Thief fan missions and campaigns

[OttoQuitmarck]

Hi friends. I'm new to Thief: The Dark Mod and I was wondering what the MUST PLAY missions were. It's a bit hard to find the "most well liked" missions out there. Thanks in advance

 

[Rookie]

Hi friends. I'm new to Thief: The Dark Mod and I was wondering what the MUST PLAY missions were. It's a bit hard to find the "most well liked" missions out there. Thanks in advance

First of all, complete bundled-in introductory missions: New Job and Tears of Santa Lucia. Those two serve as training missions. As for "well-liked":

Volta and the Stone and Volta: Cauldron of Gods

Chronicles of Skulduggery 0, 1-3

Requiem and House of Locked Secrets

Penny Dreadful series (sadly unfinished)

Hazard Pay

Noble Affairs

Painter's Wife

Iris

 

[Denim Destroyer]

The Black Parade
In development for the better part of a decade, this ten mission campaign was well worth the wait. All it should take is an immediate look at the gorgeously detailed levels to understand why Black Parade was in development for so long. Each level has a strong visual identity which, in addition to the gameplay diversity, assists in making the levels stand out from one another. As a matter of fact, Black Parade has something to offer for every fan of Thief. It does not matter if you like breaking & entering levels or Bonehoard style dungeon romps, there will likely be something here that pleases you. The development team did not just stop at new levels and cutscenes but also provided new NPC behavior, gadgets, and functions for preexisting tools. NPCs will now notice the player upon brushing against them even in complete darkness. NPCs will also now make smalltalk if the cross paths during their patrols. These small changes not only help in creating a more realistic world but also provided gameplay benefits. More careful planning of routes will now be required to avoid coming too close to NPCs. The smalltalk also functions as an auditory clue to their location much like how longer form conversation does. Black Parade's outstanding levels and gameplay alterations make for a campaign that should be perfect for the veteran Thief player.

 

[Eirinjas]

I've completed all objectives on the Brand mission, but I'm short by about 1/3 the max loot. Someone mentioned an explosive charge, which suggests there is a passage that can be made with it, but I haven't found any explosive charge in the mission. Anyone know? Also, wtf is up with that blue demon face?

 

[Unkillable Cat]

Have you found the uppity snobbity nobles arguing?

Spoiler

Sneak past them (to the east IIRC) and you'll find yourself high above a street, with a wooden balcony across from you. Jump over there and enter, and you'll go through a series of rooms until you come to one with an explosive device and a fire arrow. There may also be a readable nearby mentioning the Baron's orders.

This 'route' leads to what is probably the southernmost entry into the Old Quarter, and also the most dangerous due to high zombie activity, but you get some good gear as well.

 

[Morgoth]

Finished it tonight.

Masterpiece.

 

[Eirinjas]

Have you found the uppity snobbity nobles arguing?

Spoiler

Sneak past them (to the east IIRC) and you'll find yourself high above a street, with a wooden balcony across from you. Jump over there and enter, and you'll go through a series of rooms until you come to one with an explosive device and a fire arrow. There may also be a readable nearby mentioning the Baron's orders.

This 'route' leads to what is probably the southernmost entry into the Old Quarter, and also the most dangerous due to high zombie activity, but you get some good gear as well.

I had been there in the beginning of the mission, but thought I had been thorough. I see now that I missed a door on a small balcony on the other side of that building. I opened up that wall with the device and found some more loot along the way, but I'm still 500-600 short. I found a readable where a thief mentioned tossing what he thought was magic loot into the canal, but I didn't find anything at the bottom of the canal. The only area left that I know I haven't explored is on the other side of this gate, but I can't figure out how to get there.

edit: does anyone know what the strength potion found in the alchemist shop is for?

 

[Unkillable Cat]

Re: Strength Potion = Primarily it allows you to carry a body without hindrance while it lasts. This becomes important in the next mission (and only there sadly).

Re: Loot = I do not recall that gate (nor the demon face) so I cannot help with that. I met the loot objective without getting into the Alchemist's shop that's right at the start of the mission. I spent extra time going through the allowed section before going into the banned section, so you may have to get extra anal with aerial jumps.

 

[Icewater]

Also, wtf is up with that blue demon face?

At the bottom of the pit? I think it's just there to kill you if you manage to survive the fall, which is possible given the weird geometry at the bottom.

 

[nbohr1more]

Less than 24 hrs to help "The Black Parade" get into Moddb's top 100 for Mod of the Year:

https://www.moddb.com/mods/thief-the-black-parade

 

[Eirinjas]

Re: Strength Potion = Primarily it allows you to carry a body without hindrance while it lasts. This becomes important in the next mission (and only there sadly).

Re: Loot = I do not recall that gate (nor the demon face) so I cannot help with that. I met the loot objective without getting into the Alchemist's shop that's right at the start of the mission. I spent extra time going through the allowed section before going into the banned section, so you may have to get extra anal with aerial jumps.

I decided to install Cheat Engine to fly around the map and see if I missed something accessible. I didn't. The zombie behind the gate is just for show. I did find two more pieces of loot in very high places in the mansion. My total loot count is 2692. So, still several hundred short of the max haul. I have no clue where it could be.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

Some candlesticks that appear non-frobbable and not hold any value, actually count as loot.

Beyond that I'm as stumped as you are.

 

[OttoQuitmarck]

Hi friends. I'm new to Thief: The Dark Mod and I was wondering what the MUST PLAY missions were. It's a bit hard to find the "most well liked" missions out there. Thanks in advance

First of all, complete bundled-in introductory missions: New Job and Tears of Santa Lucia. Those two serve as training missions. As for "well-liked":

Volta and the Stone and Volta: Cauldron of Gods

Chronicles of Skulduggery 0, 1-3

Requiem and House of Locked Secrets

Penny Dreadful series (sadly unfinished)

Hazard Pay

Noble Affairs

Painter's Wife

Iris

Thank you very much!

 

[nbohr1more]

The Black Parade made it to the Moddb Top 100 mod of the year list!!!

Now we need folks to vote in the champion round:

https://www.moddb.com/mods/thief-the-black-parade

 

[Arryosha]

In the first mission, is there a way to avoid getting past the guard blocking the the Eastside gate, or do you just have to use distraction? If there is another way, just let me know there is one and don't tell me what it is.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

In the first mission, is there a way to avoid getting past the guard blocking the the Eastside gate, or do you just have to use distraction? If there is another way, just let me know there is one and don't tell me what it is.

I'm not 100% which guard (or gate) you're referring to, but I was able to get past every guard without resorting to shenanigans.

On a related note, I owe Icewater an apology, I did find a door in the first map that I hadn't opened... yet. (NE-section)

 

[Icewater]

In the first mission, is there a way to avoid getting past the guard blocking the the Eastside gate, or do you just have to use distraction? If there is another way, just let me know there is one and don't tell me what it is.

I don't remember exactly what it was but yes there's at least one way to get around him. It probably involved climbing.

 

[Eirinjas]

The chef that ran and grabbed a pan to beat my ass Sam Gamgee-style was something else.

 

[Eirinjas]

I'm feeling this one right in the ol' autism.

 

[catfood]

Finished the first map. Damn, that was pretty rough. Missed half of the pockets and almost half the loot. Feels bad man.

 

[El Presidente]

How is Thief so good my brothers? Do we even deserve a game this good to grace our lives?


Yes, yes we do, we already suffer too much with decline elsewhere. Thief is the bonfire amidst the darkness (ironic comparison, but still). I've been busy for months now but this weekend I'll finally get my hands on Black Parade.

 

[Eirinjas]

I came across a Codexer.

 

[Eirinjas]

This was the part of the level where I was cursing the devs.

Oh, hello no.

 

[Eirinjas]

Hobbies. Everyone needs one, I guess.

 

[Eirinjas]

Just finished it.

The Black Parade is quality shit!

My Thoughts

TL;DR - A MUST PLAY!

Some spoilers ahead.

Excellent Campaign! A complete Thief game, as good as the originals. There are so many new creatures and tricks in here that I have never seen before; really ingenious stuff. There are at least 5 new enemies with new models and attack styles on the last mission alone. Likewise, sprinkled throughout the 9 other missions you'll find one-of-a-kind characters and enemies. The horses and dogs were great to see in-game. It's about time we got guard dogs! Underused though. The maps are huge, gorgeous, and the minute level of detail is insane. The briefings and cutscenes are all extremely well-done and harken to the style of the original Thief games. The texture work is great, though I don't understand why they opted to use so many low-res textures when there are higher resources available. Likewise, think it silly that they used old models from the original game, which are extremely low poly, when the Thief 2 models look so much nicer. Anyway, that's a minor quibble, all things considered. I love the new halberd-wielding guards, as well as the shield carrying guards. There are so many other surprises.

There is a lot of new flavor dialog in this game, and NPCs will enter fresh conversations when they run into each other - it's not all staged. You can eavesdrop on some very funny conversations. The voice acting throughout is great, though the woman they picked to voice Viktoria is completely wrong for the job. She sounds nothing like her, nor does she inflect with the same subtle mischievous allure as Terri Brosius. She just utterly misses the mark. They should have opted to have Larkspur be the intermediary for Viktoria instead, because that character was never given a voice in the original games. Thankfully, you only hear her in the final game cutscene.

You play as a criminal named Hume who has returned to The City from exile. Hume is a decent protagonist, but I think they could have done more with the character to make the player sympathize with him and his plight. Garrett had humor and a certain regular Joe whose sick of the bs vibe that made him an easily relatable character. Hume doesn't quite have that. An important conversation he has with a certain Archmage ends with the mage telling Hume, in so many words, that he's been a despicable low life his entire life and he deserves what's coming to him. Ouch! ...but also, he's right. They could have given him a child or a love interest - and maybe even centered a mission or two around that to make him endearing, to make us care. Maybe his goal could have been to pick up where he left off and be a good mate, or father. Anyway, missed opportunity.

So, the plot.... It did not go the way I thought it was going to go at all. Early cutscenes show a character eating red petals, being engulfed by foliage, and having a single eye pop out, which then turns into the Trickster symbol. Then, an early mission finds you robbing a manor that very much reminds one of Constantine's mansion. The mansion has those red flowers in it, and a matching red motif in some of the aesthetics, such as the guard uniforms. Then Viktoria shows up. It was clearly pointing in a direction, but that was a red herring. Now, I do like that they did something original and I believe it pays off in the end.

I really like how they homaged the original game without copy-pasting. Some missions are certainly going to remind you of previous Thief missions because of the tone they set and the way they flow from one to the next. My favorite mission is Jaws of Darkness. It is a tomb-raiding mission that reminded me of a mix between the Mage Towers and the Lost City from Thief Gold. It is also a prime example of the originality of the team behind this campaign. Not only are there new enemies here, but there are some clever new things as well. And it has a couple pants-shitting moments in it too.

I didn't find all the loot on ANY of the missions. They were very clever in how they hid valuables, but I also think the loot total may be wrong on one or more missions. Not that I couldn't have overlooked something, but I was extremely thorough. For one mission I scoured the map using cheat engine after I had completed it just to see if I could find a room I might have missed, but no dice.

There were a few bugs, but nothing significant. Almost all of them related to enemies and I'll post screenshots of them all tomorrow.