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PREVIOUS MISSION THIEF
GOLD NEXT MISSION Mission 1: Lord Bafford’s
Manor [This
walkthrough has recently been updated for TFix
1.23, running NewDark 1.24. Although the original
text for OldDark has been preserved, situations
affected by these patches have been inserted in green. All screenshots have
been updated, and many new ones have been added. Keep in mind that there is a
difference between playing the game in NewDark with
or without TFix. TFix
updates the core mission files, as well as applies .dml
files that tweak the environment in numerous ways. These changes aren’t
supposed to have a significant impact on gameplay, but when ghosting, slight
changes could occur. If wanting as close to the “vanilla” experience as
possible, install just NewDark, without any further
patches. I have ghosted the game 1) in OldDark, 2)
in plain NewDark, and 3) in NewDark
with TFix. This walkthrough will discuss
differences between all varieties.] Compared to the quality of many of the other
missions in Thief Gold, Lord Bafford’s Manor just doesn’t cut it. Its low
difficulty level, bare-boned design, and replay value solely based on
nostalgia, for me puts it among the bottom five missions in the game. On its
own, however, it’s a pretty good introduction to The City and its
inhabitants. You get to experience several different gameplay settings
(streets, underground, manor) with fairly intriguing story elements. At first
glance, Bafford seems to be an important character
and somewhat integral to the game’s plot. Alas, he won’t show up in person
until mission 10, and was completely omitted from the original release, The
Dark Project. With one exception, Lord Bafford’s
Manor can be Perfect Supreme Ghosted without much difficulty. Overall
score: 6.6/10 I have a simple task tonight. Break into Lord Bafford’s manor and steal his valued scepter. The front
gate is heavily guarded, but supposedly there’s a less conspicuous side
entrance. I need to gather 700 in loot, return to the streets and avoid any
kills. I’m ghosting, so the latter objective is already booked. Since the
time is ripe for a bit of burglary, I think I’ll begin. I start outside the Bafford
manor, just north of the main entrance. I always check my inventory right
away. 36 broadheads, 8 water arrows and a healing
potion. Could have been better I guess. Two swordsmen and an archer protect
the main gate, impossible to get in that way for a ghoster.
They’re in the middle of a chatter also, so I’ll leave them be. Since NewDark forces Thief
Gold to be run using the Thief 2 engine, neutral guards will give settling
remarks without giving the initial first alert. For example, if you sneak
past Bafford’s main entrance after the guards
finish their conversation, a few seconds later one or more of them might say:
“Guess it was nothing”, or something of that nature. This is not considered a
bust as per the Supreme Ghosting rules for a few reasons. First, these guards
aren’t supposed to alert and never did so in the original release. Second,
guards that display this behavior never actually progress beyond the settling
remark to a second level alert or open hostility. However, if you still wish
to avoid this glitch, simply sneak past the entrance during their
conversation. I head south through the archway and hide in the dark
spot by an old clock. A servant strolls by, and even though he doesn’t pose a
threat, I won't let him see me. He’ll eventually enter the manor compound. I
once killed all the guards outside the main entrance and examined his route.
He ends up in the servants’ quarters in the bedroom with the pair. I also got
to overhear the pair’s easily missed conversation (something about a drought
and the river being record low). I never knew these two even had a triggered
dialogue until I experimented with this servant. TFix corrects
this mistake and now lets you hear this conversation when arriving from the
manor basement. Anyway, once he's out of sight, I continue south
around the corner and get the 12 broadheads and 4 water arrows from the
niche to the left. Up the ramp, turn right, then left and enter the
manhole up ahead. There's a swordsman patrolling the streets in the well
area, but fortunately he won't come this far west. Once in the sewers I take
a right at the 1st t-junction, then continue
straight ahead and enter the door on my right. Someone has quite kindly
dropped a necklace (200) here for me to pick up. I pull the lever on
the wall to open the gate around the corner. Rule #7 says everything
must be put back to its original state. This refers to levers, doors, gates,
boxes and so forth. I can frob this gate manually,
which relocks it, but the lever in the adjacent room will still be left in
the down position. Instead, I push the lever back up and rush out the door to
duck under the gate before it locks shut behind me (left image below). This
move isn’t easy and takes a couple of tries to get right.
Through the sewer gate I continue along the tunnel
and climb up the ladder at the end, being careful of the patrolling swordsman
as I emerge. He’ll address me with “How’s it going?” so I’ll know. I close
the manhole and sneak up behind the drunk. I quickly snatch his key
[1] and use it to unlock the door to the well behind me. Supremers
would want to drop the key back by the drunk. However, Supreme rules also
require locking the door. The trick is to block the door when locking it,
drop the key, go inside the well and close the door (right image above). See?
It’s locked...strange but true. Dropping the key this close to a stationary
guard normally puts him in 2nd alert mode. Garrett is unable to drop keys
quietly; he has to let them fall from the waist down. The same goes for other
inventory objects, but not all of them make this much noise. Anyhow, the
guard is drunk and doesn’t alert to me anyhow, so it’s not a big deal. The
patrolling swordsman will salute me if he hears the commotion. Anyways, I
plunge into the depths below... Well, now we’re talking! I swim following the
stream to an open circular area with dripping water. Ducking under the
surface I notice an underwater grotto to my left. I decide to follow it to
the end. I resurface in a cave pool with some floating barrels. Nearby I can
hear some pesky spiders; they’re guarding a chest it seems. I mantle up to
the left (don’t worry, safe here), making sure not to make too much noise, as
the spiders easily give a grunt, indicating a 1st alert. Now,
let’s talk about spiders. Believe it or not, but they actually see with their
rear ends! I’ll illustrate it here for those who don’t know what I mean. Take
a good look at them (you can without fear approach the first). You’ll notice
they have 2 facing angles. They stay in position 1 (right image below) for
4-6 seconds, then turn clockwise about 150˚ to position 2 (left image
below), raising their pedipalps, where they stay
only for a very brief moment. Occasionally they turn to a third position
about 20˚ counter clockwise from position 1 for a brief moment. Position
2 is their actual angle. The left image shows in red their “natural” vision;
the vision you would expect. Moving to position 1 does not alter their
vision, as you see from the image to the right. Since they stay longer in
position 1, many are easily (and understandably) fooled by their “fake”
vision. Spiders are however EXTREMELY sensitive in the red zone, and their
eyesight seem to have nearly unlimited reach. Only pitch black will evade
them when you are near.
The
biggest problem now will be to reach the chest in the corner without getting
seen. Hugging the wall to my left puts me completely in the dark. This might
be a possibility. Save. Sneaking along the wall I can get partly between the
two spiders before getting seen, but then a high-pitched “chooooo”
tells me I’m caught. Reload. Trying again, I was so close! I tap the walk-key
while creep crouching along the wall. Nope. I get caught while leaning
towards the chest. Hmm… What to do? I’ll try approaching from the other side.
No way, even brighter over there, so I head back. Perhaps it’s not reliant on
how bright I am; I might in fact be too close to spider-John over there,
actually bumping into him. Jumping past them busts me, but I saw my indicator
go yellow, and that’s a no-no among spiders. If I had a rope arrow or two,
that might provide a solution. But rope arrows unfortunately don’t pop up
until mission 3. Boxes could do it (thanks Old Man), to traverse on top of I
mean. I may not need more than two either. It’s impossible to reach the chest
from the water also; have to mantle up in order to lean, and then the spiders
are all over me (Clayman actually did this move
keeping Supreme intact). Well, no boxes in here, so I’ll have to come back
later. I slide into the pool in the small crack opposite from the critters,
to avoid getting heard.
Back
in the circular sewer pool I continue downstream, eventually arriving at a
grassy slope. “Inside at last!” Yeah, you got that right. Hey, a storeroom
with four crates! I don’t need that many for sure. What I usually do when
picking up boxes (since I have to put them back in the same position) is to
take a screen capture (F10) of them from a corner (left image above). Then I
can easily compare later. I take the two separate boxes with me to the
grotto. Remember to be careful, wouldn’t want no broken crates you know. Hey spiderboys, I’m back! Missed me? Well, last shot within
the rules to get whatever is in that chest. The first crate I put between
John and Harry. The second behind the first and push it a little to avoid any
gap. Here we go. I jump up on the nearest. Duck, creep, crawl. So far, so
good! I’m past the first crate and still no sound (right image above).
Leaning...not enough. A little more...no...YES!! Got it!!! A diamond ring
(300) worth 100 gold! Who might have put that there? John is still
unaware of me. Going back takes a couple of tries, but finally mission
accomplished...well not exactly. Still got a scepter & 400 more loot to
grab, right? Saying thanks and goodbye to John & Co, I bring the boxes
back to the storeroom, lining them up like before. Ok,
next room. Saving. What a surprise, another storeroom, with more boxes and
barrels. As I enter, some guards start to chat nearby, I sneak up to the
doorway and have a listen. I spot two swordsmen conversing in the hall. Need
more defenses outside, huh? Yeah, obviously, I’m living proof of that. I got Stupido and Smartass here. Well, I’ll get back to them a bit later. Got to look around in
here first; they’re walking off anyway. I find a chest with a healing
potion, but that’s it. Smartass
patrols down a hall to the right, turns around and then back again. Some
empty rooms down that way, but nothing important. Stupido
walks straight ahead, through a hall to the right and into a set of larger
rooms. He turns left, crosses some metal grating and halts in a doorway up
ahead. This looks like the way to go. There’s nothing interesting around here
anyway, except for some canisters and bowls. Is there enough space to get
past him? Yes, on both sides. A
chest is sitting in front of him, plus there’s an apple next to some
bottles. Leaning around him to his right...argh...can almost reach that
chest...erghh...there! 2 flash bombs. But
that apple is out of reach from this side, that’s for sure. How about from
the other side?...nope. But that light source is partly hidden behind an
outcropping in the wall. Reaching for the apple from the left might actually
do the trick. I’ll try. I creep-crouch
to the left past the small corner without a sound from Stupido
(he surely lives up to that name).
I turn dark and crouching on to the right. Moving as close to the apple as
possible while still in the dark. Leaning for it, but no good. This will be a
challenge, especially without a Norwegian bust (read about Norwegian Thief in
the ‘About Site’-page from the drop-down menu). It seems quite hopeless in
fact. I can think of a couple of solutions though: 1)
Sneak past Stupido while he’s walking to his post 2)
Nudge him forward
enough for me to grab the apple 3)
Wait for him to
fidget away from his position Only
the first will avoid busting Norwegian, so I’m hoping for that. Reloading.
See four ways past him as for now: a)
Sneak past him in the dark hall. Nope, won’t work. I get too close to avoid a 3rd alert, which means getting down to no
alert would be impossible. b)
Run past him when he’s on the metal grating by using the open doorway with
the torch to the right. No luck. I get the same result, a 3rd alert. c)
Sneak past Smartass when he does his turn at the end of the hall and enter
the grassy area from this side. I am able
to get Smartass down to a 1st alert, but I am too late for Stupido.
He’s already on the grating. d)
Which leaves me with the last option. Save the game when Stupido
is in the dark hall, then reload. A failure in the engine causes the guards
to stop and start their conversation over. I can, during the talking, sneak
past him by means of crouching. This method is, however, considered both a
Supreme and Norwegian bust. Oh well, at least I got Perfect Thief intact.
Nudging, as in 2), obviously works, but is in my opinion the worst kind of
engine exploitation. No man would fail to notice being pushed forward, not
even Stupido. To me the 3rd alternative is one of
the mildest violations of the Supreme mode. I mean, for a guard to stand 12
hours in the same spot without having a bite to eat or leave for other
natural causes is as stupid as moving a little from your station over time.
It’s a bust nevertheless, but let’s hope. I’ll just keep Thief running for
some hours... ... ... Ok,
back. The guard moves back and to the right. It doesn’t seem like he’ll make
it out the doorway though. Bad news is most likely he’ll end up in the
corner. Spotting me from there will be easy. Can I lead him to that door in some way? How about putting some boxes
to his right...? Down the hall under the stairs leading to 1st floor there
are 4 more boxes. It would be smartest to use those, as the others are back
by the sewer entrance. Maybe they put them here for that exact reason, hehe...I doubt it. I’m able to cc (creep-crawl) down the
hall and fetch two boxes with no alerts. I inch the first crate between the
guard and the wall (on his right), then the second behind slightly to the
right, to prevent him from getting stuck in between. Going to bed now, will
have to check back in the morning... ...zzz...zzzzz What!?!
Stupido moved THROUGH the crates and ended up in
the corner! So crates don’t affect AIs, huh? Hmm...I didn’t know that. What
about barrels? I’ll let Stupido chase me and check
it out. Ok, barrels do stop him. There are a couple of smaller barrels in the
SE storeroom. Darn, won’t fit between Stupido and
the wall, I’ll have to nudge him, but then I might as well nudge him forward
like in 2). There’s nothing else useful on this floor (some canisters and a
shovel only). I’ll move on and come back here later; I might find usable
stuff on the other floors. I realize that this might be a Norwegian bust no
matter what I do. I venture down
the hall to the left of Stupido, slowing down in
some of the brighter areas. Finally, I exit out the doorway and move up the
stairs. With
TFix, this apple can easily be taken by passing the
guard just after their conversation. He now patrols more to the right in the
hallway with the small flight of stairs going down (left image below). Dodge
him on the left and pass through the next bright hallway before he rounds the
corner (right image below). Pass the metal and run through the doorway to
grab the flash bombs and the apple long before he ever gets there.
Two
chests rest at the top of the stairway. There’s a stack of copper coins
(305) in the right. I ignore the left one, as it only contains a worthless
vase. Can hear someone snoring nearby, will have to be careful. It seems like
I’m in the barracks. Out the doorway I make a right, past the room with the
sleeping bloke, then right again after that. I’m in the servants’ quarters. I
traverse to the end of the hall, go right yet again and open the door on my
left. I’ve found the kitchen, with some guy about to prepare a meal;
fortunately he has his back turned (left image below). A golden vase
(405) sits on the shelf immediately to the right. I grab it. 5 apples & 2
cheese-bits lie on the
bench by the servant. I manage to lean over and snatch them without him
noticing. One carrot and a loaf sit on the table in front of the fire; they’re both easy to
take. There’s a note on
the wall from Lord Bafford. He’s apparently
displeased with the food these days, and tells Cedric (the servant) to pass
word to the cook. That spoiled pig! There
are also a deer leg and 2 cheeses on a table next to some
crates. But those seem to be in Cedric’s view. Well, the deer-leg I can
just lean over and grab, but not the cheese. They certainly protect their
food around here! Maybe by traversing on top of the sink...? Wow, he’s really
easy to alert this Cedric, no wonder they put him to guard. After many tries,
I realize that holding down the crouch-, creep- and walk forward key while
jumping, I’m actually able to get onto the sink right by the water pipe. I
can do it on the back table also, but that pipe blocks the path to the sink.
I have to cc via the water. It’s surprisingly easy to jump up the table with
the food also. See the picture below to the right? This is the farthest I can
reach without getting caught. Notice that my indicator is bright red. Leaning
over and grabbing the cheese. Great!! Back I take the same route, but getting
down on the floor without an “Oh, who’s there?” is a nightmare. But it is doable,
it has to be. Can’t give up now! There!! By creeping and quickly pressing
against the sink I fall about halfway; I can then fall further down more
easily. Phew! That was some work, but worth it undoubtedly!
I
head back out from the kitchen the way I came in (there are some food-storing
rooms in the back, but nothing interesting), closing the door as I leave. I
turn right and walk down to the end, right again and approach a door. I open
it. Footsteps...I’ll wait here and see. Lighter now...yes of course, the
carpet, he’s probably headed in my direction. Yup, here he is; a swordsman.
He turns around right in front of me and heads back. I’ll follow him and take
a look. He turns right to some brick-floored area and enters a doorway on the
opposite side onto some noisy marble. Let’s hope I won’t have to venture in
there. I rush out, take a hard left and head to the bottom of some stairs
next to this exit. This is safe for now. The guard is on his way back; he
apparently has a small route. Here’s another one coming from the left. He
disappears to the right only to come back again after a short while, I can
hear him all the way so he ended his patrol not far away. I’ll wait here
until he comes back to check the length of his patrol. … Oh, took quite a
while that. His route is definitely longer; his footsteps disappeared for
long. I can hear someone else patrolling right above me I think. I’ll be on
the lookout if these stairs lead up there; no they don’t. They lead to a
circular room with nothing of interest. Well, back down then. I take a left and
sneak on to another dark hall to the left with another flight of stairs.
Let’s head up it. Here’s one more golden vase (505), a loaf and a cheese. This area has an exit up to some higher level, but I’ll
finish this floor first. The scepter is on the top floor anyways, so that
should come last. Down the stairs the guard with the longest route just came
out a door in front of me. When he’s off, I take a small look at the note on
one of the pillars. It says nothing I don’t know. It’s just a message to the
men that the master will be eating out tonight (and that I do know). I hurry through the door
behind me. No guards here, only a goblet (520) on a bench. Back out
then, but oops...right into the arms of the swordsman. Oh well, reload.
Through the door I can hear him enter the room I saw him coming out from
earlier. I’ll have to act quickly now. I swiftly head out the door. Avoiding
the other guard further down the hall, I go into the door to the east. I can
see him at the other end, still walking away. I’m in some kind of gallery. I
search the room fast. A golden plate (570) and a carafe (620)
sit on a shelf at the far end. Let’s follow that guard some more. Aha, this
place seems to be symmetrical, and the room with the loot just now is in the
middle. There should be another door to the left then...oh yes. Quickly I fly
in there. This room contains a stack of silver coins (632) worth 12. Ok,
breathe a little. Let’s try the other door in this room. Oh my, a lantern
right in front of me, and I can spot an archer up above to the left. This is
the front end of the manor, and I can see some of the guards that were
outside talking about the Bear Pits in the start of the mission. This area
seems too dangerous for now, and doesn’t seem to hold any treasures neither (only
two worthless vases), so I’ll leave this place fast. Back out to Mr. Patrol.
I’ll check out this area while he’s away. Another flight of stairs to the
left like I suspected; I’ll try that later. Now there should be another guard
around here somewhere, down and to the left. But I can’t hear any footsteps.
I found the reason: he’s drunk. But he still saw me! “Whooshe
therehh?” No good to be caught by a drunk.
Loading... Alright!! Here’s the street exit also, in the carpeted area
between the drunk and the stairs I saw. A lever on the right wall opens it.
This is vital information. There’s one last
flight of stairs to check out next to the drunk’s area. I find 2 apples and
a loaf, but no exit. Back down, watching out for the guard, I take a
right past two double-doorways (to the street exit) and then up to the right. There’s another guard carrying a sword up here.
Fortunately he’s walking away. A chest with a bottle of fine wine
(682) also. Party tonight! 1st floor is done, so I’ll follow him upstairs.
He
continues down another staircase to the right and turns west down a hall.
I’ll slip out east and take the door ahead of me. The library. A necklace (882)
sits on the far table against the wall; a papyrus on the nearest
table. It’s a note from Dominic to the lord about Dreckboun
and Victoria. A book on the table gives detailed information about the
scepter. Saving my game now! I leave through the other exit. Marbled floor
with intervals of carpet, and 2 captains roaming the area. Both are carrying keys
on their belts. They seem to be patrolling in a circular pattern. I can pick
both pockets [2 & 3] without them noticing (for Supreme only one of these
is necessary). When the last has moved off, I hurry through the door to the
left. It’s Bafford’s bedroom (left image above). I
find 4 stacks of silver coins (930) and a tiara (1055) in here.
Leave the way I came and take a right, being careful not to alert the
captains. Now comes a dangerous part. I have to cross the hall left to the
other side, then take another left and walk on until I find a doorway to the
right. This is hard because I can’t move too fast or too slow since another
man patrols behind me. Safe! I take the long stairway down to the basement,
and eventually enter a room with a chest to my right and another key on the wall (right image above). The chest holds a bottle of fine wine (1105). A book
on the table tells about Bafford’s income and Ginny
coming up short at the Dreckboun location lately.
It seems like this guy is walking on thin ice. Back at the top I sneak into
the bathroom just opposite, and crouch around the tub. There’s a similar
doorway on this side opposite the hall; I’ll try that. Two locked doors here,
one on either side. Let’s try one of the keys. Oh yes! Inside is some
darkness straight ahead. (I usually take the leftmost door. Somehow the
captain in here never faces north, but I don’t know if this is coincidental)
The trickiest part of the mission comes here, in terms of ghosting. Making
sure he’s turned facing the right, I jump to the next carpeted area (left
image below), and crawl over to lift his key
[4]. Then quickly (hoping
that he won’t turn yet) I continue to sneak behind his back and into the
throne room, finally hiding behind the left wall. This might take a couple of
tries, but isn’t that bad once you get the hang of it. I grab the scepter
on the wall. Being a thief is lovely! Back out poses exactly the same
problem, but seems noticeably more difficult. Cc out behind him, otherwise
he’ll see me. Then I rely on luck to get back into shadow. Phew, took about
10 reloads!
I
leave entering the circular room again, remembering to lock the door. Back
out in the hallway. (I drop the key on the floor here for Supreme) I’ll go
for that door on my left now. Ok, inside the dining room. There are 2
bottles of fine wine (1205) in here on the bench. That seems like all.
Open the door and wait for one of the guards to walk by. “It didn’t look like
that this morning!” I get from the captain. Smart guy! Try again. I open the
door and see him walk off to the right, sneak out (closing the door) and move
left, taking this next door on the right. Safe for now it seems. I find a
well-hidden ring (1305) on a small bookshelf next to a candle (right
image above). Out the other door here is a guard. He walks towards this door,
then turns and walks away entering a garden area. When he comes back, he
takes a right to move off down the other way, only to end his patrol and take
the same route back. I leave when he’s walking with his back turned, and run
up some stairs to the left, ignoring the garden. Up here is a golden vase
(1405). Down again. Not much more to do now. I turn left and walk around the
corner. To the left is a doorway. The guard to the right will barely enter
this room, but he might see me so I’ll watch out. He patrols in a smaller
room with a stationary archer overlooking the foyer (probably the one I saw
earlier from downstairs). I head up the stairs on the left. Behind some
crates is a chest with a stack of silver coins (1417). Nothing else.
Down and out in the hallway once again. I continue to the left ignoring the
flight of stairs, and enter a dining area similar to the previous room. The
stairs are on the right side, leading up to the guards’ barracks (also downstairs
is a guard that turns in the doorway). The chests hold a carrot, a loaf and a stack of silver coins (1429). That’s it! Full
loot, and all other objectives complete except for escaping. I haven’t killed
anybody either! Ok, back down into the hall. I slip around the corner to the
left (watch out for the patrolling swordsman who alternates between the 1st
and 2nd floor) and take the stairs a bit further down and to the left. I
continue down to the 1st floor.
No,
I haven’t forgotten about that apple in the basement. Looks like I have to
nudge my way into getting it. At least I didn’t find any useful stuff on my
trip around the manor. I can’t quite see what that right tool could be
neither. Oh well, that’s it for Norwegian Thief. I make my way down to the
basement and position myself behind the guard. Running forward will move him
without his notice. Have pushed him about 2½ bricks (check the floor) forward
now and will try to reach the apple. There it is! I bet that fruit will taste
bittersweet though. The screen capture above is taken after the nudge. I
creep back out and make my way to the stairs by which I came down from the
2nd floor. Right beside this
doorway to the east is the gate to the streets I saw earlier (right image
above). I pull the lever to open it. Then pull the lever again, and sprint
out (by jumping) to duck under the gate as it closes behind me. End of
mission! Time:
1:17:00 Loot:
1429 out of 1429 Pickpockets:
4 out of 4 Damage
dealt: 0 Damage taken: 0 Consumables:
None Ghost:
Success! Perfect
Thief: Success! Supreme
Thief: Success! Perfect
Supreme Thief: Success! Norwegian
Thief: Success! Notes: -
I had to nudge the
guard in the basement forward about 2½ bricks in order to get my hands on the
apple beside the chest. There might be objects that will prevent that guard
from ending up in the corner (by fidgeting), but rather lead him out the open
doorway. I haven’t had time to check this out yet, and it will most probably
stay that way, unless someone can point me to a possible solution. Anyway,
this is what causes the bust for Norwegian Thief. -
As previously
mentioned, the apple can be taken with TFix and no nudging is required. All
items in the mission are therefore obtainable within the Supreme rules. |
