Square Enix and Amazon.com announce Thief Mod Contest

[demagogue]

If it turns out contest submissions get IP clearance, it makes sense to start a Thief flavored FM, or even an original mission remake, make enough for a video for the contest, and then you still have time to finish it up afterwards and it keeps the clearance. If it turns out later the FM itself doesn't get clearance, then I think it's easy to just pull out the Thief-IP parts and have it a normal TDM FM. My point is, I think it's worth trying for anyone thinking about it.

 

Edit: That isn't legal advice, BTW. I'd repeat the 'at your own risk' until something is in writing, but I think as a tactic it could be clever to start something now to take the opportunity, even if it'd take longer than the time to submit, and you can finish it later or easily change if the IP becomes an issue.

[Bikerdude]

I've been the trying to get a hold of komag so we can finish that remake of Baffords that he did ages ago.

[ungoliant]

biker did you read the legal mumbo jumbo about how TDM team members, family of, and affiliates cannot win the contest?

 

could have changed though. with all this adding and removing garbage thats been going on, its possible that it was only a clause when the team was supposed to be part of the judging.

Edited February 22, 2014 by ungoliant

[Bikerdude]

That dosent apply anymore.

[Vae]

Why is The Dark Mod involved?

 

The Dark Mod was born in the Thief community, and was created and supported by Thief fans. If something is good for the Thief community, then The Dark Mod is happy to be a part of it.

 

Except that NuThief is not good for the THIEF community, and NuThief will never be embraced by the THIEF community...and is likely to become the laughingstock of the franchise. So why would TDM be happy to be a part of it?

 

Is it really worth associating with some uninspired, substandard derivative, simply because the name Thief is slapped on it?...Something that runs in opposition to a design philosophy that classic THIEF and TDM both share, aspire to, and fight for?

 

It's also nice to have The Dark Mod officially recognized by the owners of the Thief franchise.

 

Don't be fooled by false friendly faces...The only reason they are "recognizing" TDM, is because of a marketing tactic they wish to employ, to boost sales at the optimum time right before the release of NuThief...They are only using TDM for cold calculated purposes, in order to buy favor from certain community leaders, with the desire of affecting community disposition...not because they share any love or truth with the design philosophy that makes classic THIEF and TDM great.

Edited February 22, 2014 by Vae

[jtr7]

................

Edited February 24, 2014 by jtr7

[Springheel]

Except that NuThief is not good for the THIEF community, and NuThief will never be embraced by the THIEF community...and is likely to become the laughingstock of the franchise. So why would TDM be happy to be a part of it?

 

Even if the above were true, so what? The contest has nothing to do with the new Thief game, other than the fact that Square Enix obviously wants to grab some media cycles with it. The contest is recognizing and rewarding work done with the original three games and TDM. It's giving people free copies of Thief: Gold. It's informing people about the existence of a vibrant thief modding community they might not otherwise know about.

 

Those are all positive things, regardless of your thoughts about Square Enix or the new Thief.

[Araneidae]

It's giving people free copies of Thief: Gold.

Unfortunately, only if you're in the USA. I've tried.

[Springheel]

Yeah, that's a bummer.

 

 

Why can't people outside the US enter?

 

I agree that's unfortunate. The Thief community is world-wide. As far as I know, the limitation is due to the involvement of the US division of Amazon, who is providing a lot of the prizes. It seems that different divisions of Amazon support contests only in their own regions. There may be future announcements on this point, however.

[SneaksieDave]

I'd certainly say the contest is a last-minute effort to drum up interest in their game among the community that has spent more than 15 years with Thief. That doesn't mean it's all bad or all good in terms of intention, and in fact it seems a little desperate, but in the end, their game will stand, or not, on its own two legs, independent of the Thief series and TDM. I have a feeling it will sell enough that they'll be justified in the eyes of the publisher. Early videos with over a million hits (and thousands of likes) suggest it, as does the reception of DX:HR. Many of the 15+ year players might not like it at all, though (from video previews, I currently have no interest in it), but there will be a ton of console players wanting their first bite of it.

 

What confuses and bugs me a little about this contest, though, is the premise of it. It's nice to acknowledge modders of T1,2, and 3 and TDM (although it's not needed -- the community has accomplished far more for Thief than they have or ever will). It's great to stir up activity in the modding scene (if it succeeds in doing that). However, I feel it's very strange to use modding of a game that's 15 years old (with free copies handed out of the game that is not even the one most edited -- T2 holds that distinction), to drum up interest in their new game which will be for a different audience and almost definitely will not include a level editor and likely will not be very mod-able. Has that policy changed recently? Or might the contest help them to decide whether or not they officially support editing of Thief 4? If there's been any word on it, I don't know it. It can only help their cause in the end, I'd say. Those interested will still buy the game and DLC regardless of FMs, and FMs are what kept Thief so hot for so long.

 

It'll be interesting to see where this goes, whether it prompts the release of editing tools, or whether it's just an attempt to align themselves and their game with successful modding communities.

Edited February 22, 2014 by SneaksieDave

[RavenShore]

It says "Your entries may be based on Thief Gold, truly a great source of inspiration." It doesn't say anything about using Thief 2 or The Dark Mod. Then, at the bottom, it just says "To get the Dark Mod, voted PC Gamers Mod Of The Year in 2013, or for more information on how to create a mod, visit thedarkmod.com." Whoever put this press release out made it sound really confusing. Tbh, if you're going to use Thief over TDM, you're more than likely going to use Dromed 1.21, because that's the most recent version, and it's for T2. So why are they pimping Thief Gold?

Because it has the word Gold in it, and they attracted to that like a moth to a flame?

[Springheel]

I feel it's very strange to use modding of a game that's 15 years old (with free copies handed out of the game that is not even the one most edited -- T2 holds that distinction), to drum up interest in their new game which will be for a different audience and almost definitely will not include a level editor and likely will not be very mod-able.

 

Remember when you're dealing with large companies like this that there can be a significant difference between the original intention behind something, and the end result after it goes up the ladder through the legal department, the marketing department, and various levels of bureaucratic oversight, not to mention another big company (Amazon) who gets its say as well.

 

The Thief:Gold element was a surprise to me too. They were originally going to provide something different, which would have generated a lot more excitement.

[Deadlove]

The Thief:Gold element was a surprise to me too. They were originally going to provide something different, which would have generated a lot more excitement.

 

Are you at liberty to disclose what was originally planned to be provided?

[Springheel]

I don't know.

 

But anyone with any history in the Thief editing community could guess.

[demagogue]

A representative actually made a kind of announcement a few weeks ago, which is why I think it's public information now, but it's ambiguous enough I don't feel like testing it. But yeah, you could guess what they'd release that would give them the idea to have a modding contest (as opposed, e.g., to just an FM contest).

[lost_soul]

Yeah, but... Thief Gold kicks ass! I like some of the aesthetics in that game much better than T2, for example the sounds, the guard vocals, the different enemy types, etc. I would love to see some more Thief Gold *missions*, not video clips...

[brethren]

I don't know.

 

But anyone with any history in the Thief editing community could guess.

 

What, so that means that part is just dead now, and won't ever happen?

[Springheel]

I have no idea what happened to that part of it.

[Springheel]

//A representative actually made a kind of announcement a few weeks ago, which is why I think it's public information//

 

Where was this?

[New Horizon]

On the EM forums. One of the Mods hinted at it.

[Nacht7]

So... how many submissions have their been into this contest?

Has anyone here signed up for it? I couldn't even if I wanted too, since I don't live in the US.

[Sotha]

Is this really for US only? They gotta be kidding, right?

 

I'm part of THEM, sadly.

 

I have a neat idea, and could maybe do it, but without incentive... Well no.

 

Like the finnish saying goes: "Pitäkää tunkkinne."

[Bikerdude]

With regard to my entry, I don't care if I dont get anything - the best thing on there is a gaming pc and that is not much better than the one I already have. Worse case senario, I get someone to submit it on my behalf.

[Sotha]

Hm.

 

I, on the other hand, would love see the foolish exclusion of the rest of the world to backfire and result in a ridiculously low amount of interest in their contest.

 

The exclusion really is sort of a middle finger to the international community, don't you think?

[Melan]

It is not a real surprise after region-coded DVDs and content owners locking much of the world out of looking at their crappy Youtube videos (!).

 

OTOH, you should always build fan missions because you want to build them, not because someone offers you some toy for it. Even if I have won two custom titles and a boxed copy of Thief Gold in the bargain, what matters is the missions I have created.