An oldschool mission inspired by one surreal picture

Condemned Catalogue by Froghemoth (2023)

Welcome to the FM Author Spotlight, a series of interviews that provides an exclusive peek into the world of fan mission creators. In this episode, we are talking to Froghemoth, the author of Condemned Catalogue, a compact yet superbly crafted and atmospheric level for Thief Gold.


Aemanyl: Please introduce yourself and tell us how you discovered the Thief games.

Froghemoth: Hello, I'm Froghemoth. I discovered the series in 1998 through the Thief: The Dark Project demo found on a game magazine disk. Being a child at the time, I was too scared to even leave the shadows and risk facing Bafford's guards. But the sounds, cinematics, and overall vibe of Thief ingrained themselves in my mind forever since.


Aemanyl: Do you have a favourite genre, style, or theme of fan missions?

Froghemoth: There are two broad categories. The first category consists of dark and grimy city missions like those found in The Black Parade's "extended universe". The second category includes FMs with a slightly surreal atmosphere that managed to strongly affect me for one reason or another. Some examples include Breathing Corpses, Into the Odd, and The Sun Within And The Sun Without.


Aemanyl: Can you walk us through your typical workflow when creating fan missions? Where do you typically begin, and how do you approach the different stages of development?

Froghemoth: I begin by drawing a sketch of the level layout, followed by carving out rough mission shape with large air brushes. After that I divide the level into smaller areas and go through them one by one, doing brushwork, texturing, and object placement for each. I leave roombrushing and sounds for the last step, unless I want to get the full feel of some important area early on.

Also, there is always a sheet of paper by my keyboard on which I doodle when some interesting thought appears in my mind. If something good comes from it, like a cool architecture element, it goes into the FM.


Aemanyl: What would be your proudest DromEd achievement?

Froghemoth: If I ever manage to successfully make a large, mechanically solid FM with all stealth gameplay components (hiding spots, lights, patrol routes) planned and calculated from the beginning. It's difficult for me to pre-plan such things, and I end up improvising on the go.


Aemanyl: What are your main sources of inspiration for your projects?

Froghemoth: Anything with a particular feel that can work as FM's theme.

Condemned Catalogue was inspired by just a single illustration I saw somewhere online years ago. It depicted a street of Middle-Eastern-style buildings with walls made of bookshelves.

My current project is loosely inspired by the "Children of Taronne Tenement" mission from SWAT 4 and "The Horror at Red Hook", a short story by H.P. Lovecraft.

I also get plenty of inspiration just by walking through my neighbourhood. It's filled with crumbling 100+ year old buildings built from myriads of different materials.


Aemanyl: Would you ever like to collaborate with a specific fan mission author that you haven’t had the pleasure of working with yet?

Froghemoth: I have a modest opinion about my dromeding skills, so I'm not sure what I can bring to the table. But in purely hypothetical terms, I would like to collaborate with StinkyKitty or FrenchDecay if it means we get to see more FMs from them.


Aemanyl: Are you currently working on any new levels?

Froghemoth: Yes, though it doesn't have a name yet. It's a T2 mission that takes place in a run-down apartment building taken over by pagans, with a small city and dungeon sections as well. It's one Jacknall's Paw away from becoming a reimagining of TDS's Into the Pagan Sanctuary, but I'm not sure if it'll be done in time for the anniversary contest.


Aemanyl: What are some of your other interests, pastimes, or hobbies that you enjoy in your free time?

Froghemoth: I enjoy a bit of traditional painting and drawing now and then. I was also DMing tabletop RPGs for my friends until real life put that on hold. I actually used one of Melan's TTRPG settings and only much later realised it was from the same Melan whose FMs I played and loved.

---

Thank you for reading! We hope that you've enjoyed this insightful interview with Froghemoth. Every Friday you can look forward to a fresh interview with fan mission authors, featuring both the rising stars and the seasoned veterans of our beloved community.

Stay tuned and see you in the next issue of FM Author Spotlight series!