Transcription of "Emil's Journal", a Thief designer's personal journal, which contains his development notes of Thief 2 and Thief: Deadly Shadows.
The hardcover book itself was a gift from his wife to celebrate his promotion to lead designer on Thief 2 Gold.
The behind-the-scenes info it contains:
- Design ideas and brainstorming for Thief 2: Gold.
- Level reviews of the Thief 2 Gold missions.
- Design ideas and brainstorming for Thief: Deadly Shadows
- Notes from Thief: Deadly Shadows design meetings
- Notes from interview sessions at Ion.
Emil's Journal, scanned by qkbeam and translated by Tintinrulz, part 2 by DJ Riff
Note: There may be several errors in translation
Page 1[]
Mech? What is the mechanist connection? Is there one? [crude sketch] Necromancer's Castle Venom Dagger – What are the ramifications of having a poisoned weapon? What exactly does it do? Concerns: Poison vs. undead Poison in the Thief 2 universe Unbalancing the game/ making backstabbing too powerful *Y Phate – 4/19/00! "Venom Blade" magically poisoned weapon that can instantly kill an unsuspecting human perfect for backstabbing may or may not slowly poison its user over time
Page 2[]
Necromancers Need to come up with semi-complete backstory What is the purpose? Connection/lack of connection to mages Connection between demons/Trickster's forces Connections to undead, ruined city, maybe a reference to those events/haunted cathedral? Symbology? [pentagram, unknown, eye] etc. Ghoul "A leeeesssshh!!" Shambling but fast – hideous. Uses ApeBeast mocaps but new sound. Fast claw attack. Eats the dead. "They eat the dead!" Claw attack does damage – maybe even…
Page 3[]
…poisons/infects the player so he/she continues taking a couple points of damage after the strike. [drawing of ghoul] Summoning Chamber Great demon thing [drawing of circular room with demon thing on left; a stick figure lies in the middle of the floor] Large windows with vine arrow accessibility Large stairwell NOT circular! Large columns Dead Necromancer with the Book of Ash at his outstretched hand
Page 4[]
[largely blank sketch of circular room] Main resurrection chamber This is a classic Dr. Frankenstein's laboratory, complete with arcing electricity, rows of lab equipment, and a tilted resurrection table. There should be some kind of skylight (blocked with glass, to prevent the falling snow).
Page 5[]
BOOK OF ASH [simple sketch of book cover] From the outside, the look is rather nondescript, except for the fact that is bound in (human!) flesh… Destroying the Book of Ash The book can't be destroyed It can only be sent back to the netherworld that spawned it The book must be dumped in a cauldron/summoning pit along with a few reagents (bat's wings, goats blood, etc) a scroll is then read and "poof" – the book is sent back to the other world. OR The book is placed in a magic circle along with the body of demon, body of a human, Ceremonial candles are lit/placed, and a scroll is read that " OR
Page 6[]
The book is simply brought to a great fire or put somewhere in the castle and destroyed "The Mordor Method" *Option 2 seems like the best one [drawing of two candle stands and a circle containing two stick figures and various nondescript objects]
Page 7[]
Balmoraal – demon thingy Communication with Viktoria! Maybe you find the Necromancer's Crystal ball??? Objectives: Find the Book of Ash Find a way to destroy the Book of Ash Destroy the Book of Ash Different things are required depending on difficulty. Easy – The book of ash Normal – Book of Ash, light candles Hard – Book of ash, find and light candles Expert – Book of ash, find and light candles, find and place bodies.
Page 8[]
Mission Briefing: V. It seems we have an ... unexpected problem G. What now? V. A powerful group of dark mages, known as necromancers, has recovered an ancient artifact of great power, a tome known as the "Book of Ash." G. Necromancers, huh? Sounds creepy. But what does that have to do with us? V. The Necromancers are the masters of the undead. They have dedicated their lives to the study of death… and the reanimation of the dead. It is said that the Book of Ash can summon forth creatures more powerful than the necromancers had dared hope. G. You still haven't answered my question. I've tangled with the dead before and fiddle damned if I do it again. Besides – corpses don't tend to carry much loot. Why do we care? V. The Mechanists have commissioned the Necromancers to probe the book's power. They want to know if there's...
Page 9[]
…some connection between the creatures of the netherworld and the forces of the Wood. G. Is there? V. (flaring) No! The Trickster was a true god of old, the Woodsie Lord of legend! (calming) These… things… are but lesser demons of dark and unknown places. Their realm is death… not the green of wood and vale. G. Not that it matters. If the Mechanists can control the book, who knows what power they could gain. V. Yes! That is why you must travel to the Necromancer's castle deep in the mountains north of the city. You must find the Book of Ash and destroy it. I can supply you with a rudimentary map of the castle and as much information as I have. G. Somehow I knew you were going to say that…
Page 10[]
The Balmoraal – Walks, wails, has small wings but can't fly. Can't be killed by Garrett!! But Garrett needs to steal one of its horns for the ritual. He must find the dead Balmoraal – it lies at a place where a couple of Necromancers fought one to the death. The horn can be simply removed.
Page 11[]
Objectives: Enter the castle compound Find the Book of Ash Find a way to destroy the Book of Ash. Destroy the Book of Ash. *How do the objectives change???? 1.) Enter the castle compound 2.) Find the Book of Ash 3.) Discover a way to destroy the Book of Ash. The Necromancer's Central library should hold that information 4.) Use the information you've gained and destroy the Book of Ash 5.) The Mechanists have already paid the Necromancers in order to fund their experiments. Find the Mechanist gold and steal it. 6.) The Necromancers have acquired plenty of loot to fund their experiments. Grab xxx
Page 12[]
…worth of loot Enemy AIs and their relationships: Necromancer (Dagger) Necromancer (Mage) Friendly with the zombies Zombies. The zombies are undead, and normally wouldn't attack other undead creatures. But they're also mindless automations, and can be controlled fairly easily by the Necromancers. Therefore, it is possible, even probable, that the zombies will infact attack the other undead in this mission.
Page 13[]
New Sky Properties (as used in LOTP): Editors [Mission Quest Data is crossed out] Mission Parameters New Sky: Celestial 1: [ticked] [ticked] [ticked] moon03a. + 6A 1.00 6.00 10.00 30.00 270.00 120.00 x1 y1 z1 Cont.
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New Sky: Celestial 2 [unticked] [ticked] [ticked] [mysterious rectangle] .70 0.00 10.00 45.00 90.00 120.00 .9 .9 1
Page 15[]
New Sky: Celestial 3 [unticked] [unticked] [unticked] [rectangle] * (all blank) 0 New Sky: Cloud Deck [ticked] [ticked] [ticked] Clouds2.pcx 0.30 1000 2000 6 2 10 10 10 .3 .3 .3 0 0 0 sum 1.00 0 0 0 sum 1 0 2 x1 y1 z1 sum 1.00 30.00 270.00 20.00 2
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New Sky: Sky [ticked] [ticked] 50100 50000 6 24 120 000 000 .025 .035 .05 .04 .04 .09 .06 .06 .12 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 sum -1.00
Page 17[]
New Sky: Stars [ticked] [ticked] 1.00 0.00 0.30 Sky Rendering Mode: Textures
Page 18[]
Thief 2 Gold Major Meeting: Raid at Willard Square: Active raid too difficult to implement realistically? Where are the cops/what do they do before the raid Get rid of brothel, limit buildings *Don't dismiss cops as a threat Connection to thieves guilds Draw better distinctions *Prototype dagger, but change references to it.
Page 19[]
Mike's Mission: *Issue of costume – Why?? Why need to go in costume??? (why not do that in every mission, in Undercover, player is tempted to go into other rooms. Not really so in university. Probably drop intrusion issue. Focus on aristocracy a play down "college"/"university," *Scholar - NOT a collector simply studying. X No reference in Shipping and Receiving.
Page 20[]
Have item in Masks. Mike time is limited. *Kill the [infiltration?] Waking The Dead: Explain why you shouldn't kill the undead Better justification for doing the mission. Full connection to what's already established. Spell - "Summon Feda." Sneak away from undead
Page 21[]
Fallen Hammers Eliminate second quest Information gathering – talk to contact – no golem, no alarm Try to build [cutscene, crossed out] architecture to match cutscene. Remaining Issues: Fiction of Rob's mission Stealth experience of Mike's mission Information on item Player receives in the Fallen Hammers mission Fiction of Waking the Dead and the importance of the Book of Ash to the mission.
Page 22[]
Waking the Dead Fiction Issues: Kidnap Casing [downturned arrow] Dead [two right arrows] Masks [upturned arrow] Hammers Soulforge - Waiting for Gervaisius Exhibit - No other major Mechanists operations - What could draw Garrett away Casing ___________________________ Masks
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Briefing Take 2? [following paragraph is crossed out] G. They say the waiting is the hardest part, and now I know why. Sitting around while Gervaisius prepares his exhibit has me anxious, to say the least. Blech! Now that Viktoria and I are playing the waiting game – biding our time until Gervaisius holds his exhibit, Viktoria has asked me to Okay, so I screwed up. As it turns out, my [mission to Angelwatch, crossed out] recent trip to Dayport wasn't as successful as I thought. While trapsing across the rooftops [of Dayport, crossed out] I failed to grab a certain ancient [relic, crossed out] tome known as the Book of Ash. [unclear marginal text: Sealed in some crafty ? ?] It wasn't exactly a concern of mine at the time, [with the-what with the Mechanists trying to kill me, crossed out] and I'm not exactly a fan of the undead (blech) [But my oversight, crossed out] But it seems my oversight may have serious consequences. The Book of Ash has been
Page 24[]
recovered by the Necromancer order. These twisted old fools split off from the Hand Mages long ago, and like to spend their time practising the darker, forbidden arts – like resurrecting the dead. If they tap into the book's powers they could summon forth creatures more powerful than they can imagine… or control. I've obtained a rudimentary map of the Necromancers' castle, nestled in the mountains just north of the City. [I plan on sneaking in, crossed out] My plan is to sneak in, find the Book of Ash, and destroy it. Blah blah blah
Page 25[]
High Level Fiction for "WTD": * No Mechanist connection * Book of Ash seems like the only logic connection/motivation * Viktoria may or may not know about the mission, but she probably does. * Side mission, unrelated to the main plot. Garrett wants to tie up loose ends. * Talk about old part of the City and Garrett's previous encounter with the undead, "RTC."
Page 26[]
[the heading, Post Mort. Stuff, is scribbled out] Level Review 5/21/00 College Hills on either side of main entry are awesome, but note that the player can climb up right side and get flush with the outside of the world. Top of building at large roof. Should be tile to keep the player off of it completely. Currently, you can only climb halfway up, because the top of roof buts the top of the "ceiling." Keep an eye out for places the player can get out of the world. Main room with tile and dome is awesome!! Great lecturing.
Page 27[]
Smalled barred doors/windows on hill are great. Very flavourful Stairway is great – space feels really nice Overall, definitely on the right track Texturing on floor – metal thresholds might suck. If carpet on other side, that's fine but jumping over them will cause noise Fallen Hammers Long ladder near garden is messed up – backward/phys model problems. Hammer Ghost is AWESOME! Everything, the mod of his head, the particle effects, the warping in of the item General problem with wall thickness, the walls are all generally at a height that implies mantling, but they're too thin to mantle up to. Need to be 2 feet thick! This really has to be changed.
Page 28[]
The same is true of the well – player should be able to mantle up onto it and then into it, When jumping into the well, you can get killed. The player is going to expect to be able to just jump down into the well. Also at the bottom, there NEEDS to be a place to rope arrow back up or otherwise get out of the well. Temple has a mage-like quality to it. The texturing should reflect this by having areas look different. Possible stair problem. Several smaller wedges have been used, instead of one large wedge. When stairs are cut out, could cause slivercell problems.
Page 29[]
Willard Square Start point feels good Lighting needs to be improved/adjusted. Too dark!!!!! First gate scenario is really good. Not too hard, but challenging. Having one guard there is good. Good training experience From there to hole in floor feels very linear. Looks great, but I felt pushed along a single path. Holes in walls, burnt out stuff – excellent Entering into section with girders etc. Wow!! But… do NOT use the rubber texture!!! It is a Mechanist creation that happens in Precious Cargo and is explained in the mission/specific to that mission Wooden beams – frustrating as hell!!! They're too small to be mantled up onto!! Maybe just the bottom should be wood??
Page 30[]
New section LOOKS fucking awesome. Vestical is the way to go. Texturing is very good There's a window into the room with the dead woman – way too hard to jump into. What the Hell is with the dead woman??? Some of the [legges, scribbled out] ledges aren't wide enough Bridge over water with guards. Feels great but – wall needs to be "mantle thickness" everywhere. Otherwise it is AOK!
Page 31[]
No Lives Forever notes: Messages: Player spotted AI doing individual reaction "Panic" to Hear Enemy Weapon Fire AI doing group reation "Panic" to Hear Enemy Weapon Fire Enemy doing group reaction "attack from Cover" to See Enemy Enemy doing individual reaction "attack from Cover" to See Enemy Enemy doing group Reaction "attack from Cover" to Hear Enemy Weapon Fire Body found
Page 32[]
NOLF Built-In AI Abilities Can react to footprints, flashlight, weaponfire, footsteps, weapon impact, feeling pain, death. Reactions to Player – Nothing, Found alarm, Get backup, Hit Switch, Surrender, Panic, Distress, Attack, Attack on Right, Charge, Attack from Cover, (stay, always retry, retry once), attack from vantage, advance Others – (Including reactions to just hearing weapon impact) – Go to cover, taunt, become alert, call out, look at, Investigate and stay, investigate and return Damage Properties – Mass, HP, armor, Can Heal, Can Damage, Never Destroy Attachment Points – left hand, right hand, nose, chin, back, head, eyes – Stuff like weapons, sunglasses, hats, scubatank
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NOLF Observations What the hell is up with the distance?? Seems like if I shot at a distant enemy, my bullets would go right through him Ridiculous falling damage Looks pretty much just like Lith Tech 1.
Page 34[]
Interviews Artist – Kevin Dougherty Big on design Thief fan 1 + 2 Very technical – lots of mocap experience X-Box competition I have my doubts about the importance of mouth mocaping. Way too much attention to detail. More versions with characters Combining aesthetic with gameplay – Casing More design Art in Freelancer is done all over the world – ahhh... Sweatshop gaming Use steampunk technology in gameplay Early tech Integrate [soon/you?] with gameplay
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Wants to make a medieval game Values originality Jules Verne technology Leaves environments the same - ??? Fantasy/RPG games Ask art questions – get design answers.* Pulled off death without making it gruesome Not a gore jockey Paul Royeur: Again with ghost/alpha blending Programming generalist – Really likes AI. Zero interest in physics Likes Thief physics
Page 36[]
AI in Thief AI must complement game design. Entertainment Challenge > go overboard with realism Believeability Entertainment Challenge > totally different AI programmers job is to hand off stuff to designers
Page 37[]
Thief Stealth Stealth AI – cool Interactivity in Thief People must talk Everything serves design Jay Lee – In-house artist candidate Jeff Reitman, Eric Dougherty
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Nate Blaisdell: Played a little T1 + T2 Wanted to get foot in the door because of Thief Half-Life bad – Too fast paced, not enough interactivity Thief – bad – Too supernatural wished it had more choices. More than one person working on a level.
Page 39[]
Big sci-fi fan. Loves Neuromancer. Loves Blade Runner. Doesn't like the way the show is filmed. Loves the Borg. Mindless Drones. As long as its believable, that's important – not realism. Gladiator – Best Gameplay always comes first, and that's why games fail. Quake does this – Quake has
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shitty gameplay. Alice – Looking forward too. Likes 1st and 3rd person First person is more immersive Third person lets you seem more expression, etc. For console - thinks thief 3 would be better in 3rd person. Design for your audience, demo. T3 for console audience. T3 multiplayer – use factions in co-op. and competitive One person controlling team spec. ops.
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THIEF 3 AESTHETIC MEETING Add windows to texture list. 10/18/00 THIEF 3 GENERAL DESIGN MEETING 10/19/00 Look at BG2 – city sections. Eric Dougherty Interview Mostly PC Gamer Interstate 76, Dues Ex, Red Alert, Dungeon Keeper Like hacking in Dues Ex – Rambo sneaky approach.
Page 42[]
Thief is anti-frag
Difficulty levels tied to killing – liked
"thiefing"?
Life of the Party/Shipping
More of a "big picture" type of guy.
Been to E3
Would like to work on anything – AI, high-level systems, physics.
Would prefer a direct translation.
Good insights into console translation, etc.
Fan of Ultima 6 and 7
Too excited about joining the industry – afraid to be critical
More stats – showcasing the entire system – did the AIs become alert { etc.
Page 43[]
Casing + Masks- More diverse arsenal Persistent Economy Likes options, likes being able to do things the way he wants. Tires of designs that limit the players too much. The synergy approach Independent worker, but will seek out help.
Page 44[]
Design Meeting 11/2/00 Demo – artists should look at it Initial footprint Schedule for art demo Tech needs Doc – Renamed "Features List." Establishing the gameplay vision Specific to Thief 3 * Mission design docs – mission breakout doc. 2 wing documents for designs What are design and technical perils? What new tools are introduced Technical limitations [Researched?] ideas
Page 45[]
5 days – demo 1 day documentation Terri Fiction Meeting 11/2/00 3 points 1.) Time travel [ticked] 2.) Introducing Player to Thief universe – no understanding of Thief 1 and 2 3.) "Foreign" architecture. 4.) Baron 5.) What is the witch?? [ticked] 6.) Not just gargoyles, but any… [ticked]
Page 46[]
…statue-
Connection to necromancers?
Gamall's goals:
Extend her life
Protect her own ass
Do away with Garrett, so he won't discover she is the brethren and bertrayer
[odd shape in margin]
Garrett encountering mystics in the City.
Poly counts | Small map
| 132 Polys – looking up massive staircase, with pipes
Big map
22- polys – from street, looking up to tower
- from tower base looking down – 26 polys
34 – looking down staircase
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Demo Art Review Leaning buildings Lots of pipes/steam Bevelled edges on buildings River/channels Pipes to traverse City Lots of [scribbles] beamwork on bridges Catwalks – find upper boundaries Hybrid large and confined Rope arrow use 1.) Define one building – incredibly detailed 2.) Small avenue – 3 buildings each side – leading up to the ruggedly detailed building Underground sewers leading to grotto
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Gothic Spanish Medieval Medieval, but from different areas Lighting!!!! [Use Uneral Unereal, scribbled out] Use Unreal for now Lots of staircases Slopes-steep stairs Make buildings look like real buildings Ancient Jeruselum
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Daniel Patton Interview Gamer – Wolfenstein, Doom, Quake, Unreal Very technical – push the engine Worldcraft, Unreal, made mods Good use of connectivity Big into game community – important for multiplayer Seems to know what he's talking about with mod groups – pushing mod support Likes "types" of levels, originality – Hong Kong Has a good eye for textures About Dues Ex – Doesn't like level reusage – finds it boring/frustrating. Wishes the areas had been changed. Likes realism – shoot a guy in heart, he should die, etc. Seems to like the slower-paced military sims Chess analog – likes to think. Like fear – being freaked out. Made a lock in 3D Studio Max to put on a [unfinished/page missing?]
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[odd shapes/markings in upper margins]
Terri Fiction/ Mision Meeting
(Randy, Terri, Luke, Emil)
Jack the Ripper
Failed assassination
Jail (P.O.W camp) – Pagan jail?? The Deer Hunter
Monsters can see in the dark, but not in the light. Subterranean society
Pirate ship [smiley face]
- Eavesdrop in a Church
Orphanage – Hammerite
Airship
Chinese temple
- - - - - - - - -
Ideas
Thieves mission
[door?]
Made his own fucking security monitor – used screenshots w/ flashing textures
did shooting stars in the skybox
Moving billboard – graphical touch.
Thinks functionally.
Loves systems
Didn't like consoles in the past – too limited – changed
Page 51[]
Daniel Pallon Post Process
Jeremy Graves
- Done Gothic, wants realistic stuff.
- Wants to work as a map maker
\/
Played
- Half-Life
- AVP
- Kingpin
- Liked AVP - Good ambient sound, good shock value. Impressive AI - noted the AI - advanced, but not really.
- Half-Life - cited immersion. Great scripting.
- Kingpin - raw, hardcore - thought the violence was over the top! Great architecture. (true) - open-ended but linear too
Page 52[]
- Played massively multiplayer games - UO and Everquest
- Back in the days of Doom?? He's only 19! How old was he when Doom came out
- Make Half-Life better? Totally stumped.
\/
jumping is good? Wrong
- Very job-minded. Kept talking about the things he needed to do to get a job.
- Biggest disappointment with wheel of Time
- great textures! level design - no character interaction. Played it simply because of the level design
- FPS on console - PS2 keyboard + mouse is good Always been a computer guy.
Page 53[]
- Would like to work on Thief 3 if "he had to."
- Likes to feed off of other people - energy
- Dream job - oversee direction of level design - see himself as lead designer.
- RPG experience - SNES - Secret of Mana, Phantasy Star
\/
PC - King Quest, Hero's Quest, those games
- Likes BG
- Friend tried to get him into D+D. Magic the Gathering / Warhammer
- Makes deathmatch maps, but doesn't play.
Love to learn - he really took off Cliff B - has been teaching him for a...
Page 54[]
... year via IRC.
- Teach other people? Limited
- Difference between hardcore + subtle
\/
- Hardcore - lots of Z axis weapon balance
- Subtle Creatively adjusting gameplay to make it more fun.
- What makes good DM map
- fast
- good theme
- "gimmick map" - conveyors, etc.
- a lot of anticipation + strategy paints
- Good respawn points
- Balance is key
- Singleplayer is a lot different
- architecture less intrusive - more of a backdrop
- Good connectivity - open linearity
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map filters you into a certain location --->
Page 55[]
- Likes player action to affect the course of the game. What happens to a bridge when you blow it up?
- 3 maps on backburner to finish
- Test map
- Dream game? - Involve other NPCs. Give them a place in the world. Bigger world. Make it a complex world, bigger than the player... Interaction with AI
\/
Wow, he's describing Deus Ex
- any games with bad live design - level design was pretty crappy - no detail - very boxy - cheap subway. Blurry textures.
- Loves adding detail
Page 56[]
- Play the sequel to "The Edge"
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Download
- Techno-Gothic vibe -
Patrick Connelly
- Left Westwood - Got tired of no quality qontrol
- Some problems with management
\/
Problems with management - got suspension + probation.
- Kind of a designer, but with an associate producer background as well.
- Has a game he wants to do - thinks System Shock 2 is best story-based game around
- Game called "APE" - his concept.
\/
Really energetic guy
\/
Sounds pretty cool - imagines this as a first-person on the console.
- design is design - artists don't ...
Page 57[]
- Likes player empowerment
- Doos Ex
- Erratic
- Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Pow! Pow!
\/
The Emeril of game design
- Script the epic game moments.
- Weird console-esque hints - puzzle-like hints.
- Fear Factor in Shock 2
- After Westwood, helped Westwood employees start a startup. Sold one of his designs, etc.
- Has really varied gaming tastes
\/
Street Fighter 2
\/
Really wants to do this APE game
Violence is okay if it is...
Page 58[]
... tasteful
- Described Thief as "medieval." Doesn't really get it.
- Really interested in paper design, would like to do missions. Very little experience with UnrealEd
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Good understanding of the strengths + limitations of scripting.
\/
Talking about games but it really sounds like he's talking about demos. Limited experience.
- Counterstrike player - What's bad about it?
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- Some poor levels
- Couldn't think of anything else bad
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kind of afraid to answer some questions - says Counterstrike is a hardcore gamer's game ---->
Page 59[]
- Thinks Tribes is totally hardcore.
- Very hard to get specific about it.
- I disagree about a lot of what this guy about Tribes - I think he's wrong about some stuff - right about some stuff
\/
definitely right about the fucked up economy.
- Jet pack has a big barrier to entry.
- Doesn't know the games at all - weak
- Keeps repeating catchphrase "Player Empowerment"
- 51 level Shaman on Everquest - really fucking hardcore
- Everquest has no interactivity - he hates it.
Page 60[]
- Tallon Zek Sewer -> PVP
feels like they can't even get the factions right
- Character classes are unbalanced
- Wishes there were more scripted events.
\/
Should be a random event generator
- $3000?! You could buy a car for that!
- Goldeneye + Medal of Honor
\/
Thinks Goldeneye is best example of first person console game.
- "If you can conquer the interface on the console, you've got it made."
- Thought Perfect Dark was too complicated / complex.
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Phone meeting with Terri on 11/17/00 Fiction - Garrett desperate BG2 Party 1) Shadowgreen 2) Khayom Khaniel 3) Kaylea Silverleaf 4) Sarravus 5) Jeheira 6) OR 1) Thindle – Thief 2) Kaylea Silverleaf – Fallen Mage 3) Sarravus – Undead Hunter 4) Jeheira – Druid 5) Shadowgreen – Archer – Black Arris 1) Kaylen Silverleaf – Fighter / Magic User 2) Sarravus – Undead Hunter 3) Jaheira – Druid 4) Thindle – Thief 5) Shadowgreen – Archer 6)
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1) Sarravus – Undead Hunter – Melee 2) Jaheira - Fighter / Mage Druid - Ranged / Caster 3) Kaylea Silverleaf – Fighter / Mage – Melee / Caster 4) Khayan Khadiel – Assasin – Ranged / Thief 5) Thindle Thistlefoot Thistleburr - Thief 5) Shadowgreen – Archer 6) 1) Sarravus – Melee 2) Jaheira – Caster (Ranged) Melee 3) Kayla Silverleaf – Melee / Caster 4) Khayan Khaniel – Thief / Assassin 5) 6)
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1) Sarravus - Meele - Undead Hunter - Melee 2) Aravain – Ranger-Melee 3) Khayan Khadiel - Thief - rangl - Ranged - Melee 5) 6) 1) Aravain – Melee 2) Sarravus – Melee 3) Khayan Khaniel – Melee / Ranged 4) Shadygreen – Ranged / Caster 5) Jasheira 6)
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12 / 13 Meeting - Funeral - Set when. How much time has passed between games. - Internal Structure of Keepers - Orland elected / appointed to "First Keeper" - Orland doesn't get a lot of support | \/ - Orland is incompetent - From in game to cinematic and back - ritrual - Hammerie or Pagan - Hammer / Pagan War - Gamall's - Gamall manipulates Orland? She may want him to stay as First Keeper because she needs him - weak as he…
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… may be - in that position. - Acknowledge + reward all player choices Mike - Graphics - Anomation Systems. - Ported Mech 2 Direct X - Good team - Doesn't like to get in on design. Good com w/designers - Limited design knowledge - Crimson order - Knows mass market - Worked on Harpoon - Doesn't like RPGs
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get the money you put in, plus the 6% plus any other interest / etc. accrued ...
minus a 10% penalty and any taxes.
Fiction Meeting 1/9/01
(w / Terri)
- Giant Final Glyph
- Directed Exploration
- Think about artifacts
- Dagger
- Book of Ash
- Brave new world paradigm
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AI Presentation Dromed - Dromed alertness levels 3 High 2 Med 1 Low 0 no alert - Senses - Guard sees you according to - Lidght - Weapons - Speed - Pose - Walls +___________ Visibility (Light Gem)
Page 68[]
- Sound - The strengths + weaknesses of variable floor types - metal versus tile, etc. - Alertness vs. awareness. Guards can be aware of open doors, the player's position, etc. Combat - Vantage points + flee points Decision making / goals
Page 69[]
Shanghai River -
Drew Mobley
- DA guy
- Played Shock + Shock 2
- Played Thief 1, liked more core thievery stuff
\/
Never played Thief 2
- Played some Deus Ex - played first mission 15 times.
Likes Warcraft 2. blah blah blah.
- Thought 2nd Shock was a little stale.
- Didn't like the AI in Deus Ex - Thought it sucked
Page 70[]
Brainstorming Meeting w / Terri. 1-16-01 - Ballista - gun emplacements - opportunities for the player to kill / let off steam - Flare Arrow - blood 2 flare gun - Wildcard arrows - additional - Weapons + primary + secondary fuunctions, powering up weapons. - Light source that doesn't illuminate you. - Keyring feedback - Locks you can smash
Page 71[]
- Clairvoyance Potion you see out of the Equivalent to the wyard eye spell or the ability in Mysteries of the Seth - The "bug" arrow - Digital Camera - A Glyph book - you actually got to the page to choose the one you want, and then you draw it in game (in air, on the wall, etc) - Issues - Maybe the psycometry is really a darning rod
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Fiction (Alternate Plot) Meeting with Terri 01-16-01 - New paradigms - Meeting the future Garrett? - Tie subplot into the main plot. - First half of game is Garrett being directed by the Keepers - Cool sentient society of artifacts
Page 73[]
Outside 1 Giant Terrain Mesh (any scenery is recessed into terrain) Tall pyramidal Columns - Solid geometry (2 pieces) Steps - Solid Geometry Trees - 1 Hardware Brush (all different, no instances) Stone tree base - 1 Hardware Brush Arch De Triumph - 3 Hardware brushes - 1 Top Arch - 2 Pillars (Instances of each other) Gazeto on Hill - 1 Hardware Brush Tower Building - Base - 1 Solid Geometry Brush 1st floor - 1 semi solid (includes indented windows and lip L-window) 2nd - " " " 3rd - " " " Balconies - 1 Hardware (instanced 6 times for tower) Dome Buildings - 1 Hardware Small Rectangle Buildings - 1 Hardware Platform Walls - Solid Base - Solid
Page 74[]
Main Buildings
Entranceway -
- 4 Solid Brushes
4 support struts Semi-Solid
- archway
- 4 Solid brushes for wall
1 Hardware for detail arch (2 instances)
- arch base Semi Solids
Roof Trim - Semi Solids
Whole Building + Main Pyramid roof - 1 solid
- smaller pyramid roof - 1 solid
Gargoyles - 1 Hardware (II instances)
Interior
Gargoyle Room
Pedestals - Solid
Main room
Columns - 1 Hardware Brush (22 instances)
Floor - all solid w / coplanar solids
1st Floor Arch
- 1 Hardware Brush for arch (8 instances)
- 1 Hardware for lees (16 instances)
Page 75[]
2nd Floor Tall Column - 1 Hardware (instances) Triple arcs (includes column detail, support, behind and sides) 1 Hardware (8 instances) 3rd Floor - Arch w / columns - 1 Hardware (8 instances) Roof dome support - 1 Hardware Pyramid carved out of roof - 1 Brush - dome is 1 Hardware Brush Chandelier - 1 Hardware Base of dome detail lip - 1 Hardware (2 instances) (1st and 2nd floor)
Page 76[]
Brainstorming meeting /w/Terri 1-18-01
- Pagan seed - artifact? One time use. Maybe some Victoria shrine
Save / Load issues
- owl + Pagan Dust
- Paperdoll - inventory items you can wear
- Rope arrow
|
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- aiming
- Getting onto a rope
- Close to a wall
Page 77[]
Glyphs - Speak w / dead - Go on swords - Heal the player - Calm people or install some other state - Teleport - Fly - Freeze a guard - Keeper weakness is a dependence on the glyphs - Animate statues - Memory suppresion
Page 78[]
- Bring up Winter Castle - ask about Thief gameplay - Whiteboard thieving situation - How does he handle criticism? What type of work environment would he like? - Console games - ask about UT PS2 - Want to be part of thought process? - Follow direction - can you he take a complete mission - Ask about Clufly B's philosophy - how much has he valued that insight - Ask general editor questions - How…
Page 79[]
… does he deal with editor problems
- How well would he hold back, etc.
Brainstorming Meeting w / Terri 1-18-01 (cont.)
Jeremy
- First encounter with stealth
\/
novelty wore off
- Liked Courier the best???
\/
Thinks very much in terms of leveldesign - scale, eyeheight
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Environments seemed sparse
Page 80[]
- Shipping + Receiving - Used to designing Unreal Tournament - style maps. - Thinks in terms of aesthetics - Bank - the further you go in, the mor claustrophobic you got. - Likes secret passages - Good insights into the difference between single + multiplayer map making styles - Takes time adding atmosphere - Doesn't light as he goes -so he can chande architecture if he wants - Tries to inspire himself - Always builds level with lighting in mind - can think about lighting + architecture.
Page 81[]
- WOT - Best trait is the aesthetics - would miss it if artists did aesthetic pass - CAn work to evolve an idea past what's on paper - Realism is in the details - UT is geared towards dark,gothic stuff. - Go down hallway - look at trim detail on wall. Go into room - see flickering TV. - Cool title emergent action sequence - Blend of scripted + emergent behavior - Been focusing on design / working - not playing games - Zork Nemesis - Myst. Very atmospheric puzzle game. - Loved Unreal - Good knowledge of particles / movers, etc.
Page 82[]
But using them is a pain. - Can think the way the player thinks - and figure out what works + what doesn't. - Hyperboreal - inspired simply by the area of making a cool map. - Everything is an Unreal map. Just how the bud thinks. - Getting burned out on level designing alone - Anxious to hear stuff about his work. Wants criticism. - Cliffy B. - trained him to stand back and look at his work objectively. Mental checklist - Perfectionist.
Page 83[]
- Why Ion Storm?
- Amazed that we don't know who the Digital Extremes guys are
- I drew a box, and he erased it - awesome
\/
- Made an octagonal room
- Balcony above
- Lots of pillars for shadows + hiding
- Item in center, surrounded by tile flooring
- 4 ways to the room
- Creative pillar design in center
Modify his design on the fly - very cool.
Tile room with wood trim - carpet around item.
Page 84[]
- Multiple entranceways, etc. swinging on ropearrows* - Thioght specifically about how to place wooden beams so you can use rope arrows -Great ideas of 3D space - Gothic Windows - Approach from roof, come in through windows, chill on the beamwork. - What kind of thief are you? Approach from ground, ceiling, etc.
Page 85[]
- Using terrain for stealth
- Shoot the bell to distract a guard, etc.
- Approach building from all sides
David Riegel
- Wants to work at us because we rule!!!
- Thief 2x work - 45 fans at first, now 35-40. Designing Lead level designer on T2X. Finishing fanmission, too.
\/
Communicate via IRC. Own FTP. Own Chatrooms.
- Dark Project was dreat, he thinks. Visual problems. ---->
Page 86[]
Thief had a weaker story. Story was lacking
- Like Trail of Blood
- Rooftops
- Big story buff - Reflections of your goals + motivations as a player. Thief 2 started too slowly. Ended slowly.
\/
By Trail of blood / LoTP, you know Mechanists are the bag guys, so the rest of the missions are slow
Really likes Solder of Fortune
Metal Gear Solid was awesome.
Thinks MGS was revolutionary when it came out. Thinks espionage ...
Page 87[]
... was really good, but could have been better.
- Answers are very general
- MGS a fantastic epic.
- Has trouble criticizing games
- T2X - Keep with the consistency of Thief 1 + Thief 2. Hilight stealth that doesn't rely on items. Be analytical.
- New lightgem- new character - not as good as Garrett - add more shadow, make light gem weaker.
\/
In first mission, player isn't trained yet.
- Main character is a woman. He was hesistant to reveal anything about the story, because it is a secret. Ok brother.
- Confusion arrow
- Ice arrow ---->
Page 88[]
- Grenade that disables bots.
- Dagger.
- Really a DromEd guy - A hardcore 3D builder.
\/
Building + story -> But not very much thought given to gameplay?
- His T2X is a city mission
\/
Study Ambush, Courier, + Assassins.
\/
Resident Evil for inspiration
\/
- Dad's an architect
- Favorite movie - Really loves Conan, Gladiator, Braveheart - Fantasy + sci-fi
- Reads horror novels
- T3 on consoles - First-person ...
Page 89[]
... games haven't translated well so far
\/
Better graphics
- Doesn't see T3 on a console right away. Couldn't raelly answer the question
- Reintroduction of paranoia
- Captain Kirk or Picard-Picard, Shatner is king.
Page 90[]
Jordan Thomas
1-22-01
- UnrealEd experience
- Deus Ex - Liked Augs + Skills, attention to detail (tranq dart example). Likes that the gameplay caters to choice.
- Didn't like the forced failure. Didn't like the aug choices - players missed out on a lot of fun. Didn't feel very agile. Didn't like lack of Consequences in some circumstances
\/
Make the cost high enough to the player so he has to make a challenging choice
- Used to like praise exploration...
Page 91[]
... even where there was a lack of direction - doesn't feel that way now
\/
- Admits he looks for the good in games.
-Likes RPG that allow freedom + expression
\/
Player feeling empovered as a player
\/
- Situational Freedom - How does the player handle each situation.
\/
Clunky conwersation systems suck, etc.
- Dream game - Futuristic, cyberpunk,
\/
Starts with questionnaire - enter game, make it such before you die. Character changes physically + mentally.
\/
- Evolutionary Personality ---->
Page 92[]
- Likes characters affected over time.
- Doesn't like larger teams
- Likes to be left out of the loop.
1) Conceptual - spying, ambush, disguise
2) Gameplay Challenges - Climbing walls (better than mantling)
Stuff in Thief 2 kinda worked, but the technology wasn't up to snuff
\/
- Loot objective comes to mind
- Thinks consoles are the wave of the future
- Don't Console - clever control set
Page 93[]
Brainstorming meeting
w / Terri 1/24/01
Trent Martiney
1-25-01
- Played multiplayer on DWINGO
- Played X-Com
- Daikatana artist. Texturing, UV mapping, object skinning
- Quake editing - QE Racist
- In-game cinematics - Camerashots
- 3D modelling,level design
- Loved Deus Ex - liked real world responses, adult humor, women's room
- SimCity
- Played Thief,some Thief 2. Real-world environments - Not convinced he actually played Thief...
- Frustrations with Shipping
- Water arrow - different strategies, etc.
Page 94[]
- Big Everquest player - Consider Diablo + Diablo 2 RPGs... - More stuff on X-Com. - Contract art stuff for anachronox - Couple of websites for people - My gameplay, my strategy - Chaotic kind of gameplay - Run through portal, fall onto Quad damage. - Prefers subtractive - Likes to sketch things out. - Answers are pretty much just rhetoric. - Everquest - Addiction. Likes guild, online friends. Strategy technique. Dislikes repetition, feels the almost how to have it. Pretty much a non-answer - Room by room building - Wants to design but considers himself more of a Jack of all trades. Saw flaws in Daikatana and knew he could better. Setting environment involved in playing.
Page 95[]
- Likes gothic stuff - Wouldn't mind working with Monte. Fiction brainstorming - AIs w / Terri 1/25/01 - In-game cutscene - Hammers as Hells' Angels - they come into town with a "kickass + take names" mindset. - Keepers
Page 96[]
Body Conciousness Meeting
Design meeting 1/30
< with Terri > Tuesday, 4:50 P.M.
- Documentation of mission (Looking Glass mission breakout?)
- Art pipeline question
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Do they do a pass on the level???
- Art direction???
- Stair angles + door heights
Page 97[]
Wednesday 1/31/01
Art/Design meeting 2:00 P.M.
Unreal Ed meeting
Terrain
\/
- Giant cube 5000x5000x5000
- Place zoneinfo + terraininfo (maybe…)
- Zone Info -> change Terrain Zone to true
- Terrain Info
Select a texture in the terrain.utx
\/
Terrain map -> "use" the texture
\/
Layers -0-
- Alpha map - "Use" the clear white one
- Texture - choose a texture
- UScale - 2
- VScale - 2 ---->
Page 98[]
(still under Terraininfo)
\/
TerrainLight
\/
Terrain Light Dir (Sunlight beam-vector)
- Pitch - 60
- Roll - 0
- YAW - 0
(Still Under TerrainInfo)
- Terrain scale
Body awareness Meeting 2-1-01
Page 99[]
Jordan Thomas
- Scripted Sequence - Pointeg out.
- Scripting is really good in certain situations.
\/
Get player create their own cinematic sequences
\/
Halflife strength is the scripted sequences.
- Deus Ex had a unique problem. So much dialogue, so cutscenes are necessary.
- Seeing yourself in 3rd person is immersion breaking.
- "Your" Garrett -
- "Sneaky Action" - But still action.
- Likes to do a big gross layout.
Page 100[]
- Skilled with concept design + architecture building.
- The boarding school, wine cellars, stealing information.
- Stealth in pursuit of money
- Has to pay the rent - interesting. likes it.
Son + fathers theme.
- Ramdomness is good, but only if it doesn't punish the player.
\/
Points for doing interesting things.
Page 101[]
Meetings 2/7/01
- Boring (No tools) Run jump, strafe (No environment)
- Environment - mantle, die, swim
- Interactive Pull lever, push button, opening a door
- Stuff with AI's - pickpocket
(tools + no-tools) pick-up bodies
- Docs / old / ancient darkdesign
- Body awareness loc
-
Page 102[]
Tuesday 2/8 (P.N.T.!!)
Conversations Water Meeting
Emil, Nate, Randy, Lulu, Ian, Serg.
- Water
- What are Epic's plans for water.
\/
How well they're goung to support water could affect our plans.
\/
We need next gen or a gen behind.
- What can the Unreal water do?
\/
Ian - specify water on a zone basis
- Water affected by geometry (not like DromEd)
- What'a affected by water is…
Page 103[]
dealt within scripts - Water as a medium - We want stuff to float (density field) if it's boyant - We want fires to go out, and other stimuli (steam + smoke when hot) - Transitioning sounds - do in, come out, - Splash effects - Unconcious bodies drowning - Ripples / Undulating - Speed based transitional sounds - sneak make less sound - Water with a current - Corners - zones? (This is an L-shaped section of static water) - Feedback - Polygonal waves (undulating etc.) What does water do? - How does water interact with new - Unreal Terrain?
Page 104[]
(Zelda uses multitexturing all over the place)
- Do we need waterfalls in the game?
- Artists make waterfalls
\/
do these objects break the item
- Want minimal support for rising water
\/
Specifically designed scenarios
\/
A hole in a ceiling that can only be reached if the water is raised
\/
You make more niose splashing through water.
- A flooded city - jumping onto carts…
Page 105[]
… to stay out of water, etc. (flooded basements) - Types of water \/ - Lava / molted metal - Acid - Poisonous water (Maw) Water that hurts you Bodies of water Use outdoor terrain as much as possible \/ - Lakes - Ponds -Wells - Flooded sinks, puddles - Fountains
Page 106[]
- Canals
- Severs
What player sees underwater
- Fogging underwater
- Undulating
- Air bubbles a-la Thief
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
- Lilipads - IK plants
- Whirlpools
Gameplay
- Breath thing
- Silent entry spit
\/
Make spec fo getting into + out of water
\/
include speer fo cutting light
- If you comr to the surface with…
Page 107[]
… little air, you make a splash + make a lot of noise
- What happens when an AI sees the player undewater
- AI is swimming across the surface of the water
- AI's will chase you through water, won't go into water simply to meet up with you
- Footprints
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Leave thin wet footprints for a few seconds that AI's would not see
- Bloody footprints
- Reflective water
- Fighting underwater
- How hard is it?
Page 108[]
- Look at Turok 1
- Ballisticsmethod? (arrows through water)
Categories
1) - Water as a media
- What happens to obj. (+ player) in the media?
- What hap. to obj. that transition to and from (and player)
A) - fire go out
- splashing
- bouyancy
- ripples, etc.
- What does the player see / look like?
2) Water Behavior (Moving / Active)
(Water as a dynamic entity)
Page 109[]
- Currents
- Waterfalls
- Forks
- Rising Water
3) Types of Water
- Lava
- Acid, etc.
- Particle effects / objects vs. actual water
4) Water Appearance
- What does the surface look like?
- Water rolling past rock
- Plants
- Waterfalls
5) Level building dependencies
- Talk about how it's done in Unreal
- Mention weaknesses / strengths
- Gameplay in water
Page 110[]
6) Gamplay in Water
- Drowning
- footprint
- lackof combat
- stealth
(A) Stealth dynamic
Big mission meeting 2-21-01
Brian Glines
- Longtime level maker 13-14
- First-person games, RPGs,
\/
- Giants
- No One Lives Forever
\/
- Story + Cutscenes good
- AI pretty good
- Interesting missions
Page 111[]
- Bad stealth
\/
Liked stealth in Deus Ex, but sometimes jarring - why bother being stealthy??
- Trouble answering question "what didn't you like about Deus Ex" Interface get clumsy
- On Deus Ex - Would expand upon open-endedness. Higher level of detail - cool stuff all over the place.
\/
Builds with technology in mind - poly counts, etc.
- Only made a couple of outdoor ones. Likes it, though.
Page 112[]
- Multiplayer vs. single player
\/
good answer
- Choke points, non linear
- Vampire - game master, storyteller node.
\/
- Will learn 3DStudio Max for DX2.
- No one needs another generic deathmatch game.
\/
Most people won't get the strategy + stuff
\/
Not as fast paced, walk speed is really slow, takes a lot ...
Page 113[]
to kill someone. Most Q3 players probably wouldn't like it.
\/
Make sci-fi RPG. Thinks the technology (computers) add the potential for a lot of depth
- Likes BG2 - Had lots to do, like the story D+D games, Main character - Paladin.
\/
- BG2 - lots of interactivity, bit it always seemed to end up in fighting. weird.
- Would want to go to school to get aneducation
- DX map - used programming in the ...
Page 114[]
... mission script. Programmed a robot to stand in place, made some custom-made characters. Making Fog View, Advanced, Rendering - volumetric lighting. - The fog goes off of a light that you place - "Don't use a zoneinfo!!!"
Page 115[]
- Add a sheet - "zone portal"
- Zone portals are invisible "they're pre-checked"
Monday 2/26/01
Chris Carollo's Object Hierarchy meeting
- Publish dialog suggestions.
┌────────────┐
│mech │ My Gazebo ││
│name └──────┘│
│ ┌──────┐│
│skin │ Default ││
│name └──────┘│
└────────────┘
Page 116[]
Mission Breakout Meeting 2-28
Jeremy Brainstorms - Tuesday, 3-1
- Have a guard not wake up with a neck break
\/
Put in player power brainstorm list
- Press up against a wall
- Sound taunts - Garrett using sounds to distract guards
\/
Bird thing or whatever
- Silhouettes -
Lightning that lightens an area
- Device / glyph that dampens sound in a room
- Dagger with other uses
Page 117[]
3-8-01
Art resources meeting
- Alcoves with broken statues
- Dungeon measurements
- 14 wide high
- 26 wide
______________
- 12 high
- 16 wide
drop 2 add 2
______________
raise by 2, 1 width
Page 118[]
- Mark Vietek - Interview March 27 11 2000 - Origin for 10 years - Lead designer - 2 Crusader games. - Lead designer on Privateer 3 - Was lead worldbuilder on UO 2 - First design jig was Serpent Isle. - Then did worldbuilding on Ultima 8 - Likes Pirates!, Metal Gear Solid, Monkey Island - Wanted stealth in Crusader. - Guy doesn't know Thief... - Likes Tomb Rider Series - Listing the very banes of gamedesign. - Likes games with good fiction - Doesn't like Mario or other "non-story based" console games. - Hasn't played Thief, Thief 2, Deus Ex, or System Shock. - Started Deus Ex - likes the amount of detail. Shoots it out - has trouble crouching. - Is playing Asheron's Call. - Doesn't seem to have any thoughts on game mechanics or design. ---->
Page 119[]
- Online Ga,es aren't games - they're Communities
- Community makes a good online game.
* God, I sooooo... fucking disagree!!!
- Making a multiplayer game is really social engineering.
- Has built outdoor and indoor
Likes endineering a map for different player types.
\/
- Likes sci-fi better than fantasy.
- A race that introduced steampunk into the Ultima universe. Julles Verne.
- Has always liked world building games without designing them.
Page 120[]
David Riegel 3-28-01
- Big gamer
- Nocturne, Alice, Deus Ex, Dead or alive
\/
Finished Deus Ex - at Hong Kong
- Thinks Deus ex stealth works.
- Deus Ex flaws - AI Problems
- Not a lot about Deus Ex that bugs him
- Testing limitations of Deus Ex
- Player should still associte with Garrett
\/
Information is a reward.
- Doesn't like faction stuff
- Good beginnings and endings in conversation Full thoughts
- Thief is more like a mystery. Not happy
- Empathic bond with the player ---->
Page 121[]
- Scripted events in Thief 3 - Missions are, by virtue, open-ended.
Likes them as long as they're not too contrived.
- Thief on console? You can translate (today) games that were previously untranslatable.
\/
- Questions about wether 1st person games work on a console.
- Players would find 3rd person too disquieting
- Whiteboard
Library with Undead
- Hates unnecessarity punishing the player.
Page 122[]
- Slight patch of shadow near a every doorway - Not a lot of thoughts on using 3D space - Good ideas on AI in shadows, etc. - China - Clie Barker, McHaumon, Luslbader, Behavior system of AI Internet doc. - 2:00 PM - Locations + Experiences, modify action syn if nec. - Another moment of gameplay. - Rob as art buddy art, programming, speech done for now ---->
Page 123[]
Thursday, March 29, 2001 - It sounds like you already have a really cool job. Why be a game designer? - How established are you in California. Would relocating be a problem? - Do you play console + PC games? - What games? - What do you try to accomplish when making a deathmatch map? Do you like single player, and how would you go about making a single player map?
Page 124[]
- Been at Pixar for 5 years.
- Willing to move
- Thief most innovative game since Ultima Underworld.
- PC Gamer, played good console games when came out.
- Loves Thief game world
- Likes the stimulation of thieving
- Don't like 1st person shooters too much. Too dumb
\/
- Deus Ex - finished it. - Thought it was awesome
\/
loved the integration of RPG stuff - halfway between Thief + System Shock.
\/
Likes the System Shocks.
Page 125[]
- Played Deus Ex - Did a little of everything - lockpicking + rocket launcher. - Undead missions in Thief were tedious - yet he somehow missed them in Thief 2. Missed "RTC" type missions. - Liked the missions in Thief 2. Ref-Contained stories. Not as overall integrated as in Thief 1. Didn't like AI of robots in Thief 2. - Thinks visually - Mechanists, more technology related missions. - Take the game tj different locations.
Page 126[]
- Dream Mission: Make a City section. Make a real environment. Create a living City, like in Outcast. City with an economy Evolving city. Different architectural styles.
- Making single player + multiplayer the same
\/
Always think where the player will be.
- Looks to rough out Caen, the polishing after that. Do a rough first.
Worked from the center outward. Started as Berlin 1945.
- Planned out / drew everything on peper first before building ---->
Page 127[]
- At Pixar, it's more solo. Likes working with other people.
\/
- Likes pit
- Cool aesthetic Wishes he had a dedicated artist on Caen. Says he really does more design than art at Pixar
- Quark for D.O.D. Used Worldcraft. Knows Max. Virtual Reality studio
* Likes everything about building, likes the way connectivity is important to the player
- Forest battle map 2/3 forest
- Forest more horizontal - house action, (2nd floor), Axes has advantage on the road (height)
Page 128[]
- Bad maps - ones with too much Connectivity, or too cramped. - Likes the fact that DOD allows for dynamic battles - Waterfall - Cut in half - Noisyfish - Move in Kurshok pool - Move in other spaces too - sparring guys - occasionally take a break, shift positions, switch weapons. - Map. Go north. - tile floors - Scavenging in the garden - Junk pile --->
Page 129[]
- Recognition - Zareeth forced failure - Connectivity to throne room - Go past the arena through the "sloping tunnel" - Zareeth w / dagger??? Bigger doors - Beams coming through wall - Chains (climbable)
Page 130[]
Issues with Static Mech pieces - No backwards polygons is a pain - Sizes seem inconsistent. For example, the arch piece doesn't precisely fit the geometry arches I made. - What issues should we + should we not be paying attention to?? - Scaling up seems to be working - Need to use textures from the static mesh's family, so bsp will be consistent. - No backplaces on polys means we're a bit limited - Scale seems off. Railings come up to knees - Need smaller pieces, like an individual bannister
Page 131[]
Stackable system has some flaws - you can tell where each segment begins, ends, example - the columns. SCHEDULE REVIEW 5-23-01 - Special Inventory screen options: Combining stuff, etc, etc. - Control remapping * Do what MOH does - Difficulty levels * Difficulty levels - Load + Save * - Do what other games too - Map + Automap - Look at Ian's list of metagame screens. Make internal doc.
Page 132[]
Syphon Filter Save/Load (Training video is dumb...) Non-interactive + too quick. - Vibration ON/OFF - INVERT AIM ON/OFF - PRESET CONFIG STANDARD / ALTERNATE AIM X USE / ZOOM IN L2 CANCEL ACCEPT RESET * Syphon Filter 2 is the same, except between "remember zoom" "invert aim" and "preset config" is "remember zoom".
Page 133[]
Notes Fiction Meeting
Tuesday 7/17
Gamall murder - Just askin left behind - Stolen life energy - Orland blames Garrett - "This is ancient Keeper magic. You had access to the libraries! You are responsible!"
\/
- Orland knows about Gamall?? Knows Garrett isn't the killer He's Gamall's pawn - afraid of her. Maybe it's been like that for centuries - Gamall always …
Page 134[]
manipulating the Keeper Leader
\/
Really masonic
\/
Gamall as first Keeper? Maybe she thinks she's the one true Keeper
- Weather device - Shoelace has plans to install it on a ship sailing ship - wind for sails.
- Clock tower - very masonic.
\/
Keeper timewatchers - they know it will point toward Keeper Compound - Trying to prevent catastrophe.
- Gamall as third God - Last God
\/
Old gods are dead, when Gamall dies
Page 135[]
- Gamall did this staff in the beginning!!! To prevent everithing that happening. She made the failsafes. The Marble Arms Wednesday, 7/25/01 Hotel Trap Mission - Glyphs on statues? - Can't kill AI, can't adjust light VERY hardcore, Maybe very difficult. - Where are statues??? - Builder's chisel???
Page 136[]
Wednesday 7/25/01