Thief Universe, storyline, lore... etc... - by Bulgarian_Taffer
jtr7 on 24/3/2013 at 00:21
It's the "end" of that world if it ignores what was established. I don't make a distinction between game fiction, fictional literature, movie fiction. It's all story and the author(s) lay(s) out the rules. We follow, or we don't. We like it, or not, and to varying degrees. Take any major part of a fictional world in any major story and just take it out like it's nothing and it begs the question of why bother at all? There are plenty of reasons that are fine, but improving sales to "today's console market" is always lame.
Yeah, the undead are obstacles. All the AIs are obstacles. That's the puzzle to solve when it's not strictly terrain. It's why the tools are there, to change the puzzle, open avenues.
If you gotta blow AIs up, snipe 'em, practice sparring, improve your aim and timing, and want to do it without ever failing a mission, quickloading, or exploiting the system, the undead are perfectly suited for it, and the whole City benefits, as well as the player and Garrett.
And for those of us who are expert enough to not need to use any weaponry or gear when it's not specific to an objective, it's fun to offload all that excess on the undead scourge.
Goldmoon Dawn on 24/3/2013 at 04:58
Quote Posted by Twist
In TDP, zombies were always just an environmental hazard to me. Not only could you sneak by them, but they were really easy to run around and outrun, and they forgot about you pretty soon after you outran them. Every once in a while they made my heart beat a little faster because I had to be precise to slip by them without letting one reach out and hurt me.
Another fine example of the classic "elite" game design that LGS subscribed to. Perhaps the zombies werent strictly needed as such, but to have them alive in this creepy evil place while looking for this horn added to the overall atmospheric tension that they were masterfully building and delivering throughout the game. The "elite" part of it was that if you did indeed manage to get too close to the aesthetics, they could and would bite you.
june gloom on 24/3/2013 at 08:51
Thief is fantasy steampunk. Fantasy settings often include dungeons and other places the undead gather. It wasn't some stroke of genius that they put zombies in there. They put zombies in there because that's to be expected from the setting.
Goldmoon Dawn on 24/3/2013 at 12:35
Quote Posted by dethtoll
It wasn't some stroke of genius that they put zombies in there.
Youre right dethtoll. Here I thought it *was* a stroke of genius. Silly me, and all this time I foolishly thought that LGS used the "crpg" elements towards the end of Thief: The Dark Project because their origins were directly linked with Ultima, Wizardry, and Might and Magic. I also foolishly thought that Dark Project was the final LGS culmination of the old crpg era, that they were a large part of themselves! What *was* I thinking?!?! Give LGS a little more credit!
jtr7 on 24/3/2013 at 12:40
I never said it was genius to put zombies in there. Providing targets for violence without violating the principals of the character and game mechanics they were going for was. It's like explaining a joke, here. :sly:
SubJeff on 24/3/2013 at 13:21
Quote Posted by Goldmoon Dawn
Youre right dethtoll. Here I thought it *was* a stroke of genius.
There is no doubt that it worked really well. I remember my first time into the Bonehoard; it was great.
But I wouldn't say it was genius to have zombies, per se. What was genius was the entire style of play; the perfect player movement, the mantling, the rope climbing, the stealth in darkness, the setting. The whole shebang was a conglomeration of ideas that resulted in wonder.
Goldmoon Dawn on 24/3/2013 at 13:33
Well, I must say SE, that tickled my fanatic bone! Good show. :ebil:
june gloom on 24/3/2013 at 19:03
Quote Posted by Goldmoon Dawn
Youre right dethtoll. Here I thought it *was* a stroke of genius. Silly me, and all this time I foolishly thought that LGS used the "crpg" elements towards the end of Thief: The Dark Project because their origins were directly linked with Ultima, Wizardry, and Might and Magic. I also foolishly thought that Dark Project was the final LGS culmination of the old crpg era, that they were a large part of themselves! What *was* I thinking?!?! Give LGS a little more credit!
You actually proved my point for me. Those are all fantasy settings which Thief's developers were intimately familiar with. Of
course the creepy abandoned tomb is going to have freakin' zombies. That didn't make the Bonehoard or THC/RTC any less awesome -- in fact, THC is one of my favourite parts of a game of all time. It's got a legacy, you know: Marc Laidlaw, the Half-Life writer, has come out on record as saying Thief is one of his favourite games; the Ravenholm sequence of Half-Life 2 is pretty much THC resurrected for the Half-Life setting.
Goldmoon Dawn on 24/3/2013 at 20:13
Hell yeah, it looks we all agree that The Dark Project rocked it.
