Thief fan missions and campaigns

[skacky]

Yeah that's the one. Even when you don't know anything about Firefly it's still pretty cool.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

On your recommendation, I had a go at "Complicated Cargo". Yes it's very cool, I really liked how they seamlessly merged the two FMs together, and Firefly fans will love it. But personally, I still prefer the original "Life of the Party" and "Theft In High Towne", even though the latter is tons harder in its original version. What jarred me the most were the conversations lifted directly from the show and then in-game models were trying to be the "actors" speaking the parts, but as any veteran Thief player knows, in-game models are incapable of expressing any emotion - their lips don't move, their eyes just stare vacantly. Really breaks the immersion to have people just STARING at you while they're supposed to be telling you something important.

 

[Manjuice Nutella]

Don't know if it was mentioned, but what about The Dark Mod FMs, guys? I would like to play a few definite highlights, difficulty and size doesn't matter. After that, I think I'll join you guys in trying out FMs for T1/T2

 

[skacky]

My favorites are Return to the City, A Score to Settle and St. Albans Cathedral.

Return to the City is a medium-sized city mission with lots of nooks and crannies to explore and a quite grim atmosphere. It was made by Melan who made Bad Debts and Disorientation for T2, so it's an instant seal of quality.
A Score to Settle is another city mission and it's probably the best looking mission for TDM so far, with very believable streets and buildings.
And finally St. Albans Cathedral is a cathedral mission with a city bit and some sewers. It's quite long and a bit hard at the beginning (you're missing part of your gear), but definitely recommended.

 

[Insect Hordes]

TDM missions I've beaten. Bolded the good ones.

Alberic's Curse - pretty good haunt based mission in a church.
Awaiting the Storm - short level. nothing groundbreaking.
Business as Usual - medium city level. Definite recommendation
Caduceus of St. Alban - complete recommendation
Chalace of Kings - highlight of the mission is a detailed roll top desk and hutch. noise and moss are a must.
Crown of Penitence - short mission. worthwhile.
Outpost - short castle mission.
Pandora's Box - short airship mission.
Parcel - kinda recommended.
Patently Dangerous = Absolute recommendation.
Special Delivery - Short 'n' simple.
St. Alban's Cathedral - only thing I didn't like was an obscure bit near the end involving a brick dropping that you wouldn't be aware of.
Tears of St. Lucia- you gotta play it.
Thief's Den- very short mission. Highly recommend just for the brevity.
Too Late - Short. definite recommendation.
In the North - Absolute recommendation.

I have a tendency to favor ones that don't go overblown on 29 page readables and stay firmly out of their own asses. Haven't played a mission that went two hours. Whole lot of 90 minute missions though. Do wish someone would hide some coins or gems inside a boot. I'm checkin' every single goddamned boot until something falls out. From what I've played not enough is being done with item manipulation and knocking things down from ledges. Tears of St. Lucia has that one little bit where you knock some shit down with an arrow.

I also favor missions where you can lock people up. I think it was Alban's Cathedral where I took a priest from upstairs back down to the prison and locked him in the furthest cell with a wine bottle just out of reach in the middle of the hall. Bonus points for throwing the key into a toilet. Wasn't part of the mission, but anything that facilitates my inner shithead is doin' a service. Knocking a guard out and setting him in a bathtub surrounded by wine bottles. Emergent assholery.

 

[Melan]

The recently released Crystal Grave is a pleasant experience. Complex, varied, with good navigation-related challenges and excellent visuals. Pretty hard on high difficulties, though, if that is a problem.

 

[Manjuice Nutella]

Thanks a lot for the recommendations! Will definitely check those out in the next few days. Finished Too Late, Crown of Penitence and Tears of Saint Lucia back in the day and I've installed Return to the City right now to begin that list with. I like the "thieves highway" levels, and TTLG reviews seem to especially highlight it. Looking forward to play your other FMs Melan

 

[Unkillable Cat]

I myself haven't even tried installing The Dark Mod - I'm saving it for later.

Meanwhile, back in DromED-land, some good news: Remember the FM "A Pirate's Downfall", that I said wouldn't work under NewDark? Well, someone found what the problem was and posted a fix for it. I've tested it and everything works perfectly now. It may take a while before the updated version will be posted on FM sites, though.

In other news, the 'NewDark Cubed FM Contest' is in swing. The goal of this contest is to create a FM that has a restricted area size AND also allow entries to show off what NewDark can do. Two entries have already landed. 'Till Death Do Us Part' involves robbing a small mansion. The problem? It's a timed objective, and timed objectives in Thief make me run for the hills. (I STILL remember how much I hated the timed objective in Calendra's Legacy!) The other one is 'Way Home' and has Garrett washing up (quite literally) in an inventor's house. While there are some beautiful things done here (the central room on the upper floors and the two staircases) and the author really does some clever things with the NewDark stuff, the mission itself is frustrating. You have to search through every room with a fine comb and a toothpick to find all the loot and the mission objectives.

 

[skacky]

I was a beta-tester on Way Home, and the mission required you to find all the loot on Expert. I managed to convince the author it wasn't such a good idea.
I found it pretty neat to be honest, though so far my favorite is Till Death Do Us Part, even if I usually hate timed objectives. I found it was a fun breeze and the sheer amount of loot you hoard is astonishing for such a small mission.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

There's a new entry in the competition: The Unseen. For Thief 1. Inspired by Ultima Underworld and Arx Fatalis. skacky why do I get the feeling this is your work? ;-)

Having a go.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

Alright, had a go at The Unseen. I had flashbacks to several other FMs while playing this, but only for the briefest of moments. That's what playing this FM felt like: Flashbacks to various bits from other FMs. You start in a dark-as-night jailcell, then creep out into some critter-infested caves, then fall into a sepulchre. To survive in there, your ears will be more useful than your eyes, dodging between shadows to find the levers that open up the path to the exit.

The author claims that it's tough. It's certainly challenging. The only real problem I had with it was that one of the audio files wouldn't play correctly, and I had to replace it with another one. The only real hint I can give is LOOK EVERYWHERE. Do I recommend it? It's certainly worth a go, but the replayability value is a bit low.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

The new entry in the contest is called Schizophrenica, and I played it long enough to see that the author is trying to get a bit of a 'Sanitarium" vibe going here. Unfortunately, the FM is so cramped in places that it makes it bloody annoying to play. I gave up once I reached a segment where I'm supposed to jump from a chain and land on a piece of pipe. The Dark engine has NEVER been a good contender for platforming elements.

Meanwhile, back in regular FM-land, I've been continuing my excavation through my saved FM's:

"The Mystery of the St. Anne Inn" has Garrett looking for an 'associate' of his who was going to case the aforementioned inn, but hasn't returned. At first it may seem that there's nothing to do, but once the first key is discovered and some locks are opened, things pick up and soon Garrett is hunting down someone across a wilderness area. This FM is a bit of a mixed bag. The Inn and the immediate subsequent area are rather nicely done, but once you get further it alls just seems to fall apart. The guards look like mimes rather than... well, guards, and the few puzzles presented don't exactly provide much of a challenge. I'd say it's worth a playthrough, but I doubt it'll be among anyone's favourites in the long run.

The same cannot be said for "Bloodmist Tower", where Garrett is just going to relieve some poor nobleman of his prized possessions, among them what appears to be a magical horn. Soon as Garrett grabs the horn the adventure kicks off in a big way. I'll have to say that this is one of my favourite FMs ever, it has varied areas, good architecture, the story is nice and consistent, and there's plenty to see and do... and lots of humour. This is one of the better FMs out there in terms of humour, but don't let that fool you into thinking that you're not in for some frights. This FM is NOT for the arachnophobes out there. Highly recommended.

"Transitions in Chaos: Conspiracies In The Dark" was to be the first part in a longer story, but sadly the sequels were never released, so this is all it will ever be. Garrett is accused of murdering a nobleman, so he breaks into the mansion of the deceased to try to clear his name. This is clearly a mansion mission with some item hunting thrown in. The only 'supernatural' element is the ghost of the deceased nobleman wanting to assist you in clearing your own name... once you help him out, of course.

What this FM has going for it is that it is beautifully made. Considering it was made in 2006, it sure looks awesome. Better still, the architecture is solid, though I lamented the fact that almost all the windows are non-transparent. And short of knocking out the guards and the guests, stealing their stuff and moving things around for the ghost, there really is nothing more to do here. On Expert level you'll be asked to discover a majority of the secrets, which is actually easier than it sounds.

Overall it's worth a playthrough as the story is quite nice, but ultimately kinda futile.

 

[skacky]

I spent more than 20 minutes on that area in Schizophrenica, and I finally got it by total accident. The FM is completely nuts and really uses space well, but all the geometry problems and the very vague hints make this one a bitch to complete. It's also a massive key/switch hunt that can get really annoying after a while.
I don't really agree with what you said about Conspiracies of the Dark. I consider this one to be easily one of the top FMs released so far. The atmosphere is done so well in it that you forget the little problems (sometimes boring item hunt). One thing that I also really love with this mission is that the mansion's layout is really impressive. No symmetric stuff, no big halls, and it still remains clear and interesting to navigate in. And the Pagan bit was also really cool, but way too short.

I never played Under Templehill so I'm giving it a go right now. Looks like a fun city mission.

By the way, The Unseen received an update with the sound bug fixed, and there's also a brighter version available.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

The Unseen doesn't need more brightness, but good to hear that the sound bug was fixed.

I forgot to mention it, but I agree with you on the mansion layout in CitD: It's fun to walk around the mansion and look at the various rooms, space is well utilized and there are plenty of opportunities to go off the beaten path and explore. My "futile" comment is mostly aimed at playing the FM for the story, as the story ends abruptly, so there's no real reason to get overly attached. But CitD is a very solid mansion mission, there isn't even a Mechanist presence, and I had loads of fun luring guards to their untimely bouts with unconsciousness by turning off the lights. Almost every light in the house has a lightswitch, and the guards will turn them on when they pass them.

EDIT: Another fact I forgot to mention is that "Bloodmist Tower" is made by kfort, whose other works include "Wicked Relics" and "Garrett and the Beanstalk", which get my recommendations. She also made "A Mother's Love" and "The Adventures of Burrick Boy", which I think I'll have a look at soon, considering I don't remember them at all.

 

[Melan]

Conspiracies in the Dark is excellent because a lot of mansion missions from the 2002-2007 era were essentially interchangeable - visually uninteresting with the same plotlines (scheming noble family with a Dark Secret / routine heist) over and over. Routine building work resulting in routine gameplay. I got out of playing FMs for years largely because of that, and CitD was one of the first ones I played when I got back. It looks good in its own distinct way, the puzzles are varied and well developed, and there is a good sense of progression through a lived-in place.

 

[JarlFrank]

EDIT: Another fact I forgot to mention is that "Bloodmist Tower" is made by kfort, whose other works include "Wicked Relics" and "Garrett and the Beanstalk", which get my recommendations. She also made "A Mother's Love" and "The Adventures of Burrick Boy", which I think I'll have a look at soon, considering I don't remember them at all.

I really like her FMs, especially Wicked Relics which has a high place in my best FMs ever list. I hope she makes another mission, her previous ones have good humour and great variety in layout and design.
Wicked Relics is one of those FMs everyone should have played. It's just great.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

I stumbled upon a FM campaign (in 7 parts) that I never knew to be a whole campaign until now. It starts with an FM package called 'Dark Beginnings', which encompasses 'Burglary In Blackbrook', 'A Spooky Interlude' and 'Quick Cash', and the campaign is named after the last of these three. These seem to be a remix or remake of a set of missions made around 2002, so the age is a factor.

'Burglary In Blackbrook' is a Hammerite mission, through and through. Break into a big-ass cathedral (complete with haunted crypt and underground prison) to steal some loot, valuable relics and bust out a friend of yours. This mission is solid, with interesting architecture, a good attention to detail AND catching the Thief 1 feel throughout. There were a few times when I stopped and asked what the taff was going on, like how come there's a torch AND an electric light in a tiny room, or why the library has a whole wing dedicated to giant-sized books. I'll be surprised if some players won't get lost or unable to find some of the objectives. Overall, worth playing.

"A Spooky Interlude" is a very short mission, run into a crypt, steal a gem, and then get out. The tension buildup is good, but predictable, and the mood is excellent. This could have been something much more, but sometimes little is good.

"Quick Cash" is so short you can finish it over a cup of coffee. Enter a Hammerite facility and score some loot. Oh, and the cemetary has an Undead problem. Surely you can kill two birds with one stone...?

"Your Last Breath" takes place almost completely underwater. The Mechanists have an underwater facility and you're there to investigate. It's mostly the premise of the mission that has any appeal, a mission that's 95% water. Beyond that there's little interesting about it.

It's "Brawl in the Tombs" that's probably the highpoint of the series. Descend into a LARGE set of crypts, packed full of Undead, with a Hammerite outpost in one corner, a Mechanist fortification in another, and a group of Thieves trying to make a quick buck. It's mostly fun for the fights that are just waiting for some silly taffer to walk in and start them, though it's finally in this part that the main story starts to unfold about a crazy CRAZY Mechanist guy and his schemes of grandeur.

The final two parts I did not bother to (re)play, because I remember them all too well. "Island of Iron 1: Fortress of Steel" involves breaking into a large Mechanist facility (very similar in style to the underwater outpost) on a barren-looking island before moving on to the final part; "Island of Iron 2: Confrontation" has the machinations of our crazed Mechanist come to fruition, and only Garrett is in a position to stop him. This one involves a gigantic castle that is rather eerie and fun to explore, though by this point I can understand some people just wanting to get the whole thing over with.

As a whole, My recommendations for this campaign are somewhere in the middle. While the readables tell a nice story, they're also plagued by the standard troubles that some authors have with FMs, namely people writing every single thought and expression onto a piece of paper. It gets dreary really quick. It's not the best fan-based camapign made for Thief 2, but I can name others that are much worse. As for individual missions, I'd only recommend "Burglary in Blackbrook" and "Brawl in the Tombs", though "A Spooky Interlude" deserves special mention.

On another note, I tried out "Alchemical Allusions". It's short and easy, kill some alchemist, destroy his experiment and steal his research notes. I'm not gonna spoil for you the gimmick of the mission, but it's certain to make people smile at the very least. Recommended for a playthrough.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

The 'Cubed' competition seems to be coming to a close. For a while I thought there weren't any FM's gonna surface from the competition that would surpass it and become memorable FMs on their own. Then someone churned out "Sinkhole". It's so simple, yet so magnificent in its execution. There's a giant sinkhole that's pitch-black dark, and you have to reach a tomb in it and plunder its contents. The biggest obstacle will be navigating the darkness, but the FM gives you plenty of supplies, and you have to plan your return trip while you descend into the murky depths. Beyond that there's only one real puzzle, and only one 'enemy' to deal with, right at the start. (Wanna ditch a body? Drop it in a sinkhole, just don't wait for the *thud*.) I strongly recommend it, if only for the challenge it provides.

Another 'Cubed' FM is "Cell 6". In terms of playability I think this one is the winner, but in terms of which of the entrants shows best the capabilities of the new patch, then "Way Home" does a much better job. "Cell 6" takes place in a prison where you're tasked by the son of a former inmate (who died while in custody) to discover the truth about the incident. This FM is challenging because you are undercover and must not reveal yourself, but mostly that means you only have to be more careful in what you're doing. There is a lot of stuff crammed into this one, so look in every nook and cranny for items, keys and loot.

There's also a new FM out that allows you to play chess via the Dark Engine. 3 boards are available, 2 noble families duking it out, Hammerites vs Undead and Mechanists vs Pagans. Something for chesstaffers to taff around with.

In my replays of saved FMs, I dug up "Dark Messiah", and the memories came back to me in a flash, as it was one of the first FMs I played when I seriously got into FMs over 4 years ago. Garrett is tasked by the Keepers to learn more about a man named Bassilus (Brofist to the first one to name where that name comes from) who seems to be conducting some horrific experiments. What that means is a cityscape mission that quickly turns into a Old Quarter/Undead mission of the highest order. This one is a bit tough, with a strict loot count and requiring not only some narrow escapes from patrolling Undeads, but also some vertical exploration and squeezing through cramped places, but it also has some real clever parts, like the light experiment in the Hammerite basement. It also has one of the creepiest readables by far (the little girl's diary) and is a strong contender for one of the creepiest FMs ever released. Highly recommended.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

Clearly I spoke too soon. More 'Cubed' entrants have arrived. 'Zealot's Hollow' will probably go down in Thief history as THE tightest cityscape mission ever made. That is, however, not a good recommendation. This is too cramped and too cluttered. Far too many items around, and all of them in hi-res textures, so while it's beautiful, it's not really that fun to play. This 'small' FM is a 230MB download, so choose carefully whether you want to download it or not.

(I suspect this to be DrK's work, by the looks of things.)

Then there's a new FM for Thief Gold, where Garrett is sent to a haunted graveyard to recover a gem. My last update of Thief gold screwed up all my settings, so I didn't get a good chance to play this, but from the looks of things it has tons of Undead and double that amount of that 'vague' darkness that makes it kinda hard to determine whether you'll be spotted or not.

 

[JarlFrank]

Garrett is tasked by the Keepers to learn more about a man named Bassilus (Brofist to the first one to name where that name comes from) who seems to be conducting some horrific experiments.

That undead necromancer guy in Baldur's Gate?
Or a variation of Basso.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

Your Brofist came in the mail weeks ago.

That Thief Gold 'Cubed' competition entry I talked about? It now has a Thief 2 version. "Dead Night, Sweet Delight" makes good use of the cramped space. Aboveground is a haunted graveyard constantly patrolled by Undead. Underground is a system of caverns and more Undead. The 'gimmick' that this mission has is that you have to MINE in it - whack at rocks with a pickaxe until they break and new areas are revealed. Despite being given a wide variety of weapons, I quickly ran into problems, because I couldn't reach one piece of loot, couldn't complete one of the required objectives and killing some of the Undead spawns a different kind of Undead instead. In fact, taking some loot spawns more Undead! It's cramped and it's cheesy, so I can't really recommend it.

Meanwhile the Cubed competition has ended, with "Zealot's Hollow" being declared the winner. I still stand by my verdict - it's too cramped, too crowded, too bothersome to get around. "Cell 6" did a much better job and "Way Home" showcased the NewDark patch much better.

There has been a virtual flood of Dark Mod and Thief 3 releases lately, but only one release for Thief 2, and that's a large campaign called "Sturmdrang Peak". Garrett is asked by his old girlfriend to rescue her from her lover who's gone crazy after finding a pirate treasure. The first mission is actually the intro, so that'll be done with in a flash. Next up is a mission in a small fishing village, followed by two missions in a castle built into a mountain, then a romp through some sewers, one mission taking place entirely on a pirate ship, and finally the showdown on an island with some old ruins and a locked temple. A total of 7 missions.

I have said it before and I will say it again: Thief does NOT mesh well with pirates, at least not as a main theme or element. It just feels silly somehow. This FM is sadly no exception, but don't think that this makes Sturmdrang Peak a bad campaign... but it doesn't help it either. A lot of care and effort has been put into this campaign, and yet I breezed through it in about 4 hours and didn't need to look for help even once. There were NO surprises whatsoever, very little challenge and nothing outstanding about it. It's just a very well done campaign, but nothing that's gonna stick with people afterwards. I enjoyed the architecture and the aesthetics, the voice actors at least are having fun and the readables are well written, but they fall victim to the "everyone has an audio log" trope - except this is Thief, everything is written on parchment, which makes the readables REALLY stupid at times. Overall it's solid gameplay, nothing outstanding but good fun while it lasts.

(Now Thief vs Ninjas, THAT would be something. Anyone who wants a taste of how that could be like should try "Equilibrium"...)

 

[SCO]

Don't know if it was mentioned, but what about The Dark Mod FMs, guys? I would like to play a few definite highlights, difficulty and size doesn't matter. After that, I think I'll join you guys in trying out FMs for T1/T2

Glenham's Tower.

 

[Melan]

Pirates and Thief doesn't go well together, but Left for Dead is a very notable exception (for all the oddity of playing a skeleton). It works because it is exceptionally well designed, and it doesn't go into camp humour, which pirate FMs tend to do.

 

[skacky]

So all the 48 hours missions were released this night. The goal was to create the best mission in 48 hours and release it when the timer's over. There are 8 missions;
- Canvassing the Neighborhood
- Double or Quits
- Forty Eight
- Half-Assed Wedding
- Run!
- Secret of the Keepers
- The Cash Box
- The Music of Sibel

Since these were made in 48 hours or less, they are pretty rough around the edges, but you might be surprised to find some really neat stuff in them.
You can find the voting thread with all the missions here: http://www.ttlg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=142207

 

[skacky]

Both CoSaS missions are great. The first one, Gathering at the Inn, is a nice break-in/break-out job during the winter, and Mission X is one of the hardest and most visually impressive missions for Thief 2. Definitely recommended, but I must warn you, Mission X is VERY hard, especially on Impossible.