Ghosting in the Thief series

skacky on 16/3/2013 at 02:37

It's a ghost bust as soon as it goes yellow since it's its second alert. It's the same as if a guard was truly aware of your presence, and you can't avoid it. Klatremus tried various things (I tried several as well) and no dice, it's impossible to avoid.

jtr7 on 16/3/2013 at 02:42

So a flicker-twitch is a bust? Yeah, I can't stand that. It needs to be stated that LGS didn't invent ghosting in Thief, and didn't much plan for it, so anyone expecting it, shouldn't.

Yandros on 16/3/2013 at 04:14

True, to clarify my statement above, the "official" ghosting rules are those generally agreed upon over at the Eidos forums and are nothing associated with LGS.

Captain Spandex on 16/3/2013 at 04:38

Quote Posted by KuBiLaY17

I am about to start the Thief series all over again, i installed Thief 1 and i am playing through Lord Baffords mansion. I plan to start and finish all the series ghosting, i know that this isnt quite possible with Deadly Shadows.

Sure it is.
If you're referring to that 'blood sacrifice' bit in the Pagan Sanctuary, there's a dead body on the ground earlier in the level. Just plop him on the pedestal and shoot and arrow at him. Problem solved. All three games are ghostable. Really, the first game is the biggest challenge in that regard, though.

jtr7 on 16/3/2013 at 05:01

Yep, Russ, Ghosters just gotta do the best they can. Thankfully, it's such a desirable playstyle that some friendly master ghosters have put the OMs and many FMs through their paces to determine their ghostability, and given their stats, so anyone wanting to try it out can get detailed information.

klatremus on 29/3/2013 at 16:17

You have my best of luck ghosting the OMs, KuBiLaY17. As stated earlier, for the first two games, Haunted Cathedral, Maw, Trail of Blood and Soulforge I was unsuccessfully able to ghost. I am also not aware of anyone else able to do it, following the official rules that is. You can read all the reports at (http://home.online.no/~ajnilsen/hn/hn.htm) my site or at (http://forums.eidosgames.com/showthread.php?t=121679) Eidos official OM Ghosting thread.

Tarvis79 also has some excellent (http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL44705942C3CD1AA6) 'Let's (really) Ghost T1-3' youtube playlists showing all of his attempt at ghosting the first three games, with great commentary, which overlap my reports almost exactly (besides T3). Of course, we both play (http://forums.eidosgames.com/showthread.php?t=30310) Supreme Ghost Mode, which is a significant notch up in challenge level.

jtr7 on 30/3/2013 at 05:56

According to the recent T4 podcast, it may just be possible that T4 will be the first official Thief title that really does support ghosting.

TriangleTooth on 12/4/2013 at 18:20

I thought the official rules for ghosting said you could break them only if the mission absolutely demanded it.

Hardcore ghost is the one that says you can't, as does perfect thief.

So, you can ghost all of Return to the Cathedral and then backstab the haunts and so long as nothing detects you and you harm nothing else you still ghosted it.

You can ghost Maw and still kill Constantine.

If the eye in Soulforge cannot be escaped at all, it too would be acceptable.

Constance on 13/4/2013 at 17:44

Hmm I very well may be wrong as I'm not really into ghosting anyway, but I thought Lytha had demonstrated that you don't actually need to backstab the haunts in (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sxm9FO5ljVQ&list=PLB29A3C0DA14993CB&index=84) her Let's Play ?

klatremus on 15/4/2013 at 23:56

You can break any rule for both ghost/perfect thief and supreme ghost if it is explicitly stated in the objectives, for example: 'Kill the haunts.' Then killing them is allowed but not alerting them or anyone else in the process. If it had said 'Alert the haunts and kill them' then it would be ok to do so, yet not alerting anyone else but the haunts.

Strict ghost is a variant where even if the objectives say it you cannot break the rules.

You can kill constantine in the maw but you can't destroy the portal without alerting anyone. Destroying the portal is stated in the objectives, so that's fine, but that doesn't excuse alerting someone in the process.

The watcher at soulforge isn't even mentioned in the objectives, so that is a clear bust. Just because it cannot be escaped doesn't at all mean it is acceptable. At least not following the official rules.

Constance: You can circumvent the whole Murus ordeal by going around him, thereby avoiding the haunt objective. In TDP you could also block the entrance door with a skull and leave right after taking the eye, again avoiding the haunts. That was fixed for Thief Gold though.