The Keep of Metal and Gold: Complete Thief Fan Mission Archive

Contest 4

What Contest? - These are the results of the fourth small FM contest held in the winter of 2002/2003
There were 28(!) missions entered and the rules restricted the building area to around 128,000 cubic dromed units (twice that of Contest 3, half that of Contests 1 and 2). Authors had about two months to build their missions.

Voting was finished March 15, 2003.

Prizes - A set of FM CD's (or an FM DVD) to Yandros for The Burrick's Head Inn! Also, one FM CD of choice to the 2nd and 3rd place winners, Timon for Unfortunate Formula, and Gumdrop for Thief Noir! The rest of you get the intrinsic reward of that warm fuzzy feeling of releasing an FM :-)

The Table - Here are a few notes about the results table:

Click on a table header to resort the table. Click again to sort the other way.
Your first picks were awarded two points, and your runners up were given one point.
FYI, About 50 of you voted, about a 25% increase over earlier contests.
Weighted Final Categories - I mathematically adjusted the final votes to reflect how you voted on what categories were the most important. For example, Breakout from Apocalypse Prison got 40 votes for "Puzzle" but that category ranked last in importance, so those 40 points were mostly "redistributed" to other missions who ranked better in other more important catogories.
Finally, I want to say again that ALL these missions were enjoyable and good creations. Kudos to all the authors! Some of the "bad" or low ranking missions just didn't happen to stand out in any category, and thus got few votes, but they are still good and worth playing! And you authors who made the "bad" missions, don't think that! They are worthy to be played, and we look forward to your future works as well :-)

Mission	Spc	Tch	Dsn	Atm	Snd	Unq	Hmr	Sty	Pzl	Ply	Pck	Raw	Fnl
Amnesia	14	6	3	8	10	2		17	7	11	10	88	102
Bar, The	2		2				5			2		11	11
Basic		1				8	11				3	23	10
Breakout From Apocalypse Prison	15	4	2	18	4	4	4	16	40	13	7	127	118
Burrick's Head Inn, The	44	7	36	18	52	1	5	44	11	36	39	293	358
Careless Little Fly	3	1	5	5		1	1	1	7	6	4	34	44
Cashing In	11		6	1				3	1	11	4	37	59
Curiosity Shop	1			2						1		4	6
Debt To Nate				1		1	4					6	2
Dwelling Insanity	1		4	7							1	13	21
Father Hirvakia's Portal part 1		7	5	3	12	2		4				33	27
Father Hirvakia's Portal part 2	1	13	2	5	1						1	23	20
Father Hirvakia's Portal part 3		1						2	2			5	3
Father Hirvakia's Portal part 4		9	2	12	4			7		1	2	37	44
Mission With No Name, A	9	2	5		1	2	41		2	10	12	84	65
Mother's Love, A	2	16	1	3	1	12	20	1		3	6	65	41
Mylokh's Tower	7		2	12					2	3	2	29	41
Night of the Singing Potion		9	4		4	11		1	3	2	1	35	26
No More Clients For Monty	3	1			1				6	5	2	18	19
R G B	13	2				18	2		19			54	20
Secret Weapon			1			4	7	3		2		17	14
Taffer's Shooting Gallery		3			9	25	28		2		1	68	20
Thief Noir	3	4	18	36	33	9	1	11	1	9	4	129	153
Thief Nonetheless, A	1		4					2	7	4	3	21	27
Thievery	1	48		1		36		4	1	5	4	100	66
Too Good To Be True							1	5				6	7
Unfortunate Formulae	9	7	37	9	4	3	2	17	22	9	13	132	167
Volcano Island Prison Facility				1	2							3	2

Category	Spc	Tch	Dsn	Atm	Snd	Unq	Hmr	Sty	Pzl	Ply	Pck
Votes	16	11	49	41	5	13	2	37	2	65	40

Quotes - Here are some quotes regarding the 1st and 2nd place missions in each category:

Category	Mission	Quotes
Use of Space	Burrick's Head Inn, The	"An incredible amount of detail packed into such a small space!", "No space was egregiously squandered, such as rooms with very high ceilings or too low a square-footage to detail ratio.", "roamy AND realistic architecture in the limited space", "used vertical construction well"
Use of Space	Breakout Apocalypse	"full of things to do in a very small area", "seemed a lot bigger than it was"
Technical Effects	Thievery	"Thievery takes the cake, knives, plates, table, and wedding reception in this department.", "incredible!!", "I don't even want to imagine how complicate programming this mission must have been!", "I would not have believed this possible in the dark engine - amazing scripting, for the teammates, score calculation and opposing clans.", "Incredible AI. It was the best I have ever seen. Bring on Thief BOTs!", "The Thief cowering in the dark until the guard walked away was awesome!"
Technical Effects	Mother's Love, A	"so many attractive and surprising playthings - couldn't get enough of playing around!", "Best creatures/gimmicks to play with...I loved all those new creatures and funny fruits", "I loved the toys upstairs and the baddies to use them on.", "Would not like to face some of these inside a dark cave", "technical effects, objects, creatures, and all are very nifty."
Design/Architecture	Unfortunate Formulae	"Simply beautiful - incredibly detailed design, particularly outside with grass, house features - amazing.", "this one makes you feel like acting in a real existing place. Loved especially the overgrown garden with the beautiful pergola and the picturesque dilapidated walls.", "Incredible how much attention the author payed to every little detail!", "Unfortunate Formulae is a really busy area that looks 'lived-in', unlike most missions.", "crammed to the rafters with stuff...I was amazed at how many small details were in evidence."
Design/Architecture	Burrick's Head Inn, The	"lovely, with excellent attention to detail; the little touches -- the bar area, etc. -- is what makes it so believable."
Atmosphere/Creepy	Thief Noir	"Thief Noir has a wonderful old-world feel to it - the colour scheme, music for the scrolls, and of course the movie poster really heighten the atmosphere.", "perfectly styled details make you feel like an actor in an old movie", "An excellent Bogart-style thriller", "Thief Noir reinvented a whole new thief world all its own. Koodos to the creater.", "Very being-there."
Atmosphere/Creepy	Burrick's Head Inn, The	"...real living areas. There was also enough stuff (candles, artwork, dishes,etc ) arranged so it seemed as though the place was really lived in.", "I would have liked to book a room in that inn, had I not already knocked out the receptionist!"
Atmosphere/Creepy	Breakout Apocalypse	"The war room was my favourite.", "logical and pleasing impression"
Sound and Music	Burrick's Head Inn, The	"Best C4 moment: walking into the 4th floor apartment to find the murdered noble to the opening strains of Beethoven!", "Some of the music clips had me wanting to buy the original songs immediately.", "I liked all the different classical pieces ... they helped with the atmosphere a lot - hearing the music as the thief and the 'lady trying to keep the Angel's Tear' deathmatch each other was 'just right'."
Sound and Music	Thief Noir	"The absolute no.1 in sound & music...used sound and music with careful ear and wit.", "I really like it when missions carry a mood", "reminded me of the ballroom scenes from The Shining"
Unique/Original	Thievery	"Amazing new gameplay style with excellent AI. The closest ever to Thief 2 Multiplayer.", "never would have though of using bots in Thief... like the way the one guy just hovers in the air and scoots up that rope!", "Overall WOW!"
Unique/Original	Taffer's Shooting Gallery	"Nintendo style side quest...cool that this target game shoots back! Takes the cake for most original so far."
Humorous/Funny	Mission With No Name	"The guard with the traffic cone head had me cracking up...when I tossed the Jorge bomb at him I fell to the ground!!!", "The silly portion of A Mission With No Name is...well...silly. :)", "Thought the Jorge-bombs were great...definitely improved the guards fashion sense...can I take some to the mall ?? Please ??"
Humorous/Funny	Taffer's Shooting Gallery	"Shooting Gallery was just hilarious!", "had me laughing out loud", "just pure fun"
Storyline	Burrick's Head Inn, The	"loved, how the facets of this one are unfolded while playing, with some unexpected turns and some good laughs", "Great, slowly unfolding story - feels more like a movie or novel than an FM.", "'Poetry by J.C. van Damme' stole the show"
Storyline	Amnesia	"feeling of what? who? huh? uh-oh!", "It was really chilling!", "hectic assasins in their gloomy lair - in combination with a lost mind a thrilling atmosphere", "Most immersive"
Storyline	Unfortunate Formulae	"good twists and turns to the story and objectives", "developed"
Puzzle Solving	Breakout Apocalypse	"had me tearing out what's left of my hair. The puzzles are devious and/or sadistic. Three water arrows...how am I going to use them??", "one big puzzle which I haven't solved yet..."
Puzzle Solving	Unfortunate Formulae	"who wouldn't love to play an alchemist?"
Gameplay/Ghosting	Burrick's Head Inn, The	"robbing the lobby was like a three person's dance around the light buttons. Finding the perfect rhythm - a great and totally new experience!", "Following another thief around to do your dirty work for you is always fun.", "Redefines the mansion-break genre, and does it well."
Gameplay/Ghosting	Breakout Apocalypse	"had me hesitating in the shadows, something I really haven't done since Calendra's Legacy or Inverted Manse.", "how often do you get to dunk War in a water tank?"
Player Choice	Burrick's Head Inn, The	"great attention to every little detail and every aspect of what constitutes a great mission. It's the winner, hands down.", "Great fun, with plot twists, humour and atmosphere", "outstanding"
Player Choice	Unfortunate Formulae	"The nature can be felt."