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Testers Needed for TDM 2.03 Public Beta Period


grayman

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We're looking for a few people interested in beta testing TDM 2.03.

 

The dev team has just wrapped up a private 3 week beta test, and we've squashed several bugs on our own, but we need new eyes to take a look at 2.03's new features and assets and test as many existing missions as possible.

 

If you're interested, please post here and we'll get you the information and access you need to participate.

 

We anticipate a 2 week period of testing before wrapping it all up and beginning the release process.

 

Linux testers, in particular, would be great, since IIRC most of us work on Windows boxes.

 

We're in need of some aggressive quick-save players as well, for new save/restore features.

 

Thanks in advance!

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New features list?

 

Anyone who's curious enough can dig through the full change list on the 2.03 roadmap.

For a list of highlights, you'll have to wait a bit longer! The first highlights list currently being prepared is aimed at testers: changes that'll affect existing maps. But that'll be a bit different from the release highlights, which'll include new features for mappers to use in future maps too.

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How do I get started again? I did some 2.0 beta testing but I can't remember the line in the update file you had to change to update to the beta

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Here are the changes that we'd be looking for you to test ...

 

===================================================================

 

In no particular order, here's how the player's experience will change in TDM 2.03 ...
Soft Particles
Particles are 2d images representing 3d translucent volumes. They show hard lines where they intersect solid objects, which breaks the illusion of a 3d volume. Soft particles in 2.03 (1) have no hard intersection lines, and (2) hide their depth by fading out partly *in front of* solid objects.
Maiden Vocal Set
2.03 includes a brand-new set of female vocals from a new voice actor. You won't hear them in existing missions, of course, but a tester could create a simple map and drop in a female that uses the vocals.
Candle Shadows
The original TDM candles will now cast shadows as needed, to bring them up to spec with newer candles.
KOing Sleepers
Sleepers that wear regular helmets can now be KOed. (Regular helmets are non-elite helmets.)
Savegame Mechanics
Mappers are allowed to alter the way savegames work. They will be allowed to disable quicksaves or even all kinds of saves, and trigger a save from within a mission. In addition, saves will also be limitable, and the stat screen will hold the information on how often a player saved.
Some of these features can be tested in existing missions.
Illumination Changes
The introduction of new types of lights in 2.03 necessitated changes in how illumination is determined when AI are watching for missing items, bodies, hanging ropes, etc. Watch for anything that looks odd in this area.
Searching
Rather than the sometimes chaotic behavior we've seen in the past, 2.03 provides a coordinated search behavior where one or two AI will actively search an area and other AI will guard the perimeter, posting themselves at doors, treasured items, or somewhere nearby. Watch for searches that make no sense.
New animations have been added for searching AI that are standing still. They will randomly lean to one side or the other, or put their hands on their hips.
Zombies, skeletons, and spiders will still perform a "swarm search" since they have no capacity for coordinating with one another.
Lanternbot
The Lanternbot's whistle will now alert nearby guards. Prior to 2.03, they ignored it.
Water Distortion of Foreground Objects
Most water shaders will now stop distorting foreground objects.
AI Seeing Behind Themselves
If AI turned their heads at a particular angle, they could sometimes see directly behind them. The turning angles have been changed to address this.
AI Stuck on Doors
AI will now be less likely to get stuck on doors. Watch out for examples where they still do.
Internationalization
We now have a Swedish menu option, and the German translations have been updated.
Fleeing AI
Fleeing AI now won't hang around a flee point to get killed by an aggressor. Watch for odd behavior when fleeing.
AI LOD
LOD (level of detail) now works for AI, allowing better performance at distances and more detail when close-up. Watch for odd effects of LOD on AI. Some "popping" is going to be noticeable at the default setting, but possible issues include AI switching to the wrong skin or shadows disappearing at certain distances.
Animation Blending
Animation tasks that occur when an AI is patrolling or standing still now blend better (no snapping) with the default animations of walking around. Watch for jerky or hesitant animations.
Mantling
The skybox should no longer randomly blink out of existence when the player mantles.
AI Not Drawing Weapons
Charging AI should always draw a weapon if they have one.
Spyglass Shape
The spyglass view will now be circular in all screen resolutions.
Menus Show Current Mission
The name of the current mission will now be shown on the Menu screens. Watch for missions that don't display their names. We'll need to get the mission updated when that happens.
AI Getting Stuck
AI are less likely to get stuck in 2.03. Watch for cases where they do, so they can be debugged.
Game Freeze
The game is less likely to freeze. If you find a case where it does, we're very interested in examining why.
Crashes
Sometimes the game would crash when using mines, both exploding and flash. This is fixed in 2.03.
Closing Readables
You can now use the frob key to close readables.
Holstered Weapon
After holstering a weapon with the holster key, the same weapon can now be drawn if the holster key is pressed again.
AI and Doors
Running AI will open closed doors more quickly.
Moving doors will most likely bounce off a running AI instead of stopping and obstructing his movement.
Unconscious AI
Dropping an unconscious AI from a height will now hurt him, and possible kill him.
Mission Load Time
The loading bar now more accurately represents progress. Since all mission loading is now packed into the "loading progress bar", there's an extra 5 seconds after loading is done to allow mission guis to display tips.
If anyone notices there not being enough time to read a tip, then we'll need to adjust that 5 seconds up to accommodate.
Pickpocket Reactions
When picking someone's pocket, watch for an animation to play when the AI realizes something's missing (it doesn't always play). If the animation for a particular character seems out of place or out of sync, please note it.
Animations in General
Several animation mechanics were improved. Watch for any animations that appear jerky or out of sync, especially for sitting AI.
Candle Lights
Moveable candles will now cast a small soft shadow. This should help when putting them down quietly.
Fog
Fog can now be used for atmospheric perspective. We'll have an updated version of Business as Usual to test this.
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1. Can I just do an SVN update to start testing?

 

2. Will existing missions automatically use soft particles?

 

3. "We tweaked a few values so it's less likely to appear that AI have eyes in the backs of their heads." Does this make it slightly easier to walk/run and blackjack a guard?

 

4. Do AI in existing maps get the LOD treatment?

 

5. I assume there will be a way to override savegame restrictions in newer maps, especially for testing purposes.

Edited by jaxa
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How do I get started again? I did some 2.0 beta testing but I can't remember the line in the update file you had to change to update to the beta

 

I'll be creating a beta testing thread with instructions once we have a few more people.

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I have a question about speaker entities.. in 2.03 if there is no or an incorrect s_shader listed does it now play a mono blank tone? because I ran into this problem with Lord Edgars Bathhouse as there was a speaker entity near the start that was linked to a sound file which was removed and in my version 2.02 I couldn't hear anything but Bikerdude tested the map on 2.03 and said there is a plain mono tone that plays and we put it down to the fact that he is using 2.03.

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2. Will existing missions automatically use soft particles?

Yes. Look for differences in maps that have smoke/dust/fog effects. It was impossible to avoid hard edges with those. Soft particles will help mappers with lamp glares too, although you won't see many examples because lamp glares are smaller, so mappers could reposition them to stop them looking bad. Lamp glares should be easier to use now we have soft particles.

 

Edit: console command r_usesoftparticles 0/1 turns the effect on or off. You have to type the lengthy r_usesoftp before tab will auto-complete it.

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Who does the new maiden vocals?

 

 

An actress named Amber Collins. She did an excellent job, and I can't wait to start hearing the new female townsfolk in missions.

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And I found a bunch more while playing the mission today.

 

Which mission? because if you mean you heard more in LEBH than thats a bug in 2.03 as only one speaker in my mission had no sound file.. and in 2.02 all of the sound files worked correctly on my computer. Also another possibility is there is a problem with your soundcard.. has anyone else on 2.03 played my FM?

Edited by Goldwell
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3. "We tweaked a few values so it's less likely to appear that AI have eyes in the backs of their heads." Does this make it slightly easier to walk/run and blackjack a guard?

 

Slightly, depending on what the AI is looking at.

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There was an issue where guards turning their heads down and to the side could actually cast their vision cones directly behind them. If you were in bright light and close behind them, that could have been enough for guards to turn around, even though technically they shouldn't have been able to see you through their own body. The values have been adjusted to hopefully stop that from happening.

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You will have have to create a profile for tdm_update in PlayOnMac.

Grayman tested out Lord Edgar's Bathhouse and heard no monotones on 2.03 so the problem isn't with my FM or 2.03, I would say something's going funky with your computer... Possibly that soundcard you were telling me about the other day.

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