1 Million Units Contest - Alcazar (Jan 1, 2021)

[Schlock]

The answer to both: there's no way in there or any hiding loot, it's just decoration around the very edge of the map meant to make it feel bigger.

[Master of Dromed]

Finished this yesterday on Normal mode with 2602 out of 3425 loot in 3 hr 44 min 43 seconds. What an amazing experience! Most of the time i spent admiring the old and beautiful architecture which was also incredible creative. Everything about this mission is great, the visuals, the atmosphere, the exploration is so rewarding. Great use of space. The mission feels very big with a lot of places to explore, tavern, streets, merchants manor, sewers, factory, mines, underground water and fire temples, the tomb etc. Incredible quality in everything, lots of details everywhere. This was done in the spirit of the original Thief Gold missions, it captures so well the old dark thief feel. Great job Schlock! This is my favourite entry in this contest until now, 10/10 rating from me for this one.

[klatremus]

Thanks.
Found another piece of loot in the haunted manor, a nugget on another beam towards the north. That brings me 100 loot short. I have a sneaky feeling that could be the one that disappeared, however I also suspect the one you're saying has a bug is the patrolling gold skull-mist thingy in the haunted manor. If so, I did get that. I found 2 rings in total, one in a chest and one in the garden you teleport into from the pit. Just saying that as rings are usually worth 100.

[Azaran]

Just finished the main quest, what a masterpiece, the ambience, architecture, everything.
Still missing like 1300 loot, how??? lol

[Schlock]

@klatremus You're correct about the piece of loot I was talking about with the bug. It's the only piece I've ever observed disappearing, and it's the only one that would disappear due to its unique traits. So it seems the bug was truly fixed, and that you're just going to have to keep on looking for that last 100

[klatremus]

I'll do that. A few more questions:
1. In the lava cave there is one button that opens the fire elemental panel (which I managed to kill btw), a second button opens the gate to the lower level, but then there is a third button. It's right behind the gate that opens, sort on the backside of the floor. You can see it if you look back towards the gate while on the ladder. I clicked it, but couldn't find anything special. Is it a dud?
2. I think I managed to kill/remove the statue that held the spellbook by putting out the brazier in the next (secret) chamber. Was that right? It just seemed weird to me...

Oh and I also got the bug Galaer talked about. A guard in Morsult manor just kept walking in place in the central foyer. When he spotted me he ran over to the other side of the foyer and just kept running into the wall. Something up with that guy.

[Aged Raver]

Thank you Schlock (for earlier post). I did progress further and then while being killed by a crayman (or is it a craybeast) I frantically hit Save instead of Load, having made no Hard Saves. DOH! Will start again, hopefully wiser.

[Schlock]

@klatremus:
1. That button is a dud. Technically, it opens the same door the button behind the flame opens, but you can't reach it before you open the door so it is useless. You used to be able to get into the lava room through the fire pit with the fire arrows which is why that button is there, but I forgot to remove it when that route was blocked off.
2. That's right. Also note that it's possible for the statue's spells to extinguish fire. If you stand near the flame it's possible for an attack from the statue to extinguish it, in which case the statue gets rid of itself.
About the guard patrol: this is what happens when you only start testing your mission the day before release. There are also issues with the thief in the factory and the spider in the mines. Needless to say I'll have some things to fix with a v1.1 release after the contest.

[Kerrle]

This was the first contest mission I tried, and wow, it just completely nails the atmosphere I want from Thief Gold!

Really nice job with the overall ambiance and design. I still have a way to go, exploring the underground, but I've been loving it so far.

[Kerrle]

Okay, yeah. Managed to finish that one without needing any assistance, and the ambiance and architecture was great throughout.

An excellent mission, and now I've got a high point to measure the other contest entries against.

Congratulations to Schlock (and Squadfroinx?) on a job well done.

[radogoal]

i'm down in the mine . i found some fire arrows and i dead burick and then i wenit above brigde to a door with a blue veil. there i stuck. i need a rope area but haven't got one.

[Aged Raver]

On second time through I finished on Normal at just under 2000 loot. As often happens, I didn't find things I found first time round I'm sure I found a sword last time, not the one with the jewel on top that you can take but a usable sword. Still, this time I only used one fire arrow on one of the 4 patrolling haunts and managed to blackjack the others (admittedly many times but luckily they obligingly stood there).

Correction: I did have the sword. I just didn't know I had it! By the way I didn't work out how to get into that area upstairs in the house (above the East Gate) where the flies are buzzing. They seemed to disappear after a fire arrow but kept buzzing. I'd already used the explosive device elsewhere otherwise I wondered if it could have been used on the bit of the stone wall that's filled with house bricks to get into that area.

Thank you again Schlock. Very nice mission!

[Owl2]

Pretty good mission i liked the design and how it looks.
The shadows in the canals and the design of those was superior!
Also i loved the attic heavily. I would give it a very good score.

[pwl]

Schlock: You have indeed made a great TG mission I loved exploring this one, and like I said in contest thread all of these entries are so good. It is going to be hard to pick just one winner!!
Thank you!
pwl

[klatremus]

Found the last piece of loot! Fortuni nudged me in the right direction. What was embarrassing is that is was a big piece, and in plain sight. Typical.
It was a gold vase in the room with the dancing statue heads in the haunted manor.

[Ravenus1]

I loved this so much. The great choices of lighting, bright ambient and the creepy dark. I tried ghosting, but was pleasantly surprised to see that although I had to fight in a few places it didn't seem cheap. This was excellent looking, sound was used very well and the different play styles I needed to complete "at least for me" made this an instant classic. Bravo!

[ticky]

Thank you for a great mission! Please promise that you will continue making fan missions.

This one had a vibe somewhere between Into the Odd and the daylight level of Gems of Provenance, with a little touch of Ascend the Dim Valley, but it had it's own very unique vibe. Daylight definitely did good for this mission. All the narrow streets and the interconnected areas are a very nice and exciting place to explore. When I arrived to the undead part, first I thought that this will be another "down in the bonehoard" kind of thing, but I was wrong in a good sense.

Keep it up!

[Grandmauden]

Another fantastic mission from the master of atmospheric and environmental storytelling! Hard to believe you were able to fit so much gameplay into such a small space!

Found 2814 / 3425 loot.

[Lord Taffer]

This mission is kind of a dark dream with lots of detail everywhere! It reminded me of Into the Odd quite a lot. The imagination behind this FM is quite something! I've done all the objectives, but have to go searching for more loot.

Finally found 3114/3425 loot.

[<Username>]

I have been trying to ironman Alcazar since January 1 and now finally succeeded.

1st attempt:
January 1, 2021
Normal difficulty
18 minutes 2 seconds
532 of 3425 loot
Killed when I closed a trapdoor in the tavern basement. I apparently was too close to the edge and the engine decided the force of the closing trapdoor squashes Garrett immediately.

2nd attempt:
January 4, 2021
Normal difficulty
40 minutes 17 seconds
1099 of 3425 loot
Took some damage when I was a bit too close when I blew up the undead with gas canisters on his back with a fire arrow, then got killed by a fire elemental that spawned in when I pressed a button.

3rd attempt:
January 5, 2021
Normal difficulty
24 minutes 30 seconds
929 of 3425 loot
Took a sword to the chest when the red guard patroling the Merchant's place saw and attacked me, then took some minor fall damage in the mine, then got killed when I was again a bit too close when I blew up the undead with gas canisters on his back with a fire arrow.

4th attempt:
January 5, 2021
Normal difficulty
41 minutes and 33 seconds
1794 of 3425 loot
Got hit twice by the fireballs of the moving statue. Finished the mission with three health left.

This is now one of my favorite Thief fan missions of all time. A clear 10/10 for me. The small-scale setting with a crypt buried underneath a shady watering hole is excellent. Not since Lady Rowena's The Tower have I seen such good use of limited space. Despite the size restriction, the mission feels large and features lots of different environments. Every room has some architectural details or unusual objects that drew my attention. Furthermore, the mission has a perfect flow with open areas at the beginning where you don't have to worry about guards, to some lightly guarded buildings, to a final area where you are surrounded by frightening supernatural forces. Just excellent stuff all around.

[Twist]

I've found the quality and polish of all the missions in this contest -- so far -- to be surprisingly consistent and strong. Thank you to Brethren for initiating and organizing this contest. It was well worth it.

Alcazar is now one of my all-time favorite missions. It almost perfectly captures that gritty, darkly mystical feel of the original Thief: The Dark Project.

The layout is ingenious; it amazes me how Schlock folds these crumbling, dilapidated areas into each other, yet somehow the layout's flow and connectivity remain readable and playable.

It featured a few points of Souls-like shortcut epiphanies, those "A-ha!" moments when you unlock a shortcut that loops back into an earlier area and makes further exploration easier.

The sound design was impeccable: this is quintessential Thief atmospheric sound, with a nice variety and smooth transitions between areas.

I've already played through it twice on Expert, and tonight I'll ironman it.

Shlock and Squada: Thank you!

[JoergA]

In the lava area I killed the fire elemental after pressing the button there, but I cannot find the button to get access to the next lava area. Need a hint please.

[Brethren]

@JoergA - Look for another button close by.

[JoergA]

Found it, thanks for the hint Brethren.

Finished this stunning mission. Definitely a no 1 contender. It's astonishing how big this mission feels.

[nicked]

Wow, this mission is astonishing. Really excellent in every way - it simply oozes atmosphere and the level design is top notch. It takes everything great about Into the Odd and put it into a leaner, tighter package that excises all of that mission's frustrations. Really well done!

I'm sure I missed plenty of loot, but the only thing that I'm really curious about is a really obvious secret door bookcase in the room next to the statue with the spellbook. I can't figure out how to open it, but it looks like it should be obvious.