Thief fan missions and campaigns

JarlFrank · Jan 2, 2018

Jazz_ said:
I have completed ''Home Sweet Home'' by Lady Rowena and loved it, great atmosphere and there are many neat little touches. By the way where do you get the key to open that container

behind the ''waterfall''?

There's a home with an open window somewhere, it's direcly above a sewer access grate. You get get in there with a rope arrow. There's a "mysterious key" in there.

I'm also playing a FM where you start in a cave up in the mountains at sunset but I can't recall the name of the FM right now, looks very nice.

That sounds kinda like Breaking the Stone to me.

marbleman · Jan 4, 2018

The first mission of 2018 got released, and it's really good!
http://www.ttlg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=148570

Baardhaas · Jan 22, 2018

Just played Death's Cold Embrace up to the final mission. And, save for that last mission, I'm having a blast.

I didn't mind that the city maps were reused. Having a central hub which you get to know inside out reminded me somewhat of T3. And it was filled with nifty little details. Did I hear audio from Diablo being played at one point? Getting trapped by Bennie in the freezer was simply genius. Probably one of the best executed jokes in a FM I've encountered so far.

In the first few missions I was able to buy some gear before starting a mission, in later missions the option wasn't there. It felt somewhat inconsistent, a little shop to buy gear in the town would have been great.
What I didn't like was the amount of unpickable locks. I get that it's an easy way to 'gate' the player through a set path, but at least camouflage it somewhat, use some sort of mcguffin that makes sense within the context of the situation, like you did with the missing elevator button. It kind of breaks the narrative of Garret being a master thief when he can't pick a lock. Worst example has got to be the cupboard in the paper shop. The key was just downstairs, there was no story element involved, just an extra chore to get a key for a lock that even a toddler could pick with a bent fork, or hell, just force it open. It's made out of flimsy wooden planks after all.

Now, I just noticed that the criticism I wrote is already twice as long as the praise, and I really do appreciate the obvious effort that went in to this mission. But... the story has to be the weakest part of it all. After the ritual I was way over my threshold for cheesy storylines. And I just couldn't get in to the last mission, especially the new AI were really off-putting. Maybe I'll get back to it after some time and finish the campaign.

Jack Of Owls · Feb 3, 2018

Glad to see the community is still going strong. Always considered the Thief boys n gurls to be on the The Big Three of The World's Most Talented Fan Mission/Module/Mod authors, along with:

-The Doom Dudes
-The Neverwinter Nights Nerds

Even the bad Thief fan missions from experienced authors tend to be good. I remember playing one by some Russian guy, a huge sprawling mess that takes place in a huge sprawling castle, and I found it completely compelling, and would have completed it if I had not hit a demoralizing snag where i had much earlier in the mission taken GREAT PAINS to hide a body I had knocked out in some very dark and dingy out of the way cubby, only to find myself confronted by a guard that found the body and killed me outright (I think I intended to iron man it.) And for once I didn't feel it was a bug with cheating or wonky AI and just imagined some lonely, bored guard going off his normal patrol rounds and slipping into that out-of-the-way alcove for a wank and found the body. There's just such greatness in this community, as in the Doom community, though admittedly the Doom authors have been TOO ambitious at times, and my butt still hurts from something called Mandrill Ass Project where I had to ride surfboards and jump from one to another while dodging Imp balls from Imps on other surfboards riding on all sides. Sometimes I just experience TOTAL and COMPLETE over-stimulation with these things.

Unkillable Cat · Feb 3, 2018

JackOfOwls said:
Glad to see the community is still going strong. Always considered the Thief boys n gurls to be on the The Big Three of The World's Most Talented Fan Mission/Module/Mod authors, along with:

-The Doom Dudes
-The Neverwinter Nights Nerds

The Thief Taffers?

Even the bad Thief fan missions from experienced authors tend to be good. I remember playing one by some Russian guy, a huge sprawling mess that takes place in a huge sprawling castle, and I found it completely compelling, and would have completed it if I had not hit a demoralizing snag where i had much earlier in the mission taken GREAT PAINS to hide a body I had knocked out in some very dark and dingy out of the way cubby, only to find myself confronted by a guard that found the body and killed me outright (I think I intended to iron man it.) And for once I didn't feel it was a bug with cheating or wonky AI and just imagined some lonely, bored guard going off his normal patrol rounds and slipping into that out-of-the-way alcove for a wank and found the body.

You're speaking of "King's Story", which is based on Neuschwanstein castle. What happened to you is that at one point the mission spawns in a new set of guards all over the place, who then go on their patrol routes that are different to the ones the previous set of guards had. This is borderline cheating on behalf of the author, as you either have to be extremely lucky in where you hide your bodies, or be aware of this beforehand and take the extra time to hide them properly.

I did an extensive review of King's Story in this thread a few years back. At the very least that review gives you an idea of how modders can go over the line.

JarlFrank · Feb 3, 2018

King's Story is a perfect example of the infamous "Russian difficulty".

Jack Of Owls · Feb 4, 2018

Quick question: it's been about three years since I last played Thief 2 FMs, and I noticed that when I tried to play DCE, I got the error that I'm using an old version of New Dark that needs to be updated to v1.25. So I did a fresh install of Thief 2 and all I need to do now is install the latest TafferPatcher patch (TafferPatcher_TMA_218_beta.exe) to update everything, correct? Are there any other things that need to be installed for the latest TH2 Fan Missions? I'm using DarkLoader v4.3 as my fan mission loader/front end, btw.

Unkillable Cat · Feb 4, 2018

You don't need to install anything else, though I think most people stopped using DarkLoader quite some time ago due to incompatibilities with NewDark patches.

Jack Of Owls · Feb 4, 2018

Unkillable Cat said:
You don't need to install anything else, though I think most people stopped using DarkLoader quite some time ago due to incompatibilities with NewDark patches.

Tis a pity because I really like Darkloader's extra features, like better sorting and the ability to display ReadMe's within the archives, over the built-in FM loader.

Yandros · Feb 5, 2018

Then you will want to use NewDarkLoader!

Jack Of Owls · Feb 5, 2018

Yandros said:
Then you will want to use NewDarkLoader!

Wow, I never even knew there was a NewDarkLoader. I've been playing around with the built-in FMSel and while I really like that it keeps things much neater and more organized than DarkLoader, I find that it's sometimes unreliable for launching FMs on an initial click. Sometimes it just closes after extraction and doesn't bring up the Thief exes and I have to launch the FM again. A tiny bit tedious. But thanks for the recommendation, Yandros! I'll definitely be checking this out.

Yandros · Feb 5, 2018

R Soul made it for people who prefer the GUI design of Darkloader but need a program that works with NewDark consistently.

Unkillable Cat · Feb 6, 2018

8:00 PM tonight: Decide to finally re-install Thief 2 and update my FM archive with (almost) all of the releases of 2017, using three different websites to find them all. Afterwards I plan to catch up on the short list of FMs I have yet to play, and finally announce my 2017 GOTY FM.

11:30 PM tonight: Finally finish and sort out my FM archive (finding dl links for some of them was a PAIN) and now I don't really feel like playing Thief tonight. And I still have left to do the same for Thief 1. I just spent a whole evening on Thief-related taffery that didn't involve playing. Oh well...

Jack Of Owls · Feb 6, 2018

Unkillable Cat said:
8:00 PM tonight: Decide to finally re-install Thief 2 and update my FM archive with (almost) all of the releases of 2017, using three different websites to find them all.

I kind of like a new site (new to me, at least) I've been using since they seem to keep all the FM missions updated to their latest versions, though it's missing a few recent ones, I noticed. Which begs the question: if running an older FM from, say, 2000 that hasn't been updated by the original author or another fan of that module, how safe is it to use with the TafferPatcher patch with the various fixes and enhancement packs that also incorporates the latest New Dark patch? Is there a New Dark compatibility list somewhere? Some FM authors even tell you in the ReadMe to disable all mods and enhancement packs before playing it. Is this generally a good idea before playing an older FM? What's the easiest way to disable mods? I think I saw something in one ReadMe about changing a line in an ini file.

In other news, I tried NewDarkLoader and it's great! Exactly what I needed to organize my huge list of FMs. So a big brofist to the author R Soul.

Darth Slaughter · Feb 6, 2018

JackOfOwls said:
Unkillable Cat said:

8:00 PM tonight: Decide to finally re-install Thief 2 and update my FM archive with (almost) all of the releases of 2017, using three different websites to find them all.

Click to expand...

I kind of like a new site (new to me, at least) I've been using since they seem to keep all the FM missions updated to their latest versions, though it's missing a few recent ones, I noticed. Which begs the question: if running an older FM from, say, 2000 that hasn't been updated by the original author or another fan of that module, how safe is it to use with the TafferPatcher patch with the various fixes and enhancement packs that also incorporates the latest New Dark patch? Is there a New Dark compatibility list somewhere? Some FM authors even tell you in the ReadMe to disable all mods and enhancement packs before playing it. Is this generally a good idea before playing an older FM? What's the easiest way to disable mods? I think I saw something in one ReadMe about changing a line in an ini file.

In other news, I tried NewDarkLoader and it's great! Exactly what I needed to organize my huge list of FMs. So a big brofist to the author R Soul.

The best site in my opinion to find FMs. Of course immediatelly releases delay to appear, but taffersparadise is updated constantly. That cannot be said of thiefmissions. It's not the first place to look for the immediate latest release, as FM builders do not upload their missions there.

The site is not new, but the layout is renewed since last christmas.

Unkillable Cat · Feb 7, 2018

There, I've finally caught up to the year 2017 as far as Thief Fan Missions are concerned.

The three that I was missing were:

# "Precarious Business" (6.5/10) is classic "Thief 1"-taffing at its finest. Garrett is hired to break into a manor. He starts at an inn, then walks through a lovely but serpentine cityscape before reaching the aforementioned manor. My biggest peeve with this mission was that the mission is essentially on-rails until Garrett reaches the manor itself - the journey from the inn to the manor is almost devoid of any side opportunities (or I missed out on something big) but once the manor presented itself there were two or three methods of entry (one including some underground catacombs) and the mission ends the moment Garrett steps outside of the manor. Audiolog Syndrome aside there's nothing wrong with this mission but we've all seen better. A solid effort overall, and I hope to see more from this taffer in the future.

# "Home Sweet Home" (6.5/10) is Lady Rowena's last FM. Intended to be the first part of a three-FM campaign, HSH borrows the "Ambush"-OM and spruces it up a bit and has Garrett trying to steal a statue from a noble... with some complications. The end result is a nice cityscape mission that bears all the usual Rowena trademarks and attention to detail. That said it's technically unfinished and it shows in a few places but it's still fully playable. I don't agree with everything she did here, but it's kinda pointless to argue that point now so I'll just sign it off with a "well-playable, but expect oddities"-recommendation.

# Finally "A Short Night's Work" (4.5/10) a.k.a. "Do u no de way?: The FM". This mission literally oozes T1-atmosphere everywhere, but it also spits in the player's face when it comes to gameplay. Garrett is hired to get rid of a town's mayor by robbing him blind. Garrett starts at some docks with no weapons and no clear path of progress once past the starting room, though a large portcullis suggests a general direction. The map provided is so basic that it looks like it was drawn by a 3-year old. After considerable trial and error I just gave up once I managed to get to the other side of the portcullis, and the only way to progress seemed to involve stacking crates together to reach a metal walkway... in plain sight of three archers and two patrolling guards. Even once I found the blackjack (hint: It's not anywhere close to where the map suggests it should be) I caught a good feel for what lay ahead and just shrugged. The strict steps needed (and the number of artificial restrictions placed to hinder my path) to progress in these early stages of the FM outright killed my interest. I checked the TTLG thread on this FM and I'm left with two conclusions - either I'm suddenly too stupid to play Thief FMs anymore, or everyone praising this FM to high heavens must have had the walkthrough in front of them. Its staunchest defenders are naturally the playtesters, but that's par for the course in TTLG-land. So yeah, a potentially awesome FM ruined by pointless added difficulty that forces only one way to progress at the start. No thanks.

So with those out of the way it's time to name the 2017 Thief 1/2 FM of the year - at least this time it was an easy decision: "Breathing Corpses" by FrenchDecay.

And now onwards to 2018: Twenty shades of taffing.