Incline True Thief 4 Dark Mod is released

[Wirdschowerdn]

Been playing "The Ravine".

Can someone explain this to me?

I've also finished "The Rats Triumphant". Very nice mission Melan, even though it took me a while to find that stupid padlock key.

And what is Prosper doing in there?

 

[Don Peste]

 

[unfairlight]

PC Goymer is pretty shit but the fact that they shill pretty hard for TDM is good I guess.

 

[Boleskine]

http://www.pcgamer.com/the-best-thief-dark-mod-missions/

The best Thief: Dark Mod missions
By Sam Greer an hour ago

Quality fan-made missions from the Thief modding community.

Are you feeling forlorn for the halcyon days of the Thief series? You may already be aware of The Dark Mod. It’s a fan-made standalone mod that recreates Thief, but isn’t set in the specific universe. With it, fans can create levels for others to enjoy. Having been out in the wild for years now, it’s amassed a huge library of missions.

If you’re new to The Dark Mod, I’m here to help you find the best the game has to offer. And if you’re a veteran taffer, I’ve picked out some of my favourite new missions as well. Fair warning to those eager to jump in, though, The Dark Mod can be a bit rough around the edges, with cringeworthy narration and more than a few bugs to interrupt your plans. It’s also worth downloading the tutorial mission. Whether you’re new to Thief or not, The Dark Mod does a lot of things in its own way, especially with regards to controls. If you’re able to get on board with that, you’re in for a good time.



Let’s start with The Tears of St Lucia by Springheel and jdude, which is still one of the mod’s most elegant creations. You’re tasked with infiltrating a slum’s well-guarded church to steal everything you can, but the robbery is just a cover. Your real task is to vandalise a local statue that’s been proclaimed as a miracle. A bit of theft and vandalism is all in a good night’s work. It’s quite simple but is nonetheless full of secret entrances, patrolling guards and a few hidden treasures. St Lucia may be among the more conventional missions available, but it works as a great showcase for what The Dark Mod can do.

Whilst I found Tears of St Lucia a bit straightforward, A Score to Settle (also by Springheel) is far larger and more complex. This sprawling level encompasses intertwining streets, tunnels and hideouts, with an objective to embarrass a notorious gang leader (you can’t say these fans aren’t inventive with their objectives). I was impressed with just how much of the map you can traverse, climbing over fences and ledges, which is handy not just for reaching goals, but for getting away from a pesky guard in pursuit. And once you’ve wrapped up all your objectives, you need to make a daring getaway across town. A perfect night out.

If you want to see The Dark Mod really flex its muscles, then look no further than Full Moon Fever by Spoonman. This is a classic, enticing Thief-style mission. A sprawling manor to rob, with the untimely death of its lord serving as a mystery at the heart of it all. The wonderful thing about the mission is how it starts out offering an elaborate mansion full of guards to navigate and overcome, but then you find out that’s not even half of what it has to show. Investigating the murder of the lord leads to the level flipping on its head, going from a classic robbery mission to a full on horror show. And there’s more! I almost burst out laughing as it just kept going and going, offering yet another exciting area or twist. It’s a true pleasure to play through, thanks to a fairly deft hand for environmental storytelling.

From the same creator comes another stellar mission, King of the Mountain. This one is much more straightforward: you’re a prisoner looking to escape a notorious prison. Simple. Of course, you have to do so without any equipment whatsoever, and you need to navigate this labyrinth without any map or clues. With plenty of guards around every corner, the odds feel decisively stacked against you, so prevailing feels all the more satisfying. Yet what lingers with me – as with Spoonman’s previous map—is the ability to tell a story through the sights you find around the level. A makeshift boxing ring in one corner of the prison tells you all you need to know about the kind of place that you’re escaping.

Speaking of such details, let me introduce Down by the Riverside by Dragofer, a fun and atmospheric mission that opens with you hidden aboard a boat to reach a remote and supposedly haunted mansion. This one’s a doozy, packed full of surprising turns as it tells the tale of a troubled family. It can also be unbearably tense at times—the manor’s creepy atmosphere is almost suffocating as you try to avoid looters and worry about what’s actually in the basement. If this mission owes a debt to anything from Thief, it’s Robbing the Cradle from Deadly Shadows. Being able to remind me of that horror classic speaks to this fan creation’s quality.

Last but by no means least is Briarwood Manor by Chris ‘Neonstyle’ Kilgariff. This is a lavishly presented mission, that even comes with its own introductory FMV cutscene. It all takes place in a manor shrouded in fog, with a complex interior that oozes atmosphere. I found the whole place a little unhinged, with its flickering lanterns, upset horses and the steward, who finds the place cold and unwelcoming despite having stayed there for months. There’s more to it than just the presentation, though. With no map, no blackjack and limited water arrows, this is a real test of your skills. I found myself holding my breath on more than one occasion. All in all, it’s one of the finest missions The Dark Mod has to offer.

These are some of my favourite single missions, but there’s plenty more available—from short, quick robberies, to multimission stories like the William Steele trilogy. And, if the community is anything to go by, there’ll be plenty more classics for years to come.

For more Dark Mod missions check out the missions section of the Dark Mod site.

 

[Darth Slaughter]

Thief: the dark mod...

 

[Unkillable Cat]

Yeah, PC Gamer cannot into thinking. That's been an established fact for several years now.

Their best blunder was when they made a "50 Most Important PC Games of All Time"-list, and ten of the titles weren't even originally PC titles - they just lumped all the home computers (most noticably the Apple II) under the "PC"-banner and ran with it.

 

[JBro]

Steam release when?

 

[unfairlight]

Steam release when?

Bikedude talked about it once, apparently they have some license and copyright issues so they can't release it, but they will eventually.

 

[Jack Of Owls]

I played a few fan missions a couple of years ago and I must say, I am impressed, though the difficulty scared me off for awhile. I plan on returning soon however. Think of it as a hardcore Thief experience compared to the Dark Engine FMs since it can be hard as balls with AI that seems far more alert and much much more difficult to blackjack. It almost feels like a blackjacking simulator here, and is absolutely nothing like what you're used to in NewDark FMs where you can sneak up on just about anyone, pull their drawers down, and practically bugger them for 5 minutes before they notice anything is amiss. But TDM, whoah!... to paraphrase a line from the original Looking Glass Studios Thief manuals: "If you plan to just charge in there, pork sword in hand n blackjacks ablazin', get fitted for your coffin NOW." But I wouldn't have it any other way. For those that want the true hardcore Thief simulator, this is your mod. Those of a gentle disposition or want something that only plays mellow like the Dark Engine games, stay away. As others have already posted in this thread though, I would like to see better positional audio and support for analogue controllers, but other than that, TDM is an excellent piece of work.

 

[Yandros]

RE: Steam release, I was told by an active TDM modder that it's not ever going to happen due to the amount of legal/copyright documentation required by Steam.

 

[catfood]

Good. Fuck Steam.

 

[J_C]

RE: Steam release, I was told by an active TDM modder that it's not ever going to happen due to the amount of legal/copyright documentation required by Steam.

LOL, what? You literally only need one ID card and a one page tax form filled out, and you are on steam.

 

[unfairlight]

Despite everything on Steam with legally questionable content they probably found out that there were some engine related legal issues so they couldn't release it, that's just my guess.

 

[Melan]

Nope. It was specifically Steam's unreasonable demands that would have required proving every single asset was legally used. (A burden of proof that wasn't required from other projects.)

 

[forumvisitor#451]

Why such discrimination? Does not make much sense compared to shitstorm of Hunt Down the Frank er Freeman

 

[EGarak]

Nope. It was specifically Steam's unreasonable demands that would have required proving every single asset was legally used. (A burden of proof that wasn't required from other projects.)

forumvisitor#451 is right. How can Valve justify that level of work from you when it is happy to keep shit like Hunt Down The Freeman, a game with demonstrated, verifiable lifting of material from other sources without permission, and is still being sold as of this post.

They're just fucking tossers at this point for anyone trying to do things legitimately.

 

[LESS T_T]

Probably being an open source project invites scrutiny? IIRC there was an incident few years ago that someone submitted a ripped 3D model from Silent Hill 3 (or fan art?) to this project, and it was even displayed in promotional materials.

 

[unfairlight]

A new FM has been released.
http://forums.thedarkmod.com/topic/19323-fan-mission-the-elixir-by-b1k3rdude-obsttorte-17022018/

 

[unfairlight]

Another day, another FM. Also another intro video done by Goldwell.
http://forums.thedarkmod.com/topic/...dows-of-northdale-act-i-by-goldwell-20180323/

 

[Valky]

That's so good looking. Better than most modern games.

 

[U-8D8]

I somehow never managed to get into the Thief series, despite playing the demos a few years back. Thought I'd take a jab at this though and despite slow load times and some other technical problems, I've been having a lot of fun with it. My thanks to whoever pinned the thread.

 

[Ivan]

ah, the first time I played Down in the Bonehoard and had no flame arrows. good times.

 

[Baron Dupek]

2.06 is out there

https://www.moddb.com/mods/the-dark-mod/news/the-dark-mod-206-is-here

 

[udm]

Massive. Fucking. Incline.

Now if only I can find time to play the latest FMs

 

[Naveen]

"Better Sounds"

Does that mean you can now properly hear guards and people walking around? Because that's what always kept me from playing this.