# Tips and Hints for the Thief: The Dark Project Demo

Playing Thief is unlike playing most other games, some of which it may resemble at first. If you try to approach Thief the way you did one of those other games, you might have some problems and miss out on a lot of the fun of playing a thief. With that in mind, we offer a few words to the wise ... underhanded, yes, but wise.

## Sneaking

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.

## Shadows

As a master thief, you have the ability to become practically invisible while in shadows. If an enemy is otherwise ignorant of your presence, he can pass quite close to you without seeing you, as long as you are in the shadows.

The training mission will teach you that it's important to stay in areas of darkness, and to avoid standing around in bright light if you can. What it doesn't teach you is that, quite often, you can make your own darkness by shooting out torches with water arrows. Don't underestimate the usefulness of this technique!

Garrett attacks his enemy ... a torch

## Watching

You will frequently have the opportunity to observe the behavior of enemies who don't realize you are there. Watching your enemies can yield valuable information for planning strategies to overcome them. For example, most guards patrol along routes. By observing these guards and learning their patrol routes, you can find the best opportunity to sneak by them, pickpocket them, knock them out, etc..

## Listening

In addition to using your eyes, be sure to use your ears. Thief uses unique, sophisticated sound propagation technology. If you listen carefully, you will be able to hear the footsteps, muttering, and whistling of guards before you see them. You will also be able to listen in hallways in order to determine which direction a sound is coming from and at doors to hear when a guard has passed by.

Furthermore, the things guards say can have vital importance. If you listen carefully, you will be able to determine whether a guard is oblivious to your presence or if he suspects that he saw or heard you. You may even hear guards talking among themselves as they coordinate to find or fight you.

You really need sound to play Thief effectively. There's lots of speech that is not subtitled, and if your speakers aren't turned on, you won't hear it. Also, since the stereo location of sounds can be a very important cue as to the positions of enemies around you, Thief will benefit greatly from 3D sound technology such as A3D.

## Pickpocketing

Guards will sometimes carry items such as keys and purses on their belts. As a thief, you are capable of stealing these items without being detected. In order to do so, simply highlight the target item and pick it up the same way you would pick up any other item. Note that your pickpocket victim must be unaware of your presence or your attempt will not succeed. Furthermore, if you try to pickpocket someone who is aware of you but who does not think of you as their enemy, be ready for them to change their mind!
A guard about to lose his key

## Combat

Engaging your enemies with your sword and bow is difficult for many reasons. For one thing, your enemies may be as powerful as you. In many circumstances trying to fight two or more foes at once can be fatal. You should be prepared to take damage if you fight with your sword.

Furthermore, combat tends to ruin your stealth advantage. Other enemies may become alert to your presence if they hear the sound of combat or if your foe flees to find help. Most enemies will become alarmed if they notice corpses and bloodstains left behind by combat.

## Ambushing

In Thief you have the distinct combat advantage of being able to ambush your foes. If your enemy is not aware of your presence, your attack will do five times as much damage as it would in face-to-face combat. Ambushing an opponent is often the safest way to kill him.

## Blackjacking

A good combat alternative to killing your enemies is to knock them out by hitting them with your blackjack. You can blackjack anyone who can't see you, even if they know that you are nearby. Thus you can blackjack a searching guard from behind, or blind your foe with a flashbomb and then blackjack him. In addition, non-combatants such as servants can be knocked out with a blackjack even if they can see you.

When you successfully blackjack a foe, he will immediately crumple to the ground unconscious without crying out or leaving behind any blood. Unconscious enemies do not wake up during the mission, but you should still take care to hide their bodies. In addition to the blackjack, knock-out gas (such as from gas mines) will render your foes unconscious.

Hitting a foe with the blackjack does a single point of damage. If he is not knocked unconscious by the blow, it usually only serves to make him mad. However, highly skilled players may use the blackjack to slowly damage their foes until they flee. In rare cases a blackjack attack on a very weak foe might accidentally kill him, especially if it qualifies as an ambush.

## Mantling

For those of you without a dictionary of climbing terminology, to mantle is to pull yourself up onto a ledge. In Thief, you must stand in front of the surface you wish to mantle, and then jump. But here's the important part: you have to hold down the jump button until you're finished mantling! We mention it because you might be used to doing this differently in other games.

Also, be aware that there has to be sufficient space on top of the ledge you're trying to reach. If you try to mantle and it doesn't seem to be working, it may be because there's no room up there for you. If it really, really looks like there's enough space, try adjusting your position slightly and have another go.

## Difficulty Levels

Each mission in Thief can be played at one of three difficulty levels: Normal, Hard, and Expert. It's not an accident that we gave them these names, and there's a good reason that we didn't call them "Easy, Normal and Hard." Most players find that there's nothing particularly "easy" about Normal Difficulty. Of course, if you're feeling up to the challenge, go right ahead and play at Hard or Expert. Also (if you purchase the commercial version of Thief so as to play the whole campaign) remember that you can change difficulty levels between missions. If you decide that some mission is too hard on a higher difficulty level, you can restart the mission at an easier level. The Hard and Expert difficulty levels will give you additional objectives for each mission that were not available in Normal.

## The Map and Compass

There are two navigational tools in Thief: the map and the compass. Your map will be different for each mission, and the amount of detail they show will vary, depending on how much you actually know about the place you are infiltrating. When you look at the map, the general area you are in will be highlighted in bluish-gray.

All of the maps are displayed with the top of the page facing north. The compass (which you have in every mission) will turn as you move, so that the red pointer is always facing north. Together, the map and compass can often help direct you if you find yourself lost.