First, let me apologize in advance for the length of this post. There's a lot to talk about...
Second, let me say the number of posts here is incredible and much appreciated. Lots of stuff to consider...
Third, let me tell you a bit about what's going on here in Austin. In addition to keeping the wheels turning on upcoming Deus Ex stuff, we've been working on putting together a Thief III team. We're not done yet, but we've made some huge additions to the Austin team:
Randy Smith has signed on as Thief III project director and lead designer. As I'm sure you all know, Randy was a key designer on the original Thief game and proved himself to be a natural leader (along with being a terrific designer) on Thief II. He was all set to act as Lead Designer on Thief III at LookingGlass. Now, he gets the chance to finish what he started.
Emil Pagliarulo is onboard as a senior designer on Thief III. He created the "Little Big World" section of Constantine's Manor in "The Sword" mission of Thief Gold. In Thief II, he did the "Precious Cargo" and "Life of the Party" missions. HIs understanding of the Thief vibe and his experience will prove invaluable.
Lulu Lamer will be the associate producer on Thief 3. She rose through the ranks from playtester on Thief to lead tester on System Shock 2 to QA supervisor on Thief Gold to assistant producer on Thief II. (Whew!) She was -- and is -- set to play the AP role on Thief III. Her communication skills and organizational abilities, to say nothing of her understanding of Thief-like things, will be critical.
In addition to Randy, Emil and Lulu, we were lucky enough to convince programmers Chris Carollo and Alex Duran to move to Austin. Chris and Alex, members of various Thief teams and, most recently, assigned to the LG Siege engine project, are going to be working on an unannounced project but they're here, on-site, available for consultation. And believe me, we'll take advantage of that fact!
Speaking of consultation, Tim Stellmach hasn't signed on officially (yet...) but he's agreed to work with us as a consultant on Thief III. Tim's been involved in so many great LG games, in so many critical capacities, there isn't room to list them all. Having Tim onboard as a consultant (for now) is a major plus for us.
We're still talking with other members of the old LG crew and there may be other announcements soon. But Randy, Emil and Lulu will be moving here from Boston area soon. Tim's a phone call away. Chris and Alex are already working away on their project. Thief III preproduction begins in September!
Warren Spector
