**EM in interview : 'It's easy to fall into the trap of trying to please everyone

New Horizon on 12/4/2013 at 21:41

Quote Posted by Dia

I truly liked Springheel's three examples of how aspects of a game can be improved upon without changing the basic idea of a thing. Wish there were people like our TDM devs on the T4 dev team.

I'm sure there are, but they're paid to make games in a commercial setting. Thief was made at a time when you could still make the game you truly wanted to make. From the foundation to the rafters, Thief was a product of LGS. The only way you can do that now is if you can fund your own game. Frictional Games is a great example I think. They make their own engines as far as I know. I intend to buy their whole catalog of games.

Esme on 12/4/2013 at 22:07

Everything everyone fears or praises is based on supposition, interviews, pictures and videos.

Even when gameplay videos are released it's going to be a demo of the features the demo maker felt were the important ones and might not show the things you are interested in or concerned about.

We aren't going to know one way or the other whether this is a game we think of as Thief until at least one of us gets their hands on a copy and plays it.

It's a shame playable demo's have gone out of fashion, a small area with an AI, sufficient scenery to sneak and climb on and the Thief toolkit would answer a lot of peoples questions but that ain't gonna happen.

So please, ease off on each other a bit, tell EM what you want and what you think but don't start pulling each other to pieces over how you imagine the game will be or because you want different things in it.

Queue on 12/4/2013 at 22:10

Quit being rational, Esme. :mad:

thiefessa on 13/4/2013 at 00:03

Yeah. When I come here I expect to see lots of fighting going on. Its only normal for TTLG. :cheeky:

Goldmoon Dawn on 13/4/2013 at 01:35

Quote Posted by Brethren

To be fair, a few of the things Ion Storm left out (rope arrows, swimmable water, etc.), EM may bring back in. It just seems like they're missing on some of the really important stuff.

The thing that sucks about rope arrows returning, I *think*, is that it will not be like the old way, where you are roaming around and think, hey, maybe I can shoot an arrow up there and see what I can do. I am under the impression that with the advent of modern gaming, rope arrows will only be usable in specific areas that are clearly identifiable as such, and not so much as a free form exploration tool, like it used to be. I hope the person I read saying that was wrong, but I doubt it. I have seen enough of the newer games to know that hand holding is plainly accepted amongst the younger/older gamers nowadays. What a mess!

TriangleTooth on 13/4/2013 at 01:44

Quote Posted by Goldmoon Dawn

Good point. I also found it fun to use a broadhead as a test, made it feel a little more like Garrett was working it out rather than me being told. Even if okay, the surfaces could be a little unclear or bizarre, that was a mapping problem not a rope arrow function.

That said, it's not a major issue. But I can see how a lot of minor issues together (As in "Well if it was exactly Thief just without rope arrows it would be awesome" or "Well if it was exactly Thief but without Russell it could still work" alone are fine) become a more worrying thing. Still, I'm not gonna go passing judgement without gameplay vids. In fact, I won't pass judgement until it's out. What people say once it is out will be what makes me decide to buy it soon to release or not. And if I don't buy it on release, even if it's awful, if someone else had it sure I'd sit down and give it a fair try.

thiefessa on 13/4/2013 at 01:50

The rope arrow is back. I rejoice. :cool:

Weasel on 13/4/2013 at 05:33

Quote Posted by thiefessa

The rope arrow is back. I rejoice. :cool:

Have we gotten confirmation of this? I know one article ended with "the rope arrow is back" but I thought the writer was likely referring to The Claw.

Briareos H on 13/4/2013 at 06:13

I would like to know as well.

Quote Posted by Goldmoon Dawn

I am under the impression that with the advent of modern gaming, rope arrows will only be usable in specific areas that are clearly identifiable as such, and not so much as a free form exploration tool, like it used to be[...]

I think this is unwarranted. If there's one thing absolutely everyone agrees on being Thief, it's freeform exploration within levels. Modern technology does in no way prevent making things work like the original rope arrows. If you're talking design then, yes, EM are probably going to be more conscious about the ropable material placement than LGS were. They must understand that if it's wood, the arrow should stick in, even if it is impractical for advancing further or breaks how the game looks (a risk almost no game developer has been willing to take for years).
As for the hook, there's no reason it shouldn't work on any balcony-type architecture. They'd be stupid not to do so.

Once again, we come to my main gripe with the game since the start: all this will be done in third-person.

Goldmoon Dawn on 13/4/2013 at 06:18

If they can program the 3rd person bits into the game they can easily program a toggle to turn it on and off. We should make a new petition to have toggles for stuff. At least on the PC version. Sheesh!