Preview: First FM Ominous Bequest

[Eshaktaar]

Hi everybody!

I posted this at ttlg's forums already but thought an announcement over here might raise the "awareness level" even more :D

Here are some screenies from my soon to be released FM for Thief 2, Ominous Bequest ("soon" being, as usual, a relative term ;)). Since it's my first attemt at dromeding I decided to go for a manor level with lots of secrets and loot to find. It's about 60% complete, still needing some major architecture to be included. Maybe it'll even require some voice acting at a later stage.
The mission takes place shortly after the events of Thief 1, so you can look forward to whacking a couple of Hammerites and mages again. The story will take some twists later on, so it'll differ quite a bit from the usual "Steal Lord [name]'s priceless [fill in the blank]" pattern.

Hope you like them!


Farrington Manor

http://www.mypage.bluewin.ch/thonr/db01.jpg
Late Lord Farrington's manor, Garrett's target tonight

http://www.mypage.bluewin.ch/thonr/db02.jpg
Entrance hall with too much marble floor for a thief's taste

http://www.mypage.bluewin.ch/thonr/db03.jpg
Bird's view of the central garden with fountain

http://www.mypage.bluewin.ch/thonr/db04.jpg
A noble, unaware of his surroundings [insert snoring sounds here]

[Eshaktaar]

Some more...

Underground Church

http://www.mypage.bluewin.ch/thonr/db05.jpg
The underground Hammerite church including an enormous organ

http://www.mypage.bluewin.ch/thonr/db06.jpg
Wanna play?

http://www.mypage.bluewin.ch/thonr/db08.jpg
View from the altar. I used Targa's custom pews here.


Crypt

http://www.mypage.bluewin.ch/thonr/db09.jpg
"Time to raid some tombs."


And last but not least... Garrett will be able to get his hands on this:
http://www.mypage.bluewin.ch/thonr/db07.jpg
"Who wants some?"


Coming soon onto your screen!

[Shadow Creepr]

For a first time dromed attempt these are beautiful. Looking forward to playing it!

And yes, posting here is a good idea too!:D

[Vanguard]

I must have played too many FMs. Some are getting to look too similar to me. The first photo of Farrington's manor reminded me of the front of the building in Dyer's Eve. The second photo of the hallway reminded me of the interior foyer in the 7th Crystal.

Just don't turn that sword into one of those that glow when held (like the holy swords). I hate that. Makes the thing useless since you have to keep it sheathed all the time to stop having the AIs spot you while wielding your beacon.

[Huntress]

Eshaktaar, those are very impressive pic's of your work in progress and they are terrific examples of what's to come :) I shall be looking forward to getting it downloaded whenever it does finish :) Thanks also for posting here to let us Eidos Taffers know what's in the works!

Vanguard...so people do use certain borrowed architecture styles, etc....my goodness, everyone builds upon what was done before and made it different somehow and/or better in some cases...geez :D Personally, I haven't played Dyer's Eve since I don't care for a lot of undead missions...so for me I wouldn't have known the difference either way ;) just would have thought as I did, that it looked like a very foreboding type place to get into :D

Continued success with your mission Eshaktaar and I'm sure we'll all be pleased with the results! Ta and Good Hunting!

[Eshaktaar]

Thanks for the comments folks!
Some are getting to look too similar to me. Well, as I said, my first attempt is a manor level, so it's likely to have some similarities with other FMs (I haven't played Dyer's Eve yet, so can't tell how much the buildings look alike), but I'm trying to make up for this by including other features, like custom objects and textures. Hope you'll like the result!

[Eshaktaar]

Here are some recent screenshots from the crypt section. Since I don't want to spoil a couple of surprises, I've been holding myself back from posting screenies of certain other sections. You'll have to play the mission to see those :D

http://www.mypage.bluewin.ch/thonr/db10.jpg
No persons were frozen in carbonite for this scene

http://www.mypage.bluewin.ch/thonr/db11.jpg
The Farrington family tomb

[Peter Smith]

Hmm.... 70% done on Jan. 5 and 70% done on Feb. 11. Let's see. At that rate, it will be done... or will it? Looks like you need to spend more time in Dromed and less time advertising.;)

Seriously, Eshaktaar, those shots look really good, and I am anxious to play it. Very nice architecture.:)

[Eshaktaar]

Originally posted by Peter Smith
Hmm.... 70% done on Jan. 5 and 70% done on Feb. 11.

Well, the signature is misleading: It was on 50% when I started this thread. But updating one's sig does change it in past posts as well, so there :p

You can expect it being released in a few months (hopefully).

[Nightwalker]

It looks marvellous! I can't wait to actually get to run around in those rooms. :)

[Lake]

Screenshots look good to me. Keep up the good work.

[THEthief]

Looks fabulous, Eshaktaar - I'm really looking forward to it (manor levels are my favorite - much prefered to long, hard to get around towns, or huge undead levels...LOL!)!! :)

[Edit: It's actually funny, when you think of it, that my first mission was an undead one, even though they're not my favorite kind of mission :p]

[Schwaa2]

Great shots! really nice work.

[Eshaktaar]

Another update: The mission's well underway, and it's getting bigger than I first intended. Lately, I've been busy making new skins for the Farrington guard crew. Here's a snapshot, taken at the gazebo west of the manor:

http://www.mypage.bluewin.ch/thonr/db12.jpg
Say cheese!

Can you guess which one of them is Benny? ;)

[Peter Smith]

Great skins. This one is going to be a real tasty piece of eye candy.

I think Benny is on the right. It's a little hard to tell without sound, but that one looks like he has been drinking beer. :)

[Huntress]

LOL, I think you may be right Peter...I agree his possibly the one on the right of our screen and in front :) His physique is more stout than the others as evident from his beer chugging :D

Still doing a wonderful job Eshaktaar and all your efforts will most certainly be appreciated by us Taffers to get to play! Ta and Good Hunting!

[Eshaktaar]

Heh, you're almost right, but the reason why the rightmost guard looks rather pudgy is a perspective issue, since I took that shot while crouching (makes the picture look as if the guards had started to fall on their backs when the photo was taken).

Benny is The third from the right. Why? Look at his belt... he won't fit into his uniform otherwise :D

[Eshaktaar]

Sorry for the lack of updates during the last weeks... some acute case of real life came in between (and is still interfering, though I'm trying to keep it away ;)). Anyway, here are some recent screenshots of the manor, inside and outside:

http://www.mypage.bluewin.ch/thonr/db13.jpg
Touching the fence is not recommended, unless you like electric shocks


http://www.mypage.bluewin.ch/thonr/db14.jpg
The back of the manor with some hypernervous archers


http://www.mypage.bluewin.ch/thonr/db15.jpg
The entrance area, slightly overhauled


The areas I'm currently working on are all underground, and showing screenshots of them would be too much of a spoiler, I'm afraid.

A few details about the story:
Lord Robert Farrington, eccentric collector and well-known sympathiser of the Hammerites, passed away some days ago. Word goes around that his two sons are currently arguing over the inheritance because the late lord's testament hasn't been found yet. Perhaps they need somebody else to settle their differences...

Garrett will have to find the testament before the heirs do and collect all the items listed on it. On his way through the manor he'll eventually stumble upon a dark secret from the past that's been haunting the Farrington family for decades.

Be prepared for some extended taffing. I need more than an hour to play through the part that's already finished... and I know where everything is ;)

[Eshaktaar]

Update!

http://mypage.bluewin.ch/thonr/db16.jpg
"Here lieth the body of Lord Robert Farrington.
Though he has left this world, his bequest will live on eternally."

The mission's getting closer and closer to 100% (hopefully, there won't be any severe bugs forcing me to set the progress back to 50% :eek: ). I just finished some of the FM's heavier scripting and included a new AI with custom voice files. What's left are some more readables for the story and a small location that still needs to be brushed. If everything's going as planned, it should be ready for beta testing in a few weeks :)

[Nightwalker]

That IS good news! It looks and sounds terrific. :)

[Zaccheus]

Wow - those pics DO look nice.
:)

[Sneak]

Oh I want to play this one. Looks real good there.

I will stay tuned :-)