an old geezer to thief but a newbie to TDM asks... - by eric
eric on 21/9/2021 at 18:57
an old geezer to thief but a newbie to TDM asks...
every year or so I plat the thief’s chronologically; never bored or disappointed
every year or so I ‘plan’ to play The Dark Mod
…and every year I promise myself to do after Thief the Metal Age, then convince myself I really should play Deadly Shadows first, then convince myself I really should complete them with THIEF (4)…
…and by the time I finish I’m tired and never play TDM
This time was different; 3 days ago played The Dark Mod training, The Tears of St. Lucia, and The Builder’s Influence
I choose the latter because I found an alphabetical listing of ‘these missions should be played by beginners’, and the Builders Influence was the first on the list that actually was downloadable on the program itself (A New Job, Sound Alert & Blackjack Trainer, The Bakery Job, & The Builder Roads
were not)
But here’s my experience/question, and its generic in nature.
It comes from playing The Tears of St. Lucia, and The Builder’s Influence on Normal skill
1 Is there no food edible for health reviving in TDM…or just a coincidence of those TDM fm’s?
2 Is there virtually no health flasks scattered around, as a rule, on TDM fm’s?
For the 1 health flask each I found scattered in the above 2 games, the health recovery was measly, something like taking my bar from 10% to 30%; is that typical of TDM fm’s?
3 Is finding virtually no ‘good’ arrows (gas, fire) typical of TDM fm’s?
(cause you start with maybe 1 or 2 at most, when you choose what to buy in the beginning.
4 Is it just me who finds the turning off of candles needlessly cumbersome with the 2 keys needed? Its doable but adds nothing to the game’s enjoyment…or do others think it great?
5 Is it just me who finds the lockpicking change TDM made needlessly cumbersome compared to how its done, and differently done, on every other Thief Game?
Its doable but adds nothing to the game’s enjoyment…or do others think it great?
Id really love to hear from some. I like the game so far, and will try more levels, but I don't love it yet, and the above are part of why
thanx
eric
Azaran on 21/9/2021 at 19:12
There are gas, moss, rope and fire arrows as well, you just need to play a few more missions. That said, the number of arrows available is lower on average in TDM, for difficulty's sake.
As for health potions, traditionally in TDM they're found in kitchens (I noticed a pattern, I think the first FM creators started that 'tradition', and the others followed suit)
Quote:
4 Is it just me who finds the turning off of candles needlessly cumbersome with the 2 keys needed? Its doable but adds nothing to the game's enjoyment...or do others think it great?
I'm ok with it. You first pick up the candle, then pinch it
Azaran on 21/9/2021 at 19:40
Quote Posted by Azaran
I'm ok with it. You first pick up the candle, then pinch it
Plus it's fun (and often useful) to carry candles around and use them to light other candles
eric on 21/9/2021 at 20:16
well what i didn't like, other than the 2-key approach (just seems an unnecessary trope...there's a lot of keys on a key board, can't one just pick one?) is that the candles are right next to books often (which makes sense)
so the key exchange needed would accidentally keep reading the book instead
id spend minutes (literally) crouching, then standing then crouching trying to use the candle (1st key), then turn off the candle (2nd key) without reading the book accidentally
To me that is pointless
As to the food, I see food all over the place, often in a nobleman's room, for example, as well as kitchen's of course
So is the way TDM works is that NO food is edible?
That represents a thought-upon design decision-how is that better?
How is that immersive?
I don't' mean to be picky, but I think that's worse. :-(
irg on 22/9/2021 at 00:39
it's entirely dependent on the individual mission whether or not food can be picked up and eaten. same goes for any objects such as crates, really. i'd say a lot of the older missions are more prone to leaving objects interactive
lockpicking can be set to automatic so that it replicates Thief's with just holding down the button til it clicks.
New Horizon on 23/9/2021 at 19:42
Quote Posted by eric
As to the food, I see food all over the place, often in a nobleman's room, for example, as well as kitchen's of course
So is the way TDM works is that NO food is edible?
That represents a thought-upon design decision-how is that better?
How is that immersive?
I don't' mean to be picky, but I think that's worse. :-(
Food can be eaten and restores health as in the original games but depending on when the mission was made and choices by the mission author, it's possible they may not be edible.
I noticed you mentioned lockpicking as well. It is possible to change the lockpicking method to 'auto' which means it behaves similarly to the classic games where you just initiate lock picking and let it play out until it unlocks.
