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The Dark Mod/Thief inspirations


Anderson

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So, I wanted to ask, what were in your opinion, from your observations/presumptions the inspiration for the Thief games and respectively our "Dark Mod"?

What were the books, the movies, the stories, the music, anything that inspired this world?

 

It seems so unique, that it's most likely a combination of different things related one way or another to gothic fiction.

 

My personal thought is that we have some things from Edgar Allan Poe's works as well as the Hammerites (the order in the Dark Mod which is not called that way for copyright reasons) seem close to the Inquistion in Spain, which was known to be very oppresive and extremist.

 

But, what else is there?

 

Thank you in advance if you decide to leave your opinion here.

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"I really perceive that vanity about which most men merely prate — the vanity of the human or temporal life. I live continually in a reverie of the future. I have no faith in human perfectibility. I think that human exertion will have no appreciable effect upon humanity. Man is now only more active — not more happy — nor more wise, than he was 6000 years ago. The result will never vary — and to suppose that it will, is to suppose that the foregone man has lived in vain — that the foregone time is but the rudiment of the future — that the myriads who have perished have not been upon equal footing with ourselves — nor are we with our posterity. I cannot agree to lose sight of man the individual, in man the mass."...

- 2 July 1844 letter to James Russell Lowell from Edgar Allan Poe.

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Some background reading:

http://www.ttlg.com/...ad.php?t=143669

http://www.ttlg.com/...nterview/4.html

 

The game started out as an anti-hero game, Dark Camelot where King Arthur was the bad guy and the rebel was the hero. And when it morphed into a stealth game, they still had this ideology of being an anti-FPS ... slow, patient, not only not killing anybody but not even letting the AI know you're there, etc... So I personally think the ideology of an anti-FPS itself gave a lot of inspiration.

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What do you see when you turn out the light? I can't tell you but I know that it's mine.

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Some very obvious sources of inspiration:

  • The Ffahrd and the Grey Mouser short stories by Fritz Leiber (thieves' guilds, the definitive fantasy metropolis setting)
  • Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carrol (Thief's "weird" elements)
  • The Third Man by Carol Reed (visual inspiration for the City and its underground sections, its touch of surrealism and noir characters)
  • Metropolis by Fritz Lang and Thea von Harbou (inspired some of the technology, and much of the Mechanist faction)
  • M by the same (thieves, seedy cities)
  • Advanced Dungeons & Dragons and its Thief class (an inspiration for gameplay and specific mission types)
  • Vampire: the Masquerade - the way "factions" are treated and presented in Thief (and countless other games) owes much to Vampire. One of Thief's main designers, Daniel Thron was affiliated with the people who did V:tM.

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Come the time of peril, did the ground gape, and did the dead rest unquiet 'gainst us. Our bands of iron and hammers of stone prevailed not, and some did doubt the Builder's plan. But the seals held strong, and the few did triumph, and the doubters were lain into the foundations of the new sanctum. -- Collected letters of the Smith-in-Exile, Civitas Approved

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Some very obvious sources of inspiration:


  • Vampire: the Masquerade - the way "factions" are treated and presented in Thief (and countless other games) owes much to Vampire. One of Thief's main designers, Daniel Thron was affiliated with the people who did V:tM.

Did not know that!

Vampire the Masquerade, as in the "Redemption" game or simply the tabletop game & it's books?

"I really perceive that vanity about which most men merely prate — the vanity of the human or temporal life. I live continually in a reverie of the future. I have no faith in human perfectibility. I think that human exertion will have no appreciable effect upon humanity. Man is now only more active — not more happy — nor more wise, than he was 6000 years ago. The result will never vary — and to suppose that it will, is to suppose that the foregone man has lived in vain — that the foregone time is but the rudiment of the future — that the myriads who have perished have not been upon equal footing with ourselves — nor are we with our posterity. I cannot agree to lose sight of man the individual, in man the mass."...

- 2 July 1844 letter to James Russell Lowell from Edgar Allan Poe.

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The tabletop game, since Redemption postdates Thief.

Come the time of peril, did the ground gape, and did the dead rest unquiet 'gainst us. Our bands of iron and hammers of stone prevailed not, and some did doubt the Builder's plan. But the seals held strong, and the few did triumph, and the doubters were lain into the foundations of the new sanctum. -- Collected letters of the Smith-in-Exile, Civitas Approved

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The tabletop game, since Redemption postdates Thief.

Ah, ok.

I just thought you meant Thief 2 (which was as well from 2000) or/and Thief Deadly Shadows.

"I really perceive that vanity about which most men merely prate — the vanity of the human or temporal life. I live continually in a reverie of the future. I have no faith in human perfectibility. I think that human exertion will have no appreciable effect upon humanity. Man is now only more active — not more happy — nor more wise, than he was 6000 years ago. The result will never vary — and to suppose that it will, is to suppose that the foregone man has lived in vain — that the foregone time is but the rudiment of the future — that the myriads who have perished have not been upon equal footing with ourselves — nor are we with our posterity. I cannot agree to lose sight of man the individual, in man the mass."...

- 2 July 1844 letter to James Russell Lowell from Edgar Allan Poe.

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Vampire is heavily responsible for the signature quotes + iconic symbol style of presenting a faction, and setting it apart with a straightforward, relatively rigid ideology which is both social and metaphysical. It is all "Ventures talk and act like this, but Gangrels talk and act like that." The way intros introduce the Hammerites, Pagans or Keepers follow the formula closely, and characters affiliated with these groups tend to conform strongly to their niches. The Vampire connection is also there in the gothic+industrial urban landscape, and maybe (don't quote me here) the industrial tracks. There might have been other sources for the same things, but Vampire was really big in the 90s, so it is not surprising its aesthetic affected Thief.

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Come the time of peril, did the ground gape, and did the dead rest unquiet 'gainst us. Our bands of iron and hammers of stone prevailed not, and some did doubt the Builder's plan. But the seals held strong, and the few did triumph, and the doubters were lain into the foundations of the new sanctum. -- Collected letters of the Smith-in-Exile, Civitas Approved

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Vampire is heavily responsible for the signature quotes + iconic symbol style of presenting a faction, and setting it apart with a straightforward, relatively rigid ideology which is both social and metaphysical. It is all "Ventures talk and act like this, but Gangrels talk and act like that." The way intros introduce the Hammerites, Pagans or Keepers follow the formula closely, and characters affiliated with these groups tend to conform strongly to their niches. The Vampire connection is also there in the gothic+industrial urban landscape, and maybe (don't quote me here) the industrial tracks. There might have been other sources for the same things, but Vampire was really big in the 90s, so it is not surprising its aesthetic affected Thief.

Ah, hm very interesting.

Thanks for telling me about it. It seems that you are very much correct!

"I really perceive that vanity about which most men merely prate — the vanity of the human or temporal life. I live continually in a reverie of the future. I have no faith in human perfectibility. I think that human exertion will have no appreciable effect upon humanity. Man is now only more active — not more happy — nor more wise, than he was 6000 years ago. The result will never vary — and to suppose that it will, is to suppose that the foregone man has lived in vain — that the foregone time is but the rudiment of the future — that the myriads who have perished have not been upon equal footing with ourselves — nor are we with our posterity. I cannot agree to lose sight of man the individual, in man the mass."...

- 2 July 1844 letter to James Russell Lowell from Edgar Allan Poe.

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Kinda out of topic but as I'm playing Ravenloft now (a dark/gothic horror setting for dnd) I easily could imagine a domain with the world of thief in it... It's just too good to pass up as an idea.

Sometimes I want to scream

So long that life escapes

And then I'd shut my eyes

I'd be the angel of disgrace

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^^^ Definitely. I had one of those multi-choice fantasy books that was set in ravenloft, you were a young gipsy man. The fact it is always at night, that people shun strangers, that walking outside is dangerous and confrontation is often deadly for you (unless you find some sort of magical help against all the horrors lurking around) would make it the perfect DnD setting for a darmod mission (inspiration only, because of the whole copyright thing).

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I think Dickens also played a role in the genre of Thief. In Oliver Twist, thieves play a large role in the story,

using stealth.

I have an eclectic YouTube channel making videos on a variety of games. Come and have look here:

https://www.youtube.com/c/NeonsStyleHD

 

Dark Mod Missions: Briarwood Manor - available here or in game

http://forums.thedarkmod.com/topic/18980-fan-mission-briarwood-manor-by-neonsstyle-first-mission-6082017-update-16/

 

 

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I think Dickens also played a role in the genre of Thief. In Oliver Twist, thieves play a large role in the story,

using stealth.

Orhpans?

Oh yeah, definately. Even Garret was an orphan. Kind of realistic too. People did it in Middle Ages, in the Modern Era and people do it now as well.

"I really perceive that vanity about which most men merely prate — the vanity of the human or temporal life. I live continually in a reverie of the future. I have no faith in human perfectibility. I think that human exertion will have no appreciable effect upon humanity. Man is now only more active — not more happy — nor more wise, than he was 6000 years ago. The result will never vary — and to suppose that it will, is to suppose that the foregone man has lived in vain — that the foregone time is but the rudiment of the future — that the myriads who have perished have not been upon equal footing with ourselves — nor are we with our posterity. I cannot agree to lose sight of man the individual, in man the mass."...

- 2 July 1844 letter to James Russell Lowell from Edgar Allan Poe.

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  • 4 weeks later...

H. P. Lovecraft for some darker TDM fms...

Horror themed?

"I really perceive that vanity about which most men merely prate — the vanity of the human or temporal life. I live continually in a reverie of the future. I have no faith in human perfectibility. I think that human exertion will have no appreciable effect upon humanity. Man is now only more active — not more happy — nor more wise, than he was 6000 years ago. The result will never vary — and to suppose that it will, is to suppose that the foregone man has lived in vain — that the foregone time is but the rudiment of the future — that the myriads who have perished have not been upon equal footing with ourselves — nor are we with our posterity. I cannot agree to lose sight of man the individual, in man the mass."...

- 2 July 1844 letter to James Russell Lowell from Edgar Allan Poe.

badge?user=andarson

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