The Thief series

I've heard a rumour that Eidos has commissioned work to start on a Thief 4, which really spurs me on to immediately start with the Thief series, which I have never played before! *hides head in shame*

I did want to start with Thief 1 a few months ago, because apparently it's a story that follows on, but it seemed so old.

Will I be doing myself a great disservice if I start with Thief 2 or 3 and not #1?

EDIT: After playing the intro FMV's, the game is freezing on me. Any advice regarding patches or such, please? I'm running on Win XP SP2.

Hi Moondancer!

It is true. Eidos has made it official, work on Thief 4 has begun, although it's in the early stages. I started on the series with Thief 3 (Deadly Shadows). Matter of fact, I finished replaying it not too long ago. I don't think you'll be doing yourself a disservice if you start with Thief 2 or 3.I found a link with more information: Here

Most of the problems with running Thief are addressed here:

http://www.ttlg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=75031

I had to make a change concerning textures in the user.cfg file when I got a black screen with Thief 2 and then later with a newer computer, I had to shut down one of the dual processors. It was all pretty simple.

Ah, I should have bookmarked Through the Looking Glass long ago! Thanks, Pokey, now I got my Thief 1 running.

Well, nice to know it's not absolutely imperative to start with #1, Chaos, and yeah, nice about Thief 4, though I reckon we still have a long while to wait!

Moondancer that's great news about another Thief Game in the works. Thanks for the info.

I'd say it's imperative to start with the first one if the story aspect is important for you. There is a natural progress of the plotlines and a gradual development of the main hero throughout the series. There are also symbolic things in the latter games that you won't notice if you didn't play the first one.

Besides, the first Thief is the best game in the series by far. In my opinion it is pure excellence in all departments. The second Thief has also great gameplay, but the storyline becomes a bit cheesy in the later missions and in general it lacks the depth of Thief 1. And then the third Thief has very good story (it even gives it more focus than the previous games did), yet the game design is rather modest and lazy compared to the huge world full of details and challenges the previous games offered.

I'd recommend starting with the first game as well. You would miss some great gameplay and I think you would get used to the old look quickly. Are you playing Thief Gold? It has three extra missions and they are some of the best in the game.

Now I'm getting the itch to restart the series.

Thanks for the input, guys. Yes, somebody else has also told me that the Thief Gold is better, and apparently also has improved graphics.
I'm still only on my first mission with Thief one, so I decided to temporarily put it on hold, and see if I cannot rather get hold of Thief Gold instead.

Great stuff, thanks again!

You'll have to let me know what you think

Ahh, a neophyte taffer joining our ranks. You're in for a world of fun. The Thief games are my favourite.

Moondancer, more than just the three (and soon to be four! Yay!) Thief games, there's a whole world of fan-made missions to play, so if you like Thief you need never run out of new missions to play.

Thief Gold is definitely worth looking for. Aside from any gameplay imrpovements, it contains three very large extra missions.

Moondancer, you reminded me of my favorite series of games, so of course I had to install Thief 2: The Metal Age again just to see if it would work OK. That was yesterday afternoon and guess who hasn't done a lick of work since. Now up to Ambush and getting killed quite regularly, as usual. Still can't get through windows though - I'd love a hint on how to do that!

Bristol, yes windows were always a problem. Here are some tips:

http://www.ttlg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=96477&highlight=ambush+window

http://www.ttlg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=121925&highlight=ambush+window

http://www.ttlg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=12616&highlight=ambush+window

I remember one that was difficult. It may have been in Ambush on a balcony. I found a box nearby and jumped on it, crouched and crawled through.

Yes, windows are a pain, and have prevented me from ghosting quite few missions. I remember in particular one window in Life of the Party that you have to climb through AND get back out again, and I've reloaded that spot more times than I care to remember -- all for a little purse of loot. But Garrett can't leave it behind, can he?

Thanks, Pokey, for all those links. I tried each and every tip, still couldn't get through that *&#$ window and eventually gave up, approached the house from the front, blew out the torch and snuck (sneaked?) up and knocked the guards out and got in that way. Good to know there's an alternate way when I play this again, as I definitely will!
Now in the Mechanists' Cathedral.
Still no housework done!

Not even the box trick worked? Well. I think that window is the toughest you will see. Your alternative method sounds good to me. Whatever works.

Hagatha, could you give a couple more recommendations on fan missions? You suggested Ominous Bequest/Broken Triad and A Night in Rocksbourg last year---all great. I especially like mansion missions. I've played a lot of the older ones. Perhaps you have some newer, in the last few years.

How exciting to hear there may be a Thief 4. Thief is what got me out of adventure games and into a whole new world of gaming.
kay

Pokey, my XP laptop's power supply failed on me and thus my fan mission collection is currently inaccessible.

These three are stand-outs:

The Dracula missions. Download the Dracula Reloaded version, which contains the whole superb series. You don't play Garrett, but that certainly doesn't spoil the experience any.

The Seven Sisters series -- also really great.

The Elizabeth Bathory series, though it isn't finished yet. You don't play Garrett in this one, either.

I have found the fan mission rating system at Thief The Circle to be very relliable; anything that got a rating of 8, 9 or 10 is well worth playing. As far as I can tell they have every fan mission that ever there was in a searchable database, so all the recent ones will be there.

Also at TTLG there is usually a lot of buzz around new missions that people are especially liking.

Hagatha, thanks. Those look like some good ones. I have used the hammer ratings at Thief the Circle to play a lot of the best missions. I haven't played many in a while so your help is appreciated. I will check TTLG and see which mansion fan missions get a lot of attention.

I have been having so much fun playing Thief fan missions that I am ignoring games I recently bought, among them Drakensang. I am currently immersed in Seven Sisters and having a wonderful time exploring the town and buildings. The crypt and Hammer fortress were exciting. Before that I played the first game by the same person who made Seven Sisters, Rowena's Curse. What a great mansion mission. It is now my favorite. The fan missions are beautifully done and quite a gift to all of us who love Thief.

It's great to have a community that is supporting the game

Glad you're enjoying yourself so much. May Thief live on forever.

Speaking of which, I still haven't got my XP laptop fixed. I'd better get on that, as I intended to take it with me on holiday.

I have been addicted to Thief for years. Have to have my daily "Thief fix". Unfortunately, some weeks ago, I don't know why, in loading up Thief II, I got a French language kernel 32 message. I am not a computer person. I should have known to ask for help, instead I opted to reinstall Thief which I have done more than a few times before. Big mistake. I have done all the tweaks, all the everythings and cannot get Thief going again. When I put in the lgntforce etc. in the "run" section I get a message that D:\setup.exe cannot be found. Never never got this message before. Running a search for this I get "dx setup" which is in folder "D:\Redist". Can someone tell me what this means and why I am getting this message when I have always been able to do the D:\setup.exe before? I am suffering in this no-Thief void. Help!

Any chance that you are trying to install from CD2 rather than CD1? CD2 is the play CD.

Joanie, do you want me to scoot you over to Glitches?

Oh, Pokey! How could you think THAT??? Actually, you are spot on!!! I am so immersed in all the intricacies of getting Thief to run and its been soooo long since I have had to install, I totally forgot about the separate install cd. Dumb me! Looney4labs, I had looked at both this forum and the gliches but saw so much about the finickiness (is there such a word) of working with Thief, I decided to go with this forum. Thank you both so much for replying to me. Keep your fingers crossed. I have ordered two new copies of Thief II. My original cds are years old and I want to make sure I am covered on all bases. Cannot live without Thief!

Joanie

Joanie, it is very understandable. I keep my Thief CD next to my computer and use it a lot. I am playing a fan mission right now. You can easily forget that there is another one. Hope you get back to taffing soon.

Joanie, I know what you mean about having extra copies of Thief. Years ago I bought a bundled Thief 1 & 2 (regrettably, it did not have Thief Gold) just in case anything ever happens to my original game disks. So far, so good. I take very good care of my games. Still, I always worry about dropping a disk, or getting it stuck in a rogue disk drive, or something.

I hope I am pretty well set. I have Thief 1 & 2 plus Thief Gold. Actually two Thief 2 games, since that is the one I use most often for fan missions. Have any of you taffers used the DDfix? I understand with newer cards and drivers, we are losing some of the good looking graphics. I wonder how much difference it makes with the fix. If it just adds stars back in and improves the dark areas, I doubt that it is worth the bother.

Speaking of recommendations: Disorientation, a new one, is one of the best. And, I think I have played all the fan missions (some not all the way through) so, for me, that is a significant recommendation. Yea, I am up and running again. Just one new mission to work on, but am downloading about 5 old ones at a time to replay. Slowly working my way back through all the Thief II fan missions. I am currently in the middle of 2007. Does one get his/her money's worth with an original Thief game or what??!!!!

You certainly do if you play fan missions. I have two new games waiting while I have more fun with Garrett. I am playing Lord Alan's Fortress at the moment and it looks so good I don't see any need for the DDfix. Before that I played all of A Night in Rocksbourg, Seven Sisters and a short but effective The Curse. I'll check out Disorientation. The title sounds intriguing.

Oooh, a new mission to try!

And it just so happens that tonight I pick up my new XP laptop. The guys in the store wanted to know why I insisted on XP. When I explained that it was so that I could play Thief 2 fan missions, they laughed and said, "Say no more. We're gamers, too."

Pokey, I haven't tried any of the new fixes. The one time I tried to play Thief 2 FM's on my Vista laptop, the game looked so awful I regretfully stopped playing. There were other glitches, too. All in all it wasn't a good experience. That's why the second laptop. Of course, I have my XP desktop, too, but some other person living in this house STILL hasn't cleaned their stuff out of my office and so I still can't actually get to my desk.

Edit...new laptop now at home and running Thief 2, Baldur's Gate 2, Deus Ex, Icewind Dale and some others just perfectly. Whee! There are some slight lags when the graphics get intense, but I got those even on my most recent desktop computer, so I can't complain. The updated graphics on the fan mission I'm playing (just finishing Broken Triad for the second time) look gorgeous. I can hardly wait to try some of the new missions.

Ah, some love here for one of my favorite series ever. It's very nice to see.

To the original poster. Yes, play all of the Thief games! Thief 1 and 2 can be a bit of a hassle getting to run on XP or Vista but it can be done and well worth the effort IMO.

T3 was a bit of a letdown but still very good in it's own right.

And the fan missions. All free. And many of them very good. There are so many FM's that you could literally spend hundreds of hours on them and the community is constantly adding new ones. And what makes it so amazing is that the game is over 10 years old.

T3 was by far the best of the series! While the first certainly built the foundation that elevated the series the third was an incredible conclusion to the trilogy with much grander level designs and a deeper story. And one cannot forget oneof the best game level ever made: Shalebridge Cradle.

Nuff said.

ps. waiting impatiently for the next Thief game.

Shalebridge Cradle was definitely worth the price of admission. I prefer the original two games over the third, but even that is a darned fine game. I, too, am looking forward to the 4th.

Right now I'm playing an older FM - Bane 1 (keep of Deceit).

The first two are the best,(my opinion)
but the first part has the most scaring missions



I got the same bundle a few years ago as well (birthday present) and it was a good thing too, since my sis collected my copy 1 or 2 years ago.

Thief 2 is one of my favourite games of all time. So well done.

I am very eager to see what Thief 4 turns out to be...but first I need to finish Thief 3, which I still haven't.

I'm curious about the Thief 3 fan missions - haven't tried any of those. There's a different engine to load and run them, obviously. I'm having so much fun running through Thief 2 missions I haven't even had time to see if Thief 3 will run on my big laptop. If it does, I'll give a couple of those fan missions a hot, too.

I hope Thief 4 is more like the original two games. I wonder if Garrett will be the character? I can just see it. Garrett; mild-mannered Keeper by day, light-fingered thief by night. Although at the end of the last game there was some intimation that Garrett was passing the baton to a young girl.

I have played several Thief 3 fan missions back when they first started appearing. I thought they were on the level of Thief 2 fan missions. However, I had problems with running Garretloader, can't remember what now, and didn't get any further. Earlier this year, I again tried to get Thief 3 going and it just won't run at all this time. I've been so busy with Thief 2 mission replays that it hasn't been an issue for me. Obviously, I am a Thief 2 fan. This all makes me want to get Thief 1 and 3 loaded again and REALLY give my life over to Thief.

I have played several Thief 3 fan missions back when they first started appearing. I thought they were on the level of Thief 2 fan missions. However, I had problems with running Garretloader, can't remember what now, and didn't get any further. Earlier this year, I again tried to get Thief 3 going and it just won't run at all this time. I've been so busy with Thief 2 mission replays that it hasn't been an issue for me. Obviously, I am a Thief 2 fan. This all makes me want to get Thief 1 and 3 loaded again and REALLY give my life over to Thief.

Thief 2 has always been my favourite, too. I loved the wierdness of Thief 1 but Thief 2 plays so well on XP and there are so many great fan nissions, I just keep it installed and ready to go. I still enjoy the original game, too.

hello there

We are having a strange problem with thief 2. We are on mission 3 framed. We are trying to ride the dumbwaiter up but when get into it and pull the lever the dumbwaiter goes right through me goes up without me. Also when we where on mission 2 Shipping and receiving at Davidson ship down in the hold was empty nothing there just a big square where the create should be with body in it. Even all the red barrels are missing there should be a wine bottle there also missing. We patched it to 1.18 but when game starts it still says 1.07.

Please help

Betty, did you try rebooting your computer to see if that helped?

I believe the game should say 1.18 when it starts. Sounds like it isn't patched, but the video problems may be due to video drivers. What ones are you using? You may want to try different ones.

we got the Sold out version. I have Nvidia GeForce 8600. What do you mean try different video drivers. I cannot just go a buy another video card. I not made of money.

Betty,

Pokey says video drivers.
There might be a newer or older one than what is installed for your video card.
Check the drivers available for Nvidia GeForce 8600 and check what driver number is installed in your system.
Then search Google or go to the Nvidia GeForce site and find out what driver downloads are available.
Or ask help at Glitches Forum.

Hi There

Could someone please me on Theif 2 The metal age mission 9 Trails Of Blood we cannot seem to get the portal to open. The problem i am having is when we try to place the rubies they do not seem to match up the right shape somehow i need to turn the rubies over so the shape matches how can we turn the rubies over i been hours trying to place them in the holes but they just sit on top or to the side of the holes but cannot place them right into the holes

Please help
Thanks