Decline Thiaf Pre-Release Thread

Wow.

Experience thing is already bullshit IMO but this is even pointless. They are forcing players for 1on1 combat in a Thief game.

Sorry forgot this is The Thiaf

 

I've been doing a bit of reading and I understand that in the trilogy any interaction at all with the guards is a big no-no.

 

It's a stealth game so you don't want to be seen, simple as that.

 

But on the easier difficulties, you could easily(well...not that easy) kill everyone in the game, right? Could there be a possibility for Eidouche to put in the expert mode where murder=game over?

 

I very much hope that it is the case.

 

Which of course means it will not be there on account that your average brogamer has to be able to beat the game on the highest difficulty witout trying too hard because playing anything else than the highest difficulty is for scrubs.

 

No. They have to avoid 'player frustration'.

 

Or, first you have to beat on normal, then on hard, and only after that the expert mode unlocks.

 

But if you cannot kill anyone on expert mode, all the AWESOME FOCUS MODE MULTIPLE FRONTAL COMBAT TAKEDOWN ANIMATIONS would be wasted so OF COURSE you can kill everyone even on the hardest mode!

 

Call me a popamole king, but I like clearing rooms in stealth games. In Thief that meant blackjacking everyone and piling bodies up, unless a mission outright forbid me to do so. I have of course also done ghosting runs on harder difficulties, and that's fun too, but there's something about clearing rooms and walking about nonchalantly afterward that is satisfying.

 

I'm fond of blackjacking too. It has its challenges also.

 

I'm a blackjacker too, but there's a difference between sneaking up on people and bopping them on the head and using SUPER SPECIAL FOCUS MODE MULTI-TAKEDOWNS to take down guards after being spotted.

 

Indeed.

We know there is no focus on hard mode in this new popamole Thief. I hope the game might be at least playable as a result.

 

People don't seem (or rather, want) to remember, that the original games also had their share of silly gimmicks and weren't some pure stealth fairyland. Thief always had instakill headshots, combat oriented items like mines, fire arrows or frogbeast eggs. The difference is, any self-respecting fan played the game on the highest difficulty, so he couldn't use any of this crap. But this shit was there and there's no fundamental difference between THIAF and THIEF, the only open question is: will the highest difficulty punish combat oriented gameplay, or not.

Oh and BTW, TMA had a frikkin INVISIBILITY POTION. Is this popamole or what?

 

I love feeling of safety you get knowing that everybody is in a dreamland, however i on my recent Thief 1/2 playthrough i have decided to try to only blackjack those who are really in your way. Somehow it feels better when you reduce action to a minimum.

 

Come on

 

What I mean is, it was possible to play Thief in a combat-oriented manner, at least to some degree. The game supported it, as evidenced by the item loadout. The combat was lame, but it was there and it wasn't as punishing as it should be in a "pure-stealth" game.

 

Yes, it was possible, but resources like flashbombs and fire arrows were limited, frontal combat against multiple enemies was challenging and there was no "I win" button, and most of the tools were there so you could escape rather than fight (flashbombs to blind enemies and either blackjack them (doesn't work if there's too many cause blindness only lasts a short time), frogbeasts to keep the enemy occupied while you run for it).

Now, combat against a single zombie or guard was easy. But multiple guards? Or a hammer haunt? Yeah well, you're kinda fucked.

 

He's not wrong.

Thief, in some respects, accommodated players of a more popamole persuasion. In effect avoiding the invisibility potions is similar to avoiding blink level 2 in Dishonored. As said above though, there were in-game limits, and perhaps most importantly it was still less popamole on average despite these things.

Edit: Man, sudden thought: Dishonored would be amazingly improved if someone made a mod that stopped mana from recharging.

 

Most of the tools at your disposal were not there so you could clear the entire level with them. You usually only carried enough to help you in one or two situations where you might make a mistake. And even so, those tools were expensive enough that you had to think twice about using them in the first place. I'd often rather try to outrun enemies and try to hide again instead of just plopping down my flash-bombs.

 

Garret's ninja powers are fueled by a non-regenerating resource, so that's a limitation for you. Like I've said, it's not a question of some fundamental difference in design, it's a question of gameplay balance: how powerful the ninja powers will be? Will they be usable in hardcore mode? How frequently will the player be allowed to use them, since focus has to be refueled by pick-ups?

What kind of thief carries a sword, anyway?

 

ONE WHO STOLE IT

 

You might argue that the original Thieves often didn't punish non-stealthy gameplay enough and probably you would be right. Personally I am fine with the fact that Thief was never a game with strict and punishing mechanics that enforced a certain playstyle. When it comes to gameplay it was really "sandboxish" - you could just do your own thing. Wanna ghost? Fine, the game supports that although it is only required in a few missions. Feeling a little less hardcore but still stealthy today? Go for expert mode that forbids you to kill anyone and thus eliminates long distance takeouts with the bow. Wanna go for what Lyric Suit aptly called the "swashbuckling" experience? Run around the level, fight guards with your sword, throw around mines - it's kinda hilarious and atmosphere breaking, but it works most of the time. Infinitron once said something along the lines of Thief (especially the first one) not trying to be a strict stealth simulator, but rather being inspired by the typical adventures of a Rogue in a Dungeons and Dragons game.

The old games gave you a big playground, a set of tools and a set of general rules and then allowed you to find your own path, gameplay wise. The mechanics corset was pretty loose, which might annoy people with an aversion to LARPING, but it allowed for experimentation, emergent gameplay and yes, even breaking the game.

We have already seen enough to tell that Thiaf will be the exact opposite: Linear, restrictive, devoid of any emergent elements and meaningful exploration.

And that's "just" the gameplay. I am offended by the sheer and utter stupidity of the gameworld, characters and plot these guys have created. Their ignorance, lack of fantasy and lack of inspiration reeks out of every hole. Eidos Montreal is to Looking Glass what a retarded console kiddy is to Leonardo da Vinci.

 

Thief was made with normal difficulty in mind. The manual even emphasized the fact that a broadhead arrow from stealth could instakill a guard. But expert is the real thing, even there you will find a use for loud tools like fire arrows and mines because "true thieves leave no clues" clause only refers to human enemies. You can go apeshit on zombies with your rocket launcher fire arrow.