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[efthimios]

Well, I just downloaded the demo of Thief III. I will have a go.

[Galadrin]

Yeah Stroggy, I'm pretty sure I have my graphics set up right. It's a common complaint about Thief 3, the fact that there is no black areas where seeing was literally impossible... everything seems lit with a blue-ish hue. It may just be that I need to adjust my gamma way down, but I'm afraid that if I do it as far as I need to go it will make everything too dark (I've only just gotten the bloodline opal to the fence).

It's good to hear that the missions will get more interesting, and I'm hoping that Ion Storm will provide missions leaving me as disoriented as the mission where you steal the sword from constantine and as interesting mission that happens right after the Mechanists massacre the pagan village.

[Stroggy]

Most missions are pretty straightforwars dexcept for the Best Mission which has a nice little twist (normally I wouldn't call it a twist but because of the level itself you will hate the aforementioned twist)
The game does take a nasty turn around halfway through, one moment you are just playing hide and seek with the guards and after a cutscene you'll find yourself running over rooftops desperately seeking for a safe heaven from... but I'm running ahead of myself.

By the way i've never had the chance to play Thief II (since I was very bad at Thief I, I decided to just not waste any money on the sequel)

[Doubler]

Great game. A certain one of those levels still freaks me out

[Charmed]

Well, I decided to give Thief another go after quite some time and I am enjoying it. The engine has aged well and the graphics are more than adequate and suit the setting.

I do have 3 gripes with the game though.

(1) The whole issue of falling. I cannot even count the number of times I have fallen to my death and I have only played 3 missions so far. I fall trying to climb ladders, I fall trying to catch ropes, I fall just standing near an edge and I fall trying to make jumps.

So how many of you guys went through the same thing of slipping off the edge somewhere high and reloading and slipping again and reloading again and slipping again until you feel out pulling your hair. Related to this, trying to climb up certain areas.

(2) Certain really dark areas with important objects hidden. Playing through my love-hate mission so far in Thief - Down In The Bonehoard. I cannot count the number of times I had to use a walkthrough in order to find a certain important object - namely a ladder. I just could not see them as well as the goods I am supposed to steal.

Perhaps I have the gamma set up wrong, but I just cannot see objects in total darkness. What is the ideal setting anyway? Should it be dark like that, that you cannot see objects in the dark or should you increase the gamma so that you can see them? I am worried about increasing the gamma too far as I don't want to ruin the experience, but as it stand there are a number of occassions where I have walked into a wall because it was so dark and I got lost because I could see nothing.

(3) The whole issue of the map. What is the point with using most of the maps. It is difficult enough navigating in a game world where you have a) A compass and B) A DETAILED map. The maps in Thief do nothing for me sadly. On the odd occassion it helps me position myself correctly, but other than that I find it a waste.

It does make the gameplay somewhat frustrating as I tend to go in circles quite a bit - some professional thief I am - and don't get me started with the secret areas you need to find to progress.

Other than that the game is still really good, although it sucks having to use a walkthrough from time to time to either know where to go or to find some hidden ladder/lever/object in total darkness.

Speaking of my love-hate mission - Down in the Bonehoard

Spoilers -


As I am no big fan of zombies, I am interested to know how most of you guys went about this mission. At the area where there are lots of zombies patrolling around, I decided to try and sneak in the shadows most of the time, but unfortunately for me they kept wondering in the dark and bumping into me and of course they then went for my brains as a snack as a result.

Its bad enough having to deal with the moans of the undead, but accidentally wondering into you as you have your back turned is not good for my heart.

Anyway I decided to go rambo on the zombies and hid in the little room with 4 or 5 sleeping zombies on the floor and I attack a zombie outside of that room. Next thing I know every single zombie, but one, came after me entering that room. Somehow they all heard me and started to attack - I did not have any time to actually arm the arrow properly. It was crazy stuff. I had to kill the zombies right next to me, there were so many.

At the end of this there the room was littered with body parts every where.

Can I look forward to more situations like this? (And by this I mean please tell me there arnt any more situations like this where I have to fight off huge packs of brain eating zombies)

I must say so far my favourite mission is Assassin. Those are the kind of missions I like. Break-in, loot the place and leave.

Lastly, any of you guys got some helpful hints or advice on takling certain situations,
particularly with regards to navigating, or do you guys also just wonder around hopign to find the right areas.

Unfortunately on expert the broadhead arrow and sword are rather wasted. Pity you cannot kill the humans. Do you eventually get to kill some humans?

[Doubler]

1: I never had trouble with that. :blink:

2: Thief is supposed to be a very dark game, but it sometimes overdoes it. When absolutely necessary I tend to turn up the gamma on my screen, and turn it back down when I'm done.

3:Personally I loved the way Thief handled maps . They let you do the work yourself in a more realistic manner.

-Slight spoilers:
I did it pretty much the same way. I stood in the center of the great hall, threw a skull on the ground and faced the hordes. It was a bloodbath.
As far as I know you won't be facing such legions again.

The sword and arrows still have uses against non-human opponents.

If you put some efort in, most missions will not be too hard to navigate. Some of the other missions (those which are illogical in build) were meant to be very hard to navigate. In those missions the map is only a guideline and, in a way, you'll have to make your own as you go.

[Galadrin]

Spoiler: (highlight to see... unless your screen is different from mine) My favorite way to handle the zombies in Bonehorde is to sucker them all to the fire arrow trap room... get six or seven following you and they all go down like dominoes . If you holy water them before they "wake up" they only take one shot... same thing with flash bombs, but flash bombs will wake up others in the area, holy-water arrows won't. And remember the haunts (undead with swords) and undead priests can be killed with a single blow from a short sword if you manage to catch them unaware, backstabbing them.

There are two more missions in the game that are littered with undead, but they are both more manageable than bonehoard.