Dark news for thief 4..

[Springheel]

I thought I read that the hands are only out when crouching (and when "interacting" like coming to a wall or door, etc), so if you stood up and walked they are down, but now I'm not sure the source on that.

 

No, they seem to be up all the time. You just notice it more when you're crouching or looking down. Strangely, your empty hands float in front of you even when you supposedly have a weapon equipped.

 

It also looks like your hands get pulled off screen before any other hand animation (like grabbing loot) plays, which makes me wonder why the hell they're there in the first place; seems like you could just skip the floating and play the animations only when needed.

[AluminumHaste]

I wouldn't mind mirror's edge hands, those were done well.

[MacD11]

Hopefully, classic mode is still on the cards...

 

http://gamefreaks365...le.php?sid=4724

 

Im pretty sure it is if it was only announced a few months ago, thats not really that long considering the game comes out in 2014.

[Fidcal]

I thought I saw a brief section without hands in the vid at IGN.

[Goldwell]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=7oxBGng_Xmw#t=9444s

 

This is very interesting basically they say that the side screen fog is still in development so I guess (I hope) they will tweak that, the red eye that pops up over alerted guards can be turned off completely so you can listen for the sounds and watch their body language, focus can be turned off completely as well. I have to say after learning about all of that I am feeling much more excited for the game, at first I was rather disappointed but it could actually be a really good game.

 

I know a lot of people didn't like Thief 3 that were fans of Thief 1 and 2 but I actually really enjoyed all of them equally so I guess you have to be a little bit open to change and it seems like the people working on this Thief reboot are very passionate about the game so it could turn out quite well.

 

I guess time will tell

Edited June 13, 2013 by TylerVocal

[jtr7]

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

Edited February 19, 2014 by jtr7

[Springheel]

This is very interesting basically they say that the side screen fog is still in development

 

Well, assuming you saw the same thing I did, they just say that _everything_ is still in development. They didn't say anything specifically about changing the shroud (nor did they explain why the hell it's necessary when you already have a tiny icon in the corner giving you the _exact same information_).

 

I posted some detailed observations on TTLG already:

 

New observations:

 

 

Negative:

-- arrows can go through helmets, apparently

-- you can jump down on on someone and punch them in the face about ten feet away from a dog and he'll go back to sleep

-- flaming oil patches from TDS are back

-- swoop is "really powerful" and can be used to go around corners without being seen (no comment about making any extra noise for moving so quickly)

-- when asked if the shroud was a "work in progress", the devs hesitated and said noncommitally that "everything is a work in progress"

-- you can "press R1 to takedown" guards who are alert and searching for you

-- when you select a "throwable" a blue arc tells you where it will land before you throw it

-- you have a cross-hair when drawing the bow that changes size the longer you aim

-- collecting poppies recharges your focus

 

 

Positive:

-- there is a weapon/inventory category called "throwable", which bottles go into.

-- you can "disable focus completely" so you won't have to use it at all

-- flashing red eyes above "hostile" guards can be turned off

-- abrupt changes in the environment will alert guards

-- guards will relight lights like in TDM

-- lockpicking has a very minimal HUD...a few circles underneath the lock, apparently you only see the inside of the lock when using focus?

-- combat is "very very simple", and is "not what Garrett is all about"

-- you "go into your inventory" to use resources

-- water arrows were "renamed" as water arrows (to please the fans, was the implication)

-- this is a "pre-alpha" demonstration

-- there will be different difficulty levels that affect complexity of gameplay

-- you can switch things on and off to suit your gameplay style

[Goldwell]

-- lockpicking has a very minimal HUD...a few circles underneath the lock, apparently you only see the inside of the lock when using focus?

 

I thought that was very cool as well but personally I would prefer to see inside the lock when lock picking, I thought it looked really cool and to me it looks harder than whatever else they were doing with the circles (but that is just a matter of personal preference I guess).

 

-- this is a "pre-alpha" demonstration

 

WHAT?! pre-alpha? how far behind on this game are they? :/ I don't know that much about game development but is it possible to take something from pre-alpha to release within 6 - 18 months? And it be good/not rushed?

[Springheel]

I found it odd that they called it pre-alpha as well. It gave the impression of being further along than that; so either they faked it to make things seem like they're further along than they are, or lots of what we saw was a placeholder. Or the dev who said that was just being overly cautious.

[Melan]

Could it be the infamous 'vertical slice' they wasted immense time, money and effort on?

[Goldwell]

Could it be the infamous 'vertical slice' they wasted immense time, money and effort on?

 

I think that was the bordello level if memory serves me correct.

[Springheel]

Here's a version where you can hear the game much better.

 

 

Some of the dialogue makes me cringe. "I don't want to frickin' die."

"Frickin'?" They're using the term "fricken'"?? That's even worse than just going with blatantly modern swearing.

 

Also, is anyone else noticing that the gameplay footage of this level seems to be virtually identical, but with very minor differences? For example, in one version I've seen, the gaurds walk through each other between two crates, but in this version they walk through each other at the corner of one of them. In both versions, the player alerts a dog in exactly the same way, but in one version you see a guard open a pair of shutters, and another you don't.

 

I wonder if this is a lot more scripted than it looks.

[GameDevGoro]

...

I wonder if this is a lot more scripted than it looks.

 

I think it's scripted enough. You'll get minor changes, but the broad strokes are probably scripted.

[Melan]

It might be scripted if most of the subsystems (target recognition, AI behaviour, sound prop, whatever) aren't working properly yet. Someone who knows the gaps may play the level just the way it's intended to work, without going into places or doing things where it may crash or produce weird behaviour.

[grayman]

It would be interesting to watch a non-staff-member play the demo. Stephan did say in his talk, "... if you have time later to try it out yourself".

[Springheel]

Yes, I wonder if they're playing that sequence though? Someone posted responses to a 30-min play session they had at E3 and talked about the scripted burning house escape, which sounds like the brothel demo-level.

[jaxa]

I've heard some criticism of the brothel, but didn't T2X do that first?

[7upMan]

-- when you select a "throwable" a blue arc tells you where it will land before you throw it

 

Actually, this is a bonus for me. I have always struggled to find out the right arc when throwing stuff. When you can save freely, you can save just before throwing and then try as long as it takes to get it right. But it is a nuisance to me.

[Melan]

I've heard some criticism of the brothel, but didn't T2X do that first?

Not only that, but Dishonored also had a brothel level. The two games apparently share a lot of concepts, except Dishonored is a pretty inspired game in its own way, and Thief 4 doesn't seem to be.

[Springheel]

Actually, this is a bonus for me. I have always struggled to find out the right arc when throwing stuff.

 

It's a lot more hand-holding than I like, but hopefully it can be turned off.

[ERH+]

Hmm maybe your interpretation is going a bit to far. There is a lot of fast sex in Witcher, makers didn't hesitate to use it as a "adulthood proof" in marketing, yet story is smart and mature regardless of such cheap baits.

We don't know much about overall mood, ways of narration and character development, and even some corny lines from Garrett means just that actor didn't wear his skin yet, and stretch it for exercise. It is just (unfinished) mechanics, I like Thief Deadly Shadows even if technically it is a bit morbid thief.

Edited June 13, 2013 by ERH+

[Springheel]

I wonder if this is a lot more scripted than it looks.

 

Hmm, looks like I might have been on to something:

 

 

"the last thing I played was Thief 4 which is not good... I hope it's just really early. It was really rough... Brad the demo we saw at GDC, zero way to replicate that way of playing that game in the version they were showing. I have seen the difference between developer run demos and what you get to play. It came across, what they showed at GDC... lying is a bold term, but it is disingenuous what they showed to us at GDC versus what the players are actually able to do."

[Goldwell]

Hmm, looks like I might have been on to something:

 

I am unsure about this but what is the major problem with a scripted world? aren't all game worlds scripted technically?

[Springheel]

am unsure about this but what is the major problem with a scripted world? aren't all game worlds scripted technically?

 

Scripted means that the player isn't in control. Specific actions are going to happen whether the player likes it or not. It's not the same as "programmed", which means setting up a series of rules and letting the player take actions within those rules. Scripted events are not bad in and of themselves, but when the majority of your environment is scripted, it creates the "movie on rails" feeling.

 

In this case, however, I was talking about the gameplay footage we were shown. Everything happened almost exactly the same every time..the player put out the same lights, killed the same AI, went the same path, caused a search at the same spot. Based on that and the quote above, it seems like the gameplay demo was "scripted"...meaning it wasn't really gameplay, it was a movie pretending to be gameplay.

[stumpy]

slightly off track but the arrows in the demo don't seem to be affected by gravity, they just go straight to the target, like the fire arrows in thief 1 and 2.

i think the sequences are scripted because whoever is playing isn't looking where they are going, you would normally look out where all the guards are and what directions they are going in, and the player is just moving into position without checking. So either the guards have set patrol routes and the player already knows them. or ai targetting is getting turned off when the player moves, which is something a script would do.