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15/09/2008
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Title : Unbidden Guest (Classic Thief Experience
Contest)
Filename : unbidden_guest.zip
Author : Anonmymous
Contact info : -
Date of release : 15/09/2008
Version : 1.0

Description:

Lay down thy hammer, friend, lay down thy awl
Thy yesteryear trappings are splintered and old
Now rise up thine mace! And sword thusly brandish!
The Builder fuels those who unite against malice.
-- from The New Scripture of the Master Builder

Sometimes living in this city is more trouble than it's worth.
There is a new sherrif in town, and he is waging his own personal
war against crime. Dodging the law is part of the game, but
Sherrif Gorman Truart's changed the rules... His men are on the
hunt for suspicious individuals, and they are asking no questions.
It was only by a hair's breadth that I escaped the ambush they set
for me; this has left me without my usual contacts or a permanent
address... Fortunately, with so many of the smaller wards empty
after the recent calamities, there are vast areas to hide in as
long as you don't venture into districts under guard so often.

Sheriff Truart has enlisted the aid of a separatist sect of the
Hammers called "Mechanists" - every bit as fanatical as Hammerites,
and twice as industrious. They've been supplying the sherrif with
some really nasty contraptions... mechanical eyes that seek out
anyone his spies consider a threat to the safety of the City... Word
has it that there are also plans for a new creation; so deadly
it'll bring every honest thief in the City to his knees.

Fortunately, I found some unlikely allies in these dark times: the
Hammerites, more bitter about the schism in their ranks than the
few small sins I have committed in the eyes of the Builder... and as
their high priest outlined to me in the Old Quarter of all places,
we have certain interests in common. Tonight, the Mechanists are
throwing a posh banquet for the City nobility in their seminary to
win supporters and hold a demonstration of their most recent
invention, a beast of iron invincible and untiring... if they can get
these things into production, I might as well find a new line of work.

I am going to cross their plans by sabotaging the display. The
Hammerites are supplying me with explosive devices I must plant in
each metallic horror I come across. The streets are pretty hot these
days, so I'll take to the rooftops and approach the seminary from
above. If I cut through a building or two, I won't win any popularity
contest, but then they don't call it the thieves' highway for nothing.
Travelling light is a neccessity, since the districts in the area
are full of the city's finest and well protected by security devices...
I must trust the Hammers to deliver a few useful tools as they have
promised - a power station south of the seminary is the supposed
location of the cache. I will start in an old bell tower: one of the
few friends I can still depend on will let me sleep in his attic
for the evening; afterwards, it will be time to make myself useful.

With the cream of the City in attendance at the Mechanist seminary
and the wealthy households in the surrounding area ripe for picking,
I will at last be like a kid in a candy store. And unknown to all
but me and a trusted confidant, there may be yet more: the Mechanists
are said to have in their keeping an old book studded with gemstones and
gold, apparently an ancient Hammer text of some value... If I have the
chance, I will make this book mine, and my new friends need never know...

No point in waiting: it's time to begin.


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* Notes *

- As it should be obvious by now, Unbidden Guest is inspired by The
Unwelcome Guest, the Thief2 demo mission. For a while, I have been
thinking how it would have been like if it was created in the mood
of the original game. This contest is an opportunity to put this
daydream into practice. There is a fair bit of the original plot and the
vertical gameplay here, within the limits of the contest specifications and
some reinterpretation... while Unwelcome Guest served as the ultimate
blueprint, there are other influences, as you will note when you come
across them.

- Higher difficulty settings have the same core objectives, but the loot
goal is stricter, moving about undetected is somewhat more challenging and
certain objectives are harder to accomplish. It is possible to ghost this
mission.

- This is supposed to be a dark mission. For optimal gamma levels, adjust
your settings until you just can see the wooden door across your starting
point.

- Don't waste rope arrows, as you may become stuck with no way out if you
run out of them. At least one should remain in your inventory at all times.

- As laid down in the contest rules, the mission is restricted to stock
resources found in the original Thief2 game with no external additions.
If you come across things you do not recognise, you just haven't been
digging deep enough in the various CRFs to find them yet. :)

- It is suggested that, at least for the purposes of the Classic Thief
Experience contest, this mission be played without any special enhancement
packs installed. This is no ironclad rule, just a suggestion to keep the
experience truly classical, and let the entry stand or fall on its
own merits. :) One tester has reported slowdowns when using the graphical EP.


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* Play Information *

Game : Thief 2: The Metal Age
Level Names : Unbidden Guest
File names : miss20.mis
Difficulty Settings : Normal/Hard/Expert
Equipment store : No
Map/Automap : No/No
New graphics : No
New sounds : No
New conversations : No
New models : No
EAX Support : No
Multi language support : No
Briefing : No
Ghosting : Yes

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* Construction *

Base : None
Build Time : 6 months

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* Loading Information *

DarkLoader ready. Runs from Darkloader. Leave the file ZIPPED -
DO NOT UNZIP this file, but put the whole thing into whatever
folder/directory you want to on your hard drive, then in Darkloader
setup, point to this folder/directory, and the mission
should show up in the Darkloader main screen.


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* Known Bugs *
- The infamous rope bug rears its head again, as always.
- An AI in the mission has trouble searching for the player,
and resumes its patrol sooner than it should. I have been
unable to fix the problem.
- One tester has reported slowdowns when using the graphical
Enhancement Pack in conjunction with this FM.

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* Betatesters *
bikerdude
Dafydd
Emerald Wolf
Lightningline
Nightwalker
Premier

* Special Thanks to *
Dussander, for hosting the beta forums.
All TTLG posters for their aid, encouragement and interest.
And, first and foremost, Uncadonego for organising this contest!


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* Copyright Information *

This level is ? 2008 by Anonymous

Distribution of this level is allowed as long as the archive and
this file are kept intact.

This level was not made and is not supported by
Looking Glass Studios or Eidos Interactive.

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