Smith later noted that his own biggest contributions were the level's beats: he designed ways for players' boundaries to be regularly violated, such as by forcing them to explore threatening areas. He saw "Robbing the Cradle" both as a level and as a test of the possibilities of interactive horror design. Thomas drafted a level design based on this idea, while seeking to retain the stealth focus of other levels in Deadly Shadows. Thomas explained that the key to their design was "dread", which he described as the feeling of being "seven steps from the unspeakable". Smith worked with Thomas during the early planning of "Robbing the Cradle", which was referred to at Ion Storm as the "haunted house". ![]() Designer Jordan Thomas joined the Deadly Shadows team in November 2001, in part because of his interest in horror design. Smith's goal with "Robbing the Cradle" was to create the scariest level ever to appear in a game, which would "knock 'Return to the Cathedral' off the charts". "Robbing the Cradle" was based on a theory of interactive horror design created by Randy Smith. Smith decided to consciously apply this theory in Deadly Shadows, and the result was "Robbing the Cradle". His core concept was that players try to establish boundaries between safety and danger, and that fear results when these boundaries become unpredictable, or when the player is compelled to cross them "of their own free will". As the interview progressed via email, Smith developed a theory of horror design to retroactively explain the success of the level. In 2000, Smith was in the process of being hired at Ion Storm to work on Deadly Shadows, and he was contacted by PC Gamer UK writer Kieron Gillen to discuss "Return to the Cathedral". Although he had intended only to make it "atmospheric and suspenseful", the level was widely held to be terrifying. Smith had designed a horror-based level, "Return to the Cathedral", in 1998's Thief: The Dark Project. The central ideas behind "Robbing the Cradle" were conceived by Thief: Deadly Shadows project director Randy Smith in 2000. The player ends the level by leaping from the Cradle's highest window, which convinces the building that Garrett is dead, thus leaving him free. To escape, the player travels back in time within the Cradle's memory, while fleeing from silhouettes of the Cradle's staff. However, after completing this objective, Garrett discovers that the Cradle has remembered him. The player must free Lauryl by locating and disposing of artifacts that allow the Cradle to remember her. The building's backstory is unveiled in a nonlinear fashion, via clues scattered within the level. The player begins in the Outer Cradle, which is designed to terrify players, but which secretly contains no dangers or enemies. The Shalebridge Cradle is divided into two sections: the "Inner Cradle" and "Outer Cradle". She is trapped within the Cradle because it "remembers" her. Once inside, he encounters the ghost of a deceased orphan, Lauryl, who was killed by the Gray Lady. Protagonist Garrett enters the building in hopes of solving a mystery related to a supernatural murderer, the Gray Lady. It is patrolled by creatures called "Puppets", the reanimated bodies of former inmates. "Robbing the Cradle" takes place inside the Shalebridge Cradle, a conscious, malevolent and abandoned orphanage and mental institution. In addition to the stealth gameplay typical of the game, the level features a strong survival horror theme. "Robbing the Cradle" is the penultimate level of Thief: Deadly Shadows (2004), a video game developed by Ion Storm. The positive reception of "Robbing the Cradle" inspired Eidos Montréal to create a similar asylum level in Thief (2014). Jordan Thomas went on to create the "Fort Frolic" level in BioShock, and to serve as creative director for BioShock 2. "Robbing the Cradle" was widely praised, and it has been described by publications such as Computer & Video Games, PC Gamer UK and Bloody Disgusting as one of the scariest levels in the history of video games. They took influence from works such as House of Leaves, Session 9 and the Silent Hill series, and they studied mental asylums and reportedly haunted buildings for inspiration. Using theories of interactive horror design developed by Smith in 2000, the team sought to create the scariest level ever to appear in a game. The level was designed by Jordan Thomas and Randy Smith, with a soundscape composed by Eric Brosius. Players traverse an abandoned, haunted orphanage and mental asylum called the Shalebridge Cradle, while attempting to free the soul of a young girl from the building's captivity. Unlike other levels in the game, it features a strong survival horror theme, in addition to the stealth gameplay typical of the Thief series. ![]() " Robbing the Cradle" is a level in the 2004 game Thief: Deadly Shadows, developed by Ion Storm. Level of the video game Thief: Deadly Shadows
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |