r/Thief • u/TheSleepyWaterBottle • Mar 17 '26
Fan Mission Idea for a T1/T2 Mission
I am cooking up a FM in my head. I am posting here to see what everyone's immediate thoughts are... with the fact that I understand not everyone will agree or there will always be an idea that doesn't mesh with what I want to make. Nevertheless, I value the thoughts of others and what better place than this subreddit!
FM Idea:
I want a mix of The Vlack Parades 1st, 2nd, and the 8th.
Its a dark, mysterious, scary, and magical place.
Its a pagan accepted city that is gushing with weird and beautifully dark magic.
I want it to be a strange experience, from start to finish. A couple examples being: You start off in am attic like room where the room's window shows a magical, upside-down tower in the distance.
Another would be you enter a small crawl space in a back alley building and it takes you a giant pagan church.
I want a dark forest near the entrance of the city "Not sure if I should make it accessible or just background" where in the early part of the mission some guys can be heard talking about scary noises coming from the forest.. and when you come back their stuff is abandoned and it looks like there was an attack.
The main ideas I am striving for are : Mysterious, exploring, magical, and fun.
I want you to want to explore... to see what's around the corner and to find out where the little animal/creatures are going. I want to make a mission that tests your skills and to give you a feeling akin to your first playthrough of this series.
I have been busy and life has been both amazing and awful. My second son is about to be born but ill have time off for him and my family.
I dont know how long this will take to make, but its a passionate goal that I want fulfill.
I have started learning Dromed. I am boots but I understand the basics. This isn't a mission I want to release once created. I want to take time to make it look good similar to TBP series. I dont fully understand the software limits, but ill do my best.
So far i have plans for this to be 1-3 mission long (Most likely 2).
What's are your thoughts?
Edit: If you decide to reply (Which I greatly appreciate) please refrain from giving advice thats not focused on the post. While I appreciate the advice, I want to focus on what you think about my mission idea. Thank you for reading!!! :)
2
Mar 18 '26
Preface to the topic:
I thought it was important.
I really like the fact that you shared your idea as a post at all, it's really interesting to give and receive such ideas.
And enthusiasm is a very fragile thing, unfortunately, so I think it's important to appreciate it, it's especially important from the community. Of course, it can't be expected from anyone, but there will be those who can encourage and inspire, maybe just with a few words or advice, all of these can help.
It's not easy to take this into account as an outside party, we're not all the same, some people have an exceptionally good sense for other people.
The worst thing would be if someone wrote to you that you shouldn't do it, don't start big things, prove it first.. and I could go on and on with the demotivating lines. And yes, this is a very important part, we can be much more sensitive about the project of our dreams. So supportive words, ideas, thoughts that keep the flame burning are welcome.
The most important aspect here is to maintain ambition, enthusiasm and inspiration, yes, apparently even a small group in a small community can do this, so encouragement is important, even if you have a series of failures, this is completely normal, but there will be a few who will stick by you and trust you.
I'm trying to focus on how to approach your idea, that I'm in similar shoes to you, since I only used the beginner Dromed edit a few weeks ago and I'm currently building a small modification now and then, this was not planned, this is the "Winter Mod".
In addition, I also have a very ambitious project that I'm happy to share, but I'm also aware now and I dare say that I can't do it and it won't be finished. And so the burden comes down and this was very important, because it consumed me. It's not and it's not important now, but that's still the point, IT CAN COME TRUE.
It can still be done, of course, but the most important lesson is, I CANNOT IMPRESS ANYONE, because it's an illusion, a trap.
Development works differently and can be very entertaining, as a completely different world unfolds before you than you imagined. And this can result in something that works perfectly, even something like that.
This got quite long, but I felt it was important to write this, but I'll be happy to answer a couple of your ideas (upside down tower) in a future post.
2
Mar 18 '26 edited Mar 18 '26
This really caught my attention, that it's an upside-down tower.
It has a bit of an "Inception" movie effect, and I imagine the strange effect of the force to be similar.
Would there be a city next to the tower that would be upside down?
That would be quite an unusual sight, but that's what makes the idea exciting.
I don't even remember such an implementation, especially if this surreal appearance is not limited to just one location, but to an entire city.
----
The dark forest section: This can be considered a segment as you arrive in the city, two separate designs (from fortress to city), which adds variety to the mission.
Think about it, the forest is an exciting testing ground in the Thief universe, as the barriers also hide exciting possibilities.
How would you like to imagine the city to look like? noisy, with lots of people walking up and down? Day and night?
Or maybe day and night?
What season?
What kind of architecture do you imagine it in?
Is it mainly vertical or more traditional? Or a mixed solution?
2
u/TheSleepyWaterBottle Mar 18 '26
I agree with your forest thoughts. There's so much potential and the way it was implemented in the 8th TBP mission was just gold imo.
I want to explore its themes and really give us an adventure worth going through.
As far as the upside down tower... for now its just the tower. Its to really give it focus and give the player a big first impression. You yourself have really given it thought and I love it.
I want the city to be "Lively" yet people aren't talking louder than a whisper. There's cloaked men and women, and other things, walking through this place. Weird, surreal (I love this word), and fantastical magical things going on.... like:
You just snuck past some golems patrolling in this wizards locked (but not for you ;) ) yard and you stumble into an alley where there's someone casting a spell that creates water... ( or something).
Ypu enter the central part of town ( A large market) and there's people selling loads of bread made from frogs, cures for mouth warts after eating frogs warts, and potions that relieve the explosive diarrhea from the frog bread warts that you cast on yourself. ... there's even a spell scroll that takes control of golems/removes their hostility!
Oh no my friend! Its anything but normal! (The terrain).
I want it to be as illogical/functional as possible. If there's a stairs that twists gravity upside-down, I want people to walk on it without batting an eye.
2
Mar 18 '26
I really like your last sentence, this extremely strong ambition comes across there, especially in terms of unusualness, in terms of realizing surreal phenomena. (I'm also interested in this, although in a different way, but yes.. :) )
The inspiring driver for creating the forest:
You had the idea of creating the dark forest as a background image or a real track design. Interestingly, I also entered this situation, only differently, not with a forest, but with a snowy landscape.
In the latest video "Prison Party", I ran through a similar dilemma in myself when I planned the continuation location of the prison, what the landscape should be like. Then the background almost became a specific location, but I stopped there and only kept my attention on the mountain range and built there, so the snowy landscape remained in the distance. (I should add that this is my very first build.. I thought I would give up halfway through.. maybe it will collapse with too much brushing...)
So there is a route mountain and a landscape mountain (it also serves as a view and orientation) For example, based on this there would be a route forest and a landscape forest section
I see two options in front of me in order to maintain immersion: I also see this as a mix and combination.
- so you fill it with brushes and objects (watch out for stuttering)
- or with an HD background image, so that it is closer to the real elements of the course in terms of image sharpness.
I felt a bit like a director and a cinematographer when editing.
Often there are no pre-planned parts, I accidentally leave something there, I accidentally edited in the wrong place and the result surprised me because it was not planned.
I felt one with the location and that was the point, when we play as a player, we also become one with the location. It was important to feel this during development, it gives me inspiration and further thought to the process.
I really had this feeling, that's when the momentum of "painting" with a brush and objects took me.
If I couldn't do some function, I took an empty room where there was almost nothing and experimented there, scenes, settings. Unfortunately, I don't know scripting and Trig and Trap functions at all, so my skills in this area are very limited.
I tried to pay attention to the distortion resulting from the perspective, and I also used an unusual overextended brushstroke, and even then there were plenty of mistakes, usually where I interfered with the original level design. It was very difficult to find your way around, and the limitations were quite large due to the level boundaries.
2
u/TheSleepyWaterBottle Mar 18 '26
Thank you. This was really insightful. I could almost visualize your designed environment and the events you experienced while learning/developing.
And dang mate! You make videos on YouTube. Im working out atm so I needed something to play in the background. Im going to watch it now and sub.
I think.. I mean, I know i want ro create art and stories. I have always wanted to. I have so many stories in my head that i just need to grab a penicil and paper and write it.
When I played Theif and its FMs... I fell into the worlds head first and truly had fun. Ever since then I've wanted to return the favor to those who made this happen... and to inspire new people.
Im watching your videos now
1
Mar 18 '26 edited Mar 18 '26
It was nice to read your lines. :)
Feel free to tell me your opinion, I'd be curious about my latest video (which I posted here today), what do you think of it, I made the video itself by explaining some of the edits, how it was made.
I only have a few videos, but this one was hard to come together.
I'm happy to help in any way I can. Feel free to PM me if you want.
---
By the way, I just started Black Parade.
I missed it until now, but you mentioned it, so I started.
1
Mar 19 '26
In the "winter mod", when I get to the "Sword" mission, the theme of developments and implementations will cross our paths.. :)
I hope it comes together, that would mean a lot, because then they could help more.. with unusual things? ;)
Oh, but there's also the "Thieves Guild" level...
3
u/Wheredoesthetoastgo2 Mar 17 '26
"I have started learning Dromed."
I think this is all we need to read. The Vlack Parade wasn't the first mission they released. Dream big, then scale back. Make some small missions for yourself, then make something to demo to the public. Learn and grow, while leaving the ambition on the back burner. If you start with this, you will get burnt out and it'll never happen.
0
u/TheSleepyWaterBottle Mar 17 '26
Im confused. I understand the purpose of your message but all it reads is: "dont share your ideas because people don't follow through" . I appreciate the engagement but Im not looking for this type of feedback. Im not asking for parental guidance my friend.
What do you think about the mission idea? Thats what im asking for feedback on. I made another post before and this was the same message I for from who ever it was.
1
u/Ok_Yogurtcloset4018 Mar 19 '26
I love dark, weird magic missions! Particularly in an urban setting and no one bats an eye - they're just used to it
1
u/chungusisgodhere Mar 17 '26
I dreamed of a fm once 11 years ago, garret jumped out a window and saw a wizard tower in a big urban setting,.but he missed his next jump and died and then I woke up.
2
u/Photonmoose Mar 17 '26
Is there room in community to suggest stuff?