These Unfortunate Ones
By Matthias van der Beek (a.k.a. justsomemusicguy)

A fan mission for Thief II: The Metal Age
Version 1.1
Release date: 07-10-2022
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Briefing

These are desperate times. Business has been slow lately, while prices for the most basic of commodities in The City keep rising. I’ll have to pull a bigger job if I want to avoid having to beg for scraps at the local inn. Luckily, it seems that one such opportunity has presented itself.

Willem, an associate of one of my regular fences, has reached out to me to propose a co-operation. Apparently, Willem has been known as a decent look-out and scout for bigger burglary jobs in The City, usually involving multiple members of the Thieves’ Guild, but word on the street is he's freelancing now. He said he's got a target in the district of Spirestead, who's got too many valuables for his own good. Willem proposed to provide valuable information about the target, lord Jean Dumonde, by spying on him and surveying his mansion and its surroundings. He said he wants a cut of the profit in return.

Normally I prefer to work alone, but the current situation doesn't leave me much of a choice, what with the lack of high profile jobs lately and the landlord breathing down my neck. So I told Willem that I'm game. It won't be easy: the City Watch have been looking for me, so I assume I'm a wanted man in Spirestead.

As of now Willem should have all the information I need, including the most valuable item lord Jean Dumonde has in his possession, which I'm going to relieve him of. We've agreed to meet in Willem's apartment in Spirestead, just north of the canal bridge, across from the tavern. He'll give me his reconnaissance report, and then it's my turn to get to work.

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The district of Spirestead

Spirestead is one of the smaller districts of The City. It houses part of the noblesse and the elite of The City while feigning to also cater to those less wealthy by providing ‘affordable housing’ in the form of apartments. Most of these apartments in question, however, are no more than the equivalent of a brick shoebox with barely any room for a bed, let alone space to house more than one person. If anything, the existence of the district of Spirestead is the prime example of the division between the rich and the poor within The City. Spirestead has branded itself as the ‘district of the future’ however, and the district's warden has even attracted new subsidies for further development of the district, from prominent organizations such as the new Mechanist Order.

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Before you play

This is a fan mission for Thief II: The Metal Age, compatible with NewDark 1.25 and higher versions. Test on lower NewDark versions at your own risk.
Newmantle and fogging are enabled by default (by fm.cfg). Overwrite these settings at your own risk.
This mission should work both with and without the Thief Enhancement Pack (EP) installed.

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Mission notes

· The mission was built from scratch.
· The mission uses custom ambients, voices, objects and textures.
· Mission genre: streets / mansion. The mission is relatively small.
· To play on higher difficulty means you get less gear, more brightly lit-up areas, more guards, and a higher loot requirement. Every area in the mission is accessible on each difficulty, however.
· If you want a map, be sure to complete the first objective.
· If you find it difficult to navigate through a certain ventilation shaft, don't forget you can use flares.
· General advice: don't save and reload during conversations.

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About the author

Hi. I'm Matthias van der Beek, just a guy from the Netherlands who likes to play and listen to music. Hence my username ‘justsomemusicguy’ which I came up with over 12 years ago, when I uploaded tracks that I remade from the Doom (1993) soundtrack on YouTube.

Anyway, I got into Thief in 2013. A little late compared to a lot of players, but I've been a huge fan of the games (mostly Thief 1 and 2) ever since. A couple of years ago I started messing around with DromEd, and this mission is the result. It's my very first and only mission that I've ever worked on, and the fact that I've been able to finish it is something I'm quite proud of. I had fun making it, and I hope you have just as much fun playing it.

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Custom resources / credits

This mission uses a bunch of custom resources. The following I've created myself:
· Skins for Dumonde's Guards and Archers, Dumonde's Captain, Rickard, Agnes, Jean Dumonde, Jacqueline Dumonde, Two merchants, Four civilian women. These skins are mostly based on existing skins from Thief Gold and Thief 2.
· Lit candles and fixed hanging candles and chandeliers
· Dumonde wall banner, street posters, decals
· Ambient music in streets, ambient music in mansion

The mission also uses some textures, AI voices and sounds from Thief Gold and Thief: Deadly Shadows.

I also used a couple of textures from the following sources:
· Free-texture-site.blogspot.com
· Textures.com
· Gecko's HDMod textures

I also used a whole bunch of custom objects. Credit to the people that made those (you are all awesome!), below:
· Victorian Armoire modified by John Denison
· Fixed CopNoKO by R Soul
· Rake by R Soul
· Watering Can by R Soul
· Viola da Gamba by LarryG
· Gold Dagger and Sheath by LarryG
· Display Cases by Christine
· Plant by Christine
· Cushions by Christine
· Fruit Bowl by Team CoSaS
· Wooden Bowls by Team CoSaS
· Curved Gate by OttoJ55
· Wooden Box by Daraan
· Piano by Team T2X
· Decorative Shield by Targa
· Tapestry by Targa
· Maid Servant by Targa
· “New Guy” by Targa
· Display Case by Sluggs
· Cobwebs by Alun Bestor
· Pocket Watch by Nameless Voice
· Bracelet by Nameless Voice
· Globe by Nameless Voice
· Leaf plant by Nameless Voice
· Fern by Nameless Voice
· Truart model with sword by Team DEDx
· Wearable spectacles by Sluggs
· Thifebag by Nielsen74
· Two simple wardrobes by R Soul
· Reskinnable Objects Pack by Yandros
· Empty wooden crates by Greenhorn
· Custom Reskinnable vial by FireMage
· Fence by Team T2X
· Light streaks bij Schwaa
· Art Deco hanging light by R Soul

Please let me know if I've forgotten to give credit to someone, or if I've misused or misappropriated any assets in some way.

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Special thanks

I'd like to thank nicked (Nick Dablin) for creating the Absolute Beginner's Guide for DromEd (https://nickdablin.wordpress.com/absolute-beginners-guide-to-creating-a-mission-for-thief-2/). That guide got me through a lot of the basics of mapping for Thief.

Special thanks to all my beta-testers: John9818a, Lordhern, Aemanyl, Mat99, Bikerdude and Gloria Creep. Not only did you guys thoroughly test my mission and report things that needed fixing, but you also gave me valuable advice on how to make this mission just a little bit better :)
I really appreciate your help and suggestions, and I could not have come this far without you!

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Contact

If you have found bugs, glitches, things that you think are supposed to work differently, if you have feedback or just want to leave a message, feel free to PM me at the TTLG forums (https://www.ttlg.com/forums/). My account name there is justsomemusicguy.
Or hit me up in the DromEd Discord server @MattMcBake.

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Copyright

Copyright © 2022, Matthias van der Beek a.k.a. justsomemusicguy.

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

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

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