mungomango on 23/1/2024 at 23:35
This is a staggering achievement!! I'm deep into the missions and am in awe at the amount of excellent work that has gone into the FM.
It's fantastic! Story, readables, maps, architecture - the list goes on!
A MASSIVE THANK-YOU TO EVERYBODY WHO WORKED ON BLACK PARADE!!
I think this takes the crown for the best fan mission ever.
Monocle on 25/1/2024 at 15:17
Expert, 6 missions in - it's denser, more sinuous than the OG, but holy taffing shit, I am having a fucking ball, taking me back to the late 90s, and finding - eh, I'll clock the whole thing first before posting a single spoiler tagged easter egg.
Bravo to the team, kickass work - and inspires me to check out more FMs, which I haven't done in years. I dips me lid.
CopperBoltwire on 27/1/2024 at 16:49
Quote Posted by MrBleeder
I've enjoyed this campaign allot:
Hume gets done dirty through out the whole thing, but I have some questions
1. The first mission I found two "live" statues, they seem to observe you, with one of them causing puddles of blood to drip from the ceiling. The other is literally caged as if its jailor knows its awake. And through all the game I keep seeing so many statues, placed in areas where it would make them seem alive such as one in mission 2 where it will be observing you climbing up through the window. I think the old man who observes the sealed section is also some how possessed by them, given the text from their descendant .Who is controlling them? is it that certain "child"? since she is capable of awakening some statues if you get caught. I think there was a text about the keepers using statues to spy on people, but they also mention that they act on their own(correct me if I'm wrong). But then you meet the earth mage and he can turn himself into a statue of almost the same make.
2.I really enjoyed Dewalls little lab, so is the reason he hires you to steal the first few items was because he is aiming to resurrect his wife? It makes him seem allot less bad and more understandably upset when Hume fails to get the harp.
3.So a little statue(is it related to the other ones) in a haunted manor is somehow much more powerful than an entire necromatic cult? a cult that the keepers recognised enough as a threat, and to a point that even the first keeper was involved. Why did the cultists leave it lying around if they knew it can be a problem.
4.Hume has a much worse moral compass than Garrett yet the higher keepers seem to allow him to venture into the forbidden library and risk the safety of other keepers.
Everything else made sense enough to me, but maybe I missed out too much about the nature of the statue, I think there was a mention of someone else visiting the void realm you first see after touching the statue.
I know it's not very well structured but perhaps some one might fill me on these.It was memorable and probably will remain one of my highlights of 2023.
I feel the need to reply/comment on these, but please understand, these a spoilers, and thus blacked out for a reason:
1} That little girl is Gamall - Play T3DS, or watch someone play it.
When i found out, i giggled like a madman and threw some YES YES YES around. THAT was a cool easter egg of sorts!
It is a VERY large possibility that the moving statues are the works of Gamall, but sometimes it can also be other reasons, like playful/deadly ghosts.
Only the people who made this fantastic experience can truly answer this.
2} I only stumbled upon this mini lab in a 2nd playthrough. Made me feel a bit like a scum-bag. Poor sod. Just wanted to hug his wife again.
3} They didn't just leave it laying around. They used some flowers with special properties to dull the effect of the statue, except it does not work as intended. And as the player, you learn first hand, that the statue is more then just a thing. The Cultists were playing with proverbial fire here, and had little clue what they were doing. Most likely, they had no actual ability to physically move it around, at all.
4} Because of the glyphs foretold the arrival of a thief, but not Garrett, would arrive in their compound, furthermore, this intruder was cursed. They were most likely also told that this individual, if pushed even a bit, would be a deadly threat to their own members if they were to try and oppose him. So they made the one choice they thought was best: Let the danger in, let it sweep through, lick our wounds, and let it pass fast. For if they did not, the outcome of all the other prediction of glyphs would mean greater disaster.
Play the 3 previous games, and then play TBP, and a lot of the references makes a WHOLE lot more sense to you.
Also, as tedious as it may seem, READ nearly every thing. A lot of the documents answers your questions, as if handed to you on a silver platter.My 5 cents on those questions :D
Carrot on 30/1/2024 at 16:17
I installed TG again especially for this Mod because I'm more of a T2 fangirl.
I have now completed The Black Parade after many, many intensive hours. First of all I can only say: A masterpiece in which I was able to experience and discover an incredible number of new things and which amazed me very often! A lot has already been said and described in detail, and I can only agree with a lot of it. But I would like to write you my experiences.
I particularly liked the level design. There was so much to explore. I especially love the cities and huge estates. Everything was filled with so much attention to detail and I love every single corner of the missions. I played on Expert and found it very enjoyable, no annoying puzzles or badly hidden switches or keys. It was tricky in terms of orientation. I don't think I've ever needed the compass and maps in any mission (and I've been playing Thief missions for 20 years) as much as in this Mod.
The sound design was outstanding! The music, the ambience, the mood, everything came together so well. How nice I found it to walk through an underpass several times in the rainy city and experience the changing sound of the rain. The dark atmosphere in Mission 5 really caught me. All the newly voiced characters, I can only imagine the effort, unbelievable. Big praise to all the VoiceActors. First of all, MattDistraction - I really fell in love with your voice acting, especially for the statue! :D That deep, dark, threatening voice, but at the same time so calming and sublime. That was really really good. I sincerely hope to hear more from you in the future! (preferably in a demonic context) As a German I would say: mega geil! :ebil:
Question in this context: I found more of the statue's sayings in the sound folder, but as far as I know statueplot2 and statuesanctuary didn't play in the game? Where does this happen?
The briefing and cutscenes were also so beautifully done, very close to the original.
In Mission 3 I found it amusing how the priest and the Hammerite go to the gate and the (standing!) sleeping guard wakes up and spends ages looking for the key... hahaha!
In Mission 8 I felt so uncomfortable that I had to pause when I saw the strange guys who only move when you turn away. A few days later I gained courage again because I also assumed that there would be significantly more opponents of this kind. But in the end I got through very well. I found the little “water striders” very cute and it was nice that they weren’t hostile. Coming out in daylight at the end of the mission was mindblowing and I really enjoyed it.
In Mission 9 I had beautiful Dishonored-Karnaca-Vibes with the city design and ambient music. I was once again amazed at all the new motions. The festival atmosphere was incredibly beautiful! It brought so much life to the city. And here again, you're done with your tasks and the party is over. Really cool.
Your attention to detail really paid off.
But now there are a few points that I didn't like so much.
The smallest point: Where the heck did you hide so much loot that despite a thorough search I missed around 500 loot almost every time. I really thought I had looked thoroughly... And there is a sword in mission 4 that can defeat undead? Where??
Yes, I love big levels, but in some places it was too big for me. Above all, the catacombs, which seemed to never end.
Unfortunately, as has been written a few times, the last mission was far too empty and ultimately far too easy. I found it exciting to explore everything, and every now and then I stumbled upon equipment. But I never needed it. And then just throwing the ingredients into the pot and waiting... It's a shame, something more, something trickier could have happened.
In general, the levels at Expert were a bit too easy. I also never used the Strength Potion, the Spirit Potion or the Smokebombs... I just felt there was no need for it. You're flooded with equipment anyway. I've never lacked for anything. Maybe a little less equipment would have made the gaming experience harder because you would have to save it.
This point is more personal, as I am not a native English speaker I found it difficult to follow the story sometimes. I think I didn't quite understand the ending either. When you're lying on the floor after the failed ritual and the guy is limping away, I didn't understand where I was or who it was. Just by reading here I found out that it's supposed to be the dead necromancer from Thief 2. Of course it's a shame that Hume dies after all the hardships, but not every (anti)hero can survive.
Despite the few points of criticism, for me it's a really cool Mod that I really enjoyed! Thank you to everyone involved for this gem, for the endless time and energy you put into it. After such a long development phase, you certainly need a break, but I sincerely hope that you will be able to build some great missions again at some point.
Since I'm wondering what to do next after TBP, I first downloaded a supply of missions from the level builders involved... For TG, of course. ;)
R Soul on 30/1/2024 at 19:28
Quote Posted by Carrot
Question in this context:
I found more of the statue's sayings in the sound folder, but as far as I know statueplot2 and statuesanctuary didn't play in the game? Where does this happen?The first of those sounds is played when you
use the three retireved items on the statuette. The second one sounds like it might have been intended to
encourage the player to use those items, or maybe even instead of the taunting we hear at the start, but it doesn't seem to be used anywhere.
ultravioletu on 30/1/2024 at 20:35
Someone asked for walkthroughs.
Not exactly one, but (
https://1drv.ms/x/s!AlhGhZZwQldHiX6PTH0gdjDIldZY?e=cs3JtH) here is my (work in progress!) lootlist for the complete campaign. By 'following the money' (taking the loot in the given sequence) one can trace back my path though the missions. Also, my reports in the ghosting thread have some screenshots.
I am now (only) in the middle of M6, Kept Away From View. Finished the compound, or so I hope - since I haven't completed the city part, I am not sure whether the list for 'underground' is thorough - I might need to go back for something.
Don't expect updates soon. RL keeps me AFK (or AF-Thief, more precisely), I have no idea when I'll be able to carry on with M6.. and even when I finally play, the progress is very slow, due to my self-inflicted playing style.
gekkonen on 2/2/2024 at 09:06
I just did the catacombs mission and started the next one, and so far I'm having a blast with this mod.
Quote Posted by Carrot
The smallest point: Where the heck did you hide so much loot that despite a thorough search I missed around 500 loot almost every time. I really thought I had looked thoroughly... And there is a
sword in mission 4 that can defeat undead? Where??.
In this mission, I also
found the area in the sewers with the disruption bomb and locked gate, but never found a way through the gate. How do you access that part of the map?Quote:
Yes, I love big levels, but in some places it was too big for me. Above all,
the catacombs, which seemed to never end.
I think what makes the levels even more maze-like than vanilla is how vertical they are. I also think they are more "linear" in that you are usually funneled to go through areas in a very specific path and there is less looping around that in mission like The Sword in vanilla. Overall, I like that I have to open the map and compass every now and then and ask "WHERE THE HECK AM I?!". And like Garrett in Thief 1, Hume buys his maps from a blind cartographer I guess.
FireMage on 2/2/2024 at 18:50
Quote Posted by gekkonen
In this mission, I also
found the area in the sewers with the disruption bomb and locked gate, but never found a way through the gate. How do you access that part of the map?Did you tried
your lockpicks on it?
nightchild on 2/2/2024 at 22:07
I just finished this unofficial expansion and I want to express my love and gratitude to this amazing, never seizing to exist and create, Thief community. After so many years, so many personal changes and real life obstacles, you people, as a whole and as individuals, still find the time and the strength to keep the game of our hearts alive and kicking, or rather KOing. An enormous thank you to all the participants of Feuillade Industries for this Amazeballs expansion!!!
gekkonen on 6/2/2024 at 05:57
Quote Posted by FireMage
Did you tried
your lockpicks on it?
Sure did. If that's the solution, I must have missed with a click or something. Thanks!
