Stealing Time #4 - UI Customization/Gameplay...3-Stage Lightgem...Perma-Shroud/Hands - by Vae
Vae on 4/12/2013 at 21:36
Here we go...(
http://community.eidosmontreal.com/blogs/Stealing-Time-Episode-4) http://community.eidosmontreal.com/blogs/Stealing-Time-Episode-4
Inline Image:
http://cdn.eidosinteractive.com/mtl/marketing/Community/Blog/Thief/blog_customdiff_small.jpgQuote:
Custom Difficulty Settings
You can create your own custom difficulty level by toggling on any (or all!) of the following mods:
Base difficulty: easy, normal or hard
Classic Thief Mods
* Chapter Save Only: manual saves and checkpoint auto-saves are disabled.
* No Focus: the use of Focus is completely disabled and no Focus Points are earned.
* Stealth Takedowns Only: you cannot perform combat Takedowns and Takedowns from above.
* No Reticle: no aiming reticle is displayed when drawing the bow.
Legendary Thief Mods
* Specialty Arrows Only: only Blunt, Water, Fire and Rope Arrows are available.
* No Resources: food (health) and poppy flowers (Focus) are not consumable.
* It Hurts Not: if you take any damage, the mission is failed.
* Expensive Tools: the cost of arrows, tools, food and poppies is greatly increased.
* Slowed Movement: running and walking speeds are reduced.
Ultimate Thief Mods
* Iron Man: if you die or fail a mission, you lose your game and must restart from the beginning.
* No Upgrades: non-critical upgrades are disabled.
* No Kills or Knockouts: if a human or animal is killed or stunned, the mission is failed.
* No Alerts: if a human or animal detects you, the mission is failed.
Although the custom difficulty options are nice to have, they are simply a minor positive sitting on top of a mountain of major core problems.
Inline Image:
http://cdn.eidosinteractive.com/mtl/marketing/Community/Blog/Thief/blog_customui_small.jpgQuote:
Display Options
Each of these can be turned on or off individually based on your preferences:
* Navigation prompts
* Interaction prompts
* Waypoint markers
* Threat icons
* Threat health meters
* Mini-map
* Mini-map rotation
* Reticle feedback
* Journal updates
* Pick-up notifiers
* Light gem
* Object highlight
* Loot glint
* Lockpick helper
* Frame search helper
* Garrett narrated hints
* Health meter (on, off, or fade over time)
* Focus meter (on, off, or fade over time)
* Ammo counter (on, off, or fade over time)
Again, it's nice to have these options, yet the UI customization is minor in the scheme of things, when compared to the core fundamental problems of contextualized gameplay and the now confirmed inferior 3-stage lightgem.
And even this little bit of good news concerning the UI becomes sour, once one realizes that
the Shroud isn't removable...(
http://forums.eidosgames.com/showthread.php?p=1965151#post1965151) http://forums.eidosgames.com/showthread.php?p=1965151#post1965151
Quote:
Alex does touch on the shroud, saying that it's part of an integrated system of full-screen effects that are there to provide feedback when other elements of the UI are turned off, along with red flashes when you get hit and white flashes when you enter light. So no, it cannot be removed. ~ Freya
So what we've got is an unremovable, anti-immersive Shroud, continually flashing white in our faces, in order to let us blatantly know we can be seen now...and flashing red in our faces, to let us know that we are hurt...:laff:
EDIT: Just realized this means that the Zombie Hands are permanent, as well...:grr:
SubJeff on 4/12/2013 at 21:43
The only thing you've said that I agree with is that contextual movement is a problem.
Do we have a confirmed 3 stage stealth system? Link please.
You have to at least admit that they are trying. Those options are surprisingly hard core. The one about taking no damage - solid!
Renault on 4/12/2013 at 21:43
Haven't listened to the podcast yet, but a couple of initial thoughts:
-Kudos to EM for all the variety listed above - that must have been a decent amount of work and they certainly didn't have to implement it.
-Unfortunately, you cannot disable The Shroud. Ugh.
-I appreciate all the different difficulty modes, but I'd like to play Classic Thief Mode and also be able to manually save.
-Slowed movements? Not sure I get the point of that.
@Vae - maybe put "UI/Gameplay Customization" in the thread topic so people know what this podcast is about.
Edit: Classic mode looks great, except for the lack of saves. I wonder what exactly this entails though?
Quote:
* Stealth Takedowns Only: you cannot perform combat Takedowns and Takedowns from above.
So, no BJ KOs at all? No killing? Or are they all allowed but just need to be silent somehow? You could argue a headshot is a stealth takedown. Will we see gas arrows?
Chade on 4/12/2013 at 22:19
Vae, if you're going to be the one reporting all this information, it would be nice if you could tone it down a bit: just for the initial information dump. Feel absolutely free to be your own charming self after that.
Also haven't watched the podcast yet (seriously, what's wrong with text? Text is so much more convenient ... the internet is going mad), but Brethren, I doubt the takedown stuff has any effect on your ability to just knock someone out normally with the blackjack as per thief 1-3. I think by takedown they specifically mean pressing X to switch to a short cutscene of Garrett knocking someone out. Could be wrong though.
EDIT: Some of those options are great. Slowed movement in particular looks interesting.
Goldmoon Dawn on 4/12/2013 at 22:32
I think that these settings are a complete joke. They are going way too far with them, and in really trivial ways. I didnt get into Thief because I was some elite ghost thief, and though I ultimately got there, I still wouldnt want these things imposed on me or not. The enjoyment of Thief comes from the imaginative and atmospheric exploration via amazing 1st person physics.
After completely crushing the core of movement in a Thief game, tacking on these difficulty settings because thats what the "hardcore" fans want is absolutely ridiculous. Try making a game that has free moving game play first, then let the fans themselves decide if it is worthy enough or not to attempt playing like a classic Looking Glass Thief title.
Try again, if you want this original fanatics hard earned dollar, because this? How does this rectify *anything* with this huge elephant in the room that is contextual game play? Purposefully or not, this is borderline insulting in light of the big picture. It is sad to see people who spend all this money to make a game that cant even be bothered to actually sit down and get into the classics that they are remaking and see what the real fans have been talking about.
What a bunch of putzes.
:ebil:
Vae on 4/12/2013 at 22:34
Quote Posted by NuEffect
Do we have a confirmed 3 stage stealth system? Link please.
In the podcast, Alexandre Breault mentions that the lightgem only has 3-stages, yet vaguely states that there are other calculations involved that impact Ai response...Regardless of these other calculations, the stealth system will be lower-fidelity, lacking granulated depth, due to the crude, limited feedback from the binary flashing perma-Shroud, and the 3-stage lightgem.
Quote:
You have to at least admit that they ate trying.
Some of the customizations are nice...but are minor, and become less valuable once one realizes the flashing, anti-immersive Shroud and Zombie Hands, are unremovable...Add to this, the fundamental core problems of contextual movement and a lower-fidelity stealth system, and the customizations have the effect of putting lipstick on a pig.
Quote Posted by Brethren
@Vae - maybe put "UI/Gameplay Customization" in the thread topic so people know what this podcast is about.
Sure thing.
Renault on 4/12/2013 at 22:35
I think the slowed movement is one of the things I like least. Isn't that kind or arbitrary? I can understand limiting other things for the sake of stealth and challenge, but moving slower just sounds painful and not fun. That'd kind of be like saying "we're going to reduce Garrett's aiming accuracy by 50%" or "we're going to force Garrett to wear tap dancing shoes." It's making the mode more difficult just for the sake of it.
It's almost like randomly saying "we're going to make Garrett blind in one eye for the rest of the game." Err, well, bad example there, but you get the jist. :laff:
Master Taffer 512 on 4/12/2013 at 22:35
Quote Posted by Brethren
-I appreciate all the different difficulty modes, but I'd like to play Classic Thief Mode and also be able to manually save.
Verified that for you.
Renault on 4/12/2013 at 22:40
Ah, cool, thanks MT, that's a big plus then.
I should probably just wait til I've listened to the podcast, but what's with the points system in that screen? Is it all building up to some kind of final stealth score?
Master Taffer 512 on 4/12/2013 at 22:43
Quote Posted by Brethren
Ah, cool, thanks MT, that's a big plus then.
I should probably just wait til I've listened to the podcast, but what's with the points system in that screen? Is it all building up to some kind of final stealth score?
Apparently they intend to have a leaderboard and those act as modifiers.
