Thi4f, AKA Thief 4, Not Showing at E3, Possible PS3 Version

Little has been heard about Thi4f for some time now, with the odd tweet by Eidos Montreal, usually concerning stuff that doesn’t really have anything to do with the game.

Now, Connected Consoles say that Eidos will not be bringing anything about the game to E3. The main focus is no doubt on Deus Ex: Human Revolution, also in development at the studio, which will be at the event, and scheduled for an early 2011 release, according to the latest trailer.

This means Thi4f will likely only see a release sometime next year at the latest, but I have to admit – even that seems unlikely. Late 2011 to early 2012, I’d say right now, but you never know.

Another piece of speculation on the internet is that Thi4f may make make an appearance on the PlayStation 3 console. This was thought to be the case after a tweet was spotted on PlayStation’s twitter account where a Sony employee tweeted:

"Oh man: http://www.thief4.com/".

But this doesn’t necessarily mean anything, seeing as I’m still seeing people who are appalled at the title of the game. So this guy could have been saying: “Oh man! I don’t believe! How could they name it that? THI4F!?”

See? There is a character limit on Twitter after all. Or else he only just noticed that the game existed now, even though it was announced a year ago now.

But seeing as it is the case nowadays, the game could well be coming to the consoles, and maybe even the Xbox 360. As long as it comes to the PC, I’m happy.

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Sources:

No Thief 4 Appearance At E3 Eidos Montreal Fully Dedicated To Deus Ex [Connected Consoles]

'Thief 4' May Be Coming To PS3, But Definitely Not To E3 2010 [multiplayerblog.mtv.com]

Thi4f, AKA Thief 4, Not Showing at E3, Possible PS3 Version

Deus Ex 3 and Thief 4 Looking for Mass Appeal

 

Eidos Montreal is working on two games that many people are looking forward to: Deus Ex 3 and Thief 4 (or Thi4f).

They’re now saying that they want the new games in their respective series to appeal to a wider audience. Now, I’m glad that this Stephane D'Astous of Eidos realizes that it’s risky doing this, because you can alienate the fan base, or hardcore fans or gamers, by appealing to this wider audience, which some might call casual gamers.

I mean, the first two Thief games (particularly the second one for me) were the best, and the first Deus Ex was the best in that series. Ion Storm tried to make Thief: Deadly Shadows and Deus Ex: Invisible War more “accessible” and appeal to a wider audience, and look what happened to them (not just the games, but the company). They weren’t bad games, but just felt different from the originals. Some even dubbed them Thief Lite and Deus Ex Lite, for instance.

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Source: Cinemablend

Deus Ex 3 and Thief 4 Looking for Mass Appeal

1Up’s Dying to See Deus Ex 3 and Thief 4, Eidos gets Excited

1UP.com had a feature on their site recently titled “The Top Games We're Just Dying to See”, and the two mentioned titles, Deus Ex 3 and Thief 4, were mentioned. Eidos Montréal later tweeted on twitter:

'”1Up: "The top games we're just dying to see." Among them? Deus Ex 3 and Thief 4!”

It’s been ten years since Deus Ex, the first, and last good game in the series according to many, and it’s also been ten years since Thief II: The Metal Age, arguably the best game in that series. So, a lot of people, including me, are looking forward to those.

I was just reading the rest of Eidos Montréal’s tweets, and saw that they are helping with the relief efforts in Haiti.

“Eidos Montréal is assisting with the relief effort in Haiti”

I wonder how many other game development studios have chipped in?

1Up’s Dying to See Deus Ex 3 and Thief 4, Eidos gets Excited

Thi4f Still in Pre-Production, Except Further Along, Perhaps

Speaking of Thief 4 (Thi4f, officially), there’s been a rare update on the game's progress lately.

Months ago it was officially announced after being one of the worst kept secrets in the industry for months prior, and it was eventually noted that the game was in early pre-production, while Eidos Montreal looked for a team to actually work on the title.

The game is still in pre-production, but it’s more in the middle than the early stages, if general manager Stephane D’Astous is to be believed. He was contacted by IncGamers, and the following was said:

“Personally i (sic) have NEVER seen a team, at this milestone (middle of pre-production) in such good shape!”

And we will “NOT be disappointed with Thief 4”.

As if we haven’t heard that before. I just hope that Eidos doesn’t screw up this game like they almost, nearly did (some say they did) with Thief: Deadly Shadows. The game was still good, but not great, and a lot of stuff that was in Thief II, like all the potions and not to mention the rope arrows, was missing.

That title was by Ion Storm though, and they're not around anymore.

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Thief 4 Coming Along In "Leaps And Bounds"
Thief 4 now in pre-production, team in “good shape”

Thi4f Still in Pre-Production, Except Further Along, Perhaps

Eidos Montréal Open House Next Week

I read this at the ttlg forums recently. A person named René posted that there would be an open house at Eidos Montréal on Sunday November 15 for the afternoon, and that everybody is able to attend (open house). Why should this appeal to people? Because you can “ask questions” about Deus Ex 3 and Thi4f, and possibly get to see some stuff related to those games, as well as more, like prize draws.

Of course, the love-starved guys over at ttlg were more interested in hitting on this person, René (which may or may not be a woman, seeing as the last time I checked, René is a unisex name).

Of course someone was able to overcome their hormones and request that anybody who does attend should take a camera and get some shots, seeing as there could be some classified stuff about the aforementioned titles, because you’ll apparently be able to “view workstations related to art, animation and design”. So, I’ll definitely check back to see if anything else is posted there or elsewhere.

There’s a Facebook page with all the details and such, but you have to have a Facebook account, and be logged in, to see it.

So if you can’t be bothered, here are the details:

Date: Sunday, 15 November 2009
Time: 11:00 - 18:00
Location: 400 de Maisonneuve West, 6th floor, Montréal, Québec, Canada

Eidos Montréal Open House Next Week

Eidos Recruiting for Thi4f Team

Eidos Montreal tweeted recently on Twitter that they are looking for an Art Technical Director, Senior Game Designer, and a Senior Level Designer.

This time last month, it was pretty much the same story- looking for gaps to fill in their development team. So, they're still getting the team together, and I suppose once Deus Ex 3 is released, all efforts will be focused on Thi4f, and I'm sure many people are praying that, first and foremost, they change the name of the game.

Eidos Recruiting for Thi4f Team

Thief 4 and Deus Ex 3 Nuggets, and Thief Lego

Eidos Montreal has left two tweets lately that give clues to the stage of development that Thief 4 is in, which is pre-production, the last time I read. It also states that Deus Ex 3 is coming along nicely.

"Development on Deus Ex 3 is going well and the Thief 4 team is ramping up!"

and

"We are looking for Programmers (3D Intermediate, Senior AI, Senior Generalist, etc.) to complete the Thief 4 Team!"

In the mean time, you can check out what Thief in Lego looks like .

Sources:

http://twitter.com/eidosmontreal
http://twitter.com/eidosmontreal/statuses/2658614369
http://twitter.com/eidosmontreal/status/2574313360
Thief Lego!

Thief 4 and Deus Ex 3 Nuggets, and Thief Lego

Apocalypse Then-Thief: Deadly Shadows

Developer: Ion Storm Inc
Publisher: Eidos Interactive
Engine: Heavily-modified Unreal Engine 2 (with flash renderer)
Platforms: Microsoft Windows, Xbox, Mobile phone
Release date: May 25, 2004 (US)
Genre: Stealth

On this day in gaming, in 2004, Thief: Deadly Shadows was released. That would make today the fifth anniversary.

It was the third game in the series, and the first and last game in the Thief series developed by Ion Storm. They were planning to develop a sequel but eventually closed down. The game is so far the least popular among purists in the series due to people claiming it was a dumbed-down game made specifically to appeal to Xbox owners. It is still a pretty good game, though.

There is a sequel in development as of 2009 by Eidos Montreal, named Thi4f. Eidos was the publisher of all Thief games up until now, including Thief: The Dark Project, Thief Gold, Thief II: The Metal Age, and Thief: Deadly Shadows.

Other games released on this day:

Motocross Madness 2 (2000)

Apocalypse Then-Thief: Deadly Shadows

It’s Thi4f versus The Dark Mod...or is it?

Which would you rather have? Thi4f by Eidos Montreal, that has teased about the title for quite a while, and says that it’s only in pre-production currently, or The Dark Mod, which came into being after the last Thief, Deadly Shadows, was released in 2004. It’s been nearly five years and the team, a bunch of Thief fans working on it in their spare time with no funding, says they want to get a beta release out this year.

No points for guessing which one we’ll see first, then. It’s not a race, but rather preference over which you prefer: a big budget AAA title, using newer technology or a mod for Doom 3 which looks dated all ready. It’s not all about graphics, though, and besides, you’ll be sneaking around in the dark for most of the time, so you won’t even notice. It’ll just be black with different shades of grey, and the occasional light that needs to be extinguished. Doom 3, although it looked good, was never praised for its bright and cheerful appearance. Thief didn’t win awards for its pointy, harsh looking graphics back in the day either; it was the gameplay that people were after, and are still looking for.

The Dark Mod sounds as though it’s coming along nicely, when you take a long look at some of the features that the mod is promising, and if you’ve watched the videos, and seen the screenshots and artwork. There will be intelligent AI, realistic physics, great looking city environments, a great thief’s arsenal of tools and ingenious ways of using them.

Read this: You will be able to shoot moss arrows into windows, and they won’t break, but they’ll grow all over the window pane and make less sound when you smash it in order to break in- sounds excellent.

That’s what I want most of all, is more clever ways of using tools and weapons and not just the same old point and fire approach- sort of like the modern version of alternate fire that we all raved about for years when it first debuted in the 90s.

The Dark Mod, being made by Thief fans for Thief fans, aims to keep on adding and adding new features, and after the beta release which is all ready shaping up to be quite impressive, will keep updating and releasing new versions with new features for people to use. And since the team working on it is too busy to make more than a few maps, which look great to say the least, there’s also the DarkRadiant tool, which will enable people to make their own maps and campaigns, and take that task off the devs shoulders. It will most likely keep the Thief fan community busy for years until Thi4f even sees the light of day.

Recently there’s been another attempt at trying to get the source code for the Dark engine games, namely Thief, Thief Gold, and Thief II, so that the graphics can be updated just like every other well known and loved game of the nineties, like Doom or Quake. With The Dark Mod all ready looking much better than an updated Thief ever could, there’s really little need, unless you’re a purist who wants to stick with far outdated technology, or a masochist who likes a challenge.

I just hope that The Dark Mod doesn’t get shut down by Square Enix (Square Enix bought Eidos). Think about it- it happened to the fan-made Chrono Trigger sequel recently, and it has happened before to mods for games. Think of UDoom, probably a project which little of you know about which was issued a cease and desist order two years ago. It aimed to recreate Doom in the Unreal engine, and id Software promptly sought to shut it down, and the devs complied, knowing it would otherwise lead to a legal war that they had no chance of winning.

What if Eidos or Square Enix picked up The Dark Mod on its radar and decided that, because it’s a project using the Doom 3 engine and resembles or emulates Thief too closely, which practically fits the description of what UDoom was, it must be shut down. That would be bad.

Best we keep this project in the shadows then.

Sources and Resources:

http://www.thedarkmod.com/
http://www.thief4.com/
http://www.petitiononline.com/ThiefSrc/petition.html
http://doom.wikia.com/wiki/UDoom
http://www.joystiq.com/2009/05/12/square-enix-pulls-the-trigger-on-chrono-trigger-fan-projects/

It’s Thi4f versus The Dark Mod...or is it?

Thi4f: The Eidos Montreal Store

Among all the other Eidos Montreal stuff, there’s quite a bit of Deus Ex 3 merchandise, and also some new Thief 4 things- well, only two T-shirts which contain the logo that everyone is hating on at the moment, “ Thi4f”, claiming that it spells Thiaf and not Thief. 4nyb0dy wh0 r3gul4rly t4k35 5h0rtcut5 w1th t3xt m3554g35 0r r3fu535 t0 5p34k pr0p3r 3ngl15h kn0w5 th4t!



They should have gone with Thief 4 or Thief IV. You didn’t see Th1ef, ThIIef, or Thi3f: Deadly Shadows did you? Thief: Deadly Shadows didn’t even have a number…

In fact, even though it’s the fourth in the series, Thi4f is only the second to feature a number of any kind, and the first to not use a roman numeral, like Thief II. It’s also the first not to have a subtitle, like The Dark Project, The Metal Age, or Deadly Shadows, although this might change later. Imagine Thief 5- ThieV!

Apparently Eidos Montreal is very proud of their logo and so we have been urged not to make fun of it.



Sources:

http://twitter.com/eidosmontreal/statuses/1789108148
http://www.eidosmontreal.com/en/shop.html#thief4

Thi4f: The Eidos Montreal Store

Eidos Gets Busy With Sequels

A Hitman 5, Kane& Lynch 2, a new Tomb Raider, Deus Ex 3, and of course the recently announced Thief 4 are all new games that Eidos has planned for the future.

The only other dev with this much going on is probably Bethesda.

http://www.gamingindians.com/2009/05/eidos-president-talks-arkham-thief-hitman-etc/

Eidos Gets Busy With Sequels

Yes, it is Thief 4 (Big Surprise)

Today, Thief 4 was officially announced.

We've been speculating about it for some time- years even. There's isn't much to say about it at the moment, and Eidos Montreal say they're getting a team together at the moment, so it doesn't look like we'll see it on the shelves for some time.

Sources:

http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/58567

http://www.thief4.com/

http://twitter.com/eidosmontreal

http://www.eidosmontreal.com/

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=81350002691&ref=nf

Yes, it is Thief 4 (Big Surprise)

Thief 4 on the way: Trail of Blood

It hasn’t been officially confirmed yet, but there are several clues that have been spotted, some by many, and others by just a few.

There was this piece of concept art suggesting a more modern setting for Thief 4, allegedly created by Ion Storm in about 2004/2005:

And for those of you worried about the prospect of Thief being modernized, the latest rumours say that idea has been scrapped, thankfully- although it wouldn’t be a bad idea for a spin-off or another game entirely.

We all know about the clue a time ago where Eidos advertised a job offer on their site with the letter “T”, supposedly referring to Thief being their next project (quite obvious, really):

Then there was the clue this year that looked like this, with people claiming that the font was very “Thief”:

 

Then recently in a magazine, according to thereticule.com, there was this:

 

As we can clearly see in the ad, the mystery game belongs to a series that has earned a place in GameSpot’s “Greatest Games of All Time” and “Ten Best Heroes in Gaming,” as well as Gamespy’s “Hall of Fame.” Thief is the only Eidos-developed series to have earned these accolades. And when you think about it, it’s rightfully deserved- at least for the first two games.

In a thread on the TTLG forums very recently, someone did a search for www.thief4.com and, yes, found it to be a domain registered by Eidos last year:

 “Just did a whois look up for www.thief4.com and got these tantalizing results.

Quote:
Registrant: 
Eidos Plc
Domain Administrator
Wimbledon Bridge House 1 Hartfield Road
London, SW19 3RU
GB
Email: haithamr@eidos.co.uk

Registrar Name....: CORPORATE DOMAINS, INC.
Registrar Whois...: whois.corporatedomains.com
Registrar Homepage: www.cscprotectsbrands.com 

Domain Name: thief4.com

Created on..............: Tue, Dec 30, 2008
Expires on..............: Sun, Apr 04, 2010
Record last updated on..: Mon, Jan 05, 2009

Administrative Contact:
Eidos Plc
Haitham Rowley
Wimbledon Bridge House 1 Hartfield Road
London, SW19 3RU
GB
Phone: +44.2086363000
Email: haithamr@eidos.co.uk

Technical Contact:
Corporation Service Company
Domain Registrar
PO Box 597 
Yarmouth, NS B5A 4B4
CA
Phone: +1.9027465201
Email: admin@internationaladmin.com 

I'd say that's a pretty good indication of development. I had to change my pants after I got curious and checked it. December is pretty recent too.

I think it's officially on, fellas.”

The next thing to look out for will be the date mentioned in the magazine advert- the 11th of May, when hopefully all will be revealed and the “big secret” will be let out. Still, it might be a while before the game actually comes out.

This year, Eidos was bought by Square Enix too, although they maintain that Eidos Plc will operate independently, so hopefully we don’t end up with a Japanese anime-type game.

I’d also like to see how it’ll compare to The Dark Mod, which has been in development nearly since the last Thief game, Deadly Shadows, was released.

Sources:
 
http://thereticule.com/2009/05/more-thievery-acoming/

http://www.ttlg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=126419 

http://www.thatvideogameblog.com/2009/05/04/thief-4-is-the-worst-kept-secret-in-the-world/

Thief 4 on the way: Trail of Blood

Games I want: Thief 4

There have been rumours ever since the last Thief game, Deadly Shadows, was released in 2004 that there will be a fourth game in the series. It’s true that Ion Storm was working on it before they went bang years back, and that they planned to make a modern version of the game.

For years, Eidos has teased gamers with news of Thief 4 in development and even advertising for positions to work on the game, their next ‘AAA’ project, probably after Deus Ex 3 comes out.

The thing is you just can’t do that to Thief! You can’t modernize it, otherwise it just isn’t Thief. It might be okay if it goes off in a separate direction as a spin-off series, but don’t bastardize the main series that all ready suffered a blow from Deadly Shadows, that some don’t even recognize as a true Thief game due to its dumbing down for the Xbox. It could use a different name or the same name but with obvious indications that it is different, like having a new character to play as.

A modern setting could work for a Thief-inspired game, but not Thief, if you know what I mean.

At the moment there is The Dark Mod, a thief-inspired mod for Doom 3 that looks pretty good, and the thing here is that it is being developed by fans for the fans- a real DIY project that has taken a lot of time and labour of love. 

Other than this, people are still ‘taffing’ around with Thief, Thief Gold, Thief 2, and T2X; replaying them, modifying them or making new FMs (fan missions).

I don't know about a sequel, as far as Thief 4 goes, seeing as Garrett became a goody-two-shoes keeper at the end of T3. Maybe a prequel could work. If you've ever read the fan-fictions 'A Keeper's Apprenticeship' and 'A Thief's Apprenticeship' among others at thief-thecircle.com, there's a lot that could've happened before, during, and after Garrett’s training and even before Lord Bafford’s Manor, the first mission in Thief: The Dark Project. Perhaps there might have even been events in the gaps between T1 and T2 or T2 and T3 that could be explored.

 I think TDS started something though, even though it was called ‘Thief Lite’ by some, and that would be Thief meets GTA. I'm not talking about riding on horses and doing ride-bys, although it's quite a laugh- that was all ready done by GUN. I mean a main storyline, and then LOTS of side-quests, either for gold or new equipment, possibly other incentives, like an unlockable feature, ala Chronicles of Riddick: EFBB, like a map of The City, which fans of Thief have waited for and some have even devoted every waking moment to, creating their own versions.

Some ideas that I’ve read about on forums, specifically on TTLG.com, have suggested that 
they make a game based on the thief series, but more like Command& Conquer. You could have the hammerites versus the pagans; maybe have the mechanists and the keepers, possibly the city army, all the factions. It might be a good idea for a mini-game- a trading card like game, like trumps or magic.

http://hubpages.com/hub/Thief-The-Dark-Project

Games I want: Thief 4