Musopticon?

I love the Thief soundtrack. It gives shivers and oozes ambience. Where was there heartstopping crawling parts in SS2? In med/sci with the pounding techno beat? Hahhah, now that you look at those two sentences, you can easily see where my fan loyalties lie. I thought the indrustial rock worked superbly in the Thief intros and was disappointed when Thief 3 didn't have it. Anyway, SS2's soundtrack harped on me constantly. I turned it off when playing the second time, since I always got into a killing frenzy with the looping actions tracks. Which wasn't a bad thing considering the whole ship was hostile, but not my idea of ambience. I remember one piece in the Rec deck in SS2, I think it was the Garden, where I was on my toes because the track was so chilling, but apart from that the game left me cold. About this new guy, well I liked Bioshock's delivery, but I have no doubt that it was Brosius that seasoned the game with those quirky bits like broken jukebox jazz pieces and crass commercial notes that blared on you. I loved those. I hope the new guy, I have to dig up his name(Can you?), keeps going solidly. Edit: Also, I edit way too much. Good night for now.

My SS2 soundtrack credits him for Engineering mp3 and two other tracks. Also, I didn't know he did the sound for Freedom Force. Not that I've played it. Or Tribes Vengeance outside the demo. I'll take what I said about he only making ambient back. I just didn't know. (Jadda jadda section) Where was there music in Thief:DS anyway? I remember a piano overture in the ambient track of Overlook Mansion and some creepy horns in the Cradle, but other than that... As for the music not succeeding in delivery, I thought there was a sense of wonder, crisscrossed with a feeling of claustrophobia in the sound, a near constant feeling of ocean over you. But yeah, it did fail at parts, like Arcadia and Wharves where I didn't even feel I was underwater. As a counterpoint, Brosius, while near genius, does have his lapses as well. Like for example the dock section of Deadly Shadows where I didn't know whether to be scared or just annoyed, or the completely lack of consistent themes in that game, though that could be blamed on the design being patchy from the start. Goddamn it feels odd finding stuff to critic from your favorite games.

Brosius doesn't make music, he makes ambient scapes. Very good ones, but so far his work has been nearly completely without drama. I can remember about one section in one game that tried to appear tragic simply with the use of sound, but otherwise his work is mostly about making the world feel alive, adding a nigh-unperceptile layer to the audiovisual experience. All the action pieces in SS2 were made by another artist and in Bioshock Eric Brosius only mastered the ambient tracks. Anyone can draw conclusions from that about where the guys strength lies, even if they've never played for example Thief or System Shock. There were parts in Bioshock that needed those violin sections, the bombast when you arrived to Rapture, the boss tracks, everything that was supposed to jump on you and take control of you subconsciously, give an end to the suspense. Imagine the Rapture introduction without the harrowing violin and instead you hear a distant thoom of engines or another machine beat. I'm not saying that it couldn't have worked, just that Bioshock would have been a different experience with only him doing soundscapes.

Man, tennis is even wimpier. Trust me, I've done both. Though it's not like innebandy needs skill, Finns just know no moderation when something like villainy between friends over pride is concerned. The matches always get insane.

You're so off.

Yeah, me as well. I have to run the trip through with a distance meter, once I acquire one. I estimate that it's more like 6 kilometres than that outrageous amount. It's about plausible for me in half an hour, since after a half an hour of straight running I start to lose speed rather than keep a pace.

Yeah, I remember that. It was supposed to be sort of a mix of noir and gangsta. Personally, it wasn't exactly what I was looking for, but with a team that strong, minus Witchboy, they could have made miracles from anything, heh heh.

Agreed, he wouldn't have fit.

Is this a good point to say that I've never actually playd Sands of Time outside the demo area? Both sequels had you saving at the fountains, so of course I only remembered that, having finished them.

In reference to recent trends at Gamefaqs boards.

NoMeansNo - The machine

That is really very good, I love how they have mixed dread and beauty in there. I remember a document a while ago that was about the attack on Copenhagen from a peasants point of view. It really felt like Dresden of it's time.

Discard troops in a city to get them as taxable citizens, instead of discarding them outside and suffering from their banditry. Or better yet, build some ships and throw the troops away into a war somewhere, preferably far away so the enemy won't benefit from your decrease in troops, reaping profits from that and loosing a lot of hungry mouths on the side. Enemy also loses citizens, while you get war prisoners and maybe help your allies, if the enemy of your choice is currently overpowering them. While the RTW-based strategy map model may seems primitive when compared to for example Crusader Kings or Civilization, distractions, feints, punitive raids and things that logically would work in medieval European war theathre, generally have some counterpart in this game. Like spreading disease with ill agents or forcing an enemy to submissions by letting your armies rob the countryside(place a military unit in an enemy square and the ground starts to become black and cracked under it, indicating the army "living off the land". If it's a big army, this also eats on the enemy income. There's lot of these, finer things that a lot of MTW 1 purists acutely ignore, but are obvious merits to the gameplay.

Would you kindly remove that plank, I can't get in.

It doesn't matter if Garrett always starts reclutantly, so far he's been saving the City from madmen every time. I thought that fanmissions spotlighted a different, yet true to Thief scenarios, like dealing with crime lords and the like and had zounds more potential. Though it's not like I feel insulted even if the plot does end up with saving the world, the twists that led there are usually worth it. As for acrobatics, stealth doesn't cancel it out or vice versa. When was Splinter Cell about acrobatics anyway? I can count quite a few of times when I felt like I was gimped because Garrett couldn't climb a tree or grab a ledge higher than his head. Thief wasn't about being limited, but about survival. Of course I didn't notice this stuff back in 99, but after a smathering of stealth games, and a million fan misisons, it's age sure does show. Making Garrett(or whatever the main character will be) not able to traverse obstacles that some old coot with a beer gut does simply because it's traditional feels like the old "only good crpg is a top down 2d one"-brainfart. Edit: I'd kill for good Kain game. One that doesn't feature glowing superjump-nodes or honour guards with g-strings. A blood fest in the good old Nosgoth is something I've been wanting for a while. It's not like LoK:Defiance was bad, it just tried too much being a combat game and failed to deliver on other aspects. That said, an action game with the antihero vampire lord in full swing would be all kinds of awesome.

There was some talk about innerbandy in here, and I love that sport. It's killer fast and taxes you like nothing else. Am anxious.

I was actually going to refer to Redguard, but think it is a pretty old title, old enough to not really measure Beth's devs right now. That said, it was pretty decent, felt a bit like Return to Krondor(a very solid title) and swashbuckling is always a welcome addition to any game. Anyway, I think Beth has it. As long as they are acutely aware that Thief awarded players who sought to refrain from open combat. It was possible to remain in constant stealth in Oblivion and most quests that were about burglary stuff didn't make you kill anyone or use force. I'm content so far. Of course, I know of this certain lot of players who are probably going to refer to the limited stealth gameplay in Beth's previous games and complain how this of course means that their Thief game will have the same problems. Edit: Modern take? Well, SS2 and Bioshock, Thief and...? Anyone can make a case that Bioshock is bastardization of SS2, but it doesn't mean that the game can't stand on it's own while still remaining "true" to it's predecessors. There are some things I could live without in previous Thiefs, particularly the inane world-saving plots and limited acrobatics(Sam Fisher anyone?). Replacing those with something else wouldn't make it any less a Thief game. I can always play the nth fanmission with Garrett killing some resurrected arch bastard from eating everyone's souls(I lost count after playing about 100 Thief 1 fms and 400 Thief 2 ones) if I have a need for "pure" Thievery. One thing though, I hope they stay the heck away from the fanbase, particularly TTLG. I mean, I love the place, but Fallout 3 has some things that were obviously forced by fan pressure, like the incredibly stupid Morrowind hit perception and the "must have" super mutants that look nothing like the earlier ones. It's like Beth is torn between trying to do their own game and listening to constant fan bickering. Edit2: Heh, why do I torment myself? It's not like Eidos will sell the rights. No, they'll have Crystal Dynamics, their only moneymaker and cabable team make it. I don't know, LoK: Defiance wasn't exactly stellar.

I've been going solidly 8 kilometres in about 30 minutes, but college sort of killed it, this is the first week since May that I haven't run at least twice.

Man, now I really want to play. I wish my rig could take this beast.

To be totally blunt, I actually have some hope for a good Beth Thief game. Dark Brotherhood quests and the Thief Guild ones were good, they have Emil, Shivering Isles was rather good at dancing on the morale grey ground and further hope arises from the fact that it's not an rpg, so even though their character interaction could be vastly better, that's not what Thief is about. Brutally honest, I'm sick and tired of slowly ascending to the humus of puritanism seeping through the fanbase, where reformists are shunned and clinging on to vain hope that the Dark Mod may eventually produce something decent. Thief deserves a modern take, one that is done by people that love it and want to share their glimpses into the myriad gormenghastic milieu of Dark Project. The Garrett storyline is done and finished, they can't mess it up because it stands on its own and Thief for me has always been about the graft-ridden and magic-seeped steampunk-inferno world of City and about the grandiose heists, not whether Garrett should carry a one foot or 5 inch metal shard, zombies be fast or not or if the UI elements are too large(OH LAWD). In short, I want to again see the player stand under a guttering street lamp, place a shaft on the arrow holster, briefly taking in the klaxon and cricket, the masonworks and pavement's slow crack under ivy, and with nothing but his wits and a smathering of gear go on to grin at the odds facing him. Hell, it's about time.

IWD 2 is probably my favorite IE game. Don't get me wrong, I adore the bickering of your companions and the feel of big civilization in BG 2 and the vast coastal forests full of hostile denizens('though to a lesser extent, ****ing Xvarts) in BG, but IWD 2 took the rules by the balls and showed how to make a D&D game. It also helps when you are not the chosen one, but a humble(or arrogant bastard!) merc. The war-torn north, the need to use your head, the martial setting that slowly becomes more fantastic but never loses the grit of the first landing in Targos and the sublime art and audio all contribute to the greatest hack ever done. I might get hung and quartered by this, but I sincerely hope that the upcoming action rpg(uh-huh) The Witcher has at least an inkling of the "people die, suck it up"-bleakness, since right now it's the only fantasy product in the medium that's actually trying something else than "lol lets add moar elfs!!1". Whether it succumbs to the inane "attitudez"-attempt to garner more buyers like for example PoP:Warrior Within or retains enough war glory and rationality to remain a solid thematic bunch, we'll see, but I'm reasonably hopeful. Afterall, the concepts it brings have been fantasy novel flavor ever since Grey Company and Serpent War, just not spotlighted so ardently in this entertainment medium. My point is, spiritual succession does not need to be implied, it does not need to be read from the game box, to be there and exist in a continuum with other similar works. Take an handful of Gothic, throw in a nip of Icewind leaves and season with NWN's plague quarantines and great things may be born.

Cool, thanks Ros.

I always knew you held special interest for gnomes, but goddamn man...

Ashes and dust! WE PWN FOR TERRA! Cool regiment, though my 37th Arkwrights could totally split your butts. I mean, were they readier than planning stages. I'm curious, why so many ratlings, but so few sentinels? Though maybe I'm too much of a trackhead.