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Tuesday, November 30, 1999

Temple of the Forgers Reviewed - Four Bronze Hammers - 2:20:09 PM - Dan

It's here ahead of missions older then it, but the review was written so I may as well release it. Temple of the Forgers is a fan mission by James Slade. The review was written again by Kung Fu Gecko: • Pros: Pros: Simple and straightforward gameplay, nice silent briefing, mostly bug free • Cons: Simple and straightforward gameplay • Bottom Line: The Temple of the Forgers doesn't break any new ground but it is a nice little chunk of entertainment. KFG awarded the mission 4 bronze hammers, which is always a good score for first-time missions authors. The full review can be read here. Temple of the Forgers was released on November 27th. It's 1.9 megs, and can be downloaded here. The readme file can be reached here. Enjoy!

Autumn in Lampfire Hills Reviewed - 2 Silver Hammers - 1:52:04 PM - Dan

Another better-late-then-never review is of Anthony Huso's Autumn in Lampfire Hills. Bringing us the review is once the trusty Kung Fu Gecko Pros: Nice city architecture, well thought out story, challenging puzzles. Cons: Some areas of wrong sense of scale, architecture niggles, challenging puzzles. Bottom line: Lampfire Hills brings a great and diverse community to rob (a darker take on Garrett's morals), a complicated story to follow, and tough Hard and Expert levels of difficulty. Although cramped in some areas, the architecture is pleasing to the eye; especially the city streets. I'd recommend it to veteran thieves who are ready to sit in a dark corner and think about the text they've just read and what they've just seen. From listening to the local chatter, I've found that this is a real love/hate mission. I'm glad we got a reviewer who wasn't an extremist... :) The full review can be read here. Autumn in Lampfire Hills was released back on November 9th. It's 4.1 megs, and can be downloaded here. The readme file can be reached here, and there is a short walkthrough, written by the missions author's brother, right here. Enjoy!

Circle of Strain 2 Reviewed - 2.5 Silver Hammers - 12:03:45 PM - Dan

It's long overdue, but he gets two for the price of one. Circle of Strain 2 has been reviewed, by both Garett Choy, better known as Kung Fu Gecko, (the guy who did bloodstone prison!) and Chris Wong, possibly also known as Hoga, the new member of the TEG review staff. KFGecko had this to comment: • Pros: Very nice architecture, fun and straightforward gameplay, cleanly executed. • Cons: Minor places of possible frustration. • Bottom Line: Overall, Circle of Strain 2 is pleasant evening of entertainment for thief fans. It delivers a straightforward assassin and steal mission with nice architectures to view. While it does not break any new ground, it is definitely a "worth playing" mission. Just some good-clean thief fun. And Eric Wong had this to say: • Pros: Solid architecture, realistic object placements. • Cons: Too easy to become a hack-and-slash affair, linear and non-exciting gameplay, poor lighting placement. • Bottom line: This mission is a decent challenge to the player but lacks the key features which would have made this small-medium sized level much more fun to play. I believe that the overall consensus between the two was that this is a very good mission, but the small size and lack of plot keep it from being truly great. It's very nice to look at though, if you have the horsepower. They both gave it a score of 2.5 silver hammers. The review can be read here. Congrats, Mokkis, for another fine mission! Circle of Strain 2 was released back on October 10th. It's 2.7 megs, and can be downloaded here. The readme file can be reached here, and there is a full walkthrough, written by the missions's author, right here. Enjoy!

Monday, November 29, 1999

Two New Mission Releases: Ramirez's Revenge 2 - The Awakening - 9:09:38 PM - Dan

I have two new fan missions to release! In an act of totally laziness, I'll just cut-and-paste the code from the missions index, where these are displayed, into the news post. The Awakening   readme.txt   (2.0 Meg)   Released: 11-29-99   No Walkthrough By Dennis Martin: Description: A Lord Brighton has recruited some defected Hammers and Guardsmen to steal and plunder for themselves. You need to show him he really is not in your league and take him and his buddies out of the biz, some of them permanantly. Some of these items have been stolen too many times - and you will make it the last. Make it hurt and take everything you can, so they will truely know who the "Thief" is...... My first level and I've never done any editing before but, hopefully will be fun. I've had no chance to properly look at this one, but as the description says, it's the creator's fist mission for any game. Congrats and welcome to the club, Dennis! Ramirez's Revenge Ver. 2   readme.txt   (1.7 Meg)   Released: 11-29-99   No Walkthrough By Apache: My first atempt this DromEd - Redone. A med-sized level with lots of secrets to find. You have found yourself in the clutches of the Hammers. (Thanks to the help of Ramirez).You think he may still be alittle sore about the trip to his house. And has seen to it that you won't be bothering him anymore. Setting up a local merchant. He played you into picking his pocket. While counting your loot, his guards hit you when you won't looking. And deposited your body at the Hammerite Outpost's doorstep. Like an unwanted baby being left at the wicked new parents house. But since your here, might as well make the best if it. Rescue a few artifacts and get out alive. If you've been paying attention in the forums then you've seen this one coming, and maybe already played it already. Apache made so much new in his remaking of Ramirez's Revenge, his first mission, that TEG is releasing it as a new release. Hopefully I will have some reviews to release tomorrow!

Fan Mission Operation Directions Posted - 4:30:40 PM - Dan

Since it seems that we may not see a Thief Gold compatible Thief Loader any time soon, I decided it best to post up the direction on how to get fan missions working with Thief Gold and the current Thief Loader. Those directions have been posted here: http://www.thief-darkproject.com/teg/missions.html which is, coincidentally, the fan missions download index. Now you shouldn't have an excuse for the fan missions not working!

Dark Mission Packager - A Correction - 11:50:42 AM - Dan

Whoops, I should have posted this as soon as I got it. I forgot to! This is a correction regarding my post about the Dark Mission Packager. Here's a direct quote: The slight change is that well, the Dark Mission Packager is just a packaging utility for the Dark Mission Manager. People are encouraged to use it to pack up their missions. But the actual Dark Mission Manager will be a program that runs these files. The full release of the Dark Mission Packager - a separate product - will be very soon (next week), but the DMM release will be in a couple months (if I can do it). Which means that you can't play with the DMP, but you can pack stuff up. There will be no EXE and pacjage, because they hate it. The version of the Dark Mission Packager up right now is just an alpha. -GayleSaver Server months, eh? Anyone care to make a quick Thief Gold edition of Thief Loader very, very soon?

Unforgiven - The New Fan Mission by Adramelech - 11:40:21 AM - Dan

Adramelech's mission, Unforgiven, has been released. Unforgiven was promoted via an avi trailer released some time back, in case you didn't remember. Here's the short description: Asmodeus, a somewhat unorthodox Priest from the local Hammerite Temple has sent you on a mission to retrieve an anceint sword before his superiors find out it's gone missing in the first place. This is one of the larger missions released, weighing in at a little over 8 megs. The readme can be seen here. In case you haven't downloaded the trailer, which also acts as the mission's breifing, you can grab it here. If you want the breifing to play when you run the mission, extract is, rename it b15.avi and put it into the /movies folder of your unforgiven zip, overwriting the old file.

Saturday, November 27, 1999

Dark Mission Manager Feature Prototype Release - Mission Packager - 4:48:21 PM - Dan

For those of you who haven't been paying attention to the talk in the Editors Guild Forum about the Dark Mission Manager (DMM) and Mission Packager (DMP), here is the deal. First off, this is all the grand scheme of one GayleSaver. Dark Mission Manager is a utility that should be able to manage your Thief missions, as the title implies. It's going to be (it had better be) Thief: TDP and Thief: Gold compatible, and carry the features of both Thief Loader (TL) and the DMP. The DMP is a feature prototype release for the DMM. It's an alternate style of mission launching, where the program creates an executable with which you use to run the mission, rather then selecting the mission from a menu, ala TL. GayleSaver hopes to use this prototype to get feedback on this concept, so that he knows how to implement it the best way possible into the DMM. So try it out at your own risk, and don't forget to email GayleSaver with your comments. The DMP is not Thief Gold compatible, but the DMM will be. It had better be. :)

A Look Back - Early Thief Concept Images - 4:19:08 PM - Dan

This is something veteran, and even newbie, Thief fans should appreciate. Our media archive has always had a collection of concept images, but we've finally gotten a hold of larger versions of each sketch. Thanks goes to Zerker for finding them, and a website called Wewp Entertainment, for displaying them. Concept Sketches Ape-Beast (Rat-Beast) The Trickster Constantine and Viktoria Hammerites Zombie Original Bugbeast (PG 13) Green Eel-like Thing Man-Spider Beast Two Headed Orge Burrick Snake-Like Beast These are a collection of concept sketches. As you can see by looking at them, some concepts changed little from conception to completion, some changed drastically, and some were dropped altogether. The ApeBeast witnessed an outfit change, though I dare say I liked the original design much better. You can see how restrictions on the mesh complexity can reduce a concept. The trickster is relatively unchanged in shape, but changed greatly in detail. I think that this pale emaciated Trickter with the red marks is much creepier then the golden tan version in the game. We never see enough of Constantine or Viktoria to really be able to tell how much the concept changed since these sketches were done. The Hammerites were only slightly changed, unless you include the fact that we never actually see a Hammerite bowman in the game. The Zombie is a zombie, what is there to say? The original bugbeast is a much more horrifying critter then the final one, as anyone who played the special mission in Thief Gold knows. I suppose nudity issues forced this one back to the drawing boards. I have no idea what that green eel-like thing is. Maybe it evolved into the exploding frog. We've seen the skin to this man-spider creature, but nothing more until now. This two headed ogre was actually seen in an early screenshot, and his skin is in the game archives, but he was dropped. The burrick didn't change too much, as you can see. Finally that snake-like beast only made it into the game in the form of a head trophy, though we also can find his complete skin in the game.

In Shambles Reviews Prisoner's Revenge - 3:28:07 PM - Dan

The Thief fan site In Shambles has done a review of Prisoner's Revenge, a fan mission by Jan "Vitus" Vitek. They gave the mission a score of 6.5 out of ten, which is exactly equivalent to a score of 1.5 silver hammers. You can read the review here.

Finally! A Walkthrough for the Thief Gold Missions! - 3:19:41 PM - Dan

The topic says it all. Eidos has released their online Prima Guides walkthrough for the three new Thief Gold missions. Hopefully they will relieve some stress for the new players, since I hear that those three new missions are some of the tougher in the game. I have yet to play them, I just started Assassins. A shame when life is too busy for Thief, eh?

Yes, Another Thief Gold Promo Image - 2:53:17 PM - Dan

Faraz Asad was kind enough to remind me that the Eidos Site has put up yet anotherThief Gold background. This one is actually pretty cool. It's all blue and foggy, with a sketch of Garrett to one side and a painting of him to the other. Of course the silly Thief Gold logo is plastered across the thing, removing this from the realm of art and throwing it into the pot of propaganda. Check it out if you want it.

The Temple of the Forgers - New Fan Mission by James Slade - 2:22:07 PM - Dan

James Slade has released his first mission, The Temple of the Forgers. This is a Hammerite based mission. For many years now sailers have found port in a storm by the mysterious glint of light that appear from "Sansiros" isle, A slab of rock about half a mile offshore, which was a refuge for Hammerite priests in earlier wars. Though thought abandoned for many years, a recent dispatch to a High Hammerite priest intercepted by the Keepers bore the old Stamp of "Sansiros" . Indeed the letter metioned the name Levius, the first of the Keepers to break ranks for a more profitable world. The Keepers have mused that "sansiros" may be the secret Headquarters of the Temple of Forgers, otherwise known as the Hammerite Secret Police. Rumour has it that they have files on everyone..... I have 'borrowed' a Hot Air Ballon from my friend Ramirez, I'm sure he will miss it..... The mission comes with a short little intro movie. It also uses the female thief skin made my Trimfect and I. The readme can be read here.

BloodStone Prison - New Fan Mission by Kung Fu Gecko - 2:00:19 PM - Dan

If you've been visiting the forums regularly, unless you've had your head stuck in a hole (or the Thief 2 forum :) then you've heard about KFGecko's new fan mission, BloodStone Prison. The mission is the 'sentient undead' type, like Return to Cathedral, (as opposed to the 'monster undead' type, like Bonehoard.) Here's the brief description: Beyond the East hills lies an old Hammerite prison that hasn't been used for decades. No one ever goes there anymore and it's supposedly haunted. I don't enjoy dealing with the undead and I never thought about the prison until now. I was approached by an old man named Bando today who noticed me practicing to be inconspicuous in the city streets, a keeper talent I never was able to perfect. It turns out that Bando seems to have been born with similar "talents" as me. He was even taken in by the Keepers at one point but was later kicked out for "not being the one" as he put it. So he earned his keep as a rather successful freelance thief in his youth. Bando had spent some time in the prison when it was in use. He later returned to search for his late wife's brooch and other possesions that were confiscated from him after it had been overrun by undead, assuming that undead don't hold grudges like Hammers. He says he's not able to pay me for the job but he's offered to teach what he knows about the skill of "inconspicuous walking". He also told me about a holy sword held within the complex that would aid in battling the undead. Bando's brooch and the sword will most likely be in the same place. He says a good way to enter the closed off prison is to lower myself through one of the old kitchen chimneys. The full readme can be seen here. Kung Fu Gecko is also the author of The Library, a 1.5 silver hammer mission.

Walkthrough - The Treasury, Written by MaD-SaM - 1:35:18 PM - Dan

MaD-SaM, 'assistant' to Bryan Matthews, has written a complete walkthrough for Bryan's recent release, The Treasury. Since I haven't played the mission, I cannot comment on the quality of the walkthrough, but it looks concise and well written. Hopefully we'll get a review of this mission out soon. Thanks, MaD-SaM, for the walkthrough!

Makeshift Walthrough - Autumn in Lampfire Hills - 1:27:02 PM - Dan

With Anthony Huso off, the task of writing a walkthrough for his mission, Autumn in Lampfire Hills, has gone to his brother, Nels Huso. Nels managed to through together a short summary walkthrough that should hopefully get most people through some of the tougher parts of the mission. Good luck!

Happy Thanksgiving, All You American Taffers! - 1:17:45 PM - Dan

We, as taffers, have quite a bit to be thankful for. I hope that all of our American friends had a good Thanksgiving, and didn't forget to give thanks for burricks, 'shroom tea, holy water, rope arrows, and Return to Cathedral. Oh yes, and try to fit freedom and good health in there somewhere too... ;)

Tuesday, November 23, 1999

The Euros Love Thief Gold! - 11:39:52 AM - Dan

To continue our string of Thief Fame posts, I have a nice review of Thief Gold to mention, posted on EuroGamer. The reviewer simply loved the game, saying the following: And let's face it, if you enjoyed the game the first time, don't you think Looking Glass deserve some more of your hard earned cash? I couldn't agree more. Ahh!! Propaganda! Shoe! Shoe! :) They gave Thief Gold 9/10. Not too bad for a game using a 2+ year old engine, eh?

Thief Gets its Fame - 11:32:28 AM - Dan

Well, I'm back. Things have been pretty busy elsewhere in life, so I haven't had much time to even glance at this site. Two ugly jobs and one biology test later, here I am, with some good news. HalfLife has dropped off GameSpot's top ten action game list (due to age), leaving Thief: The Dark Project as number one! This is short lived, though, since Thief is almost old enough to be dropped off the list as well. Ah well, at least it's getting its fame. Hopefully Thief Gold will find its way onto this list as well. Thanks for the word on this, Mr.Mojo!

Thief still sneaking about - 9:30:53 AM - James

Gamespot has up a Buyer's Guide, and Thief is in the "runner-up" section, being several times suggested as a "game you might also like". That's doing pretty well for a game that's been out for a year! I'm not sure why Thief Gold is not mentioned. Shock 2 pulled in a primary recommendation.

Monday, November 22, 1999

Thief Reviewed by Salon Magazine - 2:56:43 PM - James

Wyclef turned up a very nice review of Thief at Salon Magazine. The reviewer, Wagner Au, compliments Thief for its excellent immersion in a thoughtful and very well-written review.

Friday, November 19, 1999

The Thief 2 Screenshots and Artwork is Now Online! - 10:10:40 PM - Dan

Our collection of exclusive Thief 2 content is now totally online. Get on over to Thief2-Metalage.com and take a look at the three new screenshots, featuring the Dark Engine's newest renderer enhancements, atmospheric fog, and six concept images, featuring the Mechanists, the new religious faction in the Thief universe.

Wednesday, November 17, 1999

TTLG's Exclusive Interview With the Thief 2 Dev Team - 11:25:52 PM - Dan

Online, and ready to be dug into, TTLG's massive interview with the Looking Glass Studios' Thief 2 dev team is here and online. The interview was so long that we had to divide it up into one page per question, 17 in all, which also allows our guests to browse through the questions at will, via the main menu. Ten members of the team, mostly designers, took time out of their busy schedules to answer a list of questions that TTLG prepared in order for the fans to get a feel for the type of team that is working on the game, as well as get some inside information on details of the gameplay. When writing this interview, our contacts urged us to not focus the interview on gaining "the latest scoop" on Thief 2 information, mainly because all that they are allowed to say has already been said. In fact, some of the questions we asked were declined, because the information was still classified. Instead, as I said before, this interview is focused on the talents, inspirations, and goals of this awesome team. We hope you enjoy it! Go read the interview! A big thanks goes to Steve Pearsall, Alex Duran, Mike Chrzanowski, Laura Baldwin, Tim Stellmach, Rich Carlson, Rob Caminos, Emil Pagliarulo, and Rafael Jabulani Brown for doing the interview, and a huge thanks goes to Randy Smith for making it happen at all!

Tuesday, November 16, 1999

A New Thief Mp3 From Muzman - Very Cool - 10:39:05 PM - Dan

Muzman has created a very cool original Thief music mix, using tension music from Thief & Thief Gold, named "Rising Hunger." If you even vaulgy like Thief music, get this now - it rocks! The mp3 is a little over 5 megs, and has been perminantly archived in the TTLG jukebox. Download it now!

Call for a New TEG Review Staff - 7:56:23 PM - Dan

We have a small problem. Okay, it's a medium sized problem. It seems that TEG's review staff has decided to retire. That's not a problem, after all, you guys were volunteers and I thank you for the work you did for the site. The problem is that now our only reviewer is the trusty CEC UA, and he doesn't have the time he needs to dedicate to doing all the reviews! Circle of Strain 2 has gone over a month with no review, and Mokkis is getting very frustrated. I suppose it's time to ask our public once again if there is anyone out there who'd like to join the review staff. Requirements are pretty simple and obvious. I ask that you be a good writer, and skilled enough at Thief to complete the fan mission you are reviewing. The main credential that I would rather everyone on the review staff to have, is that you've released at least one fan-mission. The reason for this is simple. If you haven't gone through the process of creating a fan mission of your own, then you don't understand the work involved, and can't really judge someone else's craft. You really shouldn't ask a musician to be a painting critic, ya know? It's no requirement, but I would also ask that consider your popularity with the Thief community. If you're a well liked and respected citizen, then your reviews will carry much more weight then if you're a lurker, or a loud-mouthed punk... :) I hope to hear from some of you soon.

Shock 2 Editor Petition is Online - 7:37:34 PM - Dan

A System Shock 2 Editor Petition has finally arrived at TTLG. While this isn't Thief related, I know that there are plenty of Shock 2 playing Dromed using taffers who visit this site. If you want to be able to let your Dromed talents loose on another game and universe, go sign it!

Walking the Dog - Trickster's Walkthrough for Death of Garrett - 7:31:36 PM - Dan

Death of Garrett is truly a class act on all fronts. The author, Chris Patterson, better known as trickster, has submitted a walkthrough for his 4.5 silver hammer mission. The walkthrough is complete, professional, and very impressive. Thanks, Chris! You're an example to everyone... :)

Screens: Mr Mojo's Current Project - 7:00:47 PM - Dan

Mr Mojo also sent me a package of screenshot from his current project, Order in Shambles. I belive, and correct me if I'm wrong, that this will be his first mission release. Check out the screenshot collection. (Updated)

Screens: Bloodstone Prison - by Kung Fu Gecko - 6:31:14 PM - Dan

Kung Fu Gecko, aka KFGecko, has released a collection of screenshots from his new mission, Bloodstone Prison. KFGecko is the author of the classic fan mission, The Library. More information on Bloodstone Prison can be found here. Thanks, KFG!

In Shambles - Creature Compendium - 6:15:33 PM - Dan

Matt Elliott, otherwise known as Jaye, has mentioned to me an addition to his website, In Shambles, called The Creature Compendium. This is going to be a sort of game-guide which details each enemy type, and ways to deal with them. It's far from done, but it sounds cool to me. Check it out!

Thief Gold Installer Screen Place in Media Gallery - 6:03:37 PM - Dan

Faraz Asad was kind enough to send over an image of the initial Thief Gold Installer screen. For the record, this image was originally used back on the first "The Dark Project" website at lglass.com. Thanks, Faraz!

Talk About the Thief Mission Packager - 5:52:11 PM - Dan

At the request of the author, I'd like to mention a utility in development called the Dark Mission Packager. It's an alternate form of Thief Loader, in being worked on by GayleSaver. He needs your ideas and comments about his project, and asks that anyone interested either mail him about it, or come talk about it on the forum.

A Colored Lighting Demo? - With a Sith Thief? - 5:47:23 PM - Dan

James Slade has a unique offering for us in the way of a Demo/FunStuff mission. Though the intent of the mission is to offer a suggestion on how colored lighting may be simulated, the Thief with the light saber he added really steals the show. Did that get your attention? :) Check it out, and maybe the part about the colored lighting will give you some ideas as well.

Sunday, November 14, 1999

A New Thief Gold Promo-Image - 6:16:16 PM - Dan

It looks like we have the 9th and final Thief Gold promo-image from the eidos site. This time it's a blue on black sketch of Garrett. It looks like a close-up of a larger sketch, since it's so blurry. Enjoy! I know that many of you are waiting on me for various updates and such, but I'm relly not up to it today. Best I do it later and do a good job, then now and give you a sloppy job. Thanks for your patience.

Friday, November 12, 1999

The Treasury - A Fan Mission by Bryan Matthews - 4:52:07 PM - Dan

I had a bit of trouble getting this mission to work properly, so I delayed announcing its release here in the Annals, even though it's been available in TEG for the past week. The mission is 'The Treasury,' by Bryan Matthews. It's a medium sized mission, which reportedly has a few cool surprises: The Treasury is a medium sized Mission crammed full of Technical effects.You overheard a conversation by a drunken Sergeant in the Stags Head a few nights back. He ran his mouth about some underground workings believed to be mythical and supposedly made by Craymen. Although highly intoxicated the Sergeant was insistent that they did exist. He also hinted at the fact that this could be another way into the impregnable Hammer Treasury. Working for other people can reap rewards but this sounds like a Mission just for your benefit. You have enlisted the help of a petty thief called Mad Sam who has agreed to help you gain entry to the Executioners yard tonight. He does bear somewhat of a grudge after some ill treatment meted out to him last month by the Hammers.Note: Heed the fact that not all that glitters is gold. If it looks like it should work it probably does! This Mission has a high humor content and certain ironies do manifest throughout the Level. A walkthrough will be released in around a weeks time. Have fun and try not to meet your Waterloo! ( You will understand the aptness of this word in more ways than one by the time you finish this Mission.) I wasn't able to play the mission well enough (it ran very choppy for no apparent reason), to give a good first impression, but you can ask those who have played it over at the forum. You can grab the readme here.

Wednesday, November 10, 1999

The Face Behind the Vines - 3:59:15 PM - Dan

I have a small treat for fans of Viktoria. I bet you all wonder what the actress who plays her looks like, eh? Well I have what you're looking for then. Oh no, but it's not that easy. This is the type of thing that only people who really want to see should be able to see! I have a zip file, about 4 megs, with a small clip taken from the 'Behind the Scenes of Thief 2' movie that came with Thief Gold. Terri Brosius, aka Shodan, Viktoria, and Delacroix, is a level designer for Thief Gold and Thief 2, and so she had an appearance in the video. Go ahead and download it, you'll like it..... :) Of course, if you have Thief Gold, you have no reason to download this!

Tuesday, November 09, 1999

GamesMania Reviews Thief Gold - 8/10 Stars - 8:25:01 PM - Dan

We have our first review of Thief Gold. GamesMania actually gave Thief Gold a lower score then they gave Thief - not because the game is not as good, but simply because it's a game that used '97 technology released in late '99! Aside from that, the review was very positive: Though there are only three new levels they are pretty damn big, easily some of the largest in the game. Some of them are quite heavily populated too, and have all sorts of new hazards. I'm thinking in particular of The Mage Towers, which has some truly fiendish security measures (one of which I'm pretty sure was inspired by Army of Darkness). Watch where you step, watch what you touch. Once again, it is pretty easy to believe that the levels are actual places, and not areas designed for the purposes of a game. Architecture manages to be both functional and skin-crawling (there's a particularly creepy moment when Garrett get his fortune told by…ah, but no spoilers). The reviewer is a true Thief fan, and this the review is well written. Take a look at the review here. Thanks, Jason! Oh, and there are also a few new screenshots that are quite a bit better then the ones on the official sites.

Full Motion & High Res Version of 'The Gem' - 7:34:08 PM - Dan

Once again better late then never, TEG finally has the high-res, full motion version of Datoyminaytah's "The Gem" breifing. The movie is a 14.5 megs zip, and is over a minute and a half long. It's very well done, with great voice acting and composition. Thanks, Datoy!

Autumn in Lampfire Hills - The New Fan Mission by Anthony Huso - 7:12:45 PM - Dan

TEG is finally able to release the mission created by Anthony Huso, a taffer who is no longer with us (no, he didn't die, he just moved to Africa). It was really supposed to be released before Halloween, but as you can see, its rather late. This mission is called Autumn in Lampfire Hills. Here is the description: So, You're a Master Thief. You've stolen from Constantine, you've stolen from Lord Rothchest, Edmund and all the others. You've stolen from a god, for heaven's sake! It's about time you got a place of your own...not an apartment. A house, or maybe a cottage...Yes. A cottage in Lampfire Hills. In the north outskirts of this gear-grinding city, lies the peaceful (though sternly ruled) district of Lampfire Hills. Now that you are out of debt you've even given some consideration to retiring there... Until you noticed something peculiar about your new cottage. This mission is a surprise with (hopefully) story at the fore. Hence you'll want to explore your cottage and lawn thoroughly before venturing into the district of Lampfire Hills. A full briefing waits in your journal downstairs. Oh, by the way, you can afford to hire a henchman now that you're out of debt...a front gate guard of your own...so don't go killing everyone you first see...he's difficult to replace. Lastly, remember, you own the place...so for once in your life you don't have to sneak around...to begin with anyway... I tried out the mission, and was quite pleased with the little bit that I played. There is still a problem though - even though a map exists, it doesn't work in-game. You can view the readme file here.

Annoyed and Aggravated - I Finally Have Thief Gold - 1:12:25 PM - Dan

I finally managed to get a copy of Thief Gold. I'd just like to take the time to say how pissed off I am at the fools who run my local Electronics Boutique. Thief Gold was hidden way back in the budget section, BEHIND copies of the original Thief. I had to ask the store clerk where they hell they were. The manager of that EB is well known to be a total jerk. I don't even think he plays the games. Oh well, time to check this thing out. I'll be back soon with two new mission releases (one has already been released on the forum,) and some other news.

Sunday, November 07, 1999

Circle of Strain 3 Screenshots - What? Already?! - 7:19:29 PM - Dan

Mokkis sent me a very excited email on, of all things, Circle of Strain 3! Yes, it seems he couldn't help himself, and has started on the next mission in this high-class series. This is a bit from the letter he sent me: HAHAA! :-) I can't stop this dromeding. I finally decided to make the third mission for my COS series. This mission will be quite different than my earlier missions. There will be night and now it's not only a one cool manor. Now it's a one big city, what contains everything you can image! Well, at least it's quite big and beautiful:) Actually It's not a pure outdoor mission, because the most important areas are indoor places like manor and church. I have planned releasing it on christmas, but because only thing what I have worked around yet is a architecture what is just 50% done, so it can be delayed to the Q1 2000. We'll see. Anyway, here are 8 cool pics what are from: City, Church and Manor. I'm still playing at software mode, so screens can be quite dark, but I tried some tricks in Paint shop pro, what helped little a bit. Though they are of low quality, the screens he sent me look great! Download the images, zipped, here. It looks like we have another great one to anticipate!

A Correction - 6:59:58 PM - Dan

The links for the TWG tutorials were broken yesterday - they're fixed now.

Walkthrough for Retrevial - 6:46:36 PM - Dan

Again in responce to plees, Fred Chook has released a walkthrough for his demo mission, Retrevial.

Retreival Update - 6:29:08 PM - Dan

Fred Chook was quick to respond to crys of outrage, and has released an updated version of his demo mission, Retrevial.

Trailer for 'Unforgiven' - A Fan Mission by Adramelech - 5:33:08 PM - Dan

Adramelech, sometimes known as James Kay, is proud to present a preview trailer for Unforgiving, a soon to be released FM. The trailer is the briefing for the mission, in which Garrett meets with a Hammerite Priest to get a rather unorthodox mission. The zip is 6.2 megs, and available here only!

Saturday, November 06, 1999

Tutorial Writers Guild Strikes - Sources and Receptrons - 2:04:31 PM - Dan

The Tutorial Writers Guild is a recent formation, dedicated to the writing of tutorials, in this case: Dromed. The first example of their work, the conversations tutorial, is an example of their fine work. Now TEG is proud to host four more tutorials from TWG. Sources and Receptrons, for teleporting and timing - This tutorial is intended to teach the basic of sources and receptrons, and to show what a nifty tool they can be. As well as showing basic implementation, it will also describe how to set up a system to teleport Garrett from place to place, without using TrigRoom Scripts. Sources and Receptrons 2, Temporary In Game Store - This tutorial intends to highlight the necessary steps to make an in-game store where the player can buy objects midgame at the cost of loosing some loot. Also, it is a learning tutorial, and will not tell you how to do the store straight off, 'mistakes' are made along the way as I felt it would be more logical this way. The end product will allow the purchasing of items until the player runs out of money, then the store has to shut. I already have worked out a better system that does not shut, but that is more complicated still. Sources and Receptrons 3, Permanant In Game Store - This tutorial intends to achieve a fully functional in-game permanent store, where you can come back later and continue to buy things if you want to. Sources and Receptrons 3, Leaving a Breadcrumb Trail - This is a short tutorial designed to relate how to get Garret to leave to start leaving a trail of breadcrumbs. Once Garrett has picked up the magic pouch it will drop glowing rocks at his current position while he has it selected. If Garret does not select the pouch, then it will drop rocks at its previous position, though this is addressed in the tutorial.

'Ramirez's Revenge' Reviewed - 5 Bronze Mission by Apache - 12:44:42 PM - Dan

Better late then never, Ramirez's Revenge has been reviewed. The upside to getting a review so late is that the author has a chance to patch the mission -before- the review, and this is such a case. The update to this mission helped the score considerably. Here's a snip from the review by UA: It started off innocently enough, a jail cell, of sorts and me with my picks, somewhat believable. but wait! what's this in the corner? water arrows? whoa! okay. leave the cell, look at the guard and grab his nightstick. make sweet head music. then realize that this layout for this beginning lends itself to basically only one way out. That's true for much of the level, with switches hidden in odd places, an entire arsenal of equipment in the prison, and the bulk of the loot being in 2 places. In the end, the mission was given five bronze, which is not bad at all for a first attempt! Congrats, Apache! The full review can be read here, and the mission readme.txt can be read here.

'The Gem' Reviewed - Excellent Conversion and Conversations Demo - 11:21:23 AM - Dan

At long last, the review for The Gem is here. This missions, by Wes Morrison (Datoyminaytah), is considered by some to be no more then a conversations demo, but many disagree. It does, however, get nearly all of its architecture from the Dark Project mission 'Assassins,' thus making it TEG's first conversion mission. As a conversion, it receives a review, but no rating. Here's a snipit from the review, written by CEC UA: While this level shows complex conversations as they have never been done before (including receiving an item from the AI) there is nothing in this level that makes it what would be called a typical "mission" indeed most of the players time is spent searching for the only building that contains anything new (unless they know the streets of Assassins like the back of their hand) While the entrance to the building is unique, the lack of anything new in the way of streets and such holds things back, while at the same time making the entire scenario fit seamlessly into the thief universe. Thanks & congratulations, Datoy, for making a conversation & scripted event milestone! The full review can be read here, and the mission readme.txt can be read here.

Thursday, November 04, 1999

What? The Rebate is for North American Customers Only?!?! Complain! - 1:36:01 PM - Dan

Sad but true, we now find out that the $10 rebate & $10 coupon only apply to North American customers. In three words- That really sucks. The only thing I can say to do is complain to Eidos, and complain in volume. I scoured their UK site, but could only find this in the way of contact information. I guess they don't like getting emails. Remember, flames don't accomplish much. If you want to be heard, express your complaint politely.

Retreival, In-Game Marketplace Demo - 12:23:23 PM - Dan

We have a new demo mission, called Retreival, by Daniel "Fred Chook" Chapman, Darren "TafferBoy" Gamgee, Jake "Urza" Ludowyke, and James "Drunk Guard" Meehan. Here's the description: Our first level. We wanted a level where you have to buy and sell items to get the ones you want, thus giving the economy of the city a real boost, until you take its purse when it isn't looking. We did that, then added a real neat level, and a joke, and another joke, and here we are! The mission was placed as a demo due to its experimental and unstable nature. It is Thief Loader compatible. It features a skin created by Toni Hollming (and myself.)

Playing Fan Missions with Thief Gold and ThiefLoader - 11:53:01 AM - Dan

Bed and Glen have been collaborating on thinking up the best way to get the fan-missions working with Thief Gold and Thief Loader. This is what they have come up with so far. ThiefLoader 1.2 (the current version) will work with Thief Gold, but you have to manually make the following small changes to your Thief folder on your hard drive: 1) In your Thief folder, make a folder named "crfs" 2) Move all the files in your Thief folder that end with ".crf" (for example "snd.crf", "obj.crf", "strings.crf") into the new "crfs" folder 3) Edit the "install.cfg" file and change the line which reads resname_base + so that it now reads resname_base \crfs+ That's it. Now you can install and use ThiefLoader normally. You might have to tell the installation program exactly where the Thief Gold directory is. Of course, there is always the simple solution of keeping Thief installed for use with fan-missions, and doing a separate install of Gold for playing the game. That's what I'm planning on doing, anyway. Thanks, Bed and Glen!

Avault's Thief Gold Contest - 8:23:26 AM - Saam

I was doing my morning web browsing when I noticed that Avault has put up a contest, letting readers win 21 copies of Thief Gold! We're still trying to get a hold of Looking Glass to see if we could host some sort of contest or something, so we'll let you all know how it works out. For now though, be sure to go and enter your name in Avault's Thief Gold Drawing.

Wednesday, November 03, 1999

Forums Are Down, but the Cause is Different - 12:09:12 AM - Dan

Yes, they are down again. The cause and solution are simple this time, though. Saam was working with the server, and it crashed. Hopefully someone at Icode, where the server is stationed, will get his message and log the thing back on in the morning, so Saam can re-activate the TTLG domain... :) (Update: Everything is back up and running smoothly. -Saam)

Tuesday, November 02, 1999

Community Page Updated - 3:43:03 PM - Dan

This is a minor note to say that the Community page has been updated with the new names and URLs for the new forums.

New Thief Gold Artwork - Weird Stuff - 3:15:45 PM - Dan

I've added the latest batch of Thief 2 artworks from the eidos site to the CoSaS gallery. If you haven't seen them yet, I must warn you. The choice of colors is a bit, odd, for both of them. Thankfully, if you just set them to grayscale, they look just as cool as ever. The new images are Purple Sketch 2 (preview), and Bizarre (preview).

Eidral Chaos's Watchman's Grave - Thief Fansite - 3:03:06 PM - Dan

Eidral Chaos has offered his link to be added to the TEG Links archive. His site, The Watchman's Grave, currently only provides info on his current fan-mission project.

Screens From Micah Gelfand's Mission - 2:51:43 PM - Dan

A person identifying himself as Micah Gelfand sent me a collection of three screenshots, from what seem to be a Thief mission, along with the request (it was more of a demand, actually), that I post them up. Well, here they are... :)

Catalyst's Amazing Quicksand Demo - 2:18:21 PM - Dan

Catalyst has submitted a quite cool demo/fun mission on quicksand. The demo contains a .cow demonstration of the quicksand, and a tutorial on how to create it. Again, this is from Dromed users only. Thanks, Catty, it's quite spiffy.. :)

Thief Gold Availability - 12:44:48 PM - Dan

Info is still sketchy, but there doesn't seem to be any real pattern as to what areas do and do not have Thief Gold yet. I've heard that it's on the shelves in England now, and some places in the US, but not all of them. My local stores still don't carry it! I'll keep people up to date on what I hear.

VThief - A Particle Effect Demo by Kevin Telford - 12:00:10 PM - Dan

Kevin Telford has created a quite cool light show using some particle effects in Dromed. Dromed users can check out the display by downloading this very small mis file. Kevin tells us that a tutorial is soon to follow.

My Halloween Adventure - 11:55:48 AM - Dan

Yes, I took a break from updating this site to enjoy my family's 14th Annual Costume Party. Some of you may have heard that I came dressed as a Hammerite Missionary. It was quite good.. :) Everyone loved my book of tenants, though some of the heathen dared disagree. I promptly pounded them with my hammer, of course. I hope I can get some pictures onto the site soon. Truly the high point of the party was when we played hide-and-seek in the dark 1.5 acre yard, made quite interesting by the motion sensor activated flood-lights. Sticking to the shadows rather then the obvious hiding places, I was never found of course... :)

Monday, November 01, 1999

The Age of Forum Chaos Has Ended - 8:16:23 PM - Dan

Good evening, folks, time to lay it straight. I have some good news, and some bad news, but ultimately the good news prevails. The forums should be totally operational now. No more crazy DNS errors with an odd URL, just plain and simple http://www.ttlg.com/forums. That's where they are, and that's where they will most likely stay. We finally have this show on the road. The bad news is that we had to re-install the UBB on our server in order to get it working properly at the new location. Unfortunately, all the threads from forums.ttlg.com are pretty much gone. I know that some of you are going to blow your top and start flaming us for this, but remember: telling us you are angry serves no real purpose, since we already know that some of you will be angry. If you really want to, go ahead, but don't expect to debate it with us, since there is no more we can do for it. If you are a UBB expert, and know how to transport threads from one UBB to another, then by all means contact us and help us get this done! Okay, now that I'm through with that, we can get onto the good stuff. All of your user profiles from ttlg.gameforum.com have been restored! If you had 700 posts before, you have 700 posts again. Use your old name, and your old password, because everything is the same as it was back at gameforum. Consider this our "thank you" for putting up with the hassles and the screwups from the past two weeks. It took Saam a good three hours to do this, so be sure to mail him and tell him "Thanks!" I hope that this is enough to make the angry mob a little less angry.... :) So go on in to http://www.ttlg.com/forums, bookmark it, and enjoy... :)

Salting the Fries - 1:30:36 AM - Saam

Okay, here's the latest scoop: I can't seem to figure out what the problem is with our server, so we are going to move the forums to another location (on our server). However, I do have some good news for you all (read: forum junkies :)), but you'll just have to wait and see. Dan and I are still working on getting the forums back up to par, so if you all would be patient, we'd appreciate it! I will make some more posts as we progress on this little job.

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