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Thought I would compile a list of tweaks & fixes from multiple sources for this game in an effort to help people get a playable experience, I will update this OP as we go. Minimum Requirements - Processor: Dual Core or Quad Core CPURAM: 4 GBGraphics: AMD Radeon 4800 series or NVidia GTS 250DirectX: Version 10Hard Drive: 20 GBRecommended Requirements - Operating Systems: Windows 7, Windows 8 (32nit or 64-bit)Processor: AMD FX 8000 series, Intel Quad i7 Core or better CPURAM: 4 GBGraphics: AMD Radeon HD R9 series, NVidia GTX 660 series or betterDirectX: Version 11First recommened tweak for ALL 64bit Windows users - (dont know if this applies to linux users, yet) The latest update (1.2 b4116.4) fixes the slowdown issue but if people still having issue or have lower end systems there is not a tick box to force the use opf the 32bit exe.Second Recommended Tweaks for ALL 32/64bit Windows users - Enable "Exclusive FullScreen", this should improve your framerate across the board. - for me my FPS (min/max/avg) jumped from 32/62/53 to 41/64/58Graphics tweaks to Make the game run better - First things first - If you are experiencing bad graphics on a machine that can easily afford to run it better/smoother, set SSAA ‘Super Sampling Anti-Aliasing’ to low or off. The higher you set this setting, the more lag you will encounter in the game.Don’t take things for granted - The problem is the optimization of the game, even if your PC can handle everything max'd out, try keeping SSAA to low if you want a smoother gameplay experience.Flickering shadows, glichy graphics & disappearing menu buttons - If you are experiencing flickering shadows, glitchy graphics & disappearing menu items, make sure you are running the game on updated or the latest drivers for your gfx card.SLI/Crossfire fix - For now, make sure you run the game on a single GPU as SLI/Crossfire may be causing the disappearing graphics and flickering shadows.Framerate issues - There are a few things you can try to improve your FPS for thief. Firstly make sure that your GPU drivers are up to date and your system is not overheating or running hot. If you are running SLI/Crossfire, try disabling to see if there is a difference in performance. If you are using a laptop, make sure that your power adapter is plugged and your power setting in windows is set to performance.Common sense - It goes without saying that your system should be good enough to handle the game’s processing and rendering needs. If you are running any third party applications in the background like Dxtory, Shadowplay or FRAPS etc, your going to see a perf drop.Crashes after loading a stage - If Thief crashed after loading, make sure you verify the integrity of the game cache in Steam especially if you pre-loaded the game and tried to start it as soon as it unlocked.You may have to verify the files twice to make it work! If that doesn’t work, there is another workaround. I am not sure about this fix but it has helped a few to get rid of the crash, so I think it’s worth of a shot.The game crash can be associated with the virtual memory size. You should increase your virtual memory page file size to fix the issue.Game crashes to desktop and reboot - Make sure you have latest patch for the game installed. It fixes these random crashes and loading issues. If you pre-loaded the game, make sure you verify the integrity of the game cache. You may have to verify the files twice to make it work!Blackscreen when launching thief - can be one of two things - is associated with the missing files of the game. Verify the game cache and re-verify if the need be to get it running.Make sure Windows pagefile is enabled (http://windows.microsoft.com/en-gb/w...#1TC=windows-7).Can’t Hear sound? No voices? (no, not the ones in your head) - Verify the integrity of the game cache. Download the language packs if need be. Make sure you have voices/music volume up in the sound settings of the game.You can also trying changing the advanced sound settings in Windows. Open Playback Devices, click on your Speakers and go to Properties. Now in enhancement levels, select CD/DVD quality and see if it helps.Thief won’t start? - Try logging into Steam after having logged out. It will help!Thief config tweaks - Disable motion blur - you will find relative file to edit in: Steam\steamapps\common\Thief\Engine\Config. You need to open the file by the name of “BaseEngine.ini” and then set the following values as such: "motionBlur=True" to "motionBlur=False""motionBluPause=True" to "motionBlurPause=False"Save the file and set it to "read-only".How to skip Intro Videos - Go to Thief\ThiefGame\Config and then Locate ThiefEngine.ini file and edit the following line"StartupMovies=PROG_GUI_Video.StartupVideoPlayer" to ";StartupMovies=PROG_GUI_Video.StartupVideoPlayer"Save the file and set it to "read-only".How to fix ‘Timed Fade’ option for HUD - While health, focus, inventory and ammo set to ‘Timed Fade’ option in game and HUD menu, the fade remains just 50% opacity. To fix this problem, go to ThiefGame\Config\ThiefUI.ini and find the lines- "mInvSelectionAlphaMin=XX" "mHealthAlphaMin=XX" "mFocusAlphaMin=XX" (XX being the default values) to "mInvSelectionAlphaMin=0.0f" "mHealthAlphaMin=0.0f" "mFocusAlphaMin=0.0f"Save the file and set it to "read-only".How to reduce Mouse Lag - The quick and easy fix to reduce mouse lag, run your game in Exclusive Fullscreen mode, go to graphic options and enable it. In case you don’t want to use this mode, then you must find BaseEndinge.ini and edit the following lines -"OneFrameThreadLag=TRUE" to "OneFrameThreadLag=FALSE"Save the file and set it to "read-only".Disable framerate smoothing - Go to Thief\ThiefGame\Config and then Locate ThiefEngine.ini file and edit the following lines"bSmoothFrameRate=TRUE" "MinSmoothedFrameRate=XX" "MaxSmoothedFrameRate=XX" (XX being the default values) to "bSmoothFrameRate=FALSE" "MinSmoothedFrameRate=0" "MaxSmoothedFrameRate=0"Save the file and set it to "read-only".Fix stuttering - can be done one of two ways -This tweak requires starting a new game, as changing the level streaming value will result in a crash upon loading if the save game file features a different level streaming value (such as starting the game with it on TRUE and changing it to FALSE along the way - switching from FALSE to TRUE will also result in a crash, so it's best to change this value only when starting a new game)! However, this should help eliminate both in-game and benchmark stuttering, as it does for the other games based on the UE3 engine.Go to Thief\ThiefGame\Config and then Locate ThiefEngine.ini file and edit the following lines -"bUseBackgroundLevelStreaming=XX" "UsePriorityStreaming=XX" "OnlyStreamInTextures=XX" to "bUseBackgroundLevelStreaming=FALSE" "UsePriorityStreaming=FALSE" "OnlyStreamInTextures=TRUE"Save the file and set it to "read-only".Improve texture streaming - Go to Thief\ThiefGame\Config and then Locate ThiefEngine.ini file and edit the following lines -"MipFadeInSpeed0=0.3" "MipFadeOutSpeed0=0.1" "MipFadeInSpeed1=2.0" "MipFadeOutSpeed1=1.0" to "MipFadeInSpeed0=0.0" "MipFadeOutSpeed0=0.0" "MipFadeInSpeed1=0.0" "MipFadeOutSpeed1=0.0"Save the file and set it to "read-only".Disable in-game fog - Go to Thief\ThiefGame\Config ThiefGame.ini and then find [Engine.WorldInfo] andgo to line 66And then change mbEnable=TRUE to mbEnable=FALSE and then save the file as read only.Reducing choppyness, aditional fix - Some users have reported that disabling Vsync the game is noticeably more fluid when compared to the default setting of double buffered.Game file hacks - (found on https://www.deadendthrills.com/forum/discussion/137/thief-tools-tweaks) 1. Goto Steam\steamapps\common\Thief\ThiefGame\CookedPCNG\ 2. Make a backup of thiefgame.u just in case 3. Download this utility: decompress.zip and unzip decompress.exe, put it anywhere. 4. Drag thiefgame.u onto decompress.exe you should now have a new thiefgame.u in \Steam\steamapps\common\Thief\ThiefGame\CookedPCNG\unpacked\ 5. Open \Steam\steamapps\common\Thief\ThiefGame\CookedPCNG\unpacked\thiefgame.u in a hex editor. (For example HxD) Disable Shroud and white flash - Goto Steam\steamapps\common\Thief\ThiefGame\CookedPCNG\Make a backup of thiefgame.u Download this utility: decompress.zip and unzip decompress.exe, put it anywhere.To disable shroud: Search for Hex-value: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 CD CC 4C 3F 36 3D 00 Replace with Hex-value: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 36 3D 00To disable white flash: Search for Hex-value: 3E 9C DE F4 3E 9C DE F4 3E CD CC CC 3E A4 3D 00 Replace with Hex-value: 3E 9C DE F4 3E 9C DE F4 3E 00 00 00 00 A4 3D 00Tweaking "in shadow" proxy light: - disabling this is not recommended, so I added tweaks to reduce the range of the light instead. Search for Hex-value: 00 00 00 00 00 B4 43 14 38 00 00 00 00 00 00 28 for half range (180), Replace with Hex-value: 00 00 00 00 00 34 43 14 38 00 00 00 00 00 00 28 for 1/4 range (90), Replace with Hex-value: 00 00 00 00 00 b4 42 14 38 00 00 00 00 00 00 28To Disable "in light" proxy light: Search for Hex-value: 00 00 00 00 00 96 43 14 38 00 00 00 00 00 00 28 Replace with Hex-value: 00 00 00 0A D7 23 3C 14 38 00 00 00 00 00 00 28Save and fire up the game. Dxtory and other tools not working - Fps monitoring/benchmarking tools cause the game to crash - For the time being, may I suggest that you try running the game without these tools. And if you have any fix of your own related to the issue, please post your finding.Trainer with NOCLIP mode - tbc

In post https://forums.thedarkmod.com/index.php?/profile/254-orbweaver/&status=3994&type=status @nbohr1more found out what the Fixup Map functionality is for. But what does it actually do? Does it search for def references (to core?) that don't excist anymore and then link them to defs with the same name elswhere? Also I would recommend to change the name into something better understood what it is for. Fixup map could mean anything. And it should be documented in the wiki.

The Adventures of Thomas: Lucy's Quest Author: gg 2022-06-20 Version: 1.1 Required TDM Version: 2.10 or higher EFX: Yes ============================================================== Cautionary note: This FM needs a strong CPU/GPU combination sufficient to play the more demanding TDM FMs. Just as for many or most of the new FMs being released with the new gfx possibilities opened up it does a world of good to tweak the advanced video settings for the best combination of settings for your PC. For example, on my weaker laptop I set shadows as stencil and soft shadows off. On my desktop I set shadows as maps and soft shadows medium. Bloom off. Ambient occlusion off. Since the FM was built and extensively tested at these settings I believe either should produce a satisfactory experience. ============================================================== Sound Credits: freemusicarchive.org music Aislinn04_-_Aislinn_-_Lovely_Maria freesound.org klankbeeld_horror_1 freesound.org/people/CarlosCarty/sounds/522687/ om_aum_mantra_male_chant_bb freesound.org/people/Still%20Frames/sounds/37720/ still_frames freemusicarchive.org music The_Mind_Orchestra_Bruwynn tecknic.bandcamp.com/album/the-dark-mod-ambience-and-atmospheres Zack Bower Ancient_2, _3, _5. Solemn_1 freesound.org/people/Jagadamba/sounds/256006/ group_chanting_om_aum ============================================================== Thanks to: The TDM/DR developers for producing such a beautiful machine. The keepers of the wiki pages which are looking very good these days. Sotha for his invaluable tutorial "The Bakery Job". This tutorial is a jewel. Springheel for creating an atmosphere. Bikerdude for... ideas how to do things and scale things. Playtesters and advisors Dragofer, wesp5, datiswous, shadow. datiswous pointed out some immersion breaking lighting faults, so I got the idea. wesp5 gave me some good advice on how to tell the story - so it's more understandable. Dragofer gave me some early advice on optimizing the mission, which gave me a couple of months work with results that are well worth it. Dragofer wrote a script which optimizes CPU calculations of AI interactions. Shadow helped by testing the script, as well as testing other attempts at optimization. With the script in action only the minimal of AI interactions in the player's vicinity are called to be calculated. The script provides a general benefit but the results vary from computer to computer. The script targets a CPU task. ============================================================== Gameplay: Notes attached to objectives contain essential information on gameplay, on who the good/bad guys are, on what the player must do, and why. Mandatory objectives are linear, directing the player along a route to the goal. Optional objectives can be completed anytime. ============================================================== CAUTION: spiders, rats, undead, necrophiles, cannibals, psychotic thugs, and some generally unsavory characters. No snakes, though. The spiders ate them. ==============================================================

Since due to the nature of this forum, file/image sharing is used quite frequently, I thought to present some alternatives to the widely used Gdrive, which I don't like so much, especially since the last TOS change. File Sharing To share large files there are several options that also do not require registration. The first is File Hosting Online, which supports files up to 25 Gb, encrypted and also includes a Virus Scan that ensures safe use Another good option is Gofile, free to use, privacy focused and unlimited Bandwith. No refistry needed. While the files are accesed or downloaded at least one time a week, they are never deleted, otherwise inactive files are deleted after 10 days. If you prefer to use P2P, that means to share files directly from PC to other, without a hoster in the middle, there are also very good options, which permits to share files and folders without limites of type and size. The most easy to use is O&O File Direct, a small Desktop app (sadly only Windows), very easy to use 1 Open the app and drag the files/folders you like to share in its window 2 Optional adjust the days and amount of permited downloads and if you want a password 3 Share the link which apears in the app Done The only limits are, that the receptor only can download your files, when your PC is online, on the other hand this permits that you can stop the download in any moment, going offline or shutting down the PC. The other limit is, that the files to share can't be in a protected folder. Her are an Example with a list of Search Enines (Html file 423,56 Kb). While I am online, you can download it https://file.direct/f/pmjVFnjfkjFTKTt5 Videos One of the best options is Streamable (need a free account, inactive videos are deleted after 90 days in the free version) Alternatively you can use Streamja, a simple Video sharer with good privacy, free account optional (nick, mail) Images Ok, there are a lot of Image sharer, most used the known Imgur, because of this I add only one which offers some advantages over Imgur. ImgBox (free account) is a reliable platform to share and host images like Imgur, but it make it very easy to upload and post dozend of images simultaneous, selecting all the images you want and drag them on the window, offering coresponding bulk codes from the selected images to post them with one click for forums (BBcode), Html and others, fullsize or thumbnails. More since Imgur used since some time the hated webm formats for gif images, hardly accepted in most forums.

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

As everyone know, right now we have both stencil shadows and shadow maps in the engine, and the player is mostly free to choose whichever he likes more. Due to the reasons I provide below, stencil shadows will most likely be dropped in some future, but that future is definitely not here yet. Unlike shadow maps, stencil shadows do not support: Alpha-tested shadow occluders. Shadows on translucent surfaces. Volumetric lights with account for shadows. Soft shadows with contact hardening. Point 4 can be ignored, point 3 has an automatic workaround by forcing lights with volumetrics to shadow maps. Points 1 and 2 result in major difference in behavior between the two modes. For the reference, we have one more technical difference: Front faces cast shadows in shadow maps mode, but don't cast them in stencil shadows mode. I recall how initially volumetric lights had their shadows disabled in stencil shadows mode, and mappers were not happy because that's a big difference in behavior. One issue was that every mission has to be beta-tested in both modes. That's why right now I mostly follow the same strategy: Alpha-testing is disabled when rendering shadow maps (since 2.12), unless you enable r_shadowMapAlphaTested. Shadows are disabled on translucent objects (since today's 2.13 dev build), unless you enable r_shadowMapOnTranslucent. I wonder if this is still what majority of the mappers think is best?

There's a lighting issue in "William Steele 1: In the North" at -1153.92 3523.22 -955.75 29.8 -145.6 0.0 There's a candle on the other side of the wall. In 2.12 dev, that candle's light leaks through the wall at the base of the door as seen in the video, comparing 2.11 and 2.12-r10451.

Thought it would be a good idea to collate a useful list for new and old mappers alike and this post will update as we go. Abandoned works: Any WIP projects that were abandoned by the original author - http://forums.thedarkmod.com/topic/12713-abandoned-works/ Darkradiant & Darkmod shortcut settings: Some example settings for new mappers - http://forums.thedarkmod.com/topic/15152-darkradiant-and-darkmod-shortcut-folder-settings/ Darkradiant howto, must knows, tips and faqs - http://forums.thedarkmod.com/topic/12558-usefull-important-editing-links/?do=findComment&comment=272581 Info for Beginners: Newbie DarkRadiant Questions - http://forums.thedar...iant-questions/ Dark Radient Must Know Basic Intro - http://wiki.thedarkm...now_Basic_Intro Editing Tips for Beginners - http://wiki.thedarkm...s_for_Beginners Editing FAQ (Troubleshooting & How-To) - http://wiki.thedarkmod.com/index.php?title=Editing_FAQ_-_Troubleshooting_%26_How-To Sotha's excellent Mapping Tutorial series: http://forums.thedarkmod.com/topic/18680-lets-map-tdm-with-sotha-the-bakery-job/ Springheel's New Mapper's Workshop: http://forums.thedarkmod.com/topic/18945-tdm-new-mappers-workshop/ Inspiration: Collection of screenshots and images people have found online - http://forums.thedarkmod.com/topic/11610-darkmod-inspiration-thread/ Mapping Resources: List of Voice actors available for voice recording - http://modetwo.net/d...6-voice-actors/ Lengthy collection of city reference pictures - http://modetwo.net/d...rence-pictures/ Collection of texture resource sites - http://modetwo.net/d...ture-resources/ Free Ambient Tracks - http://skeksisnetlabel.wordpress.com/2009/12/30/10-songs-for-free-download-vol-10-full-moon-over-noricum/ Mapping Tools: 3 useful tools for texture creation - http://forums.thedarkmod.com/topic/18581-must-have-tools-for-the-descerning-mapper/ Modular Building: What is Modular building - http://forums.thedarkmod.com/topic/14832-modular-building-techniques/ Working example tutorial on modular building - http://forums.thedarkmod.com/topic/18680-lets-map-tdm-with-sotha-the-bakery-job/ Springheels new modular models - http://forums.thedarkmod.com/topic/18683-using-springheels-205-modules/ Some related mapper recipies - Easy Vaults - http://forums.thedarkmod.com/topic/14859-easy-vault-recipe/?hl=%2Beasy+%2Brecipe Easy Outdoors - http://forums.thedarkmod.com/topic/16159-easy-outdoors-recipe/?hl=%2Beasy+%2Brecipe Easy Caverns - http://forums.thedarkmod.com/topic/14469-quick-caverns-recipe/?hl=recipe Easy Alert Ai - http://forums.thedarkmod.com/topic/17157-easy-alert-ai-recipe/?hl=%2Beasy+%2Brecipe Easy Alert Ai Custom Behavour - http://forums.thedarkmod.com/topic/17160-easy-alert-ai-custom-behavior-recipe/?hl=recipe Tutorials: Collection of video tutorials for DR - http://modetwo.net/d...in-darkradiant/ Using Lighting and detail effectively: - http://forums.thedar...l-and-lighting/ Voice Actors list: List of available voice actors - http://forums.thedarkmod.com/topic/12556-list-of-available-voice-actors/ Usefull Console commands: A list of console commands for testing in-game - http://wiki.thedarkm...Useful_Controls

My old friend Andreas urgently needs my help. He asked if I could meet him at the Lion's Head Inn, our favourite retreat in a quaint part of the city called Mirkway Quarter. He’s got a small apartment nearby where he makes a modest living off paintings he sells to pompous nobles and the odd merchant. Not long ago, his wife Lily was hired as a servant at the manor of the local alderman, one Lord Marlow. Now she hasn't been home for days. Andreas went to the manor looking for her, but the guards shoved him into the gutter and warned him not to return. Andreas is certain that something bad has happened, and I don’t think he’s wrong. Gallery Authors’ Notes It all started many years ago when Shadowhide laid the foundation for a sprawling and convoluted city and worked with MoroseTroll and Clearing to create a macabre storyline to befit this medieval metropolis. At some point, however, the beast grew too large to handle, so he handed the keys to the City to Bikerdude and Melan. Together, the two worked tirelessly, passing the map back and forth, each playing to their respective strengths. Notably, Melan reworked the story concept, toning down many of its darker, R-rated elements. Eventually Melan, too, moved on in 2017, but by then large swathes of the community had become involved in this map’s development. Mapping work was contributed by Baal, Grayman, Fidcal, Ubermann, Skacky, and Flanders, while Destined, nbohr1more, and Obsttorte wrote story texts. Several scripts were provided by Grayman, Baal and Obsttorte, such as an elevator with scissor gates, a TDM first. Even after all this input, the daunting task still remained to transform what had grown into the largest TDM map ever made into a playable mission. Bikerdude hammered away at this for some more years still, on and off between other projects, until in early 2020 when he deemed it ready for public viewing. It was then that Dragofer and Amadeus joined in. In the months that followed, the trio reworked, finished, and polished the mission in nearly every aspect, fully writing out and editing the story as well as adding countless scripted effects and (with help from Bienie) many new readables. The good working atmosphere and pooled creativity brought forth several new secrets, of which the largest likely hasn’t been done before in TDM (hint: check the libraries). In the very end, the name “Fractured Glass Company” was drawn up to refer to everybody who was involved in creating this very special mission. Without the hard work of all these people, most of all Bikerdude and Shadowhide, this mission would likely never have seen the light of day, let alone become what you see here before you. The mission is, as Bikerdude puts it, a homage to Thief 1 & 2, and it’s our hope that you catch these vibes as you explore and enjoy this mission. Update 1.2 (released 04/04/2021) Update 1.1 (released 11/11/2020) Credits - Mapping: Shadowhide, Bikerdude, Amadeus, Baal, Dragofer, Fidcal, Flanders, Melan, Skacky, UberMann - Original Story Concept: Clearing, MoroseTroll, Shadowhide - Story & Readables: Amadeus, Bienie, Bikerdude, Dragofer, Destined, Melan, nbohr1more, Obsttorte, Shadowhide - Editor: Amadeus - Scripting: Dragofer, Baal, Grayman, Obsttorte - Voice Acting: AndrosTheOxen (Andreas), Joe Noelker (Player) - Video Editing: Bikerdude (briefing), Goldwell (briefing intro) - Custom Models: Bikerdude, Dragofer, Dram, Epifire, Grayman, Obsttorte - Custom Textures: Airship Ballet, Dmv88, Hugo Lobo - Custom Sounds: GigaGooga, Sephy, Shadow Sneaker, alanmcki, andre_onate, Deathscyp, dl-sounds.com, Dmv88, dwoboyle, eugensid90, gzmo, lucasduff, mistersherlock, qubodup, randommynd, richerlandtv, sfx4animation, Speedenza - Betatesting: Amadeus, ate0ate, Biene, Bluerat, CambridgeSpy, Cardia, Dragofer, Garrett(Monolyth-42), JoeBarnin, Kingsal, Krilmar, ManzanitaCrow, MikeA, Noodles, S1lverwolf, s.urfer Download Note: this mission requires TDM 2.08, which is now available for download. Please be aware that old saved games will no longer work after you upgrade to 2.08's release build. Note: it’s highly recommended to run this mission using the 64-bit client (TheDarkModx64.exe), since there've been frequent reports the mission won't load on the 32-bit client (TheDarkMod.exe). Both are found in the same folder. The mission is available from the ingame downloader. In addition to that, here are some more mirrors, as well as the official screenshots for anybody uploading this mission to a FM database: Mission: Google Drive / OneDrive Mission (v1.1, slimmed down version for 32-bit clients): Google Drive / OneDrive Official Screenshots: Google Drive / OneDrive Hi-Res Map: Imgur Links Secret loot & areas walkthrough by @Lzocast

I'm happy to present my first FM, The Spider and the Finch. There may be a spider, but no ghosts or undead. It should run a couple hours. It's now available on the Missions page or the in-game downloader. Many thanks to the beta testers Acolytesix, Cambridge Spy, datiswous, madtaffer, Shadow, and wesp5 for helping me improve and making the mission to the best of my abilities. This would not be have been possible without Fidcal's excellent DarkRadiant tutorial. Thanks also to the many people who answered my questions in the TDM forums. Cheers! 2023-12-13 Mission updated to version 3. Fixed a bug where the optional loot option objective was not actually optional. Updated the animations for Astrid Added a hallway door so the guards are less likely to be aggroed en masse.

Losing the option for stencil shadows would be extremely sad. TDM has the best stencil shadows implementation I've ever seen, and they look far better than shadow maps. They also perform wonderfully. Stencil shadows not supporting shadows on translucent surfaces is a bummer, but that's a fine tradeoff. Personally, I'd rather not see alpha-tested shadow occluders, because they look awful and are distracting. Shadow maps in general look bad and pixelated -- quite immersion breaking. Another issue with shadow maps is that they substantially increase the usage of the GPU. For those using laptops or integrated GPUs, it could cause performance or heat issues. For those with decent dedicated GPUs, increased wattage (and therefore heat) can and does turn on its GPU fans. The wattage on my AMD RX 6700 XT can become tripled when using shadow maps. That's undesirable. The advice I give players is: There really isn't a "best" shadows implementation these days. Some devs and players prefer one over the other. Regardless of which is chosen, stencil shadows and maps are used where needed. So, I'd try out both and pick the one you prefer. Here's Fen complaining about shadow maps. Complaint #1 (7:28): Complaint #2 (23:46): In his next video (Written in Stone - 4 - Chocolate Coated Brendel Bar), he turned on stencil shadows, and as far as I know, he never complained again. The following area in Written in Stone shows a good example of alpha-tested shadow occluders. Yes, technically the moving leaves cast shadows, but it looks awful in game, in my opinion. I know others like it. The same scene using stencil shadows looks amazing in game. (The screenshots don't do a good job demonstrating how it looks in game.) The current hybrid system is fantastic. It gives people choice. Those who prefer stencil shadows can use them; those who prefer shadow maps can use them. People become attached to the "art" and "style" of a mission, and changing the shadow implementation changes the art and style. If one must be dropped, I'd say shadow maps should be dropped from the menu settings. Use shadow maps for volumetric lights and stencil shadows everywhere else. And, I agree with nbohr1more that defaulting to rules consistent with stencil shadows is a good idea.

Not to start a discussion on this but just for correctness, that is not true at all, unless you are using a really low polygon shadow mesh, if you see a pixelated shadow with stencil, then that is a shadow map or a mix of both stencil and shadow maps. Stencil shadows are crisp and well defined, they have no resolution setting or quality setting (besides turning off shadows), because they are literally geometry (triangles) being projected unto surfaces, while shadow maps are pixels (textures) so you can control how sharp they are. TDM has a mix shadow system, where some effects even in stencil shadow mode, will use shadow maps, for example volumetric lights shadows, are shadow maps. Stencil shadows Shadow maps

My new mission, A Night in Altham, is available. We are already up to version 2! @Dave the Tafferfound an problem that deserves a fix, so here is version 2: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/y4r1dmziuq6clh2im3qz1/altham2.pk4?rlkey=m3cv5v6v70lxbc9xha61nuxoj&dl=1. I will ask @nbohr1more to update the databases. Thanks to JackFarmer (alpha testing and custom ambient music) and the many beta testers (jaxa, Shadow, wesp5, Cambridge Spy, thebigh, datiswous, Mezla, MirceaKitsune, Melchior, Acolytesix, TheUnbeholden, prjames, Bergante). Thanks to @peter_spy for his beautiful Builder Compound assets. This is a large mission, so be ready to take some time. I recommend that you do named saves occasionally (I actually implemented auto-saves for this mission, but it was causing crashes on Linux, so I removed it). This mission has a lot of keys, so it implements a key management mechanism. Keys are removed from the game when no longer needed. This includes when you use a key to open a door, or if you pick a door/lock that also uses a key. Most keys are automatically removed, but there are a couple that aren't (for example, if they open up more than one door). In a certain area, this mission uses the Keyhole Peek feature of TDM. Typically, this is when you lean forward (F key) into a door keyhole and you can see into the next room. But in this case you don't lean into a keyhole. It's a hole of another kind. It's an unconventional use of something that isn't used a lot in TDM; hopefully the mission context will make it clear when to use it. The mission does not use Keyhole Peek for regular doors. Be aware, there is a known problem on Linux, where the peek feature can cause a crash. Peeking is not required for mission completion. This has been tested on TDM 2.11a and the current dev build of 2.12 (dev16854-10518). Scary things warning: Difficulty settings make a difference. Things that are affected by the difficulty level: Enjoy!

I'm no graphics nerd, but I can barely tell the difference between the two. What I can tell from messing around a bit: soft shadows of low quality look like garbage with both maps and stencils (EDIT: wrong, I didn't realize I was looking at shadow maps for a volumetric light shadow. Stencil definitely looks better). increasing soft shadow quality decreases performance in both implementations. I think the CPU/GPU of the end user would influence which is gives better performance both maps and stencils can produce a pixelated shadow if you look close enough. (EDIT: wrong. Again, was looking at a volumetric light shadow). I tend to use maps, because for whatever reason I seem to get a few more FPS out of them. As a mapper, I am certainly NOT interested in endlessly tweaking a scene to make the shadows look perfect. I just don't care enough. If they look shockingly bad I will put some effort into it though (which will probably mean just disabling them for the offending entity). It's rare that I feel this is necessary though. So I guess I don't really get the argument that stencils are amazing and maps are crap. I just don't see it or am too dense to notice. (EDIT: indeed I was being dense. I was comparing shadow maps with shadow maps because I was looking at a volumetric light shadow). Also, in my last couple of missions I had graphical bugs that only showed up with stencil shadows enabled. It would be nice to not have to deal with that all the time.

With VL, uses shadow maps in Stencil Shadow mode. Why is it not possible to enable all features that are specific to shadow maps by forcing shadow maps in those situations? Settings menu could have an extra option to force Shadow maps features when using Stencil Shadows. Stencil shadows look much better and give much better performance, but shadow maps have more features. I would use both to get best of both. What are Alpha-tested shadow occluders?

Yes. Sure, I will change it, but I do mind. In addition to changing the forum title, I have also had the name of the pk4 changed in the mission downloader and the thiefguild.com site’s named changed. It's not just some "joke". The forum post and thread are intended to be a natural extension of the mission’s story, a concept that is already SUPER derivative of almost any haunted media story or most vaguely creepy things written on the internet in the past 10 or 15 years. Given your familiarity with myhouse.wad, you also can clearly engage with something like that on some conceptual level. Just not here on our forums? We can host several unhinged racist tirades in the off-topic section but can’t handle creepypasta without including an advisory the monsters aren’t actually under the bed? (Are they though?) I am also trying to keep an open mind, but I am not really feeling your implication that using a missing person as a framing of a work of fiction is somehow disrespectful to people who are actually gone. I have no idea as even a mediocre creative person what to say to that or why I need to be responsible for making sure nobody potentially believes some creative work I am involved in, or how that is even achievable in the first place. Anyway, apologies for the bummer. That part wasn’t intentional. I am still here. I will also clarify that while I love the game, I never got the biggest house in animal crossing either. In the end Tom Nook took even my last shiny coin.

DarkRadiant 3.9.0 is ready for download. What's new: Feature: Add "Show definition" button for the "inherit" spawnarg Improvement: Preserve patch tesselation fixed subdivisions when creating caps Improvement: Add Filters for Location Entities and Player Start Improvement: Support saving entity key/value pairs containing double quotes Improvement: Allow a way to easily see all properties of attached entities Fixed: "Show definition" doesn't work for inherited properties Fixed: Incorrect mouse movement in 3D / 2D views on Plasma Wayland Fixed: Objective Description flumoxed by double-quotes Fixed: Spinboxes in Background Image panel don't work correctly Fixed: Skins defined on modelDefs are ignored Fixed: Crash on activating lighting mode in the Model Chooser Fixed: Can't undo deletion of atdm_conversation_info entity via conversation editor Fixed: 2D views revert to original ortho layout each time running DR. Fixed: WX assertion failure when docking windows on top of the Properties panel on Linux Fixed: Empty rotation when cloning an entity using editor_rotatable and an angle key Fixed: Three-way merge produces duplicate primitives when a func_static is moved Fixed: Renderer crash during three-way map merge Internal: Replace libxml2 with pugixml Internal: Update wxWidgets to 3.2.4 Windows and Mac Downloads are available on Github: https://github.com/codereader/DarkRadiant/releases/tag/3.9.0 and of course linked from the website https://www.darkradiant.net Thanks to all the awesome people who keep creating Fan Missions! Please report any bugs or feature requests here in these forums, following these guidelines: Bugs (including steps for reproduction) can go directly on the tracker. When unsure about a bug/issue, feel free to ask. If you run into a crash, please record a crashdump: Crashdump Instructions Feature requests should be suggested (and possibly discussed) here in these forums before they may be added to the tracker. The list of changes can be found on the our bugtracker changelog. Keep on mapping!

And those pics that Daft Mugi posted do show the problem with TDM maps, but I also have to say, that is a problem with TDM shadow maps, not with maps in general, I never seen such ugly issues in Stalker for example or Call of Juarez and many other games. Perhaps those shadow maps issues arise from people not thinking of shadow maps at all, when creating their lights, shadow maps do require a little more tweaking to look good, specially at grazing angles, because they are literally textures, so perhaps moving the lights a little solves those problems or even increasing the shadow map res. Just think about this, if shadow maps where that ugly, the gaming industry would never deprecate stencil shadows and we would still be seeing a ton of games using them, but is totally the contrary, games with stencil shadows, are the minority, even idSoftware removed them, I think since Rage (i'm not totally sure about Rage...) and up (besides obviously Doom 3 BFG). For example: Wolfenstein II Dishonored 2 Evil within 2 (this particular shot is impossible with stencil shadows, because of the blood that is a particle effect with alpha) etc. For obvious reasons TDM fans have a good opinion of stencil shadows and I comprehend that, they do look very good, TDM and Wolfenstein 2009 are the games with the best soft stencil shadows that I haver seen, but maps can also look good, if given the chance and used to their full potencial. another game with good stencil soft shadows Thou tree shadows on this game seem to use something else or literally stencil shadows because sometimes they look like a blob on the floor instead of seeing the individual leaf.

Announcing the next installment of 'The Lieutenant' series: High Expectations! Never heard of this series before? That's because I just made it up. Actually, it continues on from my previous FM, In Plain Sight. You don't need to have played In Plain Sight before, but there are some references to it in the readables that might not make sense if you haven't (some of which will be spoiler-ish). "Follow the Lieutenant on his next mission to the City of Highborough" Mission Type: City Missions Beta Testers (thank you all!!! @wesp5 @Acolytesix @Shadow @Cambridge Spy @AluminumHaste @jaxa @thebigh @joebarnin @Mezla @snatcher @datiswous Extra credit goes to @Mezla for providing the idea behind one of the objectives! Notes: TDM 2.11 required You can explore most of the map from the start of the mission, but if you find yourself getting a bit lost or unfocused, just concentrate on the main objective Your objectives will become visible after you read your briefing in your inventory The map does not contain any secrets The only difference in the difficulties is the (optional) loot goal This mission has some replay potential built-in. Explanation below, but I suggest you read this only after your first playthrough: Spoiler warning!: Download links (v1.4): Proton Drive: https://drive.proton.me/urls/ZDTKN6DDM4#8Re0CpARxcbc Github: https://github.com/FrostSalamander/fsx/releases/download/1.4/highex.pk4 Screenshots: https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjAB8qt Known Issues it appears that to some players keys bound to AI are unfrobable. I don't have a solution as I've never been able to reproduce it. As a mitigation, for these doors you can either lockpick them or an alternate key will be available. Other hints Atkinson/Burns objective This objective is more about rewarding the 'explorer' types. It's optional and requires you to find a lot of stuff to piece together the whole story of what happened. Most of these are not really 'hidden', but rather require a visit to most of the accessible areas of the map. If you have given up searching, then: Hotel Safe Combination hint: spoiler: What's going on with Brother Gregory? If this isn't clear, then read on: There's a wooden door in the prison that I can't open... hint: spoiler:

Flakebridge Monastery In this mission you will visit a Builder outpost to steal some valuable books. It is the first in what I hope will be a series about Selis Woderose. I would like to take the opportunity to thank my beta testers: Aprilsister, Bikerdude, Chiron, lost_soul, and prjames. As well as Fidcal for his starting map, and Melan for his texture pack. Known bugs: A small number may appear at the bottom left corner of your screen when the mission loads. Press sheath weapon to make it disappear. As already mentioned this is the first mission in a series. When you have completed it you may know what you'll be going after in the next mission. You may even know where! Enjoy! And please use spoiler tags where appropriate. A couple of screens: (thanks lowenz) http://2.bp.blogspot...0/shot00001.jpg http://3.bp.blogspot...0/shot00003.jpg

NOTE (3 March 2024): This mission has problems running on DarkMod 2.11. Be sure you are running the DarkMod 2.12 or later. A rare artifact, the Builder's Chalice, is available for the taking. Looks pretty straightforward, but looks can be deceiving... Yes, another mission for 2022. I think this makes eight this year already; we had eight for all of 2021! Great work, everyone! This is a smallish mission. It does not have any spiders or undead. It is a puzzle-heavy mission, with a built-in hints system in case you get stuck. This mission contains a couple of small homages to Grayman. This mission requires TDM 2.10. It uses some 2.10 features (subtitles, secrets, volumetric lights). Note that the volumetric lights are used in a specific way, such that your "Shadows Implementation" can be either Maps or Stencils, the volumetric lights will work either way. Version 2 of the mission is here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/pbz6spmqpo4vrg4/byanyothernameV2.pk4?dl=1 This fixes the "Open Doors on Unlock" problem. Have fun! Special thanks to JackFarmer, who created some wonderful and appropriate ambient sounds. He also did some Alpha testing to catch some early mistakes. Also thanks to the Beta testers, who struggled with some frustratingly-hard (or impossible) early variations: Cambridge Spy, Acolytesix, wesp5, datiswous, Bienie, Shadow Thanks to Chloe for some great voice work. I made plentiful use of sounds from freesound.org: https://freesound.org/people/HerbertBoland/sounds/75194/ https://freesound.org/people/craigsmith/sounds/482781/ https://freesound.org/people/InspectorJ/sounds/403005/ https://freesound.org/people/rhodesmas/sounds/322930/ https://freesound.org/people/fisch12345/sounds/325112/ https://freesound.org/people/BockelSound/sounds/489507/ https://freesound.org/people/ultradust/sounds/167747/ https://freesound.org/people/Crinkem/sounds/496328/ https://freesound.org/people/LucasDuff/sounds/467697/ https://freesound.org/people/RuidosoSoundFX/sounds/507161/ As always I've used some of Springheel's modules and Orbweaver's ambient sounds. And finally, huge thanks to the developers of The Dark Mod, especially 2.10, another milestone in this fantastic game. A few more screenshots

I've seen fun workarounds like that in other game modding as well. Years ago, maybe even a decade, some fella who was making a mod for Mount & Blade over at the Taleworlds forums revealed that he put invisible human NPCs on the backs of regular horse NPCs, then put the horse NPCs inside a horse corral he built for one of his mod's locations/scenes and then did some minor scripting, so the horses with invisible riders would wander around the corral. The end result was that it looked they're doing this of their own will, rather than an NPC rider being scripted to ride around the corral slowly. Necessity is the mother of invention. I don't know about the newest Mount & Blade game, but the first generation ones (2008-2022) apparently had some sort of hardcoded issue back in the earlier years, where if you left a horse NPC without a rider in its saddle, the horses would just stand around and wait and you couldn't get them to move around. Placing an invisible rider in their saddles suddenly made it viable again, at least for background scenes, of riderless horses wandering around, for added atmosphere. First generation M&B presumed you'd mostly be seeing horses in movement with riders, and the only horses-wandering-loosely animations and scripting were done for situations when the rider was knocked off their horse or dismounted in the middle of a battle. Hence the really odd workarounds. So, an invisible NPC trick might not be out of the question in TDM, even though you could probably still bump into it, despite its invisibility.

Here's my first FM. A small and easy mission, inspired by Thief's Den and The Bakery Job, where you must find and steal a cook's recipe book in order to save a friend from going out of business. Download: Mediafire (sk_cooks.pk4) TDM Website's Mission Page The in-game mission downloader Thanks to: The people who helped me get this far, both in the forums and on Discord. The beta testers: MirceaKitsune, Mat99, Baal, wesp5, Cambridge Spy, jaxa, grodenglaive, Acolytesix ( Per the author in the beta testing thread. ) Skaruts has given permission to the TDM Team to add Subtitles or Localization Strings to this mission. (No EFX Reverb.) If anyone from the Community or TDM team wishes to create these we will gladly test them and update the mission database.

Description: The venerated Judge Malffourt lives in a fine house in an immaculate neighborhood of Bridgeport. But rumors have been spreading about Malffourt; something about a bribe? There is only one way to find out... Download Link: https://storage.googleapis.com/krrg-tdm/indangerofjudgment.pk4 Special Thanks to my beta testers for their great feedback! (Bienie, Cambridge Spy, Shadow, VanishedOne, acolyte6) Screenshots Helps and Hints: Author's Notes: This is my first ever fan mission, built over a period of ~6 months. I hope you enjoy playing it as much as I did building it!