jtr7 on 8/4/2013 at 03:39
At this time, 3rd-person will creep in at times, just not nearly as much as their first hybrid system, but it looks like the only way to never see it at all is to avoid wall-climbing and a couple of other actions. I knew from TDS that 3rd-person is almost necessary in wall-climbing, especially when the terrain is uncertain and Garrett doesn't have a full range of natural motion. Give him a full range of natural motion in wall-climbing and 3P is unnecessary.
Shinrazero on 8/4/2013 at 03:47
I always immerse myself into the character when playing Thief and feel that switching to 3P would be distracting and break the immersion. Still too soon to tell but I worry. :erg:
Renzatic on 8/4/2013 at 04:03
Quote Posted by jtr7
At this time, 3rd-person will creep in at times, just not nearly as much as their first hybrid system, but it looks like the only way to never see it at all is to avoid wall-climbing and a couple of other actions. I knew from TDS that 3rd-person is almost necessary in wall-climbing, especially when the terrain is uncertain and Garrett doesn't have a full range of natural motion. Give him a full range of natural motion in wall-climbing and 3P is unnecessary.
Thing is, I don't think there's gonna be any T3 style wall climbing in T4. It's all gonna be done via rope arrows and...
the claw.
Renzatic on 8/4/2013 at 04:07
Thing's awesome, man. It's all like *thwak* and *bam*...good sneakin'.
Bakerman on 8/4/2013 at 07:34
Despite being an advocate of more freedom of movement in games generally, I'm really not excited to see Mirror's Edge-style parkour in Thief. Mirror's Edge and Assassin's Creed follow a very superficial model of parkour which gives you tremendous freedom and is very slick - which I do appreciate, but I don't think it's right for Thief. It fits perfectly in the environment like in that video - basically, featureless immobile cubes that are larger than a human. But from a Thief game I'd really like to see a more excruciating, slow-paced freedom of movement that's more in line with what I experience when I actually go climbing. Have you ever tried to hang from a wall by your hands? It's fine on a thin, new wall with overgrip and a smooth lip. But older bricks? Or a slanted top? Or, save me, wood?
I guess I'm starting to get a bit rambly, but what I'm saying is this. ME and AC treat the environment as a series of solid blocks, like the ideal parkour training park. They let you move rapidly and fluidly over low-resolution terrain. I'd really like to see Thief take the opposite approach - you can climb up this wall, but you have to weigh the cost of how long it will take, how much noise it will make given the material (the city is not made of immobile concrete slabs), etc. Slowly and fluidly over high-resolution terrain. Sneaking between gaps in fence planks, between horizontal railings, up narrow chimneys between walls, etc.
Of course, there's not a chance we'll see that. But I think that's the direction Thief should be heading in.
Thirith on 8/4/2013 at 08:10
I'm agnostic on parkour in Thief - but I honestly don't think it makes all that much sense to compare parkour in Mirror's Edge and Assassin's Creed. The two play very differently, the parkour can hardly be compared, and I'd also say that the spaces the games create and the opportunities for parkour are hardly similar. If anything, the animus puzzles in Revelations offer similar spaces to Mirror's Edge, but there's no parkour gameplay whatsoever in those sections of the game.
jtr7 on 8/4/2013 at 08:55
I didn't think a comparison was being made, but rather, an amalgam of concepts presented since we don't know exactly how Thief implements it. Articles have been written mentioning both games in writing about the Thief demo, and fan speculation over wanting or not wanting parkour in Thief in the last 4 years has invoked those two titles more than Prince of Persia each.
Kuuso on 8/4/2013 at 09:11
It is really hard to say how the parkour in Thief will be implemented. At this point it could easily be the worst thing or the best innovation the game will have.
When it comes to real parkour, the whole point of the sport (albeit it's more like a lifestyle :)) is to transform urban enviroments via your body. Firstly the point was to be as effective in your movements (coupled with the intent of getting from A To B as straightly as possible), only later on people started adding tricks to it. As a concept parkour goes extremely well with thievery and cat-burglary, because it is basically about knowing urban enviroment and having great coordination of your body. Even if parkour in itself doesn't place stress on silent movement, I would trust a parkourer to be able to do it way better than other sports. Their steps are lighter and they move faster. I would only give dancers the benefit of doubt for sneaking more silently.
It is a different thing how they implement it. If their idea of parkour is straightly from those slow-mo videos that plague youtube, then it's probably gonna suck.
Volca on 8/4/2013 at 09:36
I find it a bit sad how they try to sell the cooperation with thief "hardcore" players - that they voiced the Focus and other features should be optional, as a positive thing. Reading between the lines I see what they mean is more "This feature should not be there at all." than "I'd like to step up a challenge and try to play without that.".
