slavatrumpevitch on 31/7/2013 at 04:37

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I would recommend simply immersing yourself in the existing fan missions. There are so many amazing ones out there (Happy to make suggestions if you like)

Once you've played through several dozen of the major projects, you'll have a pretty good sense of what people have done. Use this to guide your intuition about what is likely to be accepted, and what is not. But ultimately, the story is yours to tell. If the mission is beautifully made, and the story is crafted with care, I think even the "purest" among us will be able to appreciate it, regardless of how it fits with the existing canon.

If you want to play it safe, you can always create a new environment, with new characters and canon. But, if you want to tell a story about Garrett and The City, then that's probably the story you should tell.

Ricebug on 31/7/2013 at 05:24

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There are really no "bad" FMs out there. Those that are a little rough around the edges were created when we were trying to understand the editor and her limitations.

That said, use TafferPatcher to install Thief 2 and Dromed so you don't have any issues. And since you've apparently done no missions, stick with what's been done. Once you're comfortable with the editor you can go out on a limb and try something out of the ordinary.

Oh, did I mention using TafferPatcher to install everything?

Accignite Vos on 31/7/2013 at 11:17

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Is installing TafferPatcher friendly to those without much technological know-how? I can't break my computer. I need it for a huge amount of important things, and I can't get a gaming PC at this point in time.

EmperorSteele on 31/7/2013 at 22:36

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Getting to the crux of the matter, it seems that most of the fanbase has silently agreed on a couple things (though be aware that there are numerous exceptions to each of these), almost to the point where several items on this list could qualify as tropes:

Garrett is quite unlucky at love. The few ladies he's ever said to have had a past or current involvement with end up either lying to him, using him, or just outright betraying him. And if THAT doesn't happen, Garrett will do something to bungle things up himself, because he's a self-centered klepto. Or they get exploded. Part of this is maintaining the status quo: Garrett would have a hard time justifying a dangerous and self-centered lifestyle if he had someone waiting at home for him.

Garrett's rent is always due. Failing that, he's engaged in the current mission to prove a point or accept a challenge.

Garrett can't ever be left alone. Takes it easy? He gets kidnapped or arrested. Out at a bar with friends? He makes a drunken bet to go steal something. Takes a vacation? Gets wrapped up in a local mystery. Minding his own business? End of the world, better go save it! Of course, this also happens in canon, and there wouldn't be much point to an FM where literally nothing happens.

Garrett "plays" on Expert. While the player is free to select their playmode and everything that it entails (allowed deaths, objectives, amount of loot he gets), the fannon (and even the cannon a bit) agree that he's not a murderer, and in fact is rarely seen so he never needs to draw his sword anyway, and always does the most complicated things available in the scenario (Rescuing Basso from Clagscleft, for instance. It's an expert-only objective, yet Thief 2 assumes Garrett has done this. I believe there's also a reference to the pair of extra gemstones from Bonehoard in a later mission).

Most missions will take place in the time-frame of the game used to play it. T:tDP/T:G missions will mostly take place either before, during, or just after that game. T2 FMs will be just before, during, or a little after T2, but rarely further than the timeframe of T3. T3 and TDM (The Dark Mod, a DOOM total conversion) mods take place around the time of, and after Thief 3. This is not an iron-clad rule, obviously. However, many T1 FMs were made before T2 was released, and very few were made after that, because we got a bigger and better version of DromEd to work with. TG FMs still made after T2's release used the first version of the game, despite it's limitations, because it more accurately replicated the atmosphere of the Original Missions in TG. And this is all assuming an individual believes all 3 games count as cannon, but that's a whole 'nother bag of squirrels I don't care to open right now. However, in general a player can assume an FM can take place at any time unless it specifically states otherwise (like if it actually says "takes place between "Assassins" and "The Sword" ", which, not unreasonably, assumes a gulf of time between those two missions)

Now, as for a generally accepted timeline of what FMs "actually" happened and when? I wouldn't tread on that. You can probably safely assume -most- people have played Calendra's Cistern and Legacy... but you can't assume they ALL did; it's also hard to place chronologically, as the two missions were released years apart for two different games, yet take place one right after the other. Therefore, trying to "place" it, and then reference it in your own mission, probably wouldn't go over too well.

EmperorSteele on 1/8/2013 at 01:11

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Also, since you asked what HASN'T been done... well, I can't speak to that effect, but there are certain things I think we could stand to see more of. For instance, missions where there's little to actually steal, but your main goal is reconnaissance and information gathering. This has been done to some effect in the OMs: "Casing The Joint" where you're just getting the layout of the mission, and "1st City Bank and Trust" where your main goal is a recording, not treasure or money (though there's plenty of that, too). Anything that emphasizes Garrett's skills as an infiltrator over his ability to swipe shinnies and solve puzzles =)

And thanks, The Mike! I didn't actually come up with the "Garret plays on Expert" idea, I read that somewhere else on the forums recently =) And I'll have to play "Eclipsed", I seem to have missed that one!