What games should inspire Thief 4?

Cobak on 12/5/2009 at 12:53

Quote Posted by 242

:nono::nono: Bad sign.

He better should have played Penumbra, Stalker, and Call of Cthulhu along with Silent Hill instead, just to see how to properly create atmosphere and implant you are there feeling.

I agree... Splinter Cell is far too linear and full of killing and while I've only played Assassin's Creed a little and it was fun running around through the world... I cared nothing for it's story and I've heard the missions are pretty repetitive.

Not to mention both of these games are 3rd person

I've never played any of the games you mentioned, but I have seen silent hill and would go along with that.

I personally feel like the correct answer would have been Thief 1, 2, and 3. Seems obvious *shrug*

Quote Posted by David

Thief 4 could quite happily borrow the walk/run speed control from Splinter Cell. It's much better than Thief's. It could also stand to borrow a portion or two of the Mirrors Edge character movement.
Don't be so quick to dismiss other games, it's not all about gameplay.

Also, people posting the Thief games and FMs? Really? That's the epitome of redundancy - I really don't think we need to know that you think the Thief 4 developers should be inspired by the Thief games.

and you're right I don't disapprove of him playing any of those to see "what makes them great" because there are definitely some good things to get from SC (like the run/walk system) and AC certainly had some great rooftop access from what little I played... though I would like to hear what his conclusions were.

and heh I still think Thief 1, 2, and 3 would have been a good answer for him to reassure the fan base.

Necros on 12/5/2009 at 15:11

Quote Posted by David

:thumb: Exactly, also the AI system I've mentioned.

Cobak, yes, he should've mentioned them too but I guess Stéphane D'Astous isn't the best choice to give interviews. :)

nicked on 12/5/2009 at 18:14

Quote Posted by David

Also, people posting the Thief games and FMs? Really? That's the epitome of redundancy - I really don't think we need to know that you think the Thief 4 developers should be inspired by the Thief games.

It's not redundant - it's making the point that the developers shouldn't be inspired by any other games, whether that point of view is right or wrong.

SneakyJack on 12/5/2009 at 18:18

Quote Posted by Scots Taffer

Thief: TDP.
Thief Gold.
Thief II: TMA.

That is all.

Gonna "me too" this post as long as we're also including fan missions.

David on 12/5/2009 at 19:00

Quote Posted by nicked

It's not redundant - it's making the point that the developers shouldn't be inspired by any other games, whether that point of view is right or wrong.

Then maybe some effort should be put in to explaining why, as people are doing with the other games. 100 posts of 'T1, TG, T2' is pointless and contributes bugger all to the discussion.

nicked on 12/5/2009 at 20:17

OK, I'll have a go:

Thief 1-2 because there haven't been any true stealth games since. Every other game in the so-called stealth genre is actually an action-adventure game
(Splinter Cell: Go places and kill people like any action game only slightly quieter and as Michael Ironside,
Assassin's Creed: Spend an hour running around a very beautiful city and climbing on buildings before realising there's not any actual gameplay in the game,
MGS: Watch a movie for half an hour before hiding under a box and watching for exclamation marks,
Chronicles of Riddick: Get involved in a really quite fun stealth bit before realising the gameplay has now changed and you have to shoot things/punch things/collect moths,
No-One Lives Forever: Have to sneak your way past everyone despite not actually having much in the way of sneaking skills, this being a straight up FPS for the most part,
Any RPG ever: read about how you can play a thief character, then discover that this equates to having a numeric skill value that determines your visibility level even in bright sunlight)

I can't think of any other so-called stealth games right now, but the point is, there is nothing that even compares to Thief.

Dante on 12/5/2009 at 20:25

Quote Posted by Scots Taffer

Thief: TDP.
Thief Gold.
Thief II: TMA.

That is all.

This is what I originally thought when I read the thread title, but I think there developers could really benefit from looking at Penumbra.

I don't believe the open world is a necessary addition; in fact I've seen very convincing arguments that it would actually damage the game.

I didn't like Splinter Cell and hopes Eidos Montreal doesn't so much as cast a glance over it.

Do not go down the RPG road, for fuck's sake! If you want an RPG, go play The Elder Scrolls. They're awesome, and Oblivion, despite its numerous shortcomings, does a pretty good job of emulating Thief stealth-wise. But the whole point of Thief is that it relies solely on the player's talents, not on skill values. It's an FPS, damn it.

Dan on 12/5/2009 at 20:36

The Thief series (1,2 and 3) hold the everlasting key to the game atmosphere. This atmosphere keeps fans addicted for a decade and should be taken into account. But I personally like when the games evolve. I'd like to see more undercover missions and mechanisms in Thief 4. Garrett should be complemented not only for his sneaking skills, but his deception and "blend with the crowd" skills as well. In this area I think Assassins Creed has a good idea, but Thief 4 should follow its own path to be original.

jay pettitt on 12/5/2009 at 20:39

Almost anything by Dickens. Oh wait, not a video game. my bad.

Wasn't Splinter Cell the one where, instead of an analogue stick, the PC version mapped the mouse wheel to control walking speed? I never had a problem with creep/walk/dash in Thief. Why was Splinter Cell better? I can see that you get a few more speeds to play with, but you also lose the mouse wheel for other things. Perhaps I missed something, but I don't remember thinking it was something to write home about...

It's been said already, but penumbra with it's physical interactions with the world felt sweet. I'd love to see something like that carried over into thief.

Twist on 12/5/2009 at 20:41

Quote Posted by nicked

I can't think of any other so-called stealth games right now, but the point is, there is nothing that even compares to Thief.

I actually agree with everything you wrote in reference to specific games, but do you really think there isn't anything at all done by any other game that might be integrated into the Thief paradigm? I mean, nothing at all?

For example, what I mentioned from Penumbra: Slowly, carefully opening a door either to take a peak into a room without revealing yourself or to slip through the doorway more subtly rather than have just a binary choice of open door or closed door?

Or as Dave and Faf described, giving Garrett just a little more physical flexibility for navigating our environments in a non-linear fashion -- and I'm sure we all agree that doesn't mean turning it into anything remotely like a Mirror's Edge clone.

Don't you think increased interactivity on a moment-to-moment basis might've been embraced by LGS had they had the time & technology?

These things could simply increase our moment-to-moment gameplay vocabulary for doing what we love to do in a Thief game: Use our patience, our observation skills and our creativity to methodically solve problems or quietly circumscribe our opponents without alerting them.