TNM 1.0.5 test help

[Jonas]

Wow! Thanks for your input

My speshialiteh is spelling and grammar. I've been noticing some niggles here and there in the conversations, will start writing them down now.

Unfortunately it is highly unlikely that we will decide to touch the conversations. I'm aware that there are some mismatches between the conversation audio and the subtitle text, but regrettably the uncompiled .con files from 1.0.4+ were lost, and extracting .con files from .u packages fucks up the audio references.

Radioactive pool in the Slums:
Seems to be a deathtrap in more ways than one - if the player doesn't have appropriate protection they will of course die, but even if they have Environmental Aug 3/4, they still end up stuck in an inescapable pool with no way of getting out (unless there's something I don't know?).

Hmm I didn't realise you could survive it with the environmental aug. I may try and see if I can get away with expanding a little on that sewer section, maybe try and add some bonus goodies down there for enviro-augged players, and a way to get back up. We'll see if the BSP can handle it, but I think I could get away with adding more stuff to the slums (as opposed to the Downtown sector, which is already scraping against the ceiling in terms of size and detail level).

It's possible to get stuck in the area to the left of ChristheCynic, if you use a crate to jump over the counter while having no Jump aug.
One is then left with the unenviable choice of either quickloading, or providing Chris the proper motivation to move in the form of two bullets to the head.
Suggest moving him a little to his left so that it's possible to crawl under the counter and around him.

Ah, I'll check that one out. Should be an easy fix.

ABI Exterior main gate:
Can I suggest making it clearer that EvilInvasion will only open it once? It can lead to some confusion on the part of the player if they miss the opportunity and don't have the Jump aug to use the nearby crates. Even just a comment in the notes to the extent of saying "you only get one chance" would help.

This... may require conversation changes, in which case the prospects are poor. Note that the idea there is if you miss your only shot at the gate, you'd still be able to double back and take the sneaky route through the canyons.

I get some pretty reproducible CTDs from the alley in Downtown where Pimp-Jojo waits to hand over the DXI reward.
Has anyone else mentioned this at all?

Yeah those are crashes in the sound system, which is apparently not coded very well (not our fault, blame Epic!). Might have another go at trying to figure out why the sound crashes happen back there in particularly, could be there's just too many ambient sound effects in the area. Would you be willing to help me check any fixes I attempt? If so, PM me your email address so I can mail you the corrected map.

Llama tunnels laser tripwires: Do fire extinguishers work on these?

I don't think they do.

Question: What is the point of the power box to the side of the Goat Templae entrance, which when multi-tooled sets the alarms off?

It's for a side mission in the WorldCorp storyline.

Making zone endings clear: I realise this one is going to get shot down simply because of the amount of work, but did you ever consider adding a particular texture to the walls (say a striped yellow horizontal bar on either side) to make the player aware that continuing forward will lead to a new area?

In addition to the amount of work, this is a pretty huge break with the visual and narrative consistency of the game world, which runs contrary to the Deus Ex design philosophy. I know it's annoying to hit a level transition by mistake, but the benefit of the way TNM is designed is that you can always go back through the level transition again, mitigating the problem a little.

[nerdenstein]

I'm not sure if I've already posted this but;
Holy shit. The Corporate sewers are darn right confusing. I spend ages looking for DDL and even longer looking for a way into the WC basement and even then I didn't have enough Multitools and grenades to lower the bridge, open the secured door and take out the bots.
Next time I'll take more swag. After I'd crawled through all the confusing tunnels after that, I found my way in. Broken, beaten and leg less after pissing off a bunch of spider bots. I swear to god, that whole sewer section is the hardest part of the entire mod.

My only suggestions for that part is place a couple of extra EMP grenades in the sewers to help take out the bots, make actually getting in require less multitools and somehow make it easier to navigate. Though I'm not sure how you'd go about that so maybe just leave it. The ordinary sewers are okay once you've worked them out but that section between the sewers and the WC basement is bloody difficult to get around. Maybe I shouldn't be playing it at midnight either. That may not help.

[Jonas]

Yeah it's almost certainly the hardest part of the mod, that's why it's optional

I'll go over the map and double check how many resources are required to get into WorldCorp that way, I'm not sure I ever kept track so I may have overdone the security. Wasn't really concerned with game balance when I set it up. Maybe I'll add some EMP grenades too, as you suggest.

With what I know about level design and player navigation now, I could probably signpost the major navigation paths of the level better. Add some lights to point you towards WorldCorp, maybe even change a few connections to make it slightly easier to find DDL. But I just don't know if it's worth the trouble. I mean it was always kind of an abusive map to begin with, designed with the express purpose of helping the player to get utterly lost.

Mission accomplished, I think

[Hassat Hunter]

You learn the way, evenentually.

And while Pocketbeetle thinks the ATM is due to the Slums, I think it's Central. Which was the main reason (aside from all the sparkles on a working ATM) to shut down that thing permanent.
Theory; The re-activation messed up the special ATM code for accounts.

Of course, with it not fixed by that it's the question if I am wrong, or overlooked something else that's at play there...

[bobby 55]

You learn to recognize areas and objects after a couple of visits. It's dark, dirty, and dangerous, in short... a lotta fun.

@nerdenstein: Hehehe! One way you face spider bots, and another bloody greasels. If you're really adventurous you can also drown.

[nerdenstein]

I suppose so. I guess I was just tired and frustrated with not being able to find my way. I have very little health and no medkits so I've gotta be extra careful now in the basement level now.
If you don't think it's worth it Jonas, it doesn't matter. Perhaps just an extra EMP or LAM so you can at least take one bot out whilst you are down there (I know you can avoid the first one through the vent in the floor).

Another way to cross the bridge would be pretty good too, I think. I tried using barrels to make a make shift bridge but didn't have enough and they didn't float.

Either way, next time; I'll defiantly pack more stuff before venturing forth into the sewers.

[Jonas]

Yeah that's one thing about item balance in TNM - the idea with the weapon shop is that you can buy the stuff you think you'll need for a mission before you go. If we always make sure the stuff you need for a particular obstacle is right nearby, like in Deus Ex where every gas-filled room has a hazmat suit near it and most underwater areas have a rebreather somewhere closeby, the element of preparation is lost.

Unfortunately I don't think we did a very good job of telling you what sort of equipment you might need for certain missions, so preparing is kind of a crapshoot

[Jaedar]

Yeah that's one thing about item balance in TNM - the idea with the weapon shop is that you can buy the stuff you think you'll need for a mission before you go. If we always make sure the stuff you need for a particular obstacle is right nearby, like in Deus Ex where every gas-filled room has a hazmat suit near it and most underwater areas have a rebreather somewhere closeby, the element of preparation is lost.

Unfortunately I don't think we did a very good job of telling you what sort of equipment you might need for certain missions, so preparing is kind of a crapshoot

Regeneration aug>preparation.

[Jonas]

That is also very true

[nerdenstein]

Actually, I think overall you did a very good job of item balance.

Because I've played the WC Sewers access so early in the game, I underestimated how much swag I'd need to brave it.
So I guess for that location, making it a little easier with extra pick ups wouldn't go amiss. And making it a little easier to navigate. I'm not even sure how I found it last night really. I remember dying in a hot steam room once and killed by spider bots at least three times (So many spider bots! )

Although now it's really become a scramble to improvise my way through the basement levels with a lack of substantial firepower; the Deus Ex AI has become way more threatening.
The element of surprise is still there too: I looked around a corner, expecting to see a Walking Security Bot; It's not there. Cool!
Opened the doors and suddenly, there was small security bot waiting for me. I can't even remember that being there before!
Needless to say, it tore me to shreds.

[Jonas]

Maybe you're playing with a different enemy difficulty setting this time? I think that security bot is removed on the lower settings. Sometimes the lowest security setting will have no robot, a higher one will have a small security bot, and the highest ones will have a walker - it's not just the number of enemies the setting determines, it's also occasionally the type of enemy you'll encounter.

[nerdenstein]

I've forgotten what I'd set the difficulty too.
Probably somewhere in the middle: I'd rather the walker bot infront of the lab doors was there because it was easier to take out rather than a sneaky smaller security bot that I didn't know about.

Either way, I forgot how impressive this mod really is.

7+ years of hard work really pays off.

[Jonas]

I maintain we could've done it in half the time if we'd had any idea what we were doing when we started.

But thanks

[Hassat Hunter]

Yeah, it's pretty hard using the sewers to access. Especially seeing how easy it is to just walk right in ad take the elevator
Instead of goodies maybe more exploration XP though. 10 extra here, 25 there etc.

Oddly enough using the sewers to get out is pretty easy. Also helped by the big door code actually being found on that side, as well as being avoidable by shaft. If you try in, you have to pass it with multitools (unless meta-knowledge is used, that is...)

[Jonas]

Here's some of what I've done today:

Exciting!

Intriguing!

Kinda boring! ...but implemented by request from a fan!