The Drunken Orc on 29/5/2004 at 00:03

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I haven't had much of a chance to play through DS yet, but I for one am perfectly ok with loot glint, and while i could do without arrow trails, they're certainly not as annoying as they could have been.

Frankly, debating that this game doesn't FEEL like thief is kinda ludicrous. The same debates surfaced when TMA came out, because some people (including myself) prefered Tricksters and treebeasts to Karras and mecha - so far, DS feels a lot like TDP to me, at least in spirit. Plus, it looks great. Plus, there's been a significant boost to the AI - by far the most important thing we've all been asking for since day 1. Guards now notice their buddies are missing or loot's not where it's supposed to be; do you all realize how long we've been clamoring for that?

You're never gonna get the feeling you got from TDP from DS.. that's a given - back then, the stealth genre was pretty much in its infancy, and TDP was new, it was exciting, and it was a hell of a lot more atmospheric and interesting than any other shooter out at that time. Now that we're on our third iteration of Thief (fourth if you include TDP's gold edition), it's hard to expect the same sort of magic.. and frankly, i think DS does a pretty good job of providing it. I still think TMA is the weak link in the chain, and I probably will for some time.

Dirty_Brute on 29/5/2004 at 02:51

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Larcener,

Yes, I agree! The game does look beautiful, especially at 1600 x 1200. Multisampling is at 1, but it still looks nice!

Right now I am still on the first mission and enjoying all the sights and sounds. Yes, I am definitely taking my time with this game. There are too many pretty things to look at! No reason to speed through and show off!

Ulchie on 29/5/2004 at 06:58

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Hi all...I'm new to the series, and quite frankly new to the genre, as really IMHO Splinter Cell can't compare and nor can any other game...this is probably the only real stealth series....really quite unique

I can't stop playing this game, as I'm constantly wanting to advance the plot....the cutscenes have brought me RIGHT into the game...I found the cutscene for the Pagan mission where u steal the Paw EXTREMELY cool....where he cuts his hand and he bleeds onto the ground and some plants grow...that was probably THE most atmospheric cutscene I've ever seen for any game...

I've never played 1 and 2, which is really quite sad because I think that would help with immersing me into the story even more....I understand the story, as I've read the various lengthy summaries on different messageboards, so I atleast understand what is going on...but I still feel like there is a void there....reading about a game and it's plot and playing a game and experiencing its plot are 2 completely different things IMHO....

I'm really loving this game, although naturally I have some complaints

I hate the loadings (as I often screw up when I'm experimenting), and as much as they praised the AI, and I do see where the praise comes from (environmental awareness) I do feel they are still...easy....even on expert (which I'm playing on)....Their reaction times are too slow...If I hear something coming up behind me, I whip my head to see what it is....but the guards in this game speak aloud to themselves, and easily give you enough time to RUN at them from behind and hit them with the blackjack.....I'd appreciate it if the creep feature (or walk) was actually needed in these cases....it would lead to more tension because of the routes they walk and time limits for getting to them and hitting them over the head...

I also found some pathfinding problems...in the hammerite mission at the beginning, I was having some trouble getting some loot that had 2 guys in it (a priest and a guard holding a candle for him) so what I did was I shot the guard with the arrow, and then I stood in the doorway....the priest just kept running into me even though I was blocking the door because he wanted to get some help outside in the courtyard.....I suppose this will happen in every game at one point or another due to CPU and AI limitations which I don't feel will be resolved until a couple generations from now....I also found a lady walking on the spot as her path was blocked by a ramp to the next level...

I'm impressed. Really. It's been a while since I've had trouble getting myself off of the computer due to an addiction to a game....

A question: How many missions are in the game?

Also, I was wondering how much you guys usually spend to buy arrows or health potions...to stock up...after every level? Because I haven't bought anything and I'm on the fourth mission with an abundance of arrows....So I guess my style of blackjacking almost everyone in a whole mission is saving me lotsa $..I think my levels would go by a lot faster if I were more willing to use my arrows though...I'm playing on expert and I've only killed maybe 5 guards with arrows through 4 missions....I also believe it could be even more fun if I allowed myself to use more arrows...

SO another question: How many arrows do you guys alot yourself to per mission? Because I want to use them, but I'm afraid to since I have heard that ammo is very limited....

Domarius on 29/5/2004 at 08:00

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Hehehe :thumb:
:thumb:

Snowmit on 29/5/2004 at 09:00

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I'm confused about the loot glint-hating.

Remember in the original Thief games how stuff worth stealing was all gold coloured and stuff not worth stealing was coloured some drab colour like brown or green or whatever? How on earth is loot glint different from that?

Anyway, mark me down as one of the people who loves this game. I loved Thief 1 and 2 and the System Shock series and the Deus Ex games (both of them) and playing Thief 3 feels to me like coming home. I've tried a lot of other Stealth action games but none of them have gotten stealth RIGHT in the way that the Thief series did (and does).