That new bow... - by Hewer
jay pettitt on 8/3/2013 at 17:22
Apparently they (Eidos Montreal) do. They've put a lot of effort into the Bow and Garrett's bespoke burglary outfit. Perhaps they think that it's important to the look and feel of the game and the characterization of its protagonist.
Beleg Cúthalion on 8/3/2013 at 18:37
The problem for me isn't that it's a new bow or something freaky or that they had people crafting it for real (that's something I strongly support). It's just that this bow already exists. And that is, in the only realm that doesn't seem appropriate to me as a reference for the Thief universe: our present. Let me find an analogy: You guys are usually into Star Wars, right? Imagine that there were special forces guards in the game that looked exactly like those white storm troopers. The equipment would be tweaked towards brass, leather and steel, of course, but the similarity would still be downright obvious. Would you be satisfied and not thrown out of immersion when seeing these guys in a Thief game, with the knowledge of Star Wars characters in the back of your head?
jay pettitt on 8/3/2013 at 18:47
A bit like giving Mr. G. a smoke grenade that looked much too much like an actual late 20th Century smoke grenade (and making smoke grenades a prominent part of the game).
It's not a terrible idea per se - smoke grenades could be cool. But the aesthetic look and feel thing would maybe not be entirely well thought through given the pseudo historical/fictional setting. Wrong time and place for an actual smoke grenade. Pseudo historical/fictional/fantasy smoke grenade required.
Unless there's some time-travel shenanigans EM are keeping under their bespoke burglary outfit sleeves.
jay pettitt on 8/3/2013 at 19:05
Quote:
they had people crafting it for real (that's something I strongly support)
I wish they'd have sent someone on a chair making course. Their bent-wood seats look a bit tippy to be honest and the back legs would give in no time.
ZylonBane on 8/3/2013 at 19:31
Perhaps this is their way of encouraging people to play stealthily, by discouraging us from bringing that pulley-encrusted monstrosity up onto the screen any more than absolutely necessary.
jay pettitt on 8/3/2013 at 20:33
What happens if one of the jockey-wheels develops an annoying squeak ffs.
Renzatic on 8/3/2013 at 22:49
The guards will just think it's a rat. They think everything's a rat.
Petike the Taffer on 10/3/2013 at 01:42
Quote Posted by Renzatic
The guards will just think it's a rat. They think everything's a rat.
Not always:
"Jored ?! That you ?" :laff:
Jomero on 11/3/2013 at 16:50
A simple mechanical steampunk-ish bow is far more acceptable to me than a prosthetic mechanical and removable eye camera that is functionally tied to the same optic nerves as a regular eye. I can believe the Hammers could make that bow. That eye is stretching it, even in the Thief world.
But I guess my point is, "If you dislike the complex bow, but don't mind the eye... you may want to rethink your stance on the Thief world and take a hard look inward to make sure you're not just disliking something that's new."
jtr7 on 11/3/2013 at 23:43
Heh, it's not about the complexity in THAT sense. So don't worry 'bout that. Karras stumbled on tech implied to have contributed to the fall of the previous grand civilization, and he, not the Hammerites, made it. It's as complex as clockwork is in real life, except for the part(s) where it uses magic for power and interface, magic which is normal and not supernatural there, and with rules for use keeping things conservative, which Karras decided not to follow.
I WANT him to have new stuff!!
The problem with the bow, is that, unlike a small device concealable behind eyelids, and must be complex enough to do what it does, the bow doesn't need to be more than what it basically is, a spring made with wood and a string with a handle for grip and control, unless it's purpose is now more complex than a projectile launcher. If Garrett's a soldier and needs to kill repeatedly, then a bow that has punching power, and greater distance, and relieves strain where it can, makes sense. For something they designed to be more easily carried and hidden, they made it catch more light, and if it were carried by a guy in Garrett's get-up, it would catch more on everything when it wasn't put away. As it is, the new complexity's main purpose for Garrett is easier storage, not handling, so I wonder if it will have expanded uses to justify it. It implies heavier and repeated use in its design, and a smaller storage footprint.
The bow is even flashier, now, way more than in TDS, where it had light silvery parts, and except for in TDS, the mech-eye is not flashy out in the field in the dark. Garrett getting flashy could be justified in the narrative if he's getting reckless and cocky beyond how he was in youth. It's the only Mechanist Eye device that doesn't glow from within, and my very personal justification for that is that Garrett's eye has no Friend Or Foe detection, and that it's a more of a prototype, but those are the biggest concessions I give it.
So to put a twist on your words, yeah, that technomagic is heretical and threatening even within the narrative. Didja know that the magical addonizio crystals the lenses are ground from are imported, and that they are only found in The Maw when not in the inventory of a Mechanist associate? Also, neither Garrett nor his Keeper contacts were bothered by the mech-eye itself, but its existence was visually associated with the coming dark age it portended.
