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Wednesday, August 30, 2000

One Final Post! - 7:08:12 PM - Alex

After that influx of data, I have only one last post to give. This one's kinda personal. I wanted to wish Master Nightfall - Daniel - a very happy birthday!

Aftermaths - COT Chapter 11 - 7:05:48 PM - Alex

The newest installment of COT is here. Aftermaths reveals what has become of The Lady's lodge. - Nightfall: Return to The Lodge - Day 9: 6:00pm It was not a good feeling. It was a horrifying sense of anticipation. The storm decided to let up and cut us a little slack. The rain slowed down to a drizzle. A fog quickly rolled in, covering the view in an eerie mist. The dark clouds slowly rolled away, opening the sky on the horizon so the light of the setting sun may touch us. Rays of orange light cut through the mist, seeming to point us in the proper direction. We did our best to work through the soaked underbrush, being wary of pits, puddles, or other hazards. We moved quickly by foot. Brother Thurm and The Captain walked together. The scouts walked up ahead with the Lieutenant. I took up the rear. We traveled without a word, or even a glance at each other. We all knew what we were about to see, and dreaded the thought.

Towards the Pool, by James Page - 6:42:28 PM - Alex

Our newest fanfic comes from James Page. Towards the Pool is a mult-part tale, the first part of which is now available to read. PART I THE NEW WALLED SECTOR There exist those whose greed drives them to seek power and self glorification, Such beings interfere and upset the balances of common existence. Time has shown that such individuals cannot sustain themselves Long enough to leave their mark on the face of such tomes and scriptures That record and foretell all that happens- the glyphs. -Scriptures of Keeper Van Grinfeldt I slept deeply that night, after collapsing into my bed from the previous late night job. Andrus and I had been doing our monthly rent rounds, which meant plundering the easiest and most exposed targets we could lay hands upon before rent collection time. We had decided to work alone this occasion, so I went off to the nearby tax branch, while Andrus paid a visit to a small property over in the West Quarter. I had managed to collect enough loot to pay my landlord, (who is by the way not an overly unreasonable man as landlords go) and still have a little left for myself. The job itself had been easy enough, only a few knockouts were needed, but my fingers were still aching from hours of lock-picking as I lay on my bed that night.

Light as a Feather Chapter 6 - 6:31:44 PM - Alex

The sixth part of the ongoing novel, Light as a Feather has been released. If you want to have a little peek it's coming up: "Owwwwwww" I moaned as I moved my head. The last thing I remembered was getting hit in the head. As I cracked my eyes open, I saw with relief that there wasn't a strong light source. I tried to move, and immediately pain wracked me as muscles severely bruised protested. Apparently, I had been beaten after losing consciousness. "Ooooofffff." I rolled off the stone bench I was lying on, and landed on my hands and knees on the stone floor, causing a second spasm of pain to run throughout my body. As I rose slowly to my feet, I glanced around. I was in a cell of some sort, small and cramped. Thick steel bars lined one wall, with the other three being composed of rough-cut stone. A stone bench completed the only furnishings, and there was no toilet.

Silentsleep has udpated Tootv! - 6:19:56 PM - Alex

Silentsleep has updated his silver rated FM The Order of the Vine. He says of the update: The main reason for this new release is the addition of German language support, including voice acting, thanks to Kyole and von.Eins. English language files are also in the archive, since I took the opportunity to fix some bugs. There's loads more ambient sound, and some of the english voice acting samples have improved in sound quality. Expert difficulty has been changed to make it less restrictive, but harder. I've also made an infinite number of invisible tweaks to make it generally play better.

Blue Garrett, by David Welch - 6:09:27 PM - Alex

This art work was produced by The Gamophyte, also known as David Welch. The image is of Garret in a blue night-time setting.

The Varyx Obelisk, by xarax - 5:57:01 PM - Alex

The second mission to join the front shelf is The Varyx Obelisk. This one is for Thief Gold only. Thief Gold FM The Varyx Obelisk   readme.txt   (3.29 Meg)   Released: 8-30-2K   Walkthrough By xarax: I received some interesting information from my fence. The town of Eldevir has a strange stone obelisk called the "Varyx Obelisk". It's quite old and is rumored to have some connection to the keepers, but nobody knows for sure. The Varyx Obelisk may be the connection I need to learn more about my former teachers, and maybe some profit. My conversation with Ybynwan in the town of Viowen convinced me that there is something worthwhile here in Eldevir. After several days traveling to Eldevir from Viowen, I learned that there is a curfew from dusk to dawn, and the patrol guards are very unforgiving. I must be cautious on the streets.

The Enterprise, by frobber - 5:54:34 PM - Alex

Frobber has released a new Fan Mission, enterprise, for Thief 1 / Gold. All the details are in the box below. Thief 1 / Gold FM The Enterprise   readme.txt   (5.95 Meg)   Released: 8-30-2K   Walkthrough By frobber: The Trickster has been dead 30 days tonight, the world is still saved from his evil, and yet strangely I have grown darker these past weeks. But Why? Comfort from old wine cellars has been easy enough to find, and loot at the expense of my rich neighbors still pays the bills. Is this not the easy life I always wanted with no world in need of rescue? Lisha says this darkness descended on me when my old Hammer eye gave out. But what good is the new mechanical eye the Hammers have waiting for me? Even when I had two perfectly normal human eyes I wasn't any richer than I am tonight! Yet, as I write this, I am beginning to feel a shift in the air ...and not simply the early Autumn wind I hear blowing like it can't wait to get home to Old Man Winter. Perhaps it's just another crazy dream, but something keeps saying that my fortunes are about to change ...that the BIG one is just around the corner ...where I'll finally know the true comfort and peace of mind that comes with becoming a genuinely wealthy man!

Monday, August 28, 2000

More ARX Information - 10:38:48 PM - Saam

Raphael Colantonio, lead designer of ARX (unofficial Ultima Underworld 3), has been participating in our Underworld & ARX forums recently. This thread has been active lately, with Raf answering a lot of questions the readers post. A lot of new information has been posted regarding ARX, so I suggest you all check it out. Thanks!

DM: Water & Lava - 9:31:47 AM - Alex

This little Thief 2 demo mission covers pretty much everything to do with water - from making the most simple to pull, to partcle FX, to a full-blown volcano. It's fully DarkLoader ready and is worth a look even if it's just to see some pretty things - and play in in the watervators. You can grab it from this page! - where you can also give the tut a once over and see some more screens. Oh - I should also mention it was made by me.

Thursday, August 24, 2000

CoSaS Website Updated with News & Screenshots - 2:25:14 AM - Dan

In case you have not seen this thread in the Thief general forum, then you may be interested to know that the CoSaS website has been updated with a news section and eight new screenshots, featuring the work of Mokkis (Circle of Strain) and Finial (Stowaway). Enjoy!

Wednesday, August 23, 2000

Correspondence Chapter 10 - 11:25:14 AM - Alex

The 10th installment of COT has arrived! - Lytha: Dinner for Two - Day 7: 8:00pm I hoped that he had not felt the papers in my pocket when he had brought me to the couch. He seemed like he cared about me, but I was still not sure about his intentions. The childish voice tried to tell me that he had, of course, really bad motivations, but his next questions interrupted the shouting inside my head. "It's no wonder you're too weak to move, it must have drained you to destroy my house like this," he said. I have no idea what he meant by that. He smiled widely at me, which only served to make me grow tense. He offered some of the food to me. I tried not to look at it. I waited for a voice in my head to tell me that it was poisoned, or something ever more horrid, but the voice never came. "At least eat a little. If you feel like eating a lot you can do that too." I didn't want his food. I didn't trust him and I didn't trust his food. Fortunately, I suppose, the instinct for survival outweighs paranoia, and eventually I gave in to the extreme hunger I felt. I grabbed a carrot. It was the easiest to get into my mouth. He began to eat the meat. It looked like it was some type of bird. Strange, it was already cooked when he got here. He must not be as poor as this shelter made him seem, to afford a service like that. I finished my carrot, and began to take other vegetables. He ate slowly, and wasn't looking at me. What was his name again? I couldn't remember. Somehow I felt it was important. What was it? "Ghost..." I suddenly whispered, remembering. He looked up suddenly. "What...? How do you know my name?"

Two new Artworks. - 10:48:36 AM - Alex

The Circle's gallery has today recieved two new artworks for display. Glyph Warnings, is an original piece by Cybergoth. Whilst Lord Medairain has provided this pencil sketch of Garrett Thanks guys!

Tuesday, August 22, 2000

The Polymer City Chronicles - 10:30:54 PM - Dan

The Warren Spectre series over at the Polymer City Chronicles has been wrapped up. Oh, and do the poor guy with the big glasses a favor and drop by his strip again once and a while. ;)

ShockEd Now Available! - 5:07:47 PM - Saam

Well, the good news is finally here. We have compiled a working version of ShockEd, so now you all can start creating your own levels and space stations! ShockED (5.06 MB) System Shock 2 Unstripped Missions (23.5 MB) The Shock 2 unstripped missions allows you to see the official missions that were used in the game in ShockED, so you can edit them (or learn from them for that matter). Also included in the ShockED zip file is a very informative tutorial written by Totality and other hackers as well. A big thanks goes to the Shock2 NDA team and others, including Totality, d0om, Catalyst, Thumper, IceNine, Datoyminaytah, and the fans! Thanks for making this a successful release!

Light as a Feather, Chapter 5 - 11:34:23 AM - Alex

Rich has released his 5th chapter of his ongoing fanwork Light as a Feather: "Good job." Garrett's voice, dry like dead leaves being drawn over stone, rang out over the practice field. "Your overall performance was satisfactorily, and you accomplished the objective without killing anyone or encountering many guards. You should have explored the entire house, but that judgement will come with experience." The master thief had made me go through the entire mission, pointing out my mistakes along the way. He was scornful over my injury, stating that I should never have neglected the moon: more often than not the margin between success and failure is no thicker than that of a moonbeam. This chapter contains something new for a fanfic, in that it also has a map of The City.

Saturday, August 19, 2000

Taffers Post Followup - A Letter From Fett - 12:34:59 PM - Dan

Here's a follow up on some things I mentioned in my Taffer's Post by fett, one of 'the guys who knows'. T2X is actually the Dark Engine fan project, and what would have been T3 is actually now T++ the coding project. I don't think either project is using the 'FMP' label, since the FMP technically 'split up' and T2X will be releasing it's actual title and web site in about 2 weeks. Just wanted to clear up any confusion. I'm almost done converting all the TDP walkthroughs and faq pages, but I'm having to re-draw an awful lot of loot maps for those missions - almost every mission except Bafford's so far- so it's slowing me down quite a bit. So there you have it. Honestly, to me this just makes that whole FMP/T2X thing seem even more twsited. Ah well. :)

The Taffer's Post - LGS Legacy Alive and Well! (Updated) - 2:29:26 AM - Dan

Things seem to be going well - much better then I actually hoped. About half (well, more like 6 ;) of LGS went to ION Storm and will be working on Thief 3 and Deus Ex 2, and the other half (again, more like 10-12) when to Irrational Games where they may, hopefully, someday make Shock 3 (cross your fingers on this one). Deus Ex is at the top of the sales chart (number 8 last I was told), and is getting top scores in the reviews. So yes, things are going pretty well for the whole LGS scene. Meanwhile, back at base, TTLG is just chugging along the same as ever. Saam is still working on that much anticipated new fan mission archive script (which will, among other things, do away with the silver/bronze hammer archive in favor of a user specified listing based on alphabetical order, download size, mission score, etc.) Alex (Jyre/Dash) is maintaining her post at The Circle with zeal, as well as working on her very impressive set of Ranstall Keep "how I did it" tutorials. Fett is almost done with his very well done set of walkthroughs for Thief Gold and Thief 2 which shall be featured prominently in The Circle's guides section. Someday I may get working on CitadelStation.com... eh. When CitadelStation.com does open (when oh when will I find the time?) it will include everything Sshock2.com & DeusEx-Machina.com feature now (yes, we're going to close both sides... running one big site is easier and better then running two smaller ones). The main focus of the site will be ShockED, Shock 2 fan missions, the Deus Ex editor, and Deus Ex fan missions - as well as covering any bits of news concerning future Deus Ex projects (Deus Ex 2, or an add-on pack) and any rumors on Shock 3 (which, as far as we know, is not planned for production). Getting back to Thief, the drought we seemed to be having with fan missions is happily over. We've got a nice set of new Thief 1 & 2 FMs which have been released in the past weeks. T2X and the FMP have pretty must split and gone their separate ways, with the FMP staying the FMP and T2X becoming Thief++: The Fan Coding Project. That was an interesting little drama, to say the least. At any rate, now the happily parted, the groups have hopefully begun to get things done again, am I right? :) (Actually this is a rather bad description of what happened. See above for a description straight from one of the FMP people.) CoSaS is going very well. We've begun work on the cutscenes (finally!) and several of the missions have reached the scripting stage (meaning the architecture is far enough along to warrant such work). It's still a long road ahead, though, so we're sticking to what we said before: it will be done when it's done - when that is, well, if we do all we plan to do, it will be latter rather then sooner. I'll put it this way: Before Thief 3! :) The team is getting pretty anxious to release some new screenshots soon, so stay tuned for those. Our credits page has been updated to list the new team members - mainly additions to the art team, who have been providing some very nice hand-drawn artwork. I'm very happy to see that the fanworks keep flowing in! Salute to everyone who has contributed! Oh, and note that the 'new' chapters of Correspondence of Thieves are less then three weeks away! Meanwhile, I've managed to get myself quite hooked on Icewind Dale. It has everything I enjoyed about Baldur's Gate, minus almost everything that irritated me. My only irk so far is that in order to get the 3D hardware effects running, I need to set it to 16 color. What the hell is up with that? Not that it really bothers me - I can live without the fancy visual effects. Meanwhile I am truly enjoying it. I doubt I shall revere it as much as I do Planescape, but I definitely like it more then Baldur's Gate so far (and I liked BGate quite a bit!). The first day's result for that Thief multiplayer poll are pretty much as I expected (I'm lying... I had no idea what to expect) - highest scores are in co-op play and in no-multiplayer at all. Yikes. :) I hope Warren & team are listening! So that's my Taffer's Post for this week... or month, or however long it's going to be until I feel like doing another one. By the way - photos of that cross-continental journey - anyone interested in seeing them? Thank you, and goodnight.

Thursday, August 17, 2000

New ID - New e-mail - 8:56:34 PM - Alex

Just a quick note. As you may have noticed, I'm no longer Jyre/Dash, I'm Alex. I also have a new e-mail address, so anyone wishing to contact me should use it (link above).

COT: Chapter 9 - A Little Bit of Vandalism - 7:55:32 AM - Jyre/Dash

The ninth chapter of Corresponance of Thieves is now available for viewing. Lytha: Who is He? - Day 7: 10:00am I was still on the floor, beneath the table. The man had left the house, and had said that he would deliver the letter to Nightfall. And he had said that Nightfall had sent him. This did not make any sense. I did not know Nightfall, and most important, I did not know this man. And I did not know anything about his motives to get me here. I had to figure out who he was, what his motives might have been, and if he was indeed a thief, like me. I stumbled to my feet, and tried to ignore the scared, childish voice in my head that cried in its fear. When I took my first step, I couldn't keep my balance. I tried to brace myself against the table, but I fell on my face. Some of the paper fell down, too. Sitting amongst the papers, I pressed my hands against my forehead. The headache was horrific, and also the loud laughter of the malevolent voices. The two dead monstrous Thalias appeared shortly in my view. "Just go away, damn it!" Another voice in my head -- my own. Great, I was already shouting at myself in my head now. But somehow, it worked. The Thalias still stared at me, but they were silent for now. I closed my eyes, and stumbled to my feet, again. This time I managed it to stay upright, and I moved slowly to the shelves at the wall. It had many papers on it. One was a letter, addressed to someone called "Ghost." I reached out to get it, but I was already shaking because of the strain. I stumbled, and hit the shelf with my head. More papers went to the floor, and also some books. I sat down, and searched for the letter in the scattered paper sheets. I found it, and read it immediately.

The Docks for Thief 2 Patched - 7:23:28 AM - Dan

Gonchong accidentally released his Thief 2 version of The Docks without the maps! To immediately quell this unfortunately erroneous incident, unmistakably a happenstance of immeasurable ineptitude, Gonchong has sent me a patch, which I have used to patch the mission. And no, it wasn't unmistakably a happenstance of immeasurable ineptitude, I just like using the words "happenstance" and "ineptitude". Umm.. download it here.

Light as a Feather, Chapter 4 - 7:02:01 AM - Jyre/Dash

Rich - aka dragoman - has released chapter 4 of his ongoing novel, Light as a Feather: I held my breath. The guard who was passing me was close enough to touch as I crouched down in the doorway. For the last 2 hours I had been making my way across the rooftops, staying out of sight of various guards and watchmen. Finally, I reached Lord Nonnus's house. It was a medium sized dwelling, oddly shaped. The ground floor was larger than the top two stories, and very regular. It seemed exactly square shaped, with a door in the exact center of each side. Very few windows marked the walls, but a large chimney at each corner of the first floor reached up past the upper stories. I guessed that the first floor used to be a bakery, and the upper floors were added without removing the chimneys first.

Fan Mission Campaign: Journey, by Sperry & Asymuth - 5:54:27 AM - Dan

Journey is a two mission campaign for Thief 1 & Gold. Months ago, Sperry and Asymuth released Tuttocomb's Tomb, which received a score of 2.5 silver hammers (review). In Journey, that mission is expanded and refined. Escape from Guilespeak, the prequil to Tuttocomb, is a new mission by Sperry. Thank you, Sperry, for yet another contribution to the fan mission scene! Thief 1 / Gold Campaign Journey  readme.txt  (10.2 Meg)  Released: 08-17-2K  Individual Mission Downloads:  J1: Escape from Guilesatpeak   (2.9 Meg)  J2: Tuttocomb's Tomb   (8.2 Meg) By 'Sperry' & 'Asymuth': Well, this is just great. Here I am, in this putrid cell awaiting my so called redemption to the builder of these wretched lands while your average psycho roams free among the horde in our streets. Down here, I'm rarely given enough light to see my own hands, and when a watchman does cometh along with his quaint lantern and trendy water pouch, revealed become the mawkish stones on the walls, shrouded with mold so thick that any horticulturalist would rank it healthier then I am. The stench is horrible, or at least I remembered how awful it was when I could bring myself pay attention to it, and the air here is rotten enough to make rats swell up and burst from ichor they didn't even know was in them. It seems like a few days ago, though I'm not even sure I've been here for an hour yet.., more

Wednesday, August 16, 2000

Warren Spector Speaks on the Thief 3 Team - 3:45:06 PM - Dan

Warren Spector was good enough to join up at our forums and make this nice long post about Thief III. Thanks, Warren! :) First, let me apologize in advance for the length of this post. There's a lot to talk about... Second, let me say the number of posts here is incredible and much appreciated. Lots of stuff to consider... Third, let me tell you a bit about what's going on here in Austin. In addition to keeping the wheels turning on upcoming Deus Ex stuff, we've been working on putting together a Thief III team. We're not done yet, but we've made some huge additions to the Austin team: Randy Smith has signed on as Thief III project director and lead designer. As I'm sure you all know, Randy was a key designer on the original Thief game and proved himself to be a natural leader (along with being a terrific designer) on Thief II. He was all set to act as Lead Designer on Thief III at LookingGlass. Now, he gets the chance to finish what he started. Emil Pagliarulo is onboard as a senior designer on Thief III. He created the "Little Big World" section of Constantine's Manor in "The Sword" mission of Thief Gold. In Thief II, he did the "Precious Cargo" and "Life of the Party" missions. HIs understanding of the Thief vibe and his experience will prove invaluable. Lulu Lamer will be the associate producer on Thief 3. She rose through the ranks from playtester on Thief to lead tester on System Shock 2 to QA supervisor on Thief Gold to assistant producer on Thief II. (Whew!) She was -- and is -- set to play the AP role on Thief III. Her communication skills and organizational abilities, to say nothing of her understanding of Thief-like things, will be critical. In addition to Randy, Emil and Lulu, we were lucky enough to convince programmers Chris Carollo and Alex Duran to move to Austin. Chris and Alex, members of various Thief teams and, most recently, assigned to the LG Siege engine project, are going to be working on an unannounced project but they're here, on-site, available for consultation. And believe me, we'll take advantage of that fact! Speaking of consultation, Tim Stellmach hasn't signed on officially (yet...) but he's agreed to work with us as a consultant on Thief III. Tim's been involved in so many great LG games, in so many critical capacities, there isn't room to list them all. Having Tim onboard as a consultant (for now) is a major plus for us. We're still talking with other members of the old LG crew and there may be other announcements soon. But Randy, Emil and Lulu will be moving here from Boston area soon. Tim's a phone call away. Chris and Alex are already working away on their project. Thief III preproduction begins in September! Warren Spector

Tuesday, August 15, 2000

New DM: Assassinations - 9:46:09 AM - Jyre/Dash

Assassinations is a small demo mission, made by The Raven, that shows how to set up a pre-scripted assassination in DromEd.

Morrowind Discussion Forum Open! - 1:45:04 AM - Dan

I'm pleased to announce that Destination: Morrowind has elected to move their forum over to the TTLG forum community. Lets have a warm welcome to all those coming over from their old fourm. I encourage everyone to take a look at the game and join in the discussion!

Monday, August 14, 2000

Alex Thomson Reveals All! - 7:38:00 PM - James

Well, maybe not the things you were thinking of. She has, however, set up a website concerning her Ranstall Keep mission series. Most impressive, to my mind, is a set of DromEd tutorials that explain how some of the technical effects in her missions are achieved.

Saturday, August 12, 2000

The Builder's Guide Updated - 3:35:28 PM - Jyre/Dash

Zantie has updated her fanfic The Builder's Guide. Part IV has been edited and a seventh part added to the ongoing story. The room was a small laboratory lit by electric lights that would occasionally flicker. The walls in here however were made of metal, and the floor was white tile. I stepped inside. There were about a two dozen animal cages placed evenly around the room on either countertops or the floor. On shelves and a desk I could see papers, prayer books, and other items. In a glass cabinet on the left wall was filled with little bottles with a colored liquid, that moved around almost lifelike. Next to the animal cages there were water vials and mini 3 inch. long, gold colored hammers. Inside the cages themselves were rats, most appeared dead. Walking to the nearest cage I peered inside. In the far corner I could see a dead rat curled up in a ball. On the exposed side of its body, there was a thumb sized burn mark. The wound had obviously been there for awhile. It was partially scared over, green and crusty.

Thursday, August 10, 2000

Calendra's Cistern Patched - 11:53:46 AM - Dan

The amazing fan mission Calendra's Cistern has been updated with a major (5 meg!) patch. Those of you who have already downloaded this massive fan mission may simply grab the patch and install it using the simple provided instructions. Everyone else can download version 1.1 of the mission. Calendra's Cistern was created by Purah (Anthony Huso), Totality (Triston Attridge), Thumper (Gary Barton), Loanstar (Paul B.), & Deep Qantas (Teemu Salmela). Thanks, guys! :)

Comic Strip Celebrates Thief's Return - 2:24:25 AM - Dan

I really got a kick out of this. Take a look. :) Thanks, CM!

GameSpot Interviews Warren Spector - 1:57:15 AM - Dan

Splendid! We have our first Thief 3 related article. I should set up a page to collect Thief 3 previews and media soon. At any rate, here it is, at GameSpot. They interview Warren Spector, and he pretty much keeps giving them the same answer: "We don't know yet, we're building the team right now." Here's a very quotable quote: ... [We're] well aware that there isn't an engine in the world that offers the combination of sound propagation, object interaction, and stealth-oriented AI that made Thief work. Anything we license will likely be rewritten pretty heavily in these and other areas. And before anyone asks, we understand that the Deus Ex approach to stealth (just one of many approaches available to players) won't work for a razor-sharp-focus game like Thief. Whatever engine we use, we'll do the work necessary to make the game play the way a Thief game must. Amen to that. Knowing that Warren understand this (of course he does, you heathen!) re-assures my doubts about Thief 3 going to a very inappropriate engine (such as Unreal anything or Quake anything).

COT: Chapter 8 - A Change of Pace - 1:45:48 AM - Dan

Correspondence of Thieves continues with Chapter 8 - A Change of Pace. I awoke. The place had changed. And I was unchained. There was a window. It was dark outside. A man sat in a chair, staring into a fireplace. I had seen this face before. Somehow, he must have been in the prison. I could not make sense out off it. "Don't you remember?! He was one of the Guards!" This was a new voice in the permanent shouting inside my head. It sounded childish, filled with fear. But it lied, I was sure it did. I tried to force it back. The voices faded away, but they were always ready to come back. I had heard them permanently in the last day. Or days; I did not remember. "Where -" I tried to ask, but it ended in a moan. My lips felt still numb. He looked up. "Where... am I?" I croaked. "It's not important." "Who -- " "Nightfall sent me to get you out." I was highly irritated. Nightfall? I had never seen him. Never spoken to him. Never met him. Why could he have sent someone to get me out of there? "But why -- " "Don't know, didn't ask. Apparently he needed a woman to bleed on his carpet and I was more than willing to give him the one I just picked up." He turned away. "I'm taking you to him as soon as you can walk. Maybe he can help with your injuries too." With that he left the room. In this chapter, we meet once again Sheam, who will be playing a large roll in CoSaS, TTLG's Thief 2 Expansion.

Wednesday, August 09, 2000

Thief 3 Official Press Release - TTLG Exclusive - 6:15:05 PM - Dan

This is it, the good news we have all be waiting for. Here is official word that Thief 3 is now in production: Eidos Interactive To Continue Critically Acclaimed Thief Franchise For The PC and PlayStation® 2 Computer Entertainment System ‘Ion Storm’s Warren Spector To Oversee Future Of Series’ SAN FRANCISCO, August 08, 2000 - Eidos Interactive, a leading worldwide developer and publisher of interactive software products, announced today the purchase of the immensely popular Thief franchise. Eidos Interactive plans on continuing the series for PC CD-ROM and the PlayStation® 2 Computer Entertainment System. Eidos Interactive is pleased to report that further iterations of the Thief franchise will be developed in the Austin, Texas offices of Ion Storm and will be led by Warren Spector, who contributed on the original Thief: The Dark Project. Warren has also produced other highly praised titles including System Shock, Ultima Underworld, and most recently, Deus Ex. Several members of the original Thief team have already signed on with Ion Storm to continue working on the series and more announcements are expected soon. Warren Spector states, "With Thief, LookingGlass Studios created an entirely new kind of game and, in so doing, changed the face of gaming forever. We here in the Austin office are thrilled, proud and a bit humbled at the prospect of continuing and building on the work of the talented men and women who made Thief and Thief 2. Several of us cut our teeth working with those folks, our design philosophies were developed in collaboration with them and, plain and simple, we're fans ourselves. To all the other fans out there, we say: Rest easy. We respect the Thief tradition and we'll do everything in our power not only to live up to everyone's justifiably high expectations but to surpass them." "This is great news for all fans of the Thief series," states Eidos’ Vice President of Development, Nick Earl. "Warren has proven his game design talents time and time again. The next Thief will undoubtedly be the greatest to date." No release date has yet been set for the tentatively titled "Thief 3." Eidos Interactive, Inc. is a leading developer and publisher of interactive entertainment products for the PC, PlayStation® game console, PlayStation® 2 computer entertainment system, Sega Dreamcast(tm), Nintendo® Game Boy® Color. Eidos Interactive is part of London-based Eidos plc (NASDAQ: EIDSY) with additional offices in San Francisco, Paris, Hamburg, and Tokyo. For more information on Eidos Interactive’s product line visit http://www.eidos.com And there you have it! Cheers to Warren Spector and Eidos! Come join the celebration with your fellow taffers in TTLG's official Thief chatroom, #thief on the starchat network (irc.starchat.net, polaris.starchat.net, stargate.starchat.net, and others).

'The Docks', aka 'All Aboard!' Ported to Thief 2 - 3:28:57 PM - Dan

G'day folks. It took me long enough, but I'm finally back into the swing of things. After getting myself back in gear for my project I'm back to The Circle, bringing you some Fan Mission goodness. Today we witness a port of a classic Thief 1 fan mission to Thief 2. Gonchong's The Docks, aka All Aboard! was one of the very first quality fan missions created. If you played it with Thief 1 and loved it, play it again for Thief 2. If you've never played it, now is your big chance. If you played it for Thief 1 and hated it, give it another shot - you may like it. So without further ramble, here it is: Thief 2 Only The Docks (All Aboard!)  readme.txt  (2.9 Meg)  Released: 08-09-2K By J. Roberts "Gonchong": You have been entrusted by the Keepers to recover a stolen amulet which was aquired by one of Ramirez's agents on a distant island. A ship has now returned and is in dock awaiting unloading. But you aim to unload it first... Thanks, Gonchong. We're all rabily waiting your next original Thief 2 fan mission.

Tuesday, August 08, 2000

Light as a feather, by Rich aka dragoman - 6:16:16 PM - Jyre/Dash

Dragoman has presented us with the start of the latest Thief novel in developement Light as a Feather. There are currently three chapters available. It opens as follows: My name is Thomas. I am....no, was is the better term....was an acrobat, in a land far from here. How I came to this place, well, that is another story, and not really relevant. Far more interesting is what happened to me once I arrived here. Of course, it wasn't very interesting at the time.... I walked along the road into town, lost in my own thoughts. Most riders and carriage occupants that passed me hardly spared me a second look, and I hardly blamed them. I was slight, bone-thin, and wearing clothes that hardly held together. My boots, leather that had once held a fine sheen, were ragged and full of holes, and their main function was to keep my feet mostly free of the water that covered the road. It was raining, and the wind whistled cruelly through my clothes. I shivered, wondering if my welcome at this place would be any warmer than the last place I visited. Probably not, I ruefully admitted. However, my own temperament prevented me from being depressed: I seem cursed with good humor. I was just wondering idly what it would feel like to be depressed (hey, when you have nothing to do and no one to talk to, what do you think about?) when a carriage emerged from the fog ahead of me, coming my direction. The carriage did not slow, even though I was sure the driver saw me. I leaped in the air sideways, twisting my body around so that I landed on my feet on the other side of the low fence, facing the road. A simple maneuver, but one that looks harder than it is. The occupant of the coach, which was emblazoned with an ornate letter "B", gaped back at me as it sped off without stopping.

Lord Randall's Art Gallery, by Thief in the Night - 1:39:13 PM - Jyre/Dash

Lord Randall's Art Gallery is a new short Thief story by Thief in the Night, and is now nestled snuggly on the shelves in the fanworks archive. Here's a quick peek: "I'll take ten broadhead arrows, five water arrows, and two rope arrows." "Sounds like a big job tonight, Garret." "Do you mind if I ask where?" "How many times have you asked me that?, because you know I won't tell you." "Fine then..." Garret looked around the shop while the man fetched his supplies, he only saw the usual tools of the trade, nothing new. "Here you go." Garret took the supplies, threw him a pouch with some gold coins, left the shop and disappeared into the shadows. Tonight Garret did have a big job. As he made his way through the foggy moonlit cobble stone streets, he thought of why he was doing this. He usually works for himself. But this was different.

In Wait, by Johnny Burt - 1:30:47 PM - Jyre/Dash

Also added to The Circle today is The Funster's In Wait. This piece is intended to be the first scene in Johnny's upcoming short Thief film.

The Sword, by Arcsim - 1:27:43 PM - Jyre/Dash

Arcsim has gifted The Circle with his second piece of Thiefy artwork. His latest work is The Sword.

Monday, August 07, 2000

More Time to Foil Karrass - 4.5 bronze - 6:17:02 PM - Jyre/Dash

Andrew Dagilis has reviewed Adrian May's first Fan Mission, More Time to Foil Karrass, and awarded it a comendable 4.5 bronze hammers. Well done, Adrian! Pros: Good sense of overall mission design; competent use of light/shadows and silent/noisy surfaces; resupply points are well located; a burrick racetrack and stable; mission can be snuck through in its entirety. Cons: Programming errors, one of which can make the mission unwinnable; some areas are not properly scaled; amateur-looking shoebox exterior architecture and rudimentary sense of interior design. Bottom line: Because its core gameplay components are solid, More Time to Foil Karrass (sic) easily overcomes its esthetic limitations and offers a few hours of pleasant sneaking. With a bit more practice, there's little doubt its author will produce missions with a more professional sheen. - Full Review

Tra'Hari's Newbie Tutorial - DromEd - 5:31:18 PM - Jyre/Dash

Trah'Hari has been working hard and has also produced a guide for DromEd that covers those basics that aren't covered in the official tutorial that comes with DromEd. He says: [TRA'HARI'S HAPPY HOTDOG BEGINNER'S GUIDE TO DROMED] [..or..] [DROM-DEAD: TRA'HARI'S NEWBIE TUTORIAL] Hi. I'm Tra'Hari. I'm also bored, so I'm writing sort of a mini-beginner's-newbie-guide to DromEd. Don't ask about the title; it's weird. I was looking around at The Circle, and I saw a lot of really good tutorials, with either scattered tidbits of information, specific tutorials or the edited version of the Looking Glass Studio's tutorial that comes with DromEd. However, there wasn't much for someone who'd completed the tutorial, and while it's not too hard to learn a lot of things by picking at sample missions and playing around, I figured: why not write something somewhere in between? You know, not too advanced, working up from the basics, including the little tips and tricks we usually learn about from the forums and talking to other people.

New Installment of Shifting Double - 4:59:32 PM - Jyre/Dash

Tra'Hari Vandaette has updated his Thief novel in developement, Shifting Double. Part six has now been added and anyone wishing to hop straight to it should use this link. Here's a sneaky peek: He'd ordered a drink for each of us, but didn't touch his, and paid for mine. He kept his already hooded face in shadow, and he didn't seem to care that I openly stared at him. The other patrons of the bar gave him nothing but a suspicious second glance. They went cheerfully back to the ale or playing Trumps, their chatter and shouts covering up his hushed, insistent whisper. Even the fire flickered him into the blank; anyone who might've tried to get a good look at him would only be able to give a rudimetary description. To describe him even now is difficult. This man was so obviously inobvious. It took the right eyes to see that this man was obviously a Keeper.

Cult of the Resurrection FM updated - 4:34:17 PM - Jyre/Dash

Sledge's Thief 1 fan mission, Cult of the Resurrection, has been updated to correct a bug which made the mission impossible to complete in certain situations when played with the original Thief: The Dark Project.

Sunday, August 06, 2000

Thief II: A- at 3DGN - 11:45:54 AM - James

Richard Stutz of 3D Gaming Net sent a messenger to confess that they have posted up a review of Thief II by Thomas Soles, awarding it an A- overall - and the only thing that didn't get an A + was the graphics. "Better than a hot meal at Mom's", the reviewer notes, and repeatedly waxes lyrical in his own unique style about the wonders of Thief II and the shame of Looking Glass' passing. My favorite quote is another from the summary: "Looking Glass Studios folded shortly after giving us this final gift. You need to buy it, play it, and demand that every game developer in the future meet this rigid standard for gaming excellence." Amen.

Saturday, August 05, 2000

Thief 3 Under Development by Warren Spector's Team - 1:49:34 PM - Dan

Friends and enemies, we have a pretty strong development in this saga. Behold: Posted by MAHK: Here's what's going on, to my knowledge: EIDOS now owns both the Thief franchise and the code to the new engine (as well as the code to the Dark engine, which is mostly considered a subset of the new engine code). The Thief franchise will continue to be developed at the Ion Storm Austin office, where it is in Warren Spector's capable hands. It's unlikely at this point that the new engine will ever get finished. Of course, we'll post more information as soon as we have it.... and are allowed. Thanks goes to GalyeSaver for brining this info out from the dark. Read the entire thread here. Though I fear which engine Thief 3 would be made with (I still don't like the fact that Deus Ex uses the pretty but souless Unreal Engine), I know that Warren Spector is more then capable of doing a good job with the game.

New FM: Errand boy - 10:13:25 AM - Jyre/Dash

Steven Hindley, maker of the runner-up mission Watterlogged, has released a new mission, TTGM:Errand Boy: Thief 2 Only TTGM:Errand Boy  readme.txt  (5 Meg)  Released: 08-03-2K By Steven Hindley: Based on the map for Garrett's Revenge, the Keepers have a mission for you. You can do what you like, break into buildings, steal anything valuable, knockout who you want (except cops on expert), hack to death who you want.more

Stronghold Update - 7:08:09 AM - Jyre/Dash

Stronghold has been updated to fix a bug which prevented an object from entering the players inventory. The file is now 7.2 megs in size. Grab it here!

Thursday, August 03, 2000

Dromed Guide: Dark Engine Level Design - 7:39:36 AM - Jyre/Dash

Dark Engine Level Design: Stepwise Refinement Method is a step-by-step breakdown of designing a mission, covering areas from basic planning right down to placing the last piece of equipment. Thanks go to GayleSaver for this one! DromEd was designed by programmers, and whichever way you turn, traces of that aphorism are visible. Therefore, in my view, the best way to design levels in DromEd is to follow a top-down strategy, partially based on Tim's Building Principles document; you should be familiar with it before you read this. I've developed a set of steps that should be taken in designing and shipping a Dark mission. Please be aware that this document does not cover artistic or general aspects of level design, such as fiction composition; however, these aspects are mentioned at appropriate locations. This document is best read from start to end as a tutorial, then used as a reference document - it does not implement a step-by-step strategy for level design - it simply discusses it; several Steps refer the reader back to previous Steps for additional information. Also be aware that you not only need to carry DromEd knowledge to this document, but also a bit of common sense. There are many things that are never explicitly discussed; these things can usually be deduced easily. I can't put the entire philosophy of level design from the beginning of first-person-perspective game into a ten-page document.

New FM: Benny's Dead - 6:38:31 AM - Jyre/Dash

The latest Thief 2 fan mission to hit our shelves is Benny's Dead, by the Gingerbread Man. Thief 2 Only Benny's Dead  readme.txt  (6 Meg)  Released: 07-26-2K By Gingerbread Man: Prologue: The New Walled Sector sprang up overnight. United in a common goal, both Hammerite and Mechanist laboured side by side to contain the Gas which bled from the corpse of Soulforge. Only when the last of the brick and iron was secured did anyone think of the unfortunate souls on the Wrong Side of the Barricade. Many prayers were uttered that night, on both sides of the New Wall. Not one was answered...more

Wednesday, August 02, 2000

The Taffer's Post - Home at Last! - 8:34:58 PM - Dan

Well, the USA is a beautiful country. My cousins up in Washington are awesome. Wow, it's good to be home.

New FM: Curse of the Ancients - 7:56:01 PM - Jyre/Dash

Kozmala has released a new fan mission for Thief, entitled Curse of the Ancients for all you Thief addicts out there to play and enjoy: Curse of the Ancients   readme.txt   (3.4 Meg)   Released: 7-24-2K   No Walkthrough By Kozmala: I've been hired to retrieve four ancient Talismans for a rich collector, Lord Turell. The Talismans are buried in a Tomb underneath the graveyard in an abandoned part of the city. Should be easy, although Turell has hired others before me. None of them have been seen since. Even the Hammers are rumoured to have tried. According to Turell, a local collector named Morgan had translated some of the texts written by the ancient Masters. These Masters dabbled in the arcane and legend would have us believe the Talismans are protected by this ancient power. Morgan's translations should help me defeat this power. Turell has provided a map of the area. My first stop should be Morgan's museum, then the local Weaponsmith to stock up. My funds are low and Turell will only pay on delivery. Maybe the Church will have some supplies I can use.

Update on Stronghold - 10:16:53 AM - Jyre/Dash

The newly released fan mission Stronghold is now available for download directly from The Circle. In addition a link has been added to author JohnEric's site where up-to-date news on the mission is available. JohnEric would also like to issue the following challenge to anyone who plays Stronghold. The challenge is, what happened to the god's sword after the Hammers got it? Then again ... DID the Hammers get it? He also adds: Usually, most thieves prefer not to take up another's theme. However, although I made a few alterations due to limitations and liberties, the sword Shieldbreaker really isn't my idea. Fred Saberhaggen created it, and I am using it by way of tribute. Besides, his swords are just too cool.

CoT Chapter Seven - 9:51:56 AM - Jyre/Dash

The seventh installment of Correspondence of Thieves is now available to read. Tests of Fortitude begins with Nightfall's personal log: "Yesterday was quite a day. After we got underway, the Hammerite task force made about three miles progress, working from midday, to midnight. The weather was fair, though quite hot and damp, and the forest was mostly submissive. They let me travel home for the night, thankfully, and while on my way, I met with a Keeper. "He told me I was following too many paths, or something like that. He also told me it was dangerous. I'm sure he meant how I have come to be known not only as the Emissary to the Master Builder, but also as the Patron Saint of Thieves. If the givers of the former title discovered the latter designation, there would be hell to pay. Oh well, I had kept it under wraps for quite some time now, and I didn't foresee myself getting careless any time soon. Still, if one of the Keepers made himself known to me, it must have been for a good reason, other than to state the blindingly obvious. I'd find out soon enough, I suppose.

Oh Father, by The Arabundi - 6:40:35 AM - Jyre/Dash

Oh Father is the second piece of art to enter our archives today. This piece was presented to us by The Arabundi, and is definately worth a look!

FMP, by Karras - 6:31:05 AM - Jyre/Dash

Karras has created a new piece of fan art, this one's for all the hardworking people at the FMP. FMP was rendered using various textures, such as chrome and fog, and glow layers. Thanks Karras!

Tuesday, August 01, 2000

Thief License Purchased? - 11:41:13 PM - Saam

psst...our spies have reported that the Thief license has quite possibly been purchased.. it is not yet known by whom it has been purchased (other details is also unknown), so keep in touch for further information.

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