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* Play information *

Author                     : marsupial
Game                       : Thief 2: The Metal Age
Mission Title              : Acquiring New Ventures
Mission file               : miss17.mis
Release date (original)    : 15.08.2025
Version                    : v1.1 (30.08.2025)
Difficulty Settings        : Hard / Expert / Maestro
Equipment store            : No
Map/Automap                : Yes/No
New graphics               : Yes
New sounds                 : Yes
New conversations          : Yes
New models                 : Yes
EAX Support                : No
Multi language support     : No
Briefing                   : Yes, in video form
Subtitles                  : No
Construction               : From scratch
Map Size                   : Large
Build Time                 : About a year and a half

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* Briefing *

A few weeks have passed since my encounter with that mage.

This hideout has served me well. The City might be heavily patrolled, but having the gate to the
docks right by has left me free to roam the port. The wealthier spice merchants have some agreement
with the Watch: they don't look and their pockets get a little heavier. And with people coming and
going all the time, no one would pay any attention to another street urchin like me anyway.

But I'm tired of begging and eating fish scraps.

There's talk about a warehouse very close by that recently received a shipment from far away.
Everyone talks about it in whispers. And I have a very keen ear when I want to. Tonight, I'll take
a stroll inside the City... and see if the rumors are true.

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* Note *

You play as Lowell, a lowlife currently in hiding from forces mightier than himself.

This Fan Mission contains certain gameplay changes and additions that are perhaps better discovered
through gameplay, but just in case, they're detailed at the bottom of this file. We recommend
playing through the mission before reading it, since they've been implemented to the level design
properly.

Difficulty differences are explained first in the Gameplay Changes section.

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* Cast *

- Lowell -- Trevor Whalen
- The Lady of the Woods -- Samantha1
- Thief in sewers -- MattDistraction
- Guard in sewers -- MattDistraction

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* Many thanks to everyone who so selflessly contributed to the making of this FM, specially *

- vfig for their deep knowledge and willingness to share it when I was just starting Dromed.
- Dale for his eager ear and his tailor made objects, without which some new gameplay
  couldn't exist.
- Mat99 for the literal dozens of hours of playtesting, and for checking every single 
  texture, sound and video so that the FM doesn't weight like a modern game.
- Yandros for saving the FM from the brink of madness when I broke it.
- The Dromed discord server for their insight and inspiration.
- Trevor for lending Lowell his super voice.
- Ripped Phreak for the technical support.
- Aemanyl for proofreading the Lady's journal.
- Feuillade Industries, specially Firemage, for their technical tweaks from The Black Parade.
- Nameless Voice for the original spreading blaze demo, without which I couldn't have started
  thinking about mine.

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* Beta-Testers team *

- Dale
- Mat99
- Myles aka lordhern
- Ripped Phreak

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Scripts by Nameless Voice, Telliamed, vfig, R Soul, firemage and skol

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Ambient music by Bohren & Der Club of Gore

Menu music by David Lynch

Party music by The Caretaker

Aditional sounds from freesound.org and Random_Taffer

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- Textures by Alun David Bestor, Yandros, Sensut, Lady Rowena, skacky, Cardia, Esse, and more.

- Objects by Dale, CoSaS Team, Eshaktaar, Nameless Voice, R Soul, PinkDot, Daraan, nicked, Zontik,
  Christine, OttoJ55, Dhin, Schwaa, Targa, vfig, von Eins, and more.

Please do not hesitate to contact me if I'm using any asset made by you without proper credits.
This mission was built while the Object Repository was down, so I've taken most from other FMs.

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* (SPOILERS) Gameplay changes (SPOILERS) *

- Difficulty differences: Hard has 16 health shields, a few more items to be found; Expert has 10 
  health shields, a few less items; Maestro has no blackjack nor sword, 6 health shields, and one
  less item. The ammout of less items is very negligeable.
- Elemental Crystals need to be combined with a broadhead to be used, or can be dropped from the
  inventory. They're fragile and break / activate easily if they fall or are hit.
- All arrows are affected by gravity.
- Torch Arrows set all wooden objects on fire until they break.
- Cushioned objects (sofas, beds, straw bales, and canopies) break your fall safely.
- Non-conscious enemies can be placed in beds so that they don't raise suspicion.
- Most electric lights can be broken with a well-placed broadhead, but will zap the player for
  damage if touched after.
- Bottles and metal cups can be picked up and thrown as distractions. 
- Water bottles produce a water splash and a water crystal when they break.
- Candles can be frobbed off.
- AIs will relight doused candles and torches if they're reachable.
- Light switches are made of a quieter metal.
- New footsteps sounds: creaky wood, less conspicuous metal, organic / wet, roof tiles.

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* Changelog *

v1.1
- Added difficulty differences.
- Swords can't damage wooden objects, find other ways to deal with them.
- Improved the lightmap resolution.
- Some windows were obscured as an oversight, now they can be seen through.
- You can now craft rope arrows. No new places for them has been created.
- The barricade in the sewer requires you use a torch arrow.
- Every single light source object should now be either destroyed by a broadhead or doused 
  with a water arrow. Report if any can't.
- A few wood objects were still not burnable. Now all should be.
- AIs can also relight candles now.
- Victrola can be turned on again.
- Fixed several other bugs reported.

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This mission is © 2025 by marsupial.
This mission was not made and is not supported by Looking Glass Studios or Eidos Interactive.

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