How To Guide: Convert Thief1/2 into Thief 3 (mis2t3d)

fett on 27/2/2005 at 13:54

Er...not to be the proverbial terd in the punchbowl, but wouldn't this make it possible to play T1 and T2 without actually owning a copy of it (i.e. violation of copyright law of some sort or other)? Seems like there was a similiar problem in trying to bulid the TG levels for folks who just had TDP. Anybody got the werd on this?

David on 27/2/2005 at 14:24

We feel that it isn't a problem really. This method converts nothing but the brushwork so no textures, no objects, nothing else, and doesn't seem to be much different to converting the levels manually. Infact chances are that'll be easier as T3ed uses static meshes for detail, where Thief 1 and 2 use brushwork.

Converting the Thief Gold missions to TDP was much different, given that everything from objects, to AI, patrol points - everything was converted verbatim.

I very much doubt Eidos will have a problem with this, though if they do we shall removed the t3d downloads.

[NAUC]Chief on 27/2/2005 at 14:25

the tut thread decided that as long as no one tried to sell the map then it was probably okay, there was also a debate about Warran Spector saying people could do this as to whether he was actually allowed to give the public permission while Eidos held the copyright to the thief franchise.

plebeian on 27/2/2005 at 17:07

I have the entire shipping and reciveing level in UT and Doom 3 as a static mesh. It's the correct size in both. I haven't tried it in T3ed since they ripped out the LWO compatibility and I haven't got Max.
I'm sure it could be very useful though. I have the entire level in lightwave, and could easily pick and choose which parts I wanted to be brushes and which I wanted to be static meshes - as well as detailing eveything up while keeping it totally accurate to the original.

[NAUC]Chief on 27/2/2005 at 18:19

A few in game pictures of life of the party area one.

The City looks almost bearable from up here:

(http://www.councilod.ecwhost.com/Clipboard01.jpg) picture one.

And some others:

(http://www.councilod.ecwhost.com/Clipboard02.jpg) picture two.
(http://www.councilod.ecwhost.com/Clipboard03.jpg) picture three.
(http://www.councilod.ecwhost.com/Clipboard04.jpg) picture four.
(http://www.councilod.ecwhost.com/Clipboard05.jpg) picture five.

TF on 27/2/2005 at 18:50

Thanks for getting those up. Intriguing!

Screenshot no.3 doesn't work though.

[NAUC]Chief on 27/2/2005 at 19:05

does now- didnt before-im guessing u posted that just as i updated the url :D

bloodyzeppelins on 27/2/2005 at 21:29

those are really awesome, did you have to re-texture all of that yourself?

Komag on 27/2/2005 at 22:58

looks partly good, but as usual, foggy levels with clear sky looks like butt!

jay pettitt on 27/2/2005 at 23:51

I'm certainly approaching remaking Bafford's from scratch, using static meshes as much as possibe. Partly because I can make changes that are needed because the new engine can't do some things; and partly to make changes that take advantage of the new tricks that T3 can do.

That said, Daveh posted a link to Bafford's in .t3d format, and it's damn usefull for visualising the layout and generally getting a feel for how it all fits together. I had started sketching out floor plans by hand, as I've always found dromed awkward to see whats going on by the time a level has got big and messy. Unreal ed makes it much easier to do that.

I'm really not sure where it all fits in the copyright issue. Copying by hand is still copying - even if its copied into a different format. You can't, for example, take a copy of the latest harry potter, gather a few voice actors together and release an audio book.

One of the several dozen reasons I picked Bafford's as a project was in the missguided hope that no one will mind too much; seeing as it's already freely available on the web as the T1 demo mission. I imagine I'll still be looking to get some permissions before I release anything substantial to the great unwashed.