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PREVIOUS MISSION THIEF
2 NEXT MISSION Mission 3: Framed [This
report has recently been verified with TFix/NewDark 1.27. No changes exist
between OldDark and NewDark for this mission, as far as ghosting is
concerned. Keep in mind that there is a difference between playing the game
in NewDark with or without TFix. TFix updates the core mission files, as well
as applies .dml files that tweak the environment in numerous ways. These
changes aren’t supposed to have a significant impact on gameplay, but when
ghosting, slight changes could occur. If wanting as close to the “vanilla”
experience as possible, install just NewDark, without any further patches. I
have ghosted the game 1) in OldDark, 2) in plain NewDark, and 3) in NewDark
with TFix.] Thief 2 simply has too
many of these missions. Another standard “one-building” map with something to
steal on the top floor. I guess the whole framing situation is new, but it
offers little creativity in terms of design or feel. It is also among the
easiest OMs I’ve ever played, which isn’t a good thing. Overall score: 6.3/10 This time I was to break
into Shoalsgate police station to frame a certain Lt. Hagen for robbing the
evidence vault. Apparently, he was on some important people’s least wanted
list. Leaving a personal item of his in the vault would take care of
business. To make matters worse, I was to steal the strongbox from the vault
and leave it in his office. All without alerting the guards or sounding the
alarm. Knockouts and kills were also prohibited; forced Ghosting, in other words.
This usually means guards are at a minimum and ‘Framed’ was no exception. I entered Shoalsgate by
way of the canal system. The entrance hatch was a little tricky to close for
Supreme. There was a delay after frobbing the crank, barely enough for me to
hop in with the hatch closing behind me. The cave system and basement were
utterly empty, so nothing to report. I had expected more from the prison
cells. The inmates and haunt ghost were interesting enough, but this could’ve
been expanded. I wasn’t able to access the interrogation room, but I assume
that was the point. As mentioned, the guards
were few and far between. I reached the front desk on the main floor without
trouble, but left the security camera switch untouched. Supreme rule #8
specifically mentions watchers. Instead I robbed the coins in the floor panel
under the control desk. I also avoided the triggering of a nearby
conversation. It added an extra patroller to the otherwise empty halls. I utilized the secret in
the training room to get to the second floor. A torch opened a passageway on
the above walkway, leading to sheriff Truart’s chamber. The toughest spot in
the mission lay in the hallway outside. Not that it was particularly
difficult, but a tad more challenging than the rest of the compound. A female
guard patrolled the nearest east-west hallway, while two male guards took
care of the other halls. I could easily skip from office to office as I
ventured northward. There was a tiny ring on one of the desks in
robbery/homicide (right image above); I missed it first time around. Mosley’s
key gave access to the secure records room with the vault code. It had to be
accessed through a grate in the main office downstairs. The regular entry by
way of the stairs involved dousing a torch or nudging a guard, either busting
Supreme. The vault code meant I
could head for the third floor. Again the stairs wasn’t an option, as it took
me straight to a room with a security camera. The stationary guard was on
high alert and couldn’t be ghosted without dousing the nearby lamp. Luckily
another hidden entrance was located in the office to the southeast on the
second floor. A book in the shelf caused a banner to swing open revealing the
passageway (right image below). Reaching the office was a bit troublesome as
it involved dodging a female guard in a brightly lit hallway. I followed her
to the end and crouched to the side as she pivoted left (left image below). The last hurdle was the
vault itself. It had a keypad to unlock the door, responding to the code from
the secure records room. However, this also stopped the camera inside,
violating Supreme rule #8. I could easily push any of the numbers and slip in
before the door closed and ghost the room with the camera back on. A lever
operated the door from the inside. Is this a bust? I did stop the camera,
yes, but only as a result of opening the door. If I had a choice, I would
have opened the door and left the camera on, as it is perfectly ghostable. I
made sure to turn the camera back on as soon as possible, not drawing any
benefit from it being off for two seconds. I believe the rule was made to
prevent shutting off security systems to traverse difficult areas. A similar
situation was described in Broken Triad: Arkford, where you have to signal a
friend across the street by extinguishing a light source. The light was
turned back on immediately, similar to here. I normally rule against myself
if in doubt, but I also try applying common sense. In my opinion, the latter
is more important in this scenario. Dropped the strongbox in
Hagen’s office and returned Mosley’s key for Supreme. Descended through
Truart’s office and exited by plummeting into the well. Statistics: Time: 40:50 Loot: 1378 out of 1378 Pickpockets: 1 out of 3 Locks Picked: 4 Secrets: 9 out of 9 Damage Dealt: 0 Damage
Taken: 0 Consumables: None Ghost: Success! Perfect Thief: Success! Supreme Thief: Success! Perfect Supreme Thief:
Success! (Norwegian
Thief: Success!) Notes: -
The vault security camera was turned
off in the process of opening the door. It was turned back on immediately, in
order to fully Ghost the vault. This has been discussed and considered ok for
Supreme by the ghosting community. |
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