Professor Paul1290

Whenever I try to start the FM called "The Thieves" it crashes as soon as it's finished loading. I have not had any problems with any of the other FMs that I've tried, which so far include: -The Crown of Penitence -The Outpost -The Parcel -Too Late. -Thomas Porter series -No Honor Among Thieves series -Thieves Den series -Lockdown -Return to the City -Some others I can't remember off the top of my head right now... Is there something different about "The Thieves" in particular that would cause it to crash like this? Again, this is the only FM I've had this problem with so far so I guess there must be something different about it. EDIT: Ok, it seems that "Trapped!" does the same thing for me. Not sure if it's related or not though.

I really like how the lighting and the puddles affect how you sneak around in the streets here.

To add to my above post, I feel that the "drop" key (R by default) feels strange to use because it doesn't have that much use in normal gameplay. Right now there are things like dropping the skull in the room in St. Alban's Cathedral (might be a different FM correct me if I'm mistaken) and using the slow matches in The Heart of Lone Salvation that don't feel quite natural and sometimes feel like exceptions to the usual rules because dropping items is used so sparingly otherwise. If the "drop" key brought ordinary items into your inventory (candlesticks, food, small non-loot things, ect.) in addition to pulling things out of it, then would it allow it to be used more frequently in normal gameplay without needing the FM author to allow for it specifically. I think would give players more opportunity to become familiar with its use so it won't feel as strange when an FM requires it. Also I think if players became used to using it then inventory clutter from books and other such things would be less of a concern. I think it would make more sense for items you can already bring in and out of your inventory as well, at least more natural than the "use" key. It took me a while to realize you could put a flashbomb back in my pocket with the use key without dropping it on the floor first because it didn't seem quite right. I actually expected the "use" key to detonate it in my face because it was called a "use" key.

One thing I sometimes end up wishing TDM had was a way to put any reasonably small item in your inventory. I think it would open up some interesting possibilities if players could choose to put reasonably small items in their inventory whether the FM author intended them to or not. However, even more importantly than the above, I think it would present an opportunity to make the behavior of various items more consistent. Right now a lot of very similar items act very differently when frobbed. Books and notes in particular are rather inconsistent in several FMs. Some books and notes are picked up while others are read on the spot. Loot and non-loot items also also act in a way that sometime feels inconsistent, as loot items are automatically collected while non-loot is simply held. I could be alone in thinking this, but I think it hurts the immersion somewhat that such similar (or in some case identical) items act so differently when frobbed and used. If there was a button that places a held item in your inventory then a lot of these items could be handled more consistently. Books and notes could be held and moved around, read with "use" (U key), and put into inventory with the "pocket" key (can't think of a better name for it right now), and this could apply to all books and notes rather than only some. All other relatively small items including loot could be moved around as well as put into your inventory with the "pocket" key. This would allow loot and non-loot items to act more or less the same, at least until they are put into your inventory. On the other hand, I suppose the problems with this would be that it would probably mean having to have another button to worry about and it might differ too much from original Thief games to feel comfortable. Come to think of it perhaps an extra key wouldn't be needed, maybe the "drop" key (R by default) could do this. I think right clicking again already drops the item for things that can be held and moved around so perhaps the R key could be used to place them in your inventory. If I remember correctly the R key just drops the held item, which seems a bit redundant since right clicking already does this.

I replay missions quite often. Sometimes I like to try to refine the way I play to be as stealthy and efficient as possible. Other times I just like to try things out differently or just making up silly extra tasks for myself. For example, "all KO'd guards must be shoved under tables" or "eat all food available and stuff the leftovers in this desk/chest/lockbox".

After trying it a few times with the Blackjack Trainer I'm starting to see where trying to blackjack helmeted AI can be rather frustrating at times. I do feel like I need ideal conditions to reliably blackjack helmeted AI. If the AI starts looking even only slightly off to the side or goes up and down a step it's enough reason for me step back and abort. I don't think this is a bad thing by itself. I think the helmeted AI should be more risky to attempt using the blackjack on to contrast them with the non-helmeted guys. Given ideal conditions (stationary, looking straight, same elevation) I can successfully blackjack them every time. Personally I'm pretty comfortable with the way it is now, but I can see how some people can find this extremely annoying. If you don't have a pretty good sense of where the center of your screen is then trying to blackjack a helmeted AI seems like it can easily become very unreliable. I usually imagine a line going up from the light gem and left from the top of the blackjack and use the point where they would cross in the middle to aim at about the base of the neck and that seems to work pretty well. Also, I can confirm that my knee-jerk reflex when a blackjacking attempt fails (which consists of repeating blackjacking the AI in the face while jumping up and down screaming AAAAAAAAAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHHHH!!) is not a very effective method of self defense.

I'm mostly going off what has occured as I've been playing recently using 1.04. I haven't tried looking out for it intentionally. Unless it's an obviously easy KO (unhelmeted, non-alerted, stationary) I always try to blackjack from directly behind, so I haven't seen the effects of the cone that much. However I did notice that trying to blackjack from above or below, such as when standing on something, can be bit tricky. There was an AI in The Beleaguered Fence that gave me a couple quick-loads worth of trouble with this and I think he was helmeted.

Blackjacking feels pretty comfortable right now. I usually have an easy time with guards that are standing still. Moving guards are tougher but still reasonable. It carries enough risk that I'm encouraged to be more cautious with them, which I think is a good thing.

A couple questions regarding the blackjack and sleeping AI. Is there a reliable way to blackjack a sleeping AI? I seem to have trouble positioning myself in a way that makes the blackjack come down on their heads very well. I usually end up waking them up instead. Also, does putting unconscious AI on beds keep them from alerting other AI? If not, is it possible that such a feature might be added in the future? I have this habit of putting unconscious AI on beds or other cushions. I figure that if I'm going to club them over the head with a blunt object they might as well wake up in a somewhat comfortable position.

I really enjoyed the layout of the mansion as well as the humorous readables. Also: