TafferCat

Just in case you didn't know.... that sound/door dynamic works in the original Thief games, too.

Since you have a GTX 780, you should try Nvidia's Shadowplay. It's hardware-accelerated, meaning it uses the dedicated video encoding hardware built into your video card. With the latest version, it allows unlimited manual recording. I get way, WAY better performance with Shadowplay than any other video capturing software. I haven't tested it with TDM yet, and I have found that, for some reason, it doesn't work well with certain games. But give it a try.

This is it exactly. In the manual for the original Thief game, the gem is specifically labeled a visibility gem, not a light gem. Even when you are in a very dark area moving on a very quiet surface, when you run and jump, the visibility gem temporarily grows brighter, and when you stop or slow down, it dims to black again. This is because opponents may still be able to notice excess movement, even if they can't clearly see what moved. Drawing a weapon creates a similar scenario, where there is more of you to see (even if just as an increased silhouette), and more of you that moves and thus can be noticed, even in the dark. The important part to remember, though, is that it was always designed and intended to be a visibility gem, not just a light gem.

I'd love to see some kind of simple inventory overview. The original games had screens that took you out of the game to view objectives and to view and cycle through maps, and the second classic game had an additional screen where you could type your own notes. A simple screen to take a quick glance at your current inventory wouldn't represent a departure from Thief's minimalist design paradigm. I've often sought such a screen in the bigger, more ambitious FMs. While the different cycling categories helps, it would still help to have a single quick key press to take a quick overview of everything you have. Do I have 2 moss arrows or 1? Do I have 4 water arrows or 3? How many health potions do I have? Do I have a key I haven't used yet? You can answer all these questions at once with a quick overview, whereas without it you have to pull out multiple arrow types or cycle through different weapons and inventory items. I'd argue that implementing such a screen increases minimalist inventory interaction. Heck, in the original Thief intro video, Garrett himself stops to open and look at his own inventory (check 1:05 of the original Thief intro). I know there's an instinct to see Thief: Deadly Shadows as an example of the many things one can do wrong with Thief, but the developers had some good ideas, even if the execution of those ideas was off. For example, they implemented an inventory screen. I guess... don't damn the idea for its poor execution, right?

Moonbo: I purchased your novella on Amazon and last night I read through the first third of it. Great stuff! If anyone's looking for a satisfying way to extend that rich Thiefy atmosphere beyond your computer, try reading Shadowcursed. My question is this: Will the novella spoil the mission or vice versa? I won't get to really dive into Requiem until Sunday evening and I'm guessing I'll finish the novella by then... but I don't want to spoil anything in the mission's story or mystery. So is it okay if I finish the novella first, or should I wait until I've played Requiem? Sincere congratulations. I'd love to write and release a decent novella or create and release a decent Thief/TDM mission, and now you've done both. Rather than just envy you, I'll try to use your accomplishments as inspiration to stop making excuses and do what I really want to do.

From the "Top Comment" on RPS:

Ah -- well that's great to know for now. So I can just disable that pesky setting and go back to enjoying all your hard work and ingenuity. Thanks!

Thank you for your responses! So I think I figured out the problem: the EAX 4.0 HD setting. First I did as lost_soul suggested and deleted everything but the main PK4 files, which includes the FM folder and all the FMs in it. Then I ran the updater to re-download all the missing files. Then I started the Dark Mod up and changed nothing but the resolution (just in case some other setting change was causing the problem). Then I loaded the Training Mission: And it loaded and ran fine. Then I tested St. Lucia: It loaded and ran fine as well. Then I methodically went through adjusting my settings (turning on anti-aliasting, adjusting gamma, etc.) and control bindings, loading the training mission everytime I changed a setting. That's when I got to the EAX 4.0 HD setting. As soon as I enabled (and restarted as required), the Training Mission and St. Lucia would no longer load. When I disabled EAX again (and restarted), both missions loaded fine again. Then I installed Return to the City and tested it with EAX enabled. Strangely, it loads fine with EAX enabled (yes, I restarted TDM after enabling EAX). So then I tested a couple more missions. Out of six missions (including the Training Mission and St. Lucia), two missions work fine with EAX enabled and three don't: Won't load with EAX enabled: In the North, Alberic's Curse, Training Misson, St. Lucia Load fine with EAX: Heart of Lone Salvation and Return to the City I tried using Creative Alchemy to see if that would help those other missions load, but it didn't make any difference so I disabled it. At this point I honestly don't know if something changed since I initially ran the Training Mission without problem or if at that time I just didn't have EAX enabled. To answer your question: I've been loading fresh instances of the missions, not any save games. Going over the FAQ again, I see this solution in there, but I missed it because it was under "Game freezes for several seconds when opening doors". Also, sometimes I am not "returned to the menu and need to restart loading" as that states. Sometimes TDM just freezes at the end of the loading and no amount of waiting brings me joy. So is there a solution for this problem or should I just not play with EAX enabled? Do TDM mission authors implement EAX in the missions much? Will I still enjoy a good spatial sound design in TDM without EAX enabled? Thank you for enduring my verbosity as I try to resolve this.

Sure thing -- thank! Intel Core i7 980X, 6x 3.33GHz Memory: 6 GB [2 GB X3] DDR3-1600 Win 7 Home Premium 64-bit nvidia GTX 680 (evga), 2 GB Creative Labs Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Champion Series 256 GB Corsair Performance Series P256 MLC SSD Darkmod.cfg: unbindall bind "TAB" "inventory_hotkey '#str_02397'" bind "ESCAPE" "togglemenu" bind "SPACE" "_impulse23" bind "-" "_impulse50" bind "1" "_impulse1" bind "2" "_impulse2" bind "3" "_impulse44" bind "4" "_impulse3" bind "5" "_impulse4" bind "6" "_impulse5" bind "7" "_impulse7" bind "9" "_impulse9" bind "=" "_impulse49" bind "[" "_speed" bind "\" "_mlook" bind "]" "_button5" bind "^" "_impulse0" bind "a" "_impulse45" bind "b" "_impulse9" bind "c" "_impulse7" bind "d" "_back" bind "e" "_forward" bind "f" "_moveRight" bind "g" "_impulse46" bind "i" "inventory_cycle_group '#str_02391'" bind "k" "inventory_cycle_group '#str_02392'" bind "m" "inventory_cycle_maps" bind "o" "_impulse19" bind "p" "inventory_cycle_group '#str_02389'" bind "q" "_impulse0" bind "r" "_impulse51" bind "s" "_moveLeft" bind "t" "inventory_hotkey ''" bind "v" "_impulse6" bind "w" "inventory_use '#str_02395'" bind "x" "_impulse8" bind "y" "inventory_use '#str_02396'" bind "z" "_impulse10" bind "BACKSPACE" "inventory_hotkey" bind "PAUSE" "pause" bind "LEFTARROW" "_left" bind "RIGHTARROW" "_right" bind "ALT" "_strafe" bind "CTRL" "_impulse24" bind "SHIFT" "_moveUp" bind "DEL" "_lookdown" bind "PGDN" "_lookup" bind "END" "_impulse18" bind "F1" "inventory_hotkey '#str_02398'" bind "F2" "inventory_hotkey '#str_02399'" bind "F3" "inventory_hotkey '#str_02400'" bind "F4" "savegame quick" bind "F5" "loadgame" bind "F6" "_impulse20" bind "F7" "_impulse22" bind "F10" "loadgame quick" bind "F11" "savegame quick" bind "F12" "loadgame quick" bind "KP_END" "inventory_hotkey '#str_02438'" bind "KP_DOWNARROW" "inventory_use '#str_02396'" bind "KP_PGDN" "inventory_hotkey '#str_02397'" bind "MOUSE1" "_attack" bind "MOUSE2" "_impulse41" bind "MOUSE3" "_zoom" bind "MWHEELDOWN" "_impulse48" bind "MWHEELUP" "_impulse47" seta gui_mediumFontLimit "0.30" seta gui_smallFontLimit "0.15" seta radiant_entityMode "0" seta net_socksPassword "" seta net_socksUsername "" seta net_socksPort "1080" seta net_socksServer "" seta net_socksEnabled "0" seta win_ypos "22" seta win_xpos "3" seta sys_lang "english" seta s_decompressionLimit "6" seta s_useEAXReverb "1" seta s_useOpenAL "1" seta s_libOpenAL "openal32.dll" seta s_numberOfSpeakers "2" seta s_doorDistanceAdd "450" seta s_globalFraction "0.8" seta s_subFraction "0.75" seta s_playDefaultSound "1" seta s_volume_dB "0" seta s_meterTopTime "2000" seta s_reverse "0" seta s_spatializationDecay "2" seta s_maxSoundsPerShader "0" seta r_screenshot_format "jpg" seta r_debugArrowStep "120" seta r_debugLineWidth "1" seta r_debugLineDepthTest "0" seta r_cgFragmentProfile "best" seta r_cgVertexProfile "best" seta r_forceLoadImages "0" seta r_shadows "1" seta r_skipBump "0" seta r_skipSpecular "0" seta r_skipNewAmbient "0" seta r_renderer "best" seta r_brightness "1.452381" seta r_gamma "0.714286" seta r_swapInterval "1" seta r_useIndexBuffers "1" seta r_customHeight "1200" seta r_customWidth "1920" seta r_fullscreen "1" seta r_mode "-1" seta r_multiSamples "2" seta image_downSizeLimit "256" seta image_ignoreHighQuality "0" seta image_downSizeBumpLimit "128" seta image_downSizeSpecularLimit "64" seta image_downSizeBump "0" seta image_downSizeSpecular "0" seta image_useCache "0" seta image_cacheMegs "20" seta image_cacheMinK "200" seta image_usePrecompressedTextures "1" seta image_useNormalCompression "2" seta image_useAllFormats "1" seta image_useCompression "1" seta image_preload "1" seta image_roundDown "1" seta image_forceDownSize "0" seta image_downSize "0" seta image_lodbias "0" seta image_anisotropy "8" seta image_filter "GL_LINEAR_MIPMAP_LINEAR" seta gui_filter_game "0" seta gui_filter_idle "0" seta gui_filter_gameType "0" seta gui_filter_players "0" seta gui_filter_password "0" seta net_clientDownload "1" seta net_master4 "" seta net_master3 "" seta net_master2 "" seta net_master1 "" seta net_clientMaxRate "16000" seta net_serverMaxClientRate "16000" seta m_strafeSmooth "4" seta m_smooth "3" seta m_strafeScale "6.25" seta m_yaw "0.022" seta m_pitch "0.022" seta sensitivity "4.222222" seta in_toggleZoom "0" seta in_toggleCrouch "0" seta in_toggleRun "0" seta in_alwaysRun "0" seta in_freeLook "1" seta in_anglespeedkey "1.5" seta in_pitchspeed "140" seta in_yawspeed "140" seta gui_configServerRate "0" seta com_guid "" seta com_preloadDemos "0" seta com_compressDemos "1" seta com_product_lang_ext "1" seta com_videoRam "128" seta com_showFPS "0" seta com_purgeAll "0" seta com_machineSpec "-1" seta g_spectatorChat "0" seta net_clientLagOMeter "1" seta r_postprocess_bloomKernelSize "2" seta r_postprocess_bloomIntensity "0" seta r_postprocess "0" seta net_serverDlTable "" seta net_serverDlBaseURL "" seta net_serverDownload "0" seta mod_validSkins "skins/characters/player/marine_mp;skins/characters/player/marine_mp_green;skins/characters/player/marine_mp_blue;skins/characters/player/marine_mp_red;skins/characters/player/marine_mp_yellow" seta g_mapCycle "mapcycle" seta g_voteFlags "0" seta g_gameReviewPause "10" seta g_countDown "10" seta g_password "" seta g_testModelHeadJoint "Spine2" seta g_testModelHead "atdm:ai_head_citywatch" seta g_showBrass "1" seta g_showProjectilePct "0" seta g_showHud "1" seta g_showPlayerShadow "0" seta pm_walkspeed "70" seta g_showcamerainfo "0" seta g_armorProtectionMP "0.6" seta g_armorProtection "0.3" seta g_damageScale "1" seta g_decals "1" seta g_doubleVision "1" seta g_bloodEffects "1" seta g_projectileLights "1" seta g_muzzleFlash "1" seta gui_CenterY "0.5" seta gui_CenterX "0.5" seta gui_Height "1.0" seta gui_Width "1.0" seta r_fovRatio "0" seta r_aspectRatio "2" seta ui_showGun "1" seta ui_autoReload "1" seta ui_autoSwitch "1" seta ui_team "Red" seta ui_skin "skins/characters/player/marine_mp" seta ui_name "Player" seta si_serverURL "" seta si_spectators "1" seta si_usePass "0" seta si_warmup "0" seta si_teamDamage "0" seta si_timeLimit "10" seta si_fragLimit "10" seta si_maxPlayers "4" seta si_map "game/mp/d3dm1" seta si_gameType "singleplayer" seta si_name "DOOM Server" seta tdm_lod_bias "1.0" seta tdm_voice_from_off_volume "1.0" seta tdm_voice_player_volume "1.0" seta tdm_music_volume "-14.603174" seta tdm_ambient_method "0" seta tdm_door_auto_open_on_unlock "1" seta tdm_bow_aimer "1" seta tdm_lp_debug_hud "0" seta tdm_lp_pawlow "0" seta tdm_lp_randomize "1" seta tdm_lp_auto_pick "0" seta tdm_lp_autopick_attempts "3" seta tdm_lp_pick_timeout "750" seta tdm_lp_sample_delay "10" seta tdm_lp_base_count "5" seta tdm_empty_model "models/darkmod/misc/system/empty.lwo" seta tdm_lg_split "0" seta tdm_lg_model "models/darkmod/misc/system/lightgem.lwo" seta tdm_lg_weak "0" seta tdm_lg_interleave "1" seta pm_rope_snd_rep_dist "32" seta pm_min_stepsound_interval "200" seta pm_stepvol_crouch_creep "-7" seta pm_stepvol_crouch_run "4" seta pm_stepvol_crouch_walk "-2" seta pm_stepvol_creep "-5" seta pm_stepvol_run "8" seta pm_stepvol_walk "0" seta tdm_underwater_blur "3" seta tdm_rope_pull_force_factor "140" seta tdm_inv_use_visual_feedback "1" seta tdm_door_control "0" seta tdm_inv_use_on_frob "1" seta tdm_inv_loot_sound "frob_loot" seta tdm_inv_hud_pickupmessages "1" seta tdm_hud_hide_lightgem "0" seta tdm_hud_opacity "0.7" seta tdm_grabber_reverse_control "0" seta tdm_bounce_sound_min_vel "80" seta tdm_bounce_sound_max_vel "400" seta tdm_throw_max_vel "900" seta tdm_throw_time "1200" seta tdm_throw_max "3500" seta tdm_throw_min "600" seta tdm_phys_show_momentum "0" seta tdm_melee_difficulty "normal" seta tdm_melee_max_particles "10" seta tdm_melee_forbid_auto_parry "0" seta tdm_melee_auto_parry "1" seta tdm_melee_invert_parry "0" seta tdm_melee_invert_attack "0" seta tdm_melee_mouse_thresh_ "0" seta tdm_dragged_item_highlight "1" seta tdm_drag_encumber_max "0.4" seta tdm_drag_encumber_maxmass "55" seta tdm_drag_encumber_minmass "10" seta tdm_drag_jump_masslimit "20" seta tdm_drag_af_free "0" seta tdm_drag_af_ground_timer "800" seta tdm_drag_damping_af "0.4" seta tdm_drag_damping "0.0" seta tdm_drag_stuck_dist "38.0" seta tdm_drag_force_max "100000" seta tdm_drag_limit_force "1" seta tdm_collision_damage_scale_horiz "0.5" seta tdm_collision_damage_scale_vert "1" seta tdm_frob_fadetime "100" seta tdm_frob_width "10.0" seta tdm_frob_distance_default "63" seta pm_lean_toggle "0" seta pm_lean_door_bounds_exp "8.0" seta pm_lean_door_max "40" seta pm_lean_door_increments "10" seta pm_lean_to_valid_increments "25" seta pm_lean_forward_stretch "15" seta pm_lean_forward_height "0.4" seta pm_lean_forward_time "400.0" seta pm_lean_forward_angle "2" seta pm_lean_stretch "2" seta pm_lean_height "0.4" seta pm_lean_time "400.0" seta pm_lean_angle "15.0" seta tdm_reattach_delay "100" seta tdm_crouch_toggle_hold_time "400" seta tdm_toggle_crouch "1" seta tdm_footfall_sounds_movetype_specific "1" seta pm_mantle_minflatness "0.707" seta pm_mantle_height "0.2" seta pm_mantle_reach "0.5" seta pm_weightmod "1" seta pm_push_max_mass "200" seta pm_push_heavy_threshold "0.15" seta pm_push_accel_time "1000" seta pm_push_start_delay "1000" seta pm_push_maximpulse "300" seta pm_pushmod "0.15" seta pm_max_swimspeed_mod "1.4" seta pm_crouchmod "0.54" seta pm_creepmod "0.44" seta pm_runmod "2.12" seta tdm_savegame_compress "1" seta tdm_force_savegame_load "0" seta tdm_mainmenu_confirmquit "1" seta tdm_debug_aastype "aas32" seta tdm_allow_http_access "1" seta tdm_proxy_pass "" seta tdm_proxy_user "" seta tdm_proxy "" seta tdm_fm_restart_delay "0" seta tdm_default_relations_def "atdm:team_relations_default" seta tdm_show_trainer_messages "1" seta tdm_menu_music "1" seta tdm_wideScreenMode "4" seta tdm_interaction_vfp_type "1" seta tdm_ai_show_aasfuncobstacle_state "0" seta tdm_show_health "0" seta tdm_ai_opt_update_enemypos_interleave "48" seta tdm_ai_opt_interleavethinkframes "0" seta tdm_ai_opt_interleavethinkskipPVS "0" seta tdm_ai_opt_interleavethinkmaxdist "0" seta tdm_ai_opt_interleavethinkmindist "0" seta tdm_ai_visdist_show "0.0" seta tdm_ai_search_show "0.0" seta tdm_showko "0" seta tdm_showsprop_radius "0" seta tdm_showsprop "0" seta tdm_spr_debug "0" seta tdm_sndprop_disable "0" seta tdm_ai_acuity_susp "1.2" seta tdm_ai_acuity_L5 "1.5" seta tdm_ai_acuity_L4 "1.3" seta tdm_ai_acuity_L3 "1.1" seta tdm_ai_show_conversationstate "0" seta tdm_ai_show_enemy_visibility "0" seta tdm_ai_sight_scale "1000.0" seta tdm_ai_sight_thresh "1.0" seta tdm_ai_showelevator "0" seta tdm_ai_showdoor "0" seta tdm_ai_debug_blocked "0" seta tdm_ai_showAASarea "0" seta tdm_ai_showgoalpos "0" seta tdm_ai_showdest "0" seta tdm_ai_showalert "0" seta tdm_ai_showtasks "0" seta tdm_ai_showanimstate "0" seta tdm_ai_showko "0" seta tdm_ai_showfov "0" seta tdm_ai_debug "0" seta tdm_ai_bumpobject_impulse "250" seta tdm_ai_tact "20.0" seta tdm_ai_sight_combat_cutoff "20.0" seta tdm_ai_sightmin "15.0" seta tdm_ai_sightmax "40.0" seta tdm_ai_sight_mag "1.0" seta tdm_ai_sight_prob "0.7" seta tdm_ai_showbark "0" seta tdm_ai_sndvol "0.0" seta tdm_player_wait_until_ready "1" And a quick note: I have no performance issues and no technical problems when missions do load. I can play Return to the City without issue. Thanks!

Hello Good Thieves, I'm playing the Dark Mod for the first time with your new 1.08 release -- and wow, what fun! Compared to classic Thief, I especially love the new movement capability and object interactivity. So I was merrily playing along when the training mission stopped loading for me. In addition, I can't get Lucia to load either. I've played through most sections of the training mission without any problems (I loved the jumping and climbing area... all sorts of nooks and crannies to explore!). And then I played through Melan and Bikerdude's Return to the City (great fun!). Then I used the in-game mission browser and downloader to download a few new missions. It all appeared to work fine. Then I went back to the training area just because I hadn't played through all areas yet. But this time it won't finish loading. It reaches the point where the progress bar completes and the screen changes to "preparing to load your mission" or something like that... then it puts me back at the objectives screen, except the objectives screen is blank. I click start again and the whole cycle starts again. I dug through the forum and the wiki for a solution, and the one thing I found that might have helped was to delete the currentmission text document and all the files and folder for the non-functioning mission (except the .pk4 file, in this case training_mission.pk4). Then reinstall from within the Dark Mod. I did all that, but I still got the same incomplete loading result. I went back to see if Return to the City still loaded fine... and it does. No problem. After a disappointing sigh, I tried to install St. Lucia. It appeared to install fine, and it even appeared to mostly load fine. But right at the point where you click the fire button to start the mission, it locks up. It's a hard lock, where I can only get out with some ctrl-alt-deleting and a reboot. Once again, I tried loading Return to the City just to make sure the mod was working on the whole, and once again, it loaded just fine. The only thing I did between the time the Training Mission loaded fine and stopped loading was 1) play another mission (Return to the City) and 2) Download some new missions through the in-game Mission browser and downloader. Any suggestions for how to fix this or should I just try re-installing the Dark Mod altogether? I put a couple of hours into the Training Mission on two different nights without any problem, so it's bizarre to me that it would just stop working. Anyways... still love everything I've seen so far and I even love how I can explore and download new missions without leaving the game. Neat-o. Thanks!