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Author |
Topic: Thief Modes of Play: Final rules to suggested
styles of play |
GMan
Member
Posts: 1356
From: Massachusetts
Registered: FEB 2000
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posted 11-22-2000 11:22 PM 
As a forum, we've
developed quite a few distinct styles of play:
Ghost (Clayman)
Perfect Thief (Clay again)
Ironman (Squid)
Titanium man (Iron's harder older brother)
Master Thief (PeterSmith)
Ultimate Thief (BmanRogue)
CushyTrumpet Mode (Buglesoft)
Assorted "Silly" Mode
---> Supreme Ghost (Sneak)
<---- [appended to thread by Peter Smith]
Developing the rules to these modes
has been a long and somewhat collective process, and many of
the finer points of each mode are strewn throughout various posts.
This chain is an attempt to collect
and organize them for one-stop reference. In this chain,
the innovators themselves give a brief write-up on the basics
and nuances of their own playing modes.
We've also tacked on some wacky
modes at the end, just for kicks.
Thanks to everyone who contributed.
[This message has been edited by
GMan (edited 11-29-2000).]
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clayman
Member
Posts: 2714
From: Knoxville, TN
Registered: JUN 1999
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posted 11-23-2000 07:58 AM
Ghost Mode Official Rules
:
1.) Expert difficulty only
2.) No damage taken or received
in the final stats. Damage from falls, machinery, lava etc.
is allowed but frowned upon, as is the use of potions.
3.) No alerts of any AI are allowed.
This includes undead, fire elementals, spiders, bots etc,
all human and non-human encounters in the game. Rats are excluded
due to their lack of reaction to Garrett. Watchers that
go "yellow" bust the Ghost. Bots that freeze/pivot/search
bust the Ghost. If a human grumbles, shifts in place and goes
back to "relaxed", you are clean.
4.) No property damage allowed,
no banners cut, no things burnt or destroyed. No broken glass.
5.) No loot cheats or walkthroughs
allowed. A point of honor that cannot be enforced.
6.) Doors re-shut, torches re-lit,
keys returned, etc. are are not necessary unless you just
want to....or the condition requires it to avoid a bust.
7.) There is no time requirement,
no Ironman type requirements etc., just finish the mission
clean, damage free and alert free.
8.) No alerts means no distractions,
noisemakers, artificial diversions that cause an AI to search
for you, even if it is away from where you are. No Garrett/artifically
induced suicides of AI or melees that intentionally cause
AI to attack each other. No use of frog eggs allowed.
Amendment #1 : Any mission requirement
that demands that the player break one of the rules above
is OK to complete. For instance, like in Return to the Cathedral
in Thief Dark/Gold, there is a requirement to kill all Haunts
in the mission. As long as you do this without alerting other
AI or breaking any other rule, it OK, have some fun...live
a little. Same will apply to any similar situation in T2.
Amendment #2 - The techniques of
"Banner Transmigration" and "Nudging" are grudgingly allowed
under the Ghost rules.
Amendment #3 - The use of the "Banner
Transmigration" and "Nudging" techniques, as well as the use
of speed, inviso, and slowfall potions are considered last resorts
and should be reported when posting results. Version/release
of the game should also be reported since there are sometimes
significant differences in gameplay between versions.
Perfect Thief Mode is defined
as completing the above requirements and also obtaining the
maximum loot for the particular mission.
------------------
Clayman
"It's a hell of a thing, killin'
a man. You take away all he's got, and all he's ever gonna
have." - William Munny, Unforgiven
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Buglesoft
Member
Posts: 937
From: Broomfield, CO
Registered: APR 2000
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posted 11-23-2000 08:42 AM
CushyTrumpet mode Official
Rules:
1) Play the entire game from start
to finish without quitting the game (see ammendments below).
In TDP and TG, start at Baffords and keep playing through
Maw. In T2, Interference through Soulforge.
2) No saving!! (see ammendments
below) Some have suggested doing a quick save at the beginning
of a mission in case some disaster befalls you (power outage,
machine locks up, etc.). This is frowned upon, but acceptable.
3) If you fail a mission, you must
start at the beginning of the game (Baffords or Interference),
not just the mission.
4) If you need to take a break
(work, eat, sleep, etc.), Garrett keeps playing. Find a dark
corner and leave the game running.
5) Do not give Garrett any breaks
in between missions. Once you finish a mission, read the
stats, watch the trailer, whatever, but start the next mission
immediately!
5) Any style of play that does
not conflict with any of these rules is acceptable.
Ammendments:
- If you encounter the typical slowdown in the larger
missions in T2 and it becomes unplayable, you are allowed
to save, reboot your machine, and restart from where you saved.
Good Luck!!
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Squid
Member
Posts: 412
From: Atlanta
Registered: MAR 2000
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posted 11-24-2000 12:52 AM
Hi! Anyone miss me?
I've been gone for awhile, but I should be back. I've been
working on a D&D tournament for my local gaming store,
and that's taken up most of my free time. However, I'm done with it,
so now I'm here.
If I remember correctly, I was
the originator of IronMan mode and was effectively the creator
of Titanium mode. So, I guess I'll present the rules.
IRONMAN -
1) All objectives must be completed.
2) No saves are allowed during the middle of a mission.
You are allowed to save at the start of a mission.
3) If you die, you must restart the mission from the
beginning.
4) If you must leave your computer for some reason,
(example, sleeping,) you may save the game and pick up where
you left off when you return.
Other than that, you may play IronMan
with any other style. Titanium is a bit more complicated.
TITANIUM -
1) All objectives must be completed.
2) No saves are allowed during the middle of a mission.
3) You may save once at the beginning of a mission
in case of catastrophic failure of your computer, not your
playing skill! 
4) If you die, you may restart the game FROM THE FIRST
LEVEL ONLY. You may NOT use your catastrophic save for this
purpose; only for returning to the game from a system crash
or other such failure.
5) If you are going to stop playing for a significant
period of time, say, an hour or more, you may save the game and when
you return to it, you may restart from that save. If you were
to die afterwards, see rule 4.
I think that's about it. Good to
read everyone again!
Squid
------------------
I speak to you now of the fall of giants, the passing
of ages, the burial of heroes, the death of kings.
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BmanRogue
Member
Posts: 73
From: USA
Registered: OCT 2000
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posted 11-24-2000 01:23 PM
Thank you GMan for
including "Ultimate" in this thread.
Ultimate Thief Mode: Official Rules
This mode is designed to apply
"reality" to you (Garrett) during the first attempt of a
Mission. If I may paraphrase, "I (as Garrett) regret that
I have but one life to give..." Your goals in this mode are
as follows:
1) Play on Expert Difficulty only
2) Meet all of the objectives
3) Complete the Mission with Zero
saves
===(you may only save to sleep or seek medicle attention
- no reloads)==
4) Ultimate can only be achieved
your FIRST time thru a Mission. If you die, you fail.
5) As a point of honor, no walkthroughs
or other cheats may be employed.
FYI- For those of you that are looking for something even
more challenging... Ultimate may be combined with other Modes such
as Ghost, Master, MaxLoot, Lytha, Perfect, et.al., ad nausium.
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Peter Smith
Member
Posts: 581
From: San Diego, CA and Los Alamos, NM
Registered: FEB 2000
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posted 11-27-2000 12:07 AM
Master Thief mode.
The requirements of Master
Thief are:
Play in Expert skill
Get 100% of the loot (the primary
objective).
No damage whatsoever to yourself
No killing or other induced death
is allowed of any humanoid AI (guards, ratmen, bugbeasts)
Disallowed induced deaths include
suicides, frogbeast eggs, and leading into traps
No alerts are allowed of any humanoid
AI (see exception below under Standards)
The blackjack is the only weapon
to be used against humanoid AI
A knockout does not count as an
alert if the KO'ed AI does not see you.
Property damage is acceptable,
so long as you don't get caught in the act
No bodies, unconscious or dead,
can be discovered by the AI
The goals of Master Thief are:
Complete the mission in Ghost Mode
if at all possible (that would be Perfect Thief)
No alerts of any AI if it is possible
to avoid them (see below)
Minimize damage to others (report
all damage points in stats)
Standards of play are as follows:
It is much preferred to BJ humanoid
AI without alerting them than to alert them and run away.
This prevents them from "catching" you.
If you must BJ an AI, he/she should
not be alerted first, and that act cannot be observed by
and cause other AI's to go into alert.
Exception: if there is no possible
way to BJ a humanoid AI without alerting him first (e.g.,
the front door guard at Angel Watch in Life of the Party),
then that alert is OK provided it does not spread to other
AI. All such alerts must be reported.
The Nudge is acceptable tactic
and preferred over BJ'ing an AI.
For AI that cannot be blackjacked
(spiders, fire elementals, undead, burricks) it is much preferred
to alert them and run away than to fight them. Those alerts
should be noted. Example: in Lost City, TDP, plowing through
the four burricks to get the loot in the library.
Gas arrows and gas mines are discouraged
(they are too easy). Count one damage point for each use
even though the computer doesn't list the damage.
The use of chemicals, including
slow fall and invisibility potions, is disouraged (too easy).
If a chemical is needed, report it in your write-up.
For non-humanoid AI, if you cannot
avoid them by running, and you cannot get the loot any other
way, it is OK to kill them. Those kills are counted against
you in the damage score. Example: spiders guarding loot in
Escape.
In Thief II, it is acceptable to
disable Bots but it is not acceptable to destroy them. However,
like any other damage to AI, disabling Bots is to be done
only as a last resort because this action prevents the primary
objective, Perfect Thief, from being achieved.
Deviations from ideal play should
be reported in your write-up, including use of chemicals,
gas, alerts, and disabling bots.
See Zen and the Art of Imperfect Thief for more
details and discussion.
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clayman
Member
Posts: 2714
From: Knoxville, TN
Registered: JUN 1999
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posted 11-27-2000 08:25 AM
I think everyone should
go in and clean up their posts to remove anything conversational
or extraneous, and also remove all non-critical posts. Then
the topic should be closed by Mouser and archived so as to
be a true "reference" topic; subsequent commentary by anyone
would need to be in a different topic. Just my 2 cents, GMan,
this is your deal.
------------------
Clayman
"It's a hell of a thing, killin'
a man. You take away all he's got, and all he's ever gonna
have." - William Munny, Unforgiven
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Spuds
Member
Posts: 341
From: Milwaukee, WI
Registered: AUG 2000
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posted 11-27-2000 11:39 AM
didn't we forget the
good old fashioned 'Tourist Mode'?
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Vesper
Member
Posts: 34
From: Colorado
Registered: NOV 2000
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posted 11-27-2000 06:10 PM
Thanks for putting
these all in one spot, Great idea.... I tried to figure out
all the modes from lots of searches and got lost in all the
post.
I am STILL curious about the MadPsycho
Mode and other kooky or not so Tuff modes that might be more
befitting of a Novice Taffer as myself. Can they be listed
elsewhere? Or maybe included as a subset here?
Don't forget to delete this post.
Vesper
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ricknmel
Member
Posts: 231
From: ohio
Registered: MAY 2000
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posted 11-27-2000 07:00 PM
I say we put all the
"wierd" modes (for lack of better term) 
into one post at the end of this string. I also think
we should include the standard form of posting results as
someone mentioned earlier. (can't remember who, and it's
gone now)
Thats my 2 cents
this post will self destruct
when the time is right
------------------
Life gives you but one chance...............Thief gives
you as many as you want.
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clayman
Member
Posts: 2714
From: Knoxville, TN
Registered: JUN 1999
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posted 11-27-2000 07:55 PM
OK, I agree to a postscript
entry with the caveat that they are presented as half-humorous
methods of play...kids don't try these at home.
------------------
Clayman
"It's a hell of a thing, killin'
a man. You take away all he's got, and all he's ever gonna
have." - William Munny, Unforgiven
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Vesper
Member
Posts: 34
From: Colorado
Registered: NOV 2000
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posted 11-29-2000 12:23 AM
Oh wow, now I don't
feel so inadaquate! By including these other modes I can
feel like I might belong.
I just got my first Max Loot Saturday playing Death
of Garrett.
Please be sure to add more details
details:
Speed sounds fun!, but is it played
on Normal only to get the quickest time? Do you just get
the loot or do you get all the objectives done also to get
the mission complete screen?
Is Max Loot on any level, normal,
hard, or expert?
Will other modes created in the
future be able to be added to the archive? Possibly by a
vote or something?
Thanks......Vesper.... destroy
this message after it's usefullness is over.
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GMan
Member
Posts: 1356
From: Massachusetts
Registered: FEB 2000
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posted 11-29-2000 10:32 AM
OK, Clayman, would
you like to use your wit to include brief sketches of wacky
modes? Mad Psycho, Speed, and whatever else comes to mind.
Max loot is one that's simple, but it's one of the more serious
modes. I'll leave it to you.
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screech
Member
Posts: 3623
From: Menlo Park Ca USA
Registered: NOV 1999
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posted 11-29-2000 11:32 AM
Macheavelli Mode:
Similar to Master Thief except
you cannot save during level, except at very begining.
It is preferrable to ghost and
to KO without being detected. No direct killing of anything
allowed. Non Humanoid AI can be lured to duke it out with
humanoid and vis a versa.
No damage to self. Max loot not
necessary.
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Sneak
Ghoster extraordinaire
Posts: quite a few
From: Austin, Texas
Registered: DEC 1999
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Appended by Peter
Smith 8-15-2002 7:30 PM
Supreme Ghost
Completely Unseen and Unheard
Premise:
This Thief
is the absolute best there is. He is faceless, he could be anyone. No one
has ever gotten a fingerprint, a footprint, not even a whiff of him. Even
the Keepers are oblivious to him. He carries out his work with meticulous
detail, leaves no evidence at all that he was there. He has quite a large
self image but cares nothing about gaining a reputation. In fact, he wants
to remain anonymous. But at the same time, he enters a mission with a heightened
sense of paranoia. Nothing can go wrong, he will settle for no error or
slip ups in his execution of the job. He is a Paranoid Perfectionist while
working, nothing out of place or amiss when he is finished. Not even the
Allusion of a Thought in anyones mind that he was there. He is also discriminating,
some missions he might not take because he might leave a trail, clue or hint
of something. People are wondering how these things happen or get stolen
and who is doing it and how. But no one knows anything or has a clue.
Supreme Ghost Rules:
1. Expert Skill: or the highest skill level available in the mission.
2. Complete all objectives.
3. No Damage Given or Taken: No falls or incidental damage from lava,
loss of health from being underwater too long, etc.
4. No Alerts of any kind from any AI or Device: No first alerts, no
comments at all from AI. A single chirp from a Watcher, “Musta Been Rats…”,
zombies groaning, etc are a bust. All AI and devices must remain in their
normal state and not react to anything you do or initiate in the game. AI
walking around and muttering to themselves or having a conversation with
another AI are fine.
5. Inventory and Weapons: You can not purchase weapons and inventory
items from the store at loadout. This thief doesn’t even go to the store
to chance being seen and identified purchasing said items. Use nothing that
would leave a trace or remnant of evidence. No Potions can be used at all.
Rope Arrows and Scouting Orbs can be used but they must be retrieved.
6. No Dousing of Torches and No Moss Arrow Use is Allowed: Turning off
electric lights, snuffing candles, or removing any light source including
Mushrooms is also Not Allowed.
7. Put Everything Back: Doors closed and relocked if they are relockable,
chests and gates closed if closable; keys returned, books/scrolls/letters
returned to their original place. If items are picked off a patrolling AI,
drop them back on the original patrol route or at their feet if they are
a stationary AI. If the item was acquired from a niche or other similar place
you can’t get it back into, drop the item on the floor below it or the
nearest logical place. You cannot stack boxes to gain access to an area
when your stack is on the patrol path of an AI. If it can be done in a
shadowed area off a patrol path or even in direct light where no one is
patrolling, that is fine. But all boxes used must be put back in their original
location.
8. No Turning off of Watchers, or other Security Systems.
9. No Triggering of Traps that cause Alerts or leave evidence of a Thief’s
passage.
10. No Property Damage of any kind: No Door Bashing, Banner Slashing,
Crate/Barrel Breaking, Blowing up Mechs or Watchers. Lockpicking that creates
infintessimal degradation of the lock mechanism is OK.
11. No Exploitation of the Dark Engine: No Nudging, Banner Transmigration,
Hooking of AI with boxes, Barrel Polka Dancing or anything that takes advantage
of quirks in the Thief Dark Engine for gameplay advantage.
12. No knockouts or killings of any kind allowed: whether by blackjack,
gas arrows, Hammers, Maces, or any weapons or items at all, whether they
show up in the stats or not. No induced melees.
13. Keep a Clean Inventory: Don’t pick up what you don’t need and return
what is not usable.
14. Objectives Prevail over the Rules: If a game Objective calls for
you to do something that goes against the rules, the Objectives prevail
as long as you can do it with no alerts and in keeping with the other above
rules. Situations such as these must be reported in the mission write-up.
15. Perfect Supreme Ghost: is defined as completion of the mission by
the above rules and also getting all available loot in the mission.
16. Have Fun: and don’t take your frustrations out on this Mode’s creators,
you aren’t going to win every time! In Fact, we bet you will win less.
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