/vr/ - Retro Games

>>1714364
I had a demo of Thief that a friend lent me. It only had the training yard and first mansion. As a result I played, replayed and replayed again that level so many times. I could still, years later, just breeze through it like the wind.

Consequently, every hard and hated level was everyone after that. Frickin' undead.

>>1716509
undead are pretty cool I think! Why don't you like them?

>>1716510
I don't like anything that I had to expend permanent resources to destroy if necessary.

*stab stab stab stab* "Stay down, damn it!"

I think this series appeals to me but it looks dated as fuck and the bad grafix are turning me off pretty bad.

Also I just wanna case joints and heist shit but apparently there's some kind of supernatural junk that starts going down and that just does not interest me at all.

>>1716519
How crude.

>>1716523
It's honestly got a more advanced collision and sound system than every other game in the world.

I'm not kidding, barring overly extensive physics based games (which most are so barely structured it's hard to call them proper games) - no game has used the really simple but flexible snow-man collision model Thief uses. Most games in existence use a rectangular prism. Some use octagonal prisms. Then there is the sound baking, which itself is built into the rooms of the maps, using the air creation system in the editor, when maps were compiled soundscapes were created with unique sound propagation properties built into every area. The best engines today have to offer is a mediocre sense of dynamism in their environments where they are simply using static environments with a few preset reverb effects or acoustics adjustments. Absolutely unimpressive but it's "dynamic". Still sounds like shit compared to Thief's sound baking.

The story is also absolutely incredible. Looking Glass is famous for their game design brilliance - where, as they said themselves they built games for MIT graduates, they don't just mean in the complexity of their systems and designs. The game indulges in themes of greed, growth and neglect, maturity and lonerism, distancing in both emotion and presence. It's a rich game full of complex story telling motifs and techniques. Thief is responsible for inventing some of the finest environmental storytelling in games, period. Few have really surpassed it.

If you want something that barebones, fine. Thief is no game for you, but you're neglecting what really leaves the lasting impression. It's the kind of thing that people were talking about when journo's were claiming shit like Diablo 3 was all about "mindless clicking and loot" when in reality it had much more, the memorable moments, the bits of story that you got that struck that chord that made the game much more than the surface of click spam.

Thief is a rich game.

>>1716552
>>1716523
I'd also like to insist, despite the seeming complexity of the controls, it can be easily built into an easier more modern control standard. I use maybe 12 key setup for Thief, despite the like...54 possible binds I think, and it plays smooth as butter.

Thief has really elaborate controls. The kind that the mechanics fit into perfectly, where each step is measured by holding the key down for long enough, and each direction takes a different amount of time to step into. In a way it feels like ICO or Another World, where each step is deliberate and controlled, Thief is more closer to an analog system, and I'd argue it boasts the most complex movement system, based on the sheer number of states they practically achieved true analog movement to a higher detail than any console game with analog controls. Things like the breath meter for when you're swimming underwater actually feels like it synchronizes with how long a person can actually hold their breath. Mantling over walls and climbing props, pushing them around all feels so precisely tuned.

Thief is an immersive sim in the fullest sense. The quality of the simulation is fantastic, there is so much to experience and learn from this game. I want to talk about the look of it all too, which is also meant to emulate a hand painted oil paint aesthetic. It's not something easily picked up on, except when you can see the vistas and views the game wants to show off to you. It's really hard to summarize the game like I am, because there's an infinite number of things I can talk about with it. But it's so much more than just the sum of one of its parts. Don't dismiss it because it engages in the magical and mystical, explore it. See where it takes you, I don't think you'll regret it.

>>1716612
Please continue.....