Thief 2 fan missions and campaigns

Okay, it's been mentioned time and time again on various Thief threads and boards that DarkLoader is outdated.

 

Which? Name a few if there's a ton.

 

It blows my mind how many people still think it's a good idea to use Darkloader.

 

Use AngelLoader. It can even import your Darkloader data so you won't lose any of your comments and finished-checkmarks.

 

The reason a few of the missions in the contest aren't seen by Darkloader is because they were released in .7z format, which the ancient and decrepit Darkloader does not recognize. Any of the modern loaders - FMSel, AngelLoader or NewDarkLoader - will recognize and install them just fine.

Along these lines, some of us are planning to start promoting a forced obsolescence of Darkloader by urging authors to release all future missions as .7z files.

 

Is garrettloader any good? I only use FMsel.

 

To be honest only Builder's Paradise doesn't work rest of missions load perfectly.

Nostalgia.

 

FMSel LITERALLY comes with Newdark, just use it.

 

Also, FMSel is the only sane way to play FMs on your Steam install and be able to take screenshots and track played time, as it's the same .exe.

 

Finished The Ritual, an old T2 mission from 2000.

Quite good, but frustrating at times, especially when it reminds you of why escort missions is cancer.

Nice tomb robbing and puzzles, and it was fun to watch some big fights between bad guys and city guards or between bad guys and hammerites. Make sure you leave the door to the chapel open on your way down to the catacombs. It makes the return more fun.

 

Completed Embrace the Enemy, another old T2 mission.

Very good heist mission, with many scripted sequences and good use of the Z axis.
I liked the use of moonlight to make sneaking outdoors harder.
Quite unlinear for a supposedly linear mission. IOW you can break it if you try.
Variably quality of the voice acting.
AI was a bit wonky; guards would suddenly be in alert mode when reloading.

 

Just spreading the word, I'm doing let's play of the contest missions. I just started yesterday and with c19 keeping the world closed I imagine I'll get through the lot in short order.

My youtube channel...

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQSKbs12yLPxq6g3l7ZJQoQ

 

Completed Raid on Washout Central.
Playing chronologically (and just about to enter the 21st century) I see new things in just about every new Thief mission I play. This is the second mission with fog (Equilibrium being the first, but I didn't finish that since extreme sneaking is not my thing) and the first one with rain.

Also, a nice heist mission, robbing the post office.

 

Has anyone given the two new missions from Master of Dromed a shot? Based on the replies in the thread and looking at some of the screenshots they seem... well, shit.

 

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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

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

 

Rocksbourg is a series that got considerably better with each installment. The entire trilogy has this amazing atmosphere, and its own signature style. I am not a fan of the first mission on account of its keyhunting gameplay, to the point where I'd suggest resorting to a guide if you get stuck for more than a couple of minutes because some of these keys are practically invisible. It also has some annoyingly loud ambient sounds, although there might still be a fix you can download for that. The second and third missions are much better and well worth playing.
The main problem is that the series is not complete, so once you finish these three you'll join the rest of us in waiting

 

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.

 

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.

 

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.