Scientific Paper - Why do you Create Thief Levels in 2019?

[FastGarrett]

Hey guys.

I'm so impressed that so many excellent level designers create such astounding fan levels for a game that got released 20 years ago.

I am studying for a master’s degree and I'm currently writing a scientific paper about the dark engine, dromed and why creators still make games with it.

I'm fascinated by the game too, but I can't describe what it is in particular, why I rather play thief, compared to modern (stealth) games.

What does Thief (Dark Project and Metal Age) offer, that modern games don't?

What is it for you. Why do you still love playing it?

Dromed has a steep learning curve and is difficult to master (at least from my perspective).
Why do you still create levels for it?

I would be very grateful if you could answer some of those questions. I would also like to include it in my scientific paper if you agree with it.

For a more in-depth discussion, feel free to contact me directly:
alexander.johr@gmail.com

Thank you guys!

[Basso The Boxman]

While I wish I had the skills to create levels, I can honestly say that there is just something about these games that never gets old. As you posted this, I realized that I have been playing Thief for more than half my life. I am 35 and started playing it when it first came out. I never get tired of it. And everytime a new mission comes out, I can’t wait to start playing it. I just have a feeling that when I’m 70 I’ll still he playing it lol. A true masterwork that will never be duplicated. Can’t wait for the Thief 2 20th anniversary missions to come out!!!

[Psych0sis]

All FMs are good because they exist, and adding more to the pile is always a good thing to do

[nicked]

Many, many reasons...

• Dromed may have a learning curve, but it's not as steep as it may appear from an outside perspective, and it's countered in the sheer flexibility. Thief is perhaps the only immersive sim to feature a level editor with the amount of flexibility and control Dromed allows.
• The game design lends itself very well to small, contained gaming/story experiences - designing a mansion in Thief with ~1 hour's gameplay is a far easier task than, say, building an hour's worth of content in a linear first person shooter.
• It has a backdrop/setting constructed from a wide variety of broad archetypes, giving a solid foundation to allow authors to tell almost any kind of story they want to.
• The game's 1998 graphics and wide existing pool of object and texture resources means that creating something with the visual fidelity of the original game is very easy. Even if an easy-to-use level editor was released for, let's say, Dishonored, the skill level required to match the visual fidelity of the base game would be far higher.
• The systemic design of Thief allows mission authors to easily make almost any changes they want to the objects and systems of the game, without any requirement for complex scripting.
• It's got a very good ratio between low barrier to entry and high level of freedom, making it still a very valid choice for someone wanting to tell an interactive story. Compare the learning curve of Dromed to the learning curve required to produce a gameplay experience of matching quality in any other engine or game dev platform and you'll soon find that Dromed is way, way easier.
• The community is welcoming, inclusive and supportive in ways that a lot of games' communities aren't. There's a collaborative spirit that leads to things like the community's shared pool of custom level design resources.
• The game itself has a strong atmosphere, a surreality, and a complexity of setting and story that are very rare in modern AAA games.
• The game has very simple gameplay rules; all of its systems are easily understandable and accessible and are tutorialised well in the original games, meaning the game is more accessible to new players that many other games from the same time period. Even compared to similar games, it has very simple rules - there's no convoluted RPG elements to figure out for example.

[Ghostly]

Fundamentally the same reason why I grew to love these games in first place, it does not feel like a game but rather like an experience in 3D formate, where you look through the lenses of a character where you quickly forget and feel like its you in the game, the minimalistic approach to user interface improves the sense of immersion it lends you into that it quickly gets unforgettable.

With its steep learning curve comes naturally because you as the user have to learn the skill of navigating this world created by DromEd, it's like an engine that simulates real life properties into a game context nt a believable way for me personally, modern games feel too gamey for me and less simulated.

[uncadonego]

Dromed has a steep learning curve and is difficult to master (at least from my perspective).
Why do you still create levels for it?

Two reasons.

I am an idiot, and I am a glutton for punishment.

[zajazd]

The game design lends itself very well to small, contained gaming/story experiences - designing a mansion in Thief with ~1 hour's gameplay is a far easier task than, say, building an hour's worth of content in a linear first person shooter.

Damn straight, I never thought about this. It must be the main reason why Unreal is almost dead and had many fan campaigns started and never finished. It's a shame, I was waiting for a campaign called The Chosen One for years and years, the authors were promising RPG elements.

[ZylonBane]

All FMs are good because they exist...

This is some hippy-dippy bullshit right here.

[fortuni]

Psych0sis is right and ZB is being ZB as usual.

All FM's are good because they exist. Thief having been around for 20 years, 1000+ FM's and 100's of authors. Of course not every mission is going to be a gem, with such a collection of missions some are going to be turkeys whilst others will be staggeringly good, thankfully we have been blessed in recent years of having a small army of really talented author who keep producing top quality missions.

Psych0sis point is clearly demonstrated by the number of entries for the T1 20th anniversary contest, which was very much the better because there were a number of lesser quality missions.

Roll on the T2 anniversary, I welcome all entries regardless of standard.

[DarkMax]

All FMs are good because they exist, and adding more to the pile is always a good thing to do

I agree 100%. If we didn't have bad FMs, we wouldn't distinguish between utter trash from work where real effort and dedication exist. Every FM serves its purpose, all go to heaven

[Basso The Boxman]

This is some hippy-dippy bullshit right here.

ZB you need to get that stick out of your ass

[FastGarrett]

Many, many reasons...

• Dromed may have a learning curve, but it's not as steep as it may appear from an outside perspective, and it's countered in the sheer flexibility. Thief is perhaps the only immersive sim to feature a level editor with the amount of flexibility and control Dromed allows.
• The game design lends itself very well to small, contained gaming/story experiences - designing a mansion in Thief with ~1 hour's gameplay is a far easier task than, say, building an hour's worth of content in a linear first person shooter.
• It has a backdrop/setting constructed from a wide variety of broad archetypes, giving a solid foundation to allow authors to tell almost any kind of story they want to.
• The game's 1998 graphics and wide existing pool of object and texture resources means that creating something with the visual fidelity of the original game is very easy. Even if an easy-to-use level editor was released for, let's say, Dishonored, the skill level required to match the visual fidelity of the base game would be far higher.
• The systemic design of Thief allows mission authors to easily make almost any changes they want to the objects and systems of the game, without any requirement for complex scripting.
• It's got a very good ratio between low barrier to entry and high level of freedom, making it still a very valid choice for someone wanting to tell an interactive story. Compare the learning curve of Dromed to the learning curve required to produce a gameplay experience of matching quality in any other engine or game dev platform and you'll soon find that Dromed is way, way easier.
• The community is welcoming, inclusive and supportive in ways that a lot of games' communities aren't. There's a collaborative spirit that leads to things like the community's shared pool of custom level design resources.
• The game itself has a strong atmosphere, a surreality, and a complexity of setting and story that are very rare in modern AAA games.
• The game has very simple gameplay rules; all of its systems are easily understandable and accessible and are tutorialised well in the original games, meaning the game is more accessible to new players that many other games from the same time period. Even compared to similar games, it has very simple rules - there's no convoluted RPG elements to figure out for example.

Wow! Thats a lot of great information. Didn't see it that way before. Thanks a lot!

[R Soul]

It looks like nicked has covered everything, or the vast majority, but I think this thread would be better in the Editors' Guild. There are more Dromed users there so there may be other things to add.

[ZylonBane]

Psych0sis is right and ZB is being ZB as usual.

No, the psycho is not right. An FM is not a precious baby. FMs do not get a gold star for participation. An FM is a technical product with the goal of being fun to play. If it is not fun to play (or in extreme cases, not even playable), then it's bad. This is not a complicated concept. Blithering that "all FMs are good" thoughtlessly devalues the hundreds of hours of hard work that many FM authors have put into making FMs that are actually good.

[the taffer]

I agree with Psychosis. Fms take time and effort to put into it. Some might not be as good as other ones but it shows the person is trying and pumping life blood in to the Thief community. I respect and can appreciate all FMs. I don't think I ever played a FM I didn't like just some that were a bit frustrating at times.

[Aemanyl]

I also agree with Psych0sis. Please look at this from the perspective of a new player. Someone who has never played FMs before will probably look for the most popular titles such as the Rocksbourg Series, Death's Cold Embrace, Black Frog, The Scarlet Cascabel, Calendra's Legacy, etc. In 2000, at the dawn of DromED, there were only a few complex and well-polished productions, whereas the majority was rather basic or bugged. Now we have hundreds of good or very good missions and this number is increasing every year! Sure, every once in a while someone makes a mediocre or poor fan mission, but they all contribute to the wonderful Thief community we have here. For instance, I didn't mind Dewinder Manor. It is true that I've seen much better mansion missions, yet I welcome Psychosis' contribution. I appreciate his time and effort he put into creating this small and simple, but correctly designed level. As long as people learn and improve their skills, it's all fine. Last but not least, we shouldn't take Thief too seriously. We may love it, but in the end it's just a game, not real life. Thank you for reading.

[nicked]

^ This is the problem with trying to get honest, constructive feedback around here.

[marbleman]

As long as people learn and improve their skills, it's all fine.

And if they don't... it's also fine!

[Esme]

Two reasons.

I am an idiot, and I am a glutton for punishment.

Because this guy I quoted ran a competition once, once I'd dealt with the basic learning curve it was quite fun though, still got a hell of a long way to go before I'd be any good though

[Lord Soth]

I think back in the days of thief and a few others to, developers actually tried to make a good game and tried to break some new ground. Now most just want summit with plenty of loot boxes and micro buys to milk silly kids out of there money and who gives a f**k if the game is s**t and buggy as hell, its making money.

People still make fan mission as they love the game and what it did. It was so dam good at the time and is still better than most the stuff that is coming out these days that you pay over the top prices for. Rather DL fan mission for free which are bloody good fun to be frank.