Thief 4 will be awesome because... - by jay pettitt
Renzatic on 16/3/2013 at 18:03
Quote Posted by Vivian
One of the big reasons to be excited that no-one seems to be mentioning that much is that, while it's on consoles, it's one these fabled next-gen jobs. I have no idea what that means in specs, but it's got to at least mean more RAM (and hence larger levels). I doubt we'll be getting LotP style huge, but it should be worlds better than the 64 (64!) MB shoeboxes of TDS, and logically quite a lot more than the quite decent-sized maps of Dishonored.
With today's engines capable of streaming in content on the fly, and the next gen consoles having at least 8GB of ram onboard, there honestly no reason why we should see a load screen at all past the title screen in Thief 4.
Unless they do divide the game up into a mission by mission structure. Which honestly, I'd almost prefer to a more open ended game.
jtr7 on 16/3/2013 at 18:14
We've mentioned it earlier on when the next-gen console news was just a rumor, Vivian, and a few more times over the last year as it started to make more and more sense that T4 development would likely make that move. So for many here, it's already settled in, and we're just hoping the constraints are loosened in a good way, and not too loose affecting cohesion or plodding sprawl. It was discussed that we may finally see greater map sizes than TMA's biggest maps like we naively expected from TDS, where all the maps combined could fit into Life of the Party and Soulforge.
For myself, the next-gen move was the main reason I was fairly confident we will finally see The River, and unless it's a large channel or tributary shown in the images released, it looks like we are!
Something the non-technical may not know about, the sound propagation for a traditional Thief experience, and certain unique qualities for the light/shadows, are huge resource hogs that lead to visual sacrifices to get the missions running and framerates down.
Azaran on 16/3/2013 at 22:16
I think the grappling claw will be good. Even though we won't have rope arrows this time around either, the claw is a nice compromise as it's pretty much identical on a practical level (swinging rope).
Also, despite my fears about T4, I am liking the graphics, and I expect the AI system to be more advanced - it was already very decent in T1, I'm anxious to see what next milestone they'll make with it this time.
And so far although the costumes and theme looks more 1920's-ish, it's nice to see the architecture is still medieval.
And the levels seem nice and large, unlike the cramped ones in T3.
ZylonBane on 16/3/2013 at 22:23
Quote Posted by Azaran
I expect the AI system to be more advanced - it was already very decent in T1
The fact that this statement actually makes sense in your head frightens me.
Tip of the Day: TDP and "Thief" run on completely different engines. So drawing any conclusions about one based on the performance of the other makes zero sense.
jtr7 on 16/3/2013 at 22:28
What about all the architecture that wasn't Medieval at all in the early games? I hope to see that stuff, too. It doesn't have to be TMA's level of Victorian, but if it never looks like a blend of Greek in places, Tudor, 1880-1920 big city Industrial Age, and the sheer tech advancement and steampunk on the level of TDP's Old Quarter alone, it will just be TDS-enhanced in that regard. That blend was pulled off very satisfyingly before. It was so seamless that people never consciously noticed unless they stopped and took it in, and even in TDP, it was barely touched upon in-game, and they have much less limitations now to build in more of the distinguishing character of The City than ever!
Azaran on 16/3/2013 at 22:35
Quote Posted by ZylonBane
The fact that this statement actually makes sense in your head frightens me.
Tip of the Day: TDP and "Thief" run on completely different engines. So drawing any conclusions about one based on the performance of the other makes zero sense.
It makes sense in that it's a franchise and so we expect the newer games to have a better AI system, regardless of whether it's the same engine or not.
Vivian on 17/3/2013 at 01:08
Quote Posted by jtr7
Greek in places, Tudor, 1880-1920 big city Industrial Age, and the sheer tech advancement and steampunk on the level of TDP's Old Quarter alone,
This is a very good point. It's so low tech it's fairly easy to overlook the sheer range of
stuff going on in the architecture of the first two. It would definitely be nice to see that level of barmy again.
SubJeff on 17/3/2013 at 01:44
Quote Posted by Azaran
It makes sense in that it's a franchise and so we expect the newer games to have a better AI system, regardless of whether it's the same engine or not.
Nope.
Try again.
Azaran on 17/3/2013 at 03:12
Quote Posted by jtr7
What about all the architecture that wasn't Medieval at all in the early games? I hope to see that stuff, too. It doesn't have to be TMA's level of Victorian, but if it never looks like a blend of Greek in places, Tudor, 1880-1920 big city Industrial Age, and the sheer tech advancement and steampunk on the level of TDP's Old Quarter alone, it will just be TDS-enhanced in that regard. That blend was pulled off very satisfyingly before. It was so seamless that people never consciously noticed unless they stopped and took it in, and even in TDP, it was barely touched upon in-game, and they have much less limitations now to build in more of the distinguishing character of The City than ever!
Yeah I don't mind other styles as long as they're subtle
Goldmoon Dawn on 17/3/2013 at 03:14
My hope for you guys is that they *do* significantly enhance the AI! Because damn, if they dont, you will have one hell of a hard time finding any sort of "thieving experience". In order to sneak through somewhere, a classic Thief ideal, you would almost need to be somehwhat up close and personal with the adversary. True Thief promoted that vibe of tension to its fullest in the masterful level design of Dark Project. From what I have watched on modern games, the larger environments havent really been places to needfully go and explore, rather theyve been environments in which to go and kill things! And also, how can you sneak past a guard if you are dropping 80 feet and doing multiple dance maneuvers along the way. So provided that they will obviously have to keep the scale of the project size realistic to an actual thieving experience, they should have plenty of resources available to maximise the AI, and really punch it up! I want to see guards that can pick up Garriotts scent, and target him with pinpoint precision. Mwahaa.
