ZylonBane on 15/3/2006 at 16:47
Quote Posted by RavynousHunter
hell, i could go on 4ever
plz d0nt
Emerald Wolf on 15/3/2006 at 19:03
Oh let them have their fun, its better than having to see a NEW Thief 4 thread.
highendsystems on 20/3/2006 at 21:35
Quote Posted by ShadowM8
Nope, not teasing!
If a good storyline comes along I'd be more than happy to pick up on it.
I'm @ least 75% sure the child at the end of T3 is female. And that
this female was meant to leave the door open for T4. However, I feel
that "Alyssa" should be a PART of the story and game, but not
THE GAME. The opening mission will be a training one, in which Alyssa
must follow Garrett, defuse traps (flash mines -- Garrett doesn't want
to endanger her .... too much), pick-pocketing keys to open doors,
and yes -- lock picking, avoiding guards - or using non-lethal force, as
well as well placed rope arrows to follow Garrett across roof tops, plus
many other hurdles/obstacles all before letting Garrett too far out of
sight or too far ahead -- not easy since Garrett is often The Shadow.
The second and third missions will be proving grounds for Alyssa. @
some point while on a Keeper task to try and beat the Hammers
to a relic in the Anceint Ruins rumored to have great power, something
goes terribly wrong and Alyssa is captured.
The next mission or two will be played by Garrett, which breaks out his
old weapons stash to free his protege. Shortly after freeing Alyssa,
Garrett comes up missing, but who could've done it? After some
exhaustive checking, the Hammers, Pagans, the Downwinders, nore
the City Watch have any knowledge about it. Where to start?
Fortunately Alyssa is allowed to steal, and not only gets what is left
of Garretts weapons stash, she can shop for more....
One new weapon (this is TM guys!) is the Inebriation Arrow. Like a
gas arrow, the affected Guards or whomever, will fall into a Drunken
Stupor long enough for you to slip past (unless you strike them, then
they will come out of it). Yes, they will hiccup and stagger, even into
the water or down stairs if they are close to it....
As much as I'd love to give up more spoilers, best to hold off for now....
I'd love to work on this with Shadow (coder), and others that would
like to see such an expansion (writters).
Let me know what engine you would like to use Shadow, or if you
would even consider working with me.
BTW, I'm currently doing the non-tech work for
Alternate Reality : Wilderness, based on the incomplete series by
Phillip Price of Paradise Programming. The launch date for that
project could be a ways off -- so why not work on my next best
favorite game of all time -- Thief!
Chris
TTK12G3 on 20/3/2006 at 21:54
Quote Posted by highendsystems
I'm @ least 75% sure the child at the end of T3 is female. And that
this female was meant to leave the door open for T4. However, I feel
that "Alyssa" should be a PART of the story and game, but not
THE GAME. The opening mission will be a training one, in which Alyssa
must follow Garrett, defuse traps (flash mines -- Garrett doesn't want
to endanger her .... too much), pick-pocketing keys to open doors,
and yes -- lock picking, avoiding guards - or using non-lethal force, as
well as well placed rope arrows to follow Garrett across roof tops, plus
many other hurdles/obstacles all before letting Garrett too far out of
sight or too far ahead -- not easy since Garrett is often The Shadow.
You mean Garrett is going to have a Brothers in Arms style dummy running around?
"Alyssa! Take out that f**king iron beast!", "Alyssa! Get the f&^k behind that crate!", "Alyssa, get out of my f%$king way you stupid, half-wit, sunk-eyed, ale-froth brained street urchin!"
Brother Reginald on 24/3/2006 at 20:45
It's funny how everyone hates thief 4 threads but they always seem to get more replies than most others...
Not a bad storyline highendsystems, 'xcept I really would like to see a blackbrook army involved.
Victoria's_'Friend' on 25/3/2006 at 01:18
I beleive that a thief 4 could be possible, but one must remember the pitfalls that plagued DS. And before you ask, no, I didn't hate it, but I agree that the ragdoll issue was unrealistic, and the 'overworld' city area reminded me of Deus Ex, something that ION Storm probably never got over. Thief is not Deus Ex. While Deus Ex is the Paradise Lost of videogames, Thief is the Heart of Darkness. Deus Ex is all-encompassing, knowing, conciously literate and epic, wheras Thief is downbeat, shadowy, and focused. While Deus ex offers you a freeform experience and treats the gaming environment as one, Thief pares the experience down to individual levels, making for tighter, more contained, (but no less freeform within this individual space) experience. I'm downloading thief 2X while I'm typing this, and I bought the Dark Project the same year it came out, so I'd like to think I'm an avid thief fan.
Personally, I didn't think DS's 'overworld' scenario worked. Trekking from one area to another just to get to the mission you were supposed to be on just seemed pedantic and tedious, delaying the 'true' thief experience, the actual mission, where the meat and bones of the gameplay can be found.
So, I'd like thief 4 to be like 1 & 2, structure wise, and I guess leaving Garrett in the background in order for this 'thief child' to step forth as the protagonist is a sensible idea, showing that the game has moved on from our master thief's exploits, and is able to develop in new ways, according to the perspective of this other character.
People seemed to be confused about the 'punk' inflences of our beloved sneak-a-thon. Steam punk is where some of the architecture from the Dark Project arises: a 19th Century facination with gears and pistons which expresses unease concerning how the body of the machine and the body of man must co-exist. Thief is not set in the Middle Ages. Nor is it Fantasy. These are loose definitions which seek to define the game in an unjust and modular fashion. Thief is more of an unsettling combination of steam punk, cyber punk, gothic, and psycho-sexual organic. Crazily, there's even some art deco influences in the mechanist robot designs in thief 2! All these architectural designs seek to unsettle the distinctions between art and the artist, machine and man, product and producer... and may I be so haughty to suggest...game and player. I find this fascinating, and games like thief engage the player in an active, rather than passive manner.
Oh yeah? what do you know, you ivory tower dwelling, psedo-liberal, art pushing, boor hating, egoist? get to the point! what do you want for thief 4?
I've come to observe that these forums are acerbic, and might I recoil in fear of the criticism I would receive, if it were not for my interest in thief and love of gaming in general. Basically, ditch the overworld, get back to the linear mission structure, and make these missions more open ended. One thing I disliked about DS was the forced nature of exploration. There were no secrets that made you proud that you discovered them. The maps were too emphatic, and every discovery you made seemed to be signposted, rather than hidden, as if you were meant to find it. The developers thought that you wern't smart enough or ingenious enough to find it yourself. Your discovery seemed to be laboured and obvious.
Story wise? What about a killer disease? I've always been fascinated with the hypocondiact imagination, particularly apparent in the Victorian era, something that thief has flirted with over the years. Ditch the monsters, people are monsterous enough. And this disease doesn't turn you into a zombie. That would be silly. It just makes you ill, and...decaying. The rank smell of poor death next to rich excess. The great divide that the thief must transgress to ply his trade. I'll get back to this one day, and fill in the details. Basically, your character wouldn't catch the diseaese him/herself, rather that those around you would be slowly dying, coughing and rotting. As the character, you must get to the bottom of this, what the disease is, what's causing it, and how to stop it.
Just a final thought concerning the thief series: where were the libertines?
Oh come on, don't be so coy.
Soul Shaker on 25/3/2006 at 04:37
Then, with that story there would also have to be a reason why you aren't affected, thus opening a gateway for the previous games to come in and make sense of this plot...maybe...
DarthMRN on 25/3/2006 at 18:07
What is the story behind all the german and italian(?) webites google shows me displaying info and interviews promising upcoming titles like Thief 4 and DX 3? Why are there no english sites containing the same info?
Since we are on topic, I mean...
Kovitlac on 25/3/2006 at 19:00
I seem to have the exact oppisite opinion as Victoria. I love Thief for it's city structure - it feels so unique, something I haven't seen in any other game I've played. Black Alley, the Docks, Auldale - after a while they all seem like real places to me. I think some people might forget that not everyone is fermilier with certain other games, and therefore don't see obvious similarities between them (I've never even *heard* of Deus Ex).
If there was ever a Thief IV I'd want it to be more like Thief III with the city like it is. I like being given the freedom to do as I want, sell what I want, rob from my neighbors, go through side missions and become allies with the Hammerites and/or Pagans. I don't like how everything was automaticly sold at the start of the mission in the earlier games.
I like the idea of having the girl as the main character. But I would hate to see Garrett forgotten. Perhapes the game could start with the girl (I'll just call her Annie here) who's on the verge of leaving Garrett and becomming her own thief. The training mission would be a 'test' for Annie to prove she is ready (kind of like Garrett's test at the beginning of Thief I). She'd be able to visit Garrett (at his apartment in South Quarter, of course;)) throughout the game, and would run into him sometimes during certain missions. He'd also be a good source to go to for information or advice.
But that's just my opinion. Of course everyone is entitled to their own. I think the gamers who've been playing much longer than I have prefer the way things are done in Thief I & II. Whereas although I started with Thief I like most people, I was unable to finish either it or II because of computer problems. Years later I was able to return and quickly play through Thief III. Although I am now finishing Thief I & II I'm more fermilier with how things are in III, so naturally it's what I prefer.
Victoria's_'Friend' on 25/3/2006 at 23:31
kotvitlac, I can understand why you might like the overworld scenario, particularly if you haven't played Deus Ex. But for someone who's played both thief and deus ex (there are similarities between these games) I want to be able to have completely different experiences. For me, I guess that paying for two games which are similar in structure seems to be a bit cheap. If you like freeform, I do suggest you play Deus ex, and good luck with thief 1 and 2!
