Chade on 17/6/2013 at 03:06
Summary of all pages of E3 eidos fan impression. I didn't use b1skit's summary, as I don't know him well enough to be confident he would include everything.
Last post in thread as of time I last updated this was on (
http://forums.eidosgames.com/showthread.php?t=138032&page=14) page fourteen at 4:09 pm in whatever time zone their forum software is using.
Please let me know if you think I've missed important points, or misrepresented anything. I want this to be an impartial summary of the eidos fan's statements.
Players:* 5 players involved: 4/5 players are eidos forum mods
* One player played Thief 2 and 3 some time after they were released
* One other player played thief 1 and 2 a few years after they were released, and thief 3 shortly after (not sure if that's after he played 1 & 2, or after 3 was released?)
* Another played all three games at the time of their release
* No idea how much the other 2 players have played the previous games.
* When questioned, one player has denied having any obligation to be nice, and denied signing any NDAs or other agreements
Developers:* devs seemed to genuinely enjoy answering questions
* developers are "
Thief super fans", one player had big conversation with dev and was "
extremely impressed", later saying: "
we talked about trilogy's events, character development of Garrett, secrets in the missions, fan missions, LGS retrospective podcasts, etc. The guy knows his Thief."
* player claims developers know thief lore of the top of their head, and have created a master City map
* developers claim they read the forums (meaning Eidos forum), but company policy forbids them from posting
* developers claim to be confident that concerns will vanish when we get to play the game
* developers say they like the idea of having content that players miss
* developers not currently thinking about an editors
Story, world, atmosphere:* magic not gone, but scaled back in favour of mysticism
* regarding lore presentation "
although very true to established lore, is very layered" (I'm not sure how to interpret that)
* "
[developers] were coy as to whether the Hammers and Pagans were there"
* burricks in universe but not game
* no undead in the game
* no clear answer regarding non-human AI apart from dogs
* players only saw dogs in cages
* glyphs are in the game
* players saw torches and electric lights in manor, but did not see (
http://thief.wikia.com/wiki/Collector_Tower) collectors towers
* players consider the levels to be extremely atmospheric, and "
really fleshed out"
* tone was dark and oppressive: "
captured the world of Thief in a somewhat less goofy way then the originals" (goofy?)
* "
the world feels really interactive"
* background music reacts to game state, mostly blended in
* players considered guard dialogue to be good
* taffer is one of many expletives in the game
* lots of nods to previous games
* players do not recall any sound effects accompanying objective complete notifications
Garrett:* hands are here to stay, devs consider them extremely important characterization of Garrett
* players state the hands are not intrusive while actually playing and add to Garrett's physical presence
* body awareness is present, including feet
* players consider Garrett's sense of humour and personality to be intact
* players consider the number of lines Garrett's speaks during play to be ok, but devs mentioned they want want to tone it down a little
* players consider Romano's voice to work "
serviceable at worst, spot on at best"
* the players state the trailer lines don't do Romano's work justice
* Narrative Director claims Romano has been giving a lot of input rather then just reading lines and going home
* Garrett has "
a little but more of a romantic view of his profession this time around"
* Garrett quote on picking up the Heart of the Lion: "
So, the Baron does have a heart after all"
* Garrett quote on encountering guards in dining hall: "
It's nice that the Baron's men can eat so well while they hang people for stealing bread"
Abilities and tools:* players claim that xp rewards were not intrusive in demo
* xp rewards heavily biased towards stealth
* xp bonus at the end of the mission if you play stealthily or non-lethally
* xp used for upgrades to Garrett (but they didn't see that in action)
* outside of combat, choosing not to use focus "
just means you have to be more observant and environmentally aware"
* within combat, focus allows player to choose where to strike without needing quick reflexes
* loot can purchase equipment upgrades
* no weight limit to amount of loot or other equipment carried
* crouch moving makes some sound
* dash makes no sound
* devs are still balancing dash, at the moment you can chain them indefinitely, but that is meant to change
* peeking replaces leaning.
* quote on peeking: "
Peeking ... is contextual (you can't do it around a bush for example) but offers a great deal of flexibility; you can shimmy up and down the side of whatever the object is, can pull in or lean further out, etc."
* Garrett can flatten himself against walls
* there is no "
stealth mode"
* tumbler lockicking view reserved for focus
* lockpcking difficulty varied in demo
* player believes option to lock doors was there, but did not try it
* both minimap and full map are available, but players did not use them in their allotted hour
* one player pickpocketed a paper map off a guard
* compared to originals, pickpocketing requires the player to be within a shorter range for a longer period of time
* the pickpocketing action can be stopped at any time by letting go of a button
* players claim new pickpocketing adds tension and requires planning, possibly planning multiple aproaches to guard over time
* vague memories of a compass on the map, but players barely looked at maps and aren't sure
* forgot to ask about swimmable water
Equipment and tools:* player claims the bow "
felt suitably hefty"
* bow is possibly faster then the original games but not rapid-fire
*
"plenty of arrow types" including moss arrows "
in some form"
* blunt arrows can be used as distractions, speculation that you can attach arrow heads to them
* rope arrows limited to hot spots, making it "
more of a puzzle solving tool then an exploratory tool, but not to the degree where I was disappointed"
* can apparently only jump off rope arrow at specific points, and cannot swing on rope arrow
* rope arrow limitation supposedly due to "
complexity of the graphical engines when it came to materials"
* claw == short range and always available, rope arrow == long range and requires deliberate preparation
* first out of three blackjack attacks: can simply swing blackjack and knock guard out without using special buttons or takedown animations (as per original games?)
* second out of three blackjack attacks: hold down button to do blackjack takedown
* third out of three blackjack attacks: focus attack where time slows down, as seen in gameplay video
* Garrett's mechanical eye can zoom in
* players do not recall any moveable creates
Control and HUD:* final UI is not complete, and we should expect some changes
* they didn't try playing with HUD off due to time constraints, but were assured most items could be turned off
* shroud we saw is a placeholder version
* one player claims that shroud "
faded from my attention really quickly, and I was using light gem far more often"
* another player claims that "
you don't need to use light gem as often with the shroud"
* light gem a little harder to see in corner
* quote on light gem vs. the shroud: "
The shroud is a quick-reference... for understanding whether or not you are in darkness or light ... the light gem operates as a more comprehensive detection meter and fades through various levels of brightness and darkness, like a gradient. So the light gem is more comprehensive, the shroud is faster." However ...
* playe claims light gem is currently ternary in practice
* you cannot exit animation half-way through, at least for now
* one player felt like "
they were in control" rather then "
triggering an animation", however ...
* another player singled out interacting with doors as being "
a bit awkward at the moment, because Garrett does automatically reposition to some degree"
* doors can be partially closed or opened at arbitrary angles
* the player automatically reaches out and grabs things: you can bump into and alert guards this way
* you have to press a button to let yourself fall off ledges
* when searching furniture, Garrett physically opens draws and you can look inside
* game pauses while reading things
* loot glint exists even outside focus, described as "
short range, useful for something catching the corner of your vision as you turn past it"
* Garrett's footsteps were audible to the player, but not as loud as Thief 1 & 2
* Unavoidable QTEs appear built into the game, but they are "
few and far between": there was only one two-second QTE in the entire demo
* there is a stats screen for displaying stealth stats
* third person takedowns are available either with focus or depending on context (e.g. the aerial takedown we saw)
* (presumably console specific) there is analogue movement on the sticks and a sprint button
* (presumably console specific) the light bar on PS4 controller was used as a light gem
Guard behaviour:* guards can wake unconscious guards up
* players considered guards to be really observant
* guards are "
systematic in that they react to the events"
* if guards see something suspicious they will "
change how they patrol the environment to include the area they saw something"
* guards communicate with each other
* guards can look up
* guards give off lots of audible clues to their presence: mumbling, coughing, loud footsteps, etc
* guards do not appear to notice when they have been pick-pocketed
* guards react to changes such as doors opening
* guards will notice torches going out an will relight them
* guard bodies do not de-spawn
Stealth mechanics (sound & shadow):* sounds still very important: "
largely the same as you would expect from a Thief game"
* dynamic shadows, e.g. can hide in the shadow of a guard
* shadows work in gradients
* shadows are "
surprisingly (and pleasingly) punishing"
Difficulty and pacing:* players considered gameplay to be very slow and methodical, punishing players for being too quick
* action approach would be really tough to do
* players considered the game to be quite difficult
* players considered failure to feel fair: "
mistakes were your own, not the fault of game mechanics"
* stipulations in missions like "don't be seen" exist, but are not a requirement to complete the mission
Demo levels: the Manor:* campaign level "
some distance into the game"
* Baron's Manor (NorthCrest Manor) is in Audale
* contains the garden we have seen, plus inside of manor
* inside of manor considered to be about the size of bafford's, not including one wing of the manor which was closed for the demo
* demo cut out after finding heart, in the real game you will also have to escape
* three entrances to the mansion that the players know about: the attic, the cellar, and the sewers
* ghosting the level was possible
* blunt, rope, fire, and water arrows available
* a TON of loot and pickpockets to be had inside the manor
* health and focus resources were increased for the purpose of the demo
* numerous traps inside manor
* one awesome moment mentioned several times, but as yet undescribed, which they are calling "
the painting moment". Supposedly makes good use of Garrett's hands. Hints that it involves using the peek command to feel around the painting.
* demo level not scripted. the gameplay videos we saw were all rehearsed. players played level differently.
* guard captain is an "
uptight jerk"
* guards were nervous about approaching mob
* players did not see any non-combatants
* there were no cutscenes apart from introduction
Demo levels: the burning bridge sequence:* Seems like bridge escape sequence is likely to be a bridge from Audale into Dayport
* burning bridge sequence was the weakest slice of game content
* plenty of loot available, but you have to be quick
* developers state that linear sections like the burning bridge are "
particularly rare"
* the one QTE was in this level
* again, no cutscenes apart from introduction
Comparisons to other games:* players did not feel that Thief was aping Dishonoured or DX:HR
Responses to other previews* claims that two other negative previews ("Skype with a Thief fan" notes and "GiantBomb" video) are "
flat out, demonstrably false"
* player claimes to be confused by recent RPS article, saying: "
we got twice as much playtime as the press: if he completed the entire demo in 30 minutes, he must have rushed through it, and maybe in doing so he missed out on chunks of the level, and that soured his opinion"
* claims the following statements in RPS article are inaccurate: "
Guards don't look up", "
scene with mansion collapsing" (player suggests writer wasn't paying attention), "
QTE ridden escape scene" (player reiterates there was only one QTE), and finally player claims levels to be "
about as open as the better levels in DXHR"
Edits:* added players section above
* added note about collectors towers, more rope arrow info, hints about "the painting moment", info about amount of Garrett dialogue, Garrett wall flattening, denial of obligation or agreement to EM, and response to negative previews
* added note about compass on maps, lack of moveable crates, button to enable falling off ledges, QTE being in burning bridge sequence, claim that failure feels fair, loot glint, escape from manor level, and variable lockpicking difficulty
* added response to RPS preview, guards relighting torches, no weight limit, locking doors, stretch objectives, more positive comments about developer knowledge, and information about geography of demo levels
* added more door interaction info, more lockpicking info, more dev info, a quote about shroud vs. light gem, more bow info, xp info, and blackjack info
