Welcome to Through the Looking Glass

The taffers over at The Dark Mod have released a new version of their standalone game, specifically version 2.04. This new update provides a lengthy number of new features and bugfixes for the mod. Check out all the details in this TTLG post, or just go to The Dark Mod's website.

Maybe you've heard that Otherside Entertainment is making System Shock 3?

And FYI, Warren Spector is back to lead the team.

We probably won't hear much more news until after the release of Underworld Ascendant, but this is all still quite awesome.

The Fan Mission forum recently held a "72 Hour" contest, where authors were tasked with creating a mission in Dromed in up to 72 non-consecutive hours over a 2 week period. The results are in, and the winner was skacky, with his mission Vanishing Point.

Other entries included Dirty Money by DrK, The Wooden Box by FireMage, and The Swindle Job by Dev_Anj. The last entry is significant in that it was Dev_Anj's first mission ever. Nice work there. Congrats to all the participants.

Check out all of the results here. You can download the missions from the release thread here.

In related news, the Novice Contest run by Iceblade is finishing up, and we should see a handful of entries from that contest released soon. Check this thread for details.

Other recent Thief FM releases:

Keeper of Infinity 2: Raven's Nest by Soul Tear
Darkstone Gems Chapter 2 Part 1: Nobles & Craftsmen by DarkMax
A Job Well Done by R Soul
King Abedzen's Tomb by Yandros
This FM haz NO SENSE by Zoro

Here's a quick summary of the Thief/Dark Mod FMs that were released in the month of May:

Thief:

Castle Michele, by Ricebug
Religious Conflict, by cardia 1 (2 mission set)

The Dark Mod:

Ulysses: Protecting The Flock, by Sotha (follow up to Ulysses: Genesis)
A House of Locked Secrets, by Moonbo (follow up to Requiem)
No Honor Among Thieves, by Goldchocobo & Bikerdue (an update to the original three mission set)

Jordan Thomas, designer of the Shalebridge Cradle mission from Thief Deadly Shadows, has released the inaugural game from his new gaming company, Question Games. The game is titled The Magic Circle, and is available on Steam via the Early Access program. Here is a quick summary of the game:



Check here for more info: http://store.steampowered.com/app/323380

In other good news, the game features the voice of Stephen Russell. TTLG fans couldn't ask for a better combination.

There's not a ton of info yet, but a new Deus Ex game has been announced - Deus Ex: Mankind Divided. There's a trailer to to view (no gameplay footage), and Game Informer has some information on the game. There are also some details in the current game thread in the TTLG forums.

15 years ago today, Thief II: The Metal Age was released. The last game that Looking Glass Studios would ever create.

Let's celebrate - play a little Thief 2 today, and read up a bit on its history. Check these links...

Wikipedia Entry

Why Thief 2 Is One Of The Best Games of All Time (Gameranx)

Thief 2 Retrospective (Eurogamer)

The Making of Thief 2

Reviews of Thief 2: IGN, Gamespot, Neoseeker, Avault (wayback machine archive)

Sneaky Bastards started a series of reviews of each level, sadly never finished: Running Interference, Shipping and Receiving, Framed, Ambush

Terry Pratchett, beloved British author and avid Thief fan, passed away on March 12, 2015. He was perhaps best known for his Discworld series of books, but was a prolific author of fantasy works, writing on average two books per year. He sold more than 85 million books worldwide, and his books have been translated into 37 languages. In 1998, Pratchett was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire. In 2009 he received a knighthood for his services to literature, and in 2010 he received the World Fantasy Award for Lifetime Achievement.

He was also an avid Thief fan, playing both the original games and many fan missions and was active in Thief gaming groups during the 90's and 00's. According to an interview with Pratchett by PC Zone, he was an avid video game player, collaborating on several game adaptations of his books. He favored "intelligent" games that "have some depth", citing Half Life 2 and Thief fan missions as examples:

PCZ: "What have been your favourite games of the past few years?"
TP: "Far Cry, Call Of Duty, Half-Life 2 and a great many fan missions for Thief! A good fan mission is a joy, because the author reads your mind."

PCZ: "What do you make of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion? What have been your favourite moments?
TP: "I'm a thief and an assassin, and treat the game as a continuation of the Thief universe. I'm in it for the sneaking, but I like the free form nature of the game, the fact that you can ignore the quests and set off into this big, complex world. You really can explore. All the best moments have been in the shadows. Pick pockets, open locks, creep away."

Pratchett had a lovely sense of humor which was evident in his books, as well as in his public speaking and interviews. You may enjoy reading some of his quotes here. And there is a nice article on his passing at ars technica.

In his Discworld book, Going Postal, Pratchett wrote, "A man is not dead while his name is still spoken." To this end, many websites have added a header as a tribute to Terry Pratchett so that his name will forever be passed up and down the internet. You'll likely need a browser add-on to see the header. You can find one in the Browsers and Email Clients section on this page. We at TTLG are proud to be one of the sites keeping Terry Pratchett's name alive among the clacks.

So long, Terry! We'll miss you.

As you would be aware, this fan site was put together as a tribute to the games produced by LGS (Looking Glass Studios) such as Thief, System Shock and Ultima Underworld, as well as a selection of other games that have been heavily inspired by these classics. While this site has continued to exist post the untimely demise of LGS studios in 2000, we have all had to learn to accept that the unique magic that was produced by this studio and their various game franchises would never again be worked on collectively by the same minds that have greatly influenced the design of many classics produced since that time.

That was until last July when Paul Neurath announced the formation of Otherside Studios and that their first game would be a sequel to Ultima Underworld 2 (minus the Ultima moniker and material). Since this time, the level of excitement has been steadily building as more and more former LGS alumni (Warren Spector, Tim Stellmach, Steve Pearsall, Chris Siegal, Austin Grossman, Jum Berry, and Robb Waters) have joined the cause; not to mention the fact that Underworld Ascendant will also feature the voice talents of Stephen Russell (Garrett) and Terri Brosius (Shodan). To help maintain creative control and adequately fund this effort, Otherside are looking to the community to support this through a Kickstarter campaign.

If this sounds important to you (and it should !) and you are interested in seeing this become a reality then you should show your support by contributing to their Kickstarter campaign for Underworld Ascendant. At the time of writing they need another $40K with 8 days remaining to reach the base goal of making the core game. Let's help make this happen!

Update: The base level of funding has been reached! Time to bring on more of the stretch goals.

Kickstarter Campaign

The much debated, sometimes controversial and always polarizing Thief reboot from Eidos Montreal was released one year ago today (in North America anyway). It's been a rough year for the latest entry into the series, and the game has taken it's share of criticism from both fans and journalists alike. Why not come over to the forums and give us your thoughts on the matter, 365 days later?