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So some of us only became aware recently that MK passed 6 months ago. This from MK's blog - https://www.furaffinity.net/user/mircea/ "My name is Taoki, also known as Mircea Kitsune. I was born in 1989 and live in Bucharest in Romania. I'm a computer nerd, interested in gaming and everything open-source... currently a contributor to several FOSS game engines as well as a 3D animator. Since 2014 I've taken a stronger interest in science... particularly quantum physics, biohacking, and consciousness. In a couple of days I'll be going on my yearly trip to the seaside. I have not been active here lately: Chances are I'm not going to from here on. I'm still around daily to view and favourite posts, maybe comment on submissions I really like. When that too stops it will mean one of two things; Either the internet has gone away for good or my body has..." For more info, another post from someone that knew MK - https://www.furaffinity.net/journal/11241933 List of FMs that MK made - - Gem of Souls - https://www.thedarkmod.com/missiondetails/?internalName=gem_of_souls - Scroll of Remembrance - https://www.thedarkmod.com/missiondetails/?internalName=scroll - Year of the Rat - https://www.thedarkmod.com/missiondetails/?internalName=yearofrat

Demo out now: https://store.steampowered.com/app/5111940/The_Citadel_Project__Demo/ Mostly familiar gameplay mechanic and good atmosphere, however, I did not make it far into the demo, as my rig is simply too weak for the game.

Agree with this sentiment 100 percent. Just come ask for help on these forums before asking chatgpt there are tons of knowledgeable folks here, especially those who know how materials work

a lot of years since i last played it, i remember it could be a lot tougher than expected for a game like this (odd control scheme notwithstanding). there was a dreamcast and PS2 version as well, and someone ported it to the Wii also. gog released a version of it in 2008 but i have no idea how it runs on modern windows, last time i tried it was on windows 7 with the original non gog version and it ran way to fast. oppsed to other games at the time it was humerous and quirky . not at all what one would expect from bioware.

one bummer with gemrb is that it does not support lua scripting so you cannot use the infinity enhancer with the engine meaning no or only non lua based mods. the upside is we have the source code so this could be added if wanted (not sure how much work it sould take though). it also uses a non standard way of loading since the engine can run a plethora of infinity engine games (the originals) so it can be used both from the gamedir (if you only have one infinity game) and outside it (if you have several). the engine seems to use python scripting instead of lua which considering it started of as an attempt to make a linux version of the infinity game engine for running them natively makes a whole lot of sense. linux itself makes heavy use of python.

Just tried the new Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era. I really dislike the art. Looks like it's from a game app. Really generic. Also I find the town build screen too busy.

Take a look: You know what drew my attention? Around 1:10 he says something similar to "it's mission based but at the same time it's very sandbox in nature. Every mission you are given a huge map to explore and no particular path is forced". Does that ring any bells? Looks like a nice game

yeap groan... allways the working man who gets shafted. alan wake and control mostly because it still caters to a not to major audience. i also like the twin peaks similarities . not doing to well atleast after the massive failures with anthem etc. thats for sure. also a lot of the original talent left some of them are now working on exodus so i look forward to that atleast. ah the opensource infinity engine clone yeah i know it. sadly it does not yet handle baldurs gate 1/2 enhanced edition but work is ongoing on it as far as i could see. does load the game but the ui is messed up and it spews lots of errors. id love to see someone use it to make a refurb of the baldurs gate series where you can actually scroll in on your character without them looking like an ugly blob . as for when the gaming industry started feeling a bit to corporate hmm might have started even earlier than the PS3 but atleast its as good a time slice as any. atleast back then we still got the occasional pearl among all the rotten clams . to bad the stink spreads...

so i read up on what modern engines do with hardware occlusion culling nowadays and it is pretty interresting. they now use a two pass cull where it compares the difference between the two and if theres a difference between the two it allows the renderer to draw it despite it being culled previously. this somewhat helps alleviate the 1 frame skew that has been plaguing hardware occlusion culling. it can still be triggered if you rotate the camera really fast 90 degrees but it is much less visibly distracting. the funny thing is this only uses image data from the depth buffer (Hieraical Z or Hi-Z for short instaed of pre rendering the entire scene) this saves quite some muscle as depth buffer data only renders the geometry in greyscale. intel has a library for this technique which is also used in unreal 5 and many other top notch game engines. amazingly this is a good deal faster than standard 1 pass occlusion culling. i wonder if a line buffer would have even better speed ? hmmm.

ThiefGuild has some tags: https://www.thiefguild.com/fanmissions/?advanced_search=&series=&collection=&table=&page=&works=&work_lists=&sort_by=newest&search=&games=5&released_from=all&released_to=all&genre=all&original_games=fms Not sure how complete or accurate those are, after all either the author or users add the tags to the missions.

How you can help depends a lot on what skills you have. I can Record Video Recording "Let's Play" videos or simple walkthroughs of existing missions and posting them to Youtube is great exposure for the mod (see example .) Be sure to let us know so we can link to them. If you have some editing ability, Video tutorials, where you explain how the mod works, or how to use specific tools, would also be great. Video trailers, showcasing interesting places and features, are also great for publicity. An example is . I can Write Writing reviews for missions are always nice, especially if they include good screenshots. Not only does it give us something to post on other forums, but it makes mappers feel good when their mission gets attention (especially if it's positive). We have a collective thread to post reviews in: http://forums.thedar...s-walkthroughs/ Writing reviews of the mod as a whole, targetted an an audience that doesn't know much about TDM, is also very useful. You could also try offering your services to mappers to create interesting readables, or to proofread for their mission. I can Act and Record Audio We are always on the lookout for good quality audio recordings for vocal sets. If interested, you can pick a few different lines from this script: http://wiki.thedarkm...t:_Average_Jack and send the recordings to Springheel, who then writes a script based on the type of voice you have. I can Translate We could always use translations of our menu/hud into more languages. Also, only a few FMs are aavailable in more than one language, so there is a lot of work there, see the I18N Translator's Guide in the Wiki. I can Model Great! Take a look at the model request thread:http://forums.thedar...-requests-here/ and pick something that interests you. Or just post a, "Hey, anybody want a model?" thread in this forum and I'm sure mappers will get back to you. I can Animate Fantastic. We can always use more good animations. Our current character rigs use a Maya skeleton. PM Springheel for more info. I know C++ Have a look at our coding section in the wiki, pick an issue or feature from the bugtracker of the mod or the leveleditor, download the recent sourcecode release (or better ask for an SVN checkout) and get cracking. Make sure nobody is already working on that specific issue and feel free to ask questions. I can Edit Images We can always use completely new textures and/or improved versions of older textures. How to get started and how to import them into the mod. I can Take Photos Good quality photos of useful textures (medieval-ish building facades, dirt, rocks, wood, etc) are always welcome. The fewer directional shadows and higher resolution, the better. I don't have any skills Even if you can't do any of the above, you can still help out. Talk about TDM in other forums; share your (preferably positive) experiences with other gamers you know. Last, but not least, compliment people when you like their work. Saying "thanks", to a developer or, "I really enjoyed your mission" to a mapper will make their day. -------------------- I'll update this further as more things occur to me.

idtech 4 "can" do large outdoor maps, lights are the biggest problem for performance as plastering a map with 100's of lightsources will utterly smash performance due to all the calculations it has to do. one of the reasons many engines used pre baked lightsources. carmack usually newer wrote more code in then what the game it was made for needed, relying on engine modders or game studios that wanted to use it to add the missing pieces like say fence textures (for vegetation) and whatever else a modder needed for his or hers idea of a game. this works for DOOM as there is no vegetation on mars but it would look rather out of place on earth. sure you could maps with (faked vegetation) but i dont think it would look good. sadly idtech 4 newer really got that popular and only a few games ever got made based on it. prey. wolfenstein 2009. enemy territory quake wars. quake 4. as for mods the list is somewhat bigger but still a lot lower than most of the other idtech engines. the built in mapping tools were well how shall i put it... not very good. which may have been a reason it was not adopted by many. darkradiant is way better than the built in map editor but a few of the built in tools are still needed i think ?. also the change to C++ may have put off a lot of otherwise gifted engine modders who were used to working in C like previous idtech engines were coded in. C++ is great but there are a lot more pitfalls you need to be vary of compared to C. C = follow these rules. rigid but less error prone. C++ = my rules!. uh why did my PC bsod ?.

For the people eager to play with the latest state of development, two things are provided: regular dev builds source code SVN repository Development builds are created once per a few weeks from the current trunk. They can be obtained via tdm_installer. Just run the installer, check "Get Custom Version" on the first page, then select proper version in "dev" folder on the second page. Name of any dev version looks like devXXXXX-YYYY, where XXXXX and YYYY are SVN revision numbers from which the build was created. The topmost version in the list is usually the most recent one. Note: unless otherwise specified, savegames are incompatible between any two versions of TDM! Programmers can obtain source code from SVN repository. Trunk can be checked out from here: https://svn.thedarkmod.com/publicsvn/darkmod_src/trunk/ SVN root is: https://svn.thedarkmod.com/publicsvn/darkmod_src Build instructions are provided inside repository. Note that while you can build executable from the SVN repository, TDM installation of compatible version is required to run it. Official TDM releases are compatible with source code archives provided on the website, and also with corresponding release tags in SVN. A dev build is compatible with SVN trunk of revision YYYY, where YYYY is the second number in its version (as described above). If you only want to experiment with the latest trunk, using the latest dev build gives you the maximum chance of success. P.S. Needless to say, all of this comes with no support. Although we would be glad if you catch and report bugs before the next beta phase starts

i've become disillusioned with modern games, a few are atleast interresting but most of the time the gaming industry caters to much to as much of the public as possible and satisfying noone. so good old games is what is on the menu as long as im still able. a few new ones might make it into that list if they prove mature enough like hopefully exodus and maybe the continuation of the control and alan wake series. vacuming the industry for game developers by the big players was and still is a bad idea. and it will bite them in the ass at some point.

currently revisiting baldurs gate 1 and 2. bg1 was a bit irritating i rememberered, party members seldomly said anything and it could be a drag to in some maps to finish a quest due to one monster hiding all the way back in the lowest mines. bg2 improved much but i allways found it kinda odd that you could barely walk 2 cm without running into some npc wanting to join up making a mess of changing party members all the time (who sometimes got annoyed by it and left the game with the gear i gave them). otherwise fun game, though a little brutal when you are low level. in real life i have an appointment with a neurologist the 27 this month due to complications after i broke my back some 16 years ago (loss of sensation like being wrapped in cellofane). i unfortunatly have extensive nerve damage due to how long it took for them to find out my back was broken.

newer tried pillars sadly but ill take a look . i went on to newer winter nights instead mostly due to the shared story (big fan of drizzt do urden). after that i spent quite some time in WoW and the diablo series. when bg3 came out i was taken a bit aback that it now used turn based as the older versions were more free style (well you could pause the game to setup attack sequences) but it worked pretty well in it so i still play it from time to time.

I've been diving into Cascadeur for character animations for my game and I needed a tool to convert Cascadeur's FBX directly into md5mesh/anim. Here it is: https://github.com/motorsep/FBX2md5 in case someone needs it.

I don't know who has what skillset, as I am still pretty green on the forums. However, I do know that shader development does require some voodoo black magic! I understand the fundamentals of shaders, but understanding the basic how and why is very, very different from creating them.

Nice work! Is there a build/code that other users can download and try? Please merge back the code with TDM VR, see topic: https://forums.thedarkmod.com/index.php?/topic/20468-the-dark-mod-vr-210-alpha-is-now-available/ === Reddit topic: link Video of JAKE's work:

For more info, read this topic: https://forums.thedarkmod.com/index.php?/topic/23261-i-made-full-vr-support-for-the-dark-mod-new-bow-climbing-mechanics-and-more/ He based his code of TDM VR, so I referred him to this topic.

No (well, would be a possibility too), I was thinking of an elemental as a companion that helps the player in the task. I remember an old game where the protagonist also had a companion on the mission (I don't remember the title, it was a game at the beginning of the millennium)

Screenshots: Mission: Breaking out the Fence Version: 1.00 Released: 17/03/2014 Theme: City Author: kyyrma Testing and additional content: RJFerret, Airship Ballet, Goldwell Breaking out the Fence continues the story from my first FM In a Time of Need. The player once again takes the role of an anonymous Thief who is getting tangled with an organization called the League of Seafaring Merchants. This time you will be sneaking your way into an import shop down at the South Docks and getting your fence Terry out from a pinch you have indirectly got him into. Prior knowledge of the story is not strictly necessary, and the level works just as well as a one shot stand-alone mission. Note that the story briefing is quite long - if you don't appreciate walls of text in your game, all the relevant information is on the last page. However if you want to set the mood and enjoy a good tale of skullduggery then give it a read. The difficulty level is moderate to high, and compared to my last mission it is much larger. The average play time should be around 1 - 2 hours depending on how much you decide to explore the level. You will start the level with only a blackjack, compass, spyglass and a map. You have to find the rest of your equipment while on the job. If you can't find a pair of lockpicks, remember to keep your eyes peeled for keys! The only differences between difficulty settings are the objectives, with higher difficulties requiring either a no-kill or a full ghost playthrough. Injection needles have been made a loot item, so remember to pick them up if you are going for loot completition I've succumbed under peer pressure and decided to have a poll where you can rate the level, but I would really appreciate your comments as well! Please get back to me if you have any questions or critique regarding the mission. Help! I'm stuck! How do I find the key to the closed off area in the sewers? Download links: If the mission is not yet available from the in-game downloader, you can use the following link: Private mirror Installation: Drop breakingout.pk4 in you darkmod/fms/ folder Run TDM and select New Mission. Breaking out the Fence should now appear on the list of downloaded missions. Install and play. Known issues: AI pathfinding can be slightly erratic at times Outdoors can cause performance issues on low-end hardware Sleeping AI can glitch through the bed if KO'd or killed There remain some audio issues such as pop-in and incorrect sound propagation Thanks: My testers RJFerret and Airship Ballet for their invaluable input and help during the creation of the level Goldwell for providing his vocal talent for the characer Terry All the TDM devs for creating such a great game All the people who have answered my newbie questions at the Editor's Guild

Hello I currently tried to update the game to release version 214 but after a, by the way, very slow downloading process of about 15 minutes, I repeatedly get an error message about the hash value, when the game start to install. I tried installing with default settings as well as custom select the release 214. Both tries gives the same error messge. Could someone possibly help me with this ? Is there a way to download the complete installer manually somewhere, and run the installation process offline then ? Further the installer tells that it "was run as admin what is strongly discouraged" even though I didn't started it as admin and can't even stop it from doing so by itself. But that behavior was always like this, as I remember it right, and don't ever seemed to be a problem in the past. Greetings martin

Phew, it's almost exactly been 3 years since my first post about my VR modification for TDM. Three more versions of the game have been released in the meantime, and with them come performance improvements that I feel it's finally viable to continue my work on the VR adaptation So without further ado, head on over to https://github.com/fholger/thedarkmodvr and grab the latest release. It's based on the future 2.09 version, but is fully compatible with a 2.08 install. Although I've tried to make the VR version use its own set of resources (separate `darkmod_vr.cfg` and shader folders), I'd recommend you make a backup or copy of your TDM installation to be able to get back to the flat version cleanly without effort. Please heed the README in the repository, particularly about the choices of VR backends. Some noteworthy information for this new version: performance should be considerably improved from the old alphas. That doesn't mean it's perfect - although the CPU bottleneck is now completely gone, the game is now severely fill-rate limited. So if you have a current-gen headset with high resolution and/or a weaker video card, forget about any supersampling or AA. I also strongly recommend to stick to stencil shadows and disable soft shadows and ambient occlusion - the latter isn't that impressive in VR, anyway, and simply not worth the GPU cost. And even then, there will be some scenes in some missions where reprojection is just unavoidable, even with the beefiest GPU. That being said, I have tried a multitude of maps, and I think it's very playable. the UI is finally usable! Both the menu and ingame HUD elements are projected to a virtual screen in front of your sitting position. It's not the most elegant or immersive solution for the HUD, but it works vertical mouse movement is excluded from the VR view - this was suggested by some of you way back, and I think it makes the experience much more enjoyable. It can make it a little hard, though, to aim with the mouse for actions like frobbing items, because there's currently no visual indication to where the mouse is pointing. I'm planning to add one asap, but in the meantime, you can equip a weapon to get a vague sense of your mouse orientation. If you do want to re-enable vertical movement in the view, set 'vr_lockMousePitch' to 0 in the console. Other than that, I hope you enjoy this new version. Let me know which improvements you'd like me to work on first. Also, there are probably any number of render and other bugs still left in there somewhere. If you find one, please report them over at the Github tracker (https://github.com/fholger/thedarkmodvr/issues), so I can keep track of them. Latest Update:

the code is actually compatible with other culling standards so i would wager it could be used for specific in game purposes. a lot of what you mention is pretty much what it does . it prerenders a small quad representing the game world entities then it tests for occlusion between this prerender and the game itself. transparent entities are not tested as they would not occlude anything anyway. the code is pretty old (2007) and more fine grained methods have since popped up so there is room for improvement (masked occlusion culling etc). a distance cull is actually pretty easy to pull off but it rarely looks good because of pop ins. a better method would be to fade it in when close enough (we used a rather nasty hack in quake with fog density to make objects appear slowly the closer you got. but this still renders it so it is not real culling). hardware occlusion culling can even be done with shaders