<Username> on 6/7/2025 at 15:16
Wondering what the age distribution of the Thief fan mission community is nowadays. Feel free to also share some anecdotes about how you discovered Thief fan missions and why you are still playing. :D
Personally, I remember reading an early magazine preview of Thief: The Dark Project, which mentioned the Ettin as a potential enemy in the game. A while later, a friend gave me a CD-ROM with the Bafford demo—and the guards' artificial intelligence absolutely blew me away. It was unlike anything I had experienced in a game up to that point.
Around 2004, I discovered TTLG and the fan missions, which I still play regularly. Thief continues to offer a wide variety of creative environments, and it's always a joy to explore what different authors come up with.
szabikka on 6/7/2025 at 18:58
I found out about the existence of Thief rather late. I downloaded Thief: Deadly Shadows on my old laptop around 2010 (I googled horror game with sneak elements, or something like that and Thief popped up as a recommendation), but couldn't play it, because the computer was too old for it. In 2014 I got a newer computer and started playing TDS. I instantly fell in love with it. Played it to such an extent that I could finish every mission without saving/loading and I remained undetected. Then I accidentally found Thief Gold and Thief 2 on GOG.com while browsing for games to buy and instantly bought them. Since then (after 10 years) I consider myself a "hardcore" fan with more than a thousand FMs on my hard drive.
Why am I still playing? Well, because many FMs blend elements I like in games, such as horror, ghosting, abandoned places and verticality. Another reason is that I get high value entertainment practically for free. Nowadays many new games are expensive and have no replay (or playing) value whatsoever (I don't like multiplayer), so Thief FMs are more or less the only option if you want a "new game" and a good one at that for dirt cheap. I highly praise everyone who creates new FMs for Thief. They give me memorable moments that I like to revisit time to time.
ticky on 6/7/2025 at 22:30
I am rushing towards 39 and I was around 12 when I discovered Thief itself, by a magazine CD-Rom that contained around 5-6 demo games, including The Dark Project. Ever since then, I regularly play the game and fan missions, mostly TDP/TG/T2. I tend to appreciate some real life settings that I found similar to Thief almost every day and kinda comparing a lot of buildings to Thief. It just feels unique and nice.
I think my first fan mission experiences ever were with TDP. It felt great that authors can create a very familiar but still very different or extended world compared to the original missions.
The early T2 fan missions really stuck with me for life. They have a strangely very calm atmosphere, I mean, it was a very calm period of time for me being 15 years old and just carelessly playing these early gems like Waterlogged, Willow Island, Airship, Stowaway, After the Party or Eastwater Bank. I am stuck with the vibe for life, in a good way.
downwinder on 7/7/2025 at 01:45
i am 50, been playing thief 1 the dark project since December 1998, i was 24 years old, i feel i am the same age Garrett was in thief 1, let me know what you think Garrett age was in thief the dark project?
i also played thief gold, thief 2 the metal age and thief 3 deadly shadows om's
fan missions for thief 1/g/2 are my fav
zajazd on 7/7/2025 at 04:35
Thiefing since 1999. Not yet old enough to fart dust (42).
bob_doe_nz on 7/7/2025 at 04:55
Just turned +1 IRL, July 7...
Brody on 7/7/2025 at 07:12
I am 58 years old, although my wife sometimes makes me look older.
My first encounter with Thief: The Dark Project began when I was searching in a store for interesting new games. The game immediately captivated me.
While I was playing Thief: The Dark Project, my wife sat next to me, watched, and also discovered her enthusiasm for Thief. After I finished it, my wife started playing Thief herself.
When we played Thief II, we took turns completing all the levels—partly so that my partner wouldn't have to wait long for their turn, and partly to avoid spoiling the experience of discovering and enjoying each level with too much prior knowledge.
At some point, after Thief II and still longing for a sequel, I happened to see a TV program about video games that mentioned “Thievery.” I had only seen a few gameplay clips, but I immediately thought it was Thief III and that I had missed its release.
Since then, we've been playing “Thievery,” a single- and multiplayer mod for Unreal Tournament 99, where thieves compete against guards.
I haven't personally played “Thief III” or the 2014 remake. My wife was so enthusiastic about Thief that I decided to let her enjoy it fully.
For years, I've been collecting and offering everything related to Thievery for free download to interested fans.
And i did same for private to collect all FMs i can find in the whole Internet to pleasure my Wife.
As the well-known repositories for Thief are gradually disappearing or no longer maintained, I started hosting my collection of fan missions on my website two years ago.
I probably have the largest FM collection—surprisingly, I've never played any of them myself because I just never found the time.
Mortis on 7/7/2025 at 13:31
Ill be turning 40 later this year.
I actually played the Thief series in reverse order (not Thiaf). I noticed TDP and TMA boxes in the stores but never got round to buying them.
Then one fine day in 2004, it was pouring rain outside and my crappy 64 or 128Kbps internet connection went down. I couldnt think of anything to do but I happened to notice the PCZone demo CD which included the first 2 levels of TDS. Installed it and spun it up. Rain and thunder outside - rain and thunder in the game, dimly lit room - light and shadows in game. I was hooked !!
Picked up the full game and played through it. Now the hunt was on to find the first two games because I'd had a taste for what I had been missing out on. Found TMA in a random bookstore many months later and then almost a year down the line I picked up Thief Gold from a friend who was getting rid of old games by lucky coincidence.
Eiji on 7/7/2025 at 16:19
I'll be turning 52 in August.. rediscovered Thief 2 as a demo on a CD from some gaming magazine.. (I forget which one)
I like other FPS-style games.. Particularly Half-Life (and the later reboot Black Mesa).. but Thief seemed an interesting take on the genre... after all, one can only take so much mayhem...
anyways.. with the detective work you need to do in the game... its like solving a puzzle... (and the FMs... allows for a TON of replay-ability)
<Username> on 7/7/2025 at 19:17
Quote Posted by Brody
I am 58 years old, although my wife sometimes makes me look older.
My first encounter with Thief: The Dark Project began when I was searching in a store for interesting new games. The game immediately captivated me.
While I was playing Thief: The Dark Project, my wife sat down next to me, watched me play, and also discovered her enthusiasm for Thief. After I finished it, my wife started playing Thief herself.
We took turns playing through each level of Thief II.
For Thief III and the 2014 remake, I only watched while my wife was completely immersed and excited.
Eventually, after Thief II and still craving a sequel, I happened to see a TV program about computer games that featured "Thievery." I had only seen a few gameplay clips, but I immediately thought it was Thief III and that I must have missed its release.
Since then, we have been playing "Thievery," a single-player and multiplayer mod for Unreal Tournament 99, where thieves face off against guards.
For years, I have been collecting and offering everything related to Thievery for free download for interested fans. As the well-known repositories for Thief are gradually disappearing or no longer maintained, I started two years ago to host my collection of fan missions (FMs) on my own website.
I probably have the largest collection of FMs — surprisingly, I have never played any of them because I simply never found the time.
That is a lovely story. :D I still have to check out Thievery.
