New Horizon

AMEN to that brother. AMEN!!

Yup, I can confirm that it was a 3D model as well. Before I joined the dark mod I was working on at T2 fan mission. I had been playing with the light gem model in an effort to make a design that was somewhere between T2 and T3.

:lol: Bingo, you said it better in fewer sentences than I could have in twenty posts!!!! That's what I was trying to say in....so many more words. Thanks.

Ahh, but what I'm saying is that it's not meant to unbalance the game. It would be included as a fun immersion adding experience by the fan mission author to allow the character to get the tools he needs to play the mission. It would probably be the top objective of the mission. 1. Stop by the shop to get supplies for the job 2. Make your way to the Builder Cathedral and find a way in. That kind of thing. It wouldn't have to be there for show, but rather as an integral part of the mission...but again, only as an alternate to the pre-mission loading screen that Goldfish submitted. If the mission couldn't believeably use a shop, or the FM designer doesn't want it...use the original style preloading screen.

I'm not familiar with the whole coding aspect of this...so I'm kind of talking in riddles here. If possible, what I was thinking is that there could be AI created that would be given assigned a shopkeeper mode. It would have to be possible to have a system in place that could simply be applied to items in a shop. The level designer can design any type of shop that he wants within his map, we don't worry about the map. All we would supply are the game mechanics to apply to the items in that store. The player could assign prices and so forth. It's still like a mini game, but it's real time in the mission. Hmmm, I'm having trouble explaining this. LOL It would essentially be no different than in "Life of the party" in Thief 2, where there were houses along Garretts route that he could break into and steal goods. The only difference is that the fan mission designer could apply a value to these goods that would be subtracted from Garretts cash inventory when he interacts with the shopkeeper, or he could just skip out without paying while the shop keeper turns his back.

Yes exactly, just a template. I personally wouldn't want it integrated in any way, but it's a nice option to have in the wings.

Hmmm, I think you are talking about something that would be made part of every persons fan mission. Is that correct? The pregame loading screen would be perfectly suited to most people I'm sure. I was just thinking of some optional mechanics in case the FM writer wanted to add some more detail to a mission that begins downtown by having one or two shops along the way. Mr. Thief could stop into a shop for supplies on his way to the mansion. Sorry if I'm repeating myself, I just want to make sure I get the concept accross correctly in case I'm being vague.

I totally agree with what you're saying. I wasn't very clear in my explanation though. I'm only suggesting that we could setup the mechanics for an ingame shop so that FM players just have to design the architecture and then implement our settings. For example, we could make 3 AI that are specifially shop keepers. The store doesn't have to be part of the map, the tools are there however to make it possible if it works for that designers intent. Perhaps their mission requires the thief to pick up some goods on the way as he passes through a small section on the map. It would be entirely up to the authors whether or not they wanted an ingame shop, or if they wanted to use the old T1 and 2 style pre mission shop screen.

I quite like that concept. Very stylish. I have another suggestion on how a shop might be implemented that I would like to discuss. I wouldn't want to even suggest the shops of T3, they were very repetetive. The idea I had was to make the shops interactive, like a regular building. The fan mission maker could make it part of the map if they wished to have an ingame shop. So, our Thief walks in, shopkeeper mutters a welcome and goes about his business. You pick up a few items, walk over to the shop keeper and maybe hilight the cash register or whatever he has...kaching, your money is taken...."Thank you sir. Have a marvelous day." You leave. Now, there are some other fun elements to be had...as the shop keeper can be like any other AI and can freak out if you try to steal something. If you run out without paying, the dude is going to start screaming and run after you alerting anyone nearby, unless he has his back turned of course. Heh heh. there is also the option of needing the storekeeper to unlock higher priced items that are held in display cases...if money is tight, wait for the shop keeper to go unpack something out back and then pick the lock, steal the goods and run. Anyway, just a lot of loose ideas. I'm sure there could be a lot of gameplay ups and downs. I'm not saying we shouldn't have the loading screen T1 and 2 style shop though...that could be another option for the fan mission makers as i know lots of people have tried to have ingame interactive shops with dromed. I don't know how successful they were though.

Ewwww. Can't wait!!!

I do agree with oDDity in principle, but for this stage of our work the goal is to create a set of editing tools to allow fans to create their own Thief style fan missions. We waited so long for T3 only to have it come out and slowly fizzle, and our dreams of fan missions with it. That unfortunately means we follow the established conventions of a lightgem and other such old school tactics. We can still toggle them off, but they are still there for the fans. One last hurrah shall we say. I would say that this project was born of of 3 equal parts. Necessity, Nostalgia, Love. So, for now I say we stay focussed on the editing tools. I don't mean to come accross like I'm shooting down such ideas. You bring up excellent points and I agree with them. Nothing should stop us from pulling out all the stops for our own campaign should we make one. With that we can deviate and improve as much as we like. When that time comes, I say we blow the lid off this sucker and see what we can do.

Looking great. The face you say? Hmmm, the only thing I can see is that it seems a little too rounded around the chin area. It may need to be firmed up in that respect, made a bit more angular.

I agree Renzatic, it's a complete 180 from what we were leaning towards all along. Somehow though, it really grabs me.

I too had been leaning towards the parchment, but upon seeing the stained glass version...I don't know what to say...it just screams MOOD. I quite like it.

:lol: That damn clickity noise that they made freaked me out. Hmmm....I wonder if my voice actors can pull that one off. That would make an interesting audition. "Make a clickity sound......no no...more saliva..good good!"

Yeah, I know what you mean. Anvils are pretty difficult to make distinguishable since they're basically a block. It shall take a better artist than I to make that distinction I think.

Variation on your theme. What it might look like on a character.

The only thing I truly consider woo are the ghosts, undead...stuff like that. That being said, it has been established that some very strange things exist in the fictional Thief world. As long as it's not earth and exists on some other plane of reality, then I think we should be ok with the creatures and undead....within reason. We don't want an all out Woostock on our hands. Jimmy Hendrix, back from the head? YIKES!!!

I don't know. I like it, I think it could work.

Agreed, there should definately be an option to remove it...but we still have to keep in mind that we are creating an editor for people to create their own Thieflike fan missions. We shouldn't really deviate too far from the course we have set, which is to capture a Thief 1 and 2 style game. Not to be a nag, I just want to make sure we stay focussed. Should we all decide to stick around for a large campaign then I definately want to push the envelope and see what we can do to improve the gameplay in new and interesting ways. For now though, lets give the fans what Eidos won't.

I would definately be interested in taking a look at these templates. I've been wanting to dabble in modelling for awhile myself.

Ahhh, a Davinci fan. Excellent!!

Yeah, I love that zombie. It creeps me out.

Did we ever decide on a name for the mechanists?

Yeah, might be good to have our own more Thiefy zombies as the doom zombies would probably be pretty recognizable as doom zombies. Thief zombies tend to be naked don't they? :lol: