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 StinkyKitty. StinkyKitty is known for his handful of impressive TDP missions taking place in atmospheric environments such as abandoned ruins, deep catacombs, or remote strongholds.
Aemanyl: Please introduce yourself and tell us how you discovered the Thief games.
StinkyKitty: I’m known as StinkyKitty in the Thief community and I live in southern Minnesota, U.S.A., and I discovered Thief during my grade school years via an Eidos Demo disk containing the Overlord’s Fancy section of Thieves Guild. The demo ended before Garrett entered the sewers, therefore I didn’t get lost inside the notorious Guild maze until I later (how much later, idk) played the full game, and even then, I still enjoyed Thieves Guild and do to this day, as well as all of Thief Gold. (I grew up with Thief Gold rather than TDP, so the additional three levels don’t feel out of place for me.) I played The Metal Age not long after.
I didn’t know there was an FM community until around 2010. It blew my mind that it was possible to build my own mission. At first, I was leery about learning Dromed, and that FM building was beyond me, but I guess I couldn’t help myself.
Aemanyl: The fan missions that you have released thus far, including your arguably most popular creation, Gems of Provenance, perfectly evoke the surreal and forlorn atmosphere of supernatural missions from The Dark Project. Can you tell us what captivates you about the first Thief game?
StinkyKitty: The story, for one, particularly the cutscenes. The tension in the gameplay. And of course, the atmosphere. Not even Thief 2 could replicate it quite exactly.. Is it the lighting? The story? The gritty environments? Perhaps all of these, or perhaps it’s the feeling of isolation. In Thief 2, there’s Keepers, Victoria, and even Basso in the background, influencing Garrett’s decisions. In TDP, it's only Garrett. It feels like only you.
Aemanyl: Do you have any favourite fan missions, or perhaps a specific style of levels that you are fond of?
StinkyKitty: I enjoy TDP FMs, especially the ones that came out of the 20th Anniversary Contest, such as Scarlet Cascabel, Lost Among the Forsaken, and Tomb of St. Tennor, and others. Well, undead missions seem to be the pattern. City missions are my least favourite, which isn’t saying much, because it’s Thief and I still enjoy those missions too, as well as the myriad of T2 missions.
Aemanyl: Can you walk us through your typical DromEd workflow? Where do you typically begin, and how do you approach the different stages of mission development?
StinkyKitty: I’ll start with a simple story idea and decide on a specific environment to carry it: Tomb and mine? Tomb and waterworks? Tomb and recluse mage’s abode? Then I’ll search online for architecture that suits my visual and gameplay tastes, and perhaps sketch out a section of the level’s floor plan. It sounds like a lot of planning, but really it’s only a few minutes of preparation before I start building. I’m a tad impatient. Once I lay down some basic architecture and feel out the space, the rest of the level more or less flows out from there, based on intuition rather than rational thought. Definitely not based on rational thought.
As I build, I throw in textures, light, sound boxes, AI, objects, and music as I see fit. Typically, I design around what’s most important in a certain space. If the room contains a special piece of loot, the lighting and architecture will showcase it. If a room’s main challenge is an AI, I’ll try to make sure the terrain accommodates both the AI and the player. Or I’ll plug in a seemingly insignificant detail before anything else if it’s important to the story. A chaotic way to build, but it keeps my interest better than building all terrain at once, then texturing, then room brushing, and so forth.
Aemanyl: What would be your proudest technical achievement in DromEd? Also, tell us more about the Infinity Crate!
StinkyKitty: I’d say the guard riding the elevator at the beginning of Valley of the Burned, as well as the Hammerite attacking the control box in the next level. I always chuckle at those bits.
The Infinity Crate came about through experimentation with inventory objects, just to see what was possible. Once I discovered how to spawn infinite objects from the inventory, a crate seemed like a logical option. The player could now get anywhere in the map, including out of bounds (usually one of my goals) as long as they don’t hit the object limit. Now every level I make must contain an Infinity Crate.
You can also slow-fall with the Infinity Crate, even glide.
Aemanyl: What are your main sources of inspiration for your projects?
StinkyKitty: Whenever I stumble upon an image of dynamic architecture on Facebook or Google, I save it to a reference folder. Otherwise I simply pull from my own experiences and imagination. Though pulling from one’s imagination is not always so ‘simple’.
Aemanyl: Are you currently working on any new levels?
StinkyKitty: I’d rather not leave people with unrealistic expectations. If I release something, I release something. If I don’t, I don’t.
Aemanyl: What are some of your other interests, pastimes, or hobbies that you enjoy in your free time?
StinkyKitty: I woodwork and homestead. I built my own cider press this past year and brewed a batch of hard cider. Dangerously delicious.
I hike from time to time when the urge hits me. In 2014, I thru-hiked the entire Appalachian Trail in five months. What a journey that was! Sometimes while walking I’d listen to Thief: The Golden Soundtrack for a touch of ambience.
Growing up, my siblings and I played our own version of Thief in our old barn. We built wooden swords and giant wooden hammers and even made arrows with foam tips for a small bow we already owned. We put up walls to make the barn more sneakable, going so far as to add secret passages. The ‘guards’ patrolled and muttered lines from the game while the ‘thief’ snuck around the building. Good times. Needless to say, Thief amplified our young imaginations, and still does to this day.
Aemanyl: Is there anything else you would like to add or share at the end?
StinkyKitty: If you’re a mission author, build for yourself. You may think the bar is too high now that The Black Parade is released, and people expect that level of detail, but you only need to be better than yourself. Ask yourself: What do you think is fun? What do you think is challenging? What would you find creepy, or impactful, or meaningful in your mission? Some players may not like your vision, but others will love it. They will feel the passion in the project. Try to please everyone and you will please no one, including yourself.
---
Thank you for reading! We hope that you've enjoyed this insightful interview with StinkyKitty. 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!
![[gb]](/static/img/blank.png){kind=spacer}
