Stupid Lockpicks

[ThiefFan]

Only just got Thief III after looking forward to it for ages and I have to say right off the bat that I'm a bit disappointed. The graphics aren't as sharp as I imagined them to be (okay, I just started, maybe it'll get better) but the freakin' lock picks. Who's idiotic idea was it to make the USER pick the lock???? Garret's the thief, not me. Is it really necessary to do this? Isn't there an automatice setting of some sort? I just spent 10 minutes on the training mission's lock and it's STILL not picked. I followed directions, on screen and the manual, and it takes freakin' forever! If this is an EASY lock, I can't wait to see how frustrating an advanced one is.

Bad, bad, bad decision...

Please tell me that Garret's "skills" increase and locks will get easier...

[theBlackman]

YOU ARE GARRETT. Nobody steers the cars automatically in race games, or aims and fires the weapons in UNREAL or DOOM.

YOU DO. So learn to pick a lock.

You want an easy game try Frogger.

With the keyboard use W S A D with the mouse, move around the lock symbol like the hands of a clock.

It's a cinch if you slow down and just do it.

[Mr. Perfect]

Yeah, use the W A S D keys for lock picking. It's takes considerably less time to find the weekpoint, and you don't have to worry about having the mouse held wrong. Late in the game you have to start using two keys at a time, for example W+D is upper right hand corner, S+D is lower right hand corner, etc. I think there is one lock that can't be picked that way, and needs the mouse.

[Peter Smith]

I never used those keys, and I never had any trouble, after I understood the system. I just moved the mouse manually around the circle until I found the angle that would make the lever wiggle the most. Then, I think, stretching it out radially at that same angle made the picking go faster. Anyway, I would say it took maybe 15 - 30 seconds max for the worst lock once I got the technique down.

[Ian Flaer]

Aso, look at Garrett's right hand as you make a circle with the mouse. when you hear the clicking and see the lock lever wiggle slow down and gently sweep that area of the circle, once Garrett's right hand moves up and the pick is nearly verticle you are in the sweet spot. you can either wait a few seconds for the tumbler to fall into place or you can left click to set it right away. all locks have their sweet spots at or near (or 1/2 way between) the 12, 3, 6,and 9 o'clock positions. in the beginning all sweet spots are exactly on one of 4 main points 12, 3, 6, and 9, and almost no locks use 6. personally, I love the new lock picking method, oh yeah and ignore the little HUD display it doesn't help, in fact I use a mod that got rid of it and I couldn't be happier about that.

[vdwind]

Hey, don't give up so easy. I've spent much more time on unlocking because this was the first time i'd played Thief. So this was a completely new thing to me. But after unlocking 10 locks I was doing it perfectly. At last stages of the game I was unlocking why someone is chasing after me, and I use just the mouse, moving it in circle and clicking continuously. When you are near the hotplace, the ring starts shaking and gets unlock
Just don't give up you are in the beginning, you are saying you gave up after 10 min, hehehehehehe, you don't have an idea what is ahead
And the graphics are not bad I think, the less thing is that I can't make them better myself, so I like them.
Ok, just enjoy the game

Vlado

[ThiefFan]

Wow, lots of responses. Thank you. I found the W,A,S,D thing on another thread and that DOES make things a heck of a lot easier. I was serious, though, when I said I'd spent ten minutes on the one lock. If they're going to make it that difficult, then they ought to tell you about the W,A,S,D keys in the manual. The mouse doesn't help much, especially since it looks like there are some 3-d effects that come into play.

Thanks again for the help. Much appreciated.

[theBlackman]

You think Garrett was an expert the first few times HE tried?

After a bit, you too will be a PRO.

[Ian Flaer]

If you're a fan of the original thief games there's a mod out there called the Minimalist Project and there's a set of high res textures by John P that both make the game a LOT better to look at and play. there are links to both here on these forums. the Minimalist Project has its own sticky thread but you'll probably need to search for JohnP's textures. well good luck and have fun. T:DS is a fun game if a bit buggy.

[vdwind]

You found bugs?!?!?!?!?! Where did you find them Ian?
The only thing that i noticed is that one small fireplace in the Inner Cradle has burned me though it wasn't lit up

the power in the Cradle still wasn't restored

but this was the punishment for my exploration . Maybe there are another moments in the game which I had passed. Maybe we have to start a new thread for these things, I think it's good for the people who haven't finished the game yet.

Vladimir

[Ian Flaer]

a bug?
ok how about this?

Hammerite guards (or any one else carrying a hammer) can't hit you if you croutch

this one annoys me more than anything else in the game, what a joke, those guys should scare the b-jabbers out of you, not make you chuckle.

yes there's more. mostly it has to do with the game not being optimized well but I find the above problem is truly unforgiveable.

ok I'll give you one more:

pagan shamans tend to kill their own friends if you alert them then disappear I've even seen a shaman turn on his buddy in the tunnels and kill him when I stayed visible

if you search these forums you'll find reports of bugs and quirks galore. mostly quirks but some genuine bugs too.

this game is loads of fun and has awesome potential but fails to meet the high level of play its precursors had in spades.

BTW, I got burned by that too. I'd never complain if that's all there was.

[Mythrander101]

This is the first real Thief game i've played (I'd only played the demo of the first game) and after experimenting with the first lock (which took like a half hour) i figured that the best way was (when using the mouse like i do) to just keep the pick on the little graphic in the lower right corner like the hands of a clock; and not to move them in the various 3d angles. keep it 2d.

Now i can pick degree 6 locks in less than 5-10 seconds. (I refer to stages as degrees, so when i say 'degree 6' locks, i mean a lock with 6 stages to pick. Don't ask why i do that, i just do.)

NOTE: After picking many locks you'll start to notice a pattern with certain degree locks. Example:

degree 3 locks are mostly either positions of 9-3-9 or 12-3-9.

Overall i think that the lockpicking system works very well and makes sense for you (the player as Garrett) to pick the locks. If you use the attack key while the pick is in the sweet spot, then it picks much faster.

Myth101

[roadbum]

I had a hard time at first, but once I got the hang of it I can do it pretty quick. The best way I can describe it, is to adjust your pick so that the "ring" your working on starts spinning fast, then you should see a gap open up, as soon as the gap moves to the right click your left mouse button, you'll hear a sharp "click", once this happens just move onto the next "ring" not so hard