Games PC THIEF 2 User Manual

EPILEPSY WARNING

A very small percentage of individuals may experience
epileptic seizures when exposed to certain light
patterns or flashing lights. Exposure to certain patterns
or backgrounds on a television screen or while playing
video games may induce an epileptic seizure in these
individuals. Certain conditions may induce previously
undetected epileptic symptoms even in persons who
have no history of prior seizures or epilepsy. If you, or
anyone in your family, has an epileptic condition,
consult your physician prior to playing. If you
experience any of the following while playing a video
game – dizziness, altered vision, eye or muscle
twitches, loss of awareness, disorientation, any
involuntary movement, or convulsions – IMMEDIATELY
discontinue use and consult your physician before
resuming play.

FEELING ROBBED OF SUCCESS PLAYING THIEF 2?

Call the EIDOS Interactive Hint Line

1-900-77EIDOS (773-4367) U.S. Only

Cost of call: $0.99/minute.

Must be 18 years or have parent’s permission.

Touch-tone phone required.

ESRB RATING

This product has been rated by the Entertainment
Software Rating Board. For information about the ESRB
rating, or to comment about the appropriateness of
the rating, please contact the ESRB at 1-800-771-3772.

HANDLING YOUR COMPACT DISC

• The PC compact disc is intended for use exclusively
on IBM compatible systems with the minimum
configurations specified on the system requirements
of the game purchased.

• Avoid bending the disc. Do not touch, smudge or
scratch its surface.

• Do not leave the disc in direct sunlight or near a
radiator or other source of heat.

• Take occasional rest breaks during extended play.

• Always store the disc in its protective case.

CONTENTS

Installing Thief 2: The Metal Age . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Uninstalling Thief 2: The Metal Age . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

System Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Thief 2: The Metal Age . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Game Screens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Difficulty Level & Mission Objectives . . . . . . . . . . 11

Loadout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

In-Game Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Movement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Interacting with the World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Stealth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Combat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Player Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

The Fine Art of Lockpicking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Hints & Tactics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Default Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Thief 2 Credits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

1

INSTALLING THIEF 2: THE METAL AGE

Installing THIEF 2: THE METAL AGE couldn’t be easier. Simply insert the CD into your CD­ROM drive. After a few seconds, the Launch Panel will appear*:

Click the Install button to begin installation. The program will guide you through the
remaining process via onscreen prompts.

You will be prompted to select the install size and directory to which you wish to install
the game on your hard drive.

The installer will check to see if your machine requires any additional files such as
DirectX 7.0. If the installer detects that those files are needed, follow the additional
prompts that appear onscreen.

*NOTE: In the event the Launch Panel does not appear when you insert the CD:

• Double-click the My Computer icon, then double-click the CD-ROM icon, and lastly
double-click the SETUP.EXE file, OR:

• Click the START button. Choose Run from the ensuing pop-up menu. Type d:\setup in
the box provided (where d: designates your CD-ROM drive letter). Click the OK button
to begin the install program.

TROUBLESHOOTING

If you are experiencing difficulties installing THIEF2: THE METAL AGE, please consult the
“Troubleshooting” section of the Readme.

NOTE: Once the game is installed, CD2 will need to be in your CD-ROM drive while you
are playing THIEF 2.

UNINSTALLING THIEF 2: THE METAL AGE

If you need to uninstall THIEF 2: THE METAL AGE, you may do any of the following:

1. Insert the CD into the CD-ROM drive to activate the AutoPlay feature. Click
the Uninstall button on the Launch Panel and follow the onscreen prompts.

2. Click the START button from the Windows taskbar, go to Programs/Thief2, select
“Uninstall Thief 2” and follow the onscreen instructions.

3. Go to the CONTROLPANEL and choose “Add/Remove Programs.” Click Thief 2:
The Metal Age, select the Add/Remove button and follow the onscreen instructions.

If you experience difficulties uninstalling THIEF 2: THE METAL AGE, please consult
the “Troubleshooting” section of the Readme.

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

MINIMUM:

• 266 MHz Pentium® II or equivalent

• Windows® 95/98

• 48 MB RAM

• DirectX 7.0 compliant 3D accelerated
video card

• DirectX 7.0 compliant sound card

• DirectX 7.0 or higher (included)

• 4x CD-ROM drive

• 250 MB uncompressed hard
drive space

• Keyboard and mouse

RECOMMENDED:

• 400 MHz processor

• 64 MB RAM

• 3D accelerator with 16 MB VRAM

• 8x CD-ROM drive

• 600 MB uncompressed hard drive
space

• EAX 2.0 or A3D 2.0 compliant
audio card

NOTE: 3D accelerated video card required.
It may be necessary to update your
hardware drivers before playing.

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THIEF 2: THE METAL AGE

“It is not a question of what the Law is, but rather what it is not. The Law is neither
noble, nor an end in itself. It is not for the weak-minded or the squeamish. The Law
is simply a means for those who control it, namely me, to acquire that which I
want. One with your wealth and connections, who is prepared to sacrifice to have
a troubling problem resolved, need only describe to me in detail the favor you are
requesting.” - Gorman Truart, correspondence

“The Master Builder came unto us.
He built for us a new house, and the house was like His house.
And He gifted us with knowledge, and we learned to use Boiler and Gear.
That unto us would come His Paradise, and there would be no pain.”

- from Mechanist Rote Texts for Novices

“Twice moons face darks us showed
Twice thems jackals singsie
Thrice Him harvest failsy blights
Thrice we weeps and chillsing ...”

- Unattributed, Ink on Parchment

“Our focus shifted to those who presented two faces: one manifest yet false, the
other hidden yet true. To interfere directly would bring ruin, still, the glyph
warnings were absolute.”

- Keepers Annals

INTRODUCTION

In THIEF 2: THE METAL AGE you play the character of Garrett, a hardened thief
of the highest caliber. Shadows and silence are your allies. Light is your enemy.
Stealth and cunning are your tools.

And the riches of others are yours for the taking.
You ply your trade in the City, preying on the rich nobility and corrupt merchants,

who are no more deserving of their worldly goods than a hard-working thief.
Every job comes with some danger. Being a thief means always being one misstep away

from finding an angry guard bearing down on you with a drawn blade. For these
unfortunate moments, you carry a sword yourself. A blackjack and a short-bow are
also part of your arsenal. Fighting is usually your last choice, but sometimes it’s
the only choice.

More often, however, the road to riches is dark and silent. You will have tools designed
to deceive your enemies, tools which can better keep you out of danger, and tools to help
you get into hard-to-reach places. You are a thief, not a warrior. So keep your wits about
you and you won’t lose your head.

You may have heard the term “First Person Shooter” to describe other action games with
a first-person point of view. THIEF 2 is not one of those games. Instead, think of THIEF 2
as a “First Person Sneaker.” Sure, you can use your sword and bow to kill your enemies,
but the general rule of engagement is: “The enemy should never know you were there.”
Make sure to read the “Stealth” section later in this manual if you want to survive the
harsh world of THIEF 2.

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GAME SCREENS

MAIN MENU

NEW GAME Start a new game of THIEF 2 by bringing up the New Game screen.
LOAD GAME Load a previously saved game.
OPTIONS Adjust video, audio, control and game settings.
CREDITS Show the names of all the people who worked to bring you THIEF 2.
INTRO Replay the game’s intro sequence.
QUIT Quit back to the desktop.

NEW GAME SCREEN

START GAME Play the first mission.
OPTIONS Adjust video, audio, control and game settings.
CANCEL Cancel back to the Main Menu.
DIFFICULTY The difficulty level may be changed at this screen. The default is Normal,

but if you want more of a challenge, you can select Hard, and if you’re
feeling exceptionally stealthy, choose Expert.

If this is your first introduction to the THIEF series, we strongly
recommend that you play the first 3 missions on Normal difficulty level.
When played on Normal difficulty, these missions will introduce you to
some key concepts of stealthy gameplay, and will help you understand
how to succeed by giving you extra hints. If you’ve played THIEF before
or think you have what it takes, you can play these missions on Hard
or Expert for additional objectives and challenging gameplay.

OPTIONS SCREEN

CONTROLS

Reconfigure your input controls, including the keyboard, mouse and joystick.
JOYSTICK Enable Joystick and Gamepad support.
INVERT MOUSE Reverse the Up/Down movement on the mouse.
LOOKSPRING With Lookspring ON, the mouse will change the direction you

are facing only when the Freelook key is held down, and will
automatically center your view when the Freelook key is
released.

ALWAYS FREELOOK Change the direction you are facing when moving the mouse

in all directions (ON by default).

MOUSE SENSITIVITY Move the slider Right/Left to Raise/Lower the mouse sensitivity.

Your view moves faster with the sensitivity raised.

CUSTOMIZE CONTROLS Rebind your control keys and buttons.

To rebind a control function, click the function, then press the
key or button you wish to use for that function, or press Esc
to cancel. Each key or button can only be assigned one control
function at a time. Click SAVE to save your keybinds; click LOAD
to load a saved set of keybinds (we offer several different
configurations).

NOTE: Your keybinds will be loaded when you load a saved
game, so you will only need to load your keybinds separately
if you start a new game.

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VIDEO

Change various video options to increase performance or graphical quality. Lowering
the resolution and turning off special effects will increase performance, but the game
won’t look as nice.

HARDWARE DRIVER Switch between Primary and Secondary 3D cards.
RESOLUTION Change the graphic resolution. Lowering the resolution will

increase frame rate but lower graphical quality.
FOGGING Turn fog effects ON/OFF.
WEATHER Turn weather effects ON/OFF.
SKY DETAIL Change the detail level of the sky, HIGH/LOW.
GAMMA ADJUST Raise or lower the gamma (brightness).

Proper gamma correction (screen brightness) is vital for the most

enjoyable THIEF 2 experience. Given that different monitors and

video cards exhibit a wide range of gamma values, it is important

to understand the optimal setting for gameplay. The ideal gamma

settings allow you to see the basic outline of terrain and objects

even in deep shadow, but only barely. Darker settings than this

won’t allow you to see where you’re going in dark areas (of which

there are plenty in THIEF 2). Brighter settings tend to wash out

shadows, making it hard to tell where you’re safe from detection

and where you’re exposed. Also, dark shadows look much cooler!

AUDIO

Change various audio options and volume levels.
SPEAKER TEST Test your current sound settings.
REVERSED STEREO Switch the output from your left and right speakers.

HARDWARE ACCELERATION Enable hardware acceleration on your sound card

to improve sound quality and performance.

AUDIO CHANNELS Number of audio channels in use; lower to increase

performance.

EAX Activate environmental sound effects; only available

on supported cards.
VOLUME Change the main volume level.
AMBIENT VOLUME Change the volume level of ambient background sounds.

Sound plays an important role in THIEF 2. When you’re

sneaking around some guy’s house at night, you want to

be able to hear which direction the armed guard is coming

from, how close he is, and what sort of surface he’s walking

on. If your sound card supports hardware acceleration using

DirectSound3D and/or EAX, we strongly recommend that

you use it while playing THIEF 2. Turning on these options

will also enable 3D positional audio and environmental

effects on cards that support it, which significantly

enhances the THIEF 2 experience.

GAME

Adjust various gameplay settings.
ATTACH LADDERS Touch means you will automatically “stick” to a ladder (and go

into ladder-climbing mode) whenever you come into contact
with a ladder. Jump means you will only go into climbing mode
when you jump onto a ladder. (See “Movement” for more
information on jumping and ladders.)

8 9

AUTO-SEARCH – When this setting is active, using a corpse or unconscious body
BODIES will first remove items on that body, such as keys, pouches, etc.

Only when there is nothing left on the body will you be able to
pick up the body itself. If a body has multiple items, you will have
to use the body once for each object. When this setting is inactive,
you will always pick up the body if you use it; to pick up items
on the body, you will have to highlight the items themselves.
(See “Interacting with the World” for more information.)

BOW ZOOM Bow-zooming will only occur when this setting is active.

(See “Combat” for more information on using the bow.)

GOAL NOTIFICATION When active, you will receive both text and audio feedback

whenever one of your mission objectives has been completed.

AUTO-EQUIP With Auto-Equip turned ON, any weapon or item that is picked up

will automatically be selected and become active.

GAME MENU

You can pause the game and bring up the Game Menu in the middle of a mission,
by pressing the Esc key.

SAVE GAME Save your progress to the hard drive.
LOAD GAME Load a previously saved game.
OPTIONS Bring up the Options Menu.
MAP Look at your mission map, and take notes.
OBJECTIVES View your mission objectives; includes information

about which objectives have been completed.
RESTART Restart the same mission from the beginning.
QUIT Quit out of the mission, back to the Main Menu.
CONTINUE Return back to the mission in progress.

DIFFICULTY LEVEL & MISSION OBJECTIVES

Before each mission, you’ll have the opportunity to set the difficulty level at which you’ll
play that mission. Your options are Normal, Hard, and Expert. You cannot change
difficulty in the middle of a mission, so be prepared to live with your choice.

Your difficulty level will determine the mission objectives for that mission. Often, you will
need to collect a minimum level of loot on the higher difficulty levels. Sometimes there
will be additional objectives, like obtaining a specific treasure, or performing an
important task. At the Expert level, you will often be obliged to play through the mission
without killing any of your fellow human beings. You can click the different difficulty
levels to see what mission objectives will be required for each, before you make your
decision.

Beware: In addition to requiring more difficult objectives, the harder levels may present
extra challenges. Doors that were unlocked may now be locked, healing potions and
other useful items may be absent, and enemies may be more numerous and powerful!

LOADOUT

Before each mission starts, you’ll go through a Loadout screen, in which you can view
the tools you’ll have at your disposal for the upcoming mission.

• The left column of this screen shows your starting gear. This will vary from mission
to mission.

• The right column displays a selection of items for sale.

• The center column shows what items you have purchased for this mission.

Clicking an item in any of these columns will select it and bring up a short description of
the item, along with its price. To purchase an item, click it in the Items For Sale column,
and then click the left-facing arrow button to move it into the Items Purchased column.
This will decrease your Cash total (shown below your starting gear) by the price of your

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