[80] Its global sales reached 500,000 copies by May 2000, making it Looking Glass Studios' most commercially successful game, according to the Boston Globe. He later performed contract work for the company, and assisted in writing features like hardware support. [39][40], After Garrett escapes the mansion,[41] he seeks help from the Order of the Hammer. [50] The initial concept was to make an action role-playing game and Levine was given the job of designing the game's world and story. [9] Believing that "nothing augments the fear associated with boundaries like forcing the player to violate them of their own free will", Smith said of the mission: "Eventually [you force] yourself to do practically every scary thing you noticed the potential to do in the whole level". Games. Players can use a variety of arrows with their bow, each varying in properties; for example, "water arrows" can be used to douse torches and any other source of fire as well as clean up blood stains, "rope arrows" can attach a climbable rope to wooden surfaces, "moss arrows" can cover an area with moss that muffles footsteps and "fire arrows" can relight torches and do considerable damage to NPCs. [73][74][76] However, Andrew Sanchez of Maximum PC praised the game's graphics and noted that the Dark Engine went "feature-for-feature with the LithTech, Quake, and Unreal engines". [35] Viktoria says that The Eye requires a flesh eye to function; she binds Garrett with vines and removes his right eye. He must fight his way to uncover a bitter truth. [56][57] Artist Dan Thron said: "For a good long time, we had no idea what the game was about, until somebody stumbled upon the whole thief game play where you're not just running out trying to chop people up. Stealth and cunning are your tools. [51] Multiplayer support was planned, including the theftmatch mode where small teams of thieves compete under time pressure to steal the greatest value of swag from the territory of wealthy NPC's and their guard. [37] Later, Garrett has acquired a mechanical replacement for his lost eye. Thief: The Dark Project was released by Looking Glass Studios in late 1998 as a massive departure from previous first person perspective games. [15] During levels, the player may learn about the setting by finding notes and overhearing conversations;[6][16] it has been noted that the player participates in the revelation of Thief's setting. It is set in a medieval steampunk metropolis called the City. [68] Next Generation noted that while "sneaking can get repetitive", Thief is "still a fun game to play" and "a worthy addition to the genre. [55], In early 1997, Dark Camelot's name was tentatively changed to The Dark Project and its design altered to focus on thievery and stealth. The player will eventually have to emerge from the safe zone [...] and embrace risk until another safe boundary can be found". To assist them in remaining hidden, a special meter on the heads-up display (HUD), in the form of a gem, helps to indicates the player's visibility to NPCs; the brighter it is, the more easily they can be visually detected, thus sticking to dark, shady spots where the gem dims, ensures the player is hidden, though NPCs can still find them if they get too close in front of them. Looking Glass Studios developed Thief II: The Metal Age, which received positive reviews when released in March 2000. [83] Marc Laidlaw, writer and designer on Half-Life, said that "Thief is the single most terrifying, immersive, and rewarding game I have played and the one single-player game I continue to replay. Forget what you think you know about first-person action games, because Looking Glass's Thief stands the entire genre on its head. [48] For the game's original designer and writer Ken Levine, credited by The Telegraph as "a key figure in the creation" of Thief,[49] inspirations came from two of his favourite games, Castle Wolfenstein and Diablo. [2] Levels are largely unscripted[3] and maze-like, and allow for emergent gameplay; while non-player characters (NPCs) may either remain stationary or walk about on a patrol route, players have the freedom to choose how to get around them and the obstacles in a level's environments in order to complete specific tasks, such as getting through a locked door. The system also managed source data, the game's tangible content such as textures, maps, models and sounds. It started out fine, but it got really dull and annoying when I reached the zombie-infested parts of the game which include levels like Down in the Bonehoard and The Haunted Cathedral. "[12] GameSpot editor Greg Kasavin argued that, while Metal Gear Solid, Tenchu: Stealth Assassins and Thief all defined the stealth action genre, it was Thief that displayed "the purest depiction of what it might be like to slip from shadow to shadow" and "largely remains an unsurpassed achievement in gaming. Leonard said this idea challenged the standard first-person shooter concept: "It is a game style that many observers were concerned might not appeal to players [...] and even those intimately involved with the game had doubts at times. [95], "Building an AI Sensory System: Examining the Design of, "Ghouls, Ghosts, and Long-Legged Beasts: A Modern History of Horror Games Part II", "The memories of our future: Steampunk in gaming", "How Thief Helped Pioneer the New Weird Genre", "GAMBIT: Updates: Looking Glass Studios Interview Series – Audio Podcast 5 – Ken Levine", Vault Network News: Week of February 7, 1999, "Looking Glass Studios – Thief: The Dark Project (Project Diary)", "A Sampling of First-Person Titles Worth Taking a Shot At", "GDC 2009: Fallout 3 lead opens game design vault", "Thief: tense narrative through level design and mechanics", "Videogame Hall Of Fame: Thief: The Dark Project", "Retrospective: Thief The Dark Project Article", "Best Game Ever: Thief: The Dark Project is the Only Way to Stealth", "The Dark Mod – Stealth Gaming in a Gothic Steampunk World", "Praise The Builder: The Dark Mod Is Standalone", "Sharper Shadows: Thief Gold HD Mod Released", Ultima Underworld II: Labyrinth of Worlds, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Thief:_The_Dark_Project&oldid=1017448303, Video games developed in the United States, Articles using Infobox video game using locally defined parameters, Articles using Wikidata infoboxes with locally defined images, Articles using Video game reviews template in single platform mode, Official website different in Wikidata and Wikipedia, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 12 April 2021, at 20:25. 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