catbarf on 11/4/2008 at 02:31
Quote Posted by The Magpie
That's all there is to it, really. It sounds like you're having a blast, and that you're good enough to eventually find yourself playing on higher difficulties. There's a little more content for you to discover on the harder levels, you see, and I suspect you'll appreciate that. When you - some day - want to play the game again to see what you missed after your first run through, you might want to pick up Thief Gold (if you can find it), and play it on Expert. With graphics enhancing mods.
As for the backtracking part: I find that either I've managed to clear a corridor so that the escape from the scene of the crime goes very fast,
or I have annoyed enemies left and right, who now kindly follow me to the door. Oh, that actually goes very fast, too. ;) Can you imagine the feeling of accomplishment, almost exhilaration when one escapes the Bonehoard and inhales the first whiff of fresh air? Well, not literally, but at least you can see the stars overhead again. And the feeling of tension release when the MISSION COMPLETE fanfare starts playing.
But. Play it the way you enjoy it. You are only being encouraged to play at the higher difficulty levels because we want you to have as much fun with Thief as we have, but also because you'll get
some extra story. OTOH, you don't want to spend
too much time playing Thief. Neither do we, actually, because that'd mean less frequent updates in this blog thread. :)
I'm thinking I will raise the difficulty level one notch. The big thing for me is the loot- I want to have real incentive to steal, rather than go right for the objective. And I don't really like being able to go toe-to-toe with guards if I like- it removes the sense of vulnerability.
One thing- I found that the Burricks far away from the music were just as mind-bogglingly stupid as the ones near it.
Quote Posted by The Magpie
PS: The purple trap was naturally triggered by the comparatively recent immigrants, the burricks. Did you meet Felix, BTW?
Ah. Don't think I found Felix, where exactly was he?
jtr7 on 11/4/2008 at 02:40
Your Burrick-taunting skills will be very handy later on. :cheeky:
Certainly the more you catch on, and the easier you find it to work within the system, you will find the higher difficulties will be the most rewarding and fun. And you can choose how you want to play for various kinds of personal satisfaction--or sadist fashion.
Did you ever hear Garrett say "Felix? You don't look so good..."? He was in a small room, up some steps, safe from zombies, not too far in, and there was a journal:
"I'm so close! I hears the sound of the Horn, echoing all around.
That coward Sutter, he left me an hour ago, after Cather blundered into a
trap, but you can bet I'll be finding the prize on my own!
It seems that I'm not the first grave-robber to muck about in these halls. The infamous Adolpho was down here, probably after one of the richer but
heavily warded treasures. It looks like he failed, the poor bugger.
This part of the tombs is filled with traps, and there's no way I'm
plundering some of these crypts, but the Horn's gonna be mine, I know it. If
the rumors are true, the sound of the Horn should be keeping any local Burricks happy and peaceful-like, with no thoughts of bothering old Felix.
My only trouble now be my dwindling supply of holy water. I thought there would be a font in this area, but I'm blasted if I can find it. And the dead seem to be getting restless about something."
Let me repeat, just for the emphasis: You're having fun, you're learning some key things...and that's all that matters, right now. :)
inselaffe on 11/4/2008 at 08:39
Quote Posted by jtr7
Nothing you didn't know, but a thorough answer:
In addition to items being in different locations and being given helpful hints...you don't get most extra quest items, you aren't required to get as much loot, you are not required to return to the mission starting point or some other specified area as often, some doors are inaccesible along with the special loot behind them, a few of the texts you find are shortened versions, some loot tips aren't available at the store, some conversations are not heard while others might be; however, you get to find extra equipment, have extra health points and health potions, and many AI are not as tough or as numerous or even of a different and more-menacing type, and you are forgiven for being a brute.
A player may consider any one or more of those to be positives, while others will have different preferences.:thumb:
Ah okay cool, so there's nothing more like the flume thing in cragscleft? I guess I should complete the game first and then possible look at walkthroughs or something to find out. That way I won't have spoiled anything at least :D
It's funny how everyone seems to be called sutter in this game :PIn the bonehoard thankfully you don't have to go all the way back to the start (in fact if you ran out of rope arrows and didn't leave one at the start wouldn't you be pretty much screwed at getting there anyway?) There's a secret tunnel to the surface deep in the bonehoard. Though that particular bit of surface is like a huge pit / ditch so I dunno how garret quite managed to get out of there, ho ho ho :pcatbarf on 11/4/2008 at 10:45
Quote Posted by jtr7
Did you ever hear Garrett say "Felix? You don't look so good..."? He was in a small room, up some steps, safe from zombies, not too far in, and there was a journal
If that was in the halls with the horn, then no. I was basically running that whole time. But thanks, all extra background material is much appreciated.
BrokenArts on 11/4/2008 at 11:00
Remember to use those shadows to hide in, they are your friend. Spare you from running so much, and you can comb the area for loot.
jtr7 on 11/4/2008 at 18:09
I was going to suggest that you get used to playing slower, and not run around so much, especially if it's impatience, but the fact that you are progressing through the missions shows you are doing something right. The next mission will require you to slow down for a time, anyway.
catbarf on 11/4/2008 at 19:00
I didn't want to have to run around, but the narrow hallways made it very difficult for me to hide and the lack of a good vantage point made it difficult to try and isolate their patrol routes. On a higher difficulty, however, hiding and waiting will be a necessity.
jtr7 on 11/4/2008 at 22:51
Haha! That would be pretty funny, and it would be hard to hold still if you let the beat get to you.:cheeky:
----
Interestingly, there are often multiple routes to take to get somewhere, with a few stretches that offer no nook or shadow, and each optional route has a different difficulty.
catbarf on 12/4/2008 at 00:17
Note: This was on Normal difficulty. I found that since I had just barely begun the mission, I couldn't change the difficulty. For the next mission I'll save in the briefing screen, so I can try Expert, and failing that, go to Hard.
So, I played Assassins. The first thing I see is the shopkeeper, and there's something on the table. I walk forward a bit, and suddenly an arrow flies in through the window and kills him. 'Oh, hell,' I think. 'I must have set off a trap or somesuch.' Turns out it was really two assassins. I pick up the fire arrow and the flash bomb (which, strangely, is about the size of a soccer ball) and go after the two assassins. After a winding path following them back to a castle, it's time to start looting. The first thing I do at the gate is go straight ahead, and blackjack the guard. I drag him into a corner, and rinse, lather, repeat on the other two. I slink into the courtyard, and pick a lock- now I'm in the castle itself.
I start moving from room to room, looking for valuables. There's really not much to be found. I do, however, find a strange sort of storage room with various devices and a ladder, so I take the ladder up. It is connected to a library of sorts. With a little bit of blackjacking later, the upper level is clear and I am free to search and loot. Plenty of gold in Ramirez's room, plenty of gold on a display cabinet in another room. I figure that there's probably lots of guards on the main floor, so I take a few staircases to the basement.
It's quiet. As I walk along, however, I suddenly hear soft footsteps. Quickly, I dodge into a small cell, and watch as a servant carrying food goes by. I wait for him to go, and then return to where he came from, and then I head down the passage he went through. I come to a door. The basement key I looted off a guard earlier works, and I'm in a T-intersection. Heading over to one side, I fail to notice a guard. He spots me and starts yelling, so I reload my save from back on the upper floor, and return there.
I watch his movement pattern, and then when the time is right, I sneak up and *crack*-thud. One more guard down.
Wait a second...
Oh. Hello, Mr. Ramirez. I dump his corpse in the corner of the room, and set to work looting the room, when suddenly I hear footsteps.
It's that damned servant again...!
Quickly, I dash into the shadows, and watch the servant come in. He peers around quizzically, before placing the food on the rack and turning around. Again- *crack*-thud. I'm starting to get quite a kick out of the adrenaline rush from running up behind them, and hoping that I've done everything right in order to take them down in one hit. With the servant down, I finish looting the room, and am just shy of my goal. I go down a tunnel, past the Burrick pen, and find that I went in a big circle. I return to the main floor, dash into a random room, and find the crap I need to get up to 1000.
Mission complete, but it feels kind of hollow. I'm thinking that I really will enjoy it more with having to escape. I'll try the next mission on Expert, and see how that goes.
Still, I am quite pleased. I didn't kill anyone, and I didn't use a single arrow. The blackjack is quite a nifty tool.
