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

[Bad Sector]

Melan:
Keep in mind that this is one person doing everything, so i'd adjust the expectations a bit. What you should be expecting (visually at least) is at best around what you'd see from small Russian, German and Eastern European teams from the early 2000s making budget games (because that is what Gloomwood, DUSK, etc are) - games like Alcatraz, Nina, CIA Operative, Hired Team, AmsterDoom and pretty much everything Motelsoft made.

And note that pretty much all of those (except i think the Motelsoft stuff) were not made by one person but by small teams. While adding one person to a team of 100 wont usually be much of a deal, adding even one person to a team of ten can make a very big difference (and similarly, removing one person from a team of ten). This is why i wrote "at best".

You can also check other solo indie games that go for 3D environments without any form of hyperstylization (which doesn't really work for all games), like Brigand: Oaxaca, Frayed Knights (though this one had help from artists...) or even New Blood Interactive's own DUSK. And there are many more (just look for pixellated FPS games) i certainly forget.

Now i'm sure you can find some great looking non-cutesy 3D games by solo devs, but i think they are by far the minority to the point where they often make the news exactly because of that, like Bright Memory. And even that game was essentially a small demo, used largely assets bought from the asset store (and even had some stolen assets according to the dev) and nowadays it is worked on by a larger team to make it a full game. And really, even if there are people who can do that... there are also many who cannot :-P.

Of course i'm not saying that you have to like the graphics or not want the game to look better (who wouldn't?), just that considering who (and how many) is making it, you might be expecting a bit too much .

 

[CyberModuled]

Wow, fuck PC Gamer more than usual

 

[CyberModuled]

New trailer out now at least

 

[Wirdschowerdn]

Demo is now out on Steam.

 

[DalekFlay]

Demo is pretty excellent. As an old school PC guy I hate fucking checkpoint saves, and no you can't convince me otherwise, but everything else is great. It's the indie Thief/Dishonored I couldn't wait to get. Next give me an indie Morrowind.

The focus on minimal HUD, great sound and little things like checking your shotgun ammo just proves that immersion isn't about AAA graphics budgets, but about developer care and attention.

 

[Child of Malkav]

Demo is pretty excellent. As an old school PC guy I hate fucking checkpoint saves, and no you can't convince me otherwise, but everything else is great. It's the indie Thief/Dishonored I couldn't wait to get. Next give me an indie Morrowind.

The focus on minimal HUD, great sound and little things like checking your shotgun ammo just proves that immersion isn't about AAA graphics budgets, but about developer care and attention.

So it's Thief then? Glad we could see eye to eye.

 

[Ghulgothas]

Demo is pretty excellent. As an old school PC guy I hate fucking checkpoint saves, and no you can't convince me otherwise, but everything else is great. It's the indie Thief/Dishonored I couldn't wait to get. Next give me an indie Morrowind.

The focus on minimal HUD, great sound and little things like checking your shotgun ammo just proves that immersion isn't about AAA graphics budgets, but about developer care and attention.

Hows the map design?

 

[LESS T_T]

Wow, fuck PC Gamer more than usual

It became a credit cookie.

 

[Belegarsson]

 

[PrettyDeadman]

Demo is available on steam.

 

[Child of Malkav]

Playing the demo. Yeah, in my expert and highly requested opinion, it's Thief.

 

[Multi-headed Cow]

Pretty cool. Graphics are solid, they've got character and they're extremely functional for being able to identify how loud something will be when you walk on it, how dark an area is, etc. Very slight bit of weirdness in how the shadow is determined, one of the big street lights by lady Sylvia's manor is the easiest example. It's on a raised chunk of ground compared to the street, and there are shadows in the gutter. However you can mantle up the ledge so you're on the same level as the light and should be fully lit (In fact, your character model if you have weapons out is super well lit there) but your light gem says you're in pitch blackness if you're hanging your ass over the ledge. The robot-dudes have zero personality which is a pretty big knock against it. In fact I guess they aren't robot dudes and are just masked inquisitors or whatever, but no grumbling, just gas-mask breathing, no Benny conversations, etc. Might be something they change when they get to release, but currently they're super fucking dull. Movement feels pretty good, mantling works well (Though didn't seem very useful in the demo map, but since that's acting like a tutorial I don't know how representative it will be of the full thing) but sword combat is too reliable. One hit stealth kills are fine but just charging at a fucker and shanking him is a whole hell of a lot smoother than Thief, don't really have your sword clonking on pieces of clutter/terrain to make swinging a sword feel clunky and inelegant, too. The supernatural enemies have more character to them than the inquisitors but they're also quite plain. And as is proper for Thief (I guess) if you play on normal it's laughably easy to just kill everything without stealth. Even more since you get a fucking shotgun. Didn't try hard since it doesn't appear to add new objectives, but since this is a demo/tutorial map there aren't really objectives to speak of anyway so maybe that'll change in the full thing.

Overall, leaning toward a D1P even though as-is it isn't looking like it'll give Thief 1 and 2 a run for their money. Better than Thiaf, and it remains to be seen if it's better than Thief 3 since I actually liked Thief 3 fairly well. If they have a map editor (Which I dunno if they will since Dusk still doesn't have the full thing out) I could maybe see Thief fans digging it, especially if it's easier to work with than the Dark Project. If there are no lockpicks/moss arrows/rope arrows/etc etc etc that could be a definite knock against it though. Equipment was quite limited in this. Fair amount of bitching but overall I'm impressed.

 

[Child of Malkav]

Desperados 3, Gloomwood and soon (probably) Shadows of Doubt. What a time to be alive.

 

[DalekFlay]

So it's Thief then? Glad we could see eye to eye.

It was the greater weapon focus which made me add Dishonored in there, but yeah Thief seems to be the top inspiration. Though the developer also posts a lot about survival horror on Twitter, so I'd guess it will have some Resident Evil inspirations as well. I didn't play the demo incredibly long, already know I want the game.

 

[Bad Sector]

It looks interesting, but sadly i can't play it. I tried to rebind the controls to those i'm used to and everything was broken (couldn't pick up items, couldn't interact, etc). I restarted the game and *some* things worked (i could pick up items) but others didn't (my jump key was reverted to space, some keys conflicted). The bindings list shows a bunch of actions but most of the time i cannot scroll it (the scrollbar doesn't work). Sometimes it works though so i'm not sure what is going on.

EDIT: just noticed that they have thiefwithguns.com as their site :-P.

 

[Psych0sis]

God that was a damn good demo. I agree some of the sound effects, like the enemies breathing, was pretty annoying. And the textures still look a bit too clean and off putting in some areas. But my fucking GOD does it play like a beauty. I'm iffy on the save system, as it seems you can just use the same checkpoint over and over, so there's nothing stopping you from save scumming except having to go back over and over which will probably get tedious. I'd rather the points just be on limited use if that's the case, or just give me muh quicksaves.

 

[Infinitron]

https://www.pcgamer.com/gloomwood-i...h-horror-game-that-looks-like-thief-but-isnt/

Gloomwood is a neo-Victorian stealth-horror game that looks like Thief, but isn't
We've got a new trailer for the PC Gaming Show, and hands-on impressions from a pre-release build.

Gloomwood is not Thief. It's important to get that out of the way early, because it looks like Thief, and at times it feels like Thief. But despite the similarities, it's a very distinct experience. It's survival horror rather than a straight-up stealth game, for one thing, and it's structured differently: Instead of linear, discrete missions, the game will take place in a single, open city made up of multiple connected districts.

Probably the most glaring difference, though, is that avoiding violence isn't the priority that it is in the Thief games. The lead character in Gloomwood isn't a master thief with a reputation to maintain, but more of an assassin who's simply out to survive—and woe betide anyone who gets in the way.

Gloomwood's arsenal eliminates any doubt about the difference. There are no blackjacks or flash bombs here: Your cane-sword is quiet but deadly, and your fallback options are guns. Not good guns by any measure—they're loud as hell and painfully slow to reload, and ammo is so scarce that you won't get far by blasting at everything you see. But their presence provides an option to an immediate reload if (which is to say, when) things go seriously sideways.

During one playthrough of a new Gloomwood preview build, I'd made it a good distance through the opening area of the city without being spotted—it turns out that you don't actually have to murder someone just because the tutorial says to. But eventually I ran into a guard I had to take down—and I got sloppy and botched the backstab.

In Thief, that kind of failure is catastrophic, but in Gloomwood it's just ugly. I pulled my pistol and dropped my initial target, then wasted three of his compatriots as they came rushing into the room to see what all the noise was. Not exactly the pinnacle of professionalism, but sometimes you have to get your hands dirty.

There's no penalty for going loud, aside from the obvious headaches: Noise brings enemies running, and an extended gunfight can leave you in a tough spot down the road, when you really need to put a bullet into someone but don't have any left. Gloomwood seems prepared to account for this, though, with plenty of deep shadows to hide in and Deus Ex-style ventilation shafts to crawl through. Stealth will clearly be vital to success, but Gloomwood's apparent willingness to let me drop the hammer is a nice change from games that load me up with weapons and powers, and then punish me for using them.

In full stealth mode, though, Gloomwood really does ring the old-school Thief bell. Killing is easy, but hiding under stairs, sneaking behind some barrels, timing a guard's movements by listening to his footsteps, then dashing into a room to snatch a key and slipping out again unseen, is exhilarating.

The Gloomwood demo is still a work in progress. The AI is still rough in spots—at one point an alerted guard opened a door to room where I'd left a dead body lying in the open, but he got stuck behind the door and eventually reverted to idle state—and there's no voice acting or guard chatter, although Dave Oshry of publisher New Blood Interactive told me that both are on the way.

He also hit me with a surprise that Thief fans will love: New Blood is working on getting Stephen Russell, the voice actor behind Garrett and Corvo Attano, involved in the game. You can bet there will be rejoicing among old-time Taffers if that happens.

Despite the rough edges, I was really impressed with what I played. I've had high hopes for Gloomwood from the start, and after getting some playtime on this early build, I'm even more excited for what's coming. Gloomwood is expected to launch on Steam Early Access later this year, and you can play the demo right now.

 

[Agame]

Where is the wood?

 

[Multi-headed Cow]

I'm iffy on the save system, as it seems you can just use the same checkpoint over and over, so there's nothing stopping you from save scumming except having to go back over and over which will probably get tedious. I'd rather the points just be on limited use if that's the case, or just give me muh quicksaves.

I assume that's to try to force tension on people. If you can 360 noscope quicksave every 5 seconds you COULD restrain yourself, or you could use it and then talk about shit easy game. If there's some penalty to death it makes the stealth more intense, similar to Kingdom Come Deliverance as a fairly recent example of fucked up saves in service of adding weight to everything.

Where is the wood?

Hidden in the gloom.

 

[Ghulgothas]

Finally got the chance to boot this up myself. And damn, the sound you make walking on cobblestone isn't quite Thief's tap shoes, but it'll do.

Where is the wood?

Did you check your pants?

 

[udm]

Damn you guys are making me wet about a game I couldn't care about before. How do the glowing eyes work in-game though? I really don't like alert/vision markers.

 

[Wunderbar]

It's not really Thief, more like a mix of:
- Thief's horror-centered levels like Bonehoard and Haunted Cathedral;
- Resident Evil (collect crests to open a door, save rooms with soothing music, resource management);
- Deus Ex (there is a clear progression from A to B instead of thiefesque big open levels).

 

[DalekFlay]

Developer said on Twitter the final game will have save anywhere options for all difficulties, so that's good news (IMO).

 

[Ghulgothas]

It's not really Thief, more like a mix of:
- Thief's horror-centered levels like Bonehoard and Haunted Cathedral;
- Resident Evil (collect crests to open a door, save rooms with soothing music, resource management);
- Deus Ex (there is a clear progression from A to B instead of thiefesque big open levels).

Thief, sans the thieving context.

 

[Multi-headed Cow]

Damn you guys are making me wet about a game I couldn't care about before. How do the glowing eyes work in-game though? I really don't like alert/vision markers.

Green eyes for fine, yeller for suspicious/heard a sound/was that a rat, red for go-time. Highest difficulty looks like it disables the glowing eyes (Didn't try it yet myself) which would be good for making the guards harder to spot, but also removes what little character they have since they don't talk and just go "WHEEZE" when they see you and "wheeze" when suspicious.