Thief 4 is trash.

[Lux]

I saw some related post about horrid fps and it was either a CPU bottle neck (and shouldn't have been but the dual core CPU was maxed out 99%) or it was a case of turning off SSAO because it appears there's something not right with it.

 

People have reported that their frames fluctuate from 1-60 with it on and frames are completely stable at higher fps with it off.

[Springheel]

Springheel if you're hating the game now then it's going to get much worse.

 

That's not encouraging. Though it's hard to know how much of my distaste is coming from visual glitches. I can't remember my settings off-hand, so I'll have to look them up when I get home.

[kyyrma]

That's not encouraging. Though it's hard to know how much of my distaste is coming from visual glitches. I can't remember my settings off-hand, so I'll have to look them up when I get home.

 

Relentless stuttering and visual glitches seem to be a pretty common complaint. I also had poor performance until I switched to the 32-bit executable. Not sure why it helped, but it steadied my framerate a lot.

 

If you have an AMD GPU, they just released new beta drivers specifically for Thief. I haven't had the chance to try them out, but a lot of users have said they drastically improve performance.

[Macsen]

Haven't followed the game's development, but just read a few reviews - sounds awful. Thief in name only.

 

Onwards and upwards TDM.

[Springheel]

What kind of system are you running this on?

 

Turns out my computer is below the minimum specs. My CPU (Intel Core i3-3220 @ 3.30Ghz) is passable, but my geforce 8800 gts is slightly below the minimum specs they list for video cards.

[jtr7]

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

Edited March 6, 2014 by jtr7

[Lux]

So yeah I went ahead and bought the game seeing how it had surround/eyefinity support. Load times are quick on a Samsung 840pro 256gb (i only mentioned the size for comparable read/write rates).

 

If you can't be bothered to look up system specs and to preface this post:

 

i7 2600k Sandy on water @4.4Ghz

780gtx (1x)

1920x1200 TN panels (3x) Res: 5916x1200 bezel corrected (which actually looks great with the fov at 110) Menus do not work correctly at this resolution. You have to scan around the screen with the mouse to highlight/click buttons however in-game everything is where it should be and works fine. Keyboard navigation in the menus is recommended using Eyefinity/Surround.

Onboard Realtek 889 hd audio -- game set to "speakers" and Windows set to 5.1 (only options for me in-game were "Speakers" and "Headphones")

Windows 7 x64 --running the game however it runs on its own which I assume is the 64bit .exe? no idea.

 

 

After playing about 58 minutes of the game, until the initial game starting cut-scene ensues at which point the sound totally cut out and there was no way to exit the game so I killed the process. Esc to pause, Esc to resume and nothing else does anything, THANKYOU <3 (sarcasm)

 

Then after trying to reload it, it says there's a patch available... so maybe that fill fix the FIRST cutscene audio and hopefully a host of other audio issues I've read about.

 

FYI, patching the game did not remove my gfx settings, YAY.

 

Launcher is running the following settings:

 

Display

--------------

Fullscreen: ON

Exclusive Fullscreen: off

Resolution: 5916x1200(Surround)

Refresh Rate: -greyed out-

Vsync: OFF

 

Graphics

--------------

Preset: Custom

Texture Quality: Very High

Shadow Quality: Very High

Depth-of-field Quality: Normal (i hate dof)

Texture Filtering Quality: 8x AF

SSAA: OFF ???? (only options are low/high/off)

Screenspace Reflection: ON

Parallax Occlusion Mapping: ON

FXAA: ON

Contact Hardening Shadows: ON

Tessellation: ON

 

Initial game load was right about ~11 seconds. Later load in the level was ~7 seconds.

 

Frame rate minimum was 55, average 60.42, max 65 using Fraps to log for the entire 58 minutes of play. I'll flip on the SSAA later Low/High and test with that also. Currently didn't see any graphical issues.

 

I have not gone back through to where the audio cut out as I'm going to grab some dinner and probaby won't play anymore this evening but I'll update on further issues as I encounter them.

Edited February 27, 2014 by Lux

[AluminumHaste]

SSAA is super sampling anti aliasing. Basically it doubles your resolution then scales it back down to your current resolution, thereby removing jaggies.

 

As you can imagine that is a huge performance hit.

[New Horizon]

Overall, how does the game feel?

[Springheel]

So far? Incredibly clunky movement. Your body actually moves around (complete with footstep noises) when you turn your gaze. And the constant animations when you grab loot or open things are annoying. The setting is decent, if you liked TDS. It basically looks and feels like someone put Dishonored models/animations into updated TDS maps.

 

Lockpicking is pretty good.

 

Garrett's voice is horrible. The NPCs are ok so far (other than Erin, who is also bad).

 

I could see myself getting used to it enough to enjoy myself, except for the inability to read the environment. I have times when I'm standing in a fully lit area, but my gem is black. And other times my gem goes fully bright but I don't know why. Whether that's related to the weird shadow problem above I don't know.

[New Horizon]

Ergh, so it's definitely heavily inspired by TDS then. I just don't know how that happened after all the feedback given on the EM boards years ago. I thought the messages were pretty clear, don't do body awareness if it takes away player control and don't make the mistake of chopped up levels.

[Vae]

It's a mixed bag, and I'll probably have my review up by tomorrow...Once you get used to the movement limitations and how the stealth system works, it becomes better, although still frustrating...I see what they're trying to do here, and some of it actually has yielded some good results, mixed in with the bad...yet, this still should have been its own IP, in a stealth-play world, with its own completely separate lore...and yes, there isn't any relationship with the classic THIEF Universe, at all...just a few names as nods, nothing more.

 

Some quick positives:

 

NuCity jungle-gym design = Good spacial relationships and feel, with all the verticality and intertwining routes...although this fights against all the things you wish you could do, if it weren't for the contextual restrictions. Lots of small loading zones in NuCity, as well...This also becomes very tedious, and works against the multi-layered design, and flow of the game.

 

Chapter 7: The Hidden City...has very good level design...This will be the standout level.

 

There are plenty of negatives, as well...but I'll get into that later.

 

Back into NuVerse I go...See you later.

Edited February 28, 2014 by Vae

[Goldwell]

Just completed the Bank Heist DLC. Was pretty fun actually and some interesting mechanics, i'm interested to see the quality and frequency of FM's they create considering the vast amount of awesome FM's we have available.

 

But I have to say Thief can be a very visually appealing game at times. Here is a screenshot I took when I was approaching the vault doors.

 

Edited February 28, 2014 by Goldwell

[jtr7]

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

Edited March 6, 2014 by jtr7

[Goldwell]

You are very bitter about this game aren't you jtr7?

[lost_soul]

Actually, the "footsteps while you turn in place" sound like a cool idea. In real life, you cannot turn completely around without making some noise. TDS was too forgiving when it came to footsteps because you made NO noise on any surface as long as you moved in a crouch.

 

This makes me think of the spy in TFC, where if you play dead and look around while you're laying there, the other players will see your character still move.

Edited February 28, 2014 by lost_soul

[RavenShore]

Thief 4 is trash... 'nuff said. j/k We shall see as time marches forward, how much of the wreckage can be salvaged.

[Springheel]

Actually, the "footsteps while you turn in place" sound like a cool idea. In real life, you cannot turn completely around without making some noise.

 

In real life, I can turn my head/shoulders more than 180 degrees without moving my feet. Having the player unable to look over their shoulder without turning around is ridiculous IMO.

[Xarg]

After playing ArmA, I often find myself wishing other first person perspective games had the independent head look, it's so useful.

[jtr7]

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

Edited March 6, 2014 by jtr7

[stumpy]

first impression, crap, runs on rails, irratating tutorial, runs on rails again. extreme lag when a cutscene starts, think its actually something wrong with Erin's model, as once she's out of shot the lag goes away, crap, can't see the shadows am supposed to be walking through, loot is unimagnitive in its design and placement (placement as goblet in grass is standing upright, in reality in grass a goblet would be on its side), I've got most of the hud stuff turned off, but it still tells you when to use things like cover, lean, can't seem to get rid of them. left the alert icons on, due to voice acting the guards don't really talk like they are alert. press 'q' to knock out guard but only when the game lets you, even if you are in correct position to knock guard out, if its not scripted as useable there it don't work. The story line starts off straight away, there aren't any random looting job like the first 3 games before the main story kicks in. Lockpicking is piss easy compared to TDM, and there's no fear involved, like in TDM or thief 1 and 2. City Design is cramped and restricted, most AI from what I've seen just stands there blocking routes. its not thief, and the stealth is crap. Even thief 3 was better than this and thats saying something. Thats my feelings up to the first chapter, saved just as I got to the start of 'lockdown'

 

if the 32bit executable cuts down the game lag, how do you run it via steam.

[jtr7]

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

Edited March 6, 2014 by jtr7

[Melan]

Well, his dad is a big Thief fan. He played fan missions and all that.

[jtr7]

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

Edited March 6, 2014 by jtr7

[Lux]

It basically looks and feels like someone put Dishonored models/animations into updated TDS maps. Yes

 

Lockpicking is pretty good. I'm sure the focus with tumblers would be neat but I'm playing with focus off so yeah, its ok.

 

I could see myself getting used to it enough to enjoy myself, except for the inability to read the environment. Agreed

 

I have times when I'm standing in a fully lit area, but my gem is black. And other times my gem goes fully bright but I don't know why. This feels ok on my end