I guess I am a geek... No followers into the shadows... - by bjack
bjack on 4/2/2014 at 02:19
For years I have tried to get friends, work mates, even random people I meet to play Thief. To no avail. Even when I say that there are months, if not years of free extra game play... they do not "get it".
I guess I am just a geek. A geek with a secret! Never in my life have a gotten so much free fun out of a bundled piece of software that came with a sound card in 2000! Countless hours of cool play. Others that ignore my suggestions to play the game are just missing out.
Now I am trying to play the Dark Mod. It is a challenge. The interface is a bit different. I am still in training. I cannot manipulate the candlestick well enough. It just flips around like a top. I have the picks down OK, but I am all thumbs with objects. I will practice and get better. I'll figure it out in time.
I am a long time IT person - a DBA by trade and been in the business for far too long - since 1993. I am getting laid off in 2 months due to my company thinking it is a good idea to fire everyone over 45 years old, which is about 75% of the team. Oh well, H1B visa people are taking over. So be it. Mommas, don't let you babies grow up to be IT people! As with the last time I "outsourced" I will play a series of Thief games as therapy. No matter, I will come out OK...
In the meantime, I think the dark mod is a good outlet in this case. I also look forward to new T2 FMs. I have never bought T1 or T3, but I should just to try them out. There have been a lot of efforts to build good FMs for these and I should give them a try.
To all those of you that are coders, builders, makers... thanks. It is an art and an appreciated gift to us players. Cheers!
Elentari on 4/2/2014 at 03:12
Sorry to hear about your job. It sucks. I don't think there's any way to make it easier. Its one thing when you decide to leave a job. . .its another when you want it and someone takes it away.
If it helps. . .probably most of us are geeks. Hey, I'm the one living in her parents basement, with no job and no prospects - a complete loser - who hides from reality by playing games, or writing and trying not to think about anything too real. If that's not the definition of geek, I don't know what is. Ok, so I don't game *that* much, I don't have patience for it a lot of the time, but I do some. I bet there are lots of 'geeks' here, in one form or another. You're in good company. :)
But yeah, you're right. You get some time to play Thief for a bit now! :) And thats not a bad thing. And yeah, its a good time to try the two games you haven't tried. Thief 1(Gold) is great - the story is a bit different than two - and a bit odd, but it fits with 2 well, so you don't feel too weird about it. And you can tweak the controls so they are the same as you're used to.
Thief 3 is not that bad either. Its. . .different, yes. It has its issues. . .definitely. But its not *bad*. Its still got Stephen Russell voicing Garrett, and the general feel is ok. There are some places that make you want to smack someone upside the head. . .but in light of the new one. . .I have a feeling 3 will be right up with 1 and 2. . .lol Some people hated it. Personally, I quite enjoyed it. I did have complaints, but it wasn't horrible, either. Its worth at least one play-through, and there are some good FMs for it.
Hope you enjoy your time off. . .even if its forced. And I hope you're able to find another job soon.
Tannar on 4/2/2014 at 04:17
Quote Posted by bjack
I guess I am just a geek. A geek with a secret!
I love it!
Sorry to hear about your job. Good luck finding a new one.
And by all means, play TDP. I love T2 and I always will. But TDP is still my favorite. It's dark, dangerous and gritty and the story and gameplay are great. I think it's the best introduction to Garrett's world and his life. I honestly don't know if I would have been as hooked on Thief if I had played T2 first.
And I, of course, echo your appreciation of the builders and the game in general.
jiansonz on 4/2/2014 at 09:39
Thanks for an interesting read.
I am so envious of you that you still have several masterpieces like Calendra's Cistern, Sepulchre of the Sinistral and Augustine's Revenge left to play.
Ravenhook on 4/2/2014 at 13:01
My adventure began with a free disk of "The Life of The Party" and a shortened version of the T1 casino mission that came with the old PC Gamer mag.
Happy, happy days.:D:D
GUFF on 4/2/2014 at 13:04
It is pretty hard to get other people I know who are also gamers to try some great games, I know. Especially when they're older games or not triple A high budget eye-candy games. I guess this is because a lot of gamers these days are really just bandwagoning types who don't have any real love for video games as a hobby or even art form just play whatever the newest hyped-up release is. It's been a problem since the Xbox360/PS3 era began, honestly.
You should definitely get copies of Thief Gold and Thief Deadly Shadows, though. The campaign of Thief TDP/Gold is again often rated better than the T2 campaign, and there are some missions that you can only play with a copy of that game which are worth checking out. TDS isn't as bad as some say and the campaign definitely has its moments, and there are some FMs for it that you can play as well. With Dark Mod as well, you'll not be running out of stuff to play. My issue is just I need to take a break and play a different genre of game every now and then or I burn out, so I never really catch up and play every mission and I've definitely not played all of the greats even after about a decade of on-and-off FM playing.
Old and Cunning on 4/2/2014 at 23:02
Quote Posted by bjack
Never in my life have a gotten so much free fun out of a bundled piece of software that came with a sound card in 2000! To all those of you that are coders, builders, makers... thanks. It is an art and an appreciated gift to us players. Cheers!
I'm with you. This game and these fan missions have sustained me through life-threatening illness, lengthy recovery, crushing period of unemployment, and still gives me that vital bit of "mental health" time at the end of a long day. I seldom make comments in the forum, and probably should say it more often, but I don't know what I would do without the builders.
bjack on 4/2/2014 at 23:24
Thanks everyone for the replies. Being kicked out of my job is a blow, yes, but not the end of the world. Been there before (outsourced) and I lived through it. The last time I played a boat load of FMs for T2. This time I'll do the others.
While I did speak a lot about myself in the original post, the real intention here is to say that FMs are:
1. Super ultra bitchin' ! (Yes, I am from SoCal :joke: )
2. A lot of gamers are missing out by passing these up. I have a PS3 and play that from time to time, but always return to Thief. Once I got the damn donkey zebra in Red Dead Redemption, I was done with it forever. GTA? I don't have the newest one, but played 4 and never will play it again. Once done, it is done.
3. FMs are a great diversion when bored and need to do something that requires thinking.
I look forward to all the new FMs in the works with the new dark. Some new ones have already come out and there have been a lot of redos. There will be some classics later this year and next. I just know there will be.
Something I also wanted to mention. These short 64x64 andd 48 hour contests are really great. It forces short but sweat FMs to come out quickly. Sometimes a quicky is all that is needed :tsktsk: Bad joke... But the point is, huge missions are wonderful, but short ones are still very welcome!
Florian on 4/2/2014 at 23:59
In fact (positively spoken): we are all addicted to the drug "Thief" - at least the symptoms seem to be the same... ;)
Jitz on 5/2/2014 at 00:48
Quote Posted by bjack
Something I also wanted to mention. These short 64x64 andd 48 hour contests are really great. It forces short but sweat FMs to come out quickly. Sometimes a quicky is all that is needed :tsktsk: Bad joke... But the point is, huge missions are wonderful, but short ones are still very welcome!
This! (and it's not that bad of a joke. :)) I thought the 48 hour contest was an excellent example of the talent in this community. I also don't comment very often so let me take this moment to thank all our authors! I myself have too endured unemployment, medical recovery, and times of great stress by playing FM's. I sometimes wonder where I'd be right now if I didn't start playing thief 15 years ago.
