All you Taffers...

Post by **Mat Linnett** » Wed Mar 02, 2005 11:47 pm

Shoulda mentioned this a while ago, but now's as good a time as any.
Whilst Ion Storm was going through it's death throes, one gem was regurgitated:
Thief 3 now has an editor.

The community over at Through the Looking Glass is already tapping it's potential, so in the next few months, I'm guessing we'll get to see the next generation of home-brew fan missions.
Hopefully, some of them will live up to the standard set by Thief 2 fan missions.

Interestingly, it confirmed for the community that the (relatively) small levels were indeed due to XBox memory limitations, and several people are already attempting to stitch the original maps together.
The idea of inmates wandering where they're not supposed to in the Cradle sends shivers down my spine...

Oh yeah, and null, creator of the Shalebridge Cradle level (arguably the best level for any game released in the last few years) has mentioned that he may use the editor to flesh out another map he had in mind for Deadly Shadows, but didn't get made due to time constraints...

Post by **VoxProminence** » Thu Mar 03, 2005 12:42 am

that cradle level still gives me shivers.

but this is awesome news, i actually just started playing thief 2 again. love it.

Post by **Geebs** » Thu Mar 03, 2005 4:08 am

I would "w00t", but I've only got the Xbox version. So, since you've reminded me about the Cradle, I'll "Aaaaargh" instead.

Post by **U4EA** » Thu Mar 03, 2005 7:28 am

Awesome news! Keep us posted on the good ones :icon14:

.. makes me wanna go back and play the first two games all over again.

Post by **MKJ** » Thu Mar 03, 2005 8:52 am

Geebs wrote:I would "w00t", but I've only got the Xbox version.

word

Post by **blood.angel** » Thu Mar 03, 2005 10:26 am

I still have to play it. Now that its about £15 I might.
Nothing disappointed me more than the news of T3 being made for the xbox.
And the level in the Thief 2 demo is the greatest level ever made. Its the 'Life of the Party' but set at night and with other extras to the level.
Still have it installed, must be 4 years now.

Post by **Mat Linnett** » Thu Mar 03, 2005 11:48 am

To be honest, I was dreading it after DE:IW too, but it didn't fare anywhere near as badly as that abortion of a game.
It's a fantastic game, albeit with a couple of duff levels (MORE than made up for by the Cradle and the Museum).

The maps can feel a tad small, and the city section is a great idea but too broken up with not enough rooftop exploration, but it doesn't stop the overall package being great.

And the story's fab too.

Oh, and because it's the second title using the DE:IW engine, it's been optimised and runs a LOT better.
Well worth picking up for £15.

Post by **Geebs** » Thu Mar 03, 2005 12:26 pm

TBH the maps were bigger than I was expecting given the amount of bitching everyone did about it

The only levels I didn't really enjoy were the Pagan levels.

The haunted ship was great if just for the sound effects, and I absolutely loved the mansion - the captain's wife creeped the hell out of me.

Now all we need is a Mac version.

Post by **Mat Linnett** » Thu Mar 03, 2005 1:09 pm

Ooo, Ion Storm dead, rumours rampant regarding the demise of Eidos, a DirectX 9.0 game...
It would be nice, but I wouldn't hold out for a Mac version.
That and the fact that if somebody does decide to do it, it'll probably be another 2 years before it arrives...

Post by **Geebs** » Thu Mar 03, 2005 1:12 pm

Irony filter acting up again, I take it?

Post by **Mat Linnett** » Thu Mar 03, 2005 1:14 pm

Doh, spending too much time round Americans...

Post by **blood.angel** » Thu Mar 03, 2005 2:32 pm

Has Thief 1 been ported for the mac yet?

Post by **Mat Linnett** » Thu Mar 03, 2005 3:47 pm

Give it another couple of years yet...
It took ~5 years for FO2 to make the transition.

Post by **Geebs** » Thu Mar 03, 2005 5:23 pm

I'm going to hold my hand up and admit that I haven't the slightest idea what "FO2" is.

However, at least we've got Homeworld 2 on the Mac now. In widescreen on my cinema display it's lussssssshhhhhh

Post by **Mat Linnett** » Thu Mar 03, 2005 6:46 pm

Soz, Fallout 2. Weird, cos the original Fallout demo was released simultaneously on Mac & PC...

Post by **blood.angel** » Thu Mar 03, 2005 7:06 pm

Pity Homeworld2 was just like D3, a big let down.
Ever see the teaser trailer of it? It had massive hulks that ships could fly into and around, but which didnt make the final game.
Now that would have been dead cool.

Post by **Geebs** » Thu Mar 03, 2005 11:57 pm

blood.angel wrote:Pity Homeworld2 was just like D3, a big let down.
Ever see the teaser trailer of it? It had massive hulks that ships could fly into and around, but which didnt make the final game.
Now that would have been dead cool.

Jeez, when did you, odium and GOTHboy merge into one miserable, whiny entity? It would have been really great to fly your ships into a massive hulk and then watch the action from the untextured side of a polygon, wouldn't it?

It's an interesting strategy game in that it's not superficially apparent what'll make you win and what'll make you lose. It's gorgeous to look at. Last but not least, the music is fucking ACE.

Post by **blood.angel** » Fri Mar 04, 2005 1:06 pm

Geebs wrote:
blood.angel wrote:Pity Homeworld2 was just like D3, a big let down.
Ever see the teaser trailer of it? It had massive hulks that ships could fly into and around, but which didnt make the final game.
Now that would have been dead cool.
Jeez, when did you, odium and GOTHboy merge into one miserable, whiny entity? It would have been really great to fly your ships into a massive hulk and then watch the action from the untextured side of a polygon, wouldn't it?

It's an interesting strategy game in that it's not superficially apparent what'll make you win and what'll make you lose. It's gorgeous to look at. Last but not least, the music is fucking ACE.

The first or second level of HW 2 was meant to be around a massive HULK of a long dead ship that took up a quarter to half the map.
One of the last ones, where you find the progenitor ship (or whatever its called) was also to be a massive hulk where you would be fighting around it.
Try and get the trailer, it makes the ships go into valleys and gulleys of the hulk a la xwings on the death star.

Post by **Grudge** » Fri Mar 04, 2005 1:13 pm

HW2 looked fantastic, save for the crappy jpeg-compressed space backdops.

The SP game was very disappointing IMO though. The story was pretty "meh", and the gameplay revolved more or less 100% around building enough of one single type of mission-critical ship. One mission you needed lots of fighters, the next you needed lots of bombers, the one after that you needel lots of frigates, and so on. That meant that at the start of every mission (or preferably before the end of the mission before) you needed to scrap most of your existing ships and start building lots and lots of the next (more powerful) ship type in order to be able to beat the mission.

It was quite a let down after the awesomeness of the first HW game.

I haven't played the MP so I don't know about that though.

Post by **o'dium** » Fri Mar 04, 2005 3:57 pm

Thief 3 rocked, what a god damn classic game that was. Loved it, every second of it. The only problem with the game was that it ended

Post by **Mat Linnett** » Fri Mar 04, 2005 4:22 pm

The only downside to fan missions for Thief 3 is going to be the lack of the bloke who did Garrett's voice.
That and the bloke who does the "Benny" voice.

Edit: Steven Russell, that's the blokey.

Post by **Geebs** » Fri Mar 04, 2005 6:38 pm

Speaking of old RTSs and stuff, I just picked up playing Sacrifice again on the basis that I've finally got a setup which can handle it without crashing at the end of every level. I can't help the feeling that the "strategy" part's a bit weak, although I get that with all RTS up to and including Myth.

Post by **Mat Linnett** » Fri Mar 04, 2005 8:24 pm

Try a Total War title if it's strategy you want.
They can't be beat.

Post by **U4EA** » Sat Mar 05, 2005 12:49 am

Every single mission in Sacrifice involved the same exact strategy as the previous.

Post by **Geebs** » Sat Mar 05, 2005 6:45 am

Yeah, now that I can play more than one mission consecutively rather than just playing the first mission and have it crash (worst.port.ever), I've kind of noticed that. It's true of most RTS, though, in my experince, along with the Syndrome of Not Moving or Attacking In Formation, Ever.

Still, at least it's nice and wierd.