Dussander on 4/8/2008 at 14:19
Time for my opinions :DD
I'd like to see:
Fully integrated ghosting system - I'd like to see ghosting implemented into all missions as an optional setting when picking difficulty. The ghosting setting could change AI placement, loot/objects placement, textures, etc. The ghosting system could be customisable to the player. For example, I would care about 2nd level alerts, red watchers, knocking someone out - but I wouldn't care about banner damage, often unavoidable yellow watchers, etc. And at the end of each mission you get a nice little tick in the final objectives screen.
Bring back the Mechanist technology - In my opinion, the Mechanist gizmos helped improve a lot of missions: First City Bank, Hidden Agenda, Art of Thievery, T2x's Grand Hotel, etc. I think they have a place in future thief. Which leads to my next feature request:
Punishment systems - As already mentioned, actions should have consequences. If people notice a lot of violence or crime in a short space of time, more resources will be put out onto the streets as a response, which may be in storage or be assigned to other areas.
This is like GTA (as also stated), once the naughty GTA man did more crime and murder, more force was used to stop him. This could be implemented quite effectively in an open city mission or city interim. Garrett breaking into a noble's estate and stealing a trinket worth 2000 should make him very unpopular indeed. Breaking into a bunch of flats stealing coins and plates should gain a little attention. Knocking out some people should give him a little attention, murdering 5 people should cause a lot.
Punishment could mean: more cops on the street, more Mechanist robots patrolling, eliminate them (could increase security further), mobile security cameras, stationery cameras activated (which wouldn't be active all the time, think of power issues), even AI switching on more lights in an area.
The thief would need to either stay clear of the extra security measures, not cause trouble to that scale or bribe someone (could be a police contact, a noble, someone he stole off) to remove the punishments. Security would fade over time, if the city interim is a day by day thing like TDS then a new day cleans the slate.
In non-city missions - people should be able to report crime, possession or personnel disappearances to reserve guards or the city watch in the same time frame as the mission. This could also depend on the severity. If a decent amount of property has gone missing, someone may contact extra guards to come on shift or wake up - or contact a couple of watch officers to have a look. If someone's caught murdered (their must be a distinction from someone being knocked out the AI should use) then you should have half a dozen watch officers come in the front door at alert.
BG_HHaunt on 4/8/2008 at 15:19
Quote Posted by hexhunter
I was actually just playing GTA IV, thats where I got the Assassins idea from. I spawned in the apartment you get in Algonquin, and I walked around it until I got to a low wall which went all the way around the building. I thought 'If only I could climb onto it, and rather than fall to my death, sneak around and jump between ledges'.
What I wouldn't want to see is endless climbing, I would like an MGS4 style, where climbing puts either physical or mental stress on you, until you almost run out of steam when you have to find some solid ground to stand on. That forces you to go indoors and do some proper stealth rather than just climbing all the time.
The same stress system could be used for sprinting and jumping...
Sorry for making such a long post.
IF there will be thief 4 who whould make it Ion Storm:confused: I think they've pretty much dumbed this project
New Horizon on 4/8/2008 at 15:22
Quote Posted by BG_HHaunt
IF there will be thief 4 who whould make it Ion Storm:confused: I think they've pretty much dumbed this project
Ion Storm no longer exists, they went out of business.
Eidos Montreal development studio gave a hint that Thief 4 would be their next game, after Deus Ex 3.
potterr on 4/8/2008 at 15:31
I wouldn't mind seeing:
* Much more variety in loot, candlesticks and the same bottles get tiresome.
* Swimable water
* Better fences
* A lot more secrets, something T3 was lacking in I think. I think part of the fun of playing again is finding all the missing loot and secrets that you missed first time round.
* Cumulative weapons and money throughout the game. If you don't use a weapon such as a gas arrow earlier in the game you have it available later on. This will give you a different twist on later levels where you may not have been able to get gas arrows but need to use them. It kind of makes you think a bit more about what to use when.
* Rope arrows back again.
* Dud weapons, a water arrow that doesn't go off or a gas mine that doesn't explode. Although these should only be the case on harder difficulty levels.
* AI's stealing stuff too, e.g. a crooked guard pinching stuff during his rounds, which means you have to pick pocket him to get full loot, however he may pick up loot after you have pickpocketed him so you would have to find him again and do it again. Or something along those lines.
sNeaksieGarrett on 4/8/2008 at 19:12
I think dud weapons would only make it feel like the game is bugging. Almost certainly a water arrow would break on impact, so I don't see how it could be a dud; but that's just my opinion.
Ah yes, secrets. Secrets are cool
it almost sounds like Acorn wants thief to be oblivion.:rolleyes: :p
TheGrimSmile on 6/8/2008 at 02:12
First, I actually think that the ghosting-specific options would be a bad idea.
Even though I don't ghost, isn't there more fun to be had when you have to work out how to bend a game like that? It lets you get deeper into the game, and gives you a thrill as you realize you've done smething the game only posed as "possible". You're suddenly behind the scenes, working the game to your will. Yes, you can go through the level without touching a single guard, where others have gone through the whole thing in a different style! It allows for a large range of options within a single level.
When you make toggable options for that sort of thing, it takes away from the thrill and excitement, because then it's just another difficulty level, another part of the game. It takes skill to ghost where others would dare not to, or to club a guard while others stay in the shadows. It's like a challenge to yourself working on the honor system, knowing that you could ignore your creed at any time but push on because it's something incredible.
With the carry-over weapons:
Yes, it's an interesting idea, but... what happens if, in fact, you did use that gas arrow that you needed five missions later? What then? You have to start over, greedily hoarding all of your supplies?
It's a very raw idea, and it has its flaws.
And, lastly, the mechanists thing won't work. It wouldn't make sense for an order that has been over for a while to suddenly get back to buisness. I suppose they could make some new reason for those but it would take a preeeetty good story to cover that one.
Plus, I did like the machines, but best to let sleeping dogs lay. It was a thing that really fit with TMA. It was a new and fun element (at least to me) but it served its purpose. I think trying to cram it in after a while in a universe that will probably be very different than in TMA is just a disaster waiting to happen. The machines would get old, and it's not like anyone who played TMA would have more trouble dealing with them than before. It would just be a bit of a pest.
nicked on 6/8/2008 at 06:59
plus, who would make them? Karras' ghost?
thiefobsessedgirl on 6/8/2008 at 15:49
While playing, the weather should change.
Not just day into night.
I'm mean:
- Cold, frosty mornings.
- Stormy nights. We saw it in Moira Mansion, Thief DS. But I want more of it!
- Rain, during day and night.
- Then maybe some clear, bright days. And still nights.
- SNOW! And some mild blizzards maybe.
You know what I mean!
ALSO:
- More loot variety please! Golden statuettes, rings, opals, diamonds...
- Bring back the Rope Arrows.
- More districts in the city to explore. Wayside and North Quarter were mentioned during DP and MA. I would like to see those.
- More city buildings to enter. I mean busy taverns, dark chapels, old houses, apartments, shops. Just cool places to go while out-of-mission.
- ROOFTOPS! Running, jumping, hanging. Anything to do with rooftops would be awesome.
- I want the burricks back. Just one mission that has burricks roaming around would be cool. They supposedly got hunted to extinction in MA. But they should still exist in a dark valley or forest.
- Keep in the Hammerites and Pagans. They're cool.
- Swimming would be nice again aswell. I got quite bored of dropping into the ocean like a pebble.
- Revisit old locations. I would LOVE to see a good-graphic version of the Bonehoard, Haunted Cathedral ect...
- Oh and lastly. The pagan shamans/priestesses should go to the ruins of Soulforge and gather around Viktorias plant-life remains and bring her back to life with all their pagan magic and stuff. It would be pretty cool.
Damn. This is long. Sorry people.
Dussander on 6/8/2008 at 23:59
Quote Posted by TheGrimSmile
First, I actually think that the ghosting-specific options would be a bad idea.
Even though I don't ghost, isn't there more fun to be had when you have to work out how to bend a game like that? It lets you get deeper into the game, and gives you a thrill as you realize you've done smething the game only posed as "possible". You're suddenly behind the scenes, working the game to your will. Yes, you can go through the level without touching a single guard, where others have gone through the whole thing in a different style! It allows for a large range of options within a single level.
Optional settings wouldn't have any bearing on people who don't ghost, so that's not a reason not to have it. Yes, it's like another difficulty option - your point?
Quote Posted by TheGrimSmile
And, lastly, the mechanists thing won't work. It wouldn't make sense for an order that has been over for a while to suddenly get back to buisness. I suppose they could make some new reason for those but it would take a preeeetty good story to cover that one.
Quote:
plus, who would make them? Karras' ghost?
I didn't say reintroduce the Mechanists, just their technology. It's hard to believe that they all just disappeared at the time of TDS. I doubt Karras hand-made every single mech robot or camera, it also makes sense that the factories responsible are still around.
People should stop needlessly poking holes in other people's ideas and start coming up with their own.
jtr7 on 7/8/2008 at 00:33
This would be a good time to remind taffers that TDS had Mechanist technology, but most of their technology, and in fact, most of the steampunk that was a staple of TDP is unrecognizable or just missing from TDS.
There were the viktrolas, of course, and the security systems of Wieldstrom. If there are Mechanists around, they are certainly inventors, but probably most would be quiet about their associations with Karras. Who knows if the Hammers welcomed them back, or if the Hammers are Mechanists who reverted. In my opinion, The City as a whole is ashamed of the Mechanist movement, and more likely to bury the memory than build on it.
