Thief Gold FM -- The Order of the Vine

I've already played through The Order of the Vine. But I blackjacked someone and haven't yet got all the loot so I'm going to begin again and see if I can't do Perfect Thief this time.

The first challenge is the Power Room. Garrett's got to get to the door up the stairs on the left. Usually this wouldn't be too much trouble for him but he'll make too much noise on the metal stairs. Fortunately there's another way. Just why would the designer bother to put the railing up alongside the stairs? Authenticity? Perhaps. However, it stands out to me. Levels are usually much more stark it seems. It is made of wood and if Garrett can jump up onto it he'll be able to run quietly up to the doorway in time before the operator notices him.

Leaving the immersion to look at problems from a 'game' perspective is something I do quite often playing Thief. This is just another tool I use to work through the missions and oddly enough doesn't really detract from the immersiveness very much at all!

Okay! Did it! Really not all that difficult.

Perfect Thief
Time: 2:09:24
Loot: 2,089 of 2,089
Pockets: 5 of 5
Locks: 13
Consumables: none

I came up two pieces of loot short on my own. There was a posting on the EIDOS forum by the author/designer, Silent Sleep, noting the gem in the bath and the ring in the theatre. Odd thing is I'd already scoured both looking for loot but hadn't noticed them. Pretty sad, huh? Gotta work on this!

Actually a pretty straight forward mission. I was able to slide by one of the guards by the alarm buttons upstairs but the other one I had to find a way around rather than Snudge him. I exited by dropping down from the battlements on the city side of the river and slinking around the corner to the gate. There are a couple of spots where the AI get hung up not being able to open doors. There's a white clad servant type who wanders around through the kitchen and the wine cellar and the party room. Also in the party room, a patrolling swordsman can't open the door from one side of the room to the other. I simply opened all the doors involved to free them up before I snagged any loot in these areas. Oh, and I guess this is a possibility but I couldn't figure a way around it. One of the guards in the wine cellar was facing up against the corner of a wall and a pillar and couldn't turn himself around to face into the room. So, I ghosted this area with only the single guard to spot me. The first time I'd played this mission both guards were facing out and it wasn't much more difficult to ghost. Just waited for them both to face the other way. It doesn't seem like it at first glance but I found it easier to make my way to and through the Main Hall rather than trying to sneak along the hallways to get from place to place. I could pretty much trot the whole way. There are a couple of spots where jumping from rope to rope is required. Just practise up on this a bit and you'll be good.