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Dhruin
Stranger In A Strange Land
Joined: 20 May 2002
Posts: 1825
Location: Sydney, Australia |
| Thief 3: Project Leader Replaced |
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Oh boy...The Adrenaline Vault <a href="http://www.avault.com/news/displaynews.asp?story=422004-144750" target="_blank">claims</a> they've learned that Randy Smith, project leader for 'Thief: Deadly Shadows' and ex-LGS dev has left the project. Randy has design and programming credits from the original Thief, Thief 2 and System Shock 2 with Looking Glass Studios and Irrational and AVault claims he has been replaced by Eidos general manager Trey Ratcliff:<blockquote><em>Master thief Garrett may be getting a new partner in crime. The Adrenaline Vault has learned that Randy Smith is no longer the project lead of Thief: Deadly Shadows. Smith has been credited with contributions to Thief: The Dark Project and Thief II: The Metal Age going back when the series was developed at the now defunct Looking Glass Studios. He made the move to Texas-based Ion Storm Austin with other members of the team when Eidos purchased the rights to the franchise and shifted development to Warren Spector's studio. Smith's departure and the recent arrival of Eidos general manager Trey Ratcliff suggests the winds of change are blowing through Ion. (We're told Ratcliff is putting the publisher's stamp on the game.)</em></blockquote>No source is quoted for this rumour. Chris Carollo (DX:IW Lead Programmer, DX, Thief, SS2) had <a href="http://www.bluesnews.com/cgi-bin/board.pl?action=viewthread&threadid=48087&boardid=1&id=&view=flatnew&start=0" target="_blank">these</a> short comments to make at Blue's:<blockquote><em>Two comments:
1. There is no "publisher's stamp" being made on the game.
2. Trey is not a "publisher heavy", is a great guy, and will do a good things for Ion Storm.</em></blockquote> |
Sat Apr 03, 2004 8:47 am |
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God, I can't wait to see "ionstormsucks" comments about this one. I mean...after all the regulars on the ionstorm boards are bitching about how "blue" some of the screenshots are. This is gonna be funny Druhin...really funny!!! |
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Sat Apr 03, 2004 9:19 am |
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RPG Frog
Blade Runner
Joined: 02 Jan 2004
Posts: 748
Location: the Matrix |
quote:
Originally posted by Anonymous
God, I can't wait to see "ionstormsucks" comments about this one. I mean...after all the regulars on the ionstorm boards are bitching about how "blue" some of the screenshots are. This is gonna be funny Druhin...really funny!!!
above post was made by me...as if you could not tell Druhin.
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Between the years when the oceans drank Atlantis and the gleaming cities…there was an Age undreamed of, when shining kingdoms lay spread across the world like blue mantles beneath the stars…Hither came Conan, the Cimmerian, black-haired, sullen-eyed, sword in hand…to tread the jeweled thrones of the Earth under his sandaled feet. - Robert E. Howard |
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Sat Apr 03, 2004 9:22 am |
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OctarineDragon
Head Merchant
Joined: 28 Nov 2003
Posts: 57
Location: The Void |
Oh.
Well, that about settles it for this 'Thief', I guess... There was much light, I guess, but entirely too much shadow, as well (or vice versa).
Trey Ratcliff might be a 'nice guy', but I have some reservations about his industry experience. Not a single credit to his name. Nothing against industry newcomers, but as a project lead of a presumable 'AAA' title...? Hmmm... maybe I should apply for a job at Eidos, myself  |
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Sat Apr 03, 2004 10:30 am |
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Wolfgarou
Guards Lieutenant
Joined: 29 May 2003
Posts: 163
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quote:
Originally posted by Anonymous
God, I can't wait to see "ionstormsucks" comments about this one. I mean...after all the regulars on the ionstorm boards are bitching about how "blue" some of the screenshots are. This is gonna be funny Druhin...really funny!!!
Haha...Ion Storm sucks. And thief has too much shadows and lightning.... Storm brewing in Ion Storm's camp? Maybe? Let's hope not.
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The world is small, nasty and complicated, and everybody dies alone... - Sam Fisher |
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Sat Apr 03, 2004 1:32 pm |
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Lanael
City Guard
Joined: 09 Jul 2001
Posts: 147
Location: lyon - France |
urgh !
don't know if Mr Ratcliff is a good or bad thing; but the idea of "publisher's stamp " frightened me...
Soon, they'll remove the 1st person view, I guess.
Don't know if we're lucky they release it for the PC... depressed I am... |
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Sat Apr 03, 2004 1:39 pm |
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ionstormsucks
Guest
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want my guess: warren probably wanted to change the title to "deus ex 3: deadly low res fx" and shift the whole thing like 3000 years into the future. honestly this guy is like a blind who tries to catch flies. i can almost see warren giving interviews and even after the 1000th medicore review of "thief 3: deadly crap" he will still say something unbelievable stupid like: "Hey thief 3 is a great game. we made a lot of improvements to the first two parts - see how Garrett is now able to throw that barrell on his enemy and kill him? ok the story is boring, the whole thing looks like shit because of crappy low res x-box graphics, noone by my megalomaniac ego wanted these *improvements* and the reviews were getting suck but who cares... did i mention its a really great game we made?"
guys i know you dont want my 2 coppers but the ashole i am ill give them to you anyway: this whole thing is going downhill. i really tried to see things positive but i fear Mr. Spector has not understand what the fans want. That they did not love thief just because of the game mechanics but also because of the story, the atmosphere and all the other neat details that contributed to the success of the first two parts. i can even understand Warren Spector's desire to make a commercially successful game but pissing of a whole community of people by doing so just isn't the right way. |
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Sat Apr 03, 2004 4:08 pm |
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Wolfgarou
Guards Lieutenant
Joined: 29 May 2003
Posts: 163
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quote:
Originally posted by ionstormsucks
...the whole thing looks like shit because of crappy low res x-box graphics, noone by my megalomaniac ego wanted these *improvements* and the reviews were getting suck but who cares... did i mention its a really great game we made?"
Don't forget that both prequels have very low res too  Btw, I think Warren is trying to hard to impress Xbox fans that have gotten used to Splinter Cell, hence the inclusion of the 3rd person view. One thing he needs to understand is, this is a PC game ported to the Xbox, and not the other way around (but i think it's the other way around in his head)!
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The world is small, nasty and complicated, and everybody dies alone... - Sam Fisher |
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Sat Apr 03, 2004 4:33 pm |
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The "Bottom Line" kills another great game series. They sold out with Deus Ex to make another kiddie console game with DX2 so we shouldnt be surprised here. |
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Sat Apr 03, 2004 11:20 pm |
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ArcturusXIV
City Guard
Joined: 03 Dec 2002
Posts: 142
Location: Oz |
If someone originally from Looking Glass left the project, that bodes badly for the series IMO. On the other hand, I heard the publisher's stamp is just a rumor.
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"Madness is the first step towards unselfishness. Be mad and tell us what is behind the veil of 'sanity'. The purpose of life is to bring us closer to those secrets, and madness is the only means." --Kahlil Gibran |
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Sun Apr 04, 2004 12:25 am |
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fatBastard()
Eager Tradesman
Joined: 05 Feb 2003
Posts: 40
Location: Denmark |
Whether Trey Ratcliff has been assigned as a publisher's stamp or not doesn't really matter. What matter is that one of the key figures from the first 2 Thief games is leaving as project leader this late in the process. That can only mean one of 2 things: Either there is some kind of family emergency, in which case the press release would most likely have stated it or else he got fed up with the way the game was going ... and judging by Warren Spector's numerous Xbox brown-nosing interviews and the disaster that was DE:IW, I can easily guess why Randy Smith chose to leave 
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Signature? ... erm ... nope, can't think of one. |
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Sun Apr 04, 2004 9:52 am |
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Jay
Fearless Paladin
Joined: 07 Jul 2001
Posts: 245
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After Deus Ex 2, I had no intention of getting Thief 3. So this could be good news, as there is now a very talented developer on the market and he might get a job at a dedicated PC games group. I loved the first 2 thief games, but I also loved Deus Ex. Far Cry has shown that it's possible to develop for X-Box and PC, using 2 seperate groups that utilise the strength of both formats. |
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Sun Apr 04, 2004 10:03 am |
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Jay
Fearless Paladin
Joined: 07 Jul 2001
Posts: 245
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Saw this on the thief 3 forums:
Hey, folks ...
Warren asked me to post this, so you guys don't remain in the dark. The following statement will be issued to TTLG, and other fan sites, as well:
"When Ion Storm embarked on the Thief 3 project, I knew I had to bring on experienced Thief folks to ensure that the game would be true to the spirit of the first two games in the series. The Thief community deserved no less than to see the legacy of those earlier games honored and the trilogy begun by Looking Glass completed as planned. Randy Smith, a key member of the Thief and Thief 2 teams, was among the first people I brought onto the project and was a pivotal part of the Thief 3 development team. Though he'd never been a project director before, he stepped up, helped build a quality team and contributed to the creation of a wonderful game that the world will soon be able to enjoy.
Randy is well-respected at Ion Storm, both as a designer and as a person, and I'm sure he'll find success in the future. Having said that, there comes a time in every project's development when the creative heavy-lifting is done and the job of final bug-fixing and preparation for ship begins. That's where Thief 3 is right now, a fact that led to some internal friction and unresolvable conflicts that led to Randy's departure.
Situations like this are never pleasant but, if there's a silver lining, it will be found in the game Randy helped to shape during his tenure with Ion Storm. As many in the press have already seen and experienced, Thief 3 is a fun, compelling game, one that brings the first Thief trilogy to a fitting conclusion. I hope fans, old and new, agree.
Warren Spector
Studio Director, Ion Storm"
http://66.193.119.177/index.php?showtopic=209337
Obviously he wanted to spend more then 5 minutes on the PC version, |
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Sun Apr 04, 2004 10:07 am |
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OctarineDragon
Head Merchant
Joined: 28 Nov 2003
Posts: 57
Location: The Void |
Considering this is corporate parlance, there must have been prolonged and bloody cubicle-to-cubicle firefights at Ionstorm Austin offices for weeks with more casualties than just Randy. Oh dear... |
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Sun Apr 04, 2004 12:01 pm |
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Arma
Mysterious Lady
Joined: 24 Oct 2003
Posts: 1230
Location: in the middle of hell |
All I can say is that this is most probably related to the long-rumoured murger between Ion Storm and Crystal Dynamics those at Eidos have been said planning. Anyway, I am not much of a Thief fan, but until some point (I think until Deus Ex 2's release) I was interested in the project, but at that point I gave up. Although Mr. Specter is hardly involved in the development (he cannot be at 3 places at the same time - he was lead on the Desu Ex 2 team I think, and is now rumoured to have joined Crystal Dynamics on the development on the next Tomb Raider), after seeing Deus Ex 2 I have certainly very low expectations of this title. I would like to be surpriesed and this be a real shining pearl, but I doubt that |
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Sun Apr 04, 2004 2:18 pm |
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