Thief II Fan-Mission: "Deceptive Perception", by "William the Taffer"

~Deceptive Perception, by “William the Taffer”
-Released July 4^th, 2002

            Great Thief experiences don’t always have to be big. The users at Through the Looking Glass will sometimes cook up a contest where missions must be made small—an exact XxYxZ measurement limit is established for fan-mission authors to use while constructing the level in the Dromed editor. Such was the case for “Komag’s Contest #3”, which set a small size limit forcing authors to make small, short missions in tight spaces. While “William the Taffer’s” entry “Deceptive Perception” didn’t win the contest, it got second place, and is a memorable experience given how bite-sized it is. It gains memorable status by its approach. There is no sneaking, thieving, exploring, or any of that—which means, this isn’t a real mission. But what it is, is a jump-scare laden, psychological thrill ride that every Thief fan loves.

            The mission is so short—six, seven, maybe eight minutes for a first-time playthrough—that I’ll let the whole thing speak for itself. Here’s a video of a full playthrough. Oh, and the story setup: Garrett's renting a room at a local factory and warehouse place. A prized collectible of yours, a dagger, has been stolen, and you’re sure it was one of your coworkers who did it. You sneak into the warehouse late at night to see if you can find where he’s hidden the dagger. There are rumors that the warehouse is haunted at night, but, you know…

            The point here? Thief missions don’t always have to be long, big, complex experiences to be great. Authors can take Thief design principles and make bite-sized, ‘Tales’-style adventures, like this one.

            There was a sequel made—started by “William the Taffer” and finished by user “Yandros”—called “Deceptive Perception 2: Phantasmagoria”. It’s the same premise, but done in a lengthier mission. It has some crazy, ‘Twilight Zone’-style psychological twists to it as well.

-See a thread discussing “Deceptive Perception” at TTLG.

-Fair warning: there are jump scares, and a part with a little more blood and gore than the typical Thief mission.