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THE PAINTER’S WIFE The
best collaborative effort in The Dark Mod community’s history. I only place
Iris above this in terms of sheer quality. Explore the quarters of Mirkway in a thief’s highway heaven. There is so much
content here that it’s gonna take you days, if not
weeks, to complete it. This has it all; design, gameplay, story, side-quests,
secrets, atmosphere, you name it. If you ever only try one mission from this
mod, it needs to be this. My
main task was to find Andreas’ wife at Lord Marlow’s and bring her back to
his apartment. I was also to steal Marlow’s famed painting and find a way to
“deal” with him. That objective would be specified in more detail later and
actually provide us with both lethal and non-lethal options. I also had to
obtain 4,000 worth of valuables, then end the evening by the southwest gate.
Several other objectives could be triggered during my playthrough,
some of which were optional. I would of course aim to complete as many of
those as allowed by the Supreme rules. Additional restrictions put on myself
was picking as few locks as possible, especially those that could not be relocked,
as well as limiting pickpockets, particularly keys. I wish The Dark Mod
allowed the returning of keys to enemies’ belts, but sadly you cannot. The
biggest challenge off the bat was figuring out a practical route around the
city. To limit backtracking, I hit areas where I needed items for elsewhere
or that had readables that triggered new objectives
early. I also brought along a paper to use as the infamous makeshift moss
arrow. It was needed in several areas, for example dropping from the attic in
the crystal tower (left image below). Some viewers have reacted to this way
of avoiding detection, but it is perfectly legal within the Supreme rules.
Lots
of hidden and obscure loot items lay around town. One of the most hidden pieces
was a single coin in a windowsill east on Mirk Way,
close to Harwoode’s gallery (right image above). I
tried staying close to the rooftops as much as possible, but had to drop to
the streets just north of the gallery, in order to enter the pump house. Sewers Using
the sewers was an efficient way of moving around town, but it necessitated
picking some extra locks, which I didn’t like. There were four ways into the
main sewer system, one of which neither required any lockpicking
nor keys. I would utilize that one later. Thus, I did not pick the lock on
the door at the bottom of the stairs below the pump house. I could block the
door as it shut from the guard using it (a trick I recently learned from the
Dark Mod forums), but that still left it unlocked, and the guard would not
lock it up the next time he used it. The main reason for coming down here now
was to get the chalice from the abandoned church, and also Marlow’s purse in
the clubhouse. I could access the clubhouse restrooms via a vent from the pump
house, but I couldn’t ascend the stairs without an alert from the guard on
the main floor. However, Marlow frequented the restroom on occasion, so I
nabbed his purse then (left image below). I did, however, skip the elaborate
key. Taking it would make my life easier later, but I could handle matters
without it.
I
left via the sewer manager’s workshop, then reentered the sub
station by picking the lock. From here I could enter a different vent
and get the last piece of loot from the clubhouse, a bottle of wine in the
kitchen. This was the only way to reach it for Supreme. From the sub station I could also access the cistern and the
thieves’ hideout. This required picking two locks, but I would’ve had to pick
more if choosing to come up from the sewers. I avoided picking the lock on
Agatha’s bedroom door by using the vent. I had to stand on the partially
opened vent below in order to reach it (right image above). Southwest No
more issues until the southwestern part of town. Had to skip two candlesticks
in Sloan Manor for Supreme (left image below), and one more in Anderson
Manor. They were lit and obviously went out when taken. Normally, you can
remove the candle part and put it gently down on the surface without putting
out the light, but that wasn’t possible here. Too bad. Perfect Supreme out
the window. Anderson
Manor also gave access to the Andersarken world. It
was a weird place, with glowing blue elementals as the main enemy. My stealth
tool told me they alerted like normal, but it wasn’t too easy to detect their
remarks. Regardless, there were clouds and even floating asteroids blocking
the sun occasionally, greatly helping my travels. There was only one piece of
loot in a tent off the main island, before entering the temple. The hardest
part was approaching the temple entrance without getting spotted (right image
above). Getting through the fire room was a bit puzzling. There were what
seemed to be pressure plates on the floor, yet the fire traps were already
going off constantly. I’m not sure if these plates set off additional rounds
of fire or what, but I managed to cross this hallway without getting hurt and
without stepping on the plates. The final room was easy once I knew how.
Teleported back to Anderson’s manor afterwards.
Lord Marlow’s Entered
Marlow’s via one of the top floor vents. Went for the gallery painting
immediately. Getting it involved timing the watcher. I had to close the gate
while inside, otherwise the guards would notice. However, they didn’t notice
the painting missing! I did not need to pick the captain’s key, as there was
no loot in his room and I wasn’t allowed to turn off the security camera for
Supreme anyway. The
toughest piece of loot was in Tabatha’s room. A vase on her desk stood within
range of the fireplace light as well as a nearby candle. She sat on her chair
and never moved. But she did pivot her head left and right randomly. I
scooted over as close as I could without an alert (left image below). Then
when she looked to her left, I stood up, leaned forward and grabbed it, then
hurried back. There was enough time to do this without a suspicion. I
realized later that she is supposed to stand up and walk over next to the bed
occasionally. She didn’t do that during this ghost run, so she might’ve been
stuck. Skipped another lit candlestick in the main entrance foyer for Supreme
also.
Since
I hadn’t taken the elaborate key from Marlow at the clubhouse, I couldn’t
enter Lily’s room just yet. Instead I picked up the sewer gate key from the
basement and left via the top floor balcony in the south side. I’d have to
access her room from the sewers later. I just felt this was cleaner for
Supreme, though more tedious. I was able to frob
the dresser that blocked her door from the outside and thus pick her lock,
but I don’t think this is supposed to be possible. Regardless, it would be
considered an engine exploit and thus disallowed for Supreme, and only
allowed as a last resort for regular Ghost. Instead
I entered the sewers from Alderman’s Gardens and made my way to Lily’s room
from there. This didn’t require picking any locks, nor the presence of the
elaborate key. To enter her room, I had to frob
some loose bricks on the wall from the adjacent chute. This seemed like a
scripted sequence to me, which is why I
argue this not to be property damage. All the examples of property
damage in the rules (breaking glass, doors, banners, crates) involve the use
of weapons or excessive force, or both. Here, I wasn’t using any equipment or
power of any kind. Plus, the game faded black for a few seconds before
reappearing with the items changed. This made it seem even more scripted,
almost like a small cutscene. I did finish the
mission by frobbing the dresser through the door
also, just to cover all bases. I
dragged Lily through the sewers back to Alderman’s Gardens. I dodged the
spider in the apothecary and dropped her in the streets just outside for now.
I then went back to Marlow to return the sewer gate key. Back In the Streets The
assassin’s house was very tough. She was sitting in a chair in her bedroom,
but occasionally stood up and turned around, facing south for about 30
seconds (left image below). I needed to grab her equipment, write a note on
her desk, and get the loot in the corner by the bed. The first two of those I
could do from atop the railing and get back to the northwest corner before
the sat back down. Getting the loot was a lot harder. While she was standing,
I could mantle up the shelf above her desk undetected. This was also dark, so
I could plan proceedings safely from here. When she sat back down, I could
crouch and drop onto her bed. However, while here, she could easily turn her
head and catch me. I basically had to wait for her not to do that, but
instead look the other way (her left, or west). Then I could leap back up to
the shelf. Then when she stood back up and turned around, I dropped onto the
railing and went back to the northwest corner of the room. This was a fun
challenge to be able to pass. I am still learning detection levels of enemies
in this mod, and I must admit this was not a room I thought would be Supremable. I also remembered to put back the mine and
the flash bomb for Supreme. Those were the only droppable inventory items
that I obtained from the assassin’s house, and returning them did not uncheck
the objective. The
rest of the mission went without any hiccups. Made my way southwest after
dropping off Lily. There are different conversations with Andreas based on
what you have done when arriving at his apartment. This time it was different
as I had already dropped off the evidence at the courthouse. Very nice touch
there by the authors. Used
the death mask to get the last hidden loot item in Harrington’s attic. Made
sure to pick it up again afterwards, as that closed the hidden door. It could
not be dropped back, which was relieving, as it would’ve been a tedious trip
back to the Andersarken world just for that. Come
to think of it, I don’t think there is a way to return from that world
besides by taking the death mask.
Statistics: Ghost
– Success! Perfect
Thief – Success! Supreme
Ghost – Success! Perfect
Supreme – Failed! Time
– 3:41:22 Times
saved – 432 Times
loaded – 213 Damage
Dealt: 22 Damage Received: 0 Health
Restored - 0 Pockets
Picked – 6 out of 21 Loot
Acquired – 7102 out of 7102 (Supreme: 6942) 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 Notes: -
Had to skip two
lit candlesticks worth 40 each in Sloan Manor for Supreme. Light sources
cannot be removed for that mode. -
Skipped another
such candlestick in Anderson Manor for Supreme. -
Yet another lit
candlestick worth 40 had to be skipped for Supreme on Marlow’s ground floor. -
I didn’t count frobbing the bricks to get into Lily’s room property
damage. The alternative is to frob the furniture
through the door from the outside, but this is an engine exploit and thus a
Supreme bust. -
I have no idea
where the 22 damage dealt came from. I don’t recall doing anything that could
be counted as damage. Could be a scripted trigger beyond my control, but I
can’t say for sure. |
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