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Thief 3 Website Goes Live

Sabathius writes "If you're a Thief super-freak like me, you've been looking at the 'Coming soon' message at thief3.com for years...hoping they would finally put something there. Well, our collective prayers have been answered! This spring Thief 3 (Thief: Deadly Shadows) is being released by the same guys who recently gave us Deus Ex: Invisible War." S!: We've also recently covered previews of this new Thief title at Slashdot Games.

54 of 238 comments (clear)

  1. The question is... by ThaenRT · · Score: 5, Funny

    if I steal the game, will they come after me?

    thaen

    1. Re:The question is... by good(k)night · · Score: 4, Funny

      ..it depends.
      If you copy a CD the Pirates should come, not just Thiefs.

      --
      my endian is bigger than yours!
    2. Re:The question is... by Psychotext · · Score: 5, Interesting

      That reminds me of the GTA advertising. They set up a huge billboard with cameras all around it and encouraged people to "Steal this game". I didn't ever see the footage being used, but it seemed like a pretty clever idea at the time.

      --
      People that believe in their opinions don't post AC.
    3. Re:The question is... by fafaforza · · Score: 5, Funny

      Not if they don't see or hear you stealing it.

      When you try to lift the loot, pick a softwre store that is very poorly lit and has soft, sound-absorbing floor covering. Somethig along the lines of carpeting or wood.

      If you cannot avoid walking on granite or other hard stone, take a moss arrow or two with you.

      Finally, the club might come in handy in case a kid, of which there are a plenty at any games shop, draws attention to you.

      Don't kill anyone.

    4. Re:The question is... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      if I steal the game, will they come after me?

      Well, ThaenRT, it all depends on how noticable you are.

      If you make a little noise or the guard catches a glimpse of you, then you can still avoid being chased if you are able to lie low for a while. I find that it usually goes something like this:

      Me: [scuffle]

      Guard: Hello? Is somebody there?

      Me: (Desperate silence)

      Guard: I thought I heard something move...

      Me: (Not even breathing)

      Guard: Oh well. It was probably just rats.

      Me: (Sighs with relief. Proceeds to sneak past the guard, and robs the place blind.)

      Of course, the problem with this is that CompUSA has even more tile floors than even the Bank level in Thief II, and it's simply loaded with the kind of lights that you can't shoot out with water arrows. Your best bet is to avoid the guards by shooting rope arrows into the ceiling, because the guards rarely notice anything above eye level.

  2. WIth any luck by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    I hope its not as bad as DX, "Invisible Features."

  3. Hmm.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    is being released

    Yaaaay!

    by the same guys who recently gave us Deus Ex: Invisible War.

    Boooooo!

    1. Re:Hmm.. by visgoth · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Truely you have hit the nail on the head. I have no faith in them after the debacle that was DX2. The removal of the skill system, unified ammo, and other asinine design descisions has left a bad taste in my mouth.

      --
      My patience is infinite, my time is not.
  4. No blind gamers, I suppose by ObviousGuy · · Score: 5, Funny

    Makes it easier to forget to put in ALT tags for graphics and use tons of Flash animations.

    What's that third, unclickable flag for, btw?

    --
    I have been pwned because my /. password was too easy to guess.
    1. Re:No blind gamers, I suppose by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

      No blind gamers, and probably not too many blind, stealthy theives either.

  5. Dumb Down by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I hope they don't dumb down this game like Deus Ex.

    Just so they can put it on the xbox.

  6. The original game was cool by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I'm hoping Thief 3 will be more like Thief 1 than Thief 2. Thief 2's medieval-magical-industrial-robotic setting didn't really work, not to mention the fact that being able to throw your eye around corners is a bit ... odd.

    1. Re:The original game was cool by fafaforza · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Then again, the first one also had the zombies which didn't really work for the game.

      I think that most Thief fans at this point are hoping the new game resembles either one of its predecessors.

    2. Re:The original game was cool by kfg · · Score: 5, Funny

      . . . being able to throw your eye around corners is a bit ... odd.

      Painful too. Not to mention how hard it was to find the damned thing afterward, seeing as how I had to keep my head cocked a bit to one side while looking for it.

      I can't imagine how the Graiae sisters managed.

      KFG

    3. Re:The original game was cool by nomadic · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I loved Thief 2, creepy as HELL. I think the combination worked. But I still have nightmares of those little running golden automatons...and the ghosts in the library. Sweet screaming monkey that was scary.

    4. Re:The original game was cool by clontzman · · Score: 3, Informative

      Warren Spector said in an IGN video interview there would be no steam-powered robots. He said it wiht a tone of voice that suggested that he realized it was a bad idea in retrospect.

    5. Re:The original game was cool by osu-neko · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Eh? Thief 1 and 2 were set in the same world, with people running around in chainmail and using swords, while steam powered machines and electric lights buzzed away. Granted, the Mechanists in Thief 2 brought the industrial parts of the game setting more to the forefront, but the series was always fantasy "steam-punk". Thief 3 will have the same setting as well, but with Karras and the Mechanists out of the way, there will be no steam-powered robots, so it will be a bit more like Thief 1 in that respect. As for throwing your eye around corners, I hope you'll still be able to do that. I mean, Garrett went through a lot in Theif 1 to get that artificial eye, it'd be a shame if he couldn't still get some benefit out of it...

      --
      "Convictions are more dangerous enemies of truth than lies."
    6. Re:The original game was cool by _Sprocket_ · · Score: 4, Interesting


      I think this is mostly because of the natural inclination of people to complain about something.


      Or maybe they didn't think that these over-the-top fantastic things belonged in the game?
  7. From the makers of... by irokitt · · Score: 5, Funny

    Deus Ex: Invisible War. What other proof do you need that they have experience at thievery...

    --
    If my answers frighten you, stop asking scary questions.
  8. Thief changed my perspective on FPS by NeuroKoan · · Score: 5, Interesting

    When FPS games first came out, I wasn't nearly as stoked as my friends. Sure, I found playing Doom mildly entertaining, but it never gripped me as much as RPG/Adventure games.

    Thief changed all of that. I bought the original Thief and instantly fell in love; it brought an entirely new dimension to a genre I felt was rather repetitive and boring. It also opened me up to trying other FPS games that I probably wouldn't have tried without my positive experience with Thief.

    I probably haven't bought a computer game in 2 or 3 years (except for Deus Ex: Invisible War), but you can bet I'll be first in line when Thief 3 comes out.

    --

    "However," replied the universe, "The fact has not created in me A sense of obligation."
    1. Re:Thief changed my perspective on FPS by Corporal+Dan · · Score: 4, Informative

      If you like the Thief series, you will enjoy Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell. It has the same blend of suspense/action.

    2. Re:Thief changed my perspective on FPS by osu-neko · · Score: 3, Insightful
      Ah, but does it have that same Medieval/Fantasy/Steam-punk feel?

      Thief never really struck me as an "action" game. Suspense, yes, and careful observation and planning (one of the few games were I'd find a dark corner to just sit and watch people come and go for a few minutes to learn their patterns). Any "action" that actually occured was usually fairly quickly followed by death and a reload from the last save, as Garrett was *not* a fighter...

      --
      "Convictions are more dangerous enemies of truth than lies."
  9. Bah by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    This spring Thief 3 (Thief: Deadly Shadows) is being released by the same guys who recently gave us Deus Ex: Invisible War.

    That's not a good thing, seeing how botched Deus Ex: Invisible War was (especially compared to the original). Hopefully Harvey Smith has nothing to do with Thief 3.

    1. Re:Bah by johannesg · · Score: 4, Insightful
      Positive:

      - Society developed along believable and interesting lines. I list this first since it is important in a plot-based game like Deus Ex.

      - Interesting goodies and options.

      - Some of the later levels are pretty good. Seeing the unatco base on liberty island again brought a tear to my eye.

      - The physics engine really adds to the game. And when it screws up it can be pretty funny too (hint: try throwing a body at a flaming barrel. The thing will just about fly into orbit!)

      Negative:

      - Individual sections are too small (cut to fit the 64MB of XBox memory?). In Seattle, especially, I never felt like being in a city. And there are too few of them anyway, by the time the game really gets going it is just about over.

      - Choices you make in one section barely influence what happens in another. The various parties are way too forgiving to you.

      - Although everyone and everything casts a shadow, you yourself do not. It seems a strange oversight...

      - The game is too easy. This was true for the first game as well, but since it was much longer that was less of an issue.

      - The game rewards casual players far more than in-depth players. As casual player you will never run out of ammo or miss a story strand. An in-depth player is punished by hearing the same information over and over again, and will be forced to leave behind endless stacks of mod-canisters, ammo, weapons, and whatever. Speaking of which...

      - I understand why they have one kind of ammo for all weapons, but I do not like it. There is far less strategy to weapon choice now.

      - Since the game plays further in the future than the original Deus Ex, it does not feel quite so personal anymore. I've visited (in the great game of Real Life) Liberty Island, Battery Park, Hell's Kitchen, the Paris Catacombs, and many other locations from Deus Ex (Hong Kong and Area 51 are still on my todo list). By comparison, I doubt I'll ever set foot in a WTO arcology.

      Despite all these complaints I enjoyed playing Invisible War! It is a good game; the complaint really is that it should have been _great_. At least it tries to do something new, to expand on the art of storytelling in games. And despite all the whining, it mostly succeeds in doing that.

      So will there be a part 3? I really hope so; the brand is strong enough to allow it and by now they have the tools and experience to do it. And I think we deserve a game that covers the 20 years between J.C. and Alex, sort of like Deus Ex: the Dark Age ;-)

  10. And here it goes... by t0ny · · Score: 5, Funny

    Let the whining about Invisible War commence!

    --

    Manipulate the moderator system! Mod someone as "overrated" today.

  11. How sad... by egg+troll · · Score: 3, Funny

    Now that they've put all that work into their content, it gets Slashdotted. Oh the irony....

    --

    C - A language that combines the speed of assembly with the ease of use of assembly.
  12. Thief is out! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    This gives me hope for Doom 3... Duke Nuke 'em Forever...

    and maybe, just maybe... AmigaOS 4!

    1. Re:Thief is out! by Amiga+Lover · · Score: 3, Informative
  13. In other news.... by peterprior · · Score: 5, Funny

    ..thief 3 website goes down..

    Go slashdot..

  14. Does this mean that... by Antarius · · Score: 5, Funny

    There is hope for Duke Nukem Forever?

    1. Re:Does this mean that... by blincoln · · Score: 3, Funny

      See you at Revelations time.

      Yes, from what I can tell, Revelations explicitly mentions DNF going gold:

      "...and the Seventh Angel poured forth his bowl into the air and a voice cried out from Heaven saying 'it is done!'"

      --
      "...always new atoms but always doing the same dance, remembering what the dance was yesterday." -Richard Feynman
  15. oh ... you mean those people ... by dzym · · Score: 4, Funny
    This spring Thief 3 (Thief: Deadly Shadows) is being released by the same guys who recently gave us Deus Ex: Invisible War.
    So you're saying I should give this one the miss then?
  16. Slashdotting by dolo666 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Every new games website should have a bloody good slashdotting! Thief has always warmed my heart, and I'm glad to hear that we're getting another one. Sadly, I'm unable to use their site because of the flash requirement. I long since disabled Flash due to the misuse of it via adverts. You'd think that webbies would learn that you need to provide non-flash content by now!

    Anyway to summarize: Thief 3 Good : Thief 3 Website -- can't say, don't know.

    1. Re:Slashdotting by IthnkImParanoid · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Use Mozilla and the flash click-to-view plug-in. No flash you don't want and all the flash you do (ahh, flash games).

      --
      It's nothing but crumpled porno and Ayn Rand.
  17. Slashdotted Already by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    I sure hope they are better at game design than at web design. Kids today just want some information about their future games in an efficient manner, they don't care if the webpage has pretty graphics. Why I'm sure if the games plot and features are as empty as the game is pretty, all of todays teenagers will switch over to playing Nethack and Go. I mean come on we're talking about the generation that put MTV out of business here. Oh... Wait...

  18. Some info.. by rffmna · · Score: 5, Interesting

    the site is hosted over at Times Warner. The network pipes CANT be overloaded, but the server can be overloaded..but not likely.
    whois says it was created Thu, Mar 23, 2000, so they had been planning for 4 years, at least.

    --
    -------
    FM Clan
    1. Re:Some info.. by osu-neko · · Score: 5, Informative
      whois says it was created Thu, Mar 23, 2000, so they had been planning for 4 years, at least.

      Well, the game was planned for a long, long time. The Thief series was supposed to be a trilogy from the very beginning. We've tangled with the forces of Chaos (the Pagans), and with the forces of Order (the Hammerites/Mechanists), now we're gonna mess with the forces of Balance (the Keepers)...

      --
      "Convictions are more dangerous enemies of truth than lies."
  19. Shhh.... Don't draw attention to it! by Psychotext · · Score: 5, Interesting

    If Ion have got any sense whatsoever they will not draw attention to the fact that the developers of Thief 3 have anything to do with the developers that made DX:IW. Most of us that were fans of the original Thief games are praying that Warren stayed the hell away from the Thief team and let them get on with it. That, or we're going to end up with unified arrows. Grrr.

    Still, the screenshots look great and I'm really hoping that they pull this one out of the bag.

    --
    People that believe in their opinions don't post AC.
    1. Re:Shhh.... Don't draw attention to it! by Psychotext · · Score: 4, Informative

      Ack... apologies to the God (A.K.A. Warren Spector.). I was of-course intending to curse Harvey Smith.

      --
      People that believe in their opinions don't post AC.
  20. too dark by ogewo · · Score: 5, Funny

    all those screenshots seem to take place at night, in a shadow, with sunglasses on. dark games hurt my eyes.

    1. Re:too dark by Qacker · · Score: 5, Funny

      You must not be familar with the game...

      --
      Learn lisp today!
    2. Re:too dark by osu-neko · · Score: 4, Interesting
      Tips for playing thief:

      (1) Play only at night.
      (2) Turn off all the lights.
      (3) LOWER the gamma in the game as much as you can.

      Trust me... this really makes the game much more enjoyable.

      --
      "Convictions are more dangerous enemies of truth than lies."
    3. Re:too dark by Jacek+Poplawski · · Score: 3, Interesting

      (4) do not use headphones, use real 4+1 or 5+1 speakers, set them to middle-volume (i.e. not very silent), most of the time everything will be silent, but when something happen you jump on your chair (and your neighbours will call police... :)

  21. You know what this means? by FortKnox · · Score: 3, Funny

    Next game.... SYSTEM SHOCK 3?!?!?!?

    Here's hoping its that and not Diakatana2 ;-)

    --
    Good quote, too many chars. Seriously, the slashdot 120 char limit sucks!
  22. www.thief3.org has some thoughts on the matter by rei_slashdot · · Score: 4, Funny

    www.thief3.org has some thoughts on the matter!

  23. But will it work? by Mr.+Flibble · · Score: 4, Interesting

    As other posters have mentioned, there were a number of people who were disgruntled with Deus Ex 2. Due to the following reasons:

    1) Bad Framerate
    2) Oversimplified controls (depth of wepons etc missing)
    3) Bad AI
    4) Simplified story

    Now, I have not played Deus Ex 2 because of the above reasons, however, I have played every other game that Warren Spector was involved in with the exception of Terra Nova. In fact, of my top ten favorite games of all time, only one (Half Life) did not involve Warren Spector in one way or another. (Although, IMO, it was influenced by his work on other things...)

    Thief 1 was revolutionary - it was the first sneaker ever. Out of it sprung things like Splinter Cell, which has been very popular.

    However, I am very concerned that with the push that Spector currently has towards console games that Thief 3 will be runied by this direction.

    As you can see here (not slashdotted like the real site) Thief 3 already has a third person mode, like Splinter Cell.

    It will probably be sucessful on consoles, and probably be considered (ironically) a knock off of Splinter Cell.

    But, will it please the hard core fans? I don't know about that. If they can keep one thing, I as a hard core fan will be pleased:

    A really good story, like the first two.

    I will buy it, I have to. I have to finish the trilogy and find out what happens to Garrett. I just hope I am not dissapointed on the journey.

    Those of you who have played the first two will know what I mean.

    --
    Try to hack my 31337 firewall!
    1. Re:But will it work? by blincoln · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Now, I have not played Deus Ex 2 because of the above reasons, however, I have played every other game that Warren Spector was involved in with the exception of Terra Nova.

      If you are that big of a Spector fan, I'm a little disappointed that you wouldn't at least rent DX:IW to see if you liked it.

      People have said bad things about pretty much every game I've ever enjoyed. It seems to me that my opinion on the matter of whether or not I should have bought it is more important than theirs.

      --
      "...always new atoms but always doing the same dance, remembering what the dance was yesterday." -Richard Feynman
  24. Ah, Thief :) by jaylen · · Score: 5, Funny

    This, to me is the game anticipation of the year, years in fact.

    Fellow Slashdotters, if ye have not ever played a Sneak 'em Up game before, any Thief game is the one to buy.

    The best part of Thief is the difference in the game to a shoot 'em up - in Thief, the character Garret is actually a weak character, he gets killed very easily.

    This means that instead of the normal emotions that a shoot 'em up game gives, Thief gives all those emotions plus two extra, suspence and fear.

    Yeah, fear. There was one time playing Thief 2 when I sneaked Garret around a corner just to come face to face with a Hammer Haunt. My brain went into shock, and my reflex action was to jump away.

    The net result was me lying flat on my ass about 6 feet away from the keyboard, tangled around my PC chair :)

    Not a game to play after a phat joint, I can tell ya.

  25. eeeehhhh by dandelion_wine · · Score: 5, Insightful

    You had me till you said "same guys who recently gave us Deus Ex: Invisible War". Deus Ex (and could people please stop pronouncing it like "deuce"? It's Latin, people. DAY-us) is one of a number of games that have suffered a less-stylish sequel, IMHO. (To Be Continued. I hear that Nihilistic isn't doing the new Vamp Masq, and that the new company is making it more like a first-person shooter. Great. We need more of those.)

    What is the deal when sequel-makers get their hands on loads of cash and graphics capabilities, as a result of the popularity of the original, only to fuck the original squarely up the ass? I haven't picked up Max Payne 2, yet, and I sincerely hope this is not the case. Sure, DE2 looks... well, even to say "better" is to suggest that cartoonish bright colours and soft lines automtically mean better. The original DE looked grainy and that seemed appropros. Also, as a side note, the protag and his brother both looked and sounded like Stephen Baldwin, and that was a friggin cool edge. This new guy I want to smack.

    Game makers pay attention: voice acting is important! Hell, even if Soul 2: Mythblighter wasn't a 10 out of 10, game-wise (though I'd rate it middling-high), the voice acting had me riveted. The diary entries with the first encounter with the undead, etc. were superb. Contrast with, say, Warcraft 3, esp Frozen Throne. Ok, that's a game that has me wanting to skip the crap and get to the game, but this just exacerbates that reaction. Whiny female non-acting "Our kingdom is in danger!" Whatever. End result: lowered respect for the game, generally. /rant

  26. Well ... by z0ink · · Score: 3, Insightful

    If they do to theif what they did to deus ex I will be royally pissed. Deus Ex was my all time favorite shooter. The game introduced a very intuitive micro management system to the FPS genre and became one of the first and best FPS/RPG's of all time. Deus Ex 2 was a real dissapointment. Many of the problems were due to the dual xbox/pc development (many of the defaults for the game were optimised for console play, etc ..), but the game didn't live upto the original. Keep an eye out on where they go with this, thief fans.

    --
    Steal This Sig
  27. Its more of a TPS than an FPS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Thief I and II were probably the best FPS games ever made. They were the anti-Quake: replacing twitchy running, spinning and machine gun fire with slow careful movements, hiding in shadows and methodically placed single shots.

    From what I can see, the developers of Thief III have gone and made this great FPS into a 'Thief-flavored' Tomb Raider TPS. The game is 3rd person and playable on a console controller.

    For the record: No console controller is even close to as precise as a mouse. And Thief is *all* about precision. Console controllers are clumsy and better suited to action games.

    If I was going to play a console based TPS not only would I rather look at Lara's behind running around, but I'd also put my chips on StarCraft Ghost.

  28. No kidding by bonch · · Score: 3, Insightful

    And recently, Warren Spector said Deus Ex 3 would be as different from Deus Ex 2, as 2 was from 1.

    What's going on over at Ion Storm? They keep defending their awful design decisions as their "vision" instead of just realizing that they don't make the game more fun, they make it less fun. Why are they trying to ruin what made Deus Ex great? It's like they don't even know why people liked the first one.

    Sadly, it reminds me of the Matrix sequels.

    1. Re:No kidding by dslbrian · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Why are they trying to ruin what made Deus Ex great? It's like they don't even know why people liked the first one.

      Apparently they don't. You know what one of the -best- features of Deus Ex was? It was a LONG game. The fact that it was long made it immersive, like reading a good novel. It worked really well with the conspiracy angles in the game. It also had RPG like qualities, with the skill system and all. By dumbing it down to play well on a console, and making the game pathetically short, they managed to extract all the unique and fun stuff out of it.

      So if they follow their current trend, Thief 3 will be a short-lived, dumbed down, insult to its predecessor that can be finished in 10 hours... (I have never understood why a game company will spend years writing an engine, and then skimp on the levels to the point it can be finished in a day or two)

  29. Objectives by bgeer · · Score: 5, Funny
    [ ] Ion Storm is writing Thief III. To ensure that it doesn't suck, sneak into their offices and knock out John Romero. [Normal]

    [ ] The CEO of Ion Storm is known to keep a bag of jewels in his office. While you're there, steal them [Expert]

    [ ] The beta of Thief III is on the Ion Storm file server. Put an eDonkey client on their firewall and p1mp that bad boy out. [Hard]

    [ ] Remember, you're a thief, not a murderer: don't kill anyone. If you bought Daikatana, you can whack Romero with your blackjack though. [Expert]