downwinder on 29/3/2015 at 01:55
and i loved them over all,once you understand how he does his missions,they are way better for example he uses a lot of well placed buttons,backtracking,also a lot of area's that are no use=get you confused,some must kill enemy ai to get further,and even using some equipment in different ways,for example water arrow into a crystal to open a door/etc,the best advice for playing a jis fan mission is to use 2 save slot at min one for current progress and other one for a back save just in case you get into trap area
i really enjoy the amount of distance covered in a mission,even with backtracking a ton of new areas all over the place,not sure why people don't mention his fan missions more,as they are good if you like a real challenge,i will say newer people should probably skip them as they are not for anyone who does not know all the tricks to thief
and a tip for advanced players ,now that new dark has a new mantle,doing jis fan missions now are a lot easier in my view since most anything can be mantled to either avoid enemy's or get to places faster,as in getting a sword before you were suppose to get it making level way easier since rarely he uses no kill in objectives
over all i would say his missions are a must play for the hardcore thief fan
i wish he would make more they kinda remind me of a wilder version of a bbb map
what do you all think of jis maps?
Renault on 29/3/2015 at 05:28
I've never played a JIS mission. I've always heard that they're crazy and unconventional and basically just too frustrating for most players to even attempt.
Since you just played through all of them though, any recommendations on which are some of his better FMs? Maybe a top three or five maybe? According to thiefmissions.com, he has 15 missions, with Elevator T2 being made up of 9 different levels.
Tannar on 29/3/2015 at 05:57
I haven't played very many JIS missions but I did really like Elevator. It's crazy hard and I doubt I'll ever play it again, but I'm glad I played it once at least. There's something about it that is addicting while you're playing it.
downwinder on 29/3/2015 at 06:52
brethren i would say play them all,i started with smallest files first,hard to pick a fav,but i liked the elevator mission ofcourse all versions as there are some differnces,since i did them all in a row pretty much hard to know name for what ones,but since you make fan missions i think its a must you play them all as he does weird things that you might be able to use in your missions,to make them a bit harder,i notice that distance is something he like to use to keep the player wondering on where to go next,but ussaly its something somewhat close or you got to double back,and his button placement is sometimes right in front of your face but the placement is just makes it hard to notice,so in a jis mission if you get stuck look at each room very closly to find a way out or if a npc is close kill it as that can open doors too sometimes
i love those hard missions i wish on the saves it had a counter so we can see how many times people had to reload a game weather quickload or hard load,cause i know i use a ton when doing those super hard missions
also i recommend Dront fan mission as his are also hard
that was a great mission for people who want to practice ghosting,also most of the way is gravel=loud as hell and all a.i. are over all sensative
i already did all the more common hard missions but most of those are easy
i hope the next context does a format where the skill level has to be harder,dont get me wrong i like pretty maps but the gritty feel is way better i feel
but there is one thing i was always curious of the very last mission of elevator missions for t2 there is a part in the beginning with 3 cells but everytime i play this mission no matter what file i get the textures on the 3 inmates are pure white,so i always wondered what freaky thing jis did to them
Dev_Anj on 29/3/2015 at 09:58
I played F, Mine Shock, Yakuza, a bit of Elevator from Thief: Gold, and Aminda. From those missions, I got the impression that he was interested in creating mechanical challenges that would make the player experiment with different approaches to problems rather than just sneaking around, being quiet and knocking out a few guards. In the process though the missions lost their thematic cohesion and feel more like puzzle rooms connected to each other. It's honestly not very different from how ROM hacks of platformers focus on mechanical challenges and in the process the levels feel less like carefully arranged world spaces and more like a bunch of puzzle rooms. They are interesting to play, mostly because of encouraging gameplay that's not the usual sneaking, and because of the experimentation with the mechanics. That being said, I wish they had a stronger sense of creating a lived in environment that you sneak around in.
yxlplig on 30/3/2015 at 17:17
I've played all of JIS' missions at this point. I used the FMSel ratings to keep track of the ones I liked the most, so if anyone wants some more recommendations, I think the best ones are:
Elevator Mission
Hammer and Garrett
Mine Shock
UFO
I actually preferred the Thief 1 versions of Elevator Mission (EM T2 is very long) and Mine Shock, but Mine Shock T1 can be problematic in NewDark. Also it is possible to get stuck in the final room of Elevator Mission T1 if you didn't complete all the objectives.
As far as whether these are good missions, I think they are. Dev_Anj's comparison to ROM hacks is pretty appropriate, that's what they reminded me of as well. If you like the idea of bouncing across a mile of flying koopas, holding and releasing jump to get a very precise and different jump arc between each koopa, I think you will also appreciate what JIS did with these missions. If you're very set on the aesthetic and type of gameplay established in the original games then you probably won't like JIS missions.
Ricebug on 30/3/2015 at 17:38
I remember doing the full (
http://www.bogadocious.com/thief/walks/EMT2.zip) walkthrough for
Elevator Mission II (T2 version). I did the whole thing without any cheats. I thoroughly enjoyed playing it, even though it was quite difficult.
That said, I'd rather play something along those lines than a mission where I'm down on my hands and knees in some hovel, scrounging for coins.
downwinder on 31/3/2015 at 04:15
also be warned there is one mission that even i dont play anymore called i think "the killer of time" its some kind of tower you climb and on each level is harder a.i. you have to kill,reminded me of a bruce lee movie but the fight got old quick,i think dront made it,he also made the mission "plot"=from what remember very hard
