Thief fan missions and campaigns

[Curratum]

Frankly, I'm not touching any FMs that don't look at the very least as good as the vanilla T2 game. Just can't bring myself to do it, I mean sorry but nobody is playing or making Doom maps that look like Doom 1 vanilla and if they're trying to emulate the style, everything is still better aligned and cleaner.

 

[JarlFrank]

I gave the first one a look. The architecture and design sure is basic, and about 20 years out of date. The typos aren't helping either.

The objectives-list is long though, so I'm gonna hold off until I've spent more time with it.

Friendly warning: there is one locked door that has no key on the outside. You have to get in to find the key. But the locked door is the only access to the room.

So how do you get in then?

... you have to wait for a guard patrol to pass through the door, block the door with your body/frob it before it closes, and then go in. If you KO the guard when he's outside and the door is closed, you're permanently locked out of that area.

Peak design right there.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

Friendly warning: there is one locked door that has no key on the outside. You have to get in to find the key. But the locked door is the only access to the room.

So how do you get in then?

... you have to wait for a guard patrol to pass through the door, block the door with your body/frob it before it closes, and then go in. If you KO the guard when he's outside and the door is closed, you're permanently locked out of that area.

Peak design right there.

I came across this area (kinda hard to miss it as it's the only house at the end of an alley) and fortunately got inside without problems. The 'house' in question is a long corridor with doors leading outside on both ends, and a lone room close to one of these doors. The key to the two front doors is on the wall in this room.

It's what JarlFrank didn't mention that sealed the deal for me.

I'm playing on Expert and there's a long list of objectives to complete. Two of them need to be mentioned here: Limit knockouts to 16 people or less, and steal a Precursor Mask from a Mr. Orwell. It just so happens that this is Mr. Orwell's house, and his mask is in his chest inside that lone room. Except so is Mr. Orwell, and he is positioned such that he is constantly watching the chest. It is impossible to unlock the chest without being spotted by Mr. Orwell. So inevitably Mr. Orwell has to count among those 16. And to add insult to injury the guard's patrol path takes him inside Mr. Orwell's room. Did I mention yet that the chest has that minute-long lockpicking sequence on it?

But that's not all. After clearing out Orwell's house I step outside through the other exit, where I find a similar alleyway as the one before. I spot another door on another house across the way, but it's locked and my lockpicks won't work. Strangely enough Mr. Orwell's key opens it, though. I then spot another door on Mr. Orwell's house, and find that his key doesn't open it. Then I round the corner and I see a merchant enter a building. Thinking that the same rule applied as before, I intercept the door so that it remains open and have a look inside. For some reason a guard took notice of me and I try to put distance between me and him by... closing the door. I quickly realize that I've locked myself in a small room with only the merchant for company. Except he ain't moving. In fact he doesn't even register my presence. I give him a minute to resume his 'patrol route' and open the door again, but half an eternity later he still hasn't budged, and I finally realized how crappily designed this FM is.

I'm not having this, so both FMs were shown the door.

 

[Raskens]

Also, is there any way to make TG control like T2, with a normal walking speed and a sprint button?

In TG even with NuDark you get a "speed mod" key and it's a mess.

I know this is a pretty old post, but I'm 90% you only need to copy either the "dark" BND file and/or the "user" BND file from T2, and then paste it into TG.

 

[Curratum]

Also, is there any way to make TG control like T2, with a normal walking speed and a sprint button?

In TG even with NuDark you get a "speed mod" key and it's a mess.

I know this is a pretty old post, but I'm 90% you only need to copy either the "dark" BND file and/or the "user" BND file from T2, and then paste it into TG.

Thanks for responding, man. I sorted it out with downloading someone's "TG like T2" control config off a Steam guide.

 

[Baron Dupek]

Is the "A Night in Rocksbourg" trilogy good?
For some reason that name stuck with me for years.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

MotherMachinae I got hit by the loud ambient noises that Schlock mentions. A fixed version exists somewhere out there, but I had to resort to doing it manually by finding the respective audio files, loading them up in a sound editor and turning down the noise.

DrKubiac has been keeping busy while shirking his Rocksbourg duties, including making one of the best Thief FMs of all time IMO, "Lost Among the Forsaken". "A Better Tomorrow" is another shorter affair but also much more terrifying, but both FMs have elements of Rocksbourg to them that should keep you sated if you find yourself wanting more.

 

[octavius]

Completed A Smuggler's Request for Thief 2, and I'm surprised it has not been mentioned in this thread.
I think it's considered a classic and was made by the same guy who made Art of Thievery.

It's a very large missions, and it took me over five hours to complete on Expert. In the end I was rather tired of it, so I had to look up details for two of the objectives, of which one of them was too generic to be meaningful ("Hide in storage area near sewers"). Even when I know the answer it's still bullshit, 'cause there's another room that fits the description better.
The objective most taffers had problems with - figuring out the combo for the safe - I had little problems with.

This is one mission I recommend playing on Hard instead of Expert, unless you actually like ghosting, since there will be lots of times you need to get past the same bluecoats who you are not allowed to blackjack on Expert. Hard difficulty also omits the bullshit objective mentioned above.

There's lots of interesting situations in this mission, where you will need to use different tactics, and there are some nice scripted events. There's also some opportunities to provoke in-fighting, which is always nice.
But there's also too many annoying things, like windows breaking if too near, a row of hammers falling to the floor if getting too near, a grate which you can't avoid jumping onto if you want to try lockpicking it, all designed to alert guards. This is just annoying and encourages save scumming.
Also, some places there are conveniently placed water and rope arrows announcing what you are supposed to do, which felt a bit lame in an otherwise rather unforgiving mission.

Architecture is obviously built with gameplay in mind, and it feels less like a real place than most other quality missions. And there's some discrepancy in dimensions; the town part feeling quite cramped (which I like) and the harbour area much larger and emptier (which I don't like).

All in all a good mission, but at times frustrating. I think I would have enjoyed it very much on Hard difficulty.

 

[Raskens]

Are there any catacombs/dungeon crawler FMs that's better or equal to Down in the Bonehoard? I have played Whispers in the desert and From beneath the sands, and they are good, but not equal or superior to Down in the bonehoard. The same question goes for ancient civilization missions, and undead city missions. Are there any FMs better than the lost city and the haunted cathedral?

The question might seem ludicrous to some people, but I have honestly enjoyed several city FMs more than Ambush from T2.

 

[Curratum]

Are there any catacombs/dungeon crawler FMs that's better or equal to Down in the Bonehoard? I have played Whispers in the desert and From beneath the sands, and they are good, but not equal or superior to Down in the bonehoard. The same question goes for ancient civilization missions, and undead city missions. Are there any FMs better than the lost city and the haunted cathedral?

The question might seem ludicrous to some people, but I have honestly enjoyed several city FMs more than Ambush from T2.

I enjoyed "Up in the Bonehoard" (haw haw) for TG. "Return to the Lost City" for T2 is pretty damn great as well.

 

[trefoilknot]

Are there any catacombs/dungeon crawler FMs that's better or equal to Down in the Bonehoard? I have played Whispers in the desert and From beneath the sands, and they are good, but not equal or superior to Down in the bonehoard. The same question goes for ancient civilization missions, and undead city missions. Are there any FMs better than the lost city and the haunted cathedral?

The question might seem ludicrous to some people, but I have honestly enjoyed several city FMs more than Ambush from T2.

If you like puzzles, Doaal's "Sepulchre of the Sinistral" (for TG) provides some awesome Bonehoard-esque fun. You might also enjoy French Decay's "Breathing Corpses" (for T2)

 

[Unkillable Cat]

Completed A Smuggler's Request for Thief 2, and I'm surprised it has not been mentioned in this thread.
I think it's considered a classic and was made by the same guy who made Art of Thievery.

I disagree. It's somewhat fun to play because it's challenging (and cheesy at times) but it also does things a FM shouldn't do. Like all the jumpscares. There's also the typos, the "count the scenery"-puzzle and the one path the FM takes. You're spot on about saying that this was designed for gameplay first, and atmosphere and setting second. The whole FM feels like one giant scripted sequence. It also gets a few things right, like the hidden passage in the executioner's room and some intuitive secrets. But yeah, "Art of Thievery" is better, and was only released a few months better.

But compared to FMs that have been released later this one has aged poorly.

 

[SlyFoxx]

You should try.

https://thiefmissions.com/m/SepulchreOfTheSinistral

 

[Raskens]

Thanks for the answers. I will add them to my list.

 

[Wirdschowerdn]

Not a FM, but unreleased soundtracks from Thief 2X:

 

[nicked]

Just released my new mission: https://www.ttlg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=150557

 

[Curratum]

This sounds like the name of an Edgar Alan Poe story. Downloading.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

Just released my new mission: https://www.ttlg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=150557

Looks very ambitious.

EDIT: It's SERIOUSLY ambitious. With the possible exception of "Finals at the Academy" I can't think of any FM that has more collectibles in it than this one.

There's a tragic backstory behind the manor, and that is detailed in a 13-part tome, of which the pages are scattered through the mansion (I'm currently only missing the tenth one).

There's also a lock that requires four keys. Each of those four keys corresponds to a card suit, and to get each key, you must... wait for it... collect every card of the suit from Ace to King. Toss in all the keys and it's 70 items to collect in total. Fortunately there are in-game clues to help you find the cards... except I'm missing two: The King of Diamonds and the Eight of Spades.

Does this mean that I'm tired and bothered by hunting down cards? TAFF NO. This FM is the most detailed, thought-out, realistic manor heist-affair I've seen in years. The manor is large and comes with a detailed map, there's plenty to read, marble is used sparingly (light is a bigger overall concern) and it's an absolute joy to play.

And here's the best part: It has random elements, determined at the start of the game by the looks of it. This FM is a whodunit that mixes Cluedo and Thief. In my playthrough poor Duncan was poisoned at dinner, and I had to look up poison symptoms in the library to learn which poison killed him, and then which patron had a batch of it lying around, to finger a suspect. Alternate methods I've seen include stabbings, bludgeonings and poisoning via alcohol. Did I mention Garrett gets to pick one of four (five?) different points of entry into the manor? This one has replay value, which is rare for a Thief FM.

nicked If this had been part of the 20th Anniversary Contest you would have nailed the top spot! I'm in the home stretch of it, but I'll be very surprised if this doesn't score a full house of points just like "Lost Among the Forsaken" and "The Unbidden Guest".

 

[Unkillable Cat]

No seriously, it's that good. It even has a room with little dioramas of critters fighting one another, like someone is into Warhammer Fantasy.

nicked Also, one question. I see two archer targets in some very strange places. I've tried shooting them but nothing seems to happen. Is there something to them?

 

[nicked]

Glad you're enjoying it! Yeah if you shoot both of them successfully, you should hear Garrett say something, then look around for a secret.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

Although I technically finished it (I even found the murderer!) I'm still missing two things: The King of Diamonds-card, whose clue is something about being behind a door by a gravelled yard. Problem is that there's no such place I can think of.

The second problem is the hideyhole in the library. I've found it, but can't open it.

 

[nicked]

There are two gravelled yards at the front at basement level - leave the basement going west.
If you mean the upstairs hidden room in the library, there is a nearby book switch.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

Finally finished. Took me more than 4 hours in-game time and I was going spare there towards the end, but this FM is just so vast and fun.

I ended up with 97.2% of the total loot, missing but one secret and with a whoppin' five Bonus Objectives.

This one has everything one can expect from a manor heist-mission. No Undead or beasties, but the tension and atmosphere make up for it.

Top marks from me, this one is Up There.

 

[Curratum]

Oooh, this is a mansion heist? Those are probably my favorite!

 

[Ghulgothas]

Thief Newfag here, TDP finally clicked with me a few days ago and I've been stuck to it since. Currently in the middle of Escape! with the intention of delving into the FM scene once I beat the game. I was wanting to know, thread title notwithstanding, what are the premier Thief Gold FMs to you guys? What missions are of such high quality and creativity that a playthrough of them is essential before transitioning fully over to The Metal Age?

I already intend to give Endless Rain and Chalice of Souls a play, as well as Between These Dark Walls. But nothin' past that, yet.