Thief fan missions and campaigns

[octavius]

Completed The 7th Crystal.
Quite impressive visuals, and very professionally made. It actually reminded me a bit of Half-Life 2, with too much cut scenes and story telling, and game play not being of the same quality, and being rather linear despite taking place in a huge mansion.

I completed it without much problems; even the switch in the second attic that launched a thousand threads for halp! on the TTLG forums.
The story line is pretty good, and better than in most other FMs, but the game play and exploration left a bit to be desired. There's no secret areas in the huge mansion, except those you need to find to complete. There's no loot requirement, and nowhere where you really need rope arrows. Parts of it felt rather contrived, like the Attic Key being kept in a locked and hidden safe in the library, when the only reason for going to the attic (which has no loot) is to trigger a cut scene. The only enemies are human guards (of which only the first, very alert patrol posed a problem), and, if you don't find a rosary, spiders. The mansion has modern WCs, but no robots and no alarm system. And there was not even a little zombie to liven things up in the catacombs.
All in all, I think the FM maker (Saturnine) focused too much on "realism".

Still, a solid and enjoyable enough FM, with nothing that I really disliked about it, but I don't think it's the masterpiece some taffers claim it to be.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

It was "a masterpiece" when it was released 20+ years ago, because it set new standards for what could be accomplished with the Dark Engine.

It doesn't hold up so well in hindsight, obviously.

 

[octavius]

Well, I haven't played any FMs more recent than from 2007, so my reaction is not influenced by modern masterpieces.

 

[Melan]

It is a peak of Thief 2-style "story mode" mission design. Looks good, reads good, the gameplay suffers a little. This was the general trend of those years. (With obvious outliers)

 

[octavius]

Finished The Search for Crom's Blade.
I used 8.5 hours...I'm getting too old for this taff.
I completed it on Expert and without any outside help. Still, it's probably nearly twice as long as my previous "record".

Very large and intricate map, that is everything 7th Crystal was not, with lots to explore. Gave me a strong Lost City from Ultima Underworld 2 vibe.

The puzzle to find Crom's Blade is in hindsight very easy. Not so easy in figuring out what to do, but more like easy as in how quickly you can do it, when you realize that

Spoiler

the tomb is a giant red herring and that you can bash the door to the throne room. So you don't really need any of the Orobouroses after all. All you need is one Fire Arrow, shot thrice (or maybe even just once?).

So the meat of the FM is exploring every nook and cranny to find those nine diamonds. Fortunately there are audio clues, even if you have turned off ambient sounds (which is usually music).

In addition to Unkillable Cat's tips earlier in this thread I would add that a good supply of broadhead arrows will come in handy.

It was nice to play a large, traditional FM again.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

A new T2 FM dropped over the weekend: "Alterna Crystallis."

Garrett hears about a guy who seems to be growing some snazzy crystals, and decides to have a look. Along the way he decides to check out what leads the cops have on him, and maybe rob Lord Bafford once more.

This is a pure humans-in-cityscape affair, with a handful of spiders and a truckload of rats thrown in. It's a little railroaded at first, but soon opens up to reveal its massive size. Bafford's new manor is at least as big as the one he had back in T1, and the police station is a hefty challenger.

It doesn't do anything wrong per se, but Audiolog Syndrome is a thing and I didn't like how the main objective kept moving the goalposts. I also wasn't fond of how the FM restricts travel in places. There are 23 secrets in total, so plenty of reason to to taff around, but there are no crates (or even rubble!) to work with... only vine arrows and figuring out the sometime moonish logic of the author.

Easily a 7.5/10, but I'm gonna muck around with it some more before giving a final rating.

 

[Nixheb]

Currently playing Exile (Being Thief 2) v 1.2 ...

The typical infuriating mission that you always skip ("the title is crap", "looks boring", the first minutes of play are not that convincing) and that, when you finally take the time to dig in, reveals an absolute jewels with an immersive city, plot and a fantastic use of verticality. If you like city missions with "an attitude", susbtance and really creative ideas, go for it !

 

[notpl]

Would one of you please condense all 160 pages of this thread into like 10-20 solid recommendations? God bless those of you who play every single one of them but 99% of fan missions are irredeemably bad.

 

[Curratum]

Black Parade this Christmas or I nuke the whole planet!

Would one of you please condense all 160 pages of this thread into like 10-20 solid recommendations? God bless those of you who play every single one of them but 99% of fan missions are irredeemably bad.

Say no more, say no more. This is what I have left with the intention to finish / replay after years of collecting and trying and deleting / pruning missions, i.e. content of sufficient quality to recommend:

Thief 1:

Thief 2:

 

[notpl]

Black Parade this Christmas or I nuke the whole planet!

Would one of you please condense all 160 pages of this thread into like 10-20 solid recommendations? God bless those of you who play every single one of them but 99% of fan missions are irredeemably bad.

Say no more, say no more. This is what I have left with the intention to finish / replay after years of collecting and trying and deleting / pruning missions, i.e. content of sufficient quality to recommend:

Thief 1:

Thief 2:

King.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

I revisited an FM I hadn't played in years.

"Eclipsed" by HipBreaker

Welcome to Port Aerinth, a small, wealthy, and powerful harbor town. Its inhabitants abandoned it after some still unknown tragedy struck there, but rumor has it that in their terror they left behind their considerable wealth and possessions. While most see this as a tragedy, shake their heads, and get on about their lives, Garrett sees an opportunity. An opportunity to plunder without consequence, to finally get the wealth he desires…and deserve, after all these years spent crawling through the shadows. But strange things occur the moment he sets foot in Port Aerinth. It seems that not everyone - or everything - has fled the town. Maybe tonight, the darkness isn’t his friend…

Without spoiling anything, let's just say there's a good reason everyone fled, as Garrett is about to find out.

This FM was made before NewDark and really pushed the Dark Engine to its limits, so there are a few restrictions in place. Invisible walls have been placed wherever clever taffers might try to break out of the scenery, for example. There's also a low amount of enemies, to the point that the FM is essentially barren until a certain elevator is used. It looks great despite its age, and is well written. But where it truly shines is its atmosphere. Very few FMs convey a growing sense of dread like this one, and it's done brilliantly. There are clear signs of struggle and combat everywhere, but very few bodies. My favorite bit is the bookstore, where a door chime rings when you enter... and then when you frob a particular item inside the bookstore the chime rings again, as if someone just entered after you...

But ultimately? I was disappointed by it. The restrictions are tight to the point of being annoying, but not by much. I was far more bothered by the ending, as they portray Garrett in the worst way possible.

Rating: 6.5/10. It has aged badly, but it still delivers on its greatest strengths. Despite that I'd say this one is mandatory playing, as you don't get that many great 'Show and Tell'-FMs like this one.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

As I wrapped up "Eclipsed" I noticed that there's another well-rated FM that I hadn't played in years, and figured I'd give it a go and see how it holds up.

"Broken Triad" by Eskhataar

This is a sequel to the wildly-acclaimed "Ominous Bequest" and continues (and wraps up) the story in two parts. In "Arkford" Garrett has been laying low in the eponymous town, but is planning one last heist of the town's former-church-now-museum before returning to the City. The biggest problem is the heavy security, so Garrett needs to learn how to disable that first. Fortunately he has an insider to help him out. But why is Garrett seeing strange visions, and what's with the serial killer who tears off his victim's heads?

That "Arkford" was made before NewDark came along simply amazes me, there is just so much custom work, detailed content and brilliant visuals at play. It feels like the cityscape is much larger than it truly is, but it's so tightly woven together. "Arkford" even employs Metroidvania-elements. Everything presented is of the highest quality, with the highpoint being the writing, and that on every front. Conversations feel fluid and natural, there's a well-likable character presented in the form of Brother Reginald, taking a tour of the museum is an absolute joy, and finally an intricate and engaging story is laid out which takes quite a few drastic turns along the way - most players will be left reeling by the revelations revealed at the end of "Arkford".

"Tempest Isle" then wraps up the story, as Garrett is trying to avert certain disaster by finding the last part of the Triad before the baddie does, in a precursor city located on a mysterious island. The setting is a mixture of 'Lost City' and 'Haunted Cathedral', laden heavily with traps, puzzles and obstacles to overcome, but it also introduces a cool new feature called the Sanctuary, which functions as a central hub which allows Garrett to take massive shortcuts across the map - as well as solve a puzzle or two. Overall I find "Tempest Isle" the lesser of the two missions, but it's also the final part of a trilogy and is trying to wrap up the storyline without dragging everything along, and that's a job it gets properly.

Both missions introduce other lesser ideas which are executed quite nicely. A signal lamp needs to be lit to progress further at one point, and a series of hidden riddles reward the player with a staff that triggers switches from a distance, which will come in handy. "Ominous Bequest" came with the caveat of being quite challenging, especially during the start, but "Broken Triad" doesn't suffer from that, and everything presented is explained quite well. If there's one downside to "Broken Triad" it's that it sacrifices Thief-gameplay to pull off everything it does. Oh sure, there's plenty of taffing to do in "Arkford", but some of the Thief-staples are gone. There's no loot requirement in either mission and no kill limits - you can slaughter all of Arkford without anyone giving a damn, and since there's no shop there's a lesser incentive to break into people's houses, though the FM tries to make up for it by introducing other elements - lighting the aforementioned signal lamp, for example, required finding lamp oil whose location is randomly determined amongst a few select locations. Also, gear found in "Arkford" carries over to "Tempest Isle", so it's still worthwhile to scour the entire map. (There's also a hidden bonus objective in both missions for finding all the loot, but you must find all of it. "Arkford" then presents further hidden objectives.)

Overall I'd rate "Arkford" with a solid 10, but not "Tempest Isle", so "Broken Triad" ends with a 9.5/10-rating. This puts Eskhataar's FM-trilogy Up There as the best of the best the Thief-community has produced. It is a joy to play these FMs, especially for newcomers.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

"Disorientation" by Melan

Rating: 9.5/10 I should not have to explain why.

But to give people an idea, I'll share an anecdote from me replaying this FM:

There I was, minding my own business, when I spot an open window with a wooden platform in front of it. Out comes a rope arrow and I start climbing. I may have misjudged when it was safe to jump off the rope to grab the ledge and mantle up, because I mantle up but find no purchase on the ledge, so I just drop straight back down onto the rope... except the rope wasn't having it, and sends me flying horizontally at 500 mph. I'm splattered against the wall across the street.

As I leak down the wall like the squashed tomato I've become, I think to myself "Maybe this T2 FM copied Thief 1 a little too accurately..."

Out of curiosity I reloaded to see if I could recreate it, and success! Except the second time I kept holding down 'Run_Forward' and I was flung at the wall at 700 mph!

For the curious...

It's in the West section of the map, south of the gallows, right where the Hammerites are patrolling, but before the stationary guard at the end of the street. There's a small tower there which holds this wondrous window, but the window is blocked and too narrow, meaning you can't mantle up on it. You're meant to jump off to the left to reach the roof of the adjacent building.

Pls don't fix this, it's so amusing.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

In other news, the entries for the New Dark 10th Anniversary Contest over at TTLG have been released - and strangely only two entries were submitted. I'll be giving them a look.

But that's not all, GORT has updated and re-released his submission to the Thief 2 20th Anniversary Contest. That's the one where I somehow managed to get the 'bad ending' and was locked out of most of the mission, so I'll be giving that another look.

 

[agentorange]

The Perdurance: Such an annoying mission: godlike monsters, VERY few options to defend yourself, it's like Into the Odd's Mechanist-themed little brother (despite the nice, tense atmosphere). For masochists and die-hard survival horror fans only.

I enjoyed the Perdurance but yeah it is a run away from monsters gimmick mission. The sequel mission Morning Light is a lot better in terms of gameplay.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

Good news - while only two missions were completed before the contest deadline, five other missions that intended to take part are in various stages of development, so there's more taffing on the horizon.

Meanwhile, I've had a look at the two official entries - both of which are for Thief Gold, strangely enough.

"Intertheft" (get it?) is a 'remix' of one the Original Missions. The problem? It's "Thieves Guild".

What "Intertheft" does is steal the basic plot, key gameplay elements (break into front for casino, get into sewers, break into manor #1 to get safe key, break into manor #2 to open safe and steal vase, leave), the setting (see prior point), all the in-game convos and probably even some of the readables as well from the OM, but then puts all of that in a completely new level, designed from scratch. No more numbered sewer grates. You have to be a very stupid taffer to get as hopelessly lost in this one as everyone did in the OG Guild, there's even maps included to prevent that. But it's still challenging... but worst of all it has a few bugs that the testers missed. There's an invisible pool of water in one point (which did get me into trouble) and the guards patrolling in the storage room full of crates don't seem to mind walking in and out of those crates at will.

But this FM puts forth a simple question: Does it do "Thieves Guild" better than the original? The answer is a resounding YES! If you hated "Thieves Guild", I feel you are obligated to try this out and see how it's done right.

Rating: 8/10.

And then there's "House of the Architect." Seems that the guy who built all those fancy manors you visited in Thief 1 has gotten so rich that he built his own manor... but not only that, he bought Bafford's Scepter and Constantine's Sword. Because he built their manors. Must be a sentimental kinda guy. He must also be loaded to the gills, so Garrett decides to rob him of his riches and the two items. It's not gonna be easy... but that's never stopped Garrett, has it?

This FM takes a simple concept and runs with it: "Remember those kinda silly FMs where everything was oversized to try to compensate for lack of proper game design? Well, let's see how far we can push that!" The end result is a four-floored monstrosity of a manor full of marble floors and FILLED with guards, to the point that many taffers will walk away in disgust. But not me. I worked out that there are three different ways to get into the manor, but only one of them is actually viable. I also noted that there's a locked door at the bottom of the manor that's located DEEPER than the sewers I used to get in, so that's a thing. Oh, wait. This guy built Constantine's mansion? How come I'm not seeing any of those mindfuck-elements of that manor here? I must be imagining things.

This FM is weird on one front though... it has absolutely no readables. Miniature models aplenty, yes. Enough scrolls and books lying around to suggest good readables... but no, not a single one of them can be frobbed. Maybe the architect is one of those illiterate hobnobs that go out of their way to hide that fact from everyone.

Rating: 8/10. This one DOES show off NewDark properly, by giving us sights that OldDark would combust just thinking about having to do.

But of the two, which one would I vote for as the winner? I'd have to go with "Intertheft" by a whisker. It has enough variety to never get dull, while "House of the Architect" is too focused on trying to find gaps in guard patrols across acres of marble flooring to be any fun... except for what's beyond that bottom door, of course.

But IMO the true winner can't be determined until the late entries are released... whenever that happens. The TTLG-community has shown in the past that it's perfectly willing to flaunt the rules when it suits them... but at least I've publicly cast my vote. I'll happily vote again if circumstances dictate it.

 

[nicked]

House of the Architect was a little rough round the edges and clearly an amateur effort at emulating the style of folks like Schlock, but it's also bursting with imagination and a sense of fun, and more treasure than you can shake an extra large loot sack at. There are a lot of guards, but also a lot of shadow, and a real consideration for gameplay above all else. I successfully ghosted it and had a lot of fun. Would have been nice if there had been some readables (possibly a direct reference to Shadow Play?), and some of the areas only exist to be routes in, so it doesn't really reward exploration until you are inside the place. Could have done with a little more testing, but on the whole a really solid effort. 7/10 from me.

Intertheft? Yeah I'm inter theft! Badum tsh. This one is somethin' else. A polished and detailed reimagining of Thieves' Guild that does everything right. It's nailed that claustrophobic, clanky, Thief-1-on-steroids atmosphere nailed by the likes of Skacky and co. It manages to smoothly redesign Thief 1's (arguably) shittest level into something that flows beautifully and is full of little nooks and crannies that reward exploration. It's maybe too claustrophobic in places - I got irreversibly stuck behind doors on three separate occasions, and the hyper-sensitive thief AI means I'm not about to try ghosting it any time soon, but on the whole this is an exceptional mission, to the point where I'd be strongly tempted to swap this one in in place of the original if I do a replay of Thief Gold.

 

[Scrounger]

Out of thin air a new mission has arrived so check it out!
"Old Habits and Dead Wives" is set on a cliffside manor just outside the city walls off the coast
While its looks are more on a simple side on a first glance, it's quite intricate and some of the locations are cozy in a way. Will taff it more to see how it will go :D

 

[Curratum]

Do those newly releasing missions have screenshots?

 

[Unkillable Cat]

Out of thin air a new mission has arrived so check it out!
"Old Habits and Dead Wives" is set on a cliffside manor just outside the city walls off the coast
While its looks are more on a simple side on a first glance, it's quite intricate and some of the locations are cozy in a way. Will taff it more to see how it will go :D

Only five megs? Interesting.

Do those newly releasing missions have screenshots?

Sadly, no. "House of the Architect" can easily have some nice panoramic shots, but "Intertheft" is a little too confined for good screenshots.

But if my words have no meaning for you, then listen to nicked at least. Play the missions.

 

[Scrounger]

I've played through "Old Habits and Dead Wives".
Nothing to write home about but it's a pretty good first mission from this new author.
From visual standpoint it's on a simple side and it's not hard to get through. Cliffside mansion is divided into four relatively small sections with the mansion in the middle and plenty of paths intersecting with each other. Due to many open windows it's quite easy to break into the sections of the estate.
It must be a hot late summer\autumn day for that many windows to be wide open. (That may have it's own reason from story perspective tho...)

So yeah, nothing special but it's a fun mission. Architecture is pretty much squared and some of the texts are not completely proofread but other than that there's no other big issue judging from what I saw. (around 1h of play)

 

[Scrounger]

Do those newly releasing missions have screenshots?

Well, if it helps, I have few odd ones from "House of the Architect". Have in mind that while it's big and beautiful there's not much use (or use at all) for the rope arrow while you are outside the Architect manor which is the heart of the whole mission.
And plenty of ways to get in, especially if you take into account the use of New Mantle!

Like, the least interesting locations that I've could capture lol, was too busy emptying the place!

 

[Unkillable Cat]

"Old Habits and Dead Wives" by 1600frogs

A 'rags-to-riches' noble is mourning the passing of his wife, but you've been hired to break into the noble's vault without knowing what's inside of it, and to steal the wife's precious doll (wat?) in the process. Something's afoot, can you discover that during your heist?

This one is an anomaly to me. Everything about it screams "Very Early DromEd"-age, as in it was made by someone who was just trying to make a fun fan mission in 2001 or something. Nothing is out of line with that. No pushes are being made here. It's just a solid Fan Mission on the simplistic side. The only counter-evidence that betrays its age is the writing, which is actually pretty good. That said, I finished it with more than 1k-loot unaccounted for, and still having found the super frog secret on Channel 3. This FM is still full of surprises?

Rating: 7.5/10. A fine effort for a first-time Taffer, with hidden depths that hint at a bright future. I DO WANT to see more from this Taffer.

 

[toughasnails]

Do those newly releasing missions have screenshots?

Intertheft isn't exactly photogenic due to the sort of mission it is, but you have screenies over at The Dark Fate.
https://www.darkfate.org/view/detai...hief2/1contests/nd10ac/intertheft/screenshots

 

[Psych0sis]

Just download the missions and give them a try they're like ~50mb it's not that big a deal to wait for screenshots