Werewolfintheshadows on 24/6/2006 at 15:41
Thanks TR_Wolf for giving my point that the maps in TDS suck some backing. I got slammed in another thread for saying that, but I just don't see the argument for how good they are...... they were better even in TDP.........
I wouldn't say graphics are bad Tony, i remember reading like PC gamer and half life 2 got 98%, and had "beautiful" graphics.... Well I've got Half life 2 and played it enough to know the surface textures are shockingly poor and the objects are disgustingly unrefined. Even the NPC detail, if its not a main character, they got no attention to detail, whereas i think in TDS even simple townfolk had some quite nifty facial expressions and outfits.
Guess we are unanimous in despising the "clunky" movement of garrett? I guess that what you get when you merge 1st person and 3rd person and keep the body co-ordination as realistic as you can - disaster. For the sake of not being able to see my feet when i look down, i'd just give it up lol and scrap 3rd person altogether.
Vigil on 24/6/2006 at 15:45
Quote Posted by Spitter
decent conclusion to the story
Oh yes, the story arc was good and the conclusion especially was brilliant in my opinion. I'll sub that in for my #3 like.
Nightblade on 24/6/2006 at 16:31
Likes:
1. The storyline.
2. New lockpicking system.
3. Graphics (it's nice, not great though).
Dislikes:
1. Very bad physics (ruined the game for me).
2. Everything text related, except the briefings and conversations.
3. Small, linear, boring levels.
june gloom on 24/6/2006 at 18:17
actually, i have 4 each.
likes:
1) brings back some old elements from TDP, as well as feeling much more TDPish overall
2) one thing that has ALWAYS bothered me in shadow-heavy games is, why doesn't the main character cast a shadow? doom 3, for example. i LIKE walking past windows and watching my shadow play against the walls. it adds a sense of realism.
3) climbing gloves. i play with minimalist, so the third person is forced off. there's a kind of intimacy to clinging to a wall like that in first person. in a perfect game, you could make use of rope arrows as well as climbing gloves. they would have their advantages and disadvantages, and you'd have to use both according to the situation.
4) the scare factor is ramped up considerably in some places. the statues and the cradle are two good examples.
dislikes:
1) the physics system. ugh. actually, the engine overall is garbage. horribly underoptimized, and it just looks flatout ugly at times.
2) writing needs work. it's OKAY, but it doesn't have the creativity that you'd think the overall plot would provide. not to mention there's a few errors here and there that need fixing.
3) i actually wish they'd kept some of the TMA feel, instead of reverting back to the wholly medieval. i loved TMA's mix of art deco and medieval.
4) no briefing videos? wtf.
Werewolfintheshadows on 24/6/2006 at 18:27
Briefing videos are sorely missed :-( I play TDP just to see them again
On "Undercover" .... "They say the best place to hide a letter is on the mantle piece..." classic
R Soul on 24/6/2006 at 20:33
Likes:
1) Lockpicking. I agree with Vigil about it being better with the visual bit turned off. What I liked most was that at first it took me a while, but when I got the hang of it, I could pick most locks fairly quickly. That's rewarding.
2) Ambient sounds. I especially liked the ones in the Hammerite factory and the Old Quarter.
3) The chaotic fights that would break out between the AI (especially in Stonemarket Proper). Some people put it down to poorly coded AI. It probably was, but I thought of it as the result of the Hammers and Pagans now being on equal footing, both fighting for control. With no referees.
Dislikes:
1) Garrett's movement. Mantling was better than it T1/2, but everything esle was just too clunky.
2) The Enforcers. I had a great feeling of nervousness when I first saw them. I didn't know what they were capable of, and I was expecting the game to become harder at this point. If one got KO'd or killed, the others should have run to his location to investigate. If one saw Garrett, he should have been able to summon reinforcments.
3) The large UI. I could have accepted the silly gears with their pointless animations if they hadn't been so huge.
Zanbatou on 25/6/2006 at 06:06
Likes:
I really liked the new shadows. In the opening cutscene for TDP they showed Garrett's shadow flitting across a wall... I just thought that visual was verry cool. I was thrilled the first time I saw that happen in game in DS.
I'm also pleased that The Keepers play a larger role in this game. I've always found them to be the Thief world's most interesting faction. I guess that's my way of saying I liked the story.
Also, the new lockpicking system is pretty cool. I shall have to try it with the visuals turned off, because that sounds even better. And I loved the idea of letting you practice lockpicking in Garrett's apartment, but there didn't seem to be a huge reason for it since it was fairly easy to begin with.
Dislikes:
There's a scene where ( *spoilers *) the Keepers release a swarm of monsters into the city that pretty much chase down and kill everyone on sight. This is not the work of a secret society that prides themselves on being completely hidden while they subtley manipulate the city. Why do they even have these monsters? I can't think of another instance in the entire realm of fiction where someone acted so annoyingly out of character. :P
Lack of ropes. Note that I did not say lack of rope arrows. Those were pretty cool, and I missed them... but I always found them to be annoyingly buggy and inconsistent. I was really hoping for something even better. There's another scene in the T:TDP opening where Garrett ties a rope to a chimney and then just jumps off the side of a roof. Within a quarter second he's completely hidden from sight. I wanted * that *.
The awesome briefings have been replaced by a long load time with a "Thief tip" displayed next to to the loading bar. I do not want my games to feel like software. I want them to at least try to feel like art throughout.
Sluggs on 25/6/2006 at 07:27
The only thing i dislike about Deadly Shadows is the bloody engine. :p Apart from that, i'm fine with it.
Tithian on 25/6/2006 at 08:40
Likes:
- The new AI. It seems more alive but then again, it's also a whole lot easier to run away from.
- The graphics. But after using John P's hi-res texture I realized that they actually looked awful.
- The missions seemed generally well planned. I seemed to always find alternative ways that I could take which is great when ghosting. But then again, the missions were VERY small.
It seems I can't find any good aspect about this game without also mentioning something bad about it :sweat:
Dislikes:
- Garretts body and how he looks like in the movies.
- The Keepers. I absolutely loved them in T1 and T2! They were like supercool! You didn't know a lot about them because they are a SECRET society.
In T3 they walk around on the streets killing people. Didn't like the whole glyphs thing either.
- Loot glint.
Also everything that has been previously mentioned. Especially the readables, way too short.
Poison Ivy on 25/6/2006 at 11:33
Well, one thing I noticed is that I'm a lot less demanding than most of the Thief fans here. ;) Maybe it's because I haven't yet played the first two games (can't get my hands on them, I've downloaded them from the Internet but they're too buggy to enjoy). I rather enjoyed just about every aspect of the game.
I thought the graphics excellent (Seriously, people, look how spoiled you are! For someone who, like me, plays Sierra games from the 80's along with Morrowind and TDS, the graphics are more than satisfying. The atmosphere is correct, and frankly, the detail is great.)
Anyway, here goes,
Likes:
-3rd person view: While normally I played in first person, I still switched to third person to look around well-lit corners without leaning, which still involves the risk of being spotted, and while climbing, when otherwise I couldn't get a good look at where I was climbing.
-Storyline: Most of the time I couldn't wait to finish the mission just to view the next twist-in-the-tail in the next cutscene. Plus, the more you looked around, the more information you found about the world. There were texts and messages that appeared insignificant but were actually foreshadowings of the events to come, or were somehow explained by the events to come, and in the end, all the pieces fit together and made some kind of sense (although what kind of sense is different for everyone :D)
-Ability to move completely silently while crouching: While this may take away a part of realism (or not, since in DS Garrett is roughly in his early 30's and, logically, would be even more skilled at sneaking that a decade ago), it's EXTREMELY fun. You can follow people around without them EVER becoming aware, unless you make a mistake.
Dislikes:
-The Enforcers. Getting tossed from the Keeper prison into a pack of assasins with eerie voices was so incredibly creepy that it was extremely disappointing to find how ordinary the enforcers were.
That's actually it.... The ragdoll effects? I thought them amusing without being irritating. :D Same goes for the sometimes ridiculous AI effects when people started rampaging and killing each other. I figured that kinda made sense, since it was usually hammers vs. pagans. They simply turned the streets into a battlefield and started killing each other, and everyone who got in their way just... got in their way.
As for some people complaining that whenever someone saw a body they blamed Garrett, well, that's natural if they see Garrett standing there, especially holding a dagger/blackjack/bow. Plus, it actually happened to me that when a female thug found a body (Garrett's handiwork), she started looking around with her sword drawn, ignoring Garrett who was standing in visibilty a few paces away. But on another occasion that was identical except for Garrett hiding in the shadows, when she found him, she attacked him. She was assuming the murderer was hiding.... :D So if she found someone hiding, she attacked them, and when the murderer was not hiding, she assumed he was innocent. So they don't ALWAYS blame Garrett... only when it's suspicous..
