GOG updates Thief Gold with NewDark 1.27 and controller support

GOG has released an updated version of Thief Gold through its preservation program, adding modern controller support, engine and interface fixes, and three new language options. The store said the changes are intended to help the game run seamlessly on modern hardware.

Thief Gold is the expanded edition of Thief: The Dark Project, the first-person stealth game that cast players as the burglar Garrett. GOG said the title was voted into its reverse engineering team's hands by the store's backers, the process the preservation program uses to pick which games it takes on.

What changed

• Updated graphics and audio
• A properly scaled interface
• Optimised controls
• German, French and Polish localisations
• An update to version 1.27 of the NewDark engine
• Full support for modern controllers

Controller support comes from modder Peter Wright's Thief Gamepad Mod, which GOG integrated alongside its own GOG Input Wrapper. The launcher can also start the original, pre-Gold version of the game with a single click, an option GOG pitched at players who prefer the unexpanded release.

GOG technical producer Adam Ziolkowski credited the game's modding community in a press release accompanying the update, singling out Wright's work on the gamepad mod.

The release lands ahead of a full remaster of Thief: The Dark Project announced last month by Nightdive Studios, a developer that specialises in restoring older games. The two projects are separate: GOG's version updates the existing release rather than rebuilding it.

At the time of the announcement the updated Thief Gold was discounted to 1.49 pounds on GOG's store, with the price due to return to 5.99 pounds once the promotion ended.

Rock Paper Shotgun, which reported the release, noted the update may look modest next to Nightdive's planned remaster, but gives players a reason to return to the game now.