Idea Mill.

[DigitalNapalm]

I thought we should have some place just to let our imaginations run wild. Maybe some place that the TDM campaign builders could come and gather input and ideas... especially if they're getting stuck! Or Even a place to get them started!

 

I thought I'd start it off with old Thief baddies I'd like to see in someone's campaign eventually.

 

_.-=+* T1/T2 *+=-._

Mantis creatures (actual name, anyone?)

Rat men

Fire elementals

The Eye (Who didn't like the Eye? My favorite character, besides Garrett)

 

_.-=+* TDS *+=-._

The Cage Heads!! They were freaking creepy!

[DigitalNapalm]

Voice Over (Imagine its in Garrett's voice...)

 

The old folks home over on the wealthy side of town is having problems with people getting back up after they die. *hm.* A couple of Hammerite officers and even a few Pagan sentries haven't returned from the sewer passages and old burrick tunnels underneath the facility is search of why. My guess? They probably found each other and had it out.

But, there are rumors of "dark" and "unnatural" magic I keep hearing from both Pagan and Hammerite sources. A friendly Hammerite contact of mine asked me to go check it out, as well as a Pagan friend. Filling my pockets with money from people who would never use it doesn't hurt my feelings a bit. Getting paid from both sides of the fence for one job doesn't either.

The easiest way into the passages is from inside the home, unless I want to go trapsing trough the sewers from halfway across town. I gathered a map of the place from a fence who owed me a favor. Seems that theres a way in from the boiler room in the basement.

 

Initial Objectives:

 

* Get in to the old folks home, and don't tip anyone off you're there. Getting caught by security, nurses, or residents is unacceptable.

* Find at least 3000 loot. There should be plenty of stuff to steal from wealthy people who are too old to take care of themselves.

* Figure out what happened to the Pagans and Hammerites that never returned. That's why you're getting paid.

* Find out what is causing the elderly to "wake back up"

 

If anyone is intereted in developing a campaign basied on this idea, I'd be more than happy to help with story and character development, and maybe even some crude mapping. If you really are interested, keep reading.

 

///Spoilers Below///

Additional Objectives:

 

* You manage to locate a Pagan who is lost and scared. Help him get out. (New AI constructs?)

* The Pagan tells you "skeleton wizards" have some sort of "evil head" thats causing the problem. Find out what he's talking about.

* Figure out who the "skeleton wizards" are.

* The "Evil Head" appears to be a stone skull with an onyx set in the center of its forehead, with some sort of rune writing on it. Nab it so Friar Maulsson, (your contact) can look at it.

* Just grabbing the head may be dangerous, locate some Holy Water to pour on it to disarm/disenchant it before picking it up.

 

The whys:

It seems the rumors of the "dark" and "unnatural" magic are well founded. A group of necromancers [another faction!] seem have taken root in the area. The skull is a simple necromancer artifact used to raise minions from the dead that can be left in place, according to Friar Maulsson. He also said that it must be re-charged periodically in order to keep working. [Guards conversing in the beginning of the mission.. "not so many people turned into zombies today" would be a nice touch]

 

----------

 

Campaign Points:

What are the necromancers doing in town? What is their ultimate goal?

Have they always been around, just under the radar?

Who is in charge of them?

Where in town are they headquartered?

Should their locating a base of operations be a plot point?

 

Character Points:

What specific symbols belong to the necromancers? (skulls, bones, runes, etc.)

How are they organized? (Cultish like the Pagans, Religious like the Hammerites, or secret society similar to our world's Freemasons)

What kind of weapons and magic do they have at their disposal?

Are their followers and/or practitioners separate ranks or groups? (Do you start out just being a follower watching from the sidelines, or do you start out learning necromancy right away?)

Edited September 1, 2008 by DigitalNapalm

[Komag]

Some interesting and creative ideas there, but...

 

...all of it is off limits - no official "Thief" material allowed, not "The Eye", not Garrett, etc.

[New Horizon]

Indeed, as Komag says, interesting ideas but we do not have Hammerites we have 'Builders'. Pagan is a safe enough word however.

 

We can't control what people do, but all we ask is that FM authors respect our work and not use copyrighted names and materials from Thief. We've put far too much time and effort into this project to have any negativity brought unto it.

[DigitalNapalm]

Some interesting and creative ideas there, but...

 

...all of it is off limits - no official "Thief" material allowed, not "The Eye", not Garrett, etc.

 

I do understand... Its always up to the creators/authors. I'm sure they'll find a way around most of it. as has been done like New Horizon mentioned. As long as the familiarity is there no one will care; that's all any of us want anyway.

 

They're merely suggestions. You could have a creepy talking artifact that's not called "The Eye" but the fans know what its an homage to. Bringing up familiar thief things may generate an idea to incorporate something similar in a mapper/campaign builder's mind.

 

The Eye, for example...

Maybe a hand made of stone with a living eye in the palm. It speaks to you telepathically. Call it "The Hand of Fate." Make it so when its selected in your inventory, the eye blinks, and it says random crazy things to your main character in a creepy, whispery voice. Mission accomplished. Pun fully intended.

[Ishtvan]

It could be "The Nose," and then the character's nose could be cut off to power it, and replaced with a bionic metal nose that can smell things from really far away, like Tycho Brahe.

[DigitalNapalm]

It could be "The Nose," and then the character's nose could be cut off to power it, and replaced with a bionic metal nose that can smell things from really far away, like Tycho Brahe.

 

How would you code that into the game? Maybe You could have a scent meter kinda like the light gem... except it tells you what you're smelling.

[greebo]

We already discussed the concept of an odormeter which any AI is equipped with. We would also implement a stochastic system that let's the thief break out in sweat when a guard is nearer than 2 ft from him. In extreme cases the player would fart in random intervals, which is of course handled by the odormeter as well as soundprop. This should give players a serious immersion boost that would only be surpassed by getting the player's mom to periodically breath at their neck when he's being chased by a builder.

[AstralninjA]

We already discussed the concept of an odormeter which any AI is equipped with. We would also implement a stochastic system that let's the thief break out in sweat when a guard is nearer than 2 ft from him. In extreme cases the player would fart in random intervals, which is of course handled by the odormeter as well as soundprop. This should give players a serious immersion boost that would only be surpassed by getting the player's mom to periodically breath at their neck when he's being chased by a builder.

 

 

 

 

~Daniel

[SneaksieDave]

It does lend opportunity for a new expendable power-up.

[Ishtvan]

We were working on "TDM 4D" with a smell-o-vision peripheral you'd stick in your nostrils to cover the sense of smell, but it was discontinued due to safety concerns after the trash fire incident.

[DigitalNapalm]

One a more serious note...

Burricks (burrisaurs?) in TDM?

If Skeletons aren't already enemies, how hard would it be to implement?

 

Are there skin templates anywhere for any of the models?

Edited September 3, 2008 by DigitalNapalm

[Springheel]

http://www.mindplaces.com/darkmod/screenshots.php

[greebo]

Are there skin templates anywhere for any of the models?

We have a small variety of skins available for our guard models. In principle, anybody with the required artistic skills can alter the files and create a new skin with little effort. Just create the new diffuse/normalmap and add a skin declaration. The most difficult part is to get it look decent.

[DeathStage_12]

I would love to see some sort of swamp beastie that emerges from the muck when you get near it - like the possum zombies in T1/T2.

- DS12

[Springheel]

If Skeletons aren't already enemies, how hard would it be to implement?

 

Already exist.

 

Are there skin templates anywhere for any of the models?

 

Not per se. You just have to look at the existing textures and make your own based on the originals.

[DigitalNapalm]

Not per se. You just have to look at the existing textures and make your own based on the originals.

 

How would I go about getting said originals?

[New Horizon]

How would I go about getting said originals?

 

Become a beta mapper. Or do you mean with the existing Thiefs Den alpha? Just look inside the alpha files. Anything in the alpha is openly available. They're not baked in like T3.

[DigitalNapalm]

I was thinking about a character that could raise the dead... so if you hack someone down, Not only does he become alerted, he turns the dead guy into a zombie. Master Necromancer type. The canned lightning effect from summoned creatures in D3 would be pretty cool to use.

 

Actions:

Spots the dead body {Alert on}

Levitates Dead body {Lightning effect}

Zombie AND Master Necro are now in the hunt.

--

This could take a few seconds, giving you a chance to take him out before the short incantation is completed, if you can see him. Making it all the more important to HIDE dead bodies, or just knock people out instead.

--

Standard attack would be a flaming skull (similar to the flaming hammer)

[DigitalNapalm]

Necromancer Sentry clothing

Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Edited September 7, 2008 by DigitalNapalm

[SplaTtzZ]

In extreme cases the player would fart in random intervals

 

 

As ridiculous as that idea sounds I'll bet money that Hideo Kojima features it in his next Metal Gear Solid game.

In the second one your character could catch a cold by spending no more than 5 minutes outside in the rain (despite his freaking combat suit) and he then would sneeze uncontrollably until you found some cold medicine and Otacon had finished explaining the history, methodology and characteristics of the pharmaceuticals industry, the US space program, denim jeans and the cold medicine itself.

 

I've been right about this before! that POS game Alone in the Dark stole my idea about simulating the character blinking by making the screen go dark. I said at the time, long before the game was released, that I should patent that idea!

 

Edit: Looking back, I didn't say that at the time; but i was damn-well thinking it!

Edited September 9, 2008 by SplaTtzZ

[SneaksieDave]

But the brain selectively ignores black out due to blinking under normal conditions. That's exactly one thing wrong with the way games are going now; instead of focusing on what's important to gameplay and immersion, they're bothering with nonsense fluff. Another one I dislike is depth of focus. It's an artificial mechanic for "ooh" factor, and it's not how a normal eye works. Eyes work by being focused where I'm looking. Depth of focus in games focuses where the designer wants me to look, not where I'm looking. That might work fine in movies where it is a directed narrative, but not in gaming where I'm in control. If I want to look there, I will turn the mouse, or move my eyes. But, it's now out of focus, because that's not where the designer wanted me to look. Stupid! Maybe I want to look far off into the trees to see if I can spot a sniper, and not at the jeep in the brush right in front of me? Beyond being artificial and stupid, it's also redundant; if I'm looking up at the top left corner of my view, the bottom right corner is already out of focus due to the proper functioning of my own eyes.

 

If I can't shut it off, I won't play the game.

[New Horizon]

If I can't shut it off, I won't play the game.

 

Yes, that's a huge issue that I have with gaming these days. They're ceasing to be games and are more like mildly interactive movie fluff. I hate that.

[OrbWeaver]

I've been right about this before! that POS game Alone in the Dark stole my idea about simulating the character blinking by making the screen go dark.

 

Is that a joke? There is actually a game which implements this "feature"? What an unbelievably stupid idea. My eyes already blink, so why would I want the screen to "simulate" blinking as well? It would just look like a video driver glitch.

[Ishtvan]

Alone in The Dark seemed like it had some pretty promising gameplay innovations, what with lighting stuff on fire and being able to rappel realistically on ropes and stuff. But apparently it all went horribly wrong in the actual game, I haven't had time yet to read the reviews and find out why.