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Thief fan missions and campaigns
- Thread starter SCO
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The only rope-related problems that I know of that are universal come if you are trying to grasp the very top or the very bottom of the rope. You may also run into problems if the rope is too close up against the wall, which is best solved by making the rope arrow "stick out" of whatever it's shot at. In other words, don't stand directly up against the wall, aim upwards and aim for the wall itself when deploying a rope arrow.
If you latch on to the rope at too low a point, Garrett will let go of it and fall down. There simply just isn't enough rope for him to grab on safely.
If you latch on to the rope at too high a point (like right where the arrow landed) you can get some really interesting results, but the most common one is you jumping straight up off the rope... ususally followed by death. If you're lucky you'll shoot off into the stratosphere, but it's both very rare and quite fatal.
There is no trick or command involved in jumping on a rope. If Garrett encounters (walks, jumps, flies or swims directly into) a rope, he will automatically grab hold of it. The jump command will make him let go of it.
If you latch on to the rope at too low a point, Garrett will let go of it and fall down. There simply just isn't enough rope for him to grab on safely.
If you latch on to the rope at too high a point (like right where the arrow landed) you can get some really interesting results, but the most common one is you jumping straight up off the rope... ususally followed by death. If you're lucky you'll shoot off into the stratosphere, but it's both very rare and quite fatal.
There is no trick or command involved in jumping on a rope. If Garrett encounters (walks, jumps, flies or swims directly into) a rope, he will automatically grab hold of it. The jump command will make him let go of it.
poocolator
Erudite
SCO said:
Holy shit, is that a curved arch, in darkengine?
Damn. I really have to try this out.
How is the enhancement pack?
Well, most of thief FMs were already mentioned here.
I myself was on a FM-playing spree last year, but it's been a while since I played the last time.
I was playing keeper of the prophecies. I felt the levels were huge and sparsely populated, but I had some fun. It's a campaign FM, with multiple levels, and the problem is that some levels are very nice and detailed, while others feel outdated, it was somewhat inconsistent. I stoped playing it in the middle, and i intend to finish it.
I like some FM that push the engine to the limits, like the cosas mission X project: although it's very linear, there's lots of results that evaluates your performance, like timing, amount of objectives, etc. It is a parody of the first mission from the mission impossible movie by brian de palma. You play with some partners, though everything is scripted, it is really a nice job.
Night in rocksbourgh, well, the last mission has some effect on the textures that makes the game look like it's from this generation, only better.
And broken triad had some "portal" technology going on.
I myself was on a FM-playing spree last year, but it's been a while since I played the last time.
I was playing keeper of the prophecies. I felt the levels were huge and sparsely populated, but I had some fun. It's a campaign FM, with multiple levels, and the problem is that some levels are very nice and detailed, while others feel outdated, it was somewhat inconsistent. I stoped playing it in the middle, and i intend to finish it.
I like some FM that push the engine to the limits, like the cosas mission X project: although it's very linear, there's lots of results that evaluates your performance, like timing, amount of objectives, etc. It is a parody of the first mission from the mission impossible movie by brian de palma. You play with some partners, though everything is scripted, it is really a nice job.
Night in rocksbourgh, well, the last mission has some effect on the textures that makes the game look like it's from this generation, only better.
And broken triad had some "portal" technology going on.
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Darth Slaughter said:
Oh gods, I remember that one. It's a VERY ambitious campaign, but fails on some very simple basics:
# MONSTROUSLY huge levels. The second mission is a factory atop a cliff. It can take you up to 3 minutes to cross from one side of the level to the other. It, along with the other missions I guess, could be reduced in size by 50% without anything of value being lost.
Later on there's a gigantic cathedral. Looks good, yes, but it's big enough to take down Godzilla in a fight.
# Linear missions. The second mission doesn't suffer from this, but the fourth one certainly does. You must trek across what seems like the entire city. In broad daylight. With only one real direction to go. And predictable scripted events at every turn, and a couple of not-so-predictable fatal traps.
# Camvators. This is the term that DromEd'ers use for when you float VERY SLOWLY through the air to watch an in-engine cinematic. The problem with these is that they're all hideously boring, and buggy as hell. If you jump during one of these, you die. The short ones take 2+ minutes to watch, the longer ones will have you falling asleep. KotP has at least two of these, I never played through the whole thing to count them all.
All of this and more adds up to make playing the campaign a rather dull affair. It'll take perserverence to trek through the whole thing. Good luck.
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SCO
Arcane
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poocolator said:SCO said:
Holy shit, is that a curved arch, in darkengine?
Damn. I really have to try this out.
How is the enhancement pack?
The only screenshot i posted was of another mission, "Rose Cottage".
But i like Bathory, i tend to like long campaigns. Be aware that Sensut seems to be a romanian or some other eastern european, his english is not the best sometimes.
Do play the seven sisters.
The enhancement pack is fine, but incomplete. Not all objects are replaced and it's annoying sometimes on especially bad original ones (like that awful clipping carpentry table). It also doesn't replace the floor textures (though it probably should).
There are more replacers nowadays, including a sky and water shaders. It is going to get better i think.
Do install ddfix. It really helps and is going to help even more in the future. If you have windows xp and recent Ati driver (10.11), beware now, there is a bug (i've been playing in wine and haven't noticed anything). Installing a modded thief is a long process, i will post a howto in a later post.
Some (one or two) missions crash with the EP, but they say so if they do.
Unkillable Cat said:
I stop when I was going to start the cathedral level. In factthis topic is making me feel like going on again. I have a problem that makes me want to finish what I already started. So I can only enjoy another FM after finishing this one.
I kind of liked the idea of the factory, with cubicles, a research area. But it had that feeling of things being unproportional: enormous tables, enourmous windous. It reminded me of the lara croft's mansion in tomb raider 3, in which the sink in the kitchens was almost the sise of a bathtub.
About calendra's legacy, I remember this level was praised a lot. In fact, for nowadays standards, it too flawed, and not a very good campaign. But i remember that it was released in a time when most of FM were very amateurish. Calendra's legacy is still a very beautiful level, but kind of unbalanced and suffer from a lack of purpose.
One level I enjoyd was pirates ahoy, at least the first mission, which is a city mission. the other 3 missions are in a tropical island, and the last mission is at day time, which are far from what the engine is design for. But I like because it was an attempt to create a new setting in the dark engine, and it kind of does a good job.
A problem with some FM levels is that sometimes the author uses some kind of gimmick to increase the difficulty of the game, and sometimes you don't have a clue to what you're supposed to do. But I prefer this than what seems to be comming with the next installment in the series...
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I agree with you on both Calendra's Legacy and Pirates Ahoy! CL (and its prequel Calendra's Cistern) was an awesome feat back when it was released, but it has aged badly. But nothing justifies the atrocious second mission of CL.
Pirates Ahoy! has a wonderful first mission, but the pirate gimmick thingy gets old real quick, especially with the predictable "Start at point A, go to Point B which is at the other end of the map, get the Glazed MacGuffin, go ALL THE WAY BACK to Point A, dealing with all of these freshly spawned monsters that appeared out of nowhere along the way... because."
One author that introduces new gimmicks into his FMs, but does so more to enrich them rather than to jack up the difficulty is Haplo. He's currently also the most prolific DromEd'er around. A start would be Unholy Vivid Innocence, a Undead/crypt mission that has you thinking outside the box a few times. For example there's a critter there that hurts you only if you see it. Only the bonus objectives are really hard, though.
The "sequel" to UVI is Insanity's Crescendo that starts off with a rather large but plain-looking mansion, but once you get into the shed in the garden the mission takes on a whole new life. This mission introduces a portable teleporter that you can use to reach hard-to-reach places and solve some interesting puzzles.
And I mentioned earlier Among Two Storms. That's also Haplo.
Pirates Ahoy! has a wonderful first mission, but the pirate gimmick thingy gets old real quick, especially with the predictable "Start at point A, go to Point B which is at the other end of the map, get the Glazed MacGuffin, go ALL THE WAY BACK to Point A, dealing with all of these freshly spawned monsters that appeared out of nowhere along the way... because."
One author that introduces new gimmicks into his FMs, but does so more to enrich them rather than to jack up the difficulty is Haplo. He's currently also the most prolific DromEd'er around. A start would be Unholy Vivid Innocence, a Undead/crypt mission that has you thinking outside the box a few times. For example there's a critter there that hurts you only if you see it. Only the bonus objectives are really hard, though.
The "sequel" to UVI is Insanity's Crescendo that starts off with a rather large but plain-looking mansion, but once you get into the shed in the garden the mission takes on a whole new life. This mission introduces a portable teleporter that you can use to reach hard-to-reach places and solve some interesting puzzles.
And I mentioned earlier Among Two Storms. That's also Haplo.
Serious_Business
Best Poster on the Codex
I dub Unkillable Cat as the official Thief bro on the Codex. Think I'm going to reinstall, been years I played this good shit. Pretty painful to make it work on XP though, meh, but I'll find a way I guess.
poocolator
Erudite
SCO said:
But I will dabble, myself, just to see whether I can make some progress.
Stickied because Thief is awesome and thread is informative about awesome FMs.
Calem Ravenna
Scholar
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This thread made me reinstall Thief 2 after almost four years
I don't have much to add myself, since Unkillable Cat listed most of the good FMs, but I'll mention "The Trickster's gem Mine" (TTGM), one of the oldest campaigns for Thief 2, a pretty decent one too.
Although not exactly on topic, are there any worthwhile fan missions for Deadly Shadows?
I don't have much to add myself, since Unkillable Cat listed most of the good FMs, but I'll mention "The Trickster's gem Mine" (TTGM), one of the oldest campaigns for Thief 2, a pretty decent one too.
Although not exactly on topic, are there any worthwhile fan missions for Deadly Shadows?
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I can't really answer for Deadly Shadows, as I've only tried a few of them and the few I have tried have been disappointing.
Trickster's Gem Mine... I can't remember that one. Give me a minute to try to recall something.
Trickster's Gem Mine... I can't remember that one. Give me a minute to try to recall something.
Well, the good thing is that most FMs are in the range of 10 - 100 Mb, and installing them is easy with garrettloader (which I prefer) or darloader.
So it doesn't take too much to download, install and try it.
The difficulty is installing the game itself, and I myself never tried this new installer for thief 2, since the games is already installed on my PC for a long time.
After I finish KOTP, I'll give bad debts and disorientation (Both by Melan). Heard they're huge levels. I myself only give it a peak.
----EDIT----
Well, finished part 3 of KOTP. Huge cathedral, but not so many things inside.The fact that it's a timed mission doesn't help, since you want to explore a level of this size in a careful way. In fact, it's pretty much linear and after some minutes, you get the layout pretty quick.
I just remembered that KOTP has, at least in the factory mission, scrolls with about 20 pages... Nothing against to many things to read, but in thief, you want play, and read notes around, not a pile of notes at once. I hope next notes are more scattered.
Now, next level is in a kind of asteroid with low gravity. Weird.
So it doesn't take too much to download, install and try it.
The difficulty is installing the game itself, and I myself never tried this new installer for thief 2, since the games is already installed on my PC for a long time.
After I finish KOTP, I'll give bad debts and disorientation (Both by Melan). Heard they're huge levels. I myself only give it a peak.
----EDIT----
Well, finished part 3 of KOTP. Huge cathedral, but not so many things inside.The fact that it's a timed mission doesn't help, since you want to explore a level of this size in a careful way. In fact, it's pretty much linear and after some minutes, you get the layout pretty quick.
I just remembered that KOTP has, at least in the factory mission, scrolls with about 20 pages... Nothing against to many things to read, but in thief, you want play, and read notes around, not a pile of notes at once. I hope next notes are more scattered.
Now, next level is in a kind of asteroid with low gravity. Weird.
SCO
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Unkillable Cat said:
My bad, i think it is actually "Benny's Dead". There's a children model there that seems based on the plague doctors of the black death ages with a creepy soundset.
Anyway, now i'm waiting for version 1.3 of the darkmod to be released, supposedly on Christmas. Already bought doom 3 for 5€.
Cassidy
Arcane
To think I stopped looking at General Gaming expecting to only find weeaboo faggotry in it, and now I give one look and find
SCO is one of the few last patriots.
SCO is one of the few last patriots.
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I've been running through a new FM for Thief 2 called "Tales From The Cleft 2 - Ladytaker", which is interesting for various reasons.
It's a city mission where your goal is to steal a hammer from a tomb, but the "plan" to get it is a little complicated to say the least. Thrown into the mix is a serial killer on the loose, a ghost seeking justice, a raid by the police and an optional quest to find 16 near-invisible Hammer symbols and "activate" them. But it's mostly the little details that make this FM so fun to play.
It has a little bit of everything in it, but if I was to point at its biggest flaw it would be that it feels like a disjointed series of events. It's very easy to "break" the mission, to find yourself in situations that the author didn't think of, or being in the right place at the wrong time.
SCO: Benny's Dead is only memorable for the sewers and the critters in them. It's not everyday you get swearing children in a video game. Shame that the ending is bugged.
As for the Dark Mod - haven't touched it. I own Doom 3, but my biggest problem with the Dark Mod is that compared to the Dark Engine its range of scenery is limited - hopefully the new version will do something about that.
It's a city mission where your goal is to steal a hammer from a tomb, but the "plan" to get it is a little complicated to say the least. Thrown into the mix is a serial killer on the loose, a ghost seeking justice, a raid by the police and an optional quest to find 16 near-invisible Hammer symbols and "activate" them. But it's mostly the little details that make this FM so fun to play.
It has a little bit of everything in it, but if I was to point at its biggest flaw it would be that it feels like a disjointed series of events. It's very easy to "break" the mission, to find yourself in situations that the author didn't think of, or being in the right place at the wrong time.
SCO: Benny's Dead is only memorable for the sewers and the critters in them. It's not everyday you get swearing children in a video game. Shame that the ending is bugged.
As for the Dark Mod - haven't touched it. I own Doom 3, but my biggest problem with the Dark Mod is that compared to the Dark Engine its range of scenery is limited - hopefully the new version will do something about that.
bandaid
Educated
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When I played Thief for the first time long time ago, I got scared by zombie on the second map, and haven't played it since.
Damn, I was such a gargantuan dumbass back then.
Gave it another shot a year ago. This time on expert, playing in headphones and with the lights turned off. And I loved it. This game is fucking INTENSE.
Damn, I was such a gargantuan dumbass back then.
Gave it another shot a year ago. This time on expert, playing in headphones and with the lights turned off. And I loved it. This game is fucking INTENSE.
So what are good FMs if I want to rob banks and mansions? No zombies and stuff, I prefer maps with only human guards and maybe some of these mechanical eyes. I also like them reasonably large, maybe with an outdoor city area, too. A small crypt part doesn't hurt, either, but I prefer maps where the focus is on robbing humans, not undead.
Missions like T2's First City Bank and Trust, Life of the Party and Blackmail are my favourite type.
Missions like T2's First City Bank and Trust, Life of the Party and Blackmail are my favourite type.
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JarlFrank: The Art Of Thievery is the first one that springs to mind. It's a gigantic mansion (more like an apartment block on 3 floors) and it only has Mechanists and some of the machines.
Heist Society is another, a good mansion mission. There are corpses, but I can't remember if any of them were unaware of their state of being.
And then Ominous Bequest, of course, but that one has some Haunts and a zombie or two IIRC.
Hidden Agenda has you breaking into a Mechanist Facility. I do recall there being some kind of vault in there, but the focus soon shifts downwards into crypts and such. Very few Undead in it, if any.
The CoSaS missions - Gathering at the Inn and Mission X. The former has you sneaking into an Inn to retrieve some scepters, while Mission X has you mucking about in a hotel. It's huge - four large floors in total.
Wicked Relics is a large and interesting mansion mission, but while it doesn't have a crypt, it does have a section filled with Undead. Not as many as in Ominous Bequest, though.
These should keep you going for a while.
Heist Society is another, a good mansion mission. There are corpses, but I can't remember if any of them were unaware of their state of being.
And then Ominous Bequest, of course, but that one has some Haunts and a zombie or two IIRC.
Hidden Agenda has you breaking into a Mechanist Facility. I do recall there being some kind of vault in there, but the focus soon shifts downwards into crypts and such. Very few Undead in it, if any.
The CoSaS missions - Gathering at the Inn and Mission X. The former has you sneaking into an Inn to retrieve some scepters, while Mission X has you mucking about in a hotel. It's huge - four large floors in total.
Wicked Relics is a large and interesting mansion mission, but while it doesn't have a crypt, it does have a section filled with Undead. Not as many as in Ominous Bequest, though.
These should keep you going for a while.
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Calem Ravenna
Scholar
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It's been a long time since I played those, so it's quite possible I'm completely mistaken, but some recommendations:
Saturio Returns Home - Mansion. One or two robots, some mechanical eyes. Has a crypt section, but I don't recall if it has any undead in it.
Embracing The Enemy - Castle/mansion. No undead/robots whatsoever, a few eyes/turrets. However, this one features some silly plot and horrible voice acting.
Shining Standards - Mansion. This one has some spiders, but no undead/robots/eyes as far as I recall.
Rowena's Curse - Excellent mansion mission, but there's a lot of zombies and horror elements. The later parts of the mission are completely undead themed (might have confused it with Ominous Bequest, which is a better one).
Saturio Returns Home - Mansion. One or two robots, some mechanical eyes. Has a crypt section, but I don't recall if it has any undead in it.
Embracing The Enemy - Castle/mansion. No undead/robots whatsoever, a few eyes/turrets. However, this one features some silly plot and horrible voice acting.
Shining Standards - Mansion. This one has some spiders, but no undead/robots/eyes as far as I recall.
Rowena's Curse - Excellent mansion mission, but there's a lot of zombies and horror elements. The later parts of the mission are completely undead themed (might have confused it with Ominous Bequest, which is a better one).
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The Saturio mission has some zombies and a Haunt or two in the crypts, but I also recall that you can have the guards "interact" with the zombies if you're clever. It's a good FM, but not "huge" in any way.
Rowena's Curse isn't exactly big, but there sure is a lot to do. The attention to detail is a nice touch (every guard, servant and nobby has a name) but the plot does get a little weird and sappy at times. Oh, and the last part is CRAWLING with Undead.
Embracing the Enemy... I had completely forgotten about this one. It's a good mansion FM. Not excellent, but still worth playing.
Shining Standards: I don't even remember playing this one. No clue.
Rowena's Curse isn't exactly big, but there sure is a lot to do. The attention to detail is a nice touch (every guard, servant and nobby has a name) but the plot does get a little weird and sappy at times. Oh, and the last part is CRAWLING with Undead.
Embracing the Enemy... I had completely forgotten about this one. It's a good mansion FM. Not excellent, but still worth playing.
Shining Standards: I don't even remember playing this one. No clue.
I just played The Art of Thievery and finished it on normal difficulty. Damn, this one was huge and well-designed! Gotta try it on expert, too, since that unlocks even more areas of the building. Lots of guards with iron helmets, nice variation in floors (wood, marble, carpet), generally well-designed...
I'll try some of the others you recommended next. Btw, what about more surreal FMs? I've watched some youtube FM previews and some of them had rather interesting artstyles. Also seen some descriptions and screenshots which were really quite weird. Which of the more surreal/weird FMs are any good?
I'll try some of the others you recommended next. Btw, what about more surreal FMs? I've watched some youtube FM previews and some of them had rather interesting artstyles. Also seen some descriptions and screenshots which were really quite weird. Which of the more surreal/weird FMs are any good?
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