Thief fan missions and campaigns

[Andronovo]

New mission, made by Master of Dromed: https://www.ttlg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=152073

As for Hazard Pay and Iris, I personally more like the first, much more compact and challenging (esp. with limited saves mode). I notice that with time I more prefer smaller scale missions like this and maybe Intertheft. As for Iris... well, it is BIG (not for hours, but for tens of hours), and I like the exploration thing in this mission, but I think the mission a bit empty in places, devoid from much challenge. Still well done for newcomer, I think.

Hazard Pay was only really challenging due to platforming. Zambies are a rather easy enemy type. Especially when you can just whack them with the sword a few times. There was one bit a had some trouble with, due to the concentration of yellow guys, but I just drew them all to one spot with noisemakers and set them on fire.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

"A Visit to the Baron" by Master of Dromed.

Garrett is asked very nicely to recover a foolish boy who went exploring in the catacombs beneath the Baron's castle. He figures he'll line his pockets along the way.

I don't know what to make of this one. This is the author's third FM, but this is the first one I really delve into as the other two didn't exactly interest me.

Sadly this FM suffers from the primary problems of the other two: Overly long and 'empty'. I asked myself numerous times why I was still playing this.

And here's the answer: This FM is amazing to explore. It starts out as something right between "Lord Alan's Basement" and "Lord Alan's Factory", and when you finally get outside you see a vast area ahead of you that feels straight out of "Lady Lisa's Harbor"; an elevating cityscape full of little houses, including the Baron's multi-leveled castle. And the catacombs below it. There are a lot of nooks and crannies to explore and discover.

I may be going a bit too far here, but despite all this content the word 'empty' describes this FM pretty accurately. One unwritten rule in making Fan Missions is to have the scenery serve a purpose; if the player can reach that windowsill, for example, it's because there's something there to frob.

This FM doesn't follow that rule at all. There are not just rooms, but lots of rooms that have nothing frobbable. Some frobbable containers are empty. Just near the start there's a two-story hall with a single guard walking about, and a room visible at the other end of the lower floor. There's nothing in that room, and I can't even remember if there's anything on the lower floor of the hall (the upper floor at least serves as a connecting corridor to other parts of the facility). Loot is almost never hidden, it's pretty much out there for everyone to see (and take). One notable exception is a unique room that has veteran taffers go "A-ha, there's a ring on the floor here somewhere!"... and they'd be right. There are only three secrets in the FM, and the two I found I kinda stumbled upon by accident. There's a long bridge that stretches out from the castle to one end of the map. There's nothing on the bridge, or at the end of the bridge except for a plaque that doesn't say anything.

There are ~80 critters in this FM. About a dozen of them are guards, a similar number of undead in the catacombs, and the rest is either factory workers or nobles, and many of the workers are indifferent to Garrett's presence. No rats, no monsters either. Were it not for the traps in the catacombs one could say that this FM is almost harmless.

Exploring the Baron's castle is where things get outright weird. The included map only covers the castle, but between what it calls the "first floor" and "second floor" there are about four other floors that aren't mapped at all! And there are a lot of rooms, and every window is transparent, meaning that one can be spotted through them - except that only happened one time to me, right at the top where one of the objectives can be found. Sound also propagates very strangely in the castle, I could often hear critters walking about on floors above or below me, and there was no immediate architectural reason for that. Finally this FM has easily over 100 doorways, but very few actual doors. Instead there's a decorated semi-transparent veil in place in most doorways that can be walked through. Interesting, but I think it's there to overcome engine limitations.

Readables were run-of-the-mill, but the author both is poor at English and can't spell. One notable character described in a journal suddenly changes gender, then back again.

Note the three FMs that I compare to this one: They're all old, with the youngest one being from 2007. That's probably this FM's biggest problem: It's an old FM made using modern-day hardware and with a beefier engine - but doesn't factor in the progress that's been made in designing FMs.

Rating: 6/10. Not a 'must-play' FM by any means, and it does things differently from the norm, but it still has a charm of its own. The author shows promise, but still has a ways to go.

 

[Andronovo]

I've been playing Calendra's Legacy, and uh... man, there were a lot lower standards for fan missions back then. It's really a mess in terms of gameplay, and half broken, and feels like it was created by a very passionate and dedicated 16 year old. But all the little details and story are interesting enough that I want to keep playing, though I must savescum.

 

[Maggot]

The two most polished older FMs I have played so far were Hidden Agenda and Heist Society. Calendra's Legacy had a lot of bullshit with the difficulty but I look back on my playthrough of it with fond memories. It's definitely worth playing through at least once.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

I owe the FM author 'Master of Dromed' a small apology.

He released two FMs simultaneously in 2020, "A Tough Night" and "Into the Dark Forest". Me and JarlFrank's commentary here should give people an idea of what the former one is like - but likewise I need to point out that it's been updated since. It may be better. I don't feel like finding out.

But that made me realize something: I actually never gave "Into the Dark Forest" a go. Until this weekend. And I am both shocked and somewhat embarrassed by that, because this one is actually quite good.

"Into the Dark Forest" by Master of Dromed.

Garrett is tasked with finding a Mage's hideout somewhere in the deep forest, so that he can recover correspondence linking The Brotherhood of the Hand with a city opposing the Baron's forces. This journey takes him through a Hammerite Mine/Factory (of which part is submerged), a Hammerite village by the waterside, tunnels full of spiders and burricks, a village overrun by the Trickster's critters, before finally reaching the Mage's hideout.

This is one of those 'grand adventure' FMs, where Garrett is put through area after area, each with its own identity and differences. Consider that this is Master of Dromed at work, and you may start to twig on how this looks. Playing through this was a true adventure for me. The Mine/Factory is really nice to explore, but it's the Mage's hideout at the end where I spotted many similarities with "A Visit to the Baron" - particularly the Baron's castle.

BUT, this is the clincher which left me with more questions than answers - loot is properly stashed and hidden here. All over the place. I found a good number of secrets, and there's a 3500 loot requirement on Expert, and I had trouble meeting that quota. It was only once I raided one of the FM's two treasuries (but good luck finding the keys for them) that I finally got there, but imagine my shock when I see the endscreen and the FM has 22 secrets and close to 7000 loot! And it has TONS of nooks and crannies to explore... which makes me ask, what the taff is going on with "A Visit to the Baron" where the loot is all out in the open? I spent 3 hours on this FM in-game, but if I had any idea how much loot is crammed into this one I'd probably need another 90 minutes on top of that.

The biggest downside for me was the puzzle involving the key to the Hammerite treasury - according to readables a thief nabbed the key and hid it somewhere, yet that 'somewhere' is never hinted at, even though they caught the thief and locked him in a cell. Conclusion? The key must be hidden in the cell somewhere. Imagine my surprise when I find a hidden lever inside the cell, leading to a secret compartment. How the Hammerites didn't know about that is going to be one of the Builder's Little Mysteries...

Speaking of readables, they were alright this time, but a few typos/errors still crept in.

Rating: 8/10. Pack a big lunch for this one, this is an enjoyable trek and a half.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

A new FM is out - "The Sunken Library" by Angder.

Many centuries ago the eternal undying ruled the land of eternal night. But the living fought back, and when they captured the City an undead librarian pushed the panic button and threw up a force field around the library, preventing both entry and exit. Now the force field has finally failed and the library is ripe for the picking. Despite his efforts, Garrett is not the first on the scene, but he must hurry if he's going to snag the prizes - some of the most valuable books in existence.

This FM has a good 'Old Quarter'-vibe going here, though the selection of enemies is low. Low variety is made up by numbers though, and there are plenty of things skulking about. The most interesting part is the architecture and level design - there are only five keys, but each exists in at least two copies. How you move about the library is dictated by which one of the keys you find first. For example I reached the vault housing one of the valued books from a passage underneath the floor which led to the sewers, but I couldn't unlock the door leading into the room until towards the end of the mission when I'd found another key... hanging from a skeletal hand in the spider's lair.

Oh yeah, the spider's lair - it uses 'Dark as Taff'-darkness. The only good news is that you really don't have to go in there. At least a bunch of flares are provided to help you out.

Another challenge is getting into the library in the first place. I counted three ways in, though there could be more.

As befitting a library, there are plenty of readables about. Fortunately they're free of errors and audiolog syndrome, but they're just taffin' weird. The fourth wall gets broken a couple of times, though.

Rating: 8/10. A surprisingly versatile and thought-out romp in a library. Take a moment to admire the statue in the lobby, it won't bite.

 

[Morgoth]

Just finished "The Sunken Library".

Definitely a solid FM with heavy TDP flair.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

A new Thief 2 campaign has been released - "Matriach". At least 3 missions in a cityscape environment.

That's good news, yes?

Well, the author is Balboa, whose FM's I analyzed in this post over a year ago.

I honestly don't know what to expect. Time to find out.

 

[Nixheb]

And err... any news about the "black parade" ? Vaguely remember reading something like "it's ready, only need a small missing script blablabla" several months ago... ?

 

[Morgoth]

And err... any news about the "black parade" ? Vaguely remember reading something like "it's ready, only need a small missing script blablabla" several months ago... ?

This is the latest I heard from the devs:
https://www.ttlg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=152095

Not sure where takeiteasy's conspiracy theory bullshit came from (this isn't the first time either, as pointed out by marbleman) but:
- This is still being worked on.
- It's going a bit slower than usual these days (I blame Pizza Tower).
- 7 out of the 10 missions have been fully playtested with hundreds of issues fixed, missions 8 and 10 are still being worked on while 9 is waiting (we're testing sequentially).
- All of the art is done bar one cutscene.
- We're on track to release this year.
- The name does not come from My Chemical Romance, we've said this plenty of times (in fact we're just huge Beyoncé fans).

 

[Melan]

To be fair, Pizza Tower is a lot of fun. Highly recommended.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

After spending a few days with "Matriach", I've reached the conclusion that the campaign needs an update before I can recommend it. Too many bugs that need to be addressed.

I can tell you the following though:

# It's a Balboa-mission, through and through. Lots of experimental 'features', lots of slow-ass elevators, plenty of railroaded sequences, some clever ideas, lots of not-so-clever ideas.
# The second mission is probably the most interesting of the bunch, taking place in a Mage compound.
# Far too many password-protected containers where the solution is in plain sight, yet hard as nails to find. One example: Bumbleson's safe. The book has the code, but it isn't in it.
# Main plot objectives that are amazingly easy to miss.

As-is, I'd slap a "Ludeat Emptor"-warning on it - let the player beware.

 

[Mikeal]

 

[Zenith]

I'm doing a clean reinstall of Thief TDP/TMA.
I know there are some experts here, can I get a clear answer on some things?

1. What's the deal with "common scripts"?
I've seen it mentioned both that "these may break some FMs" and "some FMs won't work without these".
The idea, as I understand it, is to override scripts included in FMs with updated versions of the same scripts. Is there a single recorded case where this actually matters?

2. How do save files interact with .osm scripts and .dml patches?
Let's say I've made some saves with OSM folder loaded in cam_mod.ini. Then I commented the string out. Are the previous save files safe to load? What about the other way around? What about saving without FMDMLs and then loading with?

3. Is there a reason TFix doesn't install map fixes as a mod?
I'm aware of the dodgy shit TFix does like replacing models without telling you or adding colored lights to a game without any (even in Lite version btw). But at least it creates separate folders for the models.
I've tried putting its *.mis, *.dml and tfix.gam into a separate folder, and it seems to load fine from there. Is there any technical reason it completely overwrites the original missions instead? I could maybe buy "oldDark compatibility" if it was anyone but this guy.

Speaking of oldDark, the only way to fix the video playback on W10 seems to be running the (ddfix'd) game with admin privileges. Which works, but maybe there's a better way? Like hooking up newDark's lgvid.dll somehow? Registering the codecs manually had no effect.

 

[Morgoth]

New T2 FM: Godforsaken Locale
https://www.thiefguild.com/fanmissions/48539/godforsaken-locale
https://www.ttlg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=152187

Briefing​

You're a loner in The City that goes rough on anyone without strong bonds. Your last hope is to join people that live in the woods, since you're not welcome in ranks of City Watch or The Order of The Hammer. Go through your trial task and find out what happened to those, who once lived in... Salentine

 

[Unkillable Cat]

Our favorite sex taffing machine nicked returns with a new FM, this time for Thief Gold.

"The Scholar's Hand" has Garrett breaking into the Great Library of Benachdar, one of the greatest sources of knowledge in the world, but has been taken over by the despotic Lord Arban. The MacGuffin is the eponymous hand, which supposedly contains great magic power. The situation with Arban is critical enough to the point that the Hammerites will step in if someone could only relieve the Lord of the Hand... hence why Garrett is staying at an inn at the base of the mountain the library is built upon, waiting for nightfall. But then Garrett hears a commotion coming from below...

I've only given this one a brief check, but it looks very promising. While it offers a path of stealth and sneaking, a greater emphasis is put on killing things as four new items are introduced which all seem designed to maim, harm and murder. Combined with the FM's open-ended level design this could very well be one of the Great Ones.

 

[Morgoth]

And now for something slightly different:

This movie is in no way official, but I'm insanely proud to have been a part of the world of THIEF, to have worked with so many amazing creators and friends - and to have met so many of incredible fans that keep it going. Thank you all so much for being as in love with this game as I have been for [checks notes, gasps] nearly 30 years. I hope you enjoy!

 

[Unkillable Cat]

And finished. "The Scholar's Hand" has a good shot at being one of the greatest FMs ever made.

Level design-wise it has everything; a nice inn, caverns, mines, underwater sections, abandoned structures, a crypt, secret passageways, a castle (filled with marble floors and a ventilation shaft), ruins, and vertigo-inspiring vistas - get up on the castle walls and you can look down the mountainside all the way towards the start! Design-wise the aforementioned areas all have at least two paths of travel, and it's sometimes amazing to find paths that connect two distinct areas together. The only problematic part is the very absolute start, I would say. Garrett starts in his room at the inn, and there are guards looking for him, with one guard checking all the rooms. While Garrett has many options in how to solve the situation (stealth-fans will look upwards) some frustration may set in here as many of them will end in failure, leading to several restarts. Critter-wise the inn is actually the hardest part of the FM, as guards are well located and have clever patrol paths.

With this being a nicked-FM, there is experimentation about. Five new items have been added for Garrett to muck about with:

# Striker: Shoots off a small spark. Great for lighting torches and other flammable materials.

# Oil flask: Toss this somewhere and the floor (and walls) is covered in flammable oil. Light the oil at your leisure...

# Vespid Hive: Unleashes a bunch of fly swarms where it lands, which both sting and then explode after about 30 seconds. Does nothing to Undead.

# Seed of Fecundity: Moss Arrow + Explosive Device. Covers a large area in plant life. Great against marble floors!

# Fragmentation Grenade: Mine + Flash Bomb. Causes a sizeable explosion where it lands. Toss one near a red barrel for double the fun!

In addition there's also a rock crusher (put ore in, stuff comes out) and a well-hidden shopkeeper who gives you stuff for those shiny pebbles that are scattered about.

Note that this FM only has two objectives: Get the MacGuffin, get out. There's no loot requirement and no ban on killing things.

Being an FM that takes place in a library there are plenty of (amusing) readables, and Audiolog Syndrome has been taken into thought so it's at a bare minimal, at most.

The only other problem I have with this FM is a technical one: The audio cues are too loud. Not 'A Night in Rocksbourg'-loud, but still close. This may be a problem on my end as my T1-installation has mutated slightly over the years, but it's noticeable in a few areas (like outside Lord Arban's room).

I want to give this a 10/10-rating, but since it's new and not fully explored I'm gonna settle with a 9.5/10-rating for now.

Now get taffing, everyone!

 

[Unkillable Cat]

A new FM was released last week for T2, "Rockpool" by Swiz.

Garrett is trying to take advantage of the very recent collapse of the Mechanists (see Thief 2) to rip them off. He has a hot tip for an old vault at a Mechanist facility that's been "recently vacated" but he's gonna need the help of three of his old mates for the job: One Pagan to give him supplies, one former Mechanist to give him supplies and intel, and a crook turned hotel manager to grant him accommodations. With everything set up and his go-to spots marked on the map, it's time to get taffing.

Seasoned veterans might be put off by the simplistic cityscape featuring only cops and guards (plus the occasional servant) but it won't take long for the FM's strongest point to get through: The writing. This is a bar above the norm. Most of the story/exposition is relayed via readables, with a few exceptions done through some 'show, don't tell'-scenes as you start to piece together what exactly happened to the Mechanists here... and it just works.

One thought came up which could have given this FM added depth, is that there's an optional objective where the former Mechanist-friend asks Garrett to see if he can learn whether a certain Mechanist is alive. This objective simply involves finding a list and dropping it off at this house, but a far more interesting method of doing this would be to get the Mechanist's name first, then looking around to see if you can determine his fate on your own. A very little 'Return of the Obra Dinn'-mystery for the player to solve.

Amazingly I played through this one only missing 50 gold and one secret on the first go.

Rating: 6/10. I don't know if this is the author's first mission or not, but it sure feels like one. Simple, but not bad in any way, but the writing-parts are what interest me for any future endeavors.

 

[Nixheb]

And finished. "The Scholar's Hand" has a good shot at being one of the greatest FMs ever made.

Just DL it, hungry for some high quality content based on you review (which are 99% valid from my POV)
but ALAS, the FM crash on the item shop screen ... had no problem with it ?
Playing it with thief Gold GOG version, hires textures and high res sounds. Even tried a fresh install of the whole thing, but still no sucess...

 

[Unkillable Cat]

And finished. "The Scholar's Hand" has a good shot at being one of the greatest FMs ever made.

Just DL it, hungry for some high quality content based on you review (which are 99% valid from my POV)
but ALAS, the FM crash on the item shop screen ... had no problem with it ?
Playing it with thief Gold GOG version, hires textures and high res sounds. Even tried a fresh install of the whole thing, but still no sucess...

Are you installing the latest version of TFix as well?

 

[Nixheb]

And finished. "The Scholar's Hand" has a good shot at being one of the greatest FMs ever made.

Just DL it, hungry for some high quality content based on you review (which are 99% valid from my POV)
but ALAS, the FM crash on the item shop screen ... had no problem with it ?
Playing it with thief Gold GOG version, hires textures and high res sounds. Even tried a fresh install of the whole thing, but still no sucess...

Are you installing the latest version of TFix as well?

Wasn't it included into the GOG version ? It was supposed to be ?
Or maybe there is a new more recent version ?

 

[Biscotti]

I think the version included with the GOG release is outdated, yeah.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

There is probably a more recent version of TFix than can be found in the GOG-release. Just in case I recommend you grab the latest version and install it.

 

[Nixheb]

Ok done a full reinstall :
- downloaded gog game (working)
- install latest tfix (1.27) (still working)
- install hd mod (still working)
- install better sounds pack (still working)
- can start a normal new game without a problem.

- dl and unzip "The Scholar's Hand", select it in mission selector, launched successfully

...but still crashing on the equipment buying screen.

First mission to fail like that (and I've tried more than 20 maybe, big and small, without noticeable problem)... too bad for me !