Saturday, May 30, 2015

A House of Locked Secrets is Released!

The sequel to Requiem is finally ready for everyone to play.



In A House of Locked Secrets you step back into the shoes of Bolen, a former thief living in a sprawling medieval city. As the game starts, you've been rethinking your path in life and your new road takes you high into the mountains, to the gates of a mysterious monastery. 

A House of Locked Secrets is a companion piece to Shadowcursed (but has a totally new story) and is free for anyone to download and play. All you will need to have installed is a copy of The Dark Mod (also free).

Here are the automated installation instructions:

Step 1: Download The Dark Mod. You can find it here: http://www.thedarkmod.com/download-the-mod/

Step 2: Once you install the Dark Mod, you can press the 'New Mission' button, then click on 'Download Missions' and select A House of Locked Secrets to download. It should then automatically install and you can play.

If you are new to Dark Mod levels (or first person games in general), I would recommend first playing the Training Mission which comes along with the game first.


Here are the manual installation instructions:

Step 1: Download The Dark Mod. You can find it here: http://www.thedarkmod.com/download-the-mod/.

Step 2: Download A House of Locked Secrets. You can find it at the following site:

Step 3: Create a folder in your Dark Mod install with the path "darkmod/fms/house" and place the downloaded .pk4 file inside. When you load up The Dark Mod, the mission will appear on the "New Mission" page.

Step 4: Enjoy!

Feel free to shoot me any questions if something doesn't work or if you are stuck. You can also see the thread I set up for A House of Locked Secrets in the Dark Mod forums here.


13 comments:

  1. I finished it last night and it was amazing. An experience i won't easily forget. Ever!
    I thank you for all the hard work that was put into making this and congratulate you on an amazing story.
    Well done and god bless.

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  2. Hey TaffersInn,

    I glad you enjoyed the mission so much! And thank you too for all the work you do for the Thief community.

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  3. Gelo, I am currently playing Requiem.

    Just as I thought it was finished, I discovered it had only just begun.

    I could not have been happier about this. Thank you - and please thank your team - this level is a masterpiece and I have thoroughly enjoyed the time I have put into it. Every aspect of it is top notch, with beautiful art and music thrown in, and clever writing that goes above and beyond my every expectation.

    Your novellas are next on my to-read list.

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  4. Hey, I'm glad you're finding the game so enjoyable, and thank you for taking the time to write down your thoughts! Definitely looking forward to what you think of the novella :-).

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  5. It's a shame that your map shows up first alphabetically on the map listings because I get the feeling your map is a tough act to follow. Absolutely flawless.

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    1. Haha, thank you Jacob, glad you enjoyed it!

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  6. Hi Gelo,

    Just out of interest, have you ever considered creating your own stealth/looting type of game, in something like Unity or CryEngine? You have a remarkable talent for creating an engaging experience. Playing through both Requiem and House of Locked Secrets was an epic and complete experience. It felt like an entire game and certainly had more substance than most new video games these days. You have the talent to make something incredible. I'd absolutely buy a full stealth game made by you, and so would many others. Just a thought...

    Kerry

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    1. Hey Kerry,

      My brother and I are actually working on a stealth-based indie game right now. I know I don't update this blog nearly as much as I should, but when we have something worth showing I'll definitely post about it :-). Because we're just a two man team working in our part time (and I'm still writing my next novel) it won't be graphics-heavy, but hopefully it'll still turn out fun.

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    2. That is great news! Do you have a rough ETA?

      Graphics don't make the game, not by a long shot. Your Dark mod FM's are a better experience than most new games I've played, and the Dark Mod is no graphical powerhouse ;-)

      Your storytelling and ability surprise the player will make for a fantastic stealth game, I have no doubt. Will it be in first-person/third-person 3D, or will it be top-down, or even a side-scroller?

      Either way, I can't wait!

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    3. Hey Kerry,

      It'll be top down and is being built in Unity. We've been working on it for about a year now and have most of the basics coded (lighting/stealth, AI, etc) but it's all programmer art and I wouldn't want to show it until it's a bit more polished...so maybe 6 more months? I really should do an update post on the blog...

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  7. Dear M. Fleisher,

    I'm a French student currently doing a Master degree at Paris Diderot University, and I'm required to translate an extract from an untranslated book of my choosing as part of my studies. I'd be very interested in translating an extract from Shadowcursed, so I would like to ask you if a French translation of the novella has been made, or if a French translation is currently being worked on. It didn't seem to be the case when I checked, but I have to be sure for my project.

    Best regards,

    PONS Julien

    PS: Sorry if it's a bit formal, but I originally wanted to send you a mail and couldn't find your address, so I didn't really know how to go about it. I also happen to have played "A House of Locked Secrets". Great job! I really liked what you did with the spirit realm mechanic, it's a change from the more Thief-like missions. I'll definitely have to give Requiem a try when I get some free time.

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    1. Hey Julien,

      You can email me at g_fleisher(at)hotmail.com :-). There is no current French translation, so feel free to translate as much of Shadowcursed as you want. I actually studied French at University so I'd love to see the final product!

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    2. Thanks a lot for your answer! Hope I'll get to translate Shadowcursed, we're still in the "discussion" phase with our supervisors.

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