Well, in the spirit of sharing (and sharing quickly), here is a rough outline of the podcast. It might not be 100% accurate because I just wrote it while listening, but hopefully someone appreciates it
Quick Summary
Yes they have a visibility gem in conjunction with a system that makes it clearer to the user whether they are in light or not (The Cloak, I think). They are attempting to make it as unobtrusive as possible.
How linear? It IS a story driven game but not JUST that. There are multiple choices and solutions to problems. Plenty of exploration will be had.
Why Garrett, why not a new character? They contemplated it but felt Garrett was so central to the Thief universe, they ultimately had to stick with him.
Will there be any callbacks to the original animated cut scenes? “It’s still in the plan”, but he sounded hesitant to give a resounding “Yes”. They still need to evaluate if/how they will be done.
Level editor? No comment.
Will the player be able to customize their hideout? There are a number of unique/meaningful objects that Garrett steals and that collection grows as the game progresses. “The original Thief wasn’t that much of an RPG”, so the main focus is not on ‘decorating’ your house.
Will there be moral choices, or a branching story? Basically they say that the story will be the story, but moral choices (such as stealing from the poor) will be left up to the player.
How has the leap to next-gen changed development? Early development really just revolved around planning and the next-gen quality is only going to give them an advantage in creating a more immersive game. They want you to be able to SMELL the street (not literally). He sounded very happy about the possibilities with the next-gen.
The Thief team is comparatively small, does this effect development for the next gen? There are challenges but there are advantages as well. The team will not be growing because of the jump to next-gen.
Multiplayer, Co-op or competitive? Short answer, No competitive multiplayer. It’s already so demanding to revitalize and respect the franchise that multiplayer would be a distraction. That said there are plans to include an online component. They DO want to focus primarily on the single player and deliver the best experience possible there
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Can you beat the game without killing, or knocking people out? Yes and Yes. It’s a game about stealing stuff, not a game about killing people.
Will the Hammerites and Pagans be making an appearance? We saw references in the House of Blossom with the architecture but MORE will be revealed about the story in the near future. They want to let the Narrative Director give us the explanation. The story is not a prequel and not a sequel, it’s more of a ‘side-thing’. More will be revealed soon.
Overall Design of the World: The original games had magic. They are keeping the lore of the franchise, but focusing less on ‘fireballs’ and more on ‘mysticism’. They want to maintain immersion but still have the underlying layer to maintain the Thief feel. To me, it sounds like they are taking more of a subtle approach to magic.
Sidequests, challenges, collectibles: The game takes place in “The City” and you CAN just go straight through to complete the story, but there is plenty of depth and reward for those who like to explore.
How violent/mature will the game be? It WILL have an M rating. The storyline is for mature people, not necessarily because of violence but because it is for a mature audience. Yes the world is violent, but that’s not the goal of the game.
Wii version of Thief? Right now, the official announcement is really just “PS4, PC and Other next-gen consoles”. Take from that what you will. But they are focusing on the PC because that’s where the core fanbase is.
Release date is still 2014.
