Legion of Zombies on 2/7/2011 at 09:51

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Personally I find the Steampunk world of Thief 2 far better. This is one area where I think Deadly Shadows went wrong, by not incorporating the steampunk element from Thief 2.

electronic pest on 2/7/2011 at 14:45

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Thief TDP did the steampunk stuff to a more backround level than TMA, with more primitive style steampunk tech lying around like the various generators, flashbombs, those hammerite security cameras and...thats about it actually.
Some people preferred this to the more prevalent, scary steampunk tech that the mechanists had like the boiler-bots and the metal-face security cameras because it took the dark-age feeling of Thief away.

Personally i'd like to see something more akin to TDP as while I absolutely loved T2, I prefer the look of TDP in comparison.
T2 had more modern architecture and interiors like Angelwatch tower and the Watch headquarters (which was actually a mix between the T2 and TDP styles) which were fun to explore but felt very different from the gritty, brick and wood look of TDP i'd grown to love.

Also, TDP had more mystical and other-worldly themed levels than T2, like the abandoned part of the city and the lost city, as well as more pagan levels.
That kind of stuff was a love-it or hate-it for most of the fans, but I feel that Thief 4 should have a mix of regular thieving and other-worldly levels like TDP to add variety.

The differences in story should also be taken into consideration, TDP's story showed us the origin of Garrett and introduced us to many aspects of his world so it had an atmosphere of danger and mystery pretty much all the way through it for both Garrett and the player. That kind of atmosphere is hard to replicate in an already established world, but could be replicated if some more factions, extra-dimensional stuff and perhaps some philosophical aspects to the story were to be appropriately integrated into Thief 4.

Rga_Noris on 2/7/2011 at 15:19

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Well, I think it depends on what's going on at the time. In TMA, the citizens of the city were going through an industrial boom, so it was fitting that things appeared newer and cleaner. TDP was not as advanced, with mostly wood and stone structures.

242 on 2/7/2011 at 16:29

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Doesn't matter, it won't be like TDP, nor it will be like T2.

jtr7 on 3/7/2011 at 06:41

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TDP had way more steampunk than people remember, but it was well-blended in. TMA was too colorful across the board, but some of that world's tech and styles I'd like to see carried over. TDP has the greatest source of materials and ways with words to bring into a new game, while TMA's contributions should not be utterly discarded nor kept to pathetic minimum like we've seen happen already. TDP is definitely the wellspring, while TMA's additions should be included but used judiciously. Elements unique to that universe, as well as the elementalism and breadth of magicks, natural to that universe, and imposed by the characters, should be a part of the fabric of the new title. At least, if even one of each TDP world-building aspect is created for T4, it will be available for FMs!