Gloomwood - Thief-ish stealth horror game from New Blood Interactive - now available on Early Access

[Curratum]

Allright, hear me out... :D



Would have already bought this if it hasn't been for the dev's "you can't save anywhere because the missions are mostly short and it's not the intended experience" shtick.

 

[DJOGamer PT]

If the game is designed with that element in mind, then it's not a shtick moron, it's how the game plays

 

[Maggot]

Allright, hear me out... :D



Would have already bought this if it hasn't been for the dev's "you can't save anywhere because the missions are mostly short and it's not the intended experience" shtick.

I already own it. It's pretty good for a one man game.

 

[Curratum]

If the game is designed with that element in mind, then it's not a shtick moron, it's how the game plays

There are levels that take around 30 minutes, according to the Steam hub. Honestly, more power to you if you can stomach dying at the end of a 30 minute level and having to re-do everything again from scratch, but that's not for me, moron.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

If the game is designed with that element in mind, then it's not a shtick moron, it's how the game plays

There are levels that take around 30 minutes, according to the Steam hub. Honestly, more power to you if you can stomach dying at the end of a 30 minute level and having to re-do everything again from scratch, but that's not for me, moron.

git gud, cheater

 

[═█═]

If the game is designed with that element in mind, then it's not a shtick moron, it's how the game plays

There are levels that take around 30 minutes, according to the Steam hub. Honestly, more power to you if you can stomach dying at the end of a 30 minute level and having to re-do everything again from scratch, but that's not for me, moron.

Imagine being such a pussycat pushover that you go crazy if you haven't saved the game in 30 mins. Like I know I'm a hardcore masochist and I love the thrill of permadeath but BFD if you have to restart a single mission. Maybe you should lower the difficulty or play more casual games if you're so weaksauce.

There are better reasons to dislike this game, it's like a cheap Chinese knockoff of Thief because it gets the surface right and nothing else. Like the textures are cool and all and it gets frobbing right, but nothing that made Thief as good as it was is in there. The only reason people talk about it is because if you squint you could mistake it for screenshots of a Thief 2 level pack.

 

[Curratum]

Like I know I'm a hardcore masochist and I love the thrill of permadeath but

Stopped reading there. Good day.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

Like I know I'm a hardcore masochist and I love the thrill of permadeath but

Stopped reading there. Good day.

not everyone else's fault you want to ruin games

 

[gerey]

Allright, hear me out... :D



Would have already bought this if it hasn't been for the dev's "you can't save anywhere because the missions are mostly short and it's not the intended experience" shtick.

Just because you fail at Bulgaria's national pastime, theft and robbery, doesn't mean you have to take it out on stealth games. Ask your family to teach you how to properly steal.

Filcher is an excellent game made by a single developer, and the closest we've gotten to Thief 1 and 2 since the second game released.

There are levels that take around 30 minutes, according to the Steam hub. Honestly, more power to you if you can stomach dying at the end of a 30 minute level and having to re-do everything again from scratch, but that's not for me, moron.

For one, most levels can be completed in under 15 minutes if you know what you're doing, and they are meant to be replayed multiple times so you can find all the secrets, loot and get a good idea of how to best approach the challenge and optimize your route.

The game and levels are built around the lack of a save feature, and if you can't manage to complete a level without spamming the quicksave key, then GIT GUD.

As for dying, that's incredibly difficult to do - you have plenty of tools to evade, distract and incapacitate the guards. What is challenging is getting the "Ghost" rating, as it should be.

I wish Thief 1 and 2 had an ironman mode. Hell, all immersive sims should have it as an option. It's really fun to roll with the punches and nothing beats the thrill of managing to ghost a mission without savescumming.

 

[Zombra]

lol @ not understanding that all games are designed for an "intended experience". Thinking games are just a bunch of random stuff with a controller attached.

 

[Nifft Batuff]

The original thief games have levels that can take hours.

 

[Fargus]

Tryhard shit should be optional.

 

[Wirdschowerdn]

Allright, hear me out... :D



Would have already bought this if it hasn't been for the dev's "you can't save anywhere because the missions are mostly short and it's not the intended experience" shtick.

It's no big deal. The maps really aren't large enough to make saving mandatory. On the contrary, given it's a stripped down Thief game, saving would make it too piss-easy.

I agree though that for a possible sequel, the devs should expand the design scope and include a saving system.

 

[Curratum]

I don't save-spam in Thief every 5 minutes, because I play cautiously overall, but I do get really mad if I fuck up and lose half an hour of progress on an unfamiliar FM because something somewhere fucks up.

If the levels aren't that big and you can evade most fuckups, I should give it a try.

 

[kangaxx]

This game's main thing is deflecting criticism via "It's not really Thief!" while also trying to draw as much energy from Thief's gravitational pull as is humanly possible.

The dev is also on record saying that mechanics are going to be put in place that will discourage players from killing every enemy they come across - he's already implemented enemies with body armor that can't be backstabbed, and a morepowerful enemy will appear in areas where the player has killed people.

This would be a big improvement. At the moment it's just too easy to charge in with no regard for stealth and kill everything.

 

[gerey]

I don't save-spam in Thief every 5 minutes, because I play cautiously overall, but I do get really mad if I fuck up and lose half an hour of progress on an unfamiliar FM because something somewhere fucks up.

If the levels aren't that big and you can evade most fuckups, I should give it a try.

As mentioned, the levels aren't particularly big. You're encouraged to replay them multiple times to figure out the best way to approach your objectives.

Concerning evasion, you're always equipped with the same items:

• flashbangs (equivalent of Thief flash bombs)
• dart gun (you have 4 darts, though enemies will know where you fired from, so if you're going to use it you better put some distance and take cover before the guard falls asleep)
• moss pellets (virtually the same as moss arrows from Thief)
• duck toys to distract enemies
• lockpicks
• flashlight
• blackjack (though enemies in later levels wear helmets and can't be knocked out)

Your character is fairly robust, you can be shot a bunch of times before dying, and once you break line of sight it's easy enough to find some shadowy corner to wait until the enemies go back to their patrol routes.

 

[JarlFrank]

I obesessively save 5 times per minute so anything without save anywhere makes me anxious

 

[═█═]

I wish Thief 1 and 2 had an ironman mode. Hell, all immersive sims should have it as an option. It's really fun to roll with the punches and nothing beats the thrill of managing to ghost a mission without savescumming.

This so much! Quicksaving not only makes you into a stealth god no matter your skill level but you also never get to have the fun of improvising unless you decide not to use it. Savescummers don't know that it's just as entertaining to lose an alerted guard as it is to ghost a level.

Thief levels are kinda big though, so just making saves limited would be enough to up the ante.

 

[Curratum]

I wish Thief 1 and 2 had an ironman mode. Hell, all immersive sims should have it as an option. It's really fun to roll with the punches and nothing beats the thrill of managing to ghost a mission without savescumming.

This so much! Quicksaving not only makes you into a stealth god no matter your skill level but you also never get to have the fun of improvising unless you decide not to use it. Savescummers don't know that it's just as entertaining to lose an alerted guard as it is to ghost a level.

Thief levels are kinda big though, so just making saves limited would be enough to up the ante.

Who said you reload when you alert a guard? I literally said failstates that bring up the game over screen.

Ghosting levels, on the other hand, is never "entertaining", unless you're an autist.

 

[gerey]

Thief levels are kinda big though, so just making saves limited would be enough to up the ante.

Better even if they let you buy items that are used to save in the pre-mission menu, so you can savescum if you wish, at the cost of not being able to purchase other equipment for the mission.

One thing I liked about Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow that few other stealth games do is an escalation. Every time you are detected and manage to evade the enemy things get harder - more enemies are on patrol, they put on armor, get better weapons etc.

More stealth games need to figure out ways to not make detection and alert defacto fail-states, but to also discourage savescumming.

Ghosting levels, on the other hand, is never "entertaining", unless you're an autist.

Original Thief 1 and 2 levels were never designed to be ghosted. Some can be without much complication, while others require some real abuse of engine quriks and game mechanics to count. It's why I just blackjack every guard in sight - that's how the game was designed to be played.

Missions in Filcher on the other hand are designed from the ground-up so you can ghost them.

 

[═█═]

Missions in Filcher on the other hand are designed from the ground-up so you can ghost them.

If only it had the same vibes as Thief, with someone as personable as Garrett as the player character, the guard chatter, the music, and all that. I've been wanting another stealth game as atmospheric as TDP ever since I first finished it.

Original Thief 1 and 2 levels were never designed to be ghosted. Some can be without much complication, while others require some real abuse of engine quriks and game mechanics to count.

It's the only way you can get any real challenge with unlimited quicksaves being a thing so even if it is autistic and degenerate gameplay it's understandable why some veterans engage in it after finishing the game so many times.

Better even if they let you buy items that are used to save in the pre-mission menu, so you can savescum if you wish, at the cost of not being able to purchase other equipment for the mission.

This is a good idea but I think some players get even more upset by that than if the saves were just limited per mission. Just ask John Romeo what people thought about the save system in Daikatana. Saves being connected to items seem to be really hated for some reason.

 

[Nifft Batuff]

In the original Thief you don't need to reload if you are detected. It is not a fail state. There are many way to complete a mission even if you are detected at a certain point.

 

[Zombra]

I obesessively save 5 times per minute so anything without save anywhere makes me anxious

Break the habit bro. Learn to fail forward and play games that teach you to fail forward. You'll be glad you did.

 

[Jenkem]

so um.. gloomwood? anyone check out the tavern or try the new ultra hard difficulty mode?

 

[Zombra]

so um.. gloomwood? anyone check out the tavern or try the new ultra hard difficulty mode?

I fooled around in Early Access for a little bit, but now I'm pretty much waiting for full release.