Makatak on 29/9/2008 at 21:50
The first time I saw Thief in action was when I saw my friend playing the Thief Gold demo. I don't think it occurred to him that it was a stealth game because he kept trying to kill the 3 guys outside the Overlord's Fancy with Fire Arrows and getting killed:tsktsk:
Then at some point I installed it on my computer and was baffled by the slow running speed (while I was carrying a sword). On top of that, I thought the guards animations were kind of slow when they collapsed after dying. I thought something was wrong with the game, making it slow-mo, so I kept looking around for help only to find none. Eventually I discovered the increase in speed from putting sword away and got used to the seemingly slow death animations.
When I found out that my dad had a copy of Thief: DP that must have come as a freebie with some hardware, I immediately installed it on my mom's computer and played around with it. Unfortunately, the default brightness/gamma settings on this monitor were very low (we compensated by turning most of the monitor and video settings up high). But some of these settings were temporarily set back to default while Thief was running.
Simply put: The game was very very dark, even if you turned the in-game brightness all the way up. It didn't occur to me that the game was much darker than intended until I reached Cragscleft Prison. SOMEHOW, I made it to the end of the mines. I could hear voices of Hammerites, but I couldn't see them. Then, as I was walking around, I heard one of them run up to me. I couldn't see his body/face, only the dark silhouette of his body against the dimly lit background. "Thou death is at hands!" he screamed, as he lifted his hammer up and stuck me down. At that point I tried to find a way to make the game brighter. There was only one workaround: to play the game with Software Rendering! Not because the video card didn't work right, but just to make the game bright enough to see where I was going. Arrgh!
More later...
jtr7 on 29/9/2008 at 22:50
Heh heh heh. That's pretty good...and humorous, too. Inside the mind of a Thief newbie undergoing a paradigm shift.
Makatak on 29/9/2008 at 23:15
And I lost count of how many times I tried to kill guards with arrows only to be disappointed at the fact that when they are alert or don't receive a precise head shot, it takes several to kill them.
Also, for those that have Thief Gold: how many of you blackjacked or gassed Raoul (Songs of the Caverns) when you first saw him, like I did?
Digital Nightfall on 29/9/2008 at 23:18
There's no location-based damage in Thief. Headshots are mythical.
Makatak on 29/9/2008 at 23:32
O RLY
/me runs through The Sword on Normal difficulty and double checks the myth.
Unfortunately it was hard to figure out at first because sometimes unsuspecting guards die in one shot, sometimes they don't. But after successfully one-shotting a guard to the lower back, I am convinced that you are right. After all these years of attuning myself to this habit...
Is there a hitpoint/damage database somewhere?
jtr7 on 29/9/2008 at 23:41
The effectiveness of your sniping is based on collision variables and how alert the AIs are. It's easy to get an AI that has had its alertness bumped up a notch without you realising it. An AI at lowest alert level, getting struck by an arrow with full impact--even in their ankle--should drop dead. Any AIs around that heard it at all will not drop without a fight or waste of resources.
Here's the FAQ link to the old database. I think it may be flawed, but it'll give you a good idea:
(
http://www.ttlg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=75031#enemyweakness)
Digital Nightfall on 29/9/2008 at 23:42
It's plain to find in the editor, but I don't know if anyone's ever made a list and wiki'd it. Sorry to spoil the fun, but I figured that since you've been playing for a while, you could handle the truth. :)
jtr7 on 29/9/2008 at 23:46
I'd like to know how to tell which numbers in the properties are the real ones, or if the multiple listings in a single AI's properties modify one another and change the overall number.
I was collecting data for the wiki to compare the crayman with the craybeast and found two sets of numbers for the craybeast.
More story, Makatak. It's not only nostalgiac, but you've put a unique twist on it. :thumb:
Makatak on 30/9/2008 at 00:14
By the way, is there a specific term for killing yourself in Thief 1/Gold by crashing into walls while bunny hopping?:p
jtr7 on 30/9/2008 at 00:15
Hahaha!
