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So, what are you working on right now?


Springheel

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Keep in mind that passenger trains are anachronistic in the official TDM setting. Not that that should stop you--people seem to love train missions for some reason. :)

 

Have you seen the YouTube video of a TDM train?

 

I just googled it and found this

 

Is the map / MasterOfConspiracy still around? This could be really useful to look into

 

And yeah, there is just something about old trains. I guess its the class, craftmanship and engineering of the Victorian era all coming together, which naturally makes it unsuitable for the offical TDM setting which is more medieval. But maybe its set somewhere further down the timeline!

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Have you already started thinking on how to solve the moving scenery outside?

Have you seen the YouTube video of a TDM train?

 

My post a couple weeks ago in response to that video answers both! Edit: Whoops, no, I'd seen a different mission train video from another environment, just saw the video Kyyrma linked now.

 

Funny, after playing the Swing mission, I thought to do a train mission, but guess it's already been done elsewhere, c'est la vie. But yes, not hard to do.

 

Although the moving terrain I set up isn't as "straight-forward" as in the videos or Swing (pun intended), so there wouldn't be a black box at the end, and the movement is more complex. The issue is more about visportals for me, given how I have laid out my cars, but a week or so ago I realized a way work around that issue, as well as a fallback in case of trouble.

 

Keep in mind that passenger trains are anachronistic in the official TDM setting.

 

Heh, kind of hard to suggest steamwork is anachronistic in a fictional steampunk setting that even features electricity isn't it? But not to worry, that issue drives a bit of the story.

Edited by RJFerret

"The measure of a man's character is what he would do if he knew he never would be found out."

- Baron Thomas Babington Macauley

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Is the map / MasterOfConspiracy still around? This could be really useful to look into

MasterOfConspiracy is Shadowhide.

Come the time of peril, did the ground gape, and did the dead rest unquiet 'gainst us. Our bands of iron and hammers of stone prevailed not, and some did doubt the Builder's plan. But the seals held strong, and the few did triumph, and the doubters were lain into the foundations of the new sanctum. -- Collected letters of the Smith-in-Exile, Civitas Approved

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Heh, kind of hard to suggest steamwork is anachronistic in a fictional steampunk setting that even features electricity isn't it? But not to worry, that issue drives a bit of the story.

 

There are some things that might seem like they could fit the time period that would completely change the setting. Passenger rail and guns are two common examples.

 

Wiki:

 

The technology of the TDM setting ranges from late medieval to early Victorian, often side by side. Generally speaking, the more modern the technology, the more expensive it is and the less likely it is to be in common use (which is why things like large-scale rail systems do not exist).
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Awesome, thanks for the insights (it'd been a loong time ago when I had read that, before I'd played many missions, nevermind all of them, heh). No worries, as my setting/story fights right in with that perspective.

"The measure of a man's character is what he would do if he knew he never would be found out."

- Baron Thomas Babington Macauley

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On a separate note I was looking through that guys youtube channel and he posted a video a year ago of a fly through of Return to the City and DAMN The Dark Mod is so freakin' beautiful!

 

This video just proves how unique and atmospheric this game can be

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXeKwtn2dHQ&list=UU3FaALeuvk_RRA0ShuqIxFw

Edited by Goldwell
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Have you already started thinking on how to solve the moving scenery outside?

 

I think you do it like this:

 

1) The train is in a static box of skybox texture.

2) The skybox camera is attached to mover that scrolls on toy rails scrolling through a scenery skybox.

3) If the player falls from the train, there is a trigger_hurt that insta-kills him. Add maybe a func_forcefield to kick the player towards the end of the train, so it looks like the train goes continues away as the player falls off.

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Clipper

-The mapper's best friend.

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Off to a good start, I say! Adding some dirt decals and objects would neatly round out the scene.

Come the time of peril, did the ground gape, and did the dead rest unquiet 'gainst us. Our bands of iron and hammers of stone prevailed not, and some did doubt the Builder's plan. But the seals held strong, and the few did triumph, and the doubters were lain into the foundations of the new sanctum. -- Collected letters of the Smith-in-Exile, Civitas Approved

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Thanks for the kind words, Melan. The scene is very much a WIP - I have added a few dirt patches, you can just make out one or two of them in the picture above, but more are needed to create a realistic synergy between the cobblestone paving and the dirt. I also plan to raise the height of the foreground building by another story, so plenty of work still to do.

 

I just wish DR had a user-friendly vertex colour blender feature so mixing different textures could be done seamlessly...I know that a method has been suggested in one of the other threads, but having an in-built interface would be incredible.

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Very nice, but may I suggest a wooden aisle with a metal strips on either side of the carpet - sorta like it is in a real carrage.

 

Good suggestion. I agree that currently the border where the wall and carpet meet looks unrealistic.

 

Architecture has so far been my greatest weakness, so I'm working hard to get better :P

Edited by kyyrma
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Very nice, but may I suggest a wooden aisle with a metal strips on either side of the carpet - sorta like it is in a real carrage.

 

FYI, that seems to be a more modern convention. Older steam cars, at least all the pictures I've found/seen, were completely carpeted, particularly the parlor cars, presumably to show opulence, wealth and cut down on noise and cold. Modern carriages suffer greater traffic/wear and don't want to spend to maintain carpet, so have threshold strips (and higher quality construction features wood thresholds, instead of cheap metal ones).

 

There are a few that are tiled, but it's hard to tell if they are bar cars or carriages converted to restaurants, but again, the floor covering covers the entire width of the carriage. I wouldn't imagine tile would suffer the stresses and flexing of movement well.

 

I ran into the same visual issue with my train cars, the carpet designs we have available don't lend themselves to broad spaces very well, but once you add seating, it becomes less of an issue.

"The measure of a man's character is what he would do if he knew he never would be found out."

- Baron Thomas Babington Macauley

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FYI...

 

I'm going to replace the carpet with a custom texture later on.

 

While you make a fair point - and I'm pretty sure we have pretty much the same reference pictures by the way! - I think Biker might be right in that having those metal strips could make for a more visually pleasing design. I'll try out both and see which one I like best, periodical accuracy be damned! :P

 

Any chance of sharing screenshots of your design? I'd be interested to see what you are doing with the train idea. Drop me a PM if you are not ready for public yet!

Edited by kyyrma
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I don't know if anyone would be interested but I was just going through some older videos from The Accountant and found an older version of the trailer which was made for the original story I had planned but never got released (both the trailer and the mission).

 

The Accountant originally was going to be one big super mission which was very simple, you get into the accountants house and steal his book then skip town however I have changed the story quite dramatically since then (although the base premise remains of course being about an Accountant). I find the current version of the story is much grander and more interesting (you will see much more of it in Part 2 which I am currently working on) also parts of the mission that was meant to premier with this trailer have been diced,changed and sectioned off to other parts of The Accountant campaign so in a way the content lives on just in a much better way.

 

So here is the original vision for The Accountant which has only been seen by a couple of people oh and

PLEASE don't share this anywhere else. As this does not represent the current content and will never be released, just a cool little trivia thing about my campaign that some people might enjoy :)

 

 

 

Edited by Goldwell
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Any chance of sharing screenshots of your design? I'd be interested to see what you are doing with the train idea. Drop me a PM if you are not ready for public yet!

 

Sorry, I'd missed this edited revision after I read your message previously...I've focused on technical design, story and gameplay, not visuals so much yet.

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"The measure of a man's character is what he would do if he knew he never would be found out."

- Baron Thomas Babington Macauley

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Wow you perfectly reenacted what happens whenever I wake up my girlfriend because i'm trying to sneak into the bedroom late at night after some TDM sessions and its "that" time of month! Bravo!

Edited by Goldwell
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