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Saturday, April 29, 2000

ThiefLoader 2 and City Hospital - 9:16:41 AM - Dan

Originally posted on TTLG.com by GalyeSaver: Finally! I get a chance to deliver unto thee a most endearing post for which thou and thy bretheren didst wait....well, maybe not that endearing. ThiefLoader 2 is around 40 percent complete. This means that the only thing remaining to do is programming. Shadowspawn is helping me to program the loading scripts, which, needless to say have caused a bit of controversy (see below for clarification). In return for your patience, I promise you that the new ThiefLoader will be more robust and hopefully not any harder to use. Again, we all thank Bed for his cooperation and what he has done for the community itself with ThiefLoader 1.0. Now for the loading scripts. I was not very clear on whether to allow the public to create them, but after speculating I decided that would be suicide, so no, you can't write your own load scripts. If you have a whim about a load script that exists or if you want a new one to be written, feel free to contact me about them, but do not expect to get the source code for the scripts. Looking Glass, we're right behind you! ;) I'll use this post as a place to officially announce City Hospital, my Thief (1, alas) mission. Hopefully it turns out all right, considering it bears a surprise. Mine wishes art that Thief 1 missions shalt not be worn out by then. Catch you later. p.s. If I get one email asking me what the surprise is, I'll switch my email address and I won't post it publicly anymore. Please don't send me spam!

Tuesday, April 25, 2000

CNN Reviews Thief II! - 5:47:01 PM - James

CNN has posted up a review of Thief II. It's actually Barry Brenesal's review from GameProWorld, to which we've already provided a link - but this is great exposure for Thief II!!

Monday, April 24, 2000

Taffer's Post - 11:54:09 PM - Dan

Well I finally got a chance to catch up on T-dp.com, and look at that heap of content! It only took me all evening too. :) I'd say that it's about time for me to start sliding T2-ma.com onto T-dp.com to get ready for the merger at Thief-TheCircle.com, but today I had a sharp wake-up call. Final exams are next week! I knew they were coming... but next week! I'm not sure if that means postponement or not - it depends on how the studying goes (I haven't even glanced at half the content for my sociology class). It's all good though, because next month I shall be getting my 2 year Associate Arts degree. Seeing as I skipped my high school graduation (I was third in my class, but didn't show up to the ceremony because my high school was a piece of shit) this will be my first time in a cap & gown. So what else is going on? Well, if you happened to have glanced at my image of the day yesterday then you will notice that I've finally begun work again on my Thief campaign. It's about half converted into Dromed 2 (the architecture & textures are all in, but I still need to re-do alot of the lighting) and I've already begun adding onto it with a much more generous poly count limit. I spent most of the time yesterday wrestling with flow brushes, and getting a huge headache. But I have finally prevailed, and can now have a nice little twisty underground stream to be proud of. Alas I have little time for it tonight, due to the fact that I really should start paying attention in my sociology class in the morning rather the sleeping through it like usual. (Did I mention that I don't enjoy sociology?) I'm almost afraid to say it, in fear of jinxing it, but the Thief Novel Correspondence of Thieves, which exists on T-dp.com currently in the form of an un-finished rough-draft, will soon be going live once more. The novel is indeed finished, from beginning to end. All that remains is for several plot holes opened up by Thief Gold and Thief 2 to be sealed up. As soon as that is done, one chapter a week shall be released (along with an original illustration by the extremely talented Marianna Todd) making it sort of like a episodic serial. I hope it gets the same warm enthused reception as it did back when it was being written. That's all for now. Thank you, and goodnight

Particle Palette Ref Chart - 10:57:52 PM - Dan

This little file is something that I've actually gotten a great bit of use out of. It's a color code chart displaying the numerical codes for the particle effect colors. Now, in Thief 1 the particles used the same palette as everything else, and it was pretty easy to call up any given texture and check out the palette information in your favorite art program (given that it was a freeware p.o.s.). Thief 2 uses this same palette of course, but since not much else does, it's much easier to just check the chart then go hunting for an image to reference. Thanks, Zail!

The Updated Tutorial For Dromed 2 is Here - 10:42:20 PM - Dan

It thrills me to no end to be able to post up an updated version of the Dromed tutorial. A stalwart camel trainer went in and added plenty of annotations to bring the document up to date with the new Dromed 2 info. There is a small problem though - I don't have any record of who did this! If it was you, please step forward so that you may be given proper credit. Having said that, the new tutorial is posted in the TEG Guides section. Because it's a huge document, and I don't have any doc -> html capabilities other then doing it manually, I put the tutorial into a downloadable rich text format file. Download it here.

A Patch for 'Hush.... Hush, Sweet Harlot' - 10:27:49 PM - Dan

They just had to break the trend, didn't they. :) The 'Hush hush' team has sent in a patch for their sweet new Fan Mission Hush... Hush, Sweet Harlot. The patch is just under a meg. They didn't say so, but I'm betting that this patch is for both the english and german versions. If not, then whoopse.

A Demo Mission With Lots of Stuff, by d0om - 10:07:38 PM - Dan

To continue today's pattern of everything in pairs, I have another demo mission to release! This nifty showpiece contains: "Combo door, Info on QVarTraps and triggers, Poison, A teleport system, and a new third lockpick," and a tutorial on how to re-create it all. Again this demo mission is for use with Dromed 2 only, but the processes described in the tutorial may, or may not (most likely may not) work with Dromed 1. Download the demo mission & guide here, or just view the guide here.

A New Multibrush Object and Custom Dromed Menu - 9:44:54 PM - Dan

Again coming in pairs, I have two new additions to the Tools area of TEG. I'll let the author's of the items describe them: Winged Staincase Multibrush (wingedstaircase.zip) - (50 K) Made by Da_Masta_Thief MicahGee: "This is a little multibrush of a staircase with a platforms and two other staircases coming out of the left and right of the platform, sort of simular to truats mansion in the main hall near the chapel and ballroom" Added Access Dromed Menu (menus2.zip) - (3 K) Made by James (gonchong): "This small file will add easier access to the functionality of the Dromed Editor. Simply replace the original menus.cfg in the Dromed folder with this file (back up the original if you're the careful type). It adds several useful commands in the 'misc' menu (ie. Light bright, pathfinding displays, editor cam, etc) and Easy access to all the Thief II texture families. No more having to remember arcane texture names!

A Pair of New Thief Fan Stories - 9:33:47 PM - Dan

We have two new fanfics to add to the Library of Short Tales. The first additon is by Trav Bland, who has sent in a short work called Making a Living. The other much longer story is by Jack P-P, and is entitled Darkfall. Enjoy, and keep those fanworks coming!

Soulforge Machines Tutoral - 8:00:53 PM - Dan

Avalon has created for us a demo mission & tutorial describing how to create the manufacturing machines of SoulForge. Download the demo and guide here, or view only the guide. Although this guide tells how to create a set of specific machines, the knowledge contained herein can be used to script all sorts of neat events for your fan mission. Although the demo mission will only work with Thief 2, the process described in the tutorial possibly will work in Thief 1. Possibly.

Sunday, April 23, 2000

The Logic Behind the Madness - 10:22:08 PM - Dan

Saam ran across this little juicy bit in a newsgroup, and we decided that it was quite fit to post. It's a reply from EvilSpirit to a common 'concern'. >>Almost everyone who >>played the original thief through to the end came to recognise that the >>zombie missions were good and interesting. > >"Almost everyone"? No they didn't. The Thief 2 design is a direct >response to what Thief 1 users requested. They also admit that the >"zombification" of Thief 1 was a concession to the Quake crowd, as the >LG designers weren't sure the non-combat style of the game would sell. That's an oversimplification. First, the fact that we moved away from the use of zombies doesn't mean that people didn't eventually warm up to the missions with zombies in them. I don't really have any good data on whether they generally did or not (though clearly some people did). But if something about the game really puts off new players, I'd say you have to change it regardless of whether you think the people who stick it out will learn to like it. Also, it was never primarily the "Quake crowd" with whom we meant to hedge our bets in Thief 1. Generaly, if you tried to play Thief like a shooter, you'd be dead pretty fast. Yeah, you could get away with it better with zombies and burricks, since they were slow-moving. But the monsters _were_ designed so you could sneak around them, not just have to blow them up. They largely failed at that with inexperienced players because their speech wasn't intelligible and there was nothing to really keep players away from a knee-jerk violent reaction, but you can sneak around them. The main difference between them and humans is really that they are so slow that they can easily be dodged around if you have space, which seemed like an appropriate tactic for a thief. It is true that we had more conventional (i.e. less strictly stealth-oriented) gameplay in mind for Thief 1, but that was designed around the trap-, quest- and exploration-heavy levels like Bonehoard, Return to Cathedral, and Lost City (respectively). And, by the way, I still like those traps, quests, and explorations: I think where the levels in question fall down, where they in fact do so, is in the details. Anyway, the main point of reference for non-stealth gameplay in Thief 1 was always action-adventure games like Tomb Raider, not shooters. The correlation between these adventure levels and "monsters" (zombies and burricks catch the most complaints) is largely coincidental. Tim Stellmach Lead Designer: Thief, Thief II

Saturday, April 22, 2000

Thief 1 & 2 Trivia Quiz - 11:08:14 PM - Dan

The Taffers over at 3DGamesPlanet have done up a nice little Thief 1 & 2 trivia quiz. It's quite well done for the most part, except for one question which was obveously put in there so that only the most anal taffer, or the most lucky (if you guess) will get a perfect score of 40. Other then that, the quiz gets two thumbs up at this end. Hmm... I think I'll have to whip up one of these. :) By the way, the answer to that anal question is: T. M. Blackheart

Friday, April 21, 2000

Creature Conversion Tutorial - 7:18:29 PM - Dan

Arcsim was good enough to send in a tutorial on how to import creatures and characters from Thief 1 into Thief 2. The tutorial was written by himself with the help of several other from the TEG Forum. Thanks, Arcsim!

Vote for Digital Nightfall! :) - Update - 1:40:45 PM - Dan

Heya Taffers! Someone is holding a little 'best webdesigners' poll on their website, and I'm on the list. I hope that some of my regular guests would be interested in voting for me. :)

Thief II Highly Recommended at Games Domain - 11:26:25 AM - James

Nolan Boulanger of Games Domain has written up a review of Thief II, awarding it a "highly recommended" label. This is a review that is almost completely devoid of criticism - he even likes the graphics! Nolan calls Thief II "more of a good thing".

Thursday, April 20, 2000

Gamelinks Gives Thief II 92% - 9:56:31 AM - James

Shane McAllen stole a link from Gamelinks, where Kenny has survived long enough to write a moderately long review of Thief II. A reviewer who doesn't even complain about the graphics much! Kenny's main complaint is the large installation footprint; and otherwise, he says the game is great "if you're looking for a game that'll actually make you do some thinking".

Wednesday, April 19, 2000

Electric Playground Reviews Thief II - 10:58:25 AM - James

Steve Tilley of Electric Playground has posted up a review of Thief II. No surprise, he likes the game, even though he calls it more of "a gigantic add-on pack" than a sequel. The "Good" and the "grief" sections are worth a chuckle, as they are amusingly written.

Tuesday, April 18, 2000

New version of Dromed!! - 10:45:05 PM - James

The ever-vigilant Shane McAllen has discovered that there is a patch, at LGS, to make Dromed work better with Thief II version 1.18. Do not use the dromed patch unless you have installed the version 1.18 Thief II patch! You can get the patch here and you can read about it here.

Thief II Nets 91% at Voodoo Extreme - 8:34:11 PM - James

Shane McAllen noticed that Manveer 'Eidolon' Heir, over at Voodoo Extreme, has produced yet another review of Thief II. Quite a few of them out there, eh? Seems the net review machine has rolled into high gear between the release of Thief I and II. Manveer awards it a 91% overall, including a 95% for sound and playability, noting that little has changed: "The original was just so damned good that changing too much would have changed what made Thief so cool."

Dromed Fix Available - 5:42:20 PM - Totality

LGS have just released a dromed update which is compatible with running through the main game program. In other words, if you want to release your mission to the public Thief 1 FM style, you need to get it, otherwise AIs will simply be frozen. You can also download the 'new' unstripped missions corresponding with version 1.18.

New Fan Mission - 'Hush... Hush, Sweet Harlot - 4:24:30 PM - Dan

Some of you may remember talk about a mission called "Hush...Hush, Sweet Harlot" a while back. Quietly the team behind his mission has been working, and now it's finally here. Low and behold, the first team-produced (or, the first with a team of this size) fan mission: Hush...Hush, Sweet Harlot   readme.txt  (9.1 Meg)  Released: 4-15-2K  German Version (6.7 Meg)  German Pack (2.8 Meg)  Complete Walkthrough By Ithel, KGoodsell, Jonquil, Kyloe, Ylenia, Thweepwood, & BiKi: A few yards outside the opera house where I'd been doing a job, I ran into an attractive seamstress on her way to join the opening night party inside. Her wry humor about being knocked to her feet caught my attention, and we parted on friendly terms. I saw her again last week and we talked for a long while. We decided to meet last night at my place. Her name is Chance. It turns out she's a professional of another sort--the oldest profession there is. Not your garden variety, mind you, but a courtesan. She's the mistress for a possessive merchant she wouldn't identify by name. When I woke up just after midnight, she was gone. Unfortunately, so was one of my lockpicks. Either she took it by mistake or she stole it. I hope the former, because I was beginning to like her. In any case, I need my tools back. While I don't know her exact address, I do know she lives in apartment #36 in one of the brothels in the Stew District. I'm not a paying customer, so I may have to find an alternate entrance. Although the authorities more or less "overlook" the indoor activities, a nightwatch patrols the streets to keep an eye on things, especially since the quarantine went into effect because of the syphilis outbreak. It's a big download, I know, but that's the price both sides must pay for custom NPCs with complete voice sets. Enjoy!

Sunday, April 16, 2000

Dromed 2 stumbling into difficulties. - 3:08:00 PM - Totality

Okay, Houston, we have a problem. There seems to be a slight difference in how dromed handles the ai path database, and how Thief 2 does. The result of which, is that we currently have yet to work out how to run a Thief 2 FM mission through Thief 2. If you try the guards currently remain in the T-position. Hopefully we will find a work around soon, more details here. If the worst comes to the worst thief 2 FMs will have to run through dromed. Also, we have discovered that dromed won't work in the year 2038, thanks to Gonchong for that one. On a more optimistic note, Arcsim has been trying to import all those creatures we lost in the transition from thief 1, I am not sure how foolproof the process is, but admire his work on importing creatures. EvilSpirit has once again come to our aid and divulged how to import textures from Thief 1 FMs to Thief 2, the procedure is slightly convulted, but it works. So you no longer have to retexture your level if you switch to thief 2.

Saturday, April 15, 2000

More Thief 2 Reviews - 12:14:38 PM - Dan

More and More Thief 2 Reviews. Either Thief 2 is getting reviews alot more often then Thief 1, or alot more review websites have popped up in the last year. Here are rhe scoops: Neo|Seeker's review of Thief 2 reads much like most, that is, with them being very impressed. The engrossing story focuses attention on your character, a very historically realistic person, unlike most of the non-human characters found in any other action title. That's a good way to look at it. They scored the game at 95%. In addition, there are two german reviews out, and in spite of the fact that I took two years of German with a B average, I can't read them. :) GBase (86) Games Web (8.5) Dark Project II: The Metal Age. Great title. :)

'The Keeper' - a Novel In Development by Kyle Mallinson - 10:36:58 AM - Dan

For the first time, perhaps just to prove that it can be done, a fanwork has departed the Library of Short Tales and gotten its own separate spotlight in The Circle's Fanworks section. The Keeper is a novel in development by Kyle "Keeper" Mallinson, and it features a Thief universe rather different from the common view, in that the author places The City firmly into this world, or, at least, a version of this world with a common history. The work is very well written and it comes highly recommended. Enjoy!

'A Secret Affair' - Fan Mission by Aisha - 1:09:27 AM - Dan

Aisha presents to you a new fan mission, titled "A Secret Affair". This is Aisha's very first fan mission, and it requires Thief Gold. Enjoy! A Secret Affair   readme.txt   (.6 Meg)   Released: 4-15-2K   Thief Gold Only   No Walkthrough By Aisha: My first mission. A small, basic, straightforward thiefing mission. I'm new to level editing, any feedback would be welcome. You were informed about the corrupt Lord Weston having a secret love affair with Lady Barron, whose husband recently died in suspicious circumstances. Most likely the couple had something to do with the death of Lord Barron, a loved and well-respected man. Lord Weston has given the Lady some very expensive jewelry, but she keeps them... (more)

Friday, April 14, 2000

Thief Loader 2 Is Being Worked On - 2:46:46 PM - Dan

The folks behind ThiefLoader 2 (that is, Thief Loader designed for Thief 2) is well underway, and will hopefully (hopefully) be released before any Thief 2 fan missions come out.

Thief 2 Fan Mission Promo Pack - 2:33:11 PM - Dan

Sean Adams (Redearth) has put together a small promo. package for his Thief 2 fan mission FISSURE. The pack includes a set of screenshots and an mp3 of some of the original music which has been made for this mission. Download it! (1.0 Megs)

Thief II in the Netherlands - 2:26:59 PM - James

Jan Meyroos wrote in to inform us the the Dutch are nuts about Thief II as well. Game Planet's review of Thief II awards it a 9 oin all categories, and concludes, "Meer stealth, meer sneaken, grotere levels en veel meer goud om te stelen. Heerlijk.", which I think means something like, "More stealth, more sneaking, bigger levels, and more good old stealing. Terrific!" Dutch is the closest language to English, according to linguists [assuming you don't consider Glaswegian or Yorkshire as separate languanges. 8) ] Powerweb, a site for the Dutch version of the magazine Power Unlimited, shows that Garrett is on the cover, showing off his legs, skirt, and a rope (grappling hook??)

Thief 2 is the Number 1 Game at PCGR - 2:13:38 PM - Dan

PC Game Review allows anyone to come in and review a game, and Thief 2 is no exception. What is an exception about Thief 2, however, is that it is currently the #1 game on their list, meaning that its average score is higher then any other game at the site.

Dromed 2 Combo Lock Tutorial - 1:46:52 PM - Dan

Everyone's favorite ghastly apparition, Banshee, has written a short tutorial on how to make those really nifty combination locks as seen in Thief 2's second mission. He's looking for some feedback on it, so if you know the answer to the question he poses in the tutorial, get in touch with the taffer.

Semi-Complete List of Dromed Commands & Their Descriptions - 1:04:11 PM - Dan

It should be fairly common knowledge that Dromed allows you to dump a list of all commands into a text file. It is not common knowledge, however, what all of these commands do. Finally for the first time that I know of, and certainly on this site, we have a nearly complete listing of what each command does, and a brief comment on how to use it. This massive document may be found here, as a webpage, or downloaded here, as a rich text format document. A tremendous thanks goes to Zail for putting this thing together, who would also like to thank all the taffers in the TEG forum for all of their wisdom. Bravo! Currently this guide only lists commands for Thief 1's Dromed. Zail is hard at work updating this document to support the new and changed features of Dromed 2.

Guard With Lamp Demo Mission, by Blutch - 12:40:14 PM - Dan

This has undoubtedly been discussed before, but It hasn't been presented as a demo mission until now, and certainly not for Thief 2. Blutch has made a demo mission featuring a guard with a hand-held lamp. An added bonus is that you can extinguish the lamp with a water arrow. The package is around 30 K, and is, again, for Thief 2 only. If you don't want the demo, only the tutorial, you may view it separately.

Thief II Spun by Game Revolution - 10:32:01 AM - James

Game Revolution's Colin took Thief II for a spin, and found Thief II to be "one of the most engrossing first-person experiences I've ever encountered". It gets an A- in a very positive review that introduces the Thief idea, then raves about sound, level design, and gameplay.

CheckOut checks out Thief II - 10:26:19 AM - James

I noticed that Chris Jensen, at CheckOut, has seen fit to review Thief II, awarding it a 9/10 overall. "When the original Thief was released back in 1998, I thought I had died and gone to heaven. [...] , Thief II: The Metal Age successfully builds on the success of the original and delivers the most atmospheric and paranoid sensation since Half-Life." He meant "System Shock 2", there, not Half-Life, I'm sure. The review is very positive, as comments such as "I am hopelessly addicted to this game" attest!

New Thief Site - 10:13:27 AM - James

If you speak German, head over and take a look at Matthias Bayer's Dark Project II Deutschland site. Not a lot there yet, but it should fill out with time.

Firing Squad Reviews Thief II - 10:08:08 AM - James

Firing Squad's Jakub "WarSpite" Wojnarowicz has posted up a long, in-depth review of Thief II. This is a positive review overall, despite the 83%, from the heart of QuakeLand. Despite a slight distaste for the graphics, and for the size of the patch, he notes that overall, 'We are rather satisfied with LG's "don't mess with success" plan.' There are a few potential spoilers in the screenshots, though.

Thursday, April 13, 2000

No Solution to the Dromed 2 Light Problem - 4:07:30 PM - Dan

This is a rather important post made by Catalyst, reguarding Dromed 2. "The weird lighting we are seeing in the 3d window of the editor is a product of broken lighting modes (quick, raycast, objcast). The only lighting mode that works correctly in Edit mode is light_bright. However, Quick, Raycast, and Objcast (as well as light_bright) DO work correctly in Game mode. Whatever it's causes, the main point is that it cannot be fixed." This is not a direct quote from Emil, but he agrees with it's validity. I admit I am a little disapointed to hear this, but if the LGS team can work around it so can we. Sadly this should put to rest the hunt for a solution to this irritating problem. It won't be much a problem for me, since I usually keep light_bright on when editing anyway.

Wednesday, April 12, 2000

GamePower Gives Thief II 3.5/4 - 10:25:56 AM - James

GamePower has up a Review of Thief II as well, calling it "a gaming experience like no other". The only downsides listed are the need for a lot of patience and skill, and that some of the levels are a tad confusing! Someone looked at gameplay instead of graphics... my day is made. 8)

Thief II at Eurogamer - 10:11:20 AM - James

Writing for Eurogamer, John 'Gestalt' Bye has up a Review of Thief II, awarding it a 9/10 overall, complaints of graphics being done in by praise of everything else: "Thief II had some mighty big boots to fill, and the good news is that apart from a few minor flaws it seems to have largely succeeded".

Thief I and II Design Credits - 10:03:34 AM - James

For all of you who wanted them on the web: Rich Carlson, one of the designers for Thief II, sent us a link to The Thief Design Credits Page!

Tuesday, April 11, 2000

Thief II Makes Puppies Happy - 2:57:23 PM - James

Happy Puppy's Andrew Bub has reviewed Thief II. This is a very positive review, pulling in a 9 overall and concluding: "Thief 2 is essentially just an enhancement to the first game, but it's the perfect enhancement; it's an example of an inspired product reaching its full potential. Thief 2 is a transcendent gaming experience, a thinking person's shooter, and a steal at any price." The only major complaint is that the story isn't up to the standards of the first game's.

Monday, April 10, 2000

Ranstall Keep Reviewed - 4 Silver Hammers - 8:47:05 PM - Dan

We've got a review of the fan mission Ranstall Keep, by Alex Thomson. The review is by Marecki. •  Pros: Great atmosphere enhanced by the lack of colour, great-looking AI skins. •  Cons: Plain architecture, small bug in AI programming, high poly count at times. •  Bottom Line: A great piece of horror story which almost feels like old movies of this kind. Of course it's not as good as RTC, but pretty damn close. Overall the mission was awarded 4 silver hammers - a very good indeed! Congrats, Jyre! Read the Full Review.

How We Rate - A Description of the Hammer Rating Scale - 6:43:07 PM - Dan

I really should have done this long ago, but it just occurred to me, so I just did it. I created a page with a quick summery of the Hammer rating scale for the fan missions, revealing that yes indeed it is a ten point scale. Hopefully this should kill some of the impending confusion as newb- err, beginner Thief 2 editors submit their missions for review. :)

Thief 2 Climbs the Charts! - 2:25:12 PM - Dan

The GameDaily Top 20 Best Selling PC Games List is once again graced by Thief 2, now in slot #8. Awards and high scores are always nice - but top sales are even nicer.

The Docks Link Fixed - 2:00:18 PM - Dan

The other day when I posted about the updated version of The Docks I goofed. It's all fixed now, though. Feel free to download it. :)

Thief 2 International Patches Are On Their Way - 1:57:57 PM - Dan

I just receaved word that the international versions of the Thief 2 patch are indeed in the works. The German patch shall be coming out any day now. See? No worries.

Thief II Reviewed at Action Trip - 10:02:45 AM - James

Action Trip has seen fit to join the hordes reviewing Thief II. This is yet another generally positive review - "a good sequel to a great game", garnering it an 87% overall. The reviewer didn't like the robots, and included the usual complaints about the graphics. However, at this review site you can also rate the game yourself!

Friday, April 07, 2000

Thief 2 Patch is Released - It's a Big One! - 3:07:01 PM - Dan

Thief 2's patch is already out! I bet you didn't even know there was going to be one. The patch is quite a patch, actually, with piles of fixes and additions. Here's an except from the readme: Since shipping Thief II, we and you (the players) have found some problems that deserve fixing. Once we decided to spend the time on making this patch it opened the gates, and being the perfectionists that we are, we couldn’t resist the opportunity to embellish our baby a little more, sneak in a few more puzzles, and fix a few pet peeves. Below is a list of the things we have fixed or changed. We have left some things a little vague so as not to give away any secrets. While we know that the game we shipped will be very enjoyable to play as it is, installing this patch will be sure to add to your gaming pleasure. - The Thief 2 team Note: This patch will reset any save game to the beginning of the mission that the save was made in. If you have a minimum install the patch will automatically copy additional files necessary for a normal install. This will increase the size of the Thief 2 directory on your hard drive by about 200 megs. This patch will only work on version 1.07 of Thief 2. Thief 2's version number is displayed in the autoplay panel below the quit button. You can call up the autoplay panel by placing the Thief 2 CD in your drive and waiting a few moments for the autoplay panel to load, or by running the program "panel.exe" found on the Thief 2 play CD. Amazing, simply amazing. You can find a complete list of what the patch adds/fixes here. Beware spoilers!

Thursday, April 06, 2000

Dark Camelot - 11:32:42 PM - Dan

I found this interesting only because Thief was at one time known as "Dark Camelot". It seems as though s design team is taking on the task of making the game that Thief might have been. Take a look at this preview of The Dark Age of Camelot.

Interview with Dorian Hart - A Must Read - 5:54:53 PM - Dan

Honestly, this is the best interview I've read in ages. I wish I had done it. NextGame.it has interviewed long-time LGS developer Dorian Hart. The interview covers every game Dorian worked on, from Ultima Underworld 2 to Thief 2. Here's a bit that should catch some people's attention. Nextgame.it: Thief can be considered the most innovative first person perspective game since the two Ultima Underworlds. You defined it as a "3D Sneaker", and it is nearly perfect. However, it still lacks of active interaction of other characters. Have you ever thought to make another title with the same complexity of Ultima Underworld, to create again a real RPG or at least a game that features a credible digital world? In clearer words: will you ever make Ultima Underworld III? What are the pros and the cons against the development of such a sequel? Dorian Hart: I've thought about it, yes, and I'd personally be psyched to make an Underworld III, but I can't speculate on LG's plans, or lack thereof, for something like it. Suffice to say, the pros would be that it would be tremendous fun to make, and RPG-players would love it if it were done well. The obvious con is that it would take a lot of development mojo (read: dollars) to make it good. Nextgame.it: In any case, Let's use our fantasy. If you would be told to realise Ultima Underworld III, how would you make it? What should be its main features? Dorian Hart: Well, you can probably derive my answer to this from my previous comments about RPG's. It would have a fantastic, compelling story, and you'd constantly see the results of your actions reflected back at you during gameplay. And all the NPC's would start out dead. Er, just kidding. The main focus of the interview is the computer gameing scene in general. He also talks quite a bit about the System Shock games, the Thief series, and touches briefly on Terra Nova. Once gain, our highly resourceful contact Shane caught this link.

Wednesday, April 05, 2000

Thief 2 Makes #10 slot in PC Best Selling List - 11:15:57 PM - Dan

Five stars here, five stars there, pretty soon it all starts to get run of the mill, doesn't it? Well here's something new - and very good. According to PC Data (the guys who know these things), Thief 2 did quite well in sales this week, especially for a game that wasn't out the entire week. See for yourself. Number 10 is not that bad at all.

Taffer's Post - 5:22:24 PM - Dan

Well I notice that Netscape 6 has been released. What ever happened to Netscape 5? Beats me. So I take a look at it, and notice that it is like an alpha or something. Still curious, I downloaded it and installed it. I must admit that I am thus far impressed. The new look/feel is rather fresh, and though I don't believe I found any way to access the controls for it, I hear it is skinable. Naturally I tested it on my sites, and noticed an interested effect. The site actually loads properly. The spacing is messed up in some places, but that's nothing you wouldn't see in Netscape 4.x. What got me is that rather then an ad banner, I got a line of script code in its place. Oops. Oh yes, and it kinda feels slow and unstable, but NS always felt slow unstable for me. (Notice I do not provide a download link - this is because I do not endorse it. :) Also worth note is that I may finally begin work on www.Digital-Nightfall.com! Notice that I did not make that link clickable - because it doesn't exist yet! Maybe someday soon I'll work on it. I'm not yet sure what I'll use it for - probably to unclog TTLG of all the personal junk I've been uploading there. :) Oh, yes, I almost forgot. It's done! www.Thief-TheCircle.com has been registered!

Tuesday, April 04, 2000

Gonchong Re-Releases 'The Docks' and 'Shunned' - 9:42:25 PM - Nightfall

Good news, Gonchong fans. The famed fence has re-issued two of his classic missions, The Docks and Shunned. These missions now feature true briefings (avi) and full EAX settings for your enjoyment. If you've never tried your hand at these classic missions, now's the time to check them out.

Wacky Demo Mission From Gonchong - Drunk - 6:44:50 PM - Nightfall

The notorious taffer Gonchong has released a small demonstration mission, called Drunk. This demo is... odd, to say the least. I may steal some of this wacky stuff and use it in Carroll. Here's the info: Drunk!   readme.txt   (474 K)   Use ThiefLoader By James D. Roberts aka Gonchong: You have drunkenly hopped the wall of the Old Quarter in search of some holy sword type thing. Really a demo mission of leftovers and other bits. Features a vehicle of sorts, unused models, a Church from CotT, a working clock and the Thief II clockwork eye/frog bomb combo...

A Custom Sky Texture Tutorial from Zail - 6:27:03 PM - Nightfall

The freelance agent Zail has written a short tutorial instructing Dromeders on how to create a custom sky texture for their missions. The guide is quite well writen as well! Check it out.

Mokkis - Architect Extraordinaire - 5:37:33 PM - Nightfall

Many of you may know that my friend and colleague Mokkis has created a pair of structures as part of his studies. His instructor was very impressed, and as was I - so much in fact that I requested he modify them (make them T:DP compatable) so that I may put them on display in The Circle. And here it is: Athene Thief   readme.txt   (1.2 Meg)   Use ThiefLoader By Markus "Mokkis" Lappalainen: Athene Thief is a demo mission, what contains two demo levels showing a Athene temples' and Roman Houses' architecture. Actually it was made for part of my history essay on spring 2000. Important to know: At first I made these demo levels for Thief Gold. I got little problems with compatiblicity with Thief(1). Added txtures from TG doesn't work well in game mode. Problem is thatyou can't see the new textures until you get enough near of it! Strange bug.... :-/

Taffer's Post - 4:46:10 PM - Dan

It seems as though everyone on the forum is all go for the idea to pull it all in, as it were, and make one central Thief site. This is a good thing for me, for I am in no mood to create a Thief 3 only site any time soon, and managing two Thief sites at the moment has gotten rather jugglish. The poll on this site isn't nearly so one sided, though, seeing as about a quarter of the people would rather have two bookmarks rather then one. I suppose they may be concerned with spoilers, but I don't know why. Have I ever posted Thief 2 spoilers in T2-ma.com? As I recall I often censored 'newsflash' worthy info because it contained spoilers. When the change is made, several things will change, and others will stay the same. The Circle of Stone and Shadow is here to stay, and will undoubtedly go into it's 3rd renovation. I wasn't truly happy with the atmosphere of this one anyway. Thief 1 & 2 content will be combined and kept separate where appropriate. I don't really see that as being much of a problem. Thief 3 content, however, may prove to lend itself to a bit of a problem, since the configuration of a website in "spy" mode and one in "community" mode are rather different. At any rate, I'll figure it out. I've gotten quite a few emails regarding my fan mission exploits, since I did tell everyone that I was putting them on hold until Guys & Dolls was done. Here's the scoop: The campaign, 'The Circle of Stone and Shadow' is back underway, barely. Most of us want to finish Thief 2 before we start working with the Thief 2 editor (spoiler concerns) so only one of us is back to work. It'll get done someday - it had better. Sadly I am going to have to re-do all of the skin I did. I did over 20 new skins, half of which were pretty much from scratch. I'm not sure what I'll be doing with all of these Thief 2 skins now. I don't want to release them, because they are representing actual individuals in this campaign, and aren't the type of thing I want to release for general usage. Oh, and there is also the little matter of spoilers. I hate those. I suppose I'll figure it out as I go along. I also must not forget about Carroll, the little thing I started work on. Well, I'm no sure when I'll get back to work on it, but hopefully I will. A whole lot of 'hopefullys' on this end, eh? In other news of relevance, I recently bought the CD 'The Contender' by the band 'Royal Crown Revue', featuring 'Zip Gun Bop'. Gads, this is great music. If you are into swing or jazz you may do yourself a service to try and listen to some of it. Oh yes, and my brother is trying to set up a LAN Internet server, which at the moment is making life very difficult for me, since I keep dropping off-line every five minutes. (!!!)

Saturday, April 01, 2000

Dromed 2 Colored Lighting Guide - 8:00:11 PM - Dan

Brendan Setaro (Hamish) was kind enough to send in his Colored Lighting Guide to be included in the Dromed guides archive. This new feature works -only- with Dromed 2 and Thief 2. Thanks, Brendan!

A Sequal for the First Fan Mission Ever! - 7:10:39 PM - Dan

Were you there when Dromed was first released? If you were then hopefully you remember Guardhouse, by Banshee, the smallest and most unplayable fan mission in our unrated archive. *grins* Well it seems that Banshee, who then went on to create the very popular Lord Edmund Entertains and The Vigil has created a sequel to his most humble beginnings. Guardhouse 2   readme.txt   (3.1 Meg)   Released: 4-1-2K   No Walkthrough By Jussi "Banshee" Lehtinen: It's amazing what too much ale can do to you. Last night, I overheard old man Morgan talking to Niblick Ten-Tooth, one of his fences. Apparently one of Niblick's couriers was nicked while carrying a valuable porcelain vase, and both the vase and the man were taken to the city guardhouse at Crosswell Gate. While arguing about who was going to cover the loss, Niblick suddenly pointed at me and said: 'Well, why won't we have your lad Trimble get it back for us?'. I think I could have wriggled my way out of it had I been in my senses. Instead, I gave my word... a bad thing, since old Morgan has been known to kneecap people who welch on him. Now I have no choice. At least Niblick could get me good maps of the place, but to make matters worse, my toolkit is still at the pawn, and I'm not sure how much stuff I can afford to reclaim...

Intro Movie for Ranstall Keep - 6:30:37 PM - Dan

I had previously, in error, forgotten to post up the link to the intro movie for the fan mission "Ranstall Keep". I have amended this omission, and present this movie to you now. It's a little over 6 megs.

The Schema Files - 5:29:11 PM - Dan

Previously the schema files have only been accessible to Thief Gold Dromeders. It can't possibly hurt to let everyone else have them, can it? The TEG Tools section has been updated with a zip of the schema files. Note that the 'missing' schema files are in a separate download.

'Lady Whitman's Disease' - A New Fan Mission by Robin - 5:21:34 PM - Dan

It looks like the release of Thief 2 has not slowed down the fan mission scene at all. I have a large batch of new fan missions on their way. At the head of the bunch is the fan mission 'Lady Whitman's Disease' maybe by one known only as Robin. Lady Whitman's Disease   readme.txt   (2.4 Meg)   Released: 4-1-2K   No Walkthrough By Robin: That man was suffering such desperation that I finally decided help him. Apparently his wife had been kidnaped by Sir Terence´s men and now he has constrained to sell his lands by a ridiculous price. If it would not be enough, Lady Whitman, since that was the name of the lady, was afflicted by a rare disease and if she does not was taking her medication soon would die without solution. Due to the threats, Lord Whitman had discarded from the beginning the possibility of attending the authorities, therefore distress and urgency had obligated him, according he said me, to appeal a thief like me. Sir Terence´s gardener, man who Lord Whitman was relying, would be the only one help I would have to break into the building. Whitman indicated me his address and gave me the key of his house where he said I would find more instructions for the quest.

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