This week, we take a little break from fan missions, as we would like to interest you in an upcoming indie stealth game project, closely related to Thief game series and fan missions.
THF - SITN is an upcoming game developed by Felicitas Brämer aka. 'Lady Glinnevier', founder of Studio Yogensha Naiche and the original developer of Delightfyl. Felicitas has been developing games for nearly 10 years now, got a full art degree and is working with Unreal Engine since 2015 now. With her, there are a few other people who are working on the game directly and will hopefully one day be part of the studio!
Jonfeldt: You have a new game coming out soon: Project THF - SITN. What does SITN stand for?
Felicitas: I cannot yet answer what SITN stands for! However, I can say that THF stands for Thief and that project SITN will revolve around witches and things from Arabic folklore. It's very broad, I know, but we are still in the discovery phase for these elements!
Jonfeldt: That sounds very interesting, a bit different from the usual European based settings. Can you tell me a bit more about the world of SITN? Is the game taking place in the real world, or is it a fantasy one?
Felicitas: It's going to be a twisted mix of both, rather similar to Thief 1. The idea of different dangerous worlds was always appealing to me! But we do not want to lose out on the immersive, realistic elements that made Thief so big. We won't give the player Dishonored-like magic to just kill everyone in two taps.
Click here to expand THF - SITN alpha preview screenshot
Jonfeldt: You already made a stealth game called Delighfyl. Is SITN a continuation of Delightfyl or is it a completely new game setting?
Felicitas: It's an all new thing, the entire code has been rewritten. I needed to make sure that the code downfalls and clunkiness of Delightfyl did not follow us. The new movement is super smooth, and everything is coded in a highly modular fashion. That also means that the universe itself is overwritten now; it was an all-new, blank start!
Jonfeldt: So Delightfyl is not going to get any updates? All your focus is on SITN now?
Felicitas: Yee Delightfyl is fully dead now, hail project SITN!
Jonfeldt: Hail! Other than clunkiness and story, did you maybe want to add some new gameplay mechanics to SITN?
Felicitas: Focus on project THF was to make the basic gameplay stable, super stable. But then I got distracted with Dishonored and The Black Parade... Started adding a few of their features too. A lot inspiration comes from Thief 2 fan missions. The fanbase is so creative; they are really the best source of new ideas! I want to highlight the slide bolts from The Black Parade here, which I copied 1 to 1. Another fantastic game design tool!
Jonfeldt: Is it safe to say that Thief is your biggest inspiration, and fan missions as well? Do you have any favorites?
Felicitas: I have an entire list of favorite fan missions that I love! Godbreaker, The Black Parade, A Better Tomorrow, Vanishing Point, The Turning of the Leaves! There are so many more. I usually stay away from the ones that look bad... I just don't like the Thief 1 or 2 visuals. 
Click here to expand THF - SITN alpha preview screenshot
Jonfeldt: Did you ever try to make a fan mission of your own or did Delightfyl and now SITN become the main creative outlets for you as a Thief fan?
Felicitas: This is a very broad and big question. So I only opened Dromed once and then never again... because at that time I was deeply entangled in Unreal Engine. There is just no point to go back now if I can just code everything myself. I was big into modding 10 years ago, for Skyrim and Oblivion. But those days are long over. I do have multiple projects I work on and SITN is on the throne with one other project as my favorites. Thief holds a special place in my heart.
Jonfeldt: Do you get inspired by other forms of art like films, music or books?
Felicitas: I do, heavily! When we talk about movies I am usually more into special movies with high artistic value. I am not a big Avengers fan, or that weird Rebel Moon thing, or Star Wars... I am a fan of classics like The Thing from 1982, the first Dune movie... the 12-hour version of Lord of the Rings... I am a super duper fan of the Avatar thingy, with the Navi people. I love the Berserk anime and I am a huge fan of Made in Abyss. Brutality, detail, environmental storytelling, is where it is for me. Can you still remember that moment in Skyrim when you first entered Blackreach... and found that little Dwemer house where the alchemist lived in... That memory has burned itself into my soul.
Jonfeldt: So can players of SITN expect to see any of those influences in the game?
Felicitas: I would love to make a really dark and grim game, a game that makes the player feel powerful sometimes and then incredibly weak suddenly. I also want to make detailed worlds that are filled with beauty. I always talk about paradise spots as a guiding principle. Make a really dark and dirty world but hide small pockets of light and warmth inbetween. I am also a big fan of worlds that properly function and are not just set-dressing... This has something to do with interactivity and different dynamic routes for the players.
Jonfeldt: That sounds very interesting. Can you tell me when the game is coming out and where people can get it?
Felicitas: It's still very early to say; we are still planning the first level and are writing the lore. But Steam as a platform would be the main target! And we are big fans of demos, so it's likely that next year we will have something for people already. And not to forget, the tech demo for the game is on itch.io right now, so people can get an early peek.
Go to itch.io page and click "Download" to download the tech demo
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