The coffin in Sapienza (the one with the “hide” prompt) doesn’t trigger the “Hide and Seek” prestige challenge timer refresh.
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Only if you have a suspect in the picture (and if the camera detects them)
I see. That did seem to be the OPs point of concern though 
I personally didn´t try to take a picture for any other reason than to examine a still image of the suspect(s).
I think it is a very good update, I ran into some issues though…
-I brought a gun with me but it didn’t appear in my inventory, I failed the mission but it was still taken away.
-I cannot customize the kitchen, it just breaks the game.
-There is a weird lighting glitch that happens sometimes after leaving missions.
-You can Alt+F4 out of the game and the mission doesn’t fail, meaning that you can retry the same mission over and over again.
-I tried to do a takedown behind an enemy but he snapped in front of me. (I’ve seen this issue before)
Overall like I said it was a very good update and I’m excited to see it in a more polished state come January 26th!
I’m guessing that’s deliberate - otherwise a game crash could destroy your run.
It would just be up to the player to decide whether to abuse it or not, just like with Elusive Targets.
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Christ this UI is everywhere.
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Lost on showdown 3 again 
I don’t think I can get through another whole campaign before the game goes away. Gonna be a long wait until January…
Edit: losses ultimately came down to bad mistakes on my part but I do agree with other people that flooding the place with lookouts & then giving you like 30 seconds to beat the level if any of them see you at all is, kind of a lot
I saw a video and the guy beat level one, failed level two and instead of having to do level two again he went straight onto the Showdown. That seems a little strange. Because I would get it if he killed the target but still failed but surely itd make more sense gameplay and lore wise to have to replay level two - maybe have to be locked into the location you picked before failing - and then move onto Showdown
Edit: wouldnt it make more sense if you didnt do every mission that youd get less or no intel?
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It unlocked for me when I threw something and the target reacted to it.
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After I get back home from work in the morning I believe I won’t have but less than 3 hours to play. The last thing I unlocked was the helicopter. Well, maybe I can still play as long as I don’t exit. But I could be too tired to stay awake. 
Anyway. Here is my feedback on the mode.
Very enjoyable and very immersive. I can’t say I play the contracts mode a lot (it’s almost exclusively the FCs), but the leadup to the showdowns are like this, with a little extra in the way of the objectives.
I had been wondering what the idea of playstyles was all about. I do like Sniping. And the previous campaign I went through did have numerous sniping related objectives. So, I don’t know if this is the game being able to “know” this or not. The couriers are a nice addition. Granted, there were a couple times they were in places that couldn’t be accessed while in a suit… So I passed on them. But with others I might’ve been able to KO them without being spotted, or I might’ve had access to a ‘slipping’ item - like a banana, grapes, or a rake. A bar of soap, or bar of soap + puddle is missing. Also, the emetic, puking on the spot and that being a slipping hazard is also missing. I hope you don’t mind me slipping in ideas/wishes in my review.
The weapons. With given objectives, you do have to decide what you can take, as well as figure out what you might be able to use from the mission. This makes for an interesting puzzle of sorts to figure out, or make a wager on.
The safehouse. Well first - I’ve gotta say that some of those rooms seem way too big for what they’re for. 
Like the bedroom. I haven’t unlocked it, but I’ve seen it from outside. I’d wager there’d be an echo or a lot of reverb in a room that size (irl). Also, does 47 have to mow his roof? 
One thing I don’t know about yet - regarding the options for decorating. Are they preset to very limited number of certain items? Or do more become available later / with more XP? One of the 1st safehouse decorating locations was a place to have a painting. There was the default shipped (thing) leaning up against the wall, a gray/gloomy looking picture, a red… circle thing(?), and a zig-zaggy panel painting. I didn’t really like any of the options available at the time. So I’d hope this is where more choices and variety are expanded upon later.
The same could be said about the vehicles. I wonder if we’ll ever get a UFO, or maybe a dinosaur scooter? 
Will wearing the Santa Suit make the fireplace an exit?
Now, onto the gripes. 
Oi!
The lighting bug with the safehouse. I hope to see this fixed before the full release.
The conflicting objectives. At first I was thinking if this was something you (IOI) should fix… Or should the player use some discernment/judgment on what they can and can’t (or maybe shouldn’t) do. And I (now) think that should be up to the player. Or maybe weigh what pays more. Like if I’m going to be getting a measly 5 =M= for keeping my original disguise/suit, but getting 15 for doing something that would require me to change disguises… The choice is obvious.
Some requirements/objectives could be made more clear. One that I had was to kill with a deadly(?) melee item. It was during a showdown. Apparently that should’ve been with something stabby, and not something chokey/strangley (even if it’s still in the melee category). As much as I hate to say it - maybe a picture of a knife 
could accompany such an objective(?). Or the player can live and learn.
Another objective was ‘Headshot kills only’. For a moment I was worried about the emphasis on “Kills” rather than “headshots”. Another objective was using poison. I brought in a lethal syringe. So I wasn’t sure if I’d blow the ‘headshots’ (kills) objective by poking a target. Turns out it wasn’t a problem.
I’ve only gotten into 2 firefights and haven’t lost or failed anything… Yet.
Lastly (not really), I wish I did have a full night off from work to put in a good long play session for this. But I didn’t. And speaking of long play sessions… That’s going to be another issue… If there comes a time when the player has to leave the game, but they’re not finished yet. Because if you leave the game - apparently that counts the current mission as failed. (edit: or am I misinformed?)
I did think that maybe it could reset you back to the safehouse before you left. But that’d be too easy to exploit should you mess up.
Then I thought of Absolution. It had checkpoints. I don’t even know if this could work. Maybe have them in certain ‘Blend In’ points? Once you’re “blended in” you could have the option to exit. Once you come back to the game it will load up the game at the point you left with you still blending in. This won’t or shouldn’t be possible if you’re actively being hunted or are compromised… Or maybe it should be allowed. I mean, if whoever you’re compromised to should see you… I really don’t understand the rule or logic behind not being able to blend-in in these circumstances. But the point is having a way to exit the game and keep your current progress. Real life shouldn’t have an in-game penalty. 
Edit: Well, that is - if it does. 
If not then never mind.
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I had the game crash on me mid-mission once and I went back in expecting for the mission to have been considered as failed - but to my surprise it took me back to safehouse as though I had never actually loaded into the location. I guess it’s done this way to avoid screwing over people for having crashes.
Yes it can be exploited just like it can for ETs, but its just up to the player if they want to do it or not.
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Territory Takedown missions are too easy and feel like mindless filler (14 missions) compared to the very amazing Syndicate takedown missions (4 missions)
Here is a video to demonstrate the problem:
In this video you can see the following:
I am bringing a pistol without suppressor.
At mission start, I shoot 2 guards and make sure other npcs see me. Then I proceed through very open areas running past guards and enforcer npcs to the first target, which I shoot in full view of large crowds, then to the second target. And then I picked the most exposed route to the exit, only taking cover when the damage from several hits is accumulating.
This is the fundamental problem with freelancer, out of the 18 missions, 4 missions are super-amazing playable spy movies where you have to be stealthy and observant until the moment you strike, and then you have to have an escape plan.
However in the 14 other missions, it feels like filler. It is a series of quicktime events that requires no stealth or tactics. Just knowing when to press which key.
It would be great if IOI could either make an extra difficulty setting, where ALL missions are takedown (boss) missions. And/Or mix some of the fail conditions and dynamic gameplay into the normal missions. Because they are just too boring. I skip through them as fast as possible to get to the syndicate takedown missions.
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I agree with you that the normal missions are “too normal” or “too boring” as you put it.
Having to identify the target in the normal mode would be fun, too.
But what you described is basically how the games (the trilogy that is) always functioned. And I don’t see a big problem with it. I’d prefer having to do “a bit more” during those missions, too, though.
Seeing as what this mode is presented as (a rogue like experience), I do think that it being “boring” and “grindy” is part of the charm of the genre though. And that’s a pretty positive take on it, I know. 
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After playing every day of the CTT and having about 25 hours, I will post my biggest takeaways here. Most of the other small stuff like the bugs and economy, like adding base pay and problems with prestige objectives have already all been covered.
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First and foremost, the Sieker and Kalmer pistols have to be expendable. They are simply just too broken to be allowed to be reused after every mission so long as you take them back with you. Either they need to get an absurd capacity cost of around 6, or they need to be expendable and stay at 2. Getting these weapons legitimately brings the difficulty of every mission down from a 10 to maybe a 3. They are so strong they are well worth ignoring all no firearm objectives just to bring. Making them used up if you fire a dart from them during the mission will help diversify what you bring each time.
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Lookouts are simply too powerful and assassins too jumpy. This has already been talked about a ton, but the instant Colorado-esque telepathy to targets is just unfair, and these guys are responsible for nearly every failed run I’ve had. The fact that they don’t treat you with suspicion but rather immediately alert the target is very frustrating. Any other NPC that isn’t a guard in a hostile territory gives you a little time to respond if they see you, but not these, in a setting with no saves. Assassins, as far as I can tell, also immediately open fire if they see something suspicious, but not illegal in the sense of causing a regular guard to open fire occurring, such as poisoning food without a waiter disguise. The bloat of these levels makes these NPCs sometimes unavoidable if you want to clear a suspect, and they are very unfun.
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To find a compromise between the people who enjoy the complete lack of Silent Assassin requirement outside of the occasional Prestige Objective, and those that want careful play and sparing civilians to continue to be important in the mode, I think that non-target kills and witnesses should subtract a small amount of merces each at the end of a mission. Perhaps guard kills that aren’t actively counting towards an “eliminate guards with x weapon” challenge would cost 2 merces each, and civilians would cost 5, down to 3 if they are a witness. While I’m not sure on the exact amounts, I feel this would help incentivize not going on mindless rampages without consequences, while still allowing for the occasional collateral if it makes the mission easier without too much consequence.
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There needs to be some way to spare some of your tools if you lose a campaign. Maybe pay 100 merces and you can keep half your tools, or maybe two of your three briefcases are eliminated at random instead of all 3. Whatever it is, it shouldn’t be all or nothing.
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Lastly, the cost of some items needs to seriously be adjusted. ICA19 type pistols need to cost far more to bring, especially compared to an unsilenced pistol, because like with the dart guns, acquiring any of these guns tanks the challenge of the mode. The lockpick needs to be worth more than 1, and concealable weapons for frisks should cost more to bring. Rather than the rarity, the costs should be reflected in the type of item it is. People will want to collect a legendary item even if it’s not the most efficient one to bring simply because it’s legendary and rare. This is simply how our monkey brains are wired, we see big yellow label and get big dopamine rush. You don’t have to make it very strong and easy to bring as well, just cool and unique, maybe with some uncommon effect (like Striker penetration). I can only see this problem getting worse in the full release where I imagine higher mastery levels will give us even more capacity than the current maxed out 11.
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Crate items have to be less worthless. Bringing a single non-suspicious blunt melee like the crowbar immediately invalidates 98% of what appears in the crates. Either make the items more valuable and put fewer crates in, or give versions of more powerful items that can’t be brought back to the safehouse, making them useful but only in the level in which we pick them up. Also bump up the odds of getting a keepable weapon like a gun or melee up a bit, it happened 3 times in almost 30 hours of play.
Side Note: I really agree with the people that want some few NPCs in the safehouse, as it really feels empty most of the time, and maybe giving them small effects, like Olivia offering to pre-remove camera recordings in your next mission for increasing mercer costs if you use her in a row, or Smith giving you a stashed item. But this is not very important compared to fixing the meat of the mode itself
I’m aware that this is only a technical test, and they haven’t shown some of the content that’ll be in full release, but if they take many of the suggestions for small changes in this thread seriously, and add base payout and a penalty for excess collateral, I think this mode is gonna be fantastic when it releases in January. I’m super excited, and thanks to the devs for making this completely free mode (I hope the premium tag next to some furniture isn’t what we all dread hopium), it blows every other bonus mode like ETA and ghost mode out of the water!
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Funny /sad thing: Due to the missing Sniper in Mumbai it is kinda stupid how the Kashmirian still brabbels about his blurry scope he can’t get right… standing there… all alone… withoput a rifle (that I wanted to steal -.-)
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I’m not part of the CTT but just skimming the thread it seems a common concern is the Mercer payout being tied exclusively to fixed amounts from optional objectives.
Perhaps a system that rewards a base amount for mission completion and have that base value modified by a sum of multipliers earned through optional objectives could be implemented.
To illustrate let’s just say mission completion rewards 10 M as a base.
Then we have multipliers (whose magnitude scale with difficulty) that we’ll sum at the end of a mission. For instance:
First optional objective: x2
Second optional objective: x3
Third optional objective: x2
A player completes all objectives gets 2 + 3 + 2 for a 7 times multiplier. So total payout is 7*10 for 70 M. Another player completes a single x2 objective and gets 20 M. If a player finishes the mission but completes no objectives the player still gets the base 10 M
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I disagree. It’s just classic Hitman gameplay. It’s been the part of Freelancer that I have enjoyed most. A lot of Hitman-players will never play like that anyway. These bread and butter missions are good for immersion, and IO themselves said that this mode was an attempt to maximize to the roleplaying elements.
Also, while we’re all certainly writing up some nice lists, I’d like to remind people of what IO wrote in their blogpost.
The mode is pretty much done. No reason to get too disappointed in January.
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That in the video is a thug killing people mindlessly, not 47. 47 also shoots better.
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But what you described is basically how the games (the trilogy that is) always functioned. And I don’t see a big problem with it. I’d prefer having to do “a bit more” during those missions, too, though.
I think freelancer has to be different. Deterministic gameplay where you know after 3 seconds after map start how it will play out is the main weakness of hitman. Freelancer’s purpose is to change that to non-deterministic roguelike gameplay. However the normal missions are too normal.
It is not just that the missions are too easy, they are missing gameplay from the boss missions. Like recon, and the highly dynamic gameplay that is created by npcs and their entourage patrolling large parts of the map. In normal missions you only get a preset target selected from existing targets that wander a very small area.
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