Melan

Mortem Desino: 3 MB of that is textures, but still. Enjoy, explore, evaluate!

[edit]Please note that this version of Return to the City has been superseded by an expanded and significantly performance-optimised rerelease, available here. However, I'd appreciate if some of these download links were left around so people can check out the original version if they wish.[/edit] Hello, Taffers! My FM for the Grand Christmas FM Contest, Return to the City, has been completed and available at TTLG (updated Hammers-into-Builders version) www.darklurker.com (updated Hammers-into-Builders version) www.uploading.com (Hammers-into-Builders update) www.mediafire.com (Hammers-into-Builders update) www.mediafire.com (second link - thanks, Vexd) (Hammers-into-Builders update) www.sharebee.com (thanks, Chiron!) (Hammers-into-Builders update) Have fun, and please read the release notes, below! (Especially point 1) Last but definitely not least, thanks are due to my beta testers, who have been very helpful in finding and fixing the bugs that have cropped up, as well as everyone on the TDM forums for their help and support. Thank you! Series information: All of my missions except Unbidden Guest (TMA) take place in a common setting and involve the same protagonist, although under different aliases - Talbot, Messer Johannes, Philby and others. None of them require previous knowledge of previous FMs, but there are common elements and a degree of continuity. The missions, in current order, are: Prowler of the Dark (TDP/Gold) (S): liberate a skull of paganic enchantment from an abandoned church, which is kept sealed and guarded by the Builders.Return to the City (The Dark Mod) (M): plunder the other side of the Builder complex to steal a pack of explosives. Patrols have been heightened because of the recent break-in. (This mission connects to the previous along the North/South axis - too bad I didn't have the time to let you revisit some old areas) (You are here!)Fiasco at Fauchard Street (The Dark Mod) (M): steal a collection of opals from the house of a wealthy usurer.Bad Debts (TMA) (XL): fallen on hard times, you take a job from a diminutive snitch to steal his letter of debt from Markus, a pawnshop owner/usurer (looks like a common theme). Rooftop extravaganza.Disorientation (TMA) (XL): following the events in the previous mission, you attract the unwanted attentions of Lady Azamlarg, district warden and judge, and have to break into her palace to deter her from further assassination attempts. More rooftops and conspiracies.

Expected: Monday. Best case: tomorrow.

Ah! I just finished a new (hopefully pre-final) beta version, and I have an evening free. Here I go...

Do you have an URL for his portfolio? The only idea I have is his old site, www.pixelwerks.be, but that seems to be dead.

These are good indeed. Nice work!

Sadly, it may come to that. Except of course new objects also need object textures and whatnot. Oh boy. Once I'm done with my current work, though, I will turn some CGTextures stuff into proper textures; some trim has already found its way into the contest FM, but there is a lot more. Creating normal maps is the part that needs a lot of attention. What I can't do per CGTextures terms of use is distribute them as a texture pack, so people will have to grab them from the raw, bleeding FMs.

I bet! I believe there were also some early oDDity models of revenants (the undead builder guys with rattling chains), weren't there. What I am curious about, though, if you have a backlog of technological gizmos that have not been completed yet - for my next FM, I am thinking of something that would rely heavily on them, and while I'm sure I can build them piecemeal from brushes and patches, that's surely not the optimal way.

Yes, I am still working on mine, and shooting for a release on Monday. Most of the fixable gameplay/tech bugs have been ironed out, but there is still some performance optimalisation that could be done. I expect ca. 30-40 FMs in the year, but most of those will be smallish experimental efforts.

Palmer? That could be an interesting choice. There is even a picture of him. (Really, people should use their own imagination and create their own interpretation of their favourite fictious thief, whether it is Robin Hood, Ali Baba or The Grey Mouser.)

At € 14.50 for the PDF version, this is beyond the impulse buy category. Can someone who owns the whole publication vouch for its usability in designing Thief-style levels? I am a bit skeptical if the lessons learned from work done for fast-paced multiplayer games are all that applicable to games where the focus is on slow-paced exploration and risk avoidence. Of course, since Hourences created some excellent maps (e.g. for Operation: Na Pali, a T2X-sized single player Unreal Tournament campaign), the work may be pretty good. Also, I learned a whole lot about level design from Christopher Alexander's A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction, which was coincidentally recommended on this same site a few years ago. It is an urban design manual / philosophical treatise / anti-modernist manifesto, and doesn't come cheap, but it's close to 1000 pages of great ideas on creating attractive man-made environments from individual rooms to buildings to city districts.

I finally had an opportunity to play this. Defining moment: Childish? Childish. Fun? Way too much.

I see one potential problem - after a few years, FMs might pile up to the extent that scrolling through will be a hassle. Then again, someone can also fix this problem two years down the line.

Sure, all of you. firoso, could you get access to Shalebridge at home? Fidcal, please create an account so I can add you to the group; I can also PM you the link if that doesn't work.

Another question: if I want the mission to have two Escape Zones, will it work if I clone the one I have? In the startpack, it is called EscZone; if there are two, one will be renamed EscZone2 (of course). Alternatively, if this is not right, how would I go about modifying the success logic of the objectives? Right now, it is Let the target 0 entities of spawnclass idPlayer be at location entity EscZone. In the Location selector, I can choose a Group identifier (component-specific) argument, but what should my input be?

Yet another small question: is there a quick way to turn a volume of liquid into something that damages the player?I tried searching the wiki for lava, but no luck.

Great! With some adjustments and Fidcal's help, this will make for a workable setup. Thank you!

I will be in need of a few testers for my upcoming FM. Post here if you are interested, and sign up for an account at http://shalebridgecradle.co.uk/testing/ so I can add you to my subforum. Under optimal circumstances, we can begin testing on the 31st or 1st, and finish before the 5th. If something unpleasant comes up, a delay of a few days may take place. Hopefully not, though.

Mortem Desino: how could I assign this to a concrete object (named, say, 'Explosives')? And where should I place this bit of script?

Unfortunate. I will send you a PM outlining the issue.

A quick objective-related question: how does the "Get or steal a special object" (imported from the startpack) work with an object that can be picked up, but does not enter the player's inventory? Does it get completed? If the object is dropped and picked up again, does it pose a problem?

Sounds fair. The 5th is possible, the 12th is generous.

I am getting closer and closer to finishing my mission: basically one half of the ambients (quick), AI patrols (hopefully quick), objectives (imported from the startpack), assembly (quick) and testing. That's in the "a few days" range. Is the contest extended to January, or does it close on New Year's eve? That will influence the testing / cleanup / decoration I am going to do.

Rek: Build the main walls (that will keep out the void) and rough details from solid brushes; they can be rectangular or close to it. Then, create the final, uneven walls from patch meshes: 1) create a patch mesh along your selected surface, stretch it to cover the desired area; 2) apply your favourite texture; 3) hit 'V' for vertices, select and drag individual verts to create the cave; 4) add mushrooms, vines and what have you; 5) since AI can't pathfind well over patches, you may have to add a few monsterclip brushes to help them. That's all!

Okay, it is the next day and I am less tired - I found a missing quotation mark. Lesson: if two sequential readables aren't working, the problem is likely to be in the first. This is seriously annoying, though. I am not a programmer, I don't have an eye for that sort of thing.