Ask EM one question [Archive]

Platinumoxicity

09-24-2010, 11:38 PM

If you could ask one question from Eidos Montréal regarding the development or specifics of Thief 4, and they'd have to answer truthfully and unambiguously to that question and that question only, what would it be?

My question:

Is Thief 4 really under development? I mean really as in people actually sitting at their computers coding and modelling, and designers designing?

...which is actually a dual question in disguise, because if EM would answer "no" to that, they'd also answer "yes" to the question: Have you been lying to the community all this time?

jtr7

09-24-2010, 11:47 PM

Can you tell us something delightfully surprising about Thief 4 before the leaves fall off the trees?

DarknessFalls

09-25-2010, 01:14 AM

Will Thief IV's gameplay and atmosphere be like and feel like Thief II?

Viktoria

09-25-2010, 02:20 AM

May I just make it clear to everyone here that this is not an official Q&A thread. Any questions about the game will not be answered.

An official Q&A thread will happen in the future, of course. Just as on DX:HR forum.

agrash

09-25-2010, 03:27 AM

I think that was obvious when the TS openend this thread.

My question would probably be: What were your thought about thief 3

Viktoria

09-25-2010, 03:46 AM

I think that was obvious when the TS openend this thread.

Yes, I agree... but some people might take the thread itself seriously. :)

BG_HHaunt

09-25-2010, 03:47 AM

I am going to ask for the fun of it.
Are you going to change the game's logo?

Vae

09-25-2010, 04:01 AM

Are you just curious?...or are you begging for this to be true?...:)

Platinumoxicity

09-25-2010, 05:05 AM

Viktoria, this thread is indeed just for sharing questions that people would like to force the devs to answer, even if it's just one question. These questions aren't meant to be answered by the devs themselves.

And since my first question is a bit dumb, I'll change the question to...

Dear Eidos Montréal, are you going to make a long awaited next installment for the Thief series, or are you going to make a sequel to TDS?

or in a less cryptic way...

Dear Eidos Montréal, do you plan to use the original T1 and T2 as valuable resources by playing them, or did you give up after your quad-core Win7 PC couldn't start the games and you'll just model Thief 4 completely after TDS?

DarknessFalls

09-25-2010, 07:51 AM

Lol!

I'm starting to feel a little sorry for EM, though. :( They've done nothing wrong, except be really quiet and have a temp logo overstay its welcome. They might start modeling T4 after TDS just out of spite :)

Tryst

09-25-2010, 09:06 AM

My question would be duplicitous as well.

Is your silence an attempt to surprise us or that you have nothing new to tell us?

Herr_Garrett

09-25-2010, 09:59 AM

Dear Eidos Montréal, do you plan to use the original T1 and T2 as valuable resources by playing them, or did you give up after your quad-core Win7 PC couldn't start the games and you'll just model Thief 4 completely after TDS?

You know, my dual-core Win7 laptop runs DP and MA no problem, without any sort of nudging, shoving, tampering, tinkering, buggering, etc., but it refuses to so much as load in DS. Curious.

Viktoria

09-25-2010, 11:33 AM

I'm starting to feel a little sorry for EM, though. :( They've done nothing wrong, except be really quiet and have a temp logo overstay its welcome.
Yes, it is unfortunate.

They might start modeling T4 after TDS just out of spite :)

Goodness, please don't tempt fate! :eek:

jtr7

09-25-2010, 11:54 AM

Doing nothing is often wrong, as is any form of not doing enough. Acting like you don't understand things is more frustrating than anything EM does or does not do.

Viktoria

09-25-2010, 12:07 PM

^
Is this addressed to me?

swordbreaker

09-25-2010, 01:01 PM

DarknessFalls

09-25-2010, 01:05 PM

Doing nothing is often wrong in everyday situations, but in the case of a video game being developed, is dev quietness and a temp logo really enough to cause consistent harmful, volatile comments against EM? Since it's the internet and things get blown out of proportion I could easily jump on that bandwagon, and probably have from time to time... but EM is likely a group of nice folks like all of us... so I don't know that they deserve it yet. Give them a chance to make a nice official announcement update, and if that's an epic fail, then we'd have more right to be upset :)

Viktoria

09-25-2010, 01:12 PM

:D sorry to sound like sarcastic, but I wonder how many empty topics are going to create at this rate. Next one will may be about, ummm "which color do you perefer on rats in t4?" lol. All blame goes to EM because they left their audience all alone without any wip stuff. Keep it up EM. It's soon to see here desolated forum. ;)

To be fair, 99.9% of the discussions in here have been very interesting. Any dumb threads like what colour for the rats would be closed. So, don't you dare! :D

People could take a break from the forum and return when there is news. I'm currently waiting to find out when that will be. I expect not for a whle yet, but I will let everyone know.

jtr7

09-25-2010, 01:20 PM

This should either be a place of discussion or closed. We have Twitter, gaming news, Facebook, RSS feeds, and emails, plus contacts with our friends. Most news, official or not (can't tell the difference without offical feedback, dammit!), has not been given here, just major milestones that are few and far between. If someone finds this forum or follows an official link from one of the many webpages that include it, there should be something to discuss, rather than a rehash or idle imaginings.

swordbreaker

09-25-2010, 01:23 PM

actually I visit this forum only for checking any news for a very long time. I hope everything is ok with EM.

"Patience is the best weapon of taffers." quote from a nameless thief ;)

jtr7

09-25-2010, 01:28 PM

It's not all about patience. It's also about legacy and indifference. These fora have been soaked in indifference from day one, and those fighting it. This is a forum, not a bulletin board. Someone's forgotten that, and the neglect of this page's primary functions is the issue. The impatience is secondary, a symptom of the neglect and failure to keep the machine in motion with a purpose.

AlexOfSpades

09-25-2010, 01:31 PM

If i was a pokemon, i'd evolve to JTR7.

Viktoria

09-25-2010, 01:32 PM

actually I visit this forum only for checking any news for a very long time. I hope everything is ok with EM.

"Patience is the best weapon of taffers." quote from a nameless thief ;)

EM are fine and the dev team are excited for the time when they can show you guys what they are doing!
Patience is indeed a taffer's best weapon...and the master thief will be richly rewarded. ;)

Vae

09-25-2010, 01:35 PM

DarknessFalls

09-25-2010, 03:19 PM

JFSOCC

09-25-2010, 03:44 PM

Viktoria maybe you could give us some answers, like, what kind of feedback have you relayed to the devs, that you've gotten from this forum?

surely you could say something about that?

Viktoria

09-25-2010, 05:15 PM

I have a feeling we will all forget the last 1.5 years when EM knocks our socks off :D

Sorry I'm so optimistic at times here. Trust me, it's reserved optimism... I learned my lesson from TDS to not get too optimistic.

Good for you. Keep the F4ITH, taffer!. ;)

Viktoria maybe you could give us some answers, like, what kind of feedback have you relayed to the devs, that you've gotten from this forum?
surely you could say something about that?

The devs can read the feedback themselves. We have the "Keeper Diary" thread for this purpose, where they (and ourselves) can reference any major topic they wish, very quickly. :)

Mugsey05

09-25-2010, 10:45 PM

My one question:

The devs can read the feedback themselves.

Can read, but do they? I ask this out of genuine curiosity, not to be unnecessarily harsh, as I imagine (read: hope) they are hard at work doing other things, such as making the game. I know that, were I a developer, I would have long ago gotten frustrated by the general negative energy (which, to be fair, is quite understandable given the almost complete silence from Eidos over the past year and a half) and the passionate disagreements on virtually every issue. If anyone at EM actually has continued to read these forums with any regularity, bully for them; that would take some real dedication.

Herr_Garrett

09-25-2010, 10:58 PM

People could take a break from the forum and return when there is news. I'm currently waiting to find out when that will be. I expect not for a whle yet, but I will let everyone know.

Ah yes, I remember, you'd told me that once... And I did indeed take a break, and when I returned, still found no news.
Then a forced break, again nothing...
So nowadays I come up here something like once a week, and I only find the HC taffers here, no news.

Here is my question, for instance:

What's up with that community manager guy, eh? Did he die? Is he permanently indisposed? Or was that, too, just another trick to keep us down (which failed like Troy's defence)? Where are all those shiploads and tons of great artwork?

Doing nothing, I concur with JTR, is often quite wrong. Cf. the Keepers in DS.
A Dark Age is upon us.

Viktoria

09-26-2010, 01:18 AM

My one question:
Can read, but do they? I ask this out of genuine curiosity, not to be unnecessarily harsh, as I imagine (read: hope) they are hard at work doing other things, such as making the game. I know that, were I a developer, I would have long ago gotten frustrated by the general negative energy (which, to be fair, is quite understandable given the almost complete silence from Eidos over the past year and a half) and the passionate disagreements on virtually every issue. If anyone at EM actually has continued to read these forums with any regularity, bully for them; that would take some real dedication.

Yes, they do come here to read what we have said. This is the very reason why this forum was launched early, so that they could listen. It is unfortunate that this decision has meant that some will become impatient for news, understandable as that is. Try to remain patient, we should be glad that they opened the forum early so that we can offer feedback. I would rather this than have it opened closer to the game's release, without the fanbase having the opportunity to express their thoughts.

What's up with that community manager guy, eh? Did he die? Is he permanently indisposed?

Kyle Stallock, our new CM, is away attending to business matters at the moment. As you can appreciate, he entered this job at one of the busiest times - it is quite an undertaking! Presently, he must deal with many matters to do with DX:HR, so that is why we must remain patient for the time being. When it is time, Kyle will come to us with details of T4 with the proper time, respect and professionalism the game, and this forum, deserves.

Rieknor

09-26-2010, 09:08 AM

Are the people in this forum get any kind of appreciation/recognition for all the "hard" work, commitment, help that we are givin to EM?

Well, the reward will be a GREAT Thief game, but it will be awesome if they named us in the credits. Our real names =P

If this happen i will die in peace.

AlexOfSpades

09-26-2010, 10:08 AM

Yes, they do come here to read what we have said. This is the very reason why this forum was launched early, so that they could listen. It is unfortunate that this decision has meant that some will become impatient for news, understandable as that is. Try to remain patient, we should be glad that they opened the forum early so that we can offer feedback. I would rather this than have it opened closer to the game's release, without the fanbase having the opportunity to express their thoughts.

Kyle Stallock, our new CM, is away attending to business matters at the moment. As you can appreciate, he entered this job at one of the busiest times - it is quite an undertaking! Presently, he must deal with many matters to do with DX:HR, so that is why we must remain patient for the time being. When it is time, Kyle will come to us with details of T4 with the proper time, respect and professionalism the game, and this forum, deserves.

This post from Viktoria answered everything that i wanted to know, for now.

And about the name in the credits, i dont think Eidos would go that far.

But... my name is Alexandre Leon, ok? Heh. Ok Eidos?
:whistle:

Pieter888

09-27-2010, 11:24 AM

:D sorry to sound like sarcastic, but I wonder how many empty topics are going to create at this rate. Next one will may be about, ummm "which color do you perefer on rats in t4?"

hmm.. interesting...

So my question to EM:

What WILL the color of the rats in t4 be?:cool:

Psychomorph

09-27-2010, 12:53 PM

Kyle will come to us with details of T4 with the proper time.
Almost sounds like a prophecy. Hail to the leafy oracle!

Platinumoxicity

09-27-2010, 08:17 PM

Almost sounds like a prophecy. Hail to the leafy oracle!

A prophecy isn't a prophecy if it doesn't tell the exact date of the event. It's just guessing. :p

ⓣⓐⓕⓕⓔⓡ

09-30-2010, 10:23 AM

Will Thief IV's gameplay and atmosphere be like and feel like Thief II?

Mine would be something like; "What do you say to all those fanboys from 1998 who want you to remake TDP in a newer engine with no changes to gameplay whatsoever?"

For those who will call be a "n00b", I played both games on their release but do not hold my life to these games, I want to play something fresh and exciting with the franchise, if that's OK with you? :)

Heavy Rain

09-30-2010, 11:03 AM

Will Thief IV's gameplay and atmosphere be like and feel like Thief II?

Be careful what you wish for! Do you want the removal of crypt / cave levels, zombies, exploration of dark, foreboding and strange places, no Burricks, disjointed story and back to back levels in same location with similar objectives, unnecessarily large levels filled only with empty halls? T2 is much flawed in many aspects. IMO, they rather take inspiration from T1/G.

Thus, my question would be: will they retain the supernatural element from T1/G? and I pray they include a level similar to Constantine's mansion!

KSingh77

09-30-2010, 11:42 AM

Can Garrett punch through walls and do a double takedown on two guards?

HeyLight!

09-30-2010, 12:46 PM

Is this forum just to keep us occupied and to help the spark stay alight, or you actually planning on using the ideas given from Thief's devoted fans.

That's my question... I have no doubt that this game is coming out...eventually...

Viktoria

09-30-2010, 02:59 PM

Is this forum just to keep us occupied and to help the spark stay alight, or you actually planning on using the ideas given from Thief's devoted fans.

If you read through the articles/interviews in the Keeper Diary thread, you should find some answers there, or try this one:
http://forums.eidosgames.com/showpost.php?p=988959&postcount=14

:)

DarknessFalls

09-30-2010, 06:37 PM

Mine would be something like; "What do you say to all those fanboys from 1998 who want you to remake TDP in a newer engine with no changes to gameplay whatsoever?"
They'd probably rejoice and reply with, "Stay tuned, as we have some great things in store for you!" Good thing the original post asked, "If you could ask one question from Eidos Montréal regarding the development or specifics of Thief 4..." :) ... So you're free to ask whatever question would make you happy.

For those who will call be a "n00b", I played both games on their release but do not hold my life to these games, I want to play something fresh and exciting with the franchise, if that's OK with you? :)
It's OK with me that you have that opinion. Although I don't agree with the intent of your opinion, you're certainly entitled to it :) To clarify, I don't want a remake of TDP or TMA. I'm growing slightly tired of the same levels, very predictable AI, and occasional mantling issues. That said, I do need my dose of TMA every now and then ;) I want T4 to be in the same vein as T1/T2, rather than TDS, Thievery, Assassin's Creed, Alpha Protocol, DX3, Bioshock, MMORPGs, cliché first-person shooters, and clichés found in first-person shooters.

Be careful what you wish for! Do you want the removal of crypt / cave levels, zombies, exploration of dark, foreboding and strange places, no Burricks, disjointed story and back to back levels in same location with similar objectives, unnecessarily large levels filled only with empty halls? T2 is much flawed in many aspects. IMO, they rather take inspiration from T1/G.
I like T2 more than T1. There were some crypts, dungeon, basement and graveyard type areas in T2. Enough to satisfy me. If there weren't zombies in T2, I didn't notice. It had a haunt or two, some ghosts and some freaky undead sounds here and there. I wouldn't mind a few zombies and haunts in T4, but don't want very many. I enjoy the real life places and characters more. I would want a few burricks, and some strange locations, certainly. T2 wasn't without it's strange places (pagan areas, etc.).

Rest assured, even if my question singled out T2, that's only because it's my favorite of the series. Whenever I mention T2, I mean "mostly T2, with some of the touches seen in T1." T1 and T2 are so wonderfully similar in their delivery that when I think of certain scenes with zombies in them (mines, etc.) or Constantine's mansion, I sometimes feel as though they were in T2. And my question wasn't meant to be, "Give me another T2." It was meant to be, "Will T4 kinda be like T2?" -- which I'd think would imply kinda like T1, too :thumb:

Heavy Rain

10-01-2010, 09:45 AM

I like T2 more than T1. There were some crypts, dungeon, basement and graveyard type areas in T2. Enough to satisfy me. If there weren't zombies in T2, I didn't notice. It had a haunt or two, some ghosts and some freaky undead sounds here and there. I wouldn't mind a few zombies and haunts in T4, but don't want very many. I enjoy the real life places and characters more. I would want a few burricks, and some strange locations, certainly. T2 wasn't without it's strange places (pagan areas, etc.).

There is no "etc". There was ONLY Pagan forest which can't hold a candle to a bunch of creepy / almost other-worldly locations from T1/G such as Bonehoard, Cragscleft Prison, Constantine's Mansion, Haunted Cathedral, Mage Towers, Lost City, Maw of Chaos!! You see, these missions made 50% of the game. But I see that we have different taste here. You like real life places and characters more while I think they become monotonous real fast and are thus too boring. TDS managed the balance quite well in this regard.

Rest assured, even if my question singled out T2, that's only because it's my favorite of the series. Whenever I mention T2, I mean "mostly T2, with some of the touches seen in T1." T1 and T2 are so wonderfully similar in their delivery that when I think of certain scenes with zombies in them (mines, etc.) or Constantine's mansion, I sometimes feel as though they were in T2. And my question wasn't meant to be, "Give me another T2." It was meant to be, "Will T4 kinda be like T2?" -- which I'd think would imply kinda like T1, too :thumb:

When I think of T2 I only imagine thieving in very large and very empty real life locations and nothing much else. On the other hand, thinking of T1 gives me goosebumps and the strnageness of the world invites me unfainligly. I don't even know how many times I must have re-played Bonehoard level! As you can hopefully understand now, T2 isn't much similar to T1 and thus it would be curious to see which direction EM takes and "which" elements from T1 are retained..

DarknessFalls

10-01-2010, 10:19 AM

Heavy Rain

10-01-2010, 10:39 AM

T2 had more than a pagan forest. Had some interesting pagan caverns, an eye-plant area, some catacombs, a portal to the other world, lots of dark, foreboding places, imo, some strange places, etc. You had originally said, T2 had a "removal of crypt / cave levels, zombies, exploration of dark, foreboding and strange places," so I was just saying that's not really true.

Nice try, but I said removal of LEVELS, not small areas which spectacularly fail to offer the experience of full fledged levels. Rather common sense. BTW, pagan caverns ARE part of forest and the portal just leads to the said forest. Seriously, everyone knows supernatural elements were butchered in T2, why you continue to argue?

Interesting. I don't remember any other-worldly parts to TDS except walking statues, big beetles and kurshoks(?)). Sweet, my mind is successfully starting to block several parts of that game out! :) When I think of TDS, I mainly just remember a small area you go to over and over again, along with a string of common problems and nitpicks, and a few cool atmospheric parts.

The key word is "balanced". Sunken citadel, Pagan sanctuary, and the world famous Cradle, which are full LEVELS, offer good amount of creepy / supernatural dose to the taffers looking for it. There was also Abysmal gale, first encounter with the hag and Hammerite catacombs..

DarknessFalls

10-01-2010, 11:39 AM

I wasn't arguing, I was trying to state my opinion in a conversational manner. Things aren't as black and white as you think they are, and I often lose attention quickly when talking with someone who argues this way. If I said on a rainy day, "Look at the gray clouds," you'd probably say, "They're not -- they're white..." and I wouldn't be able to convince you otherwise, and you'd try to belittle me for thinking they were gray.

Heavy Rain

10-01-2010, 12:07 PM

Are you offended about the word 'arguing' that I used for you? Don't take it too seriously! Consider that we were 'debating' about the absence / severe toning down of supernatural elements in T2 and lack of levels which are specifically built around them. You gave example of Pagan forest and some 'areas' of T2 and I countered that by giving examples of many 'levels' from T1 and from TDS. I do not know if your black-n-white analogy is applicable here as we should rather trade on facts?