Lane Powell commented a topic about The Whistling of the Gears,
Stylistically impressive, yet overdesigned.:
FYI, there is an update of the mission in the works that addresses the difficulty of certain objectives. In the TTLG thread, Firemage indicated he'd work on it more once The Black Parade is released., Sept. 23, 2021, 9:19 p.m.

Lane Powell commented a topic about Augustine's Revenge,
Didn't age well:
When I first tried this mission, I actually put it aside because I also thought it was sore on the eyes. But I picked it up again later and began to see its merits.

There are still aspects I would criticize (looking at my old review, there are even one or two things I left out), but the mission's gameplay is usually better than its looks, and there are a lot of different creative areas crammed into the mission to make it feel alive, while being unified enough to avoid feeling arbitrary. (A..., Sept. 5, 2021, 7:51 p.m.

Lane Powell created a new topic about The Burning Bedlam,
Solid horror mission:
The Burning Bedlam takes Garrett back to the haunted Sealed Quarter, this time into the ruins of an abandoned Hammerite complex containing an "asylum"—that is, prison and torture chamber—from which Garrett must retrieve, of all things, a body. If that wasn't promising enough, the way in is through a complex of haunted mines and sewers.

This is one of those missions that's essentially linear-with-backtracking (once you find a needed key, etc.), and there's really only one goal aside from an..., May 26, 2021, 3:06 a.m.

Lane Powell created a new topic about The Den,
Gaetane's first masterpiece:
The Black Frog was one of the first series of FMs I played back when I was getting into Thief. It's a rightly famous series of maps, but I didn't get around to Gaetane's earlier series of missions, to which The Black Frog is technically a sequel. While I don't think it matters much if you play the L'Arsene series before The Black Frog, you must play the previous L'Arsene missions before you approach The Den, otherwise Garrett's... predicament won't make sense. All I'll say about those mission..., May 26, 2021, 2:04 a.m.

Lane Powell commented a topic about Bones: Episode 1: the Old Quarter,
Only 1 Bone here:
I replayed this mission and decided to raise my rating a bit. I could name some criticisms, like the number of ways there are to get outside of the playable area. The fact that it just ends is a shame, but even without the intended sequel it's no less complete in itself than any other city mission, and with that in mind I'd have to name it as one of the best. The story doesn't amount to much, but the number of objectives, the freedom you are given to approach them, and the open-ended layout o..., May 26, 2021, 1:35 a.m.

Lane Powell commented a topic about Return to the Lost City,
Return:
Thanks for the recommendations! I'll add those to the (very long) list. I think the ones by nicked are already in my folder. Will probably start with the second because puzzles are not my forte., Feb. 9, 2021, 4:55 a.m.

Lane Powell created a new topic about Return to the Lost City,
Return:
Another excellent Thief II mission that treads into Dark Project territory, this one is an homage to (obviously) The Lost City of the first game. Garrett is tasked to uncover the mystery of a lost Keeper expedition to Karath-Din, and make some money along the way.

The story is typical, but developed pretty well in all the usual ways. The real reason to play is map is to explore the underground landscape the author has constructed. After passing a brief section of city and sewer, you enter ..., Feb. 8, 2021, 9:49 p.m.

Lane Powell commented a topic about Lost Among The Forsaken,
The Horror Mission for People Who Don't Like Horror Missions:
Nice review. I'm actually a big fan of horror missions, but you're right to point out the exceptional nature of this one--the huge open layout gives more places to run and hide than the usual example. Few others really do that. I have an idea for a series of missions that would include one like this.

Everyone has their own taste but I'd like to put in a good word for Thief's zombies. You can't blackjack them, but they're slow, and if I'm not mistaken, their AI is dumber than the normal gua..., Feb. 7, 2021, 4:29 a.m.

Lane Powell created a new topic about Dark Messiah,
Down in the Sealed Quarter:
The Sealed Quarter was one of my favorite locations in The Dark Project, so naturally I'm always on the lookout for missions that explore that aspect of Thief's setting to add to my queue. Unfortunately there's not as many as I'd like, since most of the well-known undead missions favor other kinds of locations. Lost Among the Forsaken is a notable exception, but there's a few others that might slip through the cracks. Dark Messiah is one of them.

The story is about what you'd expect: Garre..., Jan. 25, 2021, 12:01 a.m.

Lane Powell created a new topic about Rose Garden,
Melan's best mission yet:
Replayed this and was impressed all over again, and am still missing plenty of loot. It's a sign of a truly great mission when you replay it, and not only discover new areas and routes (some of which may have not been intentional) but are still left with the feeling there's much you still haven't seen. What sets this above the earlier Disorientation (Melan's other essential mission) is the consistent level of detail; the way the storytelling, with and without words, feels truly unified, provi..., Jan. 22, 2021, 2:59 a.m.

Lane Powell created a new topic about A Night In Rocksbourg 3 - Ink & Dust,
Rocksbourg: The Final Chapter:
If you've played the previous Rocksbourg missions, you'll remember the brief otherworldly sections that tear you out of the city and to place you in someplace else entirely. It all culminates in "Ink and Dust". After pulling off an exceedingly dark and moody city theme, DrK creates a brand new and fully realized variation of the Keeper theme.

You enter through a libary whose shelves, like the Keepers', reach the ceiling, but the structure is built out of dark, corrugated stone and illumin..., Sept. 30, 2020, 7:11 a.m.

Lane Powell created a new topic about A Night in Rocksbourg 2 - Discovery,
Rocksbourg Review Part 2:
Rocksbourg's facade has crumbled. The "invasion" is here. Martial law is declared. Civilians are being herded into "safe zones," while elsewhere the various armed factions of the city fight to keep the undead at bay. After saving Garrett's life, the Keepers task him to run some errands in the locked-down part of Rocksbourg, one of them will send him into the domain of a mysterious sect...

The second mission in the Rocksbourg series is another city mission but it's very different from the f..., Sept. 29, 2020, 9:34 p.m.

Lane Powell commented a topic about Bones: Episode 1: the Old Quarter,
Only 1 Bone here:
Having played those missions I can totally understand your comparison. This mission is like the theme of the above-ground section of "A Winter's Eve" combined with the more open-ended city layout of "Midnight in Murkbell.", Sept. 29, 2020, 4:07 a.m.

Lane Powell created a new topic about Calendra's Legacy,
Midnight in Murkbell!:
An excellent three-mission pack. As it's a sequel to the earlier FM "Calendra's Cistern," I recommend you play that first along with Purah's first mission, "Autumn in Lampfire Hills." The story here is that Garrett needs to pawn off the artifact he stole in "Calendra's Cistern," which proves to be a lot more complicated than he expected.

The first mission is essentially an intro: Garrett needs to get to the nearby district of Murkbell, which is mysteriously closed off from adjacent Lampfir..., Sept. 29, 2020, 4:05 a.m.

Lane Powell created a new topic about A Night in Rocksbourg 1 - A New Beginning,
A Dark Beginning:
DrK is one of the Thief scene's heavy hitters, responsible for "Lost Among the Forsaken" which is one of my all-time favorite FMs and one of the most popular of recent years. But long before that his first series of maps, A Night in Rocksbourg, was already accorded classic status, and they were in fact among the first FMs I played back when I was first getting into Thief just six years ago. Replaying them has confirmed my original impression: it is a masterpiece of a horror campaign, with exc..., Sept. 19, 2020, 3:10 a.m.

Lane Powell created a new topic about A Night in Old Quarter,
Nice Night:
"A Night in Old Quarter" is a solid and enjoyable city FM, if not a particularly original one. The story is pretty thin but basically has Garrett venturing into the Old Quarter to steal a few pieces of merchandise, one of which is buried in the haunted Sealed Section, but you'll need to head to the other objectives first.

Korthak's Old Quarter is done in a classic Dark Project style, with all stock textures and effective design throughout. The streets have ample deep shadows to make sneaki..., Sept. 19, 2020, 12:54 a.m.

Lane Powell commented a topic about Bones: Episode 1: the Old Quarter,
Only 1 Bone here:
Man I really need to play the Calendra missions, it's a big gap in my Thief experience. As I recall I got stuck somewhere in Calendra's Cistern but I'll have to return to it..., Sept. 18, 2020, 7:51 p.m.

Lane Powell created a new topic about Bones: Episode 1: the Old Quarter,
Only 1 Bone here:
Episode 1 of Bones sends Garrett to pull off a heist in a dockyard, which just happens to be located in a snowed-in section of the Old Quarter that was recently cleared of undead and reoccupied by the living. Much of the place is still abandoned though, and part of town is still in the undead's clutches.

This mission is the first level of a campaign that apparently never got more than off the ground. There was no Episode 2 or as far as I know any other missions by the authors. And Episode ..., Sept. 18, 2020, 4:05 a.m.

We accepted the suggestion to change the categories of Chronicle Of The Metal Age 1, submitted by Lane Powell, June 3, 2021

We accepted the suggestion to change the categories of Dark Messiah, submitted by Lane Powell, Jan. 24, 2021

We accepted the suggestion to change the categories of Crom's Blade, submitted by Lane Powell, Sept. 25, 2020

We accepted the suggestion to change the categories of Rodamill, submitted by Lane Powell, Sept. 18, 2020

We accepted the suggestion to change the categories of The Shipment, submitted by Lane Powell, Sept. 18, 2020

We accepted the suggestion to change the categories of Nigel's Hidden Treasure, submitted by Lane Powell, May 25, 2020

We accepted the suggestion to change the categories of Nigel's Hidden Treasure, submitted by Lane Powell, May 25, 2020

We accepted the suggestion to change the categories of Returning a Favor, submitted by Lane Powell, May 16, 2020

We accepted the suggestion to change the categories of Autumn in Lampfire Hills (v2), submitted by Lane Powell, May 16, 2020

We accepted the suggestion to change the categories of The Saint of Redmound, submitted by Lane Powell, May 15, 2020

We accepted the suggestion to change the categories of The Saint of Redmound, submitted by Lane Powell, May 15, 2020

We accepted the suggestion to change the categories of Watery Grave, submitted by Lane Powell, May 14, 2020

We accepted the suggestion to change the categories of Valley of The Burned / The Widow's Ire, submitted by Lane Powell, May 13, 2020

We accepted the suggestion to change the categories of Trial by Night, submitted by Lane Powell, May 13, 2020

We accepted the suggestion to change the categories of Augustine's Revenge, submitted by Lane Powell, April 30, 2020

We accepted the suggestion to change the categories of Bloodstone Prison, submitted by Lane Powell, April 30, 2020

We accepted the suggestion to change the categories of Hidden Agenda, submitted by Lane Powell, April 27, 2020

We accepted the suggestion to change the categories of Third Time's The Charm, submitted by Lane Powell, April 18, 2020