Starker on 3/9/2013 at 00:48
Thief had very little in way of a traditional story anyway. It focused more on worldbuilding. The briefings were more about setting the mood and providing a frame for the mission at hand than about traditional storytelling and the cutscenes were few and far between.
Robert4222 on 3/9/2013 at 01:05
Engine limits? Really? Tell that to Dishonored devs.
Goldmoon Dawn on 3/9/2013 at 01:19
Aside from the awesome cutscenes, Thief presented bits of story to the player during gameplay through the various readables and overheard conversations as well. I think that is what Chade was getting at? And lets face it, all the different ways they dropped the story on you in the first two games are another big part of what makes them so memorable.
Chade on 3/9/2013 at 01:22
Yes, that's what I meant.
Starker on 3/9/2013 at 01:40
Actually, I think you'd be surprised how few of these conversations and readables were directly about the main storyline.
Chade on 3/9/2013 at 01:46
Quote Posted by Starker
Actually, I think you'd be surprised how few of these conversations and readables were directly about the main storyline.
I can absolutely see the value in splitting story and world building into two separate categories in some discussions, but I wasn't making that distinction previously. Maybe Gallagher was! No real way to know, I suppose.
Starker on 3/9/2013 at 02:03
I don't know what Gallagher meant either, but the point I'm making is that Thief was not exactly story-driven. The reboot seems to be focusing more on the story. Apples and oranges.
Chade on 3/9/2013 at 02:23
Hrmm, I don't think that's entirely clear. We have quite a detailed back-story, and some missions that clearly take place while big events are happening, which supports your argument. On the other hand, we get big events near the climax of earlier games too, so it's not absolutely clear how much of a difference it will be, and there has been a big emphasis on "the city" in interviews and promotional material, which may imply a fair amount world building. It's also not clear that more story has to come at the expense of less world building. Ideally they should complement each other. I'm not saying you're definitely wrong, just that you're not definitely right.
Shinrazero on 3/9/2013 at 03:24
Quote Posted by Chade
That doesn't really make any sense, you know. Any links between them are going to be highly speculative at this stage.
The only good reason to think they don't have swimmable water is that we haven't seen hide nor hair of it so far. That's enough to be concerned, although personally I don't think it's a huge deal either way.
It isn't a huge deal for me either but I would not say it is highly speculative either. This nu game is arguably restrictive in its design. The fact that we cannot jump illustrates nuThief is inherently restrictive in terms of mobility. To consider the effort they are putting into emulate freedom, I don't think its a stretch to think we won't be swimming. Fixed rope arrow points, contextual environment interactions, all of that jazz is to keep players on the straight and narrow. They don't players poking around, getting stuck, etc. Why bother putting in swimming if you are designing a game that is practically on rails?
Starker on 3/9/2013 at 03:31
I don't think that I've ever claimed that my opinions and theories represent the absolute truth, but I have plenty of reason to think that the reboot will have a bigger focus on the narrative than the originals. For one thing, they have already introduced quite a few characters before the game has even begun. For another, the use of mo-cap seems to suggest that there will be plenty of cutscenes.
