

A man of secrecy huh...

No need for being rude my dude, I wasn't sarcastic.

[Lady Taffer]

I've got a question about the very start of the mission. Before entering the city I immediately I jumped into the moat and began searching around. I found an underwater cave with some loot and other supplies but then I found I couldn't get back out of the moat again. There are no ladders, nothing to climb up. . there's a tree branch I can shoot a rope arrow into, but it's so far up that the end of the rope is just out of my reach. Is there some way to get out of the moat? I don't want to restart and skip the loot in that cave before going into town!

[Dahenjo]

There's a log bridge going across the chasm above where you come back out to after the submerged cave area. That's the way to get back up if you place the rope arrow right and jump onto it from the right spot. However, there's an advantage in waiting to go to that cave until later in the mission when you have some holy water.

[Lady Taffer]

Where is the right spot? I tried and tried, and it still didn't work. Garrett just kept "bouncing" back off the rope instead of grabbing on, as sometimes happens in the game. It should not have to be this hard!

Also, I've run into another tight spot: I have the key to the blocked district, and according to previous posts I'm supposed to open a manhole cover or something outside the police station. Well, I found one, but it's not frobbable. How do I open it?

[Brethren]

But I'm thinking about my career and future, and not about what an ideal mission should be for Thief.

Seems like a truly awful motivation for creating an FM. Why use an outdated engine like Dark then?

[Soul Tear]

Seems like a truly awful motivation for creating an FM. Why use an outdated engine like Dark then?

Any human can master any engine. But the main task of the true artist is to develop his unique game design. I do not see the point of jumping like a flea on different engines, if you really can not do anything. I am pleased with my small indoor/outdoor decorations, but I have difficulties with architecture. This is the first.
The second. At the moment I do not have a strong need for money to change job.
And third, I do not like to throw what I started. In addition, I do not want to fail people's expectations, because very many are waiting for my missions.
When the time comes, I'll tell the engine - goodbye.
By the way, you are mistaken about motivation, the players greatly increase it. At least for me.

In any case, my experience is my experience, and it is not necessary for other people to try to understand it. There is no one recipe for everyone.

[Soul Tear]

Where is the right spot? I tried and tried, and it still didn't work. Garrett just kept "bouncing" back off the rope instead of grabbing on, as sometimes happens in the game. It should not have to be this hard!

Watch this video from 28:44

I do not remember that somebody had problems here.

Also, I've run into another tight spot: I have the key to the blocked district, and according to previous posts I'm supposed to open a manhole cover or something outside the police station. Well, I found one, but it's not frobbable. How do I open it?

The manhole will be available later, you will learn about it when you complete the new target.
To get to other district, you need to visit the cave.

[baeuchlein]

Where is the right spot? I tried and tried, and it still didn't work. Garrett just kept "bouncing" back off the rope instead of grabbing on, as sometimes happens in the game. It should not have to be this hard!

That is indeed a very difficult task to master. Try the following: First, make your way to the spot where the log lies across the deep chasm in which you're located, close to one end of the small passage between the two chasm sections with water at the bottom. This section of the chasm is the one before the city gate, where a bridge crosses the chasm. If you walk close to the edge of the passage, the log you seek should become visible above you. To avoid too much frustration, save your game now before placing a rope arrow in the log.

Ready a rope arrow, then aim at the rim of the log located near you (not the other rim which is closer to the bridge to the city). It can also be beneficial to (almost) shoot in the air before or above the log; apparently, the log is a bit larger than it appears. The arrow should stick in the log. If you wish to, you may save your game again now (preferrably selecting another save game slot than before), for climbing up to the city can be problematic too.

Try to jump at the rope hanging down. I think that jumping while running is a bit better in this case, but I am not entirely sure. If you cannot grab the rope after a few trials, or if you continue to bounce off the rope, reload the first saved game and try to shoot the rope arrow a bit more towards your own position.

Rocket science is tough, but rope arrow science is a lot harder.

Also, I've run into another tight spot: I have the key to the blocked district, and according to previous posts I'm supposed to open a manhole cover or something outside the police station. Well, I found one, but it's not frobbable. How do I open it?

Something with that approach seems to be wrong. I think I'll rather cover the chain of events that should happen from where you approach the police station up to where you finally enter the blocked district, for it's not as simple as it may first appear... again.

The right way into the police station is through the grate located behind the house. If you stand before the entrance to the station, go around the right side of the building and enter the small alleyway winding around the back of the station. A railing is there to prevent citizens from falling into a pit where vegetation grows. However, that's exactly your way in, for down there is the grate that you need to open. In the campaign version of the mission, you can only open this grate with a crowbar. That crowbar can be found in the sleeping quarters of the guard tower which you used to enter the city, right above the closed city gate. On the top tier of the tower, there is an unoccupied bed in one room, and near this bed, you find the crowbar.

However, you have most likely already done this, for what you find inside the police station is the key to the blocked district, which you say you already have. If that is the case, then you need to first try to use this key. You have to walk to the spot where the door to the blocked district is... only to find that this door is located behind a strange glowing bush. Okay, that bush has to go away - save your game, ready your sword, and try to hack the bush down. If a guard notices that and gets alarmed, then you know why I told you to save your game.

So, the bush won't budge. It's magical. Who would be better qualified to remove it than a mage... so, get back to the hole near the police station where you saw a mage earlier in the game. Unfortunately, he didn't wait for you, but created some kind of vines in order to climb down that hole. Follow him by jumping at the vines and climbing down. Travel through the caves down there and beware the enemies walking or lurking there. You may also steal some of the oval-shaped gems mostly embeddes in the walls here.

You will eventually reach a large cave with an enormous crystal above a deep pit. Garrett utters a comment about the crystal. A kind of walkway goes around the pit in the center, and you have to travel along it (counter-clockwise) until you can safely drop down to the mountain-like structure in the center of the pit. Once down there, look for the mage patrolling the lower part of this room. You may not harm him (a new objective appearing in the meantime should tell you this), which includes blackjacking - you have to get around him unseen. When he approaches your position and then turns away again, you can get down to the bottom of this room and follow him carefully, once again circling the mountain-like structure in a counter-clockwise direction. You should find a magical staff on a rock there, which is what you came for. Grab it. Garrett utters another comment, suggesting to move back out now. Unless you have to find more of the oval gems, you can indeed leave this area now. The best way seems to continue circling the mountain-like thing in the center of the room and avoiding the mage. I think you can hide from him near another deep pit you will find not far away from where you grabbed the magic staff.

Once you reach the end of the passage down here, try to climb up the rear part of the "mountain". You might have to climb up in a corner, and possibly by jumping at the corner and then mantling all the way up to the plateau between the "mountain" and the cave wall. To do that, you may have to hold the "mantle" key for quite a while. After that, you have to try to get out of the lower part of the room and onto the walkway above again. I believe someone wrote that there is a spot where you can jump at the walkway and then mantle onto it; however, I usually use a rope arrow to get out instead. Whatever you do, don't forget to save your game again at spots where you find it appropriate, since you are at another difficult point in the mission.

To get out of the pit-and-mountain area via rope arrow, I shoot it into one of the vines to the left of the exit above the walkway. The vine I use is one which goes from some point below and to the left of the exit up to a spot above and possibly to the left of the exit. My aim is to first jump onto the rope deployed from the arrow, then climb it up and jump at the vine somewhere, climbing above the level of the walkway. Finally, I pluck out the rope arrow and jump towards the walkway from above it. Jumping at the rim of the walkway and mantling up did not work for me.

Now, you can finally exit these caves the way you entered them, go back to the magical bush and shoot at it with Farage's magical staff. Once that is done, you can reach the metal door to the blocked district, unlock it with the key you obtained earlier, and travel through the passage into the next district.

[Lady Taffer]

Dang, I don't even know where this blocked district is. . but I will try to look for a glowing bush like you suggested. Thanks!

[Lady Taffer]

Ok, found the glowing bush. That seriously does not look like an entrance to any other district, just a bush growing against a wall. I never would have thought to look there. But now I have a new problem: I've made it down into the cave, but now I need a pickaxe to get out. Earlier in the game I found one in the town and picked it up and it seemed to replace my sword, but then I sheathed it and when I tried to unsheathe it, it had turned into the sword again. The pickaxe seems to have vanished from my inventory. Is this a glitch? Am I stuck in the cave forever?