theBlackman on 27/5/2007 at 02:19
There is no "excessive freedom of movement". Unless you are referring to the "headbob" or such.
In the first three versions (TDP, TMA, Gold) you were free to go back, re-explore, climb anyplace you could imagine using any object to assist you, and endlessly traverse the maps.
You could circumvent areas with imaginative use of crates, inventory and creative use of speed potions to allow you to run and jump three times the normal distance.
In the Demo for Life of the party, you can use a speed potion to assist in jumping from the roof where Benny is to the roof next to Lady Louisa's and get to the other rooftops below and explore the entire area clear around to the front of Angelwatch.
"Freedom of movement" is severely restricted in Deadly Shadows. You can't even get onto a 2 foot wall in many areas, or Jump a 3 foot gap.
DaisyWhite on 27/5/2007 at 02:36
Quote Posted by Gin-Ryu
"Break From Cragscleft Prison" despite the annoying undead
Undead is really annoying, but without them, things will become too easy.
Try looking at the affair from a different angle...they have funny looking.
Quote Posted by Gin-Ryu
"Down In The Bonehoard" even though the tunnels were just a freaking maze
Agree this, but I won't lose my way at the second time.;)
ZylonBane on 27/5/2007 at 04:15
Quote Posted by c130
I really didn't like how my inventory in the old Thiefs would get filled up with junk that I just ended up discarding. Keys and lockpicks were horrible. You'd select it, use it, scroll back through your inventory to free hands, then open the door/lid you unlocked.
That's why you remap the compass hotkey to "F" (assuming a WASD layout), and just tap it when you want "free hands".
theBlackman on 27/5/2007 at 06:32
Quote Posted by DaisyWhite
[...]
Agree this, but I won't lose my way at the second time.;)
Bonehoard is fun. Try it on
normal as a speed run. The record for getting in, getting the horn and getting out is about 3:30. (that's 3 minutes and 30 seconds)
Palantir on 27/5/2007 at 06:55
Seconded
Quote:
The record for getting in, getting the horn and getting out is about 3:30.
uhmm... have to say... ladders are a pain... :tsktsk:
Vigil on 27/5/2007 at 11:02
Quote Posted by ZylonBane
That's why you remap the compass hotkey to "F" (assuming a WASD layout), and just tap it when you want "free hands".
I usually keep the "put away inventory" button mapped somewhere close to my fingers for that, but the compass is a better idea.
But it was an unnecessary step in the first place. The game should have cleared your inventory once you'd unlocked something with a key or lockpick; it's obvious that the next action you're going to perform on the door is opening it, and the irritation factor adds nothing.
I do still like storing keys as individual units though, but solely for ghosting: so that you can put keys back where you found them. That, and it discourages fan mission authors from overloading their missions with keyhunts. I think it does add tension having to fumble through your inventory for the right key in a hurry, but that could have been accomplished just as well with a keyring instead.
imperialreign on 27/5/2007 at 13:29
I didn't like how in TDS every door could be lockpicked - I mean, it's understandable considering Garrett is trying to unlock the door, but, I honestly thought that there should've been a few doors that couldn't be picked - only opened with a key.
Garrison64 on 29/5/2007 at 14:23
I didn't really care for the lockpicking method in TDS. It was kind of a silly addition. The old method of switching lockpicks served it's purpose and actually got my heart pounding more often when I didn't know if I was on the last pick or not. All you have to do in the new version is move the pick around and watch for his right hand to go up. I also found it pretty irritating to have to pick almost every door on a level.
I did like TDS but some of the changes I didn't really care for. The new graphics are very nice and I love the lighting but it was a shame the levels, especially the city areas, had to be so small. I found myself wishing for the huge unbroken levels of the first two games. Overall game play was close enough that nothing really bothered me enough to ruin it although I really missed the rope arrows. There just weren't enough uses for the climbing gloves. They were pretty cool when they did come into play though.
As for the first game, well, they just don't make them like that any more. I just finished playing through TDP this past weekend and after years of gaming since my first time playing it I found it to be just as enjoyable, if not more so, than any current games I have played.
I'm not a Thief Fan boy just so you know. In fact when I played T1 for the first time years ago I quit during Return to the Cathedral due to frustration over the undead in that level. I never finished it. After playing through TDS recently I felt a need to go back and complete the first two games. After years of playing games since that time, and getting older, my patience has gone up quite a bit and I thoroughly enjoyed T1 from beginning to end. Now I just need to go back and finish T2. I never got all the way through that one either. :)
Playing T1 again made me realize how gaming has changed and not necessarily for the better. Although the current game engines allow for stunningly realistic graphics the game play and challenge of the games just isn't there like it used to be. I'm not sure what has happened to the industry exactly although I suspect it's mostly due to deadline pressures but they just don't put the same creativity into games they used to. "The Cradle" is the only mission in TDS that seemed to have that "old school" tlc. Still I enjoyed all 3 games and felt that T3 brought the series to a really great conclusion that fit the story really well, even if Garrett didn't end up looking right in the cutscenes near the end. What were they thinking with that face they modeled anyway? It just doesn't look right.
Gin-Ryu on 30/5/2007 at 23:39
Alright more than half-way trough Thief 2 and this is the best game of the series in mission design, it's missing the mysticism and ambience from the first game though. From what I've played I would say each game has its own superior merits but overall no game is truly the best overall, we just have personal favorites.
I do love the preludes of the Hammerites from Thief 1 the constant rising noise of iron hammering was really a great way to present the Hammer scriptures.
I doubt though how they'll make more games, story-wise I mean, since the three games covered the three factions. But if they ever do a Thief 4 they need to rework the formula, the most likely is to go with Assassin's Creed social stealth mixed with some classic elements.
nicked on 2/6/2007 at 07:43
Quote Posted by Gin-Ryu
Alright more than half-way trough Thief 2 and this is the best game of the series in mission design, it's missing the mysticism and ambience from the first game though. From what I've played I would say each game has its own superior merits but overall no game is truly the best overall, we just have personal favorites.
Absolutely, agree totally with that.
I think the reason a lot of Thief 1/2 fans dislike TDS is the whole game is very "dumbed down". You can argue that some things were done for the player's convenience, but imo it just meant that it took a lot of the skill out of the game. Real life is awkward and difficult, and little things like having to get your lockpicks out and put them away again, rather than having the game hold your hand through lockpicking, made it feel like it was YOU, the player who was the skilled one. TDS gave you the impression that Garrett was the expert and you were just tagging along for the ride.
