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Saturday, June 13, 2009

FM News Update June 2009 - 9:04:02 PM - The Phantom

The latest Circle's FM News, based on the latest update from the upcoming missions list. One author makes a re-appearance in the list: Ricebug. He is working on the third part of his Strife series. The mission is currently 75% finished, and is expected to be ready for beta by the end of June. There are also three authors leaving the list. Firstly there's the Team of the Hammerite Imperium, under direction of Alexius. The campaign's first mission, The Seven Shades of Mercury, has finally arrived. Download links can be found here. Since the original team fell apart, it doesn't seem likely that any of the remaining missions will see the light of day. Therefore the info has been removed from the list. Second release is Whispers in the Dessert (From Beneath the Sands 2) by nicked. It's a sequel and complete remake of his earlier Egyptian themed mission, From beneath the Sands. Thread and dl link are here. The third author leaving the list is Ramirez's Old Fat Burrick. He was working on Transitions in Chaos Part 2, which progress came to a halt because of a busy real life. Because it's doesn't seem likely that the work will continue any time soon, the mission has been removed for indefinite time. Intruder revealed that he's working on a 6th mission in his Keeper Investigations series. Part 6 is therefore added to his list of missions in development. Another mission by Morrgan has been removed as upcoming. Sadly there hasn't been any news about one of her missions, Serious Business, for over a year. Two authors have shared new screens from their missions in progress. HipBreaker reveales some beautiful outdoor environments with all kinds of plants, while Sliptip posted new screens with marvelous texturing and design. News in short: bassmanret's Just Friends Part 2 is still being worked on (currently 95% done). Catman's third part of his Five Tigers series (Claw of the Tiger) is currently under beta testing HipBreaker made a Youtube video of his next mission (Eclipsed) which is close to beta testing Disorientation by Melan is close to being finished Nivellen made an preview video of his upcoming FM Horns of Canzo 2 by sterlino is suffering from major issues and crashes tdbonko indicated that Dreamin' is almost ready for beta testing And Sliptip hopes to release The First Project in September of this year. The full change list can be found here. Until next update, The Phantom

Correspondence Rewrite Update - 7:19:30 AM - Dan

An update has been made to the hosted CoSaS Project site to indicate that the series of novels associated with the project are nearing completion. Back in 2005 I set out to rewrite Correspondence of Thieves. After a break to finish graduate school and Mission X, the complete 1st draft of the revised story (called COT-R now) is finished, and is now in the final revisions phase. After that proofreading and editing will follow, during which the manuscript will be formatted for publishing as a series of six books. The COT-R page on this site has been updated, and will continue to be as the project progresses. For (much) more information, the writing process has been and will be chronicled here, though some minor spoilers (like all of the chapter titles) are abundant. In addition to print-on-demand, the series will also be published a chapter at a time on this site, hopefully not too many months from now.

Thursday, May 14, 2009

Fiction: I Married a Pagan, Day 7 - 12:03:34 AM - pavlovscat

Here it is! I Married A Pagan, Day 7 is ready for download. If you've been following Henry's story, don't miss Day 7! This is the final day in the serial, so email Greypatch3 and let him know what you think about Henry's adventures. “I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride.” In all fairness to tradition, Melody opted to kiss Jack before he could reciprocate. The gathered crowd applauded. Henry was a little taken aback by the number of people who had come to the ceremony, considering the guests had only been notified since about 10 o’clock in the morning. Jack’s mother was in the crowd, of course, but many others Henry hadn’t even expected had shown up. Henry’s parents, still blackened from battle and reeking of cordite, had cleaned up as best they could, as had Amelie’s parents. Nick had come, fresh from the doctor, still bandaged but looking as solid as ever. Even Lord Farnsworth had showed up; why, no one could tell, because nobody remembered inviting him, but when he threatened to let loose the cannons Pete begged for him to be let in. But out of all of them, the Day Watch had been the strangest. Henry had gone in and informed them Constable Jack Roberts was getting married and the whole station had stopped what they were doing and attended. Henry couldn’t help but imagine the numerous criminals getting away scot free, lucky bastards. For those who missed the previous days of Greypatch3's delightful comedy, I Married a Pagan, here are the links to all the previous days in Henry's story: Day One Day Two Day Three Day Four Day Five Day Six, Part One Day Six, Part Two Day Seven ENJOY!!

Monday, May 11, 2009

Thief 4 ... ahem, THI4F... announced - 3:44:07 PM - Dan

Today, after around a year of rumors, Thief 4, or THI4F as they are calling it (so hip, so trendy, so lol) was announced by Eidos Montreal, or Eidos Monty as I like to call them. In addition to that... nothing. Just a confirmation of what we all pretty much knew since the start of the month. I am sure they will be releasing a concept image or something eventually, some day, but it seems not today. So join us on our Thief IV anticipation forum (linked to above... Note the awesome use of roman numerals. Maybe we should have called it THIVF) and crazy-go-nuts with the taffers there about a game we still know zero about from a developer we have no idea what to expect from! (Well, aside from some very, very pretty pictures of Deus Ex 3!)

Tuesday, May 05, 2009

Eidos announcement on May 11th - 10:08:13 PM - Dan

As many of you probably already know, eidos has suggested that their hinted-at "T" entitled project will be announced on May 11th. Our forum has been buzzing about it in the year since the original hint, and now the buzz is approaching critical mass. Many big gaming websites have suggested that they already know the revealed game will be Thief 4, and all clues point in that direction. So, for us here at The Circle, the question really isn't "is it going to be Thief 4?" but more, "If it's a game called Thief, will it have anything to do with our beloved series?" That's something we maybe won't know for a long time to come, but hopefully we'll have something to report on May 11th. It could be a real Thief 4, or it could be a series reboot, or it could be a game that is Thief 4 in name only, or it could be a game that is Thief in name only. We still have nightmares of the Modern Thief game briefly in development over at eidos.

Saturday, May 02, 2009

Fiction: I Married a Pagan, Day 6, Pt 2 - 6:48:47 PM - pavlovscat

Find out what else happens during Day 6 of Henry's story in I Married A Pagan, Day 6, Part 2. It's time for the next installment and the end of Day 6, so download download Day 6, Part 2 here. Drop an email to Greypatch3 with comments about the story. Enjoy!! Burtilda Cresswell sat across from her husband in an overstuffed armchair, trying her best to look over the silverware to make sure the help had cleaned it thoroughly. Darald Cresswell was enjoying one of his several books. It was one of those types of novels where most sentences are paragraphs unto themselves, sentences which, on further reflection, do not need to be nearly as long as they are, but yet, in their attempts to go on and on into constant digression and normally cause most readers to bend over in confused exasperation and profuse vomiting, somehow defy the odds and the book gets published, to the author’s bewilderment, since he was simply trying to see how much he could annoy the printing house and make them spend an absolute bundle on ink and paper, which, unfortunately enough, was far much more than it used to be, considering how the price of paper had been going up in the last couple of years, due to a massive shortage of good harvesting trees, at least, trees that didn’t hunt down and kill the lumberjacks attempting to harvest them.

Friday, April 24, 2009

Fiction: I Married a Pagan, Day 6, Pt 1 - 8:35:03 PM - pavlovscat

Henry's story continues in I Married A Pagan, Day 6, Part 1. Day 6 is a very busy one for Henry, so busy that you only get to read half the story of Day 6 now. You'll have to wait until the next installment to find out how it ends. You can download Day 6, Part 1 here. Send your email to Greypatch3 and let him know what you think of Henry's adventures so far. Enjoy!! Henry awoke to the splash of water on his face. This in itself wasn’t so bad, but like the day before he had a massive headache, which was made worse as the bucket previously containing water also landed on his face, very, very hard, quite possibly from it being thrown in his face. It was hard to tell because his eyes were still closed. He opened them, one at a time, and the morning sunlight forced its way in, stabbing into his retinas like a curious child with a fork and an electrical socket to play with. A shape moved in front of the sun, blessedly, though as his eyes began to focus, he found the shape was not at all happy to see him. “Morning, Cait. You seem jolly today. And thanks for the shower, I forgot to wash up last night.”

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Fiction: I Married A Pagan, Day 5 - 9:16:04 PM - pavlovscat

Find out what Henry has gotten himself into now in I Married A Pagan, Day 5. You can download Day 5 here. Writers love feedback! EMail Greypatch3 with your thoughts & comments about the story. Enjoy!! Cait was roused from her sleep by a loud knocking on the door. She yawned, got up, and prepared to kill the person who wouldn't let her sleep in on her day off. Going down the stairs to the front door, she opened it to find Henry, smelling like a burrick's carcass, on the doorstep. He was covered in a substance she preferred not to wonder about in great detail. "Henry! What in the world?" Henry reached out to grab her by the shoulders and plead about something, but before he could she backed away. "You touch me with whatever's stuck on you, and I'm going find a big pile of it and drown you headfirst in it." Henry put his hands back at his sides. "All right, fine. Get me a hose and I'll tell you all about it." About fifteen minutes and a quick change of garments later, Henry sat in Cait's kitchen, wearing a bright orange shirt and green pants. Both of which were three sizes too small.

Saturday, April 04, 2009

Fiction: I Married a Pagan, Day 4 - 9:11:55 PM - pavlovscat

Henry's adventures continue in I Married A Pagan, Day 4. Download Day 4 here. Greypatch3 wants to hear from you, so drop him a line to let him know what you think about his story. Enjoy!! Henry awoke at dawn. This was a sensation he was not used to, as he often preferred to spend his evenings very late, which did not lead to a general love of the rising sun and all the glories which it brings. However, his head was killing him, and this was a sensation he was used to. He rolled over on the bed and promptly fell off. As his head struck the floorboards, he was struck with the notion that he had just woken up in a bed that was not his own, which was a sensation he had never before experienced. Holding his throbbing head, he opened his eyes to see the room he was in was a woman’s bedroom, a sensation he thought he would never, ever experience in his life.

Friday, March 27, 2009

Behind the Builder Interview 1: DrK - 4:47:45 PM - pavlovscat

It is with great pleasure that I announce the latest project from our dedicated taffer, SneakyJack. He is conducting a new FM author interview series called Behind the Builder: A Deeper Look Inside the Minds of Fan Mission Creators. This will be an ongoing series with one or two FM authors interviewed every month. SneakyJack will be providing a window into the minds of some of the premier mission authors starting with DrK, well known for his A Night in Rockbourg Series. The interviews will be posted in discussion threads so that any TTLG forum member can post his own questions for that author. This is a great interactive opportunity to find out more about the fascinating minds behind the missions. The first interviewee in the series is the French author DrK. You know him best for his series A Night in Rocksbourg: ANIR 1: A New Beginning/Un nouveau départ; ANIR 2: Discovery/Découverte; ANIR 3: Ink and Dust/Encre et poussière. DrK is also known as Kubiak. He co-authored two missions released back in 2005 under this name with French author TheHardyBoyz for the 15 Days series: Vol De Nuit (Night Flight) and Chasse A L'Homme (Manhunt). These missions were originally released in French language only, but both were translated into English and Italian recently after DrK made his solo continuation of the story with 15 Days 3: Greenbay, a small mission released to celebrate 10 years of Thief. Now for a taste of the DrK interview: Q & A Interview Session: (Interviewer questions are in bold, answers from DrK are in italics) Thank you very much DrK for taking the time to answer some questions about yourself and about your missions - it is appreciated. First, what can you tell us about yourself and what you do when you aren't building amazing creations in dromed? My name is Eric Bigou, I'm 25, and I live in a town near Narbonne in the south of France. I'm an architect. Your background in architecture certainly shows in the amazing layouts that you present to us in your missions! What are your hobbies, and how did you get into Thief? I've played video games since my childhood, and I've loved the thief series since I discovered the first game in 1999. I liked Thief 1, but it's when I discovered Thief 2 that I became a real fan of the series. And believe it or not - I discovered fan-missions way later, near the end of 2002... For someone who took a few years to discover the fan mission scene, you certainly broke into it with a bang. Your amazing work on the Rocksbourg series has produced some all time greats, that much is certain. If you had to choose a favorite project of yours - which would you choose and why? "CoSaS Mission X" by Digital nightfall and his team. I took part in the project by working on the briefing video and that gave me a peek into its making, and it was awesome. The amount of effort and passion involved was just stunning and influenced me for "Ink and dust". With everyone involved in the Mission X process being top notch fan mission talent from the community - there is no doubt that you were a great fit in that team. What do you think is the most important aspect of creating a fan mission that people will enjoy? Atmosphere. This is what made me love the original game - the atmosphere was so strong compared to other games back then, so immersive. At moments I felt I wasn't playing a game anymore - I was inside the game. Even if it's far from being realistic, it was believable. The game made me feel that if the elements were put into real life, they could actually work (the city, the life of its citizens, its religions...). Atmosphere is certainly what Thief is all about - one of the many pieces of the puzzle that fit together to make Thief a unique experience. You certainly showed us what atmosphere could do in "Ink And Dust" - it could scare the pants off us! I imagine all the Rocksbourg missions take a very long time to develop - does having spent so much time intimately with a mission cause you to avoid playing your own releases? Yes. I know them by heart, so it's not really fun - and I can finish each of them in less than 20 minutes with no surprises while playing it. However - I often take a tour into them to remember things, to stay coherent with what I already built and to regain inspiration about the atmosphere. Check out the rest of the interview in the Forum Discussion Thread and get ready to ask some questions. Enjoy!

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Fiction: I Married a Pagan, Day 3 - 7:00:11 PM - pavlovscat

It's time for the next day in greypatch3's delightful story, I Married A Pagan. You can get Day 3 here. Be sure to drop greypatch3 a line, and let him know what you think about the story. Enjoy!! 'Welcome, young initiates, to the Builder’s Retreat!' Pete wasn’t quite sure what to think. From his experiences with the Hammers, he’d always known them to be absolutely humorless zealots. To them, the simple joy of a rubber chicken became an opportunity to lecture shopkeeps about selling animals that could not be cooked and eaten. But this…this was something entirely new. A Hammer priest that actually smiled? And that wasn’t all. The priest wasn’t wearing the traditional hooded red and white body stocking so emblematic of the Hammer orders…instead, he wore a red tunic, held loosely by a belt with a hammer-shaped buckle. Behind him, other Hammer acolytes wandered by, wearing similar garments, smiling and laughing. It was so…friendly. And fun. Something was definitely wrong here.

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Fiction: I Married A Pagan, Day 2 - 2:53:26 AM - Dan

Last week greypatch3 treated us to the first part of his humerous story, I Married A Pagan. Day 2 is now online. But don't just read it - the author wants to know what you think, too. Go ahead and email him. “Oh, hello, Henry. What are you in for this time?” Jack, as always, had some food in his hand as he sat behind his desk at the Watchhouse. Today his mum had packed him a sandwich that would most likely have made several world’s records, not the least of which was ‘Greatest Potential Source of a Heart Attack.’ The rest of the room just sort of milled about in general guard-related activities, not the least of which involved games of dice and a lot of money changing hands. Not that it surprised him. In his excited mood to tell Jack all his plans the night before, Henry had arrived at the Watchhouse to find it closed. Crime never sleeps, but apparently the Watch occasionally had to nip home for a bit of shut-eye. It was now about 9:30 in the morning, or as Jack referred to it, “Early Lunch.” “I’m not in for anything…well, not quite true, I’m here to talk to you. Jack, my boy, I need you back. And I’m serious this time.” “You’re serious every time.” Jack bit into his sandwich, and despite the small toothpick stuck in its middle a good majority of its contents slid off onto the floor. “And so am I. I’m not going back to that, Henry.”

Sunday, March 08, 2009

FM News Update March 2009 - 4:19:14 PM - The Phantom

The latest Circle's FM News, based on the latest update from the upcoming missions list. One author makes a reappearance in the list: Splashcups. His mission info was removed in the last update because of a 12 month news silence. But he contacted me and said that his mission, Cold Silence, is still in the works. Therefore it is once again mentioned as upcoming project. Krush the Second finished and released his new mission, called "Amoral Dilemma". Because of this, the author was removed from the list. The official thread, with download links and screenshots, can be found here. Another mission released last month is "Vandal" by Balboa. It's the first part of his Tales from the Cleft series, which he silently worked on for many years. The thread can be found here. There is still a lot of work to be done so don't expect it anytime soon. Short news: - DrK revealed in a recent interview that Rocksbourg Part 4 could become a two mission pack - EZ-52's upcoming mission Aria Part 1 didn't made it's January 2009 release. He now expects to release it in Mid june of this year, possibly together with Aria Part 2 - Ladytaker, the 2nd part of Balboa's Tales from the Cleft, has an ETA of Late spring 2009 - Wicked Webs We Weave, in development by darthsLair, has reached beta and is expected to be released in March 2009 - Melan revealed some new city street images of his upcoming project Disorientation - HipBreaker is still working on his latest mission, which name is changed from Eclipsed Resonance into Eclipsed The full change list can be read here. Until next update, The Phantom

Tuesday, March 03, 2009

Fiction: I Married A Pagan - 1:11:32 AM - Dan

A new Thief Fiction promises weekly releases, as long as the author, the editor, and I can keep up with it. This funny story is in five chapters, or days, and according to the author... The plot revolves around Henry Cresswell, noted incompetent thief, who reads a newspaper, finds out about Garrett's recent theft of the Hammer and Pagan artifacts, and decides to steal that idea and one-up him. Unfortunately, his two buddies, Jack Roberts and Pete Williams, have since given up on the thieving game and gotten 'real' jobs. He manages to sucker them back in, so that he can finally fulfill his dream of being a master thief, but will his schemes all be worth it in the end? The novel is a very satirical, broad comedy with plenty of violence, moderate swearing, and some sexual dialogue (though I'm guessing it's not much worse than your average primetime sitcom). Though a stand-alone story, I make a lot of references to things in the earlier two stories as well as Deadly Shadows (the story occurs at the same time as Garrett's journey, but they don't really intersect except at a few interesting points), so if you haven't read them or played Deadly Shadows...well, you probably won't be lost, but a few jokes may be missed and some minor spoilers revealed. Sound like your cup of tea? Click here and enjoy Day 1!

Monday, February 16, 2009

Thief Reviewed in Zero Punctuation - 7:03:41 PM - Biohazard

Zero Punctuation is a popular game review column that "uniquely" reviews new releases in a manner that can only be pulled off by its creator, Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw. Yahtzee's hatred for almost all video games provides entertaining rants where he bashes every aspect of a game without pauses (hence the name Zero Punctuation). However, every once in a while Yahtzee will review a game from the past that he actually liked I'm guessing as an attempt to show viewers what a good game should look like. This week Yahtzee reviewed our beloved Thief: The Dark Project. Yahtzee points out what makes Thief such an outstanding game (we already knew that) and makes for an entertaining retrospective review. Check out the review here! Discuss the review here!

•  FM News Update June 2009 - 6.13 •  Correspondence Rewrite Update - 6.13 •  I Married a Pagan, Day 7 - 5.14 •  Thief 4 Announcement - 5.11 •  Eidos announcement on May 11th - 5.5 •  I Married a Pagan, Day 6-2 - 5.2

•  T2 - The Lost Castle - 2.3 •  T2 - Book of Prophecy 2: The Hidden City - 1.27 •  T3 - The Keeper v2 - 1.16 •  TG - Invitation to Castle Morgoth - 1.1 •  T1 - Prowler of the Dark - 1.1 •  T2 - Christmas Present - 1.1