Psych0sis on 15/2/2021 at 15:04
Not sure I'd put Loser anywhere close to being an amazing/influential mission... :joke:
I'd say the best to talk about are the ones Marbleman listed as well as the general consensus on Hidden Agenda/Heist Society (Heist society is better if that means anything). I'd definitely stop and take a second to focus purely on the Thief TDP Anniversary Contest missions, as the sheer amount of participation was mind blowing and the level of quality exuded from most of the entries was an accomplishment in and of itself. It's a shame the Metal Age contest did not garner the same popularity, but I do believe there was burnout after a few people went all in for the first contest.
Aged Raver on 15/2/2021 at 17:15
Not what you're looking for I know but an additional
angle you may care to consider ...
In my humble experience female authors often bring a warmer rounder real-person experience along with humour and playfulness to missions rather than just the usual male slash/burn/horror/logic-problem missions. And I appreciate that. Especially the furnishings and cleaner toilets. :D
As with female authors of old they don’t always let it be known but it seems (to me at least) they often instinctively introduce characters and situations that a guy wouldn’t think of and I feel it’s very healthy. I’m in no position to say if they’ve influenced the direction of Fan Missions over the years. I just hope so. My FM playing experience hasn’t been in chronological sequence to spot trends, but several authors come to mind.
kfort (
Wicked Relics) aided by her sister
the late Naks and friends (
Snobs part 2)
the late Lady Rowena (
Home Sweet Home)
Long term members will probably know many more. Lady Rowena is already on your list and downwinder has referenced Naks. I’ve just played
Snobs Part 2 by her and while it needs a minor tidy-up it is such a fun imaginative mission, with a certain sauciness. Regrettably she and Lady Rowena are no longer with us and I don’t believe Katy Fortner has visited the forum for many years, but her sister who aided on
Wicked Relics (
https://www.ttlg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=127401&page=10&p=2466829&viewfull=1#post2466829) posted yesterday for the first time in over 10 years, which is what prompted me to say out loud what I’ve often thought. :D
I've yet to play Christine's latest 5 mission release but know her many previous works had human story aspects.
And of course Pukey Brunster who as well as her own work co-authored the award winning “
The Scarlet Cascabel” with Tannar. I’ve often mused over who influenced what in that game. I know Pukey has talked about her passion for establishing mood and ambience in missions.
As for more female AI's, female gang leaders and baddies with knitting baskets and bunny slippers, it's tough being a gentleman thief these days. :eek: (I’m sort-of referring to the recent excellent “
Turning of the Leaves” written by a male author. Directly and indirectly with our changing times life in Garrett's time is changing too.)
downwinder on 15/2/2021 at 18:50
i forgot to add dale for his first and only mission was real good also
Brodo Swaggins on 16/2/2021 at 00:03
Thanks everyone so much for all this great material, and so quickly!
Will be updating my lists and reaching out to as many folks as I can. And as more people see this thread, please continue to contribute if you have thoughts - this is all invaluable and I'm deeply grateful to you all for helping me get a clear picture.
(I'm also having a blast playing through recs. Just finished Cracks in the Glass - incredible work, marbleman!)
In the meantime, a slightly bigger-picture question: is it fair to say that most recent FMS have been either campaigns or contest missions? Seems like the contests have been wellsprings of new material, but I'm unclear how the volume compares to independent one-off releases.
trefoilknot on 16/2/2021 at 02:59
The past few years have been mostly contest releases. The four big non-contest releases I can think of from 2020 are:
Heist at Hilbert's Highrise Hotel (by yours truly)
Violent End of Duncan Malveine (by nicked)
Malazars Inscrutable Tower (also by nicked- dude's a beast!)
Ascend the Dim Valley (by Dirk Bogan)
There were a handful of smaller one-off missions released as well, but it's mostly been contest missions lately.
Renault on 16/2/2021 at 05:32
The last two years have been unique because the two 20th anniversary contests were big events. Many of the veteran authors put aside their other projects to participate. The Dark Project contest alone produced 23 missions, which is far beyond what your average contest generates. My point here is that these contests in particular surely decreased what would normally be a larger number of one-off releases.
As far as campaigns go, it depends how you define them, but there really haven't been many recently. Patriot in 2019, and then there was Death's Cold Embrace/Rebellion of the Builder/Godbreaker in 2017, but that's going on 4 years ago now.
marbleman on 16/2/2021 at 13:18
I should probably add to what I've written here
Quote:
the mid-2000s were rich with Victorian mansion heists ... it was an acutal trend at one point to create key-hunt missions -- basically open-ended levels that required finding keys in a specific order to unlock previously locked areas
The 7th Crystal, another highly influential mission, was likely the trend-setter for both of these.
Supremcee on 16/2/2021 at 13:39
If you really wanna show the difference between the early days and whats possible now, The Builders Paradise by FireMage is one of the most outstanding and impressive missions
Esse on 22/2/2021 at 16:13
Sensut has already been mentioned, but I can't stress enough how atmospheric and well-crafted his missions are. His Nosferatu, Bathory, and Dracula Reloaded campaigns are masterful pieces of history-inspired stealth-horror (stealth-supernatural?). The worldbuilding, design, tension and atmosphere can and will hook you from start to finish.
Lady Rowena is also another that has been mentioned. She was an impressive writer and designer, with humble little origins in an Italian town somewhere in the countryside. There was humour, drama, horror, suspense - Lady Rowena worked it all into her missions, with beautiful architecture and a high standard for details. When she passed, it hit the community very hard, and it still does to this day. She is so beloved that several large contributors went and finished a mission posthumously for her, and released it in her honour so her final work wouldn't go unseen.
I also agree with Supremcee on the technical work done with The Builder's Paradise. The sheer contrast evoked by its palette, setup, and design is beautiful and horrifying in how it portrays a successful Mechanist takeover. Thief 2X: Shadows of the Metal Age shouldn't be looked over, either - it was a big deal back in the day with all the work that went into it. The penultimate level is on par with TDS's The Shalebridge Cradle and TDP's Return to the Cathedral in terms of creepiness and survival horror aesthetic. I believed it received some considerable game press, so it might be worth calling back to that to show the evolution and calibre of the Thief FM community.
Finally, The Dark Mod is worth mentioning. It started as a conversion of Thief over to the Unreal Engine and then became a freeware, standalone game with its own Thief-inspired world. It has several missions made entirely by its and Thief's FM community, and has a robust editor of its own. I highly recommend you try it out after you finish some more fan missions.
baeuchlein on 24/2/2021 at 03:19
More insight in the worlds and thoughts of some FM authors might be gained from listening to some episodes of the Thief podcast "Inside at Last", as well as some interviews with FM authors which are published somewhere on the TTLG forums as texts/postings.
Some other people not necessary involved much with the creation of fan missions should also not be overlooked. The late MsLedd has done much for these forums here, AFAIK, which is why someone called her the TTLG server goddess, I think. There's also been a French woman going by the name of "Lady Jo", who was important for the French forums. She also is no longer among us. Other people drive forums in Germany, Russia, Poland, Italy and other countries.
For several of the dead members among the Thief fan community, authors created places like graves or shrines in their missions. Such places of remembrance exist for Lady Rowena, MsLedd and several others in Thief/Thief 2 FMs, and even in missions for The Dark Mod (TDM).
