jtr7 on 5/4/2008 at 02:35
When I read a novel, I find it much more enjoyable when the chapters work together, and when the characters are consistent with themselves, and there's a purposeful progression from cover to cover. When I watch a movie, I expect the director to have a reason for suddenly changing styles in the same movie, and it should be a planned part of the overall experience.
Chade on 5/4/2008 at 02:51
The differences we are talking about here are small, and do nothing to subtract from the thief "feeling". In fact, for me they add to it. Personal preference aside, I think it is also possible to objectively state that all three games have the same overall style and tone.
Also, differences between chapters within the one book (or sections within the one movie) are not the same as differences between two distinct self-contained games.
New Horizon on 5/4/2008 at 03:04
I am in no way conservative....but I am consistent.
Chade on 5/4/2008 at 03:22
Heh heh, nice reply.
The question, in this context, is: how pedantic is that consistency?
jtr7 on 5/4/2008 at 04:30
One story in three parts. That's where I've been coming from.:angel:
Chade on 5/4/2008 at 05:23
And a damn fine story it is too!
Beleg Cúthalion on 5/4/2008 at 07:39
There are definitely things you have to add when transferring the look of T1/2 into something more modern. You cannot work with simple high brick walls anymore, nor with houses that suddenly have strange heavy steel bars in their walls because it simply looks ridiculous (nevertheless I try...:p). Also the textures were so small and gritty that one cannot really tell if they were meant to be painted or photo-like (especially since the real photos were only used to imitate real complicated constructions like doorframes or Victorian windows); after all, one typical brick texture in TDP was blue(!).
That's why I always wonder if TDS is not really the original look Thief had to have. I mean, otherwise there have been either only new studio members designing the City or they completely obeyed the new artworks for some funny reason. There might have been technical problems like the lightning, but you have all the freedom you like when designing the static meshes which shape the look of everything significantly. That's why there must have been a reason behind it unless we consider the whole development process as absurd. Plus, the new City parts were usually no sheer industrial/warehouse quarters (and furthermore not the same ones like in TDP/TMA, for those who think that the Metal Age must have happened everywhere equally*), so the lack of modern industrial buildings is not a concisely one for me. Making it look a little more modern is the only thing how they could have trimmed TDS to look like the prequels. That's why I think the look of TDS is the very least problem we have to worry about. But everytime I read things like "TDP was medieval and TDS sucked" I believe a lot of opinions are based on superficial observations.
* The City map project has come up with the result that the Mechanist missions took place on the east side of the river while all the TDS missions except for Auldale took place on the west side.
jtr7 on 5/4/2008 at 08:08
:thumb: Nice post.
I love how Mark Lizotte took thousands of photos from his travels in Europe, and brought them back to LGS, where many of them were scanned, tweaked, and made into textures, while others were referenced. TDS could have taken a related approach, and real world images could have been used, plus given the third dimension and a greater resolution. I believe the exposure to all that real world architecture and art helped give the older games a greater feel of a depth that wasn't really there, and it seemed more relatable. In TDS, I missed the weather changes (only noticing the weather while at Moira's), the smogginess, the fogginess, and the bold changes in architecture and pallette from place to place.
I like what the LGS teams' not knowing what would be accepted, and going forward anyway with putting wildly different ideas all in one game, to give something for almost everybody, left us with a game that takes us across a much greater expanse of a virtual world, with a broader sense of individuality from place to place, than what we see in TDS.
New Horizon on 5/4/2008 at 13:15
Quote Posted by Chade
Heh heh, nice reply.
The question, in this context, is: how pedantic is that consistency?
:D Not very. lol
blueDepths on 11/4/2008 at 11:21
I don't know why people complain about TDS. The architecture is almost the same, but it has a more otherworldly feel.
I like both styles. The "grittiness" of the previous games and the magical vibes of the latest.
