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| Sunday, May 30, 2004 |
 FM Author Spotlight - 7:48:33 PM - Dan |
Jump right on over to the thread in the FM forum for all the gorey details, especially how -you- can be interviewed about the FMs you've made.
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| Saturday, May 29, 2004 |
| They're Still With Us - 3:23:44 PM - Dan |
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Forumgoers (and everyone else too) will be happy to know that community members and Thief 3 developers Sledge, Null, and Faceless have not been let go as of this time. Let's pray that this doesn't change. Furthermore, the "PS2 only" rumor was totally bogus. Don't believe everything you read online.
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| Friday, May 28, 2004 |
| More info on ION Changes - 10:19:32 PM - Dan |
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I saw a sad post on RPGDot with comments from one of the people at the studio who was laid off. It turns out that the studio was trimmed down to go from a two project company to a one project company. A second post states a rumor that they would be working on PS2 games.
I suppose we'll have to wait and see what this means for the future of the Thief series, if there will be one, and who would make it if there was one. Eidos seems dedicated to the property so far, so I think the greatest fear is not that the series won't go on, but that it will be given to a bunch of no talent hacks. As for the T3 editor, that was and still is in the hands of eidos, and I'd imagine that there are still people at ION Storm who would be able to get the editor ready for release if we manage the daunting task of persuading eidos to put that on the to-do list. In the mean time, however, enjoy Deadly Shadows. That's the best advice I can give.
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| Thief 3 Demo posted - 2:04:50 PM - GBM |
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As of this posting, the official demo for Thief: Deadly Shadows is available online.
Beware: It is very large (450M) and the Eidos-hosted file can be difficult to connect to... and it's a fairly slow transfer, from what I've noticed. Ideally, people will start BitTorrents and mirrors and such to increase availability. For now, the official download can be had from Eidos, and we are collecting and updating alternate download locations as we become aware of them in our Discussion Forums |
| Changes at ION - 12:50:00 PM - GBM |
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Developer Ion Storm seems to be "in transition"
According to TTLG sources the Austin-based studio has just seen the layoff of 20-25 people. Warren Spector has also left the company, and the rumour is that the studio's name will change.
[Edit by Dan] - I would not consider this news 'confirmed' by Shacknews or anywhere else you see it - it is simply different appearances of the same rumor as it spreads through the web. Also, 25 people leaving a company after a game is complete, especially a company of 80 employees, is not alarming news; in fact it is perfectly normal. Warren's leaving of ISA and the possible name change, however, will be two things we shall be keeping a close eye on.
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| eToychest T3 Review: 80% - 3:59:17 AM - Elenkis |
Another short Thief 3 review, this time from eToychest who have given it an 80%. Here's your regular snippet:
Overall I enjoyed my time with Thief: Deadly Shadows. It is a respectable follow-up to the series that introduced so many people to the world of stealth game play. It is not without its troubles, but these bumps along the way are minor when evaluating the entire undertaking. Fans of the series, most of whom have placed the previous two games on an almost unreachable pedestal, will not be disappointed with Deadly Shadows. Likewise, players who find themselves drawn to any game with elements of stealth have a lot to appreciate here. Lastly, variable difficulties that can be adjusted for each mission ensure that this latest Thief game will remain accessible to an assortment of skill levels. This is not going to leave players breathless or have critics singing praises of innovation, but Thief: Deadly Shadows does the franchise proud by delivering a solid, worthwhile, and memorable game experience.The same site also has a seperate review of the Xbox version. This review is word-for-word identical to the PC one except it gets it a 75% score... |
| GamePro T3 Review: 100% - 3:50:48 AM - Elenkis |
GamePro have put up a very short Thief 3 review and given the game a perfect 5 out of 5 score. Not much else that can be said about it really, so here's a snippet:
The real star of this show is the A.I. of the characters you run into as you play. Ion Storm spent as much energy tweaking the physics in Invisible War as it spent time on the A.I. in Thief. Civilians who spot you might run to fetch a guard, and they’ll have a conversation about you as they search. Civilians show the proper amount of fear for people encountering an invisible enemy that could shank them in an instant. Guards who hear something will draw their swords and start searching, saying things like, “Maybe he’s behind that crate,” and “C’mon out so I can fight you, coward.” These things are completely unscripted, but it’s eerie how well they work out to give you a real feeling of being stalked in a living, breathing medieval city. |
| Thief: Deadly Shadows -- Demo News - 12:24:31 AM - GBM |
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Well, looks like non-NorthAmericans aren't SOL until June after all. The demo for Thief: Deadly Shadows is -- barring horrific disaster -- going to be made available sometime on the 28th of May. Depending on what time I post this -- ah, okay... That would be today, then. Technically. RedLegg over at Eidos says it will likely be up sometime before lunchtime in California (PST), will consist of the training level and the first mission, and will weigh approximately 450M. When it is available, we will provide linkage info. Hopefully mirrors will abound... otherwise we'll just have to kill time at Planet WaitingLine or something. If anyone is able or willing, start thinking about BitTorrent and other sharing solutions now. Official Demo. 450M. Training Level & First Mission. May 28th. |
| Thursday, May 27, 2004 |
| Some Brief Tech Help - 7:22:58 PM - Dan |
A a word of warning in the tech help area:
I tidbit you may want to post a note on: the game's installer if asked to check drivers, and you have a Radeon 9800XT will complain that the drivers are outdated, and advice newer ones. It turns out that the latest Catalyst drivers are totally broken. Please advise taffers to NOT update ATI drivers if asked, that way lies pain - lots of pain.Thanks, Dennis. Also, in related news, many people are having trouble with the installation failing when windows claims that the wrong volume is in the drive, and asks for you to put CD1 back in. This is not the installer talking, this is simply windows explorer acting like the ass bastard that it is. If you can ignore the error message and complete installation, do so. If not, there are two solutions to this. One is to restart your installation process, and when it asks for Disc 2, go through My Computer and eject the disc from there. I've heard of reports of success from this method. Another, more fool proof method is easy to do if you have two drives. Rather than swapping the discs out, put disc 2 into your other drive, and specify that drive letter when it's asking you for disc 2. Swapping disc 2 for 3 does not seem to bring up the error. Unfortunately, for me, that did not even work. I had to go back to the store and exchange the game for a new copy, which I was then finally able to install perfectly on the first try. So, if the above two methods fail, you may simply have a bad CD. Also, a Tweaking Thief 3 thread has already popped up, and while I have not read the whole thing, this bit of info is very, very useful: Contributed by MentalepsyNaturally, use all tweaks at your own risk. |
| Wednesday, May 26, 2004 |
| ActionTrip T3 Review: 84% - 11:51:39 PM - Elenkis |
ActionTrip have posted a three page Thief 3 review and given the game a score of 84%. Pros include good writing, atmosphere, level design and sound while the cons consist of some AI problems, normal difficulty being too easy and the stiff character animations. Here's a snippet of the closing comments:
Even though Thief: Deadly Shadow lacks more polish in certain areas, and especially in the AI department, the fact remains that this is one very enjoyable and immersive PC game with plenty to offer to the fans of the series. The background story is great, the fantasy world is rich and enthralling, and the ability to explore the open-ended environment during intense and fun missions will certainly have you playing this one till you've finished it. Again, the third-person view is a non-issue and if you crank up the difficulty level to hard and endure some silly AI issues, I'm sure you'll have a blast playing this game. But…buy it - don't steal it. Garrett may be a master thief, but you're not. |
| Got the Game - 12:44:28 PM - Dan |
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I just got back from EB where I purchased the game. I am happy to say that the cgi-rendered Garrett with the white background is not the PC box, but one of two Xbox boxes. The other Xbox box is the same as the PC box. The PC box is the blue cityscape with Garrett's silhouette.
This may be the most times I've said box in a single news post. :)
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| 1UP T3 Review: 85% - 3:42:57 AM - Elenkis |
1UP also have their Thief 3 review up. This one is about as brief as the GamesDomain one and they have given the game an 8.5 score.
It's safe to say, then, that this Thief will not betray fans of the original PC series the way Invisible War did last fall. This doesn't mean, though, that it's a perfect experience. Like the previous two games, the graphics are a mixed bag -- large, atmospheric levels are populated by simple-looking characters that animate jerkily. The controls have been streamlined for the PC version, which is a great help for veterans, but Garrett turns around a bit slowly by default. Like Invisible War, though, the Xbox version has performance problems -- although Ion Storm's brilliant shadowing and physics systems are intact, you can expect framerate drop in complicated areas, as well as very long loading times between sections. (This loading issue is a particular hassle in the city streets, because the item shop and the fence where you sell stolen items are located on opposite sides of the metropolis. Argh.)Oh yeah, and the game is released TODAY! |
| IGN T3 Review: 86% - 3:22:54 AM - Elenkis |
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IGN have posted their three page Thief 3 review and given the game a score of 8.6 out of 10 in addition to their "Editors' Choice" award.
The closing comments: A stellar and mood-defining sound environment, excellent voice work, gorgeous lighting, and a slow-to-build but page-turning story fuel Deadly Shadows to great effect, and it's also fairly long and involved, although there is no multiplayer or modding tools to extend the life of the product. And I know multiplayer could work, as a Thief-styled Unreal 2003 mod proved, where one side was the thieves and the others played the guards, like the MP in Pandora Tomorrow. However, concessions will be made to both get the game out the door in polished form, and to do so for the PC and Xbox. Ion definitely seems to have learned from the issues it encountered in Invisible War and added a highly respectable addition to the Thief series that, while not boldly innovating, holds the franchise bar at least as high. If the environments had been bigger, the thieving missions gradually more complex and challenging, and the story a little quicker to get moving, I'd have little to really complain about. As long as someone can craft a place like Shalebridge Cradle, I'm pretty much a happy camper. |
| Tuesday, May 25, 2004 |
| Gamespot T3 Review: 83% - 7:12:56 PM - Dan |
Gamespot's Thief 3 review has been posted. How fair is it that these jokers get to finish the game before the fans even get it in their hands? Anyway... The score is 8.3, which for future tabulation purposes we interpret as a 83%
As with Ion Storm's previous game, Deus Ex: Invisible War, this one opens itself up to a lot of criticism for being highly ambitious and attempting to be extremely believable. Deadly Shadows takes itself seriously, which is why some of the graphical and gameplay issues can seem laughable or simply disappointing, whereas the same types of things may be easily dismissed in the context of some other games. Unlike those other games, this new Thief bears the burden of being the long-anticipated sequel to a beloved series. It's possibly a self-defeating pursuit to try to recapture the creativity and innovation of the original Thief: The Dark Project by making a sequel to it. Be that as it may, the results of the effort that went into Deadly Shadows are admirable and respectable, for the most part, and they're ultimately well worth experiencing by Thief fans or by those who are sick of or those who may just be jealous of hearing about Thief fans. After all, the game could very well make one out of you. |
| Winners of the T3 Caption Contest - 5:20:00 PM - Dan |
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ION Storm has announced the winners of the Thief 3 screenshot caption contest. Congratulations! Expect a message from me via the forums (PM) explaining where to send your shipping address, so the prizes can be sent.
Raven - Screen 1 - Stunning stealthy armour: 500gp One deadly bow: 300gp Taking a left instead of a right: Priceless Saracoth - Screen 2 - Winner by default of the third annual Run Up Stairs With Deadly Sharp Objects competition. dudeus55 - Screen 3 - Next on Trading Spaces... CrashT - Screen 4 - In his most successful job yet, Garrett stole the entire City. Sneaksie Thiefsie - Screen 4 - The City's first lighthouse was a strictly amateur affair. selkie - Screen 5 - Fearful of the contempt of his family and coworkers, Arthur was forced to indulge his pirate fetish in tragic solitude.
Thanks again to the 140 or so people who contributed to this contest. If you missed out, don't worry, our next (and hopefully not final) contest will be starting on May 31st.
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| GamesDomain T3 Review: 80% - 11:48:26 AM - Elenkis |
Games Domain are the latest site to review Thief: Deadly Shadows. The one page review doesn't contain much in the way of depth and covers both the PC and Xbox versions, giving the game a final score of 8 out of 10. The pros include the atmosphere, plot and well balanced difficulty with the cons being performance in the Xbox version along with mid-mission loads and supposedly disappointing visuals. Here's a snippet:
Fighting guards toe-to-toe is generally a bad idea, because although Garrett can handle one, the noise tends to alert more. It's also unnecessary under most circumstances because one quick (and quiet) blackjack whack to the back of the head knocks them out. This is not a combat heavy game. |
| Official Word on Thief 3 in Europe - 11:28:14 AM - Dan |
I just now got this reply from Warren Spector to my questions on the topic:
UK/Europe:Also, the difference between the US & Europe versions of PC/Xox are the same: Xbox default to 3rd person, PC default to 1st person. Higher res textures in PC version, as well as support for higher overall resolutions. PC supports mouse and keyboard but doesn't have Xbox-style rumble on lockpicking.
He also offered to find out about the Asian and Australian release of the game. Thanks, Warren!
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| Monday, May 24, 2004 |
| Warren Spector Interview Part 2 - 9:06:56 PM - Dan |
The RPG Vault has posted the conclusion to their Warren Spector Interview, which turns out to be just as entertaining as the first. (That's a disclaimer as well as an endorsement ;) Warren Says,
Man, was I dead set against third-person. Personally, I've always been a first-person guy. And I could hear the screams of anguish from the Thief fan community at the merest mention of third-person. But the decision became trivially simple when some team members started with our first-person "body awareness" system, hacked in a third-person mode by simply repositioning the camera, and then forced me to sit down and play it. Even in its earliest, most hacked form, third-person was intensely cool.Options tend to be a good thing. |
| Caption Contest Finalists - 6:34:17 PM - Dan |
I'm happy to announce the finalists for the Thief 3 screenshot caption contest. These names have been sent to ION Storm along with their entries for final judging. Six winners will be selected from this group shortly. They are, order by alpha;
Blue DragonBut wait, I thought that there would be twelve finalists?! Well, as it turned out, two of these people actually have two chances of winning, as they entered the finalists circle with not one, but two great caption entries. Good luck! |
| Three Thief: DS Reviews: 80%, 60%, 89% - 6:18:15 PM - Dan |
Gamespy kicks off the reviewing game with a favorable though whiney three page review of the game, alternating between paragraphs like this,
Let's start with the game's graphics. Anybody who played a previous Thief can tell you that these have never been the best-looking games in the world. Deadly Shadows upholds that tradition with what is doubtlessly one of the ugliest games in recent memory. The Deus Ex: Invisible War technology that this game was built on was justifiably criticized for the squat, blocky nature of its graphic engine, along with its muddy lighting and annoying bloom effects that just made ugly graphics blurry. Thankfully, Deadly Shadows dispenses with the "bloom" and just lets the graphics stand on their own -- but even that doesn't help in the endAnd this... Enemy A.I. is much improved, as well. The first time I played the game on the easiest level, the guards were about as smart and predictable as they ever were in previous games. Crank up the difficulty, though, and your enemies gain the equivalent of spider senses, able to hear the slightest noises, relentlessly tracking down anomalies like missing items or blood, and in general creating very credible challenges for the Master Thief. I knew I was in trouble the moment I accidentally moved a chair half an inch and a guard in the next room rushed in to check on the noise. Players who can beat the game at its highest levels of difficulty might want to consider applying for a job with the CIA -- or Batman.All in all, it's a thoughtful and slightly indepth review, and the writer's hangup on the game's apparently bad graphics is amusing. The final score is four out of five stars, which I like to interprerate as being 80%. Gamespy also has a seperate review of the game for the Xbox version, written by a differant reviewer. This is that 60% (three out of five stars) review that probably had your eyes twitching when you saw about it in the news headline. I found Thief: Deadly Shadows more fun than not, but the repetitive nature and framerate problems dampened my enjoyment. I couldn't help feeling that it was a PC game slapped on a console. The pokey turning rate, long load times and saving/loading blues would be mostly or fully solved on the series' native platform. The Xbox version of Thief: Deadly Shadows is a decent console port of what I understand to be a somewhat better-executed PC game. That said, it's worth a play if you like stealth gameplay and don't mind playing the second-best version.Ironicly, what's presented as bad news sounds more like good news to us, but to each their own. The review is rather vauge, though an interesting indication of how the game could be receaved by a console playing newbie to the series. The next review is a dead tree edition, so there's no link I can provide. A summary of the article which appears in the June issue of "The Games Machine," an Italian PC gaming mag, was provided by Count Giacula. Feel free to add in a mental [sic] where needed. I've the magazine in my hand now and the game has scored the final vote of 89/100 (the same given to Splinter Cell), basically described as a worthy continuation of the Thief saga.Thanks again G. Yes, that's what he told me to call him, honest! :) |
| Sunday, May 23, 2004 |
| Design Journals and Screenshots - 10:18:32 AM - Dan |
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Faceless's portfollio has been updated with over fourty new highres Thief 3 screenshots. While I'd love to recommend everyone goes to see it, I'm going to have to slap a bit of a spoiler warning on this link. That said, all of these are really nice looking. The thumbs below are safe. :)
Additionally, Faceless's design journal (journal number 3) has been posted to gamespot, and features his eloquent dissertation on level design and all that yo, G. Again, moderate spoilers warnings on this one... in fact I had to stop reading halfway through the first page. Erk! Lastly, things need to be believable. You want to feel like you are breaking into Lord Shoelace's Manor to rob the last of his inheritance, not collecting ammo in an abstract Quake 2 map. Things need to be scaled and decorated accordingly. Sometimes the shape of a room will define how well that area plays. It should be noted that real-world architecture, if chosen and executed correctly, can make surprisingly fun-to-play levels. Sometimes, however, you have to make a tradeoff for the sake of gameplay tuning. I think a great level does a little of both.In spite of the spoilers, it's a very good read. Also a very good read is the next design journal, (#4) by Heather Kelley. In it she discusses something most previews so far have stayed away from, the idea of Garrett's allegiance. Garrett is our anti-hero, the ideal person through whom to explore and manipulate the city, precisely because he operates outside of the factions, but with an insider's access to the secrets of both. As an independent agent, you have your choice of sides to take. Will you help the Hammers bring glory to the Master Builder, or sow the seeds of Pagan destruction for the Trickster? Or perhaps do your share of both, maintaining an uneasy and ever-shifting balance, like the Keepers who raised you? The choices you make will determine how the city's inhabitants react to your presence, and ultimately shape your experience and powers as a thief.Is it possible that Thief 3 will have multiple endings? We will soon see. Lastly, IGN has added four more way-cool screenshots, and I didn't think that this post had enough thumbnails, so here you go:
Only two more days!
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| Saturday, May 22, 2004 |
| Two New FMs - 5:32:17 PM - Biohazard |
Today we have two great new FMs from Dromeders SlyFoxx and Belboz.
Thanks for providing us with two great missions to satisfy our Thief cravings! |
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| Thief 3 Press Goes On - 10:15:52 AM - Dan |
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Ready for another dose of T3 previews? You know I love reporting other people's news. Anyway... I was given word that CNN is running a preview of Thief 3, but it's the exact same text as USA Today's article. You'd think that such huge conglomerates could afford two PC game reviewers... ah well. Thanks Will.
Additionally, there is a preview at Loaded inc. but again I can't help but feel as if I've read all of this before. There's so many previews of this game they're all starting to sound alike. Wait... they always sounded alike. Never mind. :) Finally, there's an interview with Warren Spector at the RPG Vault with this shocking revelation: The name Deadly Shadows doesn't have any deep meaning - it just seemed like a cool way to get across the idea that you're a dangerous guy and the master of darkness. Why not call it Thief III? I guess that was mostly because we were trying to bring Thief gameplay to a larger audience than ever before - including console gamers who might never have heard of the series before. We didn't want to do anything that might imply that previous knowledge / experience of the series was necessary. Marketing and Development were both in agreement that a name would serve the game better than a number.I can just hear the diehard fans choking and gagging over this one. ;) So take a deep breath, calm down, and read the interview. It's really good. |
| Friday, May 21, 2004 |
| Official Site Update - 9:03:29 PM - Dan |
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The official site has been updated tonight. Browse through the following sections to see all the new content: Trailers, Wallpapers, AIM Icons, Screenshots, Artwork, and Advertisments.
The trailer is a modified version of the first trailer... it seems to be the intro, but it's not quite like how I remember it. I remember the flashbacks being much quicker, and the music being differant, and it didn't do a Thief: Deadly Shadows logo at the end. Maybe they changed it, or maybe I am remembering wrong.
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| TTLG's Thief: Deadly Shadows Xbox Impressions - 7:59:54 PM - Saam |
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I have finally finished my Xbox impressions of Thief: Deadly Shadows, which I got a chance to thoroughly play during my visit to Ion Storm a couple of weeks ago.
A couple of notes -- I did not cover all aspects of the game, as Dan had already wonderfully covered in his preview, so I mainly talk about Xbox-only topics and I lightly dive into the gameplay impressions and my overall thoughts of the game. Any feedback is greatly appreciated, and I hope you enjoy the article! |
| Random T3 Image Display - 4:03:31 PM - Dan |
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I'd like to thank Dave for getting our random image display on the Thief 3 Spypost working. At the moment it only shows the artwork, but in time we'll have a collection of screenshots that display up there as well.
[Edit] The random image display will be back online shortly.
[Edit 2] It is back online after Dan broke it. Bad Dan! ;) ~Dave
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| Fanfic: Paths of Balance - 12:14:28 PM - Elenkis |
Been a while since we last received a new fanfic! The First Disciple Arrives is the first episode in Paths of Balance, a new series in development by Justin Graham. This fanwork takes place in between Thief II and III with the City being a part of our own Earth around the time of the Protestant Reformation. As such Judaism and Christianity exist in the city along with Hammerite, Mechanist, and Pagan religions. An interesting take, here's a peek:
“Forget it,” Garrett replied as he finally sheathed his sword. “I’m retired. I’m not teaching anybody. I do steal occasionally to make ends meet, but I’m through creeping through the sprawling mansions. Every time I do, I learn something major is going to happen in The City unless I stop it, or someone comes after me, and then I have to be a hero, and people have to build things like that.” Garrett points down the alley in the direction of the gigantic statue. “That’s not me, and I don’t want that kind of recognition and responsibility anymore. Besides, if you get mixed up with me, chances are you will have a very short life. Everyone, from the nobility to the City Watch to the Hammerites to the City Wardens, not to mention every other thief in The City wants me dead. And those who trained me are going to make me do something huge some day soon. And I made a promise to myself I won’t let anyone else get mixed up in it.”Thanks Justin, looking forward to reading more! |
| T2 Wallpaper by Benjamin Horak - 11:30:57 AM - Elenkis |
Benjamin Horak has created a new desktop background/wallpaper based on several characters from Thief 2. You can find it along with all our other wallpapers in the themes section.
Thanks Benjamin! |
| Three More T3 Previews - 10:36:47 AM - Dan |
We're being treated to another trio of Thief 3 previews, though one brashly calls itself a 'review'. The 'review' in question was published by USA Today, a rather popular periodical, though if you get your gaming news from it, it's likely that your experience with computer games goes little beyond Solitaire, Minesweeper, and Myst. Oh yes, and The Sims.
Thief III: Deadly Shadows will please fans of the series, while roping in new players for its silent but deadly approach to action gaming.Thank you, USA Today, for your eye opening and insightful review. There's also a preview at GamePro which is written from the perspective of a newbie to that whole "stealth" genre. They also have some newish screenshots. Admittedly, I am not truly great at, nor fond of the stealth-style of game play, but it’s growing on me. An interactive tutorial introduces the stealth control style in a way that is easy to understand. It was simple, fun and got me ready rock with no frustration.One can only hope. Finally, in a preview which may actually be worth your time, GameHelper has gotten some words in based on their E3 impressions of the game. [Edit]: I've been commanded to put a spoiler warning on this preview, so, readers beware! In terms of the graphics, the game makes good use of the latest game engine technologies, with the advanced physics and lighting making a play for importance here, but unfortunately not all is well in this otherwise gem of a game. In-game character animations are a little choppy (walks), and the lip synching while the characters are giving you information needs some work. Also, in terms of the character models in the game, many of the women seem to have the exact same facial features and body types. With the men this is not so prevalent, and a variety can be found amongst them, but some of those models are not pretty to look at, as sometimes geometry placed on the model will poke through in other places. For example in the Keeper’s Compound, there was a man who looked like he had a toupee, but the hair was pushed down on his head and the front of it poked out of his forehead, which didn’t look too good.I believe that the build they showed at E3 was the shipping game. On the whole, this preview is quite positive with the occasional reasonably well founded rant or nit-pick as stated above. If you're only going to read one of these articles, read the last one. |
| Wednesday, May 19, 2004 |
| A Load of Thief 3 News - 8:45:31 PM - Dan |
There's been some Thief 3 Activity on the Web today and yesterday. There's a Dev Diary at Gamers Pulse, though it is not clear who it was written by, other than an AI programmer.
One of the things people remember from Thief 1 and 2 are the guard personalities. In Thief: DS, we wanted to keep them grumbling about all of the important stuff – dinner, the sir, how they’re gonna bonk some taffers over the head – but we needed to make sure they were broadcasting intelligently to correspond to their new behaviors too. Having them say “Hey, I think I’ll go look behind those crates” or “Hey, who left that door open, I’m going to go check it out” allows the player to make some predictions about how they’re searching and what they’re doing before they give up. Thief players who are as deadly as they are shadowed will be able to take advantage of this – they’ll be able to sneak up behind guards and backstab or blackjack them as the guards go to investigate new areas or turn their backs. It works both ways though – if a guard starts coming your way you have to find a new shadow, make some shadow of your own, or lure the guard into a mine or oil puddle. Fun stuff!Fun stuff indeed! It also claims to be the second dev diary, yet I see no trace of the first. Odd. Moving along, in spite of claims every day that they have new screenshots, when in fact they usually do not, today Worthplaying actually does seem to have some new screenshots. Some are pretty nice, too. PC shots, of course. Would we be reporting on them if they were not?
I believe many of these shots depict Keeper compounds. The next preview is at Loadedinc.com, where the author seems fairly impressed with the game, in spite of poor performance at times. It is difficult to judge a title based on preview editions, as the developer usually has not had time to fine-tune certain elements. I must state, however, that my machine (which ran Far Cry fairly well) really chugged along at times with this game. This was most evident when I was in third-person mode and in a large area with other characters present. I hope the Thief team is able to bring the bottom line down a bit, making it available to individuals who may not have a high end machine.Nevertheless, he gives the game thumbs up. Good call, chap. Lastly, for this post anyway, but maybe most importantly, the venerable Four Fat Chicks gaming website has posted up a preview of Thief 3 which also contains a history of the series! It's very good, in spite of the glaring omission of any mention of Dromed and the nearly four hundred fan missions available. May 26 will be the swan song of the Thief universe. Whether or not Deadly Shadows is successful, it's highly unlikely that we'll see another Thief game. The idea of Garrett toddling off into the silicon sunset is a melancholy one, because in a way it means that the final whisper of Looking Glass Studios will also vanish. The City, with its lush history and superbly crafted environment, the Keepers ever lurking in the shadows, the Hammers with their do-as-I-say morality—these are but sparks of the true depth and beauty of Thief. The realization that there are at least twenty more pages of material that I'd like to cover is testament to how incomprehensibly vast and towering this achievement truly is. Going on and on about Thief is not dissimilar to waxing poetic about a true love. There is always more to say.I couldn't agree more about that last comment, however, as far as this being the last Thief game, I couldn't disagree more. I'd be very surprised if this was the end of the series. At any rate, hat's off to them about the article, true Thief fans are they, be it one, or all four of the so-called fat chicks. |
| Tuesday, May 18, 2004 |
| TDS Interview at UGO - 12:52:38 PM - Dave |
To coincide with yesterday's preview of Thief: Deadly Shadows UGO have an interview with the Senior Producer, Paul Weaver!
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| TDS Preview at UGO. - 1:08:19 AM - Dave |
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UGO has previewed Thief Deadly Shadows. I've not read it myself, mainly because I've been told it is chock full of spoilers. If that's so, why am I posting it? Just in case there are any strange people out there who don't mind spoilers! ;) So, *SPOILERS* *SPOILERS* *SPOILERS* |
| Sunday, May 16, 2004 |
| Preview & New Screens at Worthplaying. - 4:12:16 PM - Dave |
I'm sure it won't be long until we start seeing reviews of Deadly Shadows instead of previews. Until then there is a preview over at Worthplaying that has some new screens including one of the main menu.When discussing the upgrades, one has to focus on the enemy AI. In previous incarnations, the guards and patrolmen followed a much more predictable pattern: Move to (A), Move to (B), and Move to (C), repeat until combat. In Deadly Shadows, the guards remember where they have already searched, and if this is an area with no entries or exits, it is possible that it will be overlooked on the next round. This takes the utter predictability of rounds and turns it into something much more realistic. |
| Saturday, May 15, 2004 |
| Thief 3 Artwork Collection - 4:15:12 PM - Dan |
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At long last, the Thief 3 artwork section of the site is finished.
The vast majority of these images were gifted to us by ION Storm during our trip there. Many of these images are super-high-res versions of artwork we've already seen on the official site. We augmented these images with shots from the official site we did not have, plus a few things from our own archive. The result is a collection of 59 images, many of which you cannot get anywhere else. The images are broken up into several pages, to keep load times (and server strain) down on the thumbnails. Be sure to check them all out! Images with spoilers are labeled, though the thumbnails will not show the spoiler. Many of the images of locations have been directly translated into the game, and as a result you will be spoiled as to some of the locations you will be visiting. Other than that, happy browsing! |
| New FM: Coterie of Smokers - 3:14:01 PM - Biohazard |
Today we have a new FM from Christine Schneider and fibanocci, called Coterie of Smokers.
Thanks for keeping the FMs alive even so close to the release of Thief 3! |
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| Friday, May 14, 2004 |
| Dan's Thief 3 Gamplay Video - 5:59:23 PM - Dan |
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Would you like to download my Thief 3 Gameplay Video?
This video was cam-recorded by Saam as I played, and Jeremy (a.k.a. Faceless on the ION Storm Boards) watched and occasionally (frequently... almost constantly) commented. There may be other people talking in the background as well. The music you hear is not the game (it's an mp3 being played on a nearby PC); in fact, the game is making no sound at all, as we are simultaneously recording the footage onto a DVR which I hope to have in my hands any day now. In the mean time, to tide you over, here's the shakeycam edition! And a big thanks to Lazarus for making the video look all professional! |
| Thursday, May 13, 2004 |
| Dan's Hands On T3 Preview - 5:09:03 PM - Dan |
I've finished my complete hands on preview of Thief: Deadly Shadows. Even if you've been keeping up with all of my forum posts, there will still be things inside you have not yet read anywhere. Now, to quote myself...
Be clear about this from the start; unless you’re playing in expert, you’re not seeing the full extent of the new AI. Guards notice and will investigate many things; opened doors, doused lights, missing loot, pushed around furniture, and missing comrades. The sensitivity and reactions of the guards seemed to vary from area to area. For instance, the guards didn’t care when I threw around a half dozen crates in the cellar. However, when one of them found a chair in a formal dining hall pushed over, they began to search for trouble. There were many tense moments when I thought I was safe, only to have a guard grow angry when they noticed that a bit of loot I had just stolen was now gone, and they began to search for a thief. Also, a particularly delicious and satisfying moment occurred the first time a guard noticed that his comrade was absent from his post, due to my intervention.Again, I'd like to thank everyone at ION Storm for their hospitality. And I hope everyone finds the article informative and interesting! |
| Wednesday, May 12, 2004 |
| Thief 3 Screenshot Caption Contest - 2:47:14 AM - Dan |
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When grappling with the shear gusto of the venerable Gingerbread Man, I often find myself doing a face sort of like this. Oo;
But I digress. The point is, there is a very good reason for the excitement, as the very first, but not the last, ION Storm / TTLG contest has begun! Click here with speed and haste for the full elaboration. IF you can handle it. ;)
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| Tuesday, May 11, 2004 |
| Thief: Deadly Upgrades - 3:22:00 PM - Dan |
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The idea behind this thread is to provide information for folks who need to upgrade their systems to play Thief 3. Once the game is released, people can post their system specs here, along with how well the game is performing. That way people can judge how and where they should upgrade in order to get the best performance on the game. Do you need a new mobo/processor? a new graphics card? will more RAM simply do?
If you're like me, you don't have a ton of money to throw around, but you're going to demand a smooth, problem free Thief: Deadly Shadows gameplay experience. I simply can't afford much of an upgrade at the moment, but if T3 runs badly on my system, I will find the money for it. This thread will become much more useful if a demo is released, as everyone will be able to see how the game runs on their system that way, and share the news. In the mean time, I am going to contact ION storm and ask if they can post some examples of how the game runs on high end and low end systems in their office, and anything in between. Note: to cut down on clutter, as this thread may become very long, irrelevant posts or chit chat may be deleted. |
| FM: The Trickster's Gem Mine - Training - 6:39:57 AM - Jenesis |
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Belboz has submitted a training mission for the campaign The Trickster's Gem Mine.
Thanks, Belboz!
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| Sunday, May 09, 2004 |
| I'm Back - With A Plan - 10:58:49 PM - Dan |
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I'm going to be hanging out on IRC starting tomorrow at around noon EST, going until who knows when. I expect lots of people to show up and ask me questions about my experience at ION Storm. I am under NDA, so, don't be shocked if I can't answer all your questions. I'm also working on an "official" preview of the game to post here on the site.
See you tomorrow, here: irc.sorcery.net, #ttlg
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| Friday, May 07, 2004 |
| Digital Nightfall's Initial TIII Impressions - 8:12:17 AM - Dave |
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As some of you may remember, Dan and Saam were invited by Ion Storm to play the complete version of Thief: Deadly Shadows, well they have done! You can read Dan's initial impressions in this thread on our forums. Hopefully we'll hear some more from him and Saam when the visit Ion Storm again today! Lucky so-and-sos ;) I knocked out a guard who was standing next to a table with some junk on it. He fell and hit the table, knocking it over, and sent the objects on the table flying, making a ton of noise.Thread in TTLG's forums. |
| Wednesday, May 05, 2004 |
| Thief 3 Goes Gold! - 1:38:21 PM - Elenkis |
Today is a historic day for another reason too, Thief 3 has completed development and the gold master has been sent out for production:
SAN FRANCISCO, May 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Eidos (Nasdaq: EIDSY - News), one of the world's leading publishers and developers of entertainment software, today announced that its highly-anticipated, action-stealth game Thief: Deadly Shadows, developed by Ion Storm, has gone gold for the Xbox® video game system from Microsoft and the PC. Thief: Deadly Shadows will be available at retail beginning May 26, 2004 in North America.The full press release can be found here.
Woohoo, it's coming folks!
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| New Thief III Trailer! - 1:34:35 PM - Dave |
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The Offical Thief 3 site has a new trailer for Deadly Shadows up. It is in the style of an epic movie trailer and weighs in at 9.4MB in WMV format. The trailer offers glipses of game areas we haven't yet seen in screenshots and movies, as well as some cutscene footage. I really can't wait for May 26th and am extremely jealous of Dan and Saam! (see newspost below). |
| A Historic Day! - 8:37:36 AM - Dan |
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Today's the day Saam and I will be catching planes and flying over to Austin Texas, to meet ION Storm and play Thief 3. It's a thing of beauty, I tell you.
Back in May of 2000, I had purchased plane tickets out of my own pocket to fly up to Looking Glass Studios to visit, apply for a position to work on Thief 2, and look at schools in the area so I could go to college up there. When things went the way they did, It changed the course of my life. Now, May, four years later. Things aren't quite the same as they were. I'm going to school at USF in Florida, working towards a degree in architecture. I'm being flown up, as a guest, on an all expenses paid vacation to Texas, and all I have to do to make up for it is play a game, write about it, take lots of pictures, and meet a whole bunch of really, really cool people. Plus, crazy as it may seem, this will be the first time I will meet Saam, my partner in TTLG since it's beginnings in 1998, and even before then on his System Shock 1 fansite. Most of our readers are not familiar with Saam, as he does not post here and rarely frequents the forums. To put it simply, Saam's the guy who procures this site, and all of TTLG, with what it needs to exist in the first place; a place for the server machine to sit and connect to the internet. Hopefully by tonight he and I will be posting our first pictures of our trip. We won't be going to ION Storm until tomorrow, so anything you see today will just be two goofy guys slacking off in a hotel room, or maybe around town, before we get not nearly enough sleep before our romp through party central the next day! Now, I had better get packing. Oh yes, and call my mother...
Update: Started a thread!
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| Tuesday, May 04, 2004 |
| HomeLAN Fed Preview - 1:01:15 PM - Dave |
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As the title suggests, HomeLAN Fed have their preview for Thief: Deadly Shadows up. Not a lot is new here, a little clarification on lockpicking for the PC and a couple of news screenshots. In Ion Storm’s last game, Deus Ex: Invisible War, there were some complaints that the graphics didn’t come up to snuff but that should not be an argument that will be put toward Thief: Deadly Shadows. The PC build has graphics that rival those of our current champion Far Cry with some incredible looking texture maps for the levels, along with detailed character models and especially the lighting. Having moon beams come through cracks in walls is truly a sight to behold, and again makes you feel like you are in the world rather than just playing through a game level. The AI in this build is also pretty tightly written with your characters and enemies not appearing to cheat at all. If they can’t see you, they react accordingly and if you make noises (or create noises to distract them) the characters will also react accordingly. By the way, the screenshots that accompany this preview serve a big point; while you can brighten things up, that low light level is the default one in the game which goes to show how dark things can get in Deadly Shadows. |
| FM Update: German version of The Night Falcon - 4:08:26 AM - Jenesis |
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We now have Christine Schneider's The Night Falcon v2 available for download in German.
Vielen Dank, Christine!
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| Monday, May 03, 2004 |
| TIII Interview at ConsoleGold - 2:20:37 PM - Dave |
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ConsoleGold.com has an interview with Thief III designer and ex-LG honcho, Nathan Blaisdell. Not a lot new here, although the game's rating in America is confirm as "Mature". What are the challenges in creating a new Thief game? |
| FM Update: The Night Falcon - 5:24:10 AM - Jenesis |
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Christine Schneider has updated her campaign, originally released last year, with various tweaks and fixes.
Thanks for taking the time to support your FM, Christine!
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| Sunday, May 02, 2004 |
| FM: The Horns of Canzo - A Long Way Up - 7:38:46 PM - Jenesis |
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A sizeable FM from Sterlino. This mission is still in beta (v0.95c), so be prepared for potential repeat downloads of a large file.
Many thanks for your contribution, Sterlino!
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| New Version of Borrington's Castle - 4:51:21 PM - Jenesis |
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Bronze Griffin has ironed out the bugs in his recent FM, and added one or two things.
Thanks for the update, Bronze Griffin :)
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| Thief 3 Screens, Straight From IS! - 3:03:18 PM - Dave |
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Over at the Ion Storm forums one of the Thief 3 developers, Faceless, released three screenshots he'd just taken in the editor. These shots don't suffer from massively cranked up gamma and awful compression of most previews. You can see them over in out Thief III screenshots section or grab them direct from this news post!
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| Thief 3 Official Site Updated - 2:55:41 PM - Dan |
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The official website for Deadly Shadows has been updated with the addition of many screenshots, all of which have already been seen in previews, some new concept art, a print ad, wallpaper, icons, and a new screensaver.
I need to remind myself to bug the guys at ISA to give me super high res copies of all of that artwork.
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| Saturday, May 01, 2004 |
| (YAP) Gamepro Preview - 9:33:37 AM - Dave |
GamePro.com have a preview for the PC version of Thief: Deadly Shadows.Sam Fisher and Solid Snake have enjoyed their days in the sun, but this summer will see the return of one of stealth gaming's most -shadowy heroes. Thief: Deadly Shadows not only features the elusive master thief Garrett in his first console adventure, but it also rounds out the story line of the setting and grants players a little more freedom than any other stealth game on the market.Nothing new here. YAP stands for Yet Another Preview ;) |
| Thief III Release Date Confirmed! - 7:06:13 AM - Dave |
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In their latest newsletter Eidos have apparently announced that Thief: Deadly Shadows will be released on Wednesday 26th May 2004. At the moment we assume that this is the date for the North American release only, however in the recent open letter to fans, Warren Spector stated that ...thanks to some insanely hard work by an insanely dedicated team, it looks like we're on-track to make a simultaneous release on Xbox and PC, in English, French, Italian and German!which could indicate a simultaneous worldwide release, although it likely that the rest of the world will lag behind North America. Anyone got a copy of this newsletter? Update: IGN confirms date. |
| Open Letter from Warren Spector - 7:01:18 AM - Dave |
Warren Spector, Studio Director of Ion Storm, has posted an open letter to Thief fans on their forums about the final days of development on Thief: Deadly Shadows.
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