Release Date...

[Rottenberry]

I was just wondering if you guys got a release date scheduled, for perhaps a demo of TDM, or somethin. I mean, I don't want you guys to rush the mod just to make a demo, take your time, but I mean, do you guys got any predictions on when an upcoming demo or alpha of TDM might be released?

[Dram]

In another thread, New Horizon said about 1 year for the full toolset.

 

--Dram

[Springheel]

If you're wondering when you might be able to start playing The Dark Mod fan missions, that will be at least a year away, I'm guessing. A basic version of the tools will probably be available before then, however. FM authors will be able to start designing missions before the tools are completely done and all the features finalized.

[bad marine ass]

It's cool to take your time, a lot of mods/TCs, including mine, are in progress but taking things real slow

 

It's not like the world's going to be overrun by mutant lions tomorrow . What's important isn't a quick release, but rather a quality product

[sparhawk]

We plan a developer milestone some time not TO far away, but of course this depends on many things and is only a developer milestone. But you can be sure that we will release as soon as it is done.

[Guest Guest]

You guys can take your time with the mod, just finish it in the end so we all dont get dissapointed

 

I heard that the mod will include rope arrows and other T1/T2 equipment...I just wanna know wether you guys will add in a sword(not a shortsword) cause i got quite sick of the little dagger in Thief 3/TDS in which I couldnt use to block an enemy's attack its just so darn small(even if its an ideal thief weapon in some ways)

 

If you guys are gonna include the sword could u please make it a long one?

[sparhawk]

The Dark Mod

[oDDity]

Personally I don't think he should carry a sword at all. He isn't going for a fight, and couldn't possibly win a sword firght against trained swordsmen in armour anyway.

If we absolutely HAVE to include one to apease the masses, it'll either be short or broadsword, not a long sword - it's just too cumbersome for a thief.

THe dagger is right out of the question. THe only use for a dagger is gratuitous stealth kills, and our thief is even less of a homicidal maniac than he is a fighter.

[Vadrosaul]

Personally I don't think he should carry a sword at all. He isn't going for a fight, and couldn't possibly win a sword firght against trained swordsmen in armour anyway.

If we absolutely HAVE to include one to apease the masses, it'll either be short or broadsword, not a long sword - it's just too cumbersome for a thief.

THe dagger is right out of the question. THe only use for a dagger is gratuitous stealth kills, and our thief is even less of a homicidal maniac than he is a fighter.

Well said

[Fingernail]

There was a lot of opposition in the wider Thief community to the inclusion of a dagger only in Thief DS. We are appealing to exactly that demographic: the wider Thief community.

[_Atti_]

well in old thief if you gone mad because of some situations you could have draw your shortsword out and go on a rampage..

another useful thing was to hit a metal door with it to mke some noises..

but in t3...that dagger was useless..and except the animation it was the same as BJ..

[New Horizon]

Whenever I finished playing Thief in the past, I always enjoyed going back and having a little rampage session. Having the sword was fun. It wasn't necessarily an object for killing, it was for defense. I could block blows. The dagger, well....pretty straight forward what that was used for. It's an instrument of death, not defense. Didn't much care for that.

[Dram]

Whenever I finished playing Thief in the past, I always enjoyed going back and having a little rampage session.  Having the sword was fun.  It wasn't necessarily an object for killing, it was for defense.  I could block blows.  The dagger, well....pretty straight forward what that was used for.  It's an instrument of death, not defense.  Didn't much care for that.

 

LOL. I tried swordfighting in Thief 2, against the hammers. Absolutely impossible (unless you circle strafed ) But that's just me. I'm a ghoster, not a fighter, but I still think that a sword should be included (if a certain guard gets you really, REALLY pumped up, it's better to vent it on him in a game then the computer screen or case).

 

But the most fun I had with Thief was when I installed the "Ultimate Difficulty Mod". Bloody hard. In the shadows if a guard came within about 2 metres, he'd see you, also, you lit up heaps when you moved a bit.

Edited January 31, 2005 by Dram

[oDDity]

I don't agree with this endless choice demanding nonsense.

If you play chess, you don't whinge and cry becasue you can't move rooks diagonally. You have to play within the rules of the game. If chess had no rules and you could do anything you wanted, it would be a complete waste of time, and cease to be a game. You have plently of choice of which moves to make within the rules.

The same goes for games. We set the rules, the boundarues and in non-RPGs we also set the character. You can play it whatever way you like within these limits, but there's no point complaining because 'damn it all, but I wanted to do the complete mirror opposite of what this character would do, and run in and sword fight all the guards instead, this isn't fair, I'm not being given any choices, etc'

[Ishtvan]

I don't think having something like a 25-50% chance (if you're good) to kill one guard in a one-on-one battle is "giving too many choices."

 

Surving two guards at once should be much less likely though, maybe 5%. I don't mean that these numbers are hardcoded in ... just that's about how it should go when we balance everything. That seems consistent with the spirit of the earlier games, that let you maybe kill one guard before his buddies come to kick your ass

Edited February 1, 2005 by Ishtvan

[oDDity]

Why would you, as a thief who wantes to avoid combat, be swordfighting a guard in the first place? That's what your flashbombs are for.

..and of course, if you were 'good', you wouldn't have been caught in the first place.

[Ishtvan]

You can't prepare for everything. Sometimes you have to improvise. Sometimes you have to improvise 6 inches of steel through someone's eye. By being 'good,' I meant of course you as a player had learned to make optimum use of your shortsword in combat.

[oDDity]

If as a player, you're good enough at stealth, you'll never have to use your sword in combat. If you do find yourself in combat, it's because you failed. When youi do fail and are cornered, if you're not even good enough to escape from the situation without resorting to the sword, then you should just let the guard kill you and start again, admitting your defeat.

[Macsen]

It's all about choice. Those who don't want to use the sword can ignore it. Every time I'm caught I always have a fun sword fight with the guards before reloading. With practice you can get quite good at blocking and stabbing.

[New Horizon]

So, our Thief should be complacent and want to die just because he got caught? By that rationale, I shouldn't have run away from school bullies every time they cornered me in the schoolyard when I was a kid. Best to take my beating, because if I get caught..obviously I deserve to be beaten. For sure. Yeah, I'll buy that for a dollar.

[oDDity]

Our character wouldn't get caught, it's the player who get's caught.

In essence, the sword is a crutch for incompetent players.

[Ishtvan]

I hate to use the buzzword 'immersion,' but it is more immersive when, in a game, you know you can do stuff that you would do in reality. If one was sneaking around and were caught in RL, I doubt they'd just say "well, you got me" and let the guard stab them to death while looking for the 'quickload' button.

[Springheel]

If I can paraphrase from the T2 instruction manual..."as a thief you are always one misstep away from being caught. For those moments, you have a sword of your own..."

 

Assuming players are never going to make a misstep is unrealistic, especially if we've done our job and made the AI challenging.

 

Assuming that the *character* would never make a misstep would make him either deluded or a superhero.

[New Horizon]

The sword isn't for incompetant players, it's for players who haven't yet learned how to master the gameplay. We all didn't just pop out of the womb as "Masters of Stealth". Personally, I don't have the time to spend hour upon hour ghosting a single level. I don't see why this is still being discussed. You either use the sword or you don't. It makes no difference to the person who never uses a sword. Personally, I use it if I'm forced to, but I'm certainly not offended by the idea that someone may never use a sword or any other weapon. I could care less, it's me playing not them.

[oDDity]

I think it's more immersive when you don't play against the type of character you're controling. If you're cornered, you use flashbombs to escape, you don't stand and fight. If you've used all your flashbombs already because you've been cornered so many times you're a twat, then you shouldn't really be playing this sort of game.

Stick to teh shuters with they're simpil rools.