Thief Demo

Mark Muschett

First question that may come to mind is why review the demo when the full version is showing up in stores now? My first excuse is that it takes a week or two longer than the norm for new releases to make it to my home abode and secondly, this demo is supposed to be packed full of all the goodies that the shipping version will offer. Thief will be shipping with A3D 1.x and DS3D support. EAX support will be added in a patch and we are still trying to get word on A3D 2.0. Finally, no game has ever put so much into audio in the hype leading upto release as Thief: The Dark Project and as such, it has really captured my attention from the get go.

So what about the demo?

Well to stall a moment longer before getting into my impressions of the demo I want to quote some notes from Looking Glass to set the stage. These are from the various support documents that accompany the demo.

Thief supports a lot of exciting features that are available with more advanced sound cards. If your sound card supports hardware acceleration and/or 3D sound (such as A3D compatible sound cards), you can turn on the Hardware Acceleration option in the Audio Options menu. Thief supports 3D sound - you won't believe your ears!

Sound plays an important role in Thief. When you're sneaking around some guy's house at night, you want to be able to hear which direction the armed guard is coming from, how close he is, and what sort of surface he's walking on. If your sound card supports hardware acceleration using DirectSound3D, we strongly recommend that you use it while playing Thief. Turning on this option will also enable 3D positional audio (such as A3D) on supported cards, which significantly enhances the Thief experience.

You may have heard the term "First Person Shooter" to describe other action games with a first-person point of view. Thief is not one of those games. Instead, think of Thief as a "First Person Sneaker." Sure, you can use your sword and bow to kill your enemies, but the general rule of engagement in Thief is: "The enemy should never know you were there."

Of course, the best way to survive a fight is avoid it in the first place. Pay attention to which way enemies are facing. Listen for their footsteps. Choose dark places from which to observe their behavior. Notice the type of ground you're walking on, and don't make lots of noise that advertises your presence. Also, remember that you're harder to see while crouching, when close to a wall, and without your sword or an arrow readied.

If you do need to take someone out, try sneaking up behind them and knocking them out with a blackjack. Or try waiting in a shadow for an enemy to walk past, and then shooting them in the back with an arrow. These options are generally going to work better than a frontal rush.

You get the idea. Looking Glass has plans to take sound beyond the level of adding to the immersion of a game and make it a critical component of completing the game!

So lets get into the demo. I am going to focus on the audio in this review so look for only a light overview of the graphics and overall gameplay.

Its quite a hefty download and we can blame the emphasis on sound on that fact. Many Internet demos can go light on the sound to save space. The fact that in a 45 MB zip file one of the files (snd.crf) dedicated to sound takes up 32 MB tells you loads about the importance of sound!

Selecting AUDIO OPTIONS brings up a screen from which you can the set the sound-effect volume, number of available channels, and hardware acceleration. Available channels toggles between 4, 8 and 12 audio channels. As I was doing this review using the Diamond Monster Sound MX300 I set the channels to 12. The MX300 was set for 4 speaker playback using Cambridge SoundWorks' FourPoint Surround system.

In video options I had to chose between a Creative Labs Voodoo 2 board and a Diamond Monster Fusion board. In one of the enclosed files, instructions are given to tweak the gamma settings to maximize the effect of shadows. There is an issue with on-the-fly tweaking with Voodoo 2 boards so I selected my Diamond Monster Fusion board and set it to 800*600 16 bit and adjusted character detail to high. All other setting I left at the default settings.

I selected the training level at normal difficulty and held my breath...

As the training level starts you stand in a room with a door at the opposite end. Footsteps softly approach from the left and gradually get louder. You look up to see a guard appear on an upper platform. As he moves around the front of the room the sound of his footsteps tracks accurately along with his movements and gradually disappears as he continues his patrol of the upper level.

You go through the doors and are greeted by an instructor. Your training has begun. Keeping with the emphasis on stealth, two of the lessons drive home the importance of not being discovered. One of these teaches you be very aware of the surface you walk across, as the noise you make may be the difference between life and death!

However, the training level is just that, a training level, and really offers nothing spectacular in the use of sound. The aural high points were the guard walking across the room and later on, a simple clanking shut of a gate behind me (the acoustics of which lead me to believe that Looking Glass has implemented their own software reverb and echo parameters in the game engine).

Aside from the tips on stealth, the training level addresses many of the other basic skills you will need to survive, including climbing ropes, archery and swordsmanship. It also allows you to begin to master the keyboard/mouse interface necessary to control your character.

On to the mission:

Your goal is to sneak into Lord Bafford's Manor and find the jeweled scepter and steal it. All with out too much commotion. I don't want this to be a walk through of the demo, so I will simply bring out what impressed me in the mission, and impressed is what I am.

Environmental sound effects, including falling water and flickering torches are fantastic. Sounds under water are even appropriately muffled. But what about the impact of audio and 3D audio on the game play?

Fantastic!

At times while hiding in shadows I heard footsteps approach from behind and knew I had to make a break for it or risk discovery. Other times the sounds provided cues as to when to quietly slip by a whistling guard on patrol. The surface you walk on and how fast you move all come into play in a realistic manner. To say that footsteps are critical to this game is an understatement!

Garret can also sneak up on unsuspecting guards to listen in on their musings. The closer he gets, the clearer the conversation becomes. Sometimes its not much of a conversation, as the guards in Lord Bafford's Manor are generally a grumpy lot grumbling about when their supper is coming, but in the full game such actions can reveal mission crucial information. Throw in some verbalized thoughts from your namesake and you have a very immersive audio experience.

With all the emphasis on stealth a look in your inventory will turn up some handy items. For example, a moss arrow can be used on hard surfaces to quiet your footsteps and a noisemaker arrow can be used to create a distraction. More great stuff!

To sum it up, the use of audio in the demo of Thief: The Dark Project is fantastic. At times it had me chuckling quietly to myself and at other times it had my nerves on edge as I waited in the shadows, crouched and prone, as footsteps approached from behind, getting louder and louder and louder. In these instances, I actually caught myself holding my own breath as I waited to see if I would be discovered!

Throw in a good graphics engine, great scripting, a moody atmosphere and good controls! This demo will make you run out and buy the full game. If the full version carries the game play that the demo offers right though to the end, then Looking Glass has a sure winner on their hands with Thief: The Dark Project.

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Reviewed: November 29, 98