FMs - Ghost/Perfect Thief Results (Part 9) [SPOILERS]

[klatremus]

Game: Thief 2
FM: The Ashen Age, Part 1

Ghost - Success
Perfect Thief - Success
Supreme Ghost - Failed
Perfect Supreme - Failed
Time - 1:07:14
Loot - 2412/2412 (Supreme: 2327)
Pockets Picked - 4/7
Secrets - 2/2
Locks Picked - 6
Backstabs - 0, Knockouts - 0
Damage dealt - 0, Damage taken - 0
Healing taken - 0, Other Kills - 0, Bodies Discovered - 0
Consumables - 1 explosive charge & 1 broadhead arrow

See the entire report with screenshots here!
Loot list here.
YouTube let's play here!

Comments:
I couldn’t really attempt a ghost run of DrK’s The Cinder Notes without playing the mission that started it all. Sliptip didn’t make many missions, but he is well known for the ones he did. Ashen Age is a beautiful daytime mission, set in a Venice-like cobblestoned city. It is incredible how a mission from the pre-NewDark era could look this stunning. Although on the shorter side, with clever gameplay and a solid story, this one still comes recommended.

My main task was to find information on the disappearance of four keepers, in addition to grabbing 1,500 in loot. On expert, it was also forbidden to knock out any of the city watch. Due to this, my blackjack run had been on hard, but I assumed there weren’t too many differences between difficulty levels.

Streets
Accessed the city watch station through the sewer canal. I could sneak in through the front door, but not without a first alert. Cleaned everything in here without issues. The stationary archer was practically deaf. He didn’t hear me picking the lock on the nearby door, nor making noise right behind him. Yet he did notice the slightest of speed enhancements way down the other end of the street.

Moved east to the hotel. I could take all the items while the manager was upstairs. Room 1 could be accessed from the outside later, and room 2 didn’t have any loot, only a vault code. The room 2 key was on a nobleman further west in town, and I couldn’t return the key without alerts, so I never took it. It’s a bit immersion breaking to avoid a bust by just reloading after reading the code, but hey.



Corrado’s
Hexameron’s report from 2008 mentioned three major trouble spots; one of them was a thief outside Corrado’s main entrance. On street level there was no way to avoid a Ghost bust, as there was no shade and the thief never moved. My thoughts immediately went to the rooftops. I could ascend the wall just east of the city watch station from the canal side (image above). It required a few mantles, but nothing too difficult. In OldDark without newmantle it would require a rope arrow into the top eave. I snuck along the ledges heading south, to just above the aforementioned thief (image below). I then had to drop onto one of the ledges below to the thief’s left in order to avoid damage. I always got a first alert from this, but no hunt mode. Occasionally the thief would turn around and attack, but I eventually found a predictable method that both avoided fall damage and the second level alert.



Hexameron also wrote how he couldn’t dodge the thief outside Corrado’s office. I’m surprised he said that, as this one is quite easy to get by. I could stand in the hallway just outside the stairs and have the thief pass safely (image below). Then I just followed him and let him turn, and as he headed back I started picking the lock. This spawned a first alert, but that was ok for regular Ghost. I rushed back to the hiding spot halfway through the pick and waited for the next round. On the second pick, I got through. I think Hexameron maybe gave up a bit too quickly because of already busting to the first thief.



Inside the office, another thief could see me through the bookshelf. This was a secret exit leading to the canal. I just waited for him to be gone and opened the bookshelf so I could monitor his whereabouts. Cleaned the office easily otherwise. In Corrado’s storage room, I got the next keeper painting. Had to skip the coins in the control room for Supreme. Corrado himself alerted to the door opening. The intended way to leave from here was via the canal to the north (first image below), but I couldn’t find a way to drop into the water quietly. I tried with potions and crates from multiple angles, but to no avail. Corrado and his henchman always second alerted to the splash. Hexameron didn’t even mention this problem in his report, so I suspect he just went back through the pub, since he had already knocked out the two thieves from earlier. I think he even killed one of them. My solution was the same, but I couldn’t climb back up to the rooftop outside the main entrance, so I resorted to pushing the thief down the sloped street (second image below). This was an engine exploit, but a last resort, and thus acceptable for Ghost.





Vaults
Back in the streets I couldn’t get all the coins in the fountain for Supreme. I managed to get the woman’s purse and three of the coins at the eastern end of the pool, but the remaining loot was unobtainable for that mode. In order to get the rest, I had to nudge the nobleman over to the western wall as well as the woman a tad in the same direction (image below). Again a last resort option, which is allowed following the rules.



Entered the vault station by climbing a rope to the bell tower. This eliminated the main entrance, which would’ve been impossible anyway. Once inputting each vault code, I went back down the rope and entered via the south gate (image below). This eliminated the need to pick the lock on the control room door on the top floor, plus it made dodging the camera in the vault room easier.



Pump Station
Hexameron also reported that he busted by alerting the zombie in the pump station when using the explosive charge to clear the rubble. The trick to avoid this was to time the explosion when the zombie was in the control room atop the stairs (image below). If not, it heard the noise as there was an open access window in the canal further south through which the sound travelled. If it was in the control room with the door shut, it never alerted. I didn’t even need to have the other door closed, the one door up top was enough. Perfect Thief success! Awesome!!



Notes:
- Got three first alerts from the thief outside Corrado’s main entrance. Once from dropping down next to him, a second from the door when entering, and a last from the door when leaving. All Supreme busts.
- Got a first alert from the thief outside Corrado’s office. He alerted to picking the lock on the door. Another Supreme bust.
- Skipped a coin stack worth 25 in the canal office at Corrado’s for Supreme. Corrado alerted to the door opening.
- Had to push the thief outside Corrado’s main entrance forward in order to leave. This is allowed as a last resort for Ghost, but not for Supreme. Another bust to that mode.
- Skipped 35 loot in the fountain outside the pump station for Supreme. The nobles caught me unless I nudged them, which I did for regular Ghost.
- Skipped the loot worth 25 in Renzo’s office for Supreme. He alerted to picking the lock on the safe.
- Got a final first alert from the noblewoman by the fountain when opening the door to the pump station. Yet another Supreme bust.

[Galaer]

THE DOCKS... ALL ABOARD (T1 VERSION)

Thief 2 version has been successfully ghosted by dafydd. Thief 1 version on the other hand has been abandoned by Vanguard, because it contains eternal darkness. So let's see how difficult mission becomes with pitch black shadows. Eternal darkness really doesn't affect gameplay. Vanguard gave up on this mission way too quickly. Also mission requires damage property, so I also quickly checked Thief 2 version and it also required damage property. Looks like dafydd wrongly classfied this mission as a success. Thief 1 version is harder to ghost. There is couple more enemies. Unfortunate thing is it's possible for AI to get stuck. Because of that I was forced to restart this mission couple of times.

At the start quickly mantle on barrel and crouch. Wait for patroller to go right, enter bar behind servant and dodge him from right. People here are friendly except merchant in small room, but it's easy to grab money from table in front of him. Storeroom is first place that I was forced to restart mission. In my first run spider for some reason was facing his back towards door and was in 2nd alert for some reason. Normally he's looking in other direction. Luckily after restarting mission this problem didn't occur.

Fountain area is first difference with Thief 2. Stationary guard near fountain is only in Thief 1 version. If you will get 1st alert in passage leading to fountain you will be forced to wait for him to calm down. Otherwise he will immediately spot you when trying to strafe run to shadow near fountain. Next step is strafe run to shadow on the right of fountain and taking ring from it. Crouch run and mantle on cart, then on barrel. Jump in place, crouch and drop near gear. From here you must jump and mantle on pier. Here is drunk guard, but he's easy to avoid. You can douse torch or quickly run to dark corner in passage. Here I had another restart as running into corner I noticed stuck in place archer (he should patrol). I quicksaved and that was a mistake. I didn't realize that drunk guard spot me and I was forced to restart mission again.

Tower is patrolled by guard and there is stationary archer on 2nd floor watching west docks. In Thief 2 version there is only archer and he patrols tower and occasionally stop to look through window. It's very easy to ghost this area. My next target is crane, so I'm running along west side near water when 3 patrollers are away. In Thief 1 there is also stationary guard near crane. Here is locked gate, but you can skip it by mantling to ladder. Lever opening it is in warehouse and the only difference in it is in Thief 1 version there is bugbeast in cage and frogbeast outside. In Thief 2 version is only frogbeast in cage and no bugbeast. Use crane to drop and mantle on deck of ship.

Deck is pretty easy to ghost. There are 2 patrollers, but archer can get stuck on crates. In Thief 2 patrollers don't get stuck on crates. In control room is stationary guard looking through window who isn't there in Thief 2 version. Under deck are 2 patrollers and here is the last reason why I needed to restart mission. If these patrollers walk near each other, then they will get stuck walking into each other in narrow corridor leading to bedroom. So you want patrollers to visit opposite corridors to avoid them getting stuck. In Thief 2 version this was fixed by erasing one of patrollers.

To ghost these patrollers you need to use small shadows near bunks. Luckily it's barely enough to not get spotted by them, because in narrow corridor leading to bedroom there isn't enough place to dodge guard from the side, so you must wait in shadow near bunk near entrance to corridor. When escaping from bedroom you need to use small shadow between bunks near ladder.

Bedroom in Thief 2 was troublesome, because sleeping guard is sensitive and wakes up looking in your direction. Dafydd used arrow to wake him up to look in certain direction. In Thief 1 version you can sneak behind him by mantling on cupboard and then jumping on chest and going behind him.
He wakes up, but always gonna look at door. He's frozen in place, so he can't nudged. Luckily he doesn't alert to picklocking of door. So this room is much easier than in Thief 2 version. To escape from ship just jump into water, climb ladder and hide behind tower. Go along east wall, skip warehouse and picklock left door.

Your last task is getting golden bone from Keffley's storage. This room is locked and key to it is only located in Thief 2 version inside storage in Keffley's possession. Technically you could be able to keyhole and grab key, but Keffley is right in front of door and there is no invisibility potions, so this path is a forced knockout. Left storage has in both versions hole in ceiling blocked by wooden planks. It's impossible to squeeze through planks, so you must destroy 2 of them (ghost bust #1). In Thief 1 version Keffley will 2nd alert to that and you will be forced to wait for him to calm down. In Thief 2 version Keffley is a bit deaf and he doesn't hear planks destruction.

Playing in Thief 1 version I roped down to Keffley's storage and mossed floor below. I also moved crate in different spot on moss to quickly lean for corner urn. After grabbing all loot and golden bone I returned to north docks near fountain and jumped into water to finish this mission.

STATS:

Time: 0:18:10; Loot: 1543/1543
Pockets Picked: 3/4; Locks Picked: 2
Back Stabs: 0; Knock Outs: 0
Damage Dealt: 0; Damage Taken: 0; Healing Taken: 0
Innocents killed: 0; Others killed: 0

GHOST: IMPOSSIBLE (in both versions)

[Galaer]

ELEMENTAL EXCURSION

BLIND IRONMAN GHOST RUN

Time to try this challenge once again. Let's start from objectives. There is optional ghost objective, 550 loot to get, get canister and fire scroll, don't kill anyone and escape objective. In shop there is free scroll, which I forgot to read and there is Refinery key to buy for all money, which I do. I also remembered to quickly unbind quicksave and quickload buttons.

Mission started and I unlocked 2 double doors. After a while I noticed that city patroller goes to starting point. I panicked and entered Alchemy Workshop to hide. But then I noticed that guard from 2nd floor descending via stairs. I had option to hide under stairs, but I noticed crates there or in shadow on stairs. I chose 2nd option and unfortunately guard spot me. He alerted patroller and I must have to escape. Unfortunately I didn't know layout of mission. So I ran to elevators, because enemies stop when you stand on them. But not on these elevators. So guard hit me and I lost 6 HP. I ran through tavern to small garden, which alerted priest. He tried to shoot me, so I hid behind tree. There was no way out. I tried to dodge pursuing guard, but he killed me. This run ended embarrassingly fast.

STATS:

Time: 0:01:40; Loot: 0/700
Locks Picked: 0
Back Stabs: 0; Knock Outs: 0
Damage Dealt: 0; Damage Taken: 12; Healing Taken: 0
Innocents killed: 0; Others killed: 0

GHOST: FAILED

GHOST RUN

Here I learned couple of things. First of all city patroller, priest, barkeeper and woman near him are neutral. They only alert when they will see you enter room you shouldn't enter, if you use weapon or if they hear alert from other guard. Had I know that I wouldn't panic in my previous run. Still I doubt I could finish it. Without help on the forum I wouldn't find canister. Also there is surprising trap in priest's room in tavern - carpet floor change into lave when you step on it. There is hint about trap in free scroll bought in shop, but not what trap it is.

Also there is some scripting - woman will go to basement if you go to basement and barkeeper will also go to basement if you visit 2nd floor. So after roping up above portcullis with priest near it you can steal priest's and woman's keys, then go to basement to loot woman's room and go to 2nd floor to loot bar when barkeeper is away (if he sees you stealing from him, he will 2nd alert.

Guard from Alchemy Workshop will eventually end walking into wall at the bottom of stairs, which makes him easy to dodge. Guard from Alchemy refinery can sometimes trick you by not stopping by end of him short patrol route and just turn around and continue his patrol.

STATS:

Time: 0:13:19; Loot: 600/700
Pockets Picked: 4/4; Locks Picked: 0
Back Stabs: 0; Knock Outs: 0
Damage Dealt: 0; Damage Taken: 0; Healing Taken: 0
Innocents killed: 0; Others killed: 0

GHOST: SUCCESS
PERFECT GHOST: POSSIBLE

[Galaer]

THE WALL - ST EDGAR'S CATHEDRAL

Thief 2 mission released in 2014 and has been updated 3 times before author remove it and vanished annoyed by other people critique. This mission looks beautiful, but it's not polished. Some readables don't work, items behave weirdly, grabbing body makes you see some white texture, there is a lot of 4th wall breaks, switch hunt, key hunt some switches must pressed twice. Menu has barely visible options, intro movie has visible taskbar and it promotes other author's mission - Knight's Dream and Unreal Engine. Mission has a lot more weird stuff going on, but I suspect all of them are intentional. I mean falling into water and swimming don't make noise and apparently it's a feature mentioned in readme. Mission itself has a lot of forced ghost busts and by design it reminds me Elevator Mission.

At the very beginning you must break wooden planks to enter small tower (ghost bust #1) and drop into water. Then there is switch on wall near 2 spiders. You must jump in place to reach it, but it 2nd alert spiders. Luckily I found that 1st alerting spiders with rope arrows shot into wooden floor makes them ignore noise from jump on wooden floor. Drop into water and continue swimming. Before getting out of water take all water arrows placed on water surface.

Courtyard is very well lighten. First grab sword and steal key to armory from guard. Take all items from armory and climb ladder. Take 6 pieces of loot in front of archer and press switch. Be careful, top of ladder is well visible and other stationary archer can spot you. Go along left wall behind stationary guard and walk to barrel. Here you must douse 8 torches to ghost last 2 guards. Take key from last guard and use lever above wooden gate twice to open it. Rope up to metal gate, use key and press switch. Drop on edge of broken pillar and then on wall away from archer. Drop on torch. Return to stationary guard with gate behind. Now it's opened. High mask can be grabbed by mantling on chest, also there is tiara under bed and lever behind it. Return to wooden gate.

Tower is unlocked, so climb up to wall, but first grab flares from ground. There is 20 bottles behind archer. Drop into water and swim to park. There is switch on shield of Keeper's statue that moves other statue revealing wooden planks. There is another way in by mantling over metal fence, but you can't get back to park the same way. It's possible though to mantle on wall to get to clock tower.

You must climb to the top of clock tower. To do it you must rope up to wooden beam, but when you climb to it you will get spotted by guards below (ghost bust #2). There is no other way up. I tried roping up to wooden beams on the side, but rope arrow just vanished in them. Climbing clock tower is tricky, but also it's the most fun part of the mission. Look out for lower metal ledges - unlike metal railings, ledges aren't solid. At the very top is lever opening main gate of cathedral and also couple of slow fall potions. To drop down safely just drop and mantle on wall behind clock tower, then go to corner and jump on lower wall and on lamppost.

From wall you can mantle on top of portcullis of passage, then drop couple items and fall on them. Go around Hammerites and take key near gate. To get to cathedral you could try to stack items to mantle over portcullis, but area in front of gate and slightly above floor is well lighten, so Hammerites will spot you. I tried to mantle on metal fence and go on gate and then stack items, but I got stuck on portcullis and Hammerites were easily killing me. I can't use water to get out, so I needed to return to clock tower and use wall to return to park. For that you don't need to stack items - you can mantle on gate through portcullis and drop on the other side. Return to gate on courtyard with lever behind bed. Use left door.

Here is key to dining room and wooden planks on floor. There is no need to visit dining room, because archer inside will alert to you. Plus you would be forced to douse every torch there and there is better place to douse torches. So I'm skipping 850 loot from dining room. Use sword to destroy wooden planks, which will also alert many enemies (ghost bust #3). Drop down and mantle on wall made out of wooden planks. In catacombs are 4 haunts, but they aren't alerted, so it's easy to ghost them. In my test run haunts were alerted, so I have no idea if that's because I didn't destroy planks in park or I used sword instead of rock to destroy planks in castle. Use lever behind statue and swim to cathedral. Get out of water and strafe run to wall to avoid being spotted by Hammerites behind gate.

Here are darker statues that are deadly, so don't touch them. Instead crouch walk through statue and press switch opening gate. Then go closer to main gate and rope up. I never found key to Keeper doors, but there is a way past them. Rope up to wooden beam and do tricky jump on wooden planks. Here are arrows and key on floor. You can also do tricky mantle ot chest, which isn't solid, but inside is key that I don't know what is it for. So just drop down and quickly run to main gate. Here you need to stack items to mantle over another wall made out of wooden planks and open last gate to cathedral.

Here you are forced to run past Hammerite (ghost bust #4). He will spot you and other AI will also spot you and attack you. Just run right and drop into wall. rope up and travel all the way to church. Here is patroller and couple of stationary guards. It's a good place to use remaining water arrows to douse torches, but don't douse torches with AI near them if patroller is close to them. Otherwise they will go into search mode.

You must go along right wall first. You can't go throw pew, because priest will always spot you. Instead crouch walk to opposite wall while right in front of priest, but behind 2 guards placed in the same spot. Go along left wall to the end, take hammer from altar and go to other corner. Lean for switch near note and return to corner. Wait for patroller to pass. Go behind him and return the same way to water. On ramp you must strafe run along right wall. This way you will dodge ground and drop into water. Go to exit door you opened to finish this crazy mission. No idea why any body has been discovered as I didn't attack anyone.

STATS:

Time: 1:04:05; Loot: 2970/3870
Pockets Picked: 5/10; Locks Picked: 1
Back Stabs: 0; Knock Outs: 0
Damage Dealt: 0; Damage Taken: 0; Healing Taken: 0
Innocents killed: 0; Others killed: 0
Iron Beasts Destroyed: 0; Disabled: 0
Bodies Discovered by Enemies: 1
Secrets: 0/0

GHOST: IMPOSSIBLE

[klatremus]

Thank you for the reports, Galaer. I went ahead and changed The Enterprise (T1) and The Docks (T2) to failed in the list. I marked them with a * next to the link and then made a small note at the bottom of the post of what this means. There might be more you discover as you go along. It seems as if they didn't understand the property damage rule as well in the old days.

The Cinder Notes report and video will be out Monday, and then its Heartcliff Islands... I'm 3 hours into it and I can see why you abandoned it. I haven't needed any spoilers or walkthrough yet, but I doubt I will be able to finish it without direct help. Report and video for that won't be out until August though. Perhaps we will have other mission releases during the summer.

[Galaer]

and then its Heartcliff Islands... I'm 3 hours into it and I can see why you abandoned it. I haven't needed any spoilers or walkthrough yet, but I doubt I will be able to finish it without direct help. Report and video for that won't be out until August though. Perhaps we will have other mission releases during the summer.

No idea if you know, but there is less laggy version of this mission. I don't remember if it's in zip file or in 1st post as I learned about it after abandoning this mission. Good luck.

[klatremus]

It's a part of the mission zip yes. I have a new desktop, so I can handle the full version. On the rooftops it lags a bit, but nothing I can't deal with.

[klatremus]

Game: Thief 2
FM: The Cinder Notes [1 Million Units Contest]

Ghost - Success
Perfect Thief - Success
Supreme Ghost - Success
Perfect Supreme - Success
Time - 1:08:52
Loot - 3383/3383
Pockets Picked - 13/13
Secrets - None
Locks Picked - 20
Backstabs - 0, Knockouts - 0
Damage dealt - 0, Damage taken - 0
Healing taken - 0, Other Kills - 0, Bodies Discovered - 0
Consumables - None

See the entire report with screenshots here!
Loot list here.
YouTube let's play here!

Comments:
This is DrK’s spiritual successor of Sliptip’s Ashen Age, which he released anonymously for the 1 Million Units Contest. Plenty of players thought Sliptip himself had returned from a decade long hiatus, but were just as shocked to find out the real author. It’s a beautiful, well-designed daytime mission, with venetian streets and a hammerite seminary. The ending lacks a bit to make it stellar, but definitely a solid experience.

I had to retrieve information from Carlin at the inn regarding The Cinder Notes. Next I was to obtain a painting from the art dealer, as well as 1,200 in loot. I had to end back at the warehouse.



The map was split in two, east and west of the main gate. Most areas required standard sneaking, but nothing extraordinary. Carlin’s room was a bit tricky, but I could hide by the bench on the lower level and monitor his patrol (image above). I quickly mantled up and grabbed the items. Would have to return his key later. Skipped the streets for now. Instead used the canal to move east towards the gate. Could go underneath it and emerge on the east side. The best way into the seminary was via the basement, accessible via a ladder just south of the guard station (image below). The stationary watchman faced west and south. In the former position I could creep-strafe on by and descend.



I couldn’t blow the basement generator. That was property damage and it removed light sources around the compound, plus it spawned extra enemies. The only good it did anyway was provide an alternate route into the catacombs, which wasn’t necessary at all. In fact, the entire seminary and catacombs were without any ghosting issues. Nothing to report at all. Simply dodging the patrolling guards.

When returning from the seminary, I had to deal with the central part of the map, which was by far the most difficult area in town. To get into the guard station and get the piece of loot from the top floor, I had to enter via the top floor window. There was a door on the lower level, but opening it triggered a first alert from the stationary guard. I used a rope arrow into the northern end of the windowsill instead (image below). Climbing it without alerts took a lot of waiting. There were three patrollers in the area, all with a very good view of the rope. They all had to be gone at the same time. Also, the stationary guard inside had to be facing south when I passed the lower window. At the top of the rope I was dark and safe. To get back down I slid south off the lamp, landing directly into the canal. Nobody heard the splash which surprised me.



Fratelli’s was next. I could enter via the top floor window here also, but this was in bright sunlight and extremely difficult to pull off unseen. I ended up picking the lock on his front door instead. This just seemed like the stealthier option. His bedroom was still very difficult. I experimented for a while, realizing he didn’t alert to the door opening. This was tough to gauge as he didn’t give verbal remarks when stopped, only when patrolling. When by the window, I could creep-strafe over to the chest and hop into the corner by the north wall (image below). This was the only place in the room where I was completely safe. I had to make rounds from here to get the various items one at a time. His key was needed for the nugget in the attic. Luckily he patrolled partly on top of the carpet, so I could return the key silently.



The coins in the fountains were next. The most difficult was the fountain southwest of the main gate. The coins weren’t difficult to take once there, but getting to this location without first alerts was a pain. In retrospect, I should’ve taken a different route, as I needed to cross the lower courtyard too many times. I ended up mantling up the railing from the ledge above the canal, but I think dropping from the top floor window after cleaning the guard tower would’ve been better. I’ll do that when I record my let’s play. I could stand in the western end of the water trough and observe patrollers (image below). This was a good method to reach the art dealer’s.



The final challenge was returning Carlin’s key. It had to be dropped onto his desk, and the only place to do so silently was a microscopic spot in the middle of the paper (image below). If I didn’t hit this spot exactly, it made a wood sound and alerted him. It would’ve been so frustrating to bust this late, but luckily I got it.



Two extra archers had spawned close to the warehouse when going for the exit. It made my return a bit more tense than expected. I challenge everyone to get both of these archer’s pickpockets without any Supreme busts.

[marbleman]

Game: The Dark Mod
FM: Noble Affairs

Ghost - Success
Perfect Thief - Success
Supreme Ghost - Success
Perfect Supreme - Failed
Time - 37:37
Times saved - 42
Damage dealt - 0, Damage received - 0
Health restored - 0
Pockets picked - 0
Loot - 4298/4298 (Supreme: 3923)
Secrets - 10/10
Killed by the player - 0
KOed by the player - 0
Bodies found by AI - 0
Alerts - 0 suspicious, 0 searches, 0 sightings
Stealth score - 0
Consumables - none

Noble Affairs is the most heavily-customized mission I’ve played for the Dark Mod. Most notably, it features a new female protagonist, complete with a new voice set and footstep sounds. However, custom resources don’t make a mission, good design does, and in that regard, Noble Affairs delivers as well. The main goal for this mission is stealing a recording from Lady Volta’s manor and getting back to the docks where we started. However, there’s plenty more to do here.

In the docks, there is a jewelry store that has to be skipped for Supreme for a rather ironic reason. The door to it is pickable, but there is a key inside, so it can be-relocked. In Thief, it would be a no-brainer, but there is no lock-blocking in TDM, so we have to either leave the door unlocked or fail to return the key. Thus, 375 loot has to be skipped for Supreme, 125 in the store itself and 250 you get for accomplishing a contract of delivering the jeweler’s business deeds to Lord Sigmond.

Ah yes, the contracts. The mission has three of them, and you get them in the black market shop. Apart from the one I mentioned, there is a contract to help a merchant get past a city watch checkpoint and one that involves dealing with a squatter in a factory. I take both of these, but I will only accomplish the former. The contacts don’t get tracked in the objectives, so it is legal to take them and leave them unfinished. I will also have to drop the contracts back here before ending the mission, but I will hold on to them for now.



The merchant promises us an invisibility potion for opening a gate from a city watch post for him. I don’t actually care for the reward, but the merchant does give us the watch station key. All the doors can be picked, but since they can be re-locked, we have to do it, and that’s really why I take the contract in the first place. Once I’m done with the watch station, I close the gate and drop the key back. The invisibility potion I don’t even take in the end since it’s an unnecessary pickup.



Now, why take the squatter contract if I don’t actually accomplish it? Well, otherwise, the door to the factory is unfrobbable. On that note, the merchant only appears in the mission only once his contract is taken. Anyway, there is quite a bit of loot in the factory as well as the black market shop key, which allows you to rob it. Before we get to the squatter’s hideout, however, we must go through the haunted part of the factory filled with invisible enemies, which is easily the toughest and the most intense part of the mission. To drop down into the haunted part without making noise, I use one of my contracts to cushion the fall. This method also comes in handy for dropping into water or onto other noisy surfaces. A much bigger problem is mantling out of the water, which 9 times out of 10 makes a loud splash and alerts enemies. Sometimes, it doesn’t, and there is no way around a little save-scumming here.



The intended way to leave the squatter’s hideout is to remove the boards from a door here, which loops you back to the rooftops across from the Volta manor. Now, if I had to return the black market shop key, I would be inclined to unbar the door since otherwise, I’d need to traverse the haunted part back and forth twice. However, this key can’t be dropped, so it’s not too much of a headache to backtrack through the factory and get out the way you come in. Plus, it feels a bit more Supreme-like to leave this door as is even though removing the boards wouldn’t be a bust.



The only thing I need from the black market shop is a rope arrow, and to my knowledge, this is the only place to get it "for free." You can buy one from the shop, but I don’t want to spend any money. You also get one, among other things, from the stash that becomes available after dealing with the squatter. Stealing one from the black market shop is therefore the best option. The only reason I need a rope is to get one of the secrets back at the docks. The rest of the mission can actually be accomplished without one, though it is certainly handy.



Now for the Volta manor. While it’s clearly the centerpiece of the mission, I don’t have much to say about it. Pretty standard sneaking inside. We have to get an item from the Lady’s bedroom and use said item elsewhere to gain access to the room where the recording is kept. It’s very nice that the manor’s attic loops you back to the docks so that you don’t have to backtrack.

Notes:
- For Supreme, 375 loot has to be skipped because there is no way to re-lock the jewelry store's door and return the key at the same time.

[marbleman]

Game: The Dark Mod
FM: Written in Stone

Ghost - Success
Perfect Thief - Success
Supreme Ghost - Failed
Perfect Supreme - Failed
Time – 1:00:14
Times saved - 60
Damage dealt - 0, Damage received - 0
Health restored - 0
Pockets picked - 5
Loot - 6175/6175 (Supreme: 6059)
Secrets - 10/10 (Supreme: 9)
Killed by the player - 0
KOed by the player - 0
Bodies found by AI - 0
Alerts - 0 suspicious, 0 searches, 0 sightings
Stealth score - 0
Consumables - none

Written in Stone is easily my favorite of TDM 2.10 missions. It features a new mechanic – magical glasses with which you can see through certain walls and either take items or actually walk through them. It does a great job at spicing up the experience but isn’t used so much that it becomes a gimmick mission. Classic gameplay is still front and center here.

Our goals are to break into a mage’s tower to find said glasses and, with them, to access Thistlewood Library and obtain the elixir formula inside. We also need to gather 3000 loot and leave the mission through the sewers on the other end of the city.

The Library

I knew I had to come back to where I start the mission once I have the glasses as one of the secrets here can only be accessed this way. With that in mind, I headed for the mage’s tower right away. Once I picked up the glasses though, there was no reason not to head straight to the library. It is accessible from the sewers, and there is an open hatch near the tower. Skipped the gate key in the tower since I didn’t need it.

My first goal in the library was the archmage’s chambers. The door to it can be picked, but the archmage carries a key that also works on it, so I had to re-lock it. Luckily, his patrol route extends beyond this room, so I could easily drop the key right in front of the door once I was done with his chambers. Inside, there are a few interesting things. First is the Inquisitor’s Skull, which I need to access the room where the formula is found. Taking the skull douses a flame, thus removing a light source. That’s our first unavoidable Supreme bust. Across from the skull is a chest with a gold mask worth 50. As soon as you open the chest, a blade comes out of it. This is obviously meant to be a trap, so I have to skip this piece of loot for Supreme. Finally, there is an Arcane Rod, which can be used to deactivate gargoyles (which act just like mechanist watchers). I don’t need to do that, so I skip the rod.



On my way to the room with the formula, picked up some etching tools. These are needed to copy the formula since it’s written in stone, hence the mission’s title. Once it’s done, a statue in the middle of the room moves out of the way, revealing a passage. There is some loot down there, and it is meant as a way back to the city. However, getting back this way requires picking up a key that’s not possible to return, so after grabbing the loot, I head back and exit the library the way I came in.



A few more things of note. There are two floating pieces of loot in the library, which have colored orbs attached to them. Taking these changes the color of the orbs, but it doesn’t seem to do anything else, so I figured these pieces are fine to take for Supreme. The hardest piece of loot to get here is a secret in the central library, but the main difficulty is not dodging the enemies but rather platforming and getting down without making noise. Still, it didn’t take me too long to figure it out.



The City

Part of this section will be out of chronological order since I’ve already went through some of these areas on my way to the mage’s tower. However, I think it makes the report easier to follow. Back in the starting area, got the piece of loot only accessible with the glasses. To gain access to the apothecary without picking the front door, climbed to the balcony and entered it from the top floor. Had to skip a secret in an apartment west of the church. Picking up the gold spyglass worth 30 removed a light source. I also had to skip five pieces of loot worth 36 in total in the guard outpost between the starting area and the market square. For Ghost, it’s easy to douse the candle with a water arrow, but for Supreme, I can’t get anywhere close to the table. It might be possible to take at least some of those loot pieces for Supreme. I’ll admit I didn’t try for very long.



Next was the warehouse. There are several ways in – a few pickable doors that can also be re-locked with a key found inside but also a sewer entrance and a window which are open from the get-go. I chose the window in the smith yard, which also allowed me to enter and loot the weapons shop. In the warehouse, there is a secret purse on the rafters. The intended way to get it is to move a chain to where the purse is and climb it. However, this chain has no collision for me. Because the purse is just slightly out of reach, I used a nearby bale to stand on. Also of note is that the servant in the warehouse sometimes gave remarks such as "what?" and "hmmm..." while standing next to the control panel that moves the chain. He did that when I was nowhere in his view, and this wasn't reflected in the stealth tool, so these comments must be scripted.



Now it was finally time to leave through the sewers accessible from Blueberry Tavern. In the tavern, there is a guy with a key in his stomach, aptly named “swallowed key.” You can get it using the glasses, but there’s no way to make him swallow it again. Is it okay to return this key to the guy’s feet? I say yes. The key unlocks a stash of loot in the thieves’ hideout in the sewers with quite a bit of loot. Also in the hideout is the cistern key we need to leave the mission. Once again, because there is no lock-blocking, there is no way to return this key, so that’s one more Supreme bust.



Notes:
- Taking the Inquisitor’s Skull removes a light source. Supreme bust.
- Couldn’t return the cistern key. Supreme bust.
- Skipped a gold spyglass worth 30 in an apartment west of the church for Supreme. Picking it up removes a light source.
- Skipped 36 worth of loot in the guard outpost between the starting area and the market square for Supreme. Can’t get anywhere close to the table because of the candle on it.
- Skipped a gold mask worth 50 in the archmage’s chest for Supreme. Opening it activates a trap.

[klatremus]

Excellent reports, marbleman! Good to see someone ghosting TDM again; it's been a while for me. Especially Written in Stone sounds very interesting with the new mechanic.

[marbleman]

Thanks, you should try it even if you won't be ghosting it yourself. These are the only two reports I wanted to make for now however. I plan to make one for the Painter's Wife, but not now. I know the authors have a list of bugs and will update it as some point, so that will be a good time to revisit (and re-learn) it. The next thing to do will be a regular ghost let's play for these two missions.