Fishmonger V2 Dec. 29, 2001

[Zail]

It's almost a new year. Out with the old and in with the new. It's time to throw out V1 of Fishmonger and throw in V2 of Fishmonger.

It's new! It's improved! It's bigger than Jesus's Birthday! (Well, not really)

You can now:
Get out of the well.
Not worry about the second last objective ticking off.
Read things in proper German.
See in dark areas

I've sent Digital Nightfall an email and soon this file will go up on T-TC. If anyone else wants to host this file, please drop me a line.

Zail

ps. Fishmonger is a Thief:The Dark Project FM
pps. Please excuse the self promotion.

[Fallen+Keeper]

Wow, nice! Also the architecture will be better now?

[Nightwalker]

Great news! I'll have to download the new version when it's available and give it a try. Thanks, Zail!

[Marecki]

I'll make sure to have a good look at it and update the review accordingly.

[Zail]

It's not a whole lot different from the original. The well has a rope going down it so if you grab the rope you can easily exit the well. That's the only archetecture change. I upped the ambient so all the night vision impared taffers can see a whole lot better. I still don't know why so many of them were compaining about that, the OM were just as dark.

A big THANK YOU has to go out to Gero , without whom this update would never have existed. He complained about the original german translation, and he acutally DID SOMETHING ABOUT IT.
That forced me to get my act together and fix the bugs and get the new version out. I hope I didn't make the game any buggier. It had been so long since I last used Dromed, I'm not sure if everything is were it was supposed to be.

Zail

[epithumia]

You'll need to either upload it to my site, mail it to me, or send me a URL where I can download it so that I can get it hosted for the Circle. They have strict bandwidth limits now, so I host most of the files they make available for download.

Let me know if you need more info.

[Zail]

I've uploaded it to your ftp site already (per Digital's instructions). I'm assuming that the other mirrors are going to pick it up from there automatically (You people are organized, right?).

[epithumia]

Actually, there aren't any mirrors. As far as I know, I have the only complete mission archive online. KoMaG obviously has everything on his CDs, but those are maintained manually.

If anyone actually wants to mirror my collection, they are more than welcome to. It would be nice to have other sites to help spread the load around, as I do about 4GB of Thief-related traffic per day.

[diana50322]

I love this mission! I don't know how I missed it earlier but I'm just now playing it. All is going well but there is a little unfinished business that is driving me nuts and a search failed to answer.

In the Hammer's building there is a central courtyard with 2 balconies at opposite ends. One is accesible through the priest's bedroom. I have not been able to access the other one. I tried to rope arrow onto it but it didn't work. I can hear a spider behind a door but have not found a way to open that door and/or get to the balcony.

What am I missing?

-EDIT-

I'll tell you what I'm missing: A BRAIN!! I meant the Fishmonger area. But never mind anyway. Better rope arrow placement and I got in.

[John D.]

The rock guy caught me by complete suprise!

[Sap'em]

I am stuck a little further on. I am playing Garrett mode and have all objective except the destroying the gate with a holy water arrow. There is a

spoiler:

guard post (empty) with switch in it you can frob, but it doesn't do anything i can see. I was hoping it would open the gate with the flames above it right next to it.

Anyone else know if this is a bug or am I missing something?

ps. this is one of those I didn't play before due to low hammer score.. shame on me. It's a blast.

Stupid Taffer, FM's are for smart people.. N'mind, the

spoiler:

note in the priest's room says that the gates could be rusted shut and that they may need to be kicked in. Use your sap.

[diana50322]

The tune "Hammer Time" is playing through my head for some reason.

Can't touch this!

[epithumia]

Played Rogue's Honour lately?

[diana50322]

Funny you should say that Jason... As irony would have it right after I posted that I targeted my next mission to tackle and choose "Rogue's Honour". I laughed myself out of my chair when I got to the guy singing that tune.

But the reason I got it stuck in my head in the first place was because I decided to take the note's advice and throw a hammer at that gate which I found right around the corner in a hut. One throw of the hammer and the gate flew off it's hinges, but it had taken me a few blows with my sword. So I figured it MUST be Hammer Time!

Now I'm back to Rogue's Honour.

[<Username>]

I hadn't played a T1 mission for months and felt like trying out one that has been sitting on a my harddisk for years: There was a rope in the well, so I gather what I played was version 2 of Fishmonger.

This is the second mission by Zail according to Thief Missions. It shares an underground setting and very basic architecture with its precedessor, The Immoral Immortal, though Fishmonger is a definite improvement in terms of complexity and length. I liked how the mission transitioned from the robbing of a Hammerite compound to the exploration of lost civilisation. It might be a clichéd setting as far as Thief fan missions go, and Zail wasn't skilled enough in the editor to pull it off convincingly, but it worked for me. I particularly liked a simple puzzle involving a gate with a malfunctioning lever and an unexpected appearance of a golem. Things that didn't work so well were two hidden buttons that needed to be activated in order to complete mandatory mission objectives. Zail hasn't placed any hints they are there. They both open doors in completely different parts of the mission. This might needlessly confuse some players. However, what will be most off-putting to players is the architecture, which is basic above ground and simply dull below ground. The underground caves are composed of grey blocks. There is almost no variety in textures. Decorative objectes are used very sparsely. This unpolished presentation is constantly illuminated by an inexplicably high amount of ambient light. The lack of contrast of light and dark spots further drains atmosphere from the mission. Nevertheless, the gameplay works: Your objectives are laid out clearly at the beginning of the mission. There are ample opportunities to sneak by or set on patrolling Hammerites. The loot placement is well done. The length of the mission feels just about right.

Fishmonger wasn't considered stellar upon release, and it hasn't aged well. Still, it is constructed well enough to provide 15 to 30 minutes of enjoyable thieving for seasoned fans of the game.