Thief fan missions and campaigns

[Darth Slaughter]

So after an enlightening discussion with TFix's maintainer (read: talking to a brick wall would've been far more productive), I'd seriously recommend you taffers either stop using TFix, or just use the Lite version and don't bother with the full release. Full story short: I've come to the conclusion that the guy cannot make the difference between genuinely fixing an issue and modifying shit for the sake of it, resulting in an altered experience, has no idea about level design and doesn't even understand the core philosophy of the game he's supposedly fixing. His massive ego and downright condescending tone towards anyone who wants to have a more or less vanilla experience without having to remove his "fixes" manually don't make things look better either.

I just hope a Wesp/Tessera kind of clash does not come to thief...

 

[commie]

So after an enlightening discussion with TFix's maintainer (read: talking to a brick wall would've been far more productive), I'd seriously recommend you taffers either stop using TFix, or just use the Lite version and don't bother with the full release. Full story short: I've come to the conclusion that the guy cannot make the difference between genuinely fixing an issue and modifying shit for the sake of it, resulting in an altered experience, has no idea about level design and doesn't even understand the core philosophy of the game he's supposedly fixing. His massive ego and downright condescending tone towards anyone who wants to have a more or less vanilla experience without having to remove his "fixes" manually don't make things look better either.

Interesting. Though to be fair, I've been through Thief so often, I don't mind some changes just to compare and have a bit of variety in the base game.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

I'm more surprised no one has mentioned that "The Mystery of the Upper Quarter" was released for T2 earlier this week.

Downloading it as I type this and will be having a go today.

EDIT: Reading the discussion on TTLG... ah, modder drama is best drama.

Several years ago (2015?) I reported dozens of things in TG to voodoo47 that needed to be fixed (shelves in Mission 8 that faced the wrong way, places in Mission 4 where the audio pops out) and while I can't recall with clarity whether voodoo47 actually implemented these fixes, I do recall on at least one occassion where he said that he wouldn't do anything because he "didn't know how it worked".

While I understand and accept that the modder himself has the final word on what his mod contains, he's completely blown out of the argument on every other front brought up. He's not only just as lazy as he claims to be, but doubly so.

 

[skacky]

Chad J. Thundercock TFix Lite doesn't have his proper fixes, which are actually good and don't fall within the territory of changing stuff for the sake of it. And I'm sorry, but you don't call your stuff a fix pack when it's not truly a fix pack. Changing stuff under the guise of a fix pack is terrible practice in addition to being misleading. You may think the change in THC is insignificant, but it's absolutely not. If the guy has no will to revert this change, what will happen when he potentially screws up even more?
I was patient enough with his really questionable additions like the on-by-default texture packs or other stuff like that that shouldn't be in a fix pack to begin with, but I've had enough now.

 

[marbleman]

I've played Mystery of the Upper Quarter but haven't finished it: the mission has around 2700 loot, and the goal on Expert is 2500. Not good. I found 2300 and didn't feel like scrounging more.

There are also a LOT of invisible walls. I think player containment could have been handled in a more elegant way.

Apart from that, the mission was nice. It has cool aesthetics and is a fun to explore.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

Finished it... or to be more precise, I gave up after the 2462 loot mark.

marbleman pretty much nails it. Exploration is not really rewarded, far too many invisible walls, audiologs abound and it's just too loosely made - it feels unfinished in parts. The spider den was cool, though.

 

[Max_b5]

Ah yes, good ol' "find 95% of the loot in the mission which is extremely well hidden so you spend a lot of time running around frobbing random shit". Why does that sound familar?

 

[JarlFrank]

It's a decent mission with a very cool visual style, that feels a little empty in some places (seems like the typical beginner mistake of building way too big and not filling up the space properly) but is really charming overall. I haven't played through it yet so the loot goal will probably become a problem later on.

 

[Curratum]

Any news on the TG Black Parade campaign or is that on hold due to the anniversary FM contest shenanigans?

 

[Mechs Delight]

Just took a brief peek at "Mystery of the Upper Quarter 1" and other than the colorful buildings in the middle of town and a fairly inventive "spider warehouse," I can't say I was too impressed.

Spoiler

My WORD, those bells could drive one to the insane asylum!

 

[Yandros]

Curratum, The Black Parade is on semi-hiatus as most of the team are working on contest missions. Also, skacky recently stepped down as project lead due to getting a job in the industry, and it's not clear to me at this point who exactly (if any one person) will be filling that role. The project is not dead by any means, though.

 

[Curratum]

Hate to see skacky go, but it is what it is. What would be a very rough guesstimate for the completion of Black Parade at the moment?

 

[Squadafroinx]

For the moment it's on hold since there's the 20y contest going on; however I'd say we're on a 35% completion right now but we still have to find voice-actors and artists for some briefings (but don't worry worst case scenario we'll ship everything with Microsoft Sam over Skacky's incredible paint skills )

 

[JarlFrank]

For the moment it's on hold since there's the 20y contest going on; however I'd say we're on a 35% completion right now but we still have to find voice-actors and artists for some briefings (but don't worry worst best case scenario we'll ship everything with Microsoft Sam over Skacky's incredible paint skills )

fixed

 

[JarlFrank]

REMOVE HEALING FRUIT remove healing fruit you are worst pagan. you are the pagan idiot you are the pagan smell. return to the maw. to our hammerite cousins you may come our church. you may live in the zoo….ahahahaha ,hammerite we will never forgeve you. taffer rascal FUck but fuck asshole pagan stink hammerite taffere taffar..pagan genocide best day of my life. take a bath of dead pagan..ahahahahahHAMMERITES WE WILL GET YOU!! do not forget rust gas servants .The City we kill the baron , pagans return to your precious maw….hahahahaha idiot pagan and hammer smell so bad..wow i can smell it. REMOVE HEALING FRUIT FROM THE PREMISES. you will get caught. builder+karras+children=kill pagan hammer…karras alive in soulforge, karras making album of soulforge . fast rap karras soulforge. we are rich and have gold now hahahaha ha because of karras… you are ppoor stink pagan… you live in a hovel hahahaha, you live in a yurt

karras alive numbr one #1 in the City ….fuck the hammerite ,..FUCKk ashol pagans no good i spit in the mouth eye of ur magic and trickster. karras aliv and real strong engineer kill all the pagan farm aminal with rap technology now we the mechanist rule .ape of the zoo high priest fukc the great trickster and lay egg this egg hatch and hammerite wa;s born. stupid baby form the eggn give bak our churches we will crush u lik a skull of pig. mechanist greattst faith

 

[Arrowgrab]

Mechanists are the Protestants of the City.

What to do if you discover the signs of Mechanist Protestantism on yourself:

I - Visit nearest Hammerite chapel, church or cathedral. If you live too far away from such institutions, a nearby Hammerite factory or warehouse will do.
II - Inform the local Hammerite on duty that you have the Mechanist Protestantism. Ask him to bring the big hammer. Don't worry, all Hammerites are thoroughly trained and are equipped and ready to help you with your problem.
III - Kneel down, place head on anvil. If you cannot locate an anvil, stack a crate on top of another, place head on top crate. Do not stack more than two crates and do not try to escape the world's geometry.
IV - ???
V - Profit!

Please note: All of our friendly neighborhood Hammerite personnel are happy to help you with your Mechanist Protestantism, and request no fees or any other form of payment in exchange. Having said that, if you wish to contribute a small amount to the cause of the Builder, by all means do so BEFORE the curing process. Or, alternatively, just leave your address of residence with your local Hammerite Clerk.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

A new T2 FM dropped in over the weekend.

"Defamation of Character" has Garrett being butthurt about all those Wanted-posters all over The City, so he decides to tackle the problem at its source - break into the police station and "persuade" the Watch to stop posting them by leaving a threatening letter behind on the Captain's desk. In a fit of inflated optimism, Garrett realizes that he can't just waltz in through the front door, so he has to take the long way round through the city.

This FM really doesn't do anything wrong, but I get the feeling that it was made by ticking off items from a checklist. There's a cityscape but it only has a single optional place to visit. There's a sewer system, cavern system, Hammerite and Mechanist compounds (complete with marble floors), a warehouse, a couple of shops, and then the humongous police station with security cameras, mechbeasts and helmeted guards to present some manner of challenge. Dewdrop, secrets and small attempts at humor seem sprinkled over as an afterthought. Sadly there's no deviating allowed here - there's only the One Way from start to finish, and you must taffin' follow it. Only the police station itself offers any non-linearity in how it's tackled, everything else comes on a conveyor belt.

There's a huge OM-vibe to the whole thing, with style and appearance being consistent and a generous (though sparse) equipment selection means that this one shouldn't offer a huge challenge. If I could point criticism at anything, it's this feel that this is a stew where all the ingredients were thrown in, but then no one bothered stirring the pot. Loot is never hidden in clever places (the coins in the fountain or under the lift don't count as they're almost comically oversized) and there are no real surprises to be found here, just a good hour or so of old-school taffin'.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

So marbleman here just released his first FM, "Cracks in the Glass".

I'm about 10 minutes in and I took a break to come tell you taffers PLAY THIS.

NOW.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

So marbleman here just released his first FM, "Cracks in the Glass".

I'm about 10 minutes in and I took a break to come tell you taffers PLAY THIS.

NOW.

I would, but I gotta finish the vanilla game proper first.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

Were it not for the upcoming 20th Anniversary Thief contest by the end of the year, which may bring several shades of , I'd proclaim "Cracks in the Glass" FM Of The Year right here and now. Sadly I must show patience and give the other taffers a chance to prove themselves first.

This one is amazing. The architecture, the layout, the little jokes, NO AUDIOLOG SYNDROME, the "show, don't tell"-method of storytelling, the [REDACTED], how everything connects together, etc. Even though it goes on and on and on, I didn't want it to end.

I found all the secrets and *most* of the loot, and I'm fairly certain I missed an area or two somewhere.

But yeah, must-play T2 FM for every serious taffer.

EDIT: Pile your brofists on the post below.

 

[marbleman]

Thanks, glad you enjoyed it! Hopefully, the sequel which I'm gonna start building soon won't disappoint as well

 

[Icewater]

I was mildly disappointed because Unkillable Cat made me think this mission was the Thief FM equivalent of the second coming of Christ. I still enjoyed it, though. The weird, Escher-esque parts were really cool, it's unfortunate that very little is explained. A sequel might clear things up but Real Life™ can so easily interfere in these things that I won't hold my breath.

 

[JarlFrank]

The weird, Escher-esque parts were really cool, it's unfortunate that very little is explained.

NO

The weird stuff is even better if it is barely explained, keeps the mystery.

 

[Icewater]

The weird stuff is even better if it is barely explained, keeps the mystery.

Yes, barely explained. Unless I missed a lot—which is very possible—it isn't explained at all, though. Who was Garrett going to meet? What's the crystal thing? What was in the box? What does any of this have to do with the city going all bizarro-world? There is no mystery because we don't know enough to even begin to speculate.

 

[marbleman]

That's a very good point! I tried to create a mystery by not giving much detail, but I guess I might have overdone it a bit. The explanation for what's going on exists, but it's not directly given. However, story-specific readables, the pre-mission text in the readme, and the name of the mission give hints to what's going on. The sequel will be more coherent, but don't expect everything to be explained clearly