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Thief Week - Storyline Feature
Chris Leyton
07/06/2004
As part of our “Thief Week” Ion Storm grant us the lowdown on the final chapter in the Thief trilogy…
With the eagerly awaited release of Thief: Deadly Shadows only days away, TVG has teamed up with Eidos and Ion Storm to bring you a whole ātaffingā load of information on the latest and last title in the acclaimed stealth genre.
Today itās the turn of Heather Kelley Designer Ion Storm, to discuss what goes into creating a believable city, the warring Pagan and Hammerite factions and the open-ended gameplay structure of Deadly Shadows.
Thief: Deadly Shadows ā“ Dev Feature Storyline
The Thief series has always stood apart for the depth of its unique mechano-medieval world. Once you step into Garrettās silent shoes, you begin to inhabit his world. Of course we wanted to bring back the familiar characters that made The Dark Project and The Metal Age such stylistically memorable and unique experiences, and work them meaningfully into this final episode in the trilogy. But Deadly Shadows is more than the continued annals of the Pagan and Hammerite factions. It is the Keepersā story, and so the narrative focus needed to remain with them. Our response to that challenge was to work the Hammers and Pagans more deeply into the gameplay, while keeping the over-arching narrative focused inside the previously-forbidden Keeper halls.
The deeper, even philosophical, subcurrents of this game series are what attracted me as a player and fan in the first place, so itās been incredibly fun to put those metaphors and signifiers into practice in the new game. A key task is to design the space to reflect the occupants ā“from the style of a patrol path, or a colorful line of dialog, to the layout of the architecture, or the hue of the fog. Everything you loved about the factions in the previous two Thief games; the language and dialog, the well-developed core philosophies and backstories, the look and feel, are all intact. And now you can choose which of them you favor, at any time, giving unique character to your experience. In Thief:DS, you are Garrett more than ever before.
We spent a lot of time in pre-production defining the factions new relationship to the City, and the rest of the project bringing that relationship to life in the missions and city sections. For instance, we decided that Pagans would be in the midst of renewed attempts to take over the City. So, their environments would be mostly outdoors, and open to the sky, but yet not secluded or distant from the City itself. The pagans would be regrouping right under the noses of the City Watch and the Hammers, and the environments we built had to show this infiltration. So pagan areas are built into the more natural or overgrown parts of the city, in the cracks, as it were. The challenge with that kind of game space is making it look and sound like you really are in the middle of everything, while making sure your movement/progress is focused on the area relevant to the mission. So, building the geometry for the pagan areas was a particular challenge ā“ how do you build an open-skied environment, that can be wallclimbed, but which occludes correctly, and doesnāt let the player wallclimb out of the world? Our answer combined a lot of different partial solutions. We used surfaces that couldnāt be climbed, trimmed the walls with physically obstructing static meshes that fit into the world theme, and in some cases placed invisible barriers to physically support the visual blockade.
As a team of Thief veterans and fans, we worked hard to make sure every tiny aspect of the game fit into the seriesā ongoing themes. The fictional detail reaches into every aspect of the game world. For instance, themed loot makes your extra sneaking and searching worthwhile. Every mission has pricey items that appear in that place only, valuable goods that tie into the backstory of that location, and of the characters that inhabit it. In one particular Hammer mission, for instance, you can steal a core element of their valuable machinery ā“ a diamond gear. Youāll have plenty of challenge finding it, since the entire mission takes place inside a giant machine ā“ the Clocktower.
Pagan lights are another example of how fiction, factions, and gameplay came together and were refined over the course of the project. Originally, Pagan areas had wall torches identical to the Hammers. But these didnāt fit into the dark-nature feel of pagan spaces, and didnāt offer any new or different challenge. The next variation of pagan light was something like a tiki torch; a freestanding flame on a gnarled post. It was more primitive looking artistically, but still based on standard fire. The pagans needed something even more in keeping with their natural magic, something to offer additional challenge to the pagan spaces, which are floored with quieter surfaces than typical civilian or Hammer sites. So we designed a new type of special light source for pagans, the will oā wisps ā“ glowing green balls of light that move around the pagan landscape, changing the safety of the landscape as they pass. This solution embodies the pagan visual style, harkens back to the fire elementals of T1, and adds that extra dose of player challenge and visual drama to the Pagan environments.
A core design goal for the game was to enable the player to make meaningful personal gameplay choices within the gameās defined story arc. By allowing your style of play and choice of alliances to influence the way the game reacts to you, we support your way to play the game. From this flexibility and responsiveness comes the depth and uniqueness of your game experience. For instance, if you are crossing Hammer territory and steal a golden goblet from the reliquary, itās going to have an effect on their attitude, and their willingness to help you out in a jam. When you push them over the edge with your misdeeds, they arenāt going to treat you as a guest any longer. You may still need to get through their territory to reach your destination, but you will have to adapt your play style both to the physical space, and to your relationship to its inhabitants.
Garrett is our anti-hero, the ideal person through whom to explore and manipulate the City, precisely because he operates outside of the factions, but with an insiderās access to the secrets of both. As an independent agent, you have your choice of sides to take. Will you help the Hammers bring glory to the Master Builder, or sow the seeds of Pagan destruction for the Trickster? Or perhaps do your share of both, maintaining an uneasy and ever-shifting balance, like the Keepers who raised you? The choices you make will determine how the Cityās inhabitants react to your presence, and ultimately shape your experience and powers as a thief.
As Iāve mentioned, Thief: Deadly Shadows takes Garrett to the deepest Hammer enclaves and the most secluded Pagan installations. But just as importantly, youāll see more closely the inner workings of the Keepers you left long ago, but who have not, on the other hand, left you. Garrettās perch is an ideal vantage point from which to examine the city as a whole, the larger and more important role you must play, and even the philosophical questions the City has always raised.
The Keepers are a near-invisible cult using their access to ancient knowledge, keeping to the shadows, keeping their secrets, and through their detachment, keeping the City in balance. Or are they? IN Thief:DS, youāll witness the political struggles unfolding behind closed Keeper doors. And not surprisingly, whether you like it or not, a lot of those struggles are about you.
Enter a Keeper fortress and youāll find exactly what youād expect ā“ books. Every Keeper enclave, no matter what purpose, serves as a library and place of study, for the Glyphs and their messages are all-important. According to their tenets, the role of the Keepers is to record and interpret the prophesies, not to intervene in their fulfillment. But now weāll see whether such detachment has served them well, or if it is even possible at all. In the larger sense, this third game installment asks us as humans: Is it possible and desirable to know everything? Can such a complete knowledge save us from misfortune? Keepers repeatedly triumph the importance of balance, but do they really have it? Thief: Deadly Shadows returns to Garrettās origins with the Keepers and provides a more complete picture of their philosophy and motivations.
Whether this is your third visit to the City or your first, enjoy your stay. Get to know the locals. And be sure to take home some souvenirs.
TVG will be back tomorrow with more information on the development of Thief: Deadly Shadows along with the chance of picking up yourself a free copy.
