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Back in the day, Tels managed a squad of volunteer translators for TDM. I am not Tels, and could never do that. Nowadays, language translation using AI, either traditional machine learning (ML) models or large language models (LLMs), is common and increasingly fluent. It is often used as an adjunct to speed the work of professional human translators. By itself, AI translation can be imperfect but usually sufficient. Can this "sufficient" approach be used for TDM, to expedite translations? Let's see. I gave some initial thought to a bulk-translation daemon that might range across FMs and fill in all missing translations, without necessarily involving mappers. In the future, possibly AI could tackle that whole enchilada. I was at first visualizing something more modest: a backbone in a standard programming language (I sketched out C++ and C# projects, but lots of other possibilities) that would make calls to an API (I looked at those of Google Translate and ChatGPT). However, I changed focus due to certain concerns... Different FMs, and subsets with each FM, would likely have far better translations if they were properly grouped, ordered, and translated separately, with an appropriate context (e.g., phrase engineering) added. The FM's mapper is best placed to provide this grouping and context. I'll detail what I mean in the next few posts. The mapper would not be expected to know any TDM-supported languages besides English. Instead, each translated phrase could be back-translated to English and examined. Is the "round-trip" meaning OK, even if the English words have changed? Problematic translations could have their context tweaked and rerun. Many AI systems, particularly for API access, require a billing commitment (e.g., credit card). For a professional translator, this is no problem, and subscriptions allow access to more (and putatively better) models and higher quotas. This seems less appealing for TDM. A few paid AI systems have a no-subscription, pay-as-you-go account tier. The cost per translate is typically pennies. But it does introduce quota- and expense-management, and may exclude API usage. Access via API requires an API key (or at the higher end more elaborate security regime), with attendant key-security headaches. Which AI model is thought "best" for translation? Doesn't matter too much, because we can't afford the best. Furthermore, there's endless churn among AI models, with antidotal reports that a given model fluctuates in quality over time, and successor models can be worse than their predecessors. So, with these concerns in mind, I looked for public web-based AI sites that require no billing and provide low-quota but adequate AI. The mapper would enter and retrieve data manually. I will focus on ChatGPT in this exploration, after a quick preliminary test confirmed some promise. Also, as this exploration proceeds, I hope to propose changes to TDM to make it more viable for "sufficient" quality machine translation. Problem areas are incomplete fonts, space-constraints, and layout issues for translated strings. My proposals will likely surface as separate forum threads. That's enough for now. I'll be trying for 1 or 2 substantive posts per week, as I tackle a particular FM.

This thread is intended for discussing and reporting things about the new frob changes during beta. Most of the description below was already given in a previous thread. Bugtracker: #6658, #6668. New Frob Control Styles I have completely refactored the frob-handling code. Now, it is easy to setup different frob control styles. There are currently 3 (and a half), which you can try in 2.14 beta. Under "Settings > Gameplay > General > Hold Frob/Interact" (cvar tdm_frob_control_style), you can change the frob control style. This setting replaced the previous hold frob delay setting (tdm_holdfrob_delay), because I think that nobody would touch that value unless they want to disable the holdfrob mechanic, which can now be achieved by the new setting as well. The currently available control styles are: Disabled: No hold-frob mechanic, i.e., pre v2.12 control style TDM: Short frob is the same as pre v2.12, but long frob is a shortcut for "grab and then use" (use-type interactions) Thief (v2.12): Same as TDM, but behaviour for bodies is swapped. Body limbs are interacted with via "drag and drop". TDM-inverted: Short frob for use-type interactions, hold frob to "drag and drop" objects (when you release the mouse button, you will release the object) I always loved the drag and drop interaction with body limbs created by Daft Mugi and I wanted to see it consistently extended to all objects, which motivated the refactor. I am very happy with the result and I hope you players enjoy it as much as I do. The Thief control style will still remain the default settings, however, as I didn't want to open that can of worms. Hold-Frob Mechanic for Doors There was previously no hold-frob mechanic for doors, except for experimental manual door control feature. I have added two additional new control modes for hold-frob on doors, which you can activate through the cvar tdm_door_control. The modes are: 0: Disabled 1: Manual door fine control (experimental, existing feature) 2: Hold frob to slowly move doors. They are opened and closed alternatingly, just like regular frobbing a door, but interrupting a moving door is skipped. 3: Hold frob to slowly open doors. Additionally, I added in the ability to quickly force close a door by holding frob and pressing attack. It felt like mode 3 ("Slow Open") gave the most benefits and most direct controls to the player and pairs well with the force-close mechanic. So, I just set "Slow Open" as the default and I did not add it to the settings menu, but you are of course encouraged to try the other modes as well. The idea behind this addition is that the player can now slowly sneak and peak through a door, but then can also quickly shut the door again if the player deems the situation unsafe. This adds more skill expression and creates further immersion. 2.14 Beta Please use this thread to report any issues with frobbing (always state tdm_frob_control_style and tdm_door_control configuration), the new door control modes (please test them rigorously) and to give feedback on any of the above changes. Pinging players that previously showed interest in this: @wesp5, @snatcher, @Baal, @Skaruts, @Wellingtoncrab, @Amadeus

"When the leaves change and the air is still, there is a quiet." -Lady Blackbriar -=| DISPLACEMENT |=- BY AMADEUS & WELLINGTONCRAB = DOWNLOAD = <( | )> -PLAYS BEST ON 2.14- -JOIN THE BETA NOW- "Seek not the prideful sin that is perfection The Builder's light shines through all flaws. It is His wisdom to recognize a thing is done Before it is ever truly finished." -St. Edgar's Sermon of Rust LAMPFIRE HILLS... They say the woods around here give the tourists bad dreams, but I don't mind. I like it here. I feel like a piece of me belongs here. ... That it fits. DISPLACEMENT is a medium-sized traditional manor mission with a highly variable playtime. *2.14 provides a number of improvements to gameplay, performance, and stability. It is strongly encouraged to play on the latest 2.14 beta release. Join in testing now!* *Mods such as the “Unofficial Patch” and “TDM Modpack” are not supported by this mission and should be used at your own risk* https://www.thiefguild.com/fanmissions/97429/displacement CREDITS: ADDITIONAL MUSIC: -AIRSHIP BALLET -GIGAGOOGA ADDITIONAL SCRIPTING: -DRAGOFER -OBSTORTTE -FROST SALAMANDER -KINGSAL ADDITIONAL ASSETS: -KINGSAL -TDASH -SKACKY -BIKERDUDE -GOLDWELL -EPIFIRE -STRUNK -SHANNEN ART -POLYHAVEN -TEXTURES.COM -SKETCHFAB CULTURAL HERITAGE CC0 COMMUNITY -LOISTE INTERACTIVE -COLINFIZGIG -CDMIR BETA TESTERS: -KINGSAL -GOLDWELL -MAT99 -FROST SALAMANDER -MIKE A -STGATILOV -STIFU -MARBLEMAN -DETEEFF -THEBIGH FURTHER ACKNOWLEDGMENTS: -STIFU FOR HIS EFFORT IN FIXING THE NOTORIOUS STUCK AI AND ARROW CRASH BUGS. -STGATILOV WHO MADE A NUMBER OF 2.14 OPTIMIZATIONS AND BUG FIXES. -KINGSAL FOR PROVIDING SOME OF THE MAIN MENU GUI ASSETS -PURAH FOR ORIGINATING THE SETTING OF LAMPFIRE HILLS, REIMAGINED HERE, IN HIS THIEF FMS. -GUY-ON THE COUCH AND JAM61 FOR THEIR SILENT HILL COMMUNITY MAPS WHICH HEAVILY INSPIRED THE LAMPFIRE HILLS REGION MAP. -SPECIAL THANKS TO LOISTE INTERACTIVE FOR ALLOWING US TO USE ASSETS FROM THEIR GAME "INFRA." SOME ADDIITONAL DETAILED LICENSING INFORMATION: SOME NOTES ON PERFORMANCE: NOTE TO MAPPERS: MOST OF THE NEW ASSETS IN THE MISSION ARE INCLUDED IN THE 2.14 BETA RELEASE.

Thank you so much for the kind words and for playing! As for the skybox showing up in the main menu pause screen, yeah, that was a tough one to figure out. I never could nail down a cause. For a while in 2.13 it would just render as a pixelated black blob at times, so I think the sky box is a little bit better than that, lol. As for the cabinet, I think that is actually a bug with the new frob code, which has since been solved, I believe.

This is great, high quality and immersive. Architecture is impressive and I can't believe how many times I returned to an area to find something new. Maybe someplace climbable that didn't look to be initially or Getting up high and using the spyglass is very helpful in that regard. Found From the Lieutenant series, I got used to the idea of unpickable doors, knowing there is an alternate way in and I like the fact that unlocking them then makes handy shortcuts for the rest of the mission. Many thanks for all the hard work that went in to this incredibly well done mission.

Miscellaneous asset fixes done: * More fixes in fonts and better support for Cyrillic and Romanian (post, 6642, 6661). * Added all missing mipmaps in DDS textures (post). * Fixed shop description of slow match (6629). * wood/panels/trim_wood_grunge_moulding_desat: fixed parallax confusion. * models/md5/chars/builders/guard/builder_armor material: brought back specularmap. * textures/darkmod/stone/brick/blocks_light_stained_trimmed material: fixed specularmap. * prefabs/doors/trapdoor_w-padlock prefab: fixed wrong particle (6662). * prefabs/mechanical/switches/wall_lever01 prefab: fixed frobbox of the lever (6060). New assets added: * atdm:ai_undressed_old_man_01: added new character model, including LODs, ragdoll, swappable head. * textures/darkmod/wood/panels/trim_wood_* material: added red variants. * textures/darkmod/wood/panels/panel_decorative_redder_grated material. * textures/darkmod/paint_paper/gold_pedals_* material: added RGB versions. * textures/darkmod/paint_paper/fleur_* material: added RGB versions. * textures/darkmod/stone/brick/red_worn_dirty_trim_wet material. * textures/darkmod/stone/brick/old_bricks_darkgrey_wet material. * models/darkmod/lights/non-extinguishable/painting_downlight model. * models/darkmod/containers/openable/safe_door_003_* and safe_wheel_003: added wall-in-safe door model and prefabs (6590). And there is a big set of assets added by @Wellingtoncrab and @Amadeus from the upcoming mission "Displacement". New models by TDash: * models/darkmod/furniture/beds/rustickingbed with skins DRustBed* * models/darkmod/furniture/seating/darmch1 with skins ArmCh* * models/darkmod/furniture/desk_pagan with skin JPagDesk2 * models/darkmod/furniture/steps_library with skin LibStepup1 * models/darkmod/mechanical/typewriter * models/darkmod/kitchen/wine_bottles_shelved*: versions A, B, C, D * models/darkmod/kitchen/whiskeyglass_silver * models/darkmod/kitchen/bottle_simple_* * models/darkmod/containers/crate_long_* * models/darkmod/containers/crate_simple* * trunk/models/darkmod/containers/wine_crate_03 * models/darkmod/furniture/cabinets/cupboard_* More models: * prefabs/mechanical/switches/red_button prefab along with models/darkmod/mechanical/switches/switch_redbutton* and switch_toggle* models and redbutton_glow* skins * models/darkmod/decorative/statues/bust_emperor_* model (and bust_emperess) * models/darkmod/kitchen/food/bread_loaf*: new versions 02, 03, 04, 05, 06 * models/darkmod/kitchen/food/croissant * models/darkmod/lights/non-extinguishable/streetlamps/streetlamp_iron_01 with skins streetlamp_iron_01_lit, streetlamp_iron_01_unlit * models/darkmod/decorative/trophy_plaque_* * models/darkmod/decorative/stuffed_hart* * models/darkmod/decorative/statues/statue_face_cover* * models/darkmod/loot/loot_golden_goblet* * models/darkmod/loot/loot_golden_vase_* * models/darkmod/decorative/ashtray * models/darkmod/decorative/cigar* with skins cigar and cigar_unlit * models/darkmod/loot/loot_crystalore* (and loot_rareore) New skins: * cabinet1_* for furniture: versions A, B, C * book_sp1_gold_crest for various books Stone, cobblestone, brick materials: * textures/darkmod/stone/brick/bricks_old_light* * textures/darkmod/stone/brick/blocks_sandstone_grime_trimmed * textures/darkmod/stone/brick/blocks_concrete_small_trimmed2 * textures/darkmod/stone/cobblestones/flagstones_bricks_multicolored* * textures/darkmod/stone/flat/tile_dirty_terracotta * textures/darkmod/stone/flat/tile_herringbone_grime* * textures/darkmod/stone/flat/tile_checkered_grime_tricolor* * textures/darkmod/stone/flat/tile_checkered_grime_small* * textures/darkmod/stone/natural/gravel_multi_color Other materials materials: * textures/darkmod/paint_paper/wallpaper_grunge_* * textures/darkmod/plaster/plaster_worn_painted_peeling_autumnal* * textures/darkmod/roof/rooftiles_clay_red_decorative* * textures/darkmod/wood/boards/planks_floor_* * lights/watercaustics01

https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/lasting-consequences-where-every-action-could-leave-a-trail-back-to-you-is-just-what-i-want-to-hear-from-a-medieval-thievery-simulator-so-this-first-person-sneaker-is-now-one-of-my-most-anticipated-games/

Chainner seems to have a video mode. It goes over all frames inside a video without having to extract them first manually. The tool is open source and multiplatform. I think I'll give it a try. Models can be downloaded here: https://openmodeldb.info/

It exists because it always bothered me that we have this super cool drag-and-drop for body limbs (in Thief-control-style), but that it is not consistently applied to all entities. Refactoring the frob-handling code was also long overdue, as it accumulated a lot of technical debt over time, with crazy state-leakage and what not. So, I hit two birds with one stone: A clean frobhandling routine and two new frob control styles in TDM and TDM-inverted, the latter being my own personal holy grail and I am certain there will also be other players who like it. Edit: By the way, in TDM-inverted and Thief control style, unshoulder body is consistent.

Sorry but I can't figure out examples for this scenario for Disabled, TDM or Thief styles so I assume you are referring to TDM-inverted which would mean the introduction of the experimental TDM-inverted style forced you to change primary styles. I don't know what your code looks like but from your comments I tend to believe TDM-inverted exists simply because the new code allows for it, not because there is a use case. I would actually extend the thought to the Disabled style. tdm_door_control 3. The door opens slightly, as you say. And I have to close it to open it again. When I comment about these things it is not about me, I can setup TDM to my liking. I am sharing feedback about things few, many, most players might experience at some point.

There are two ways to override cvars in a mission: mission.cfg file can set non-archived cvars (starting with 2.12). sys.setcvar in game script can override cvars (starting with 2.13 / dev17044-10746). Of course, there has never been any effort to classify cvars into public and private, no thinking of backwards compatibility of relying on cvars, etc. So overriding cvars should be considered a last resort feature. mission.cfg allows to statically override cvars on FM level. The change takes effect during all missions in a campaign and all briefings/debriefings/menus. However, you cannot adjust cvar value during gameplay, so only one constant literal value can be set. The implementation is simple: mission.cfg file is executed from your mission when TDM engine starts all non-archived cvars are reset to their defaults when TDM engine restarts (due to FM change) sys.setcvar allows to override cvars on gameplay level. These overrides behave like the variables in game scripts, i.e. they are saved/restored to savefile and reset on game start/end. You can adjust the same cvar several times with different values, and savefile will capture the override that is currently active. The minor downside is that these overrides automatically don't carry over between missions in campaign, and they cannot work in briefings/debriefings/menus. Note that sys.setcvar has been available for a long time already, but previously it had different meaning. Previously it set the cvar as if the player set it himself. So the values stuck between restarts, missions, FMs (even saved to darkmod.cfg for archived cvar). Now it always sets the "mission override" for cvar. You can test cvar mission overrides manually using two new console commands: setm {cvarname} {newvalue} --- set mission override for the cvar with given value unsetm {cvarname} --- drop mission override for the cvar It is not perfectly obvious what should happen if mission-overridden cvar is changed by user. Right now the main value of cvar is changed and mission override is broken/erased in this case. So be wary that user can mess with your overrides just like you can mess with his cvars. See also: 5453

Right now there are the following important points: 1) Engine initialization: that's where mission.cfg is loaded just before autoexec.cfg. I can replace it with setting mission overrides from cvars.ini. Also, should user's autoexec.cfg break mission overrides in case of collision? 2) Starting new game. Right now mission overrides are reset to "none" here, I can change it to setting them to the state stored in cvars.ini. 3) Shutdown of a game. Right now mission overrides are dropped here to, I can change it and set the state from cvars.ini. 4) Save/load game. Here state of mission overrides is saves to savefile or reset from it. No need to change anything here. As far as I understand, this will achieve more or less what mappers want for simple and global cvars control. Of course, user can accidentally "break" mission override without noticing.

I am thrilled by everything you are doing lately and how you are managing it @STiFU. Thank you. Why would tdm_holdfrob_delay be 200ms by default? I mean, why rushing it? In my experience hold actions take between 0.5 and 1 second in moderns games. Hold is a separated control and developers must make sure players never do anything unintentionally. Whenever an action fails, the error must always be attributed to the player and not to the design of the mechanic, hence a "long-enough" hold time. 300ms was the default in 2.13 and 200ms is the default now in 2.14b2 but why? I didn't understand it until I started manipulating doors and noticed doors sometimes open but don't move. It seems I sometimes unintentionally hold-frob longer than I should. I tried setting tdm_holdfrob_delay to 500ms and while everything else worked well that way the frob door feature didn't feel good anymore. You wanted "one solution to rule them all" (refactoring) but sometimes different mechanics require separate solutions. By decreasing hold delay you may make doors work the way you intend but you are at the same time increasing the chances of failure in other areas: shoulder a body when the player actually wants to pick a key, risk extinguishing a candle when carrying it around, etc. I think tdm_holdfrob_delay should be at least 0.5 seconds. I think the new frob door mechanic is not ready for general use.

Nope: Mission override is part of gameplay state. It is saved/restored to savefile, and it is dropped on game start/end. If you run setm on engine start, it will be dropped when game starts. While missions can be updated to use "setm" instead of "set", the engine definitely should not do it automatically. For the engine, any .cfg file is like a .bat file on top of game console. Making its behavior special depending on filename is an awful idea. So it needs some new development, some new rules. Add "cvars.ini" file which is in INI format (we already have parser). Add function which loads and applies it as mission overrides. Put the call of this function in various places... not even sure in which exactly.

There is a new system in 2.14 for generating smoke particles (6309). In general, it reuses more common code from the other ways to generate particles (particle models and particle deform) and its behavior is more aligned with those other ways. Here are some of the differences compared to the old system that I know of. 1) The new system is FPS-independent. If I'm not mistaken, the old one I think generates 5x particles on 300 FPS and 25% of the particles on 15 FPS. 2) Two systems have a bit different spawning time. Particle stages normally work on periods of length (particleLife + deadTime). In the old system, particles spawn uniformly during the first (bunching * (particleLife + deadTime)) time, while in the new system they spawn during the first (bunching * particleLife) time, same as in particle models and particle deforms. 3) The old system does not respect cycling settings in the particle decl. It plays only one period of every particle stage and stops. However, func_smoke specifically has a high-level logic: it restarts itself if all the particles have been generated. This looks like infinite looping, but all the particle stages have the same period in this case (the maximum one). The new system can respect "cycles" parameter from .prt file if you set spawnarg "use_cycles" = "1" on func_smoke entity. So if your .prt file has e.g. 3 stages with different period and "cycles" = "0", then each stages will cycle infinitely with its own period. And if your .prt has "cycles" "10", then func_smoke will play 10 periods and stop. Note that without "use_cycles" spawnarg both systems just play one period of all particle stages. This is a very recent change. The new system is enabled by default, but it is controlled by cvar g_newSmokeParticles. If we discover serious problems with it during beta, we'll have to flip the cvar...

The tagline for this Fan Mission, as a player, should be, "Rabbit Hole". By this I mean if you are someone who is easily distracted/sidetracked by discovering a new path, or door, or spotting a likely ledge or window, then this FM is either a dream or a nightmare depending on if you enjoy getting (purposefully) lost or not. Explicit objectives are sparse, but the FM forces you to visit each major 'zone' of the map due to the lack of picks to get you through doors and a lot of the one way latches that featured in 'The lieutenant'. There are also a lot of alternate routes and side areas you can visit, though again, there are no actual boxes to tick by going there. As a showcase of what Dark Mod FMs can do these days it is very impressive, with some outright gorgeous areas and interiors. My only criticism there would be the metal shutters. While DM is generally a steampunk setting, and no stranger to the mechanical, these seems a bit too... modern day industrial, of that makes sense? Spoiler territory: ^ If anyone spotted anything else feel free to shout it out. To the creators, I do have a couple questions if you'll indulge me: Final thoughts; having so many of the clues be things you actually had to read in-game rather than the usual frob-the-note affair threw me for longer than I care to admit but was very cool. Having the mission be set at twilight instead of out and out nighttime was also an interesting challenge. Bug report: - Few paintings in the historical museum floating away from the wall. - Memory error on Linux that seems to affect larger FMs with many actors on 2.13 still present. Several game crashes and one complete Desktop Environment crash that closed my session entirely and booted me back to GDM login screen. Specs: AMD Ryzen 7 9700X CPU, AMD ATI Radeon RX 7800 X GPU, 32GB RAM, Ubuntu 24.04

I just confirmed, the problem involves the new Hold/Frob Interact option in TDM 2.14. If this is set to anything but "Disabled", and if tdm_door_control is set to 2 or 3 (3 is the default), then when you do a "slow" frob on a locked door, nothing happens. The frob is basically ignored. "Slow" is relative here; my click was pretty fast, just not blazingly fast. And, if the Paw is in use, that's when you get the weirdness where you can't change weapons. The workaround is to quick-click the door again: this time the frob works, the door opens, and weapons are available. This should be recreateable: set the settings as I described, then slowly right click on a locked door (click down, wait, release). I don't know if this is specific to the doors in this mission, or in general.

Had to come here while it's still downloading and say that when I checked to see if there was anything new available on the downloader and saw this, it's size and who the authors were, I experienced a moment of frisson. Looking forward to getting into it.

If I try to rotate a model, only the Rotation option is available in the transformation window. No option to scale: Is this normal? Also not able to do so in NetRadiant-custom. Found a solution: https://wiki.thedarkmod.com/index.php?title=Model_Scaling Mods, please delete. Sorry about being dumb.

When I start the mission, the "loading" screen (i.e., "Displacing") turns black after a few seconds. qconsole.log has this: ERROR:idMoveable 'atdm_moveable_smithy_hammer_1': invalid collision model models/darkmod/tools/smithyhammer2.lwo Edit: I'll try a clean install of 2.14, just in case it's something I did.

Complaint From Players The player must pick up candles before extinguishing them, and then the player must remember to drop the candle. The player must drag a body before shouldering it (picking it up), and the player must remember to frob again to stop dragging the body. The player finds this annoying or easy to make mistakes. For players who ghost, some of them have the goal of returning objects back to their original positions. With the current "pick up, use item, and drop" system, the item might not return easily or at all to its original position. For example, a candlestick might bounce off its holder. (See player quotes at the bottom.) Bug Tracker https://bugs.thedarkmod.com/view.php?id=6316 Problems to Solve How can the "pick up" step be eliminated so that the player can directly use or interact with the item where it is in the game world? How can so much key pressing and mouse clicking be eliminated when the player wants to directly use an item? How can candles be extinguished and lanterns toggled off/on without first picking them up? How can bodies be shouldered without first dragging them? Solution Design Goals Make TDM easier for new players while also improving it for longtime players. Reduce tedious steps for common frob interactions. Make it intuitive so that menu settings are unnecessary. Do not introduce bugs or break the game. Terms frob -- the frob button action happens instantly. hold frob -- the frob button is held for 200ms before the action happens. (This can be changed via cvar: 200ms by default.) Proposed Solution Note: Some issues have been struckthrough to show changes since the patch has been updated. Change how frobbing works for bodies, candles, and lanterns. For bodies: Frob to shoulder (pick up) a body. Second frob to drop shouldered body, while allowing frob on doors, switches, etc. Hold frob (key down) to start drag, continue to hold frob (key down) to drag body, and then release frob (key up) to stop dragging body. Also, a body can be dragged immediately by holding frob and moving the mouse. For candles/lanterns: Frob to extinguish candles and toggle off/on lanterns. Hold frob to pick it up, and then frob again to drop. Frob to pick it up, and then frob again to drop. Hold frob to extinguish candles and toggle off/on lanterns. For food: Frob to pick it up, and then frob again to drop. Hold frob to eat food. For other items: No change. New cvar "tdm_frobhold_delay", default:"200" The frob hold delay (in ms) before drag or extinguish. Set to 0 for TDM v2.11 (and prior) behavior. Solution Benefits Bodies: New players will have less to learn to get started moving knocked out guards. With TDM v2.11 and earlier, some players have played several missions before realizing that they could shoulder a body instead of dragging it long distances. Frob to shoulder body matches Thief, so longtime Thief players will find it familiar. Second frob drops a shouldered body. Players still have the ability to both shoulder and drag bodies. Compatible with the new auto-search bodies feature. Dragging feels more natural -- just grab, hold, and drop with a single button press. There is no longer the need to press the button twice. Also, it's no longer possible to walk away from a body while unintentionally dragging it. Set "tdm_frobhold_delay" cvar to delay of 0 to restore TDM v2.11 (and prior) behavior. Candles: New players will have less to learn to get started extinguishing candles. With TDM v2.11 and earlier, some players didn't know they could extinguish candles by picking them up and using them. Instead, they resorted to throwing them to extinguish them or hiding them. Hold frob to extinguish a candle feels like "pinching" it out. Once a candle is picked up, players still have the ability to manipulate and use them the same way they are used to in TDM v2.11 and earlier. For players who ghost and have the goal of putting objects back to their original positions, they'll have an easier time and not have to deal with candles popping off their holders when trying to place them back carefully. Set "tdm_frobhold_delay" cvar to delay of 0 to restore TDM v2.11 (and prior) behavior. Solution Issues Bodies: Frob does not drop a shouldered body, so that might be unexpected for new players. This is also different than Thief where a second frob will drop a body. "Use Inv. Item" or "Drop Inv. Item" drops the body. This is the same as TDM v2.11 and earlier. This is the price to pay for being able to frob (open/close) doors while shouldering a body. Patch was updated to drop body on second frob, while allowing frob on doors, switches, etc. Candles: Picking up a candle or lantern requires a slight delay, because the player must hold the frob button. The player might unintentionally extinguish a candle while moving it if they hold down frob. The player will need to learn that holding frob will extinguish the candle. The player can change the delay period via the "tdm_frobhold_delay" cvar. Also, when the cvar is set to a delay of 0, the behavior matches TDM v2.11 and earlier, meaning the player would have to first "Frob/Interact" to pick up the candle and then press "Use Inv. Item" to extinguish it. Some players might unintentionally extinguish a candle when they are trying to move it or pick it up. They need to make sure to hold frob to initiate moving the candle. When a candle is unlit, it will highlight but do nothing on frob. That might confuse players. However, the player will likely learn after extinguishing several candles that an unlit candle still highlights. It makes sense that an already-extinguished candle cannot be extinguished on frob. The official "Training Mission" might need to have its instructions updated to correctly guide the player through candle manipulation training. Updating the training mission to include the hold frob to extinguish would probably be helpful. Similar Solutions In Fallout 4, frob uses an item and long-press frob picks it up. Goldwell's mission, "Accountant 2: New In Town", has candles that extinguish on frob without the need of picking them up first. Snatcher's TDM Modpack includes a "Blow / Ignite" item that allows the player to blow out candles Wesp5's Unofficial Patch provides a way to directly extinguish movable candles by frobbing. Demonstration Videos Note: The last two videos don't quite demonstrate the latest patch anymore. But the gist is the same. This feature proposal is best experienced in game, but some demonstration videos are better than nothing. The following videos show either a clear improvement or that the player is not slowed down with the change in controls. For example, "long-press" sounds long, but it really isn't. Video: Body Shouldering and Dragging The purpose of this video is to show that frob to shoulder a body is fast and long-press frob to drag a body is fast enough and accurate. Video: Long-Press Frob to Pick Up Candle The purpose of this video is to show how the long-press frob to pick up a candle isn't really much slower than regular frob. Video: Frob to Extinguish The purpose of this video -- if a bit contrived -- is to show the efficiency and precision of this proposed feature. The task in the video was for the player to as quickly and accurately as possible extinguish candles and put them back in their original positions. On the left, TDM v2.11 is shown. The player has to highlight each candle, press "Frob/Interact" to pick up, press "Use Inv. Item" to extinguish, make sure the candle is back in place, and finally press "Frob/Interact" to drop the candle. The result shows mistakes and candles getting misplaced. On the right, the proposed feature is shown. The player frobs to extinguish the candles. The result shows no mistakes and candles are kept in their original positions. Special Thanks @Wellingtoncrab was instrumental in improving this feature during its early stages. We had many discussions covering varying scenarios, pros, and cons, and how it would affect the gameplay and player experience. Originally, I had a completely different solution that added a special "use modifier" keybinding. He suggested the frob to use and long-press frob to pick up mechanics. I coded it up, gave it a try, and found it to be too good. Without his feedback and patience, this feature wouldn't be as good as it is. Thank you, @Wellingtoncrab! And, of note, @Wellingtoncrab hasn't been able to try it in game yet, because I'm using Linux and can't compile a Windows build for him. So, if this feature isn't good, that's my fault. Code Patch I'll post the code patch in another post below this one so that folks who compile TDM themselves can give this proposal a try in game. And, if you do, I look forward to your feedback! Player Complaints TTLG (2023-01-10) Player 1: TDM Forums (2021-03-13) Player 2: Player 3: TDM Forums (2023-06-17) Player 4: TDM Discord (2021-05-18) Player 5: TDM Discord (2023-02-14) Player 6: Player 7: Player 8:

The following wiki page https://wiki.thedarkmod.com/index.php?title=Performance_Tweaks#Mission.cfg_(New_in_2.12) states: I find this pretty strange, because it seems it is intended for mission makers, but the global setting file is not created by the player.. Also that you have to uninstall a mission before selecting a new one. I mean who does that? I guess this is a bit off topic, sorry, but I found it kind of important.

TDM 2.14 is ready for beta test This is how to get beta versions: Upgrade from any version (fast): 1 - Start tdm_installer in darkmod folder. 2 - On the first screen, check "Get custom version" and click "Next". Choose the first name in beta/2.14 list, should look like "beta214-NN". 3 - Click on "Refresh" button to ensure that it is not going to download too much stuff. 4 - Continue installing with "Next". Fresh install (slow): 1 - Create darkmod folder anywhere you like. 2 - Download the TDM Installer from downloads section of the website. Extract tdm_installer executable from the downloaded ZIP and place it into your darkmod folder. 3 - Start tdm_installer (in case of Linux, first edit file permissions to allow executing it). 4 - On the first screen, check "Get custom version" and click "Next". Choose the first name in beta/2.14 list, should look like "beta214-NN". 5 - Continue installing with "Next". In general, upgrade is recommended over fresh install. If you don't want to lose your current TDM installation, then you can copy the whole TDM directory and upgrade the copy. This way you can have both 2.14 beta and 2.13 at the same time. At the end of installation, tdm_installer resets your config by renaming darkmod.cfg to darkmod_{datatime}.cfg. This is a recommended procedure on upgrade, otherwise you are likely to have issues due to old config. If you need your old config for some reason, you can always find it in darkmod folder. Notes 1 - Please try to be specific when reporting a problem. What you were doing, where you were when the problem occurred, can you reproduce it, etc. This wiki article provides many suggestions for good bug reports. 2 - This effort is to find out if we broke anything in TDM with our 2.14 changes, if a new 2.14 feature isn't working correctly. We won't be trying to fix bugs that have been around for a long time. Instead, we will create an issue in bugtracker (if not yet present), to fix it after beta. 3 - If you find something wrong, it would be helpful if you report whether the issue happens in 2.13 too. By the way, you can easily get 2.13 version: just copy your darkmod folder and run tdm_installer on the copy, selecting "release213" on the custom version screen. Thank you for testing !

I guess this is basic stuff for you talented model-boys but now I've trudged for several hours without results and from what I have read in several forums/threads, it's even not that trivial. Therefore I dare to start a thread... I've download some models from the web but these come in some new and fancy format; (FBX, USD etc) not exactly the old and brittle format that we use in TDM So to import these into DarkRadiant I need to convert these to lwo or ASE, right? How do people go about this? I have tried to: - install Blender 5.0 and added an ASE-exporter plugin. Blender actually puts out an ASE-file but as I try to open it in DR, the model is only showed as that checkerboard error-box. Do I need to tinker with the model in a text editor first? I read something about changing something about a BITMAP-line... - use an ancient version (7.0) version of Lightwave but that program cannot even open the files (Not surprising)...

No lockpicks. You can increase the lod detail level in the graphics settings to push out hide distance for shadows. If you are on 2.14 beta there is even a new “full” lod setting which always draws everything at full level of detail.