Just finished Thief 2 with taffer patcher. Another great game, but not quite as good as the first. Too full of gigantic, sterile levels with empty space. The very last level of the game is a good example of this. I would say less supernatural creatures to fight is a plus, but the mechanical beasts were almost as annoying, if not moreso in some ways. The game suffers later on, first with the mansion level where you can't slip up even a bit, and then just repeating the same level again. Good level, poor game design decisions. The last level, while solid, felt more like labor than anything else, there just isn't enough suspense with gigantic spaces with robots walking around, that's not Thief-like to me. The ending I got on normal sucked, it spit me right back to the menu after 30 seconds or whatever.

But the engine was better, less clunkiness overall. Karras was a solid villain. Two levels stand out for greatness and rival some of the best levels in Thief 1: the rooftop highway level where you crash the ballroom party, and the level where you go through a portal back to the Pagan realm.

Sorry but the first game beats this one by an edge. The atmosphere was superior, the game was darker, shadier, more mysterious, the cutscenes had more "mystique"...

Are there any fan-made Thief 2 campaigns worth playing? Anything "not to be missed"? Any fan games out there?

thanks

You could try Shadows of the Metal Age, which is a fan made campaign, the story of which takes part parallel to the events of Thief 2. In my opinion the protagonist is really annoying and obviously the cutscenes don't live up to the quality of the originals, however the level design and gameplay is solid and just as enjoyable as T1/2.

As for Thief 2, I share some of your sentiments about level design, although I tend to overlook this fault of the game as I've yet to play a stealth/action game which I can enjoy as much as the first two Thief games. Plus I plunged into the Thief franchise with the second installment so I am a bit biased towards it for this reason.

You know about The Dark Mod, yeah?

http://www.thedarkmod.com

I don't do impressions; I'm just an innkeeper.

BTW Lit majors prefer T2 for the Truman Capote arch villain.

Thanks guys.

I'm wondering how does Shadows of the Metal Age compare to the Dark Mod. Not sure which one is more up my alley...

Shadows of the Metal Age uses the T2 engine, and it's level design combines the best of T1 and T2 imo - the levels are usually big, but you won't find many open empty areas here, as rooms and places are somewhat tighter, just like in T1. It also has a storyline, and the missions follow each other like in T1 and T2. It also features both undead and mechanical enemies in some missions.

The Dark Mod is built on the Doom 3 engine, therefore it has new features like dynamic shadows and a more advanced AI - enemies carry torches, can turn lights back on, notice stolen loot etc. There is no storyline in it though, only downloadable fan missions, but from what I've seen of them so far they are professionally designed.

In my opinion, if you enjoy Thief in general then you can't go wrong with either one.

Shadows if you want more of Thief 2.

Dark Mod if you want what Thief 4 SHOULD be (but unfortunately won't be). It's 100% free and standalone now despite having "mod" still in the title.

How many missions are available for the Dark Mod thus far?

Any chance of someone creating a full campaign/official game for it?

50+ missions available in the integrated mission downloader. (downloading/adding new missions to your playable list is super easy and all happens in-game)

There are some TOP NOTCH ones, best to google something like "TDM best fan missions" to make a list to get started with.

So far I think a couple people have created series of maps that are supposed to be campaigns of sorts, and others are currently working on campaigns as well. Because of copyright there is no "official" game and you won't be seeing Garrett around, but the spirit of Thief is stronger in TDM than anything else today.

he is probably asking about recreations of the T1/T2/T3 campaigns for the Dark Mod. there is no way this is going to be done by the official Dark Mod team, as there is a risk of running into legal issues - and when you've put 10+ years of work into something, you'll want to avoid C&D letters as much as possible.

so someone else would have to convert the campaigns, and then release anonymously (or at least make clear that there is no connection to the official Dark Mod) - not saying it's never happening, but the chances are pretty low. personally, I think T1/T2 is fine as it is, but I'd like to see T3 converted properly - switching to the dark mod would allow complete removal of all the stupid from the game.

thanx guys, you're the best!