The Dark Mod Status

[KhAoZ]

Hi guys. This mod is looking great. I just have a few questions. Sorry if anyone gets pissed off. Is the mod playable yet, if so where can I get it? If its not done. what percentage is done and what is remaining? I'm really excited about this mod becuase The Thief series is the one and only stealth game I have ever liked but I liked it oh so much. It was so perfect. And to all the TDS haters out there, that game was incredibly made I don't care what you guys say.

[sparhawk]

It gets nearer completion every day...

[KhAoZ]

It gets nearer completion every day...

 

Thats all your gonna say? lol

[Ishtvan]

-14%

[sparhawk]

Actually it's already finished since a few months, but we are so happy with playing TDM all day, that we didn't want to release it for fear that others might also enjoy it.

 

Seriously, we are posting updates frequently on our website, and we are making good progress. I'm pretty confident that we can release som alpha test version within the next year. We will see. We are making good progress, and as soon as it makes sense, we will release a map for playtesting to gather feedback, but we can not give any clear date, as this depends on a lot of things.

[KhAoZ]

-14%

 

-14% refers to what?

[OrbWeaver]

-14% refers to what?

 

Your ability to detect humour.

[Springheel]

Currently we're aiming for a December 2008 beta-release, and it doesn't seem unrealistic yet.

[New Horizon]

Hi guys. This mod is looking great. I just have a few questions. Sorry if anyone gets pissed off. Is the mod playable yet, if so where can I get it?

 

The mod has been playable since day 1, but there are different levels of playability. The work our beta mappers are putting together is incredible.

 

If its not done. what percentage is done and what is remaining? I'm really excited about this mod becuase The Thief series is the one and only stealth game I have ever liked but I liked it oh so much. It was so perfect.

 

I think the others have answered that question realistically, but as Spring said... we're looking at December 2008.

 

And to all the TDS haters out there, that game was incredibly made I don't care what you guys say.

 

That's cool. It was as well made as it could be, given the circumstances of it's creation.

[Vadrosaul]

Your ability to detect humour.

 

[Capela]

Your ability to detect humour.

 

This one is perfect. Sorry.

[Maximius]

That's cool. It was as well made as it could be, given the circumstances of it's creation.

 

Thats true, I should hold my tongue, I found this out the hard way on TTLG when after one of my TDS rants I found out I was talking with some of the people who worked on it, or who were at least listening in. There were some hurt feelings and now that I've begun to try to learn some stuff myself Im realizing how much work that game (any game) was.

 

As I understand it, in simple terms, the suits ruined it, pushing for a consolized pile of junk to sell to kids to throw away after trying it once or twice. Which was after all a terrible business decision since a good game would have captured a dedicated audience and could have been cultivated into chapters like HL or something, but they went for quick and dirty.

[sparhawk]

Thats true, I should hold my tongue, I found this out the hard way on TTLG when after one of my TDS rants I found out I was talking with some of the people who worked on it, or who were at least listening in. There were some hurt feelings and now that I've begun to try to learn some stuff myself Im realizing how much work that game (any game) was.

 

I don't see why this should be an excuse. of course some individual programmers might have not the abillity to change the decisions made, and I can understand that they don't feel good about being critzied about it. But on the other hand, TDS cost's as much as any other game. It didn't get cheaper because the devs screwed up, and if I pay the regular prize, then I can expect to get a properly done game. Just because it is much work, is no excuse, because the devs get paid to do their job. If I work sloppy in my office, I also can not excuse it by saying that it is much work. Either I have to make it clear why this was not done well, if it is out of my scope, or I have to accept that I get critizism for it.

 

As I understand it, in simple terms, the suits ruined it, pushing for a consolized pile of junk to sell to kids to throw away after trying it once or twice. Which was after all a terrible business decision since a good game would have captured a dedicated audience and could have been cultivated into chapters like HL or something, but they went for quick and dirty.

 

Of course this is bad for the programmers, but on the other hand, for the consumer it doesn't really matter WHY it was screwed up, because in the end you don't know anway for sure. If you deliver a bad product, the market will not accept it, and deservedly so. No excuse can change that.

[Maximius]

I don't see why this should be an excuse. of course some individual programmers might have not the ability to change the decisions made, and I can understand that they don't feel good about being critzied about it. But on the other hand, TDS cost's as much as any other game. It didn't get cheaper because the devs screwed up, and if I pay the regular prize, then I can expect to get a properly done game. Just because it is much work, is no excuse, because the devs get paid to do their job. If I work sloppy in my office, I also can not excuse it by saying that it is much work. Either I have to make it clear why this was not done well, if it is out of my scope, or I have to accept that I get critizism for it.

 

Im not calling for a moratorium on kicking TDS around, in fact I think it serves a great purpose as a curriculum for NOT how to do things in terms of map making and gameplay elements and discussing it will help make better Mod FMs in the long run. But my language was pretty sarcastic at times in the past and I did not want to tweak anyone's nose again on this forum.

 

Of course this is bad for the programmers, but on the other hand, for the consumer it doesn't really matter WHY it was screwed up, because in the end you don't know anyway for sure. If you deliver a bad product, the market will not accept it, and deservedly so. No excuse can change that.

 

Some people did make an effort to explain their end of things, but I agree that in the end if I've paid for it I have grounds to criticize it as I see fit.

[KhAoZ]

I don't see why this should be an excuse. of course some individual programmers might have not the abillity to change the decisions made, and I can understand that they don't feel good about being critzied about it. But on the other hand, TDS cost's as much as any other game. It didn't get cheaper because the devs screwed up, and if I pay the regular prize, then I can expect to get a properly done game. Just because it is much work, is no excuse, because the devs get paid to do their job. If I work sloppy in my office, I also can not excuse it by saying that it is much work. Either I have to make it clear why this was not done well, if it is out of my scope, or I have to accept that I get critizism for it.

Of course this is bad for the programmers, but on the other hand, for the consumer it doesn't really matter WHY it was screwed up, because in the end you don't know anway for sure. If you deliver a bad product, the market will not accept it, and deservedly so. No excuse can change that.

 

Well to me and in my opinion, the game was extremely well made. Good graphics, classic gameplay. I didn't encounter any bugs or glitches in the game either. So I don't see what you mean by "screwed up" or "sloppy".

[Springheel]

If you actually don't know what people don't like about the game (as opposed to trolling), just do a simple search for "TDS" and "sucks" on TTLG.

 

Make sure you have a few hours.

[New Horizon]

Well to me and in my opinion, the game was extremely well made. Good graphics, classic gameplay. I didn't encounter any bugs or glitches in the game either. So I don't see what you mean by "screwed up" or "sloppy".

 

Depends on what you consider buggy or sloppy I guess...considering I fixed a bug or two in The Minimalist Project, it's safe to say that there are bugs.

 

One of the bugs I fixed had to do with Garrett becoming completely invisible when he was in 'wall hugging' mode. I confirmed it with one of the developers. It was caused by a simple miscalculation in the wall hug formula that caused the light gem calculation to drop into negative numbers when Garrett when into wall hugging mode. Guards could bump into you and still not find you. I compensated for the miscalculation by tweaking the stealth bonus until the gem no longer dropped into negative numbers. That was a new gameplay element that was well promoted, it's obvious that the game wasn't tested very well if such an obvious bug got through.

 

Perhaps sloppy isn't the best word, unfinished is better suited. The game needed at least another month or two of bug fixing and game play balancing.

[sparhawk]

Well to me and in my opinion, the game was extremely well made. Good graphics, classic gameplay. I didn't encounter any bugs or glitches in the game either. So I don't see what you mean by "screwed up" or "sloppy".

 

I was not refering to TDS in particular, even though I have my reservations about it, but for such excuses in general. There are all kind of excuses for all computer games, and why the poor industry is not able to put out a game which works with the first release. Some companies can do it, so why not the others? When I look at Gothic (as an example) which is a very good game, still sucked quite a lot when it was released, and it took some patches until it realy worked. Not only the last one, but the previous installments as well.

 

I no other industry accept customers as much crap as in the software.

[ZylonBane]

Perhaps sloppy isn't the best word, unfinished is better suited. The game needed at least another month or two of bug fixing and game play balancing.

A couple months or a year wouldn't have changed the design decision to make TDS less "sim" and more "gamey". Special Loot and Loot Glint and Respawning, oh my!

[Domarius]

Your ability to detect humour.

-14% saving throw against humour spells.

[KhAoZ]

If you actually don't know what people don't like about the game (as opposed to trolling), just do a simple search for "TDS" and "sucks" on TTLG.

 

Make sure you have a few hours.

 

I know what people dislike about the game. I was just stating a general statement about my feelings when I played the game. I enjoyed it quite a bit, just as much as Thief 1 and 2, if not more.

 

Depends on what you consider buggy or sloppy I guess...considering I fixed a bug or two in The Minimalist Project, it's safe to say that there are bugs.

 

One of the bugs I fixed had to do with Garrett becoming completely invisible when he was in 'wall hugging' mode. I confirmed it with one of the developers. It was caused by a simple miscalculation in the wall hug formula that caused the light gem calculation to drop into negative numbers when Garrett when into wall hugging mode. Guards could bump into you and still not find you. I compensated for the miscalculation by tweaking the stealth bonus until the gem no longer dropped into negative numbers. That was a new gameplay element that was well promoted, it's obvious that the game wasn't tested very well if such an obvious bug got through.

 

Perhaps sloppy isn't the best word, unfinished is better suited. The game needed at least another month or two of bug fixing and game play balancing.

 

I never encountered this... was this just in certain areas / places?

 

I was not refering to TDS in particular, even though I have my reservations about it, but for such excuses in general. There are all kind of excuses for all computer games, and why the poor industry is not able to put out a game which works with the first release. Some companies can do it, so why not the others? When I look at Gothic (as an example) which is a very good game, still sucked quite a lot when it was released, and it took some patches until it realy worked. Not only the last one, but the previous installments as well.

 

I no other industry accept customers as much crap as in the software.

 

Gothic was a horrible game, the storyline, the gameplay, everything, never again compare such as a load of crap to a game like TDS.

[sparhawk]

I found Gothic quite good and I enjoyed it much more then TDS.

[eepcat]

-14% saving throw against humour spells.

 

...that would be on a 20-sided die, no?

- eep!

[jdude]

There's aspects of all the Thieves I like, not any one was 100% the best I think. Although Thief 1 was and will always be my favorite of the three

 

TDS wasn't ALL bad, I've played much worse games but yes, there were things in it which could have been done much better, but like someone was saying, at least we can learn from those mistakes. People keep asking which thief [even though this isn't a thief game ] is this mod going to be most like. The question is non. Rather I think this mod is taking the best most loved elements from all thieves and putting them into one large great and FREE package! The game is also VERY dependent on what the mapper wants out of it. For instance, the mapper has the ability to change the environment, the available weapon and tools and the story-line of the game, so you cannot really say "This game is only about ___" because as previously stated, the main goal of this mod is to provide a canvas for mappers to work with.

 

As far as completion goes, there are huge leaps and bounds every month, the game is looking awesome and I know for a fact everyone will love it when it's out!

 

edit: I also like the massive slow-down in the number of posts on this forum since school started lol

[Vadrosaul]

Rather I think this mod is taking the best most loved elements from all thieves and putting them into one large great and FREE package!

 

Tell me, what unique elements from TDS do you qualify as "best most loved"?