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Friday, December 31, 1999

Some New Fan Mission Screenshots - 2:03:03 PM - Dan

Hey, cool! Kozmala has posted up some screenshots from his fan mission. Ahh, Hammerites, and plenty of them. Looks like he's got some interested skinning work going on there too (a priest with a sword?).

Corrections to the Mission Submission Instructions Page - 2:31:07 AM - Dan

I should have done this ages ago, but I didn't. I did it just now, so that's better late then never. The TEG mission submission instructions page has been updated. I changed it to reflect the fact that we now have a fully functional FTP server where people can, with my word, upload their fan missions to me, and the fact that since we are now on a dedicated server, there's really no limit to the number of fan missions we can host (unless we're hosting oh, say 8 gigs of fan missions.. ha!) I also updated the review information to reflect some small changes in policy.

Screenshots from Banshee's 'The Vigil' - 2:14:09 AM - Dan

Banshee, author of the very popular fan mission 'Lord Edmund Entertains' has released some screens of his upcoming mission, 'The Vigil,' sequal to Edmund. They look pretty nice, as we'd all expect. Take a look!

Yet Another Thief Gold Image From Eidos - 12:32:34 AM - Dan

Not willing to let enough be enough, eidos has put out yet another Thief Gold Desktop background. This one is rather original, actually. It has Garrett's face and hands floating in space... err... or is he reaching out of the myst?.... heh. At any rate, if you want it, here is is, come and get it. Props go to Faraz for the spot.

Wednesday, December 29, 1999

Thief 2 Demo (136 Megs!) Is Online! - 9:58:43 PM - Dan

The Thief 2 Demo is here! Go to 3DFiles (many mirrors), Demo-Files.com or EvilAvatar.com. Thanks everyone for sending the news, and for publicizing the demo! The file weighs in at 136 megs, so you had best have a download utility with resume capability. Good luck with the downloads, Taffers!

Thief Gold Gets 7th Place in Top 10 1st Person Games List - 12:54:34 PM - Dan

I just noticed that Thief Gold took the cake for 7th place at Sharkey Extreme's 1st Person Shooter (Sneaker, you taffers!) Shootout. Not bloody bad for a re-release of game that's over a year old! :) Thanks for pointing the article out, WingNut_666.

Tuesday, December 28, 1999

Thief and Multiplayer - Clearing the Air - 7:31:55 PM - Dan

I noticed that there's still a bit of fuss flowing about regarding multiplayer in Thief. I thought that I might post up this comment by Tim Stellmach which may clear the air a little bit. Well, unfortunately, the thing that LGS really can't afford is going way over schedule all the time, as we did on Thief and as many game companies do (but then, many game companies also go out of business). We managed to make our schedule (and come out with a pretty darn good product, I think) on Thief Gold and we're committed to doing it on Thief 2, but it ain't easy. When we sat down and had a realistic look at the Thief 2 schedule some months ago (especially in light of the considerable delays involved in ironing out the System Shock 2 multiplayer game) it became clear that we really couldn't get a decent multiplayer game off the ground and a worthy single-player game as well. When we do develop a multiplayer version of Thief, we want it to be as well developed an experience as the single player game was, or at least as good as we can make it given our relative late start in designing multiplayer games. That's part of the reason we've recruited more folks who already have experience with multiplayer games, like the estimable Rich Carlson and Iikka Keranen (who are, I'm sure, champing at the bit). In fact, we've already started on our first Thief multiplayer prototypes (the basic code, after all, being in the Shock engine). But it's going to take a lot of designer work to do it right, and that's just going to take too much time for us to fit it in Thief 2. Well there you have it. Believe you me, we are much better off this way. Having a very good single player Thief 2 and a very good multiplayer Thief product separate is much better then having a pretty good single player Thief 2 and a kinda flaky multiplayer Thief 2.

Some Thief Fan Art From Yours Truly - 12:38:51 PM - Dan

Some of you may or may not know that back in the day I was quite the draftsman. I used to churn out three or four fantasy artwork sketches a day. Well times have changed, and I've pretty much gotten away from that, but I still like to throw down a quick sketch every now and then to keep myself from getting too rusty. Several nights ago I made a pair of very quick and rough sketches of The Trickster and Viktoria. People seemed to like them in the forum, so here I am posted them up on my site. There are two versions of each, a large and a huge. Both of these were done in about 10-15 minutes. "I am The Woodsie Lord!", by Master Nightfall (highres version) "Face of Viktoria", by Master Nightfall (highres version) Want to see more of my old work? I have a gallery at Elfwood. All the stuff in there is at least a year old. I'd be very happy if some of my fellow taffers (that's you) would go on in there and leave a few comments. It's just a click away.

Friday, December 24, 1999

'Twas the Night Before Christmas.... - 8:53:11 PM - Dan

Twas the night before Christmas In Baffords great house Not a servant was stirring Not Kevel the Mouse When what through the wandering night doth appear but Garrett the Thief and his small bag of gear. Around to the back down the wellhouse he dropped and swam with his sack until by the basement he stopped. And strolled through the basement like some silent haunt dispatched the old guards with a blackjack he brought. Making his silent way like the falling of leaves no guard ever heard the great king of thieves. Now jewelry,now fine wine and gold plates he stashed, and trundled them up with a tie of a sash, Until by the sceptre Lord Baffords great prize he stood by the guard who cried out with surprise "Thief here. Come quick. An intruder doth come." But the blackjack came down swift and sure with a whack and the guard crumpled down like an old worn out sack. Come sceptre,come treasure Garretts prize was in hand while Lord Bafford lay silent no clue that his band of trusty old guards lay like cards on the floor not knowing the name of the Thief at the door Now Garrett with trinkets cross the floor made his flight The orphanage cross town will surely delight in the treasures Ive taken from Lord Baffords wee sight Merry Christmas Lord Bafford, and to all a good night!!!! - Mark Leeper Merry Christmas, taffers, and God bless. - Dan

Thursday, December 23, 1999

Some Housekeeping on the Silver Hammer Missions Archive - 11:44:58 AM - Dan

I did a bit of cleaning up on the silver hammer missions archive. The missions are now listed in order of release date, rather then review date. I also chose to make the download interface show both scores the mission was given if there were two reviews, rather then the average.

'Bloodstone Prison' Reviewed - 4.5 Silver Hammers From Tels - 11:32:58 AM - Dan

At long last, Kung Fu Gecko's gem Bloodstone Prison has been reviewed. Is anyone surprised that the review glowed? I'm sure KFG isn't... :) The review was written by our new review staff member Tels, author of the fan mission voting poll booth, which shall soon become T-dp.com official, and the Dromed terrain generator, GenVBR. (Correct me if I'm wrong on this one.) Here's the run-down on the review: Pros: Great athmosphere, great architecture, well laid room layout, very creppy ambient sounds, unlinear level design, some unquie puzzles and a fitting story. Beside the few bugs, there are not heaps of minor flaws like in many other FMs. Cons: Bugs may prevent you from completing it. Fortunately, most people were not hit by the bugs. Unfortunately, I was hit by all of them in a row. Which just proves that you want me to be the beta-tester of your next level :) Bottom Line: A very creepy, goosebumbs-all-over, at-the-edge-of-your-sword level which makes for some very good hours of gameplay. It is the third FM I ever was eager to play and actually trying to complete it, so go figure :) All in all, Bloodstone Prision was awarded 4.5 silver hammers, the highest score we've ever given, and the 2nd mission to receave it. The full review can be read here. Bloodstone Prison was released back on November 27th. The readme file can be seen here, and a collection of hints and tips can be read here.

Wednesday, December 22, 1999

'Fall of a Chook' - Fan Mission from Fred Chook - 10:17:11 AM - Dan

Hot on the heals of Silent's mission, Fred Chook has released the mission which he calls "SPCF Official". (That's "The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Farkus," aka tSftPoCtF, for non forum goers.) The mission is named 'Fall of a Chook'.... Fall of a Chook   readme.txt   (1.2 Meg)   Released: 12-22-99   No Walkthrough By Daniel "Fred Chook" Chapman: "Garrett, we don't normally talk to your type, but we need your help. The SPCF has turned for the worse since the death of this 'Farkus', and have taken to a series of petty crimes. You must stop them, however you can. We will arm you well for this, and Kevel will show you a way in. From there. it's up to you. -Wilson, Captain of the City Guard." Welp, I'm off to do some Chirstmas shopping. Maybe I'll do another update when I get back. It seems that the flow of content for this site never ends! I guess that's a good thing. :)

'Friends in Shadow' - Fan Mission by SilentSleep - 9:41:01 AM - Dan

Before you dash off to the forums to download Circle of Strain 3 Beta *cough*, you may want to try out some other missions by some of the fresher dromedites: Friends in Shadow Download Without Briefing   readme.txt   (4.8 Meg)   Released: 12-21-99   Walkthrough By Conor "SilentSpeel" Armstrong: Description: This mission takes place after Garrett has left the Keepers, but before the main events of the game. This is relatively important for the plot. "I try not to involve myself with the Hammers, but like Cutty says, there's nothing like a couple of religious artefacts to make your 'customer' jump through a few hoops. I've decided to hit a Hammer stronghold, but I'm going to start small. Cutty's told me about an old manor house a few miles outside town that a bunch of Hammers have taken up in. Rumour has it that they're looking for some kind of artefact that's been lost for centuries. But, that's what people always say when the Hammers start snooping around. It's a pretty small place. Cutty said he only saw 2 guards outside, and the place couldn't hold more than 5 or 6 people comfortably. My plan is to get in, look around, and get out, hopefully picking up some of those religious icons. Whatever happens, it'll be interesting to see how the Hammers work." I haven't taken a look at it yet, but I know that it is SilentSpeel's first mission release. Download and enjoy!

Tuesday, December 21, 1999

The Other Circle of Strain 3 Preview - 1:50:14 PM - Dan

Thief.Allhere.com is a new Thief fansite. It's the homesite to both a Thief campaign project, and host to reviews and previews of other missions. Add to that the standard Thief fansite contents, and you have a well rounded site. I discovered this site via their Circle of Strain 3 preview. The preview contains a short interview with the mission author, as well as a pile of screenshots. If you just can't get enough CoS3 hype, check it out.

Demo/Fun Mission Update - SkiFree - 1:37:16 PM - Dan

SkiFree has been updated to include a longer sky slope, and an additional slope where you have to duck and jump. The author is still totally anonymous. :)

'Temple of the Forgers' - A Second Opinion - 1:18:00 PM - Dan

Lane "Sneaky" Fox has sent in a 2nd opinion review of Temple of the Forgers. 'Forgers' was originally ranked as a 4 bronze hammer mission by Kung Fu Gecko. Lane gives the mission a slightly highers score of 4.5 bronze. Click here to read the new review.

'The Awakening' - Reviewed and Granted 3 Silver Hammers - 12:57:38 PM - Dan

The Awakening, by Dennis Martin, has proven itself to be yet another very good fan mission. The review, written by Danny 'Hoga' Wang, reflects this. Here are his parting words: • Pros: Good job on normal thieving mission style, resupply points handled well, long mission, with good use of clues. • Cons: Locked doors, locked doors and more locked doors! Level feels like it is in sections rather than one big place. • Bottom Line: While not introducing any new features, this level excels in being a thieving mission with lots of places to visit and things to do. Overall, the mission was awarded three silver hammers. Congratulations, Dennis, on a very enjoyable mission. The Awakening was released back on November 29th, and is 2.0 megs. The full review can be read here, and the readme file can be read here.

Monday, December 20, 1999

Thief: The Art Project - A Modern Day Thief Clone? - 12:31:33 PM - Dan

Gamespot has done a small preview with screenshots about a game called Picassio, being developed by Promethean Designs. The game looks to be exactly what some people in the Thief forum where dreaming of: a Thief set in modern day. You play an art burglar in this game, and from the sounds of it, it's quite a clone of Thief, with the main differences being the 3rd person view, and the setting. There is also a trailer for download from GA-Source.

Press Release - Odium Phantom: Thief FM in Development - 11:27:32 AM - Dan

Inane Interactive has sent out a press release concerning their upcoming project, Odius Phantom. (I've heard rumor that I will make a cameo in this mission. That will be a neat trick... :) Maw, Thief-darkproject.com & Inane Exclusive --> Special Full Version Plot Line, Story, Background info, Dev notes, and Interview for Odius Phantom General Information : Full Title - Odius Phantom Dropped Titles - 'Deadwall' , 'Culliver Towne Penitentiary' , 'A Favor for Dikket' , 'Waterdeep' (base map) Current Size - 8M + Level Designers - Derrick Sallee(Eidrel) on mapping w/Paul Billo(Loanstar) on audio Plot Line : The player must kill a creature. He is taken from prison to a sealed-off section of town, and left for dead............ the undead, that is... Story : For seemingly centuries, you've been locked away from the free world, deep in the Kajrephani Jungle in an age old tower called Deadwall Peak. The hooded natives of the area feed you, and mend to your wounds, but the hammers who put you there are never seen. You are blindfolded, while sleeping, and carried to a cart then covered with blankets, obviously whoever volunteered your long unused services for this trip demanded the total unawareness of your location.... You are painfully become aware of the daylight as you come to realize your old pal Eidrel has removed your blindfold, he faces you through a closing gate and wishes you good luck as the door is sealed. What could Eidrel want with you? What is on the other end of the path your on? Suddenly day turns to night, and it begins to rain. You see a flash of lightning whichs dawns light just long enough to expose a figure around the corner. Who is it? What is it? Where are you?... ...You'll need to download the map to find out... Dev Notes: *Map should be out first quarter 99, maybe not (I'm not sure if they meant Q4 '99 or Q1 '00 - Dan) *Map includes stormy weather *Map is relatively small, but not tiny *This is not my first map, please dually note that Interview (more like a faq) -What is the build time so far? Um like 6 months, but I don't work on it very often, just occasionally, HEY I'M 15 OKAY! -Is this another assassination map? HELL NO! -Can I expect it to be fun and replayable? My goal is to scare the skin off of your back, how's that? -What game can this map most be related to? I was inspired by Silent Hill for PSX (can't wait for PS2!) -Where can I find all the latest news, reviews, and screens for this amazing map!!?? http://www.internations.net/cyber/inane/odius.html [[No pun intended, really! :)] That last link seems to be broken. Try this one instead.

Vote for Thief at GameSpot - 11:18:33 AM - Dan

GameSpot is doing a "Top Ten Best Endings in a PC Game" poll now, where readers can place their votes. If you think that Thief derserves to place on this, go on over there and vote!

Circle of Strain 3 Preview by Jayle - 11:09:12 AM - Dan

Jayle from In Shambles has done up a preview of Mokkis's eagerly awaited Circle of Strain 3. CoS3 will distinguish itself from his other missions by taking place in the city streets at night, rather then daytime with a single small mansion, and having an actual continuing plotline. I know that a while back someone did a massive preview of CoS3, and announced it on the forum, but I can't for the life of me find it on there. If anyone knows the URL of this preview, please tell me.

NativeArt Design - Screen of FMs in Development - 10:31:52 AM - Dan

Once again we have a Thef FM developers group site (actually this dev 'group' is just one person :) showing off a project in devlopment. This time it's NativeArt Design, with many screenshots from three missions in development, and one already released: Ramirez's Revenge.

Maw of Chaos Staff Needed - & - Screens for Coming of the Trickster - 10:27:50 AM - Dan

The Thief fansite The Maw of Chaos is looking for staff. I don't know any of the details, only that you sould apply on the site. Oh, and I also noticed that they have posted four new screens from their Coming of the Trickster campaign, which I am glad to see is still being developed.

Spotlight on Inane Interactive - Thief FM Dev Group - 10:23:14 AM - Dan

Inane Interactive is a group of taffers who are working together to make cool Thief fan missions. Their site features three divisions, Thief resources, Sinister Soldiers, and Fred's Custom Skins. It also has pages which talk about their current fan mission projects.

A Review of Torben the Traitor at In Shambles - 10:02:32 AM - Dan

In Shambles now has a review of Torben the Traitor online. In case you don't rememeber, this was one of the very first missions to score a silver hammer ranking. The review was written by Munin. They would also like me to mention that the score on the previously released review of Shunned has been changed to 8. Thanks, Jayle and Munin!

Dan Has Returned to His Post..... Sorta - 1:28:10 AM - Dan

I'm back! Yes, here I am, after over a week postless and not dealing with emails. I haven't been away, just way too busy with both finals and the impending chaos of holiday preperations, which I am still in the middle of. Hopefully in the morning I can do a decent set of posts, seeing as news is building up, but as you see below I have managed to update the site with a pile of fun happenings in the forums. If anyone is interested, I have posted up photos from my trip to Epcot with my family last weekend in the chat forum. This will most likely be the first time most of you have seen my face... :) here is a direct link. Enjoy the images, and don't forget to comment! Oh yes, and I really did go Through the Looking Glass on that one... :)

Guild Newsletter - The Past 24 Hours on the TEG Forum - 1:21:35 AM - Dan

Optimus Prime has started a thread asking for opinions and advice regarding the poly count question, namely, what should the upper limit be? SycoCid has posted up a screenshot of his upcoming mission in this thread. The thread also has plot information. Another screen can be seen in this thread. They seem to be of the same thing at different stages of development. Purah is looking for a new partner to help work with him/her on a project. "...anyone skilled in conversations and techno-tricks in DromED...who wants to devise some puzzles and record some conversations...maybe do a briefing etc..." Anyone interested should read this thread. Optimus Prime has posted up some AMAZING screenshots of his mission project, which takes place in a power plant. If you're in the mood for some jaw-droppers, check this out. Three more equally awesome screens can be seen here. Methinks that Mr. Autobot may be getting a special email from me soon... :) SilentSleep has released his first fan mission to the community of the forums: Friends in Shadow. I hope SilentSleep chooses to release his mission on this site as well. Keeper of Equilibrium has posted up some screens from his fan mission in development, which look to be of a fortress or a temple. Either way, it looks pretty slick. Also with screenshots, o0-Daine-0o has posted a link to his/her page with a few from a fan mission in development. Once again, some pretty slick stuff, though a bit dark. Abysmal asked, and Junkyman answered. This thread contains a URL where you can find fan missions that have never been released on this site, mainly because the authors never asked me to. Though this thread started by kherm began with a different topic, it now talks about the idea of making an in-game Thief movie, either as something to record as an avi, or an interactive movie. If the concept sounds cool to you, check it out.

Towne Cryer - The Past 24 Hours on the Thief Forum - 12:53:00 AM - Dan

This is something new that I thought up. Since Christmas vacation is now at hand, I have more free time to do many things, among them actually read the forums. I thought that it might be interesting to try and do a daily report of the happenings on the Thief forum. So here's the first. Starting at the earliest post... Saracoth has started up a thread talking about his discoveries about the word 'taffer' which lay hidden in unused conversation files. Take a look, he's found some pretty cool stuff. Para?noid has posted a post directing people to his discussion of the Nuthouse Project on the Chat Forum. From what I have gathered from my brief glance, this is a project to build the Nuthouse, a pet name for the chat forum, in Dromed as a Thief mission. The Stranger has posted up a thread concerning the new areas in the mission The Sword for Thief Gold. I haven't gotten there yet, (for shame) so I did not read the thread. If you've skipped over that mission in TG, or played it but never found those spots, you may want to check it out. Secluded Memory is campaigning for people to do write-in votes for the PCGamer poll as to our most anticipated game of 2000, or something to that effect. He gives details on how to vote in this post. KGoodsell has started up a rather long thread where he's asking for comments on his project to edit the gamesys for Thief to make it more advanced. Give him your two cents, and maybe more, on the idea! Chimpy is doing a little poll about everyone's most memorable moments in Thief. Come and add to the list. This is a spoiler heavy post. Though I can't sum it up in one short paragraph, this thread here by Malygris is quite interesting. It's a basic Thief discussion thread. Ace is challenging people to win Lord Bafford's Mansion in less then 48 secs. Think you can do it? :) GayleSaver has found some interesting pages which talk about non LGS occurrences of Taffer and "Looking Glass", namely a last name, and an Indian Chief. Read about that, and other findings in this thread. Secluded Memory has posted up saying that he's challenging Lytha's dominance as the best thief in the forum. He has his stats for the game he played and everything. Good luck, chap, you're gonna need it... :) Lytha is doing a small poll/discussion thread about the necessity and redundancy of having so many Thief forums, and ideas to solve the problems presented by the presence of lack of such separate forums. Yes, Lytha, I hear you. I'm still deciding. Go here to voice your opinion. The Cloaked Wolf has proclaimed that he has finally made it to the roof of Constantine's Manor. For details on this shocking news flash, or for just info on how he did it, check out his thread. Grundbegriff has posted about GameSpot's Best Endings in a PC Game poll. Well that's my report for today. I'm going to see how this goes, and if I like it, I may start looking around to grab a new staff member to be in charge of this post everyday (since when I have to go back to college, I will no longer have time each day to go through the forums.)

Friday, December 17, 1999

Expanded Walkthrough Released - 8:03:08 AM - James

Taffer, aka Brigadier, has released an expanded version of his walkthrough. It now covers up to THC. For those who have not seen it before, the special aspect of his walkthrough is that it is very detailed! In other news, I'm off to the inlaws for the holidays. Think my Thief skills will help me evade unpleasant chorses and social situations? Bears consideration..... 8)

Wednesday, December 15, 1999

Vote Early, Vote Often - 11:04:33 AM - James

"Secluded Memory", on the TTLG forums, has a topic up about voting for Thief 2 as the Most Anticipated Game. Go read it - and then vote!

A Post by a Dead Webmaster - 12:58:02 AM - deadly

[Catalyst`] I dare you to do one update with the name 'deadly'. Be interesting as to what ppl say. Okay, here it is, now where is my $20? :)

Tuesday, December 14, 1999

AVault Praises Thief Gold - 1:16:44 PM - James

Chris Harding of The Adrenaline Vault has a very positive Review of Thief Gold posted up. Chris liked both the new missions and the enhancements to the old ones, enough to write, "Thief Gold is one of the worthiest gold products I've ever used... pure value." Thanks to Hob Gadling for spotting this review.

Sunday, December 12, 1999

Bloopers Mission in Thief: Gold - 6:28:22 PM - James

This has probably been mentioned before, but I've gotten a couple of emails about it recently, and it is pretty cool, so it's getting another mention. If you have Thief Gold, there is a secret mission you can acces with These Instructions. It is a pretty nifty Easter Egg. 8)

A Glimpse of Garrett - An Analytical Essay, Exploring Garrett's Persona - 2:05:29 PM - Dan

What started out as a thread on the forum has become the newest addition to The Circle's Guide's section. (Note that I just changed the name from "Strategy" about ten minutes ago.) A Glimpse of Garrett is an analytical essay that resulted from a long discussion about just how old Garrett was. This essay does not answer any of the questions, but does provide a great deal of critical thinking on the subject, enough to allow you to develop your own theories. It was written by David Byron, who is, (correct me if I'm wrong) an art historian at Yale. Even if you've never wondered, or don't care, about Garrett's persona, if you're a thinking person, you should read this. Enjoy!

TEG Review Staff Named - 12:34:37 PM - Dan

Everyone who applied, thanks for the offer. In the end only a very small handful of you sent in demo reviews, and of those, I chose the two that I felt put forth the most non-extremist opinions, fair critiques, and honest decisions. We now have a mix of experienced designers, ua and Kung Fu Gecko, and non-experienced designers, Junkyman and Hoga. I'm going to make an effort to make sure that any review written by anyone has a chance to be seen. So if you, like the site In Shambles, have posted a review up on your site or on the forum, let me know if you want it to get a spotlight. That's a full professional review, mind you, not a quick rant or a rave... :)

Saturday, December 11, 1999

Surprise victor: The Haunt. - 7:55:08 AM - James

Over at Gamespot they put up an article about best monsters. Thief and Shock 2 weren't mentioned so I didn't mention them. Foolish, foolish.... because in the followup, loyal fans have propelled Thief's Haunt to a surprise win as the #1 Scariest Monster in Gaming History. I'll not disagree; I was frozen in place the first time I met one (though they claim you meet them in RTC, not THC, um, I mean Bonehoard. ) Congrats LGT! Lesson: remember that Gamespot allows write-in campaigns.

Tuesday, December 07, 1999

Steal another prize for Thief - 11:23:46 AM - James

World Online has a poll up; not only can you Vote for Thief - Thief is winning!

Monday, December 06, 1999

Thief Loader 1.5 With Thief Gold Note - 11:04:21 PM - Dan

If you can't get it to work still, trying doing a full install.

Brain Matthews's 'The Treasury' Reviewed - 3 Silver Hammers - 10:39:14 PM - Dan

Finally, we have the long awaited review of The Treasury, by Bryan Matthews. The reivew was done by the newsest member of our review staff, Brian Junck, better known as Junkyman: •  Pros: Lots of creative technical enhancements, nice architecture, good AI, and overall gameplay. •  Cons: Puzzles can be very frustrating, too much 'save, try again, save, try again....' •  Bottom Line: I think it can safely be said that this mission breaks new ground on a technical/interactive standpoint for fan-missions. The novice Thief will have a difficult time in some areas, but the overall immersion and player interaction of the level more than makes up for any frustration. And to top it off, there is some very good straightforward thiefing. The Treasury was awarded 3 silver hammers. Congratulations, Bryan, on an outstanding mission! I don't think I've ever actually taken a look at this one! I hope I can soon. Right now I barely have enough time to play the new Thief Gold missions.... :P The full review is, of course, right here. The Treasury was originally released back on November 7th. It's 1.9 megs, and can be downloaded here. The readme file can be reached here. Enjoy!

BloodStone Prison Walkthrough, by Kung Fu Gecko - 9:53:14 PM - Dan

Kung Fu Gecko has released a walkthrough, in the form of an F.A.Q. for his mission Bloodstone Prison. If you have not yet played this mission, I recommend you do so. It's very good... :)

Unforgiven Updated - Save Game Feature Restored - 9:37:28 PM - Dan

Unforgiven, the fan mission by James Kay, had an unusual bug that disallowed saving you game. The author remedied this problem, and here is the updated file. It's a biggie!

Ramirez's Revenge - 2.5 Silver Hammer Mission Re-Release by Apache - 9:25:53 PM - Dan

The first review I have to release tonight is of Apache's Ramirez's Revenge Version 2 This one is brought to us via Danny (I mistakenly called him Eric before) Wong, a.k.a. Hoga: •  Pros: Solid architecture in most areas, more than adequate story, fun exploration, lots of secrets to find. •  Cons: Lack of enemies, so providing little challenge to the player, poor atmosphere, minor design bugs. •  Bottom Line: Although this mission does not provide a very hard challenge to the player, its fun value is still pretty high due to the high level of exploration allowed to the player and the many secrets that has been put in by the author. The mission was rewarded with 2.5 silver hammers. It's very good to see a level maker take a 'pretty good' mission and throw it back into the works, turning it into a great one! Congratulations, Apache! Hopefully you will be an inspiration to everyone. The full review can be read here. The Original Ramirez's Revenge was released months ago. (I lost the record of the original release!) Version two was released on November 29th. It's 1.7 megs, and can be downloaded here. The readme file can be reached here. Enjoy!

SkiFree - The New Demo Mission Which Will Provide Seconds of Fun! - 8:40:51 PM - Dan

Here's a nifty little thing to offer seconds of amusement. It's called SkiFree. Remember that old Win 3.1 game where you had to maneuver your little stick-figure ski guy through the trees and flags? Well this is sort of like that, but with no trees, and no flags. If you like it, you should check out Roller as well. It's like Ski, but much cooler. The author of Ski wished to be unnamed.

Thief Loader ver. 1.5 is Here - Optimized to Play Fan Missions in Thief Gold - 4:55:34 PM - Dan

Thief Loader ver 1.5 is finally here. This version replaces version 1.2. ver 1.5, also known as TLGold, is the first missions utility made to work with Thief Gold. No more moving files and updating cfg file! Just let Thief Loader optimize your install for playing fan missions, and you're good to go. For Thief 1 owners, TL 1.5 fixes the problem with the CD accessing every time it needs to play a sound, causing a momentary delay. When you first run TL 1.5, it will ask you if you want to optimize. If you have Thief, then this is optional. Optimizing for Thief fixes the problem mentioned above. However if you have Thief Gold, you must optimize if you want to play the mission. When you have Thief Loader installed, all you need to do is place the unzipped fan-mission into the missions folder, and run Thief Loader. Select the mission from your list, and hit play! Download Thief Loader ver 1.5

Some 2nd Opinion Reviews at in Shambles - 3:21:02 PM - Dan

In Shambles has posted up some reviews from some classic missions, both by Gonchong. In their review of The Docks, it was given a 6.5, which equals 1.5 silver hammers, a full hammer higher then the score we gave it. Shunned was also reviewed, and it was given an 8.5, which is equivilant to three and a half silver hammers, half a hammer higher then the score we gave it.

Thursday, December 02, 1999

Chat in #Thief With Your Browser! - New Java Chat Client Online! - 12:03:09 PM - Dan

I'm sure no one remembers way back in the day when we promised everyone that we would have a java chatroom for Thief "soon." The ideas was that anyone could access TTLG's official Thief chatroom on channel #Thief, via StarChat using only your favorite browser. "Soon" changed to "eventually," and then to "maybe someday," and then "I guess never..." Well we were wrong about that one. Maybe someday was right, and that day is today. Our java chat client, courtesy of our good friends and associates at the StarChat network, is fast, simple, and easy on your browser. Just go here, enter your user name, select if you want to enter the Thief, Shock2, or Deus Ex chatroom, and hit [Connect Now!] Go there now! I hope to see many guests tonight... :)

'Night of the Thief' - Fan Story by Christopher Hogarty - 12:02:22 PM - Dan

A person whom I have decided needs to lay off the 'shroom tea has sent in a fan story. Yes, one of those. Remember back when we had no dromed and we actually had to read and write those for fun? :) The poor SS2 people are still in that stage, but I digress. Christopher Hogarty's story, Night of the Thief tells the tale of Garrett's mission at Baffords from the 3rd person. Enjoy!

Inheritance - Semi-New Fan Mission by Jonquil - 12:01:31 PM - Dan

We're proud to release a very well done mission called Inheritance! This mission was released some time ago on the forum, but since the author wished to fix some problems with it before the official T-dp.com release, we haven't posted it here until now. If you've never heard of it, download it. If you've been waiting for it, download it. If you downloaded it before, do so again, it's been fixed. It's a good mission - I like it. :) Inheritance   readme.txt   (2.8 Meg)   Released: 12-02-99   No Walkthrough By Jonquil: Description: Oh no not another bloody castle level! Well i'm afraid so but that's just my personal preference. Seriously though, here's what it's about: "Garrett, your reputation preceeds you and I need the best for this job. Lord Barnard has a gemstone known as the heart, I am sure you are familiar with it. I am willing to pay you very well if you can get it for me. One of his less loyal servants will let you into the castle grounds but then you are on your own, I cannot ask him to risk exposing himself. Enclosed is a map of the castle which you may find useful. When the job is done contact the bearer of this letter, he will tell you where, and we can arrange to meet. Sincerely, Alex." This is the first time I have done any kind of level editing, so don't expect anything fancy!

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