Thief fan missions and campaigns

[octavius]

In 2007 I played all the worthy (based on review scores) Thief 1 fan missions that had been made up to then. I even started T2 missions before I burnt out.
Of all those missions I thought Calendra's Cistern was in a class of its own, and the only one comparable to the best of the original ones. So I was curious what I would feel about it after replaying it.

Remembering very little from the first time, I completed it in 4 hours and 21 minutes on "Garrett" (Expert) without using any walkthroughs. And while it's technically brilliant with extremely good voice acting and a good background story, I don't think the actual gameplay is really superior to some other FMs from the same era.
But it's the first FM I have mostly ghosted, only blackjacking isolated guards.

From reading about it aftwerwards I see I missed some content. I found the blowupable wall section, but no explosives. And I never found The Observatory or any part of Brother A's body but the head.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

In 2007 I played all the worthy (based on review scores) Thief 1 fan missions that had been made up to then. I even started T2 missions before I burnt out.

Do you plan on playing the T1 Fan Missions now that were released after 2007?

 

[octavius]

Played the old Curse of the Ancients for T1. Crude architecture and lighting, but it's a nice tomb robbing mission with good gameplay and puzzles. Funny thing was that the only thing I had to look up (watching a playthrough on YouTube) was something apparantly nobody else had problems with. Turns out you need to swing a weapon against a ghost, but not hitting him, in order for him to open a secret stash.
All enemies are undead, so not for sensitive little tafferinos.

 

[Andronovo]

Top marks for Catacombs of Knoss. Part one made me cream myself, part two made me shit myself.

 

[octavius]

Completed Errand Boy for Thief 2, another old classic. Took me just under six hours.
What happened to those cute little missions that you could finish in one go?

A mission that grew on me. At first I thought I couldn't blackjack any guards, but my spirits rose when I realized it only applied to the guards patroling the streets. But the sheer amount of guards made the mission needlessly tedious, at least before I realized the guards are completely blind in the dark even if passing an inch from Garrett.

Apparantly the modder - "belboz" - spend 14 days making a nude skin of the female guards, so that Garrett could use his mad stealth skillz to spy in the shower:

Out of academic interest I moved around her to check if the model was anatomically correct. Since I don't want to harvest

s I can't provide a screenshot of the image that will forever haunt Garrett in his nightmares.

This mission is pretty much the opposite of the previous mission I played: Curse of the Ancients. Almost exclusively human enemies and lots of sneaking in an urban environment. Was quite tedious in the beginning, what with the no BJ rule and rather confusing goals, but it actually got better and better, which is rare.
Only had to look up one thing: where the bloody Keymaster and his master key was. As in CofA I managed all the difficult stuff without help, but was stomped with a relative simple one (at least judging from the number of "Halp! Can't find ..." threads on TTLG.

This is the first map in the The Trickster Gem Mine campaign. After some hours I recalled that that was the campaign I was playing (one of the last maps) when I was burnt out from playing too much T2 about 12 years ago. I also recall not liking the maps very much (I prefer tomb raiding and more exotic maps than urban sneaking), so I don't think I will continue this campaing, especially since I already played most of it before.
This probably means that every T2 mission I will play from now on will be ones I've never played before.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

Godspeed, noble soul. But share your trials with the rest of us.

 

[Andronovo]

How much is the difference in AI awareness in hard vs expert? I've played on both, and I can't tell the difference, except that they seem to stay alert for less time once set off. I don't mind the awareness on Eepert, but I occasionally like to engage in combat, and I don't appreciate having guard that take fifteen hits to kill while I only take two. I supposed it's another reason to play Dark Mod, you can just poke them in the face.

 

[octavius]

"The Order of the Vine" is an overly ambitious FM with a humongous mansion (what is it with the old FMs and the overly-large structures?) that Garrett must semi-ghost through in order to steal a Pagan artifact from an odd nobleman. I say "semi-ghost" because Expert difficulty only allows Garrett 8 knockouts, so choose them carefully. It's a solid mission overall that is still enjoyable after all these years, but be ready for odd problems and nuances, like endlessly repeating conversations between guards, key hunts that take you from one end of the mansion to the other, written parchments that end "I'll just keep writing while he wai-" found in the hands of a murder victim, endless audiolog exposition in readables, etc. Fortunately the good outweighs the bad, like the new sand arrows (combination water/flash arrows), loot that functions as a light source and (my personal favourite) toilets that are big enough that you can spelunk through them.

Another oddity about The Order of the Vine is that it's 3 missions, with the first and the last being a prologue and an epilogue, respectively. While I personally question the usage of missions for story exposition (also that the Garrett voice actor makes him sound like he's coming down with a bad cold) the prologue is done pretty neatly and serves a broader purpose than just a plot dump, and I'm guessing that this FM served as an inspiration for most Thief FMs in one form or another.

I hate this mission:

Except for needing help finding the Battlement Key, I've figured out everything. But I'm 21 bloody gold short before I can lower the drawbridge, raise the portcullis and run like taff out of the castle.
Typically enough I struggle with a thing nobody else seem to have had problems with (but I think most played it on Hard, though). I found the ring in the theater and the ring in the garden, but no idea where to find the missing pieces. I guess I'll have to watch a playthrough on YouTube too see where the elusive loot is, 'cause I'm tired if sneaking past the same guards all the time. Limited or no blackjacking is not fun when you have to backtrack so much, but OTOH limited to eight it makes the mission more strategic.

Overall a nice mission, with some great architecture (some of it had a weird scale, though) and good lighting, but frustrating when you can't find those last gold pieces.

I've actually played it twice before. I recall vividly the small balcony and use it to access the room next door, and thinking "I've played this before". But I can't recall the pyramid, so I don't think I ever actually finished it.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

octavius I checked the lootlist, and the only 'hard-to-find' loot items I can see there is a gemstone in a bathroom and a jar in the temple ruins. Either one of those should help you clear the threshold.

 

[octavius]

The sword in the Armoury (worth 100 gold) was also too hard for me to find. Didn't see your post in time, so I found out from YouTube. There's a woman - Nexus Letum - who's apparantly been playing every Thief FM ever made.

EDIT: funny how the two things I missed were both in the same small room.

 

[octavius]

After Errand Boy and Order of the Vine, Cult of the Resurrection was an easy (but solid) mission. No knock-out limitations, relatively few guards and very basic guard AI made it too easy, but it has good atmosphere and some nice puzzles.
The only thing I had problems with was finding the last piece of loot. Turns out queasiness does not pay off in Thief, since the gem was in the lavatory, after having been accidentally eaten!

 

[Unkillable Cat]

Turns out queasiness does not pay off in Thief, since the gem was in the lavatory, after having been accidentally eaten!

If you played "The Order of the Vine" right, you were literally jumping around in the muck of the estate's lavatories. It pays to attend to the toilets. (Just be mindful of 'A Servant's Life' which took it too far.)

 

[octavius]

Turns out queasiness does not pay off in Thief, since the gem was in the lavatory, after having been accidentally eaten!

If you played "The Order of the Vine" right, you were literally jumping around in the muck of the estate's lavatories.

Yes, but in that case I knew I had to access the sewers.
There was a clue in Cult too, but somehow I missed it.

It pays to attend to the toilets. (Just be mindful of 'A Servant's Life' which took it too far.)

Thanks for the warning.

 

[Alphons]

(I prefer tomb raiding and more exotic maps than urban sneaking)

I've actually played the campaign couple months back. Sadly it wasn't finished. Next mission is a bit boring warehouse district, but it gets better. My favourite was the titular Trickster Mine (abandoned mine with partially uncovered temples and tombs of high priests).

It gets weird next with you travelling into future where humanity was almost destroyed, aside from those that survived in Lord Baford's palace and now live in metal domes. You then return to the past to explore ruined mage outpost (filled with their ghosts) and finish by taking on the lich that killed them all.

 

[octavius]

(I prefer tomb raiding and more exotic maps than urban sneaking)

I've actually played the campaign couple months back. Sadly it wasn't finished. Next mission is a bit boring warehouse district, but it gets better. My favourite was the titular Trickster Mine (abandoned mine with partially uncovered temples and tombs of high priests).

It gets weird next with you travelling into future where humanity was almost destroyed, aside from those that survived in Lord Baford's palace and now live in metal domes. You then return to the past to explore ruined mage outpost (filled with their ghosts) and finish by taking on the lich that killed them all.

Yeah, I recall the second mission was rather boring, and that it picked up once the locality started to become more exotic.
Also, the mage outpost was were I got burnt out.

 

[octavius]

Benny's Dead is only memorable for the sewers and the critters in them. It's not everyday you get swearing children in a video game. Shame that the ending is bugged.

Benny's Dead is the most annoying Thief mission I've played so far.
All window sills seem to be made of metal and you have to creeeeeep slowly to not trigger ultra alert characters.
A door that is frobbable, but instead of opening it you end up with a door handle that make a racket when you drop it.
"Bogeys" that spam "shut the fuck up" and farting sounds; how funny. If it wasn't for the writing in notes being too good I'd think it was made by some 14 year old punk.

Funny thing about the bogeys: when first sighting their camp and fighting them, it was just like a rather spooky short story I just read (Small World by William F. Nolan) in which the protagonist is hunted down by viscious little "aliens".
Incidentally they were very weak; surely the two dead guards should have been able to defeat them.

Anyway, doesn't sound like it's worth continuing this one.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

Realizing you're playing Thief 1/2 missions for reals:

STAY A WHILE. STAY FOREEVEER!

 

[Jack Of Owls]

Turns out queasiness does not pay off in Thief, since the gem was in the lavatory, after having been accidentally eaten!

It pays to attend to the toilets. (Just be mindful of 'A Servant's Life' which took it too far.)

I heard about this notorious FM but was scared off by its descriptions. I should try to find a Let's Play of it or something just for, um, shits and giggles. I like to experience these things vicariously vicariously

 

[Unkillable Cat]

"The Scarlet Cascabel" which won the T1 Anniversary contest last year (when it shouldn't have) has been updated. I'm gonna give it another go and see whether the changes are an improvement.

 

[Andronovo]

Anyone here completed Death's Turbid Veil? I was never able to finish it because of borked scripts, but it's one of the few missions to do PROPER darkness. When a room is completely unlit you can't see a thing, really increases my immersion. It may not be fundamentally anything more than a mansion clearing mission, but it's best I've played of that ilk.

 

[Alphons]

Benny's Dead was certainly an annoying mission (though the design of the hotel and that mall below made it kinda worth seeing).

Aside from those stupid sewers the most annoying part were the ending and loot goal (on Master you need something close to 96% of all loot). I've already made to Benny's room thinking I'll get the last couple pieces and triggered the ending sequence, but no good. So I've spent 2 hours running around the hotel and city, when I finally gave up and went into sewers. Another hour and I found a coin, but I couldn't finish because I've already triggered ending.

I'm currently doing Art of Thievery and it's pretty fun ghosting through the place.

 

[Max_b5]

(when it shouldn't have)

Why though?

I'm gonna give it another go and see whether the changes are an improvement.

They definitely are.

 

[JarlFrank]

(Just be mindful of 'A Servant's Life' which took it too far.)

The first FM I played right after T2X, based on your recommendation in this thread 10 years ago.

I hope you're proud of yourself.

 

[Mechs Delight]

I'm not so sure the changes in the updated "Scarlet Cascabel" are for the better, at least not in the first mission. I feel that mission just got longer and not necessarily better. While the new parts of the woods and the mines are aesthetically attractive, they don't really add to the mission and make one objective in particular a tiresome trudge. Also, I swear the loot goal is nigh-impossible to reach now, at least on Normal level.

The second mission seems little changed in my view, although there were two improvements: the Winter Wing and the removal of the silly gong-failure state.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

I'm not so sure the changes in the updated "Scarlet Cascabel" are for the better, at least not in the first mission. I feel that mission just got longer and not necessarily better. While the new parts of the woods and the mines are aesthetically attractive, they don't really add to the mission and make one objective in particular a tiresome trudge. Also, I swear the loot goal is nigh-impossible to reach now, at least on Normal level.

This is the conclusion I'm reaching as well. It's like they want to polish the mission up to the best shine possible and they actually went too far. I'm supposed to be able to get into the bell tower for example... but I'm not seeing how.

Some of the actions are kinda obtuse and needlessly restrictive, like getting the jade idol from behind the waterfall (you must have four Moss Arrows, which is exactly the amount I found throughout the mission) or figuring out what to do in the secret room at the inn. Still, I only ended 180 away from the maximum possible loot... but it's scattered all over the place. (I also found all six secrets, and some of them really tested my patience on the 'sensible things to do in Wychwood while you're broke'.)

The addition of a weapon shop at the start of Mission 2 is probably the best improvement I've seen so far, but I've yet to play Mission 2 proper.

EDIT: Grammar.