Thief fan missions and campaigns

[Yandros]

Not to dismiss your comments, but I counted, and there are way more than 4 earth crystals in mission 1. And you can also get in the bell tower. Sounds like someone just needs to get gud.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

I know I can get in the bell tower and I'm glad to know there are more than four moss arrows there, but instead of mucking about in the first mission I decided to have a go at the second one. So far I've seen nothing but minor improvements and polish, but I've also yet to cross over into the sealed wing of the house.

 

[Mechs Delight]

I definitely agree that adding a weapon shop at the start of Mission 2 was much-needed, although I'm not as apt as most players here to go off hunting for mission secrets.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

So I wrapped up The Scarlet Cascabel v2.

Compared to the original release a year ago there have been notable improvements. The biggest one is that Mission 1 is now actually relevant in some way to Mission 2... but only because of the addition of the weapon purchase screen. So you want to get as much loot in Mission 1 to have as best an advantage in Mission 2. Mission 1 is also more enjoyable and doesn't contain any obvious blunders like it did previously. Mission 2 was streamlined right at the start to remove bugs and gameplay issues, and the bonus objective with the chess pieces has been simplified for ease of gameplay, but if there were any other changes made I didn't notice them (except for the changes in the Easter Egg room, those were really cool*).

The main problem however, remains the same: Mission 1 is extraneous to the FM as a whole. Mission 2 is the meat and potatoes of this endeavour and all of the exposition provided in Mission 1 could have been conveyed via an intro video for Mission 2. Considering the meta-circumstances of the development of this FM, that looked like the better choice to make.

The above problem is one of two reasons I slammed Cascabel v1 upon release. The second problem concerned the T1 Anniversary competition itself: As a bugged and rushed release it should never have had a chance at being a top contender, regardless of the surrounding circumstances. That it actually won the competition says far more about the TTLG community than about the quality of the FM and makes me concerned for the T2 Anniversary competition, to be quite honest. What Trickster ploys can we expect there? Only the Builder knows.

But where does all this leave Cascabel v2? I want to begin by thanking PukeyBrunster and Tannar for keeping their word when they promised they'd update the mission. Now we get to see it as intended, and it is magnificent. The biggest praise I can give it (but among the more subtle of its elements) is that it doesn't look or feel like a T1 mission at all - it feels and looks like a T2 mission, which is not that easy to pull off in Thief 1. If Cascabel v2 had been the original submission for the contest I would not have cried 'foul' over the shenanigans regarding the winner, because unlike the v1 release v2 is a viable contender for the top prize, regardless of whether Mission 1 is included or not.

(It would still lose to "Lost Among the Forsaken" in my books, though. )

*Unless the message was also present in the v1 release as well and I simply failed to activate it then, which makes me a silly little taffer who can't jump.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

What Trickster ploys

Only the Builder knows

Wait, how?

 

[Mechs Delight]

Yeah, I'd still probably rank the three "Black Parade" missions just ahead of "Cascabel," but there's no doubt the latter is much improved

Spoiler

except I can't get out the Winter Wing after I free Elizabeth.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

Mechs Delight

Spoiler

South of the area where you 'freed' Elizabeth there is a large tree, and at the base of it was a cracked tile showing an inaccessible area below. After you free her this tile breaks open so that you can climb down and end up in the family catacombs.

 

[Mikeal]

https://www.ttlg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=150354

 

[Psych0sis]

it's shit

 

[Unkillable Cat]

I'm gonna have to wait until alternate download links are available, OneDrive doesn't seem to permit me to download the file.

 

[Mechs Delight]

I played the new mission for a few rooms and decided it just wasn't for me.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

Gave it a quick go. I understand people's concerns.

You start in a jail cell with no gear and the door is unfrobbable. Outside you can see a number display, meaning that a code must be entered.

Some searching reveals that there are three buttons located directly above the bed, numbered '1', '2' and '3'. Mucking about with them eventually opens a secret door inside the cell. In there is a short passage, a Scouting Orb and a button labeled '5'. I spot a place where I can throw the orb (yes, you actually need to use one) and from there I can see the access code... which has the numer '4' in it. Great, now I have to go look for that button.

After finding the button and entering the code the door opens. There's another jail cell across the hall, a hole in the wall above it and a Fire Arrow in a niche. There's also a button labeled '6', so we're not done with the passcodes yet. The goal now seems simple, shoot the fire arrow through the hole to light up a torch inside the other cell, which reveals another passcode, 6565. Great, it's only the two buttons furthest away from each other, meaning mindless trekking back and forth.

Inside the other cell is another door, and what appears to be a toilet hole. My only option is to toss the Scouting Orb down the crapper, and that's where I learn the next code, one that uses the number '7'.

Once I found that button the next room opens which has a door, three levers on the wall and one on the ground. A puzzle unfolds where I have to pull the levers in sequence, or the spiky ceiling above comes down and kills me. I learn this the hard way.

This seems to be the theme for this FM, an 'Escape Room' in the Dark Engine. It's not everyone's cuppa, but I won't go so far as to call it shit. I might play it some more sometime later.

 

[Mechs Delight]

Playing through the masterpiece, "Lost Among the Forsaken." Wishing Thief 3 had been more like the first two games, NuThief had never seen the light of day and Black Parade does see the light of day someday.

 

[skacky]

I would say it's making good progress.

Spoiler

 

[Unkillable Cat]

So I finished "Secrets of the Old City". It's not a conventional FM as there's no loot, no weapons and no harmful items, save for that fire arrow at the start. It's kinda expected considering the author, who prefers to create 'adventures' rather than 'proper' Fan Missions. To each their own, I guess.

SotOC is split into two areas, the Nightmare and Reality. The first half is precisely that - a nightmare. Surroundings have a surreal vibe to them, and rooms seem straightforward. Then you reach the village and things take an interesting turn. The Reality-section is a lot more straightforward, just find the items needed, make the MacGuffin and GTFO.

This is one of those FMs that starts out a little rough, but improves later on. Not by much, though. The biggest problem is the minute attention to detail required by the player - the switch-hunting at the start dies down a bit later on, but sharp eyes are still needed to make progress.

I managed to break the mission at one point, details below.

Spoiler

In the snowy area there's a courtyard with three gates that need to be opened to enter a tower. Opposite the gates is a passage that goes around a guard post. You can mantle up into the wall on one of the corners, and from there mantle up to the roof through a hole in the ceiling. Once up there it's possible to jump from pillar to pillar in the courtyard to reach the walls surrounding the tower. Doing this means players can skip the entire snowy section, but it does come with the downside that the two boats in the area up ahead won't activate. I didn't check, but that means players may run into trouble getting a key.

EDIT: I have realized that "Secrets of the Old City" is actually rehashing and reusing many elements from an older mission (by the same author) known as "The Artifact Returns"... which made me change my final rating.

Final rating: 5/10 - At least it's worth a play, but some taffers may be put off by it.

 

[luj1]

Playing through the masterpiece, "Lost Among the Forsaken."

Is that anything like Arcane Dimensions for Quake? What is *the* masterpiece mod for Thief 2?

 

[JarlFrank]

Playing through the masterpiece, "Lost Among the Forsaken."

Is that anything like Arcane Dimensions for Quake? What is *the* masterpiece mod for Thief 2?

There's not one masterpiece mod, but several high quality fan missions and campaigns that are on about equal footing with each other.

Here's a list of ones I would recommend:

- Ominous Bequest, followed by its sequel Broken Triad. Started the trend of "Mansion With A Dark Secret (TM)" missions. Both missions have good stories and good level design. Not as open and non-linear as some other missions, but excellent nonetheless. For many years, a lot of people in the Thief community considered Ominous Bequest the best Thief FM ever made. I don't fully agree with that, but its praise is not without reason.

- Rowena's Curse, followed by its sequel The Seven Sisters. Rowena's Curse is a mansion with a dark secret, in the style of Ominous Bequest, but it's a lot larger and filled to the brim with guards. It's not quite as polished as Ominous Bequest, but it's a good mission nonetheless. The Seven Sisters, on the other hand, is polished to hell and back - one of the tightest and most well-designed experiences in the Thief FM scene. While there are better individual missions out there, The Seven Sisters is a small campaign where each mission feeds into the next and forms a nice coherent experience.

- The Widow's Ire/Gems of Provenance. Small campaign that was released out of the blue by a new author (who by now established himself as one of the best authors at delivering a raw Thief 1 atmosphere) and absolutely blew me away when I first tried it. It's weird and surreal, it combines seemingly unfitting elements with each other yet makes it feel like it all fits together and has a very stream of consciousness like approach to level design. One of the very few Thief FMs I rated 10/10.

- The grand city missions of Melan and skacky. Those two are the masters of vast cityscapes. Bad Debts, Disorientation, Shadow Politics, Between These Dark Walls, Endless Rain, The Sound of a Burrick in a Room. If you like non-linear exploration of expansive cityscapes, play these.

- Augustine's Revenge by bbb. This is the most pure Thief 1 atmosphere I have ever encountered in a fan mission. Feels like vanilla Thief 1 on steroids.

- T2X. A large campaign made back in 2005 intended to be an unofficial expansion pack to the game. It's not the best of the best, but it is a well-designed campaign with no outright stinkers in its mission roster, and a great demonstration of what the Thief community is capable of. High production values and some top-tier missions (the crypts, the brothel, the hotel). This is a must play.

- A Servant's Life

 

[prengle]

Playing through the masterpiece, "Lost Among the Forsaken."

Is that anything like Arcane Dimensions for Quake? What is *the* masterpiece mod for Thief 2?

this is going to come off as an autistic shitfit but i still really really dont like the implication that arcane dimensions is *the* goat™ when it comes to quake maps/mods and that nothing else is worth playing. just go to quaddicted and sort by user rating, there are hundreds of insanely good quake maps that have nothing to do with ad, and even then sock's released a bunch of his own standalone maps that are all worth playing. the community is kind of a mess but that doesnt mean they havent produced a fuckton of really good content. imo the same applies to thief fms, we just dont really have anything thats entirely comparable to ad

 

[octavius]

this is going to come off as an autistic shitfit but i still really really dont like the implication that arcane dimensions is *the* goat™ when it comes to quake maps/mods and that nothing else is worth playing. just go to quaddicted and sort by user rating, there are hundreds of insanely good quake maps that have nothing to do with ad, and even then sock's released a bunch of his own standalone maps that are all worth playing. the community is kind of a mess but that doesnt mean they havent produced a fuckton of really good content. imo the same applies to thief fms, we just dont really have anything thats entirely comparable to ad

Lots of maps rated ♥♥♥♥♥. Does that mean ♥♥♥♥ is considered average?

 

[luj1]

there are hundreds of insanely good quake maps

Of course, but AD linked a bunch of great maps into an actual campaign

 

[Wunderbar]

there are hundreds of insanely good quake maps

Of course, but AD linked a bunch of great maps into an actual campaign

but AD is just a mappack with maps connected via difficulty selector hub map, there is no progression and you always shotgun-start them. Basically, AD is something like quoth (prog.dat with a compilation of new monsters, weapons and features like destructible environment and rotating movers) - a basis for more advanced modding.

Btw, some of AD maps were made before AD (metal mostrosity, that IKwhite map from skacky MFX with long german name, maybe some others).

 

[Max_b5]

I hope you're all excited because the TMA contest is a few days close, and I hope the event gets properly covered in Vulgaria this time.

 

[cowking]

Catacombs of Knoss I

+ good readables
+ good soundscape
+ liked the apartments especially
- dislike circular gamey level design
- dislike certain sideways jump onto a metal pipe with a ledge above you, I knew I was going to fall and I did. There was another jump where I simply said nope, fuck that, good it wasn't required for loot completion.

Overall good, solid, worth playing, was able to ironman it for the most part. I think the asian tower was a bit under-utilized.

Catacombs of Knoss II

first warning sign was the tight corridor design against undead, this never works, undead missions should be designed with un-KOable zombies and layed out with that in mind.
second warning sign was the way the level was lit up, causing the player to basically lose control over his progress.
third and final nail in the coffin was when I opened a chest and ~ten mages spawned behind me with ranged attacks... yeah, nope. Instantly quit and never going back. Yurusanai.

 

[Yandros]

The cheese stands alone

 

[Unkillable Cat]

The T2 20th Anniversary contest has gone live. Check this thread for the details, and this link for the downloads. (Mirror here)

I'm already taffing about in "Where the Unknown Lurks" - I'm liking it very much.