Old Habits and Dead Wives
Thief 2 Fan Mission
Wide Linear, Stealth, Exploration
7 Month Solo Project
Released September 27, 2022
Old Habits and Dead Wives is a fully complete, ~1.5 hour long level for Thief 2 (2000) that encourages careful stealth and creative navigation. Players fill the role of a thief hired by an unknown person to break into the mansion vault at a mountain estate, unraveling the mystery of their employer and the estate's owner as they navigate the interconnected space of both the mansion and the surrounding environment.
Download here (Requires a NewDark-patched copy of Thief 2. Find more info here.).
See player reaction and discussion here. Player opinion was generally positive, with many players appreciating the interconnected level design and narrative. The level has been covered by a variety of different Thief YouTubers.
Design and Process
Inspired by the wide-linear mission design of Arkane games that allow players to tackle set tasks in their own way, and the layered, exploratory, and shortcut-full design of FromSoftware games like Dark Souls, I set out to create a full Thief 2 level, from conception to release.
Layout Design
Before I jumped into the editor I drafted up layout concepts on graph paper. I had a process of paper designing portions of the level, implementing them in-game, testing the level up to that point, iterating on these portions, and repeating. Though the fundamental concepts are still there, there was significant alteration in response to testing feedback.
Check out a PDF of my paper plans/notes here.
Players are regularly given choices in navigating, but are nudged in certain directions by locked doors and one-way routes. Objectives involve backtracking, which is made easier by unlockable shortcuts and stealth advantages. Fueled by my recent reading of Kevin Lynch's Image of the City, imageability was a major goal. The level features a series of landmarks and memorable paths to help players maintain an understanding of where they are. Until the layout was finalized, all playtesting was done without any in-game map to ensure it was not needed.
Gameplay Design
Implemented as parts of the layout were completed, gameplay involved stealth interactions with enemy NPCs, using opportunistic navigation tools, puzzle solving, treasure collecting, and special objectives.
The difficulty of each area varied depending on the place in relation to objectives, which was integrated contextually into the worldbuilding.
Players must both break into a vault in the mansion that requires a key from the back garden and find a doll in the abandoned house past the mansion. These objectives lead the player to all four major areas of the level.
Optional objectives include gathering resources in the mansion basement to craft a key to a safe, collecting two hints to crack a code lock located out front of the mansion, and gathering various bits of loot around the whole level.
Playtesting
Throughout the course of this project, I had ten different testers. Testers included one professional level designer, one Thief fan level designer, three long-time Thief fans, and five players who where completely new to Thief.
Having testers with varying experience gave me access to a wider variety of feedback. Testers were introduced at different stages of development to ensure I regularly had players going in blind. I observed every gameplay test and took detailed notes.
Towards the end, I had a several week period of comprehensive QA-testing from several players and bug fixing.