Nightdive's Thief remaster unearths a 'very very out of date version control repository' with 'the wildest things to say about the code'

Nightdive Software's remaster of the classic stealth game Thief: The Dark Project has revealed an outdated version control repository, shedding light on the origins of its peculiarities. The repository contained comments made by the game's developers, both from Looking Glass Studio and later Irrational Games, expressing frustration and urgency about the code.

Despite the rushed development process, the Dark Engine behind Thief remains capable of impressive feats, including cutting-edge audio, AI, and lighting that were groundbreaking at the time. Interestingly, the Dark Engine is essentially a clone of Quake, sharing the same rendering and lighting technology. However, the engine's unique method of precomputing visibility, which involves complex calculations for every doorway in the game world, makes it stand out.

This method, while slow, managed to enhance real-time performance. Despite its ambitious and innovative design, the remaster has no confirmed release date yet, but players can follow its progress on various platforms including Steam, GOG, and Epic.