The Dark Mod Aims to Resurrect the Thief Series

Broken Glass Studios is announcing that it has released the first public version of The Dark Mod, a suite of tools allowing players and modders to create content and to play missions based on the aesthetic and gameplay of the famous Thief series.

The Dark Mod Beta 1.00 can be downloaded from the official site of Broken Glass Studio and there are plans to support it with further patches and content. The release includes four single player missions designed to show off the possibilities of the tools included and the work of the team.

Broken Glass Studios was formed in September 2004 and is made up of fans of the Thief series who have since gone into videogame development, either as amateurs or as professionals.

They have been working on using the engine of Doom 3 in order to create a steampunk experience grounded on stealth and on medieval themes. The Dark Mod includes a level editor, called Dark Radiant, which has been specifically developed to work with the other tools. The only hitch is that fans need to have Doom 3 installed in order to play The Dark Mod.

The Thief series, especially the first two games, was something really special. No game since then has managed to create as immersing and as complex stealth-oriented mechanics while also building a complex game world that feels completely organic and dark. The Thief name itself is probably lost somewhere in intellectual property hell but The Dark Mod is a fitting attempt to try and resuscitate that kind of gameplay and atmosphere using a more modern game engine that allows for more easy-to-use modding tools.

Broken Glass Studios is pretty active in requesting support from fans of the series to further develop The Dark Mode and to create more missions for it. Head on to its site if you would like to help.