Thief fan missions and campaigns

[Max_b5]

A new FM has arrived: 'Claire's Harbour' by DarkShadow.

Story

The Keepers are in trouble. A young translator, Elise, has been kidnapped by pirates and, guess what, it is you who has to do the errands.

The readme says something like "It is important to read all books, letters, scrolls, etc". Do it or you will get stuck.

Pros

- The mission puts custom, detailed textures to good use, as the architecture is simple but the textures make it hard to notice.
- Maximum loot is fairly easy to obtain.
- The mood and atmosphere of the mission fit the location.
- There's salami.

Cons

- There are many doors and chests which are unfrobable. Wouldn't be a problem except when you think they could be of use in the future, and you'll have to backtrack when a new objective pops up (and let me tell you, this happens a lot).
- Forced ghosting (at least in expert) and limited knockouts (not really a bad thing for veteran taffers, though).
- Small mission. Left me wishing for more.

Overall, I'd say you play it, it's small and nice and won't take much of your time.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

Let me add to the above:

# The translation is Engrish, at best. It will take a little extra time for taffers just to figure out what some texts are supposed to mean.
# Architecture is alright (though completely comprised of 90° angles) except for the ocean itself.
# The ocean, instead of being a large body of water, is a large and empty abyss blocked off by invisible walls and the background image made to look like the ocean! Interesting trick, but it doesn't quite work, at least not here. The elevation of the harbor and town kinda ruin the illusion.
# Enemy models are strange. Some look like thieves, some look like guards, some look like civilians with pirate hats. Are they all pirates or not? Kinda hard to tell at times.
# AI sensitivity is uneven. One critter never noticed me while I jumped up and down in front of it, another noticed me falling off a bench from 2 houses away.
# AI patrol routes are bizarre. One critter has a patrol route that covers half the map, another has a patrol route through an alley that's measurable in inches.
# Readables suffer from Audiolog Syndrome, not to mention odd placements. I didn't get why the "Strange Letter" was located where it was.

All in all this feels unfinished and is the author's first FM, I take it? I can see the thinking going on behind the work though, so I hope the author continues and tries again.

 

[Max_b5]

I forgot to mention: The fact that there's salami but not ice cream cones makes it a confusing experience.

 

[H3H3]

Let me add to the above:

# The translation is Engrish, at best. It will take a little extra time for taffers just to figure out what some texts are supposed to mean.

Yeah, about that...
For whatever reason, DS didn't even change some of the readables (from the 'Engrish' text you see in the mission to my proofread text). I sent him a message about that and I'm still waiting for a response.

 

[cowking]

Played two fairly good TDM missions.

"The Gatehouse" by Bikerdude and Golchocobo

You're seeking an object of religious significance which you believe to be located in an ancient fortress known as the Gatehouse. Even though it's completely linear, it's still worth playing if you don't like that kind of thing because the mission does what it does well. Gameplay mostly consists of puzzles mixed in with some light sneaking while you admire the visuals (which are 9/10). Takes about an hour or so to finish.

Pretty picutre

"A House of Locked Secrets" by Moonbo

Sequel to "Requiem" which you thankfully don't need to be play (it wasn't that good), it's mostly a linear mansion mystery mission that opens up a bit as you reach the mansion. The writing is much better than the prequel, although some of the mystery is ruined by making things so obvious. This fm also has a new gameplay mechanic, but unfortunately it's use is completely linear and you don't get to do anything with it outside what the author intended™. Not as good as "Full Moon Fever" but still worth a shot.

 

[H3H3]

Since this thread has gone quiet, let me break the silence.

http://ttlg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=147734 Breathing Corpses was just released!
What do you taffers think of it?

 

[Max_b5]

Gonna play it tonight. Having played Iron Heart before, I have high expectations about this one!

 

[H3H3]

And those expectations will be met. I'm being serious when I say that BC is the most addictive FMs I have ever played. I could play it ten times over and not get tired of it. There's so much content.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

I'm playing it now. I'm trying the "Saint" playthrough and so far, so good. There are some devious surprises in wait here, and I was genuinely rattled by the face of one of the Hammerites.

I found "The Warm Embrace of the Tomb" which is a mass tomb. But "mass" doesn't begin to describe it. I looked up...

 

[marbleman]

Yeah, that's my favorite place in the mission. It looks like a setup from some sci-fi movie more than a tomb

 

[Max_b5]

This is the largest ammount of loot I've seen in a mission.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

Finished "Breathing Corpses" late last night. A wonderful way to spend a dull Saturday evening. Thanks to marbleman for helping me out in a couple of tight spots.

About a year ago I wrote this about the author's first FM ("The Iron Heart"), ending on the words "hopefully we'll see more from this taffer in the future."

Now we get this FM and there's been a significant advance in this taffer's talents.

Garrett has been hired by a very Constantine-esque individiual to break into a sacred, but haunted Hammerite site to steal an item of considerable power. While it sounds all too much like the plot of Thief: The Dark Project, and the starting section feels woefully barebones, those thoughts quickly vanish once we get into the thick of it...mostly because of the level layout. This is one tightly-designed place, doors and passages spreading out into ALL directions, with a seemingly endless amount of rooms, hallways, tombs and crypts. Expect to spend an hour or two just exploring the place. The architecture remains simple throughout, with lots of 90° angles and straight surfaces, but the way they're used shows that the author has amazing spatial awareness. Therefore the FM has a very strong "vanilla T1/T2" vibe to it, but on a larger scale than the OMs rarely (if ever) accomplished.

The little personal touches also add to the enjoyment. I counted about 10 different types of zombies appearance-wise, and the looks of some of them will make your skin crawl. Even better is the story of the place. Here the author successfully balances the art of showing us just enough of it with not showing us enough of it, leaving it up to the player's imagination to fill in the pieces. That said, readables generally still suffer greatly from Audiolog Syndrome, but at least some of them are quite interesting and memorable (FILTHY SNEAKY THIEF). On the topic of exposition, the voice-overs are damn good. There's a puzzle involving 7 skulls where each skull has a line to say. I kept frobbing the skulls over and over again because the lines are said so brilliantly. The one major problem with the voices is that sometimes you can't hear them. A lot of vocal work will take place in a room called the Nave, but that room is so full of moaning zombies and the voice is so soft that it's quite hard to make out what it's saying. This is one problem I think needs to be addressed in a future update.

And despite the overall good quality of the FM, it's not without fault. There's far too much marble about, to the point that it seems that the author added the Glittering Grove just to solve that issue, as that place has more Moss Arrows than you can shake a tree at. Another problem is that the FM boils down to a Key Hunt (with about 10 keys to find) and inventory clutter quickly becomes a problem as well. An optional objective of not killing anyone on the highest difficulty jacks up the challenge significantly, and also taunts the player because there's a LOT of Undead-slaying gear about. Fortunately the lowest difficulty level has a different objective (Kill Them All!) which opens the door for an enjoyable replay session for frustrated taffers. Finally the mission has meta elements. I finished the mission lacking only 990 of the total loot (see screenshot above) and found all the secrets, and yet I'm left with one Mortuary coin, missing one key (a steaming key, I'm guessing) and seemingly missed out on a bonus area which helps unlock a password-protected zip file located in the FM files which contains another FM! I haven't seen that trick pulled since "The Sun Within and The Sun Without" back in 2009.

Overall I give this a 8.5/10, with a higher rating pending if the author can address the audio issues.

 

[JarlFrank]

a bonus area which helps unlock a password-protected zip file located in the FM files which contains another FM!

Whaaaaaaaa?!?!?!?!

 

[JarlFrank]

Ok so I'm playing Breathing Corpses now

let me just say one thing

THOSE
FUCKING
NEW
UNDEAD

AAAAAAAAAAAAH

THEIR FACES
SO CREEPY AS FUCK
AND SOME OF THEM ARE FASTER THAN HAUNTS
AND MOVE CREEPILY

I THOUGHT THIEF AIs COULDN'T CREEP ME OUT ANYMORE
I WAS WRONG

 

[Unkillable Cat]

Have you found the one that has a face like this?

 

[JarlFrank]

Not sure. I'm currently trying to figure out how to solve the three sons riddle.

I am 90% sure that the third son is the correct answer but I have no idea what to do.
Putting a skull on the pedestal doesn't do anything and I dunno what else to do.

Any hints?

 

[Baardhaas]

Not sure. I'm currently trying to figure out how to solve the three sons riddle.

I am 90% sure that the third son is the correct answer but I have no idea what to do.
Putting a skull on the pedestal doesn't do anything and I dunno what else to do.

Any hints?

I'm at the same puzzle. To me the third son also seems the answer, but I can't explain why though.

There is a vault called the "True Heir" or something. I think that putting a skull on the right pedestal might unlock this vault. It's quite a distance away from the puzzle so you can't quickly check out different options.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

What you two need is to find a readable concerning the Old Man, then solve a puzzle involving the Old Man's "quirky" nature. This gives you the item you need.

(Yes, I thought this was a bit lame as well.)

 

[Baardhaas]

What you two need is to find a readable concerning the Old Man, then solve a puzzle involving the Old Man's "quirky" nature. This gives you the item you need.

(Yes, I thought this was a bit lame as well.)

Heh, would never have figured that one out.

Do you have a clue about the following:
There is a door that you can unlock with the attic key and it leads, through a stairway, to the outside. I don't mean that weird garden with the moss arrows. Outside you're surrounded by high walls and there is a small path that leads to gate that has no visible way to open it.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

Yes, that's the exit. That's where you go once you're done with the mission.

 

[Melan]

Oh man, Breathing Corpses is really something, isn't it. Vast, creepy, full of fun puzzles, and it has the best interconnectedness since forever. This is genuinely awe-inspiring.

 

[Mechs Delight]

Oh man, Breathing Corpses is really something, isn't it. Vast, creepy, full of fun puzzles, and it has the best interconnectedness since forever. This is genuinely awe-inspiring.

And the year's only about a quarter old!

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Good to see that whatever the fuck happens to video games, you taffers will always have a good time.

 

[JarlFrank]

What the fuck.

Does this mission ever end or does it go on infinitely?

I've been to so many places already yet I keep discovering new places.
This is incredible.

 

[Melan]

I have finished it, but it did seem to go on forever in a good way. 5 out of 5 secrets M) and something like 11 thousand loot out of the total, but I still feel I am missing something. The puzzles were very good in this one - just the right difficulty to make them challenging without turning things frustrating (except the old man's story, which was kinda obtuse). Some of it was macabre in ways most horror missions aren't.

Spoiler

Peeling someone's face off with a cleaver, WTF.

It was also pleasantly varied. The recent Unexpected Detour had thematic consistency... this has a lot of oddities and quirky special areas.

Very happy to have come across this one.