poroshin on 12/5/2009 at 14:54
I'm sure we've had this discussion time and again, but since René is reading these posts I just wanted a concise discussion on what made the original games so good. Mainly I'm talking, of course, about the first two games.
For me it's something that's not easy to put into words. I would say it's the mystery, for one thing. This is especially true of the beginning of T1. First time playing I was enthralled and mesmerized. And it was so different and mysterious. And creepy. Creepy, not scary. There's a huge difference.
Of course the design and design also played an important role in that immersion. This includes the overall art design, sound, and level design. I guess immersion really is the key word. Immersion and mysteriousness.
Not to be overlooked is the story, too. And the unique movement and the revolutionary reliance on stealth. But these are all general things. I'm sure you guys can delve deeper.
infinity on 12/5/2009 at 15:03
Subliminal Messaging.
SneaksieDave on 12/5/2009 at 15:03
MIT grads.
It may sound like I'm being facetious, but in some sense at least, I believe that smart people coming together to follow a passion played possibly the largest role in the quality of the resulting titles, more so than any individual trait of the gameplay.
Dia on 12/5/2009 at 15:35
Quote Posted by infinity
Subliminal Messaging.
:laff: :thumb:
For me it was the immersion factor, graphics, gameplay, plot/storylines, sound, music, and dialogue. Add to all that the voice of Stephen Russell, who imho, managed to bring Garrett to life and make his character believable (can't be an easy thing to do with just voice dubbing only).
I think it was so many different factors all combined to produce two outstanding games. I also agree with SneaksieDave in that intelligent people sharing the same passion were what made the Thief games work in the first place.
LarryG on 12/5/2009 at 15:47
Quote Posted by Dia
:laff: :thumb:
For me it was the immersion factor, graphics, gameplay, plot/storylines, sound, music, and dialogue.
Right on. For me it was that everything was a little bit off--steam-powered robots & magic & electric lights & odd sounds & odd looking people and objects & zombies & elementals & ... --all that created the immersion for me.
If the new designers don't pay attention to the synergies of the old game, I don't care how bright they are or where they went to school. They need to have a feel for the atmosphere of Thief. That will take them a lot farther than anything else. That is where TDS fell flat, IMHO. Lots of bright ideas but no feel.
Krenim on 12/5/2009 at 16:09
The sheer amount of atmosphere contained in those two masterpieces.:cheeky:
And the level design: big maps you have to explore to find clues on how to obtain what where you searching for. This was the main reason Deadly shadows was so... meh to me, micro-maps made exploring too easy.
Master Taffer 512 on 12/5/2009 at 16:50
Edibles. Definately edibles...
Brian The Dog on 12/5/2009 at 16:52
Definitely atmosphere, feeling you were part of a slightly odd world. The stories were great as well, and the level of player freedom in large maps that rope arrows allowed was a big part of it.
Probably the main thing though is the level editor Dromed, since it let people expand on Garrett's story with their own ideas.
FriendlyStranger on 12/5/2009 at 17:04
For me T1,2 was great cause of:
First of all: Garrett, Garrett and yet again Garrett
+ unconventional setting
+ the likewise unconventional factions (Hammer, mech...)
+ the sound set (once played you never forget the sound when buying arrows ...)
+ the possibilities you had compared to other games of this time (physics, extinguishable light, AI, rope arrows...)
+ the overall design (Briefings...)
+ the diverse level/mission design
+ the depth of detail in the missions (eavesdropping-->key appears somewhere else every time)
+the dialogues
Hogwash on 12/5/2009 at 17:05
Blackjacking that wasn't clunky.
Movement that wasn't like walking through treacle.
Swimmable water
Climbing arrows.
Loot that didn't glint.
Oh yeah and storyline, atmosphere, great sound, blah blah.
