I've been away for a few years. So what's good?

OldTaffer on 28/7/2014 at 16:26

My computer hd crashed so I pulled out my old one until I can fix it. It still had some old games on it I'd forgotten about. Darwinia was as fun as I remembered it. The original UT was there and I got back into that for awhile. But lo and behold what there also was was Darkloader and a list of FMs so I've been playing through some of them for the last week. I'm just about to finish lady Rowena's Seven Sisters - I've totally forgotten it so it's like playing it for the first time. I was blown away by Melan's Bad Debts. I'd completely forgotten what a perfect Dromed City he made. I've never seen anything like it though I had obviously played it before. I also replayed two of my very favorite missions - Dark Assassin's A Brawl in the Tombs and his Iron Island FMs.

So my question is, what legendary FMs have been released since about 2010? Which ones created a big stir here at ttlg? Any good City ones? I see a couple Melan ones I don't remember playing but the links I could find don't work. I like Garrett as the star, big sprawling, well-designed cities, zombies, haunts, pagans and pagan beasts, forest and swamp settings. I also love love love the way Dark Assassin filled his levels with opponents who were enemies of each other and you could trick them into wiping each other out. I like to sit back and let others do my dirty work. So guys, I've been away for so long, tell me where to get started again.

(PS. I remember another favorite of mine - maybe my most favorite - I'd like to play again but I don't remember the title. It was kind of an experimental one, it described itself as being a proof of concept IIRC but it was damn fun and I'd always wished the author would expand on it again. You are pitted against some Keepers in an old abandoned cathedral and they can disappear in shadows like you. It's like a hunt with the prey - you - becoming the predator. A lot of waiting and hiding in shadows while the barely visible keepers dash in and out of the shadows. Gosh I loved that one.)

Tannar on 28/7/2014 at 17:13

There have been numerous truly exceptional FMs released in the last few years. But the first thing you need to know is that we have a new patch (New Dark) for Thief which fixes many of the old issues in both the game and Dromed and makes a world of difference for playing Thief on new machines. Most new missions are made with this patch and are not playable without it.

It's easy to install if you take the time to read the instructions. There is a separate program called Tafferpatcher (TFix for Thief 1) which basically does all the work of installing the New Dark patch. And it makes it very easy. So the place to start is here:

(http://www.ttlg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=131106) Tafferpatcher with New Dark patch for Thief 2
(http://www.ttlg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=134733) TFix with New Dark patch for Thief 1 and Thief Gold

Once you get New Dark installed and working, you'll have access to some truly brilliant missions. I'm sure many others will stop by with their suggestions for what you must play.

As for the mission you are trying to remember, I suspect that would be (http://thiefmissions.com/m/Equil#m) Equilibrium by SilentSleep. I agree, it's still one of the best missions of all time and definitely one of my favorites (if not THE favorite).

OldTaffer on 28/7/2014 at 18:58

Quote Posted by Tannar

As for the mission you are trying to remember, I suspect that would be (http://thiefmissions.com/m/Equil#m) Equilibrium by SilentSleep. I agree, it's still one of the best missions of all time and definitely one of my favorites (if not THE favorite).

Oh, yeah. How could I forget Equlibirium? Thanks Tannar. I've heard of the modifications to the Thief engine and now I'm doubly excited to see the results for myself. Another reason for me to get back into FMs. Thanks for the reminder of that.

Melan on 28/7/2014 at 19:14

Good to hear you liked Bad Debts, OldTaffer! :D If you enjoyed them, make sure to check out skacky's Shadow Politics and Between These Dark Walls.

You can download most FMs from the archives at (http://www.thiefmissions.com/) http://www.thiefmissions.com/. If you missed the last few years, you may also find (http://www.thedarkmod.com/) The Dark Mod interesting (it is free!).

downwinder on 29/7/2014 at 02:18

old taffer once you upgrade to new dark and taffer patch you are going to play some amazing missions since 2010,enjoy

bjack on 30/7/2014 at 16:53

And most of the older missions play just fine on New Dark, but you may have to start from scratch since the old saved game progress could have problems. The reverse, trying to play NewDark saved games with the old 1.18 engine will fail.

There have been some recent threads about "what to play". Check these out. Also, go to thiefmissions.com for many of the FMs as Melan suggests. While it is only up to date for part of 2013, it is still a great repository for FMs.

As for trying out TDM, it is very similar, but also very different than T2. Lock picking is much harder and object manipulation is, in my opinion, very difficult. I am still trying out the demo and cannot manipulate the candlestick correctly. You can flip and spin things, as well as just pick them up. It also loves memory. I would recommend having at least 4 GB of RAM. My old 2 GB system just cannot keep up with the needs of the game - even with adjusting some of the configs per the tutorials/FAQ. But, from what I have seen so far, it looks great and there are a pretty good number of missions out there for it.

Tannar on 30/7/2014 at 18:05

There have been far too many really excellent FMs to mention here. I suggest you take a look at these threads:

(http://www.ttlg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=124349) General Fan Mission Review And Discussion Megathread
(http://www.ttlg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=139559) Thief Fan Mission Links (Scroll down to Fan Mission Links)

But just off the top of my head, here are a few of what I thought were among the most spectacular FMs from the last few years, including some that really show off the features of New Dark:

Breaking the Stone by HipBreaker
The Black Frog by Gaëtane
Exile (Being Thief 2) by Sensut
Sturmdrang Peak by nicked
Finals At The Academy by LarryG
When Still by Eternauta
The Last Lighthouse Keeper by Eternauta

OldTaffer on 31/7/2014 at 15:09

Quote Posted by Tannar

Breaking the Stone by HipBreaker
The Black Frog by Gaëtane
Exile (Being Thief 2) by Sensut
Sturmdrang Peak by nicked
Finals At The Academy by LarryG
When Still by Eternauta
The Last Lighthouse Keeper by Eternauta

Awesome list. Thanks Tannar! I will try them all.