The Glade 4.0

Have just finished getting the two relics that the Keepers want - pretty sure I haven't yet reached the point where most reviewers say the story really starts to kick in.

I've already gotten used to most of the quirks and am starting to develop a bit of immersion. Not quite sure why so many people hated the "hub". I actually like it more than the missions. Then again, I've got a thing for sandbox games.

Leaning against doors to eavesdrop is one of the things I miss most from 1 & 2. That and rope arrows.
At this point, I think my biggest disappointment is the AI. It's never been perfect, but it seems worse in this installment.

• I've seen a thug murder a citizen, then act startled at the sight of the corpse and start searching shadows for the murderer.
• I've seen a guard open a door to answer a citizen's cry for help, then act surprised to see the door in that state and start searching shadows for whomever opened it.
• Everyone seems to notice when you pick their pockets, but all they ever do is complain about the theft and then go about their business as if nothing happened - even when what you stole was a magic-user's wand.

Best by far, though, has got to be Crowley, the jeweler.
He was in the foyer, trying to fast-talk his way out of a death sentence at the hands of two thugs while I was sneaking about in his showroom.
Standing in a deep shadow that lay between the foyer and a counter on which there was a candle and a couple of loot items, I snuffed the candle and swiped the loot.
Nobody noticed me standing in the shadow despite the fact that I was obscuring their line of sight to a light source, and nobody noticed me extinguishing the light source, but Crowley came in to investigate as soon as I grabbed the loot.
When he failed to discover the reason for the disappearance of his valuables, he returned to the foyer where he and the thugs simply stood staring at each other as though they had not mere moments ago been discussing "murder and a bite of dinner".

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Go back to zero, take a pill, and get well ~ Lemmy Kilmister

Yeah, I liked the hub system too. I liked missions that were in the city, like the mission "Assassins!" in Thief 1 (where you tail your would-be assassins back to a mansion) as well as "Life of the Party" in T2 (where you take the "Thieve's Highway" over to Angel Watch). The hub grounded the game to the city moreso for me.

The new Thief game the AI is much smarter (still not perfect, but better). They notice when lights get extinguished. They notice your shadow.

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Les Zombis et les Loups-Garous!

The mechanics for these are also in T:DS, it's just that the detection distance for extinguished lights and open doors/chests is really small. As for shadow detection, I only once encountered a scenario in which I was casting a shadow that was more detectable than I was. A guard was standing with his back to a moonlit window and just barely had time to say 'hey' before my blackjack prevented him from finishing his thought.

According to Steam:

• Thief Gold - 44 hrs to complete
• Thief II: The Metal Age - 40 hrs to complete
• Thief: Deadly Shadows - 43 hrs to complete

Ready for the next chapter

Btw, I both loved and hated Robbing the Cradle. It was a brilliantly designed level that did a very good job of loosening my bowels but I wasn't exactly appreciative of the designers' efforts while huddling in partial shadow, hoping not to be discovered by the inmates.

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Go back to zero, take a pill, and get well ~ Lemmy Kilmister

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Les Zombis et les Loups-Garous!

"Something's different about you. Wait--I've got it! Ya don't stink of sweat and piss."

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Go back to zero, take a pill, and get well ~ Lemmy Kilmister

Just finished, and ... I don't think I like the way the story ended

Also, just learned about Focus Upgrades. I bet those would've made my life a lot easier along the way.

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Go back to zero, take a pill, and get well ~ Lemmy Kilmister

I'll have to get back to this game. Haven't had the time to play since baby.

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Les Zombis et les Loups-Garous!

So, "Focus Upgrades" are just that. I saw them briefly mentioned in a trophy hunter video and because they're labeled with names like "Dexterity", "Marksmanship", "Speed", and "Stealth", I thought they were generic. With one exception, though, they're only of any benefit when actually using the Focus Mode, which I disabled for my first playthrough, so I wasn't missing out on anything.

Interesting note : I found certain aspects of the game to be almost too challenging with everything turned off.
I couldn't solve picture frames or bookshelves without Frame-Search Helper because there are no other visual cues to guide you the way there are with lockpicking, so I turned that back on almost immediately. After being stuck for 15 minutes, I actually watched someone's "Let's Play" video just to figure out how to get out of the one-way alley in Chapter 1 because without the Interaction Prompt, I didn't know how to squeeze through the stacks of boxes I left that option turned off, though, figuring now I knew what to look for it wasn't likely I'd get stuck like that again. Of course, the final chapter proved me wrong and I ended up watching a YouTube video again to figure out what I was missing.

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Go back to zero, take a pill, and get well ~ Lemmy Kilmister

Yeah I was stuck in that exact same spot, Shel. I spent at least 20 - 30 minutes trying to figure out what I was missing or if I was encountering a bug.

I relented and turned on prompts: "Squeeze through this by pressing spacebar!" or something. Sigh.

Although I was able to do picture frame searches without them, I don't recall immediately but there was some slight visual cue. I just had to go slowly. But knowing which pictures you could search? That was not apparent.

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Les Zombis et les Loups-Garous!

Forgot to add, if you like original Thief, then you may enjoy this: The Dark Mod. An engine based on Doom 3 (I believe) that was designed from the ground up for a Thief-like experience. It's 100% free.

Essentially it's: By Thief fans, for Thief fans. Lots of fan-made missions have already been made for it as well. And if you've never delved into the Thief community, I can assure you that the fan-made stuff more often than not outshines the original stuff by leaps and bounds. The fans are extremely passionate and it shows in their work.

Edit: I was sort of right. It was originally a total conversion for Doom 3 but now uses it's own engine and is completely separate from Doom 3. It exists by itself and requires no other games or files to be installed to run.

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Les Zombis et les Loups-Garous!