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Showing content with the highest reputation on 09/25/22 in Posts

  1. I'm of the same opinion in that I generally dislike KO-limitations on missions. One could argue that the solution is to just play the easier skill level(s) that doesn't have that restriction, but unfortunately this tends to come with the baggage of also requiring less of the player in terms of loot limits and possibly even additional objectives that you'd be happy to do on the higher difficulties if it weren't for that KO limit. On the other hand, my stubbornness for playing on the hardest difficulty level means I have to deal with these missions that, due to the KO limit, essentially force ghosting. And you know what? I actually became a better player of TDM by being put in a situation where I basically had to learn how to ghost properly, take my time and so on, because I couldn't KO or kill like I wanted to. If those limits were never there, I guarantee you I'd never have developed decent ghosting skills because it's frankly much harder. But now, even on missions that don't need as much ghosting as others, I'm still better at playing TDM because of those skills gained from missions which forced my hand. I'm not sure if this helps when it comes to the topic of quicksaves, but I just wanted to address how limits can sometimes help the player because of how it forces them to get out of their comfort zone and deal with the new problem.
    2 points
  2. After several months of hard work, we are proud to announce the latest edition of "No Honor Among Thieves"!!! EFX EDITION!!! EFX reverb has been added to all missions! NHAT has never been more immersive. From the dry woody reverb of the local pub to the sonorous and lofty echo of the Cathedrals, prepare your ears for a auditory treat! PERFORMANCE!!! Several major sore spots that impacted performance in v3 and older have been substantially optimized. Players with less capable hardware will now be less frustrated traversing caves, courtyards, and forests. VISUALS!!! Many areas have been visually overhauled!!! Improved lighting, new scene geometry, new textures, new water effects ( thanks @Arcturus !!! ), more vertex blended terrains, and more. Some areas have been visually redesigned to better match the story and convey the key characters. GAMEPLAY!!! Some new play areas have been added. A little more rooftop action is available for climbers. A few new readables for side characters expand the lore of the mission. Improved AI scripted events in the final mission escape sequence!!! Other things: The ROQ videos have been converted to MP4 to make them more compatible with the latest TDM versions. This mission still uses 2.09 style API controlled videos, we will rework the menu gui to be 2.10 (beta) compatible shortly so that "Dev Build" players can enjoy the additional performance and improvements available in those builds. Credits: @Bikerdude for the majority of the mapping work in this overhaul @Dragofer for assisting with scripting and def setup @nbohr1more new cathedral textures and improved water material def setup, a few readables @Arcturus MD3 animated water and water textures Original crew: @Goldchocobo @RailGun @Mortem Desino who created the original version along with updates to versions up to v2.0. Thank you for permission work on this update! V4 Beta testers: @AluminumHaste @JackFarmer Screenshots: Hotfix release: Should fix two minor issues: Newest Hotfix: Gdrive - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1e_LHa4RdZ0a1AD3FhgLq7OwvBmWUchJZ/view?usp=sharing Onedrive - https://1drv.ms/u/s!AuwAFc1gTZzehn0z9PsAVEIH0iFn?e=Gj0p6O ( Some additional performance optimization to the forest and fixes to other items found by Biker and Aluminumhaste in another round of testing.) For those of you who are testing the Dev Builds ( 2.10 alpha ), here is a 2.10 compliant version: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1xyPwDQjMQH1TAH98Vd29UUiB0Nki1-7j/view?usp=sharing
    1 point
  3. DarkRadiant 3.3.0 is ready for download. What's new: Feature: Remove menu options which are not applicable to current game Feature: Grey-out menu entries that are not applicable Feature: FX Declaration Parsing Support Feature: FX Chooser Feature: Renderer now takes "translucent" keyword into account Fixed: Lighting Mode Renderer draws hidden lights Fixed: Loading map results in "Real Hard DarkRadiant Failure" exception Fixed: Crash when trying to set default mouse or keyboard bindings Fixed: Unit Tests intermittently get stuck on Github runner Fixed: xmlutil thread safety problems Fixed: Some materials aren't displayed correctly Windows and Mac Downloads are available on Github: https://github.com/codereader/DarkRadiant/releases/tag/3.3.0 and of course linked from the website https://www.darkradiant.net Thanks to all the awesome people who keep using DarkRadiant to create Fan Missions - they are the main reason for me to keep going. 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. Have fun mapping!
    1 point
  4. Is there a mission with bear model like depicted below? I thought there was one, but cannot find it...if not question would be, where could I get one for free usage in a DM mission.
    1 point
  5. The numbers are in tdm_player_thief.def and tdm_propagated_sounds.def, which are in tdm_defs01.pk4. tdm_player_thief has a bunch of entries that start "sprS_". E.g.: "sprS_footstep_wood" "footstep_default_walk:-3.6" That means that the volume of a footstep on wood is defined in footstep_default_walk, adjusted -3.6 (dB?). In tdm_propagated_sounds, you'll find sprGS_footstep_default_walk entityDef sprGS_footstep_default_walk { "inherit" "atdm:propagated_sound_base" "vol" "42.6" "dur" "100" "alert_factor" "0.35" // AI can hear footsteps at a distance but don't react strongly to just one "alert_max" "12" "editor_usage" "Propagated footstep sounds from the player" } which has a volume ("vol") of 42.6. So presumably the game subtracts 3.6 from 42.6 to calculate how noisy the footstep is on wood. Other materials have other adjustments in tdm_player_thief. And of course there are other adjustments, for example based on the distance the sound travels to the AI. So if you're interested, have a look at those files, especially tdm_player_thief.def and the sprS_ settings, which give you a indication of the relative volume changes from different surfaces. Edit: I just realized some of this is discussed here: https://wiki.thedarkmod.com/index.php?title=Setting_up_Individual_Propagated_Sounds_and_Estimating_Volume
    1 point
  6. Forgot to post after I finished this last week! Got distracted with VR stuff and forgot. Anyway, this was FUN. My ideal perfect map size. Not so big you get lost as hell but compact and dense enough that it feels big and full of life. Right amount of challenge, the patrols were perfect. You gotta be patient to find the windows but they are there. I definitely didn't find everything on my 3 hr playthrough; Can't wait to get it all on my second run with VR next time. Thank you for this mission, I really liked it. Key hunt in the Builder compound was just right, made exploring all the floors meaningful, like not a chore. The story was great. Thank you.
    1 point
  7. Thanks Jeff, please give it a go. Beta thread is already up with a download link.
    1 point
  8. No need, but I appreciate it. I'll give that Trainer mission a go. Just wondered if it is already documented some place. It's the loudest-to-softest I'm interested in, and will probably gain that "feel" by just playing the game. And I like the effort you have put into mods. Whistling and blowing out fires makes sense, but I just could not allow myself to make the game easier, so reverted back
    1 point
  9. I like how you are managing your topic! It must be defined somewhere for sure. I can look it up for you if your interested in code/numbers. There probably is a more enjoyable way for you if you are up for some old school investigations: let me suggest the "mission" Sound Alert and Blackjack Trainer. See if you come to some conclusions on your own! I would like to know too. Well, on a second thought I am not sure I want to know in case of a negative. I will keep pretending noise masks sound
    1 point
  10. For the reason I stated - it makes the map feel safer to navigate and risk management is part of the design especially if you’ve opted to play where you cannot save the game. That is why the mission gives you a few broadhead arrows right away and actually makes them effective. It basically trains you do to this in the first few seconds of the mission when it puts you in a narrow hallway behind a barricade and the zombie bursts in. Pulling off a head shot is very satisfying in that it both removes a threat from the map and allows you to recover a resource. I am not surprised and if you read my comments I have plenty of criticism and concerns regarding save restrictions and have stated I am like any other player who get’s frustrated with certain design decisions. I have only ever designed one mission and you might be able to tell from it I am not particularly interested in restricting how players approach the game or even the concept of “mandatory” objectives really. I think we actually agree more or less on the point that mission authors should feel free to design their missions how they see fit and just know like any other creative work they must be willing to accept criticism of it so I think there is very little conflict. I am trying to understand why it is an issue it is option for players and I think I understand now that it being tied to a difficulty setting makes it feel like it also depriving players of other options they enjoy. A pet peeve of mine is actually arbitrarily high loot goals when this also isn’t balanced very carefully in the design. Same with no kill objectives, no knockout objectives, key hunts, etc. all of which are hallmarks in a lot of TDM missions. So perhaps this is just an issue with the granularity of the difficulty settings in hazard pay? Not really feasible that I am aware of, but I imagine if you could play on expert but there was a toggle for this like “iron man” mode in XCOM there wouldn’t be this level of an issue with the design?
    1 point
  11. Interesting - I certainly didn’t avoid combat - I made it a priority to remove threats and this forced me to use every tool I had at my disposal as the risk of dying and losing progress seemed greater if I let the threats remain in the map. To each their own. I imagine it is also a niche of players who then for some reason would also not be interested in playing on another difficulty which allows for quick saving, as the hard coded differences are not that significant in my opinion compared to the customizable difficulty settings players have or how mappers implement different difficulties. So you are in subsection of players who must play on the highest difficulty determined by the designer but this also cannot be too hard?
    1 point
  12. I've spent a couple of hours searching, but I haven't found anything in the code that adjusts awareness automatically, based on difficulty level. So, either my memory is faulty, or my code-scanning skills are bad. (Either way, not a good look for me ). But at this point, I have to withdraw what I said above (or as Ron Ziegler would have put it, my previous statement is inoperative).
    1 point
  13. I don't think that's the point of such save systems at all. Rather that you shouldn't quickload, and everything is on full alert, or already attacking you... TDM solved that cleverly: By always keeping the last 2 quicksaves. So, even if you quicksaved falling off a building (if that's even possible...), you still have a "proper" save left.
    1 point
  14. It’s been many years since I played the original, so I won’t be useful as a comparison tester (old vs new). But if you’re looking for another pair of eyes, I can give it a go
    1 point
  15. The fact that this a recurring topic speaks volumes. Some us would like to do without so many quick-saves but we can't, too risky for different reasons I won't go into detail at this moment. Skyrim does not allow saving when enemies are nearby. Confront them or run. I like this kind of thinking. Simple restrictions would have done wonders to this game, in example: quick-saves disallowed unless you are fully obscured by shadows and no nearby AI is currently alerted. Think of it. On your question, @marbleman: Games like Alien Isolation gave me the most memorable of the experiences. Risky move by the devs but see the result. Bold. TDM is different, of course, but I hope you get my point without explanations.
    1 point
  16. Yesterday evening I tried to compile from source and it was givin the same error, now I did git pull and I confirm I works! Thank you!
    1 point
  17. I know what you mean; an automated awareness level increase/decrease depending on the difficulty level plus separate options to increase/decrease the awareness in the options makes no sense, but I could swear that grayman mentioned it somewhere, and as you can see from joebarnin's post above, he recalls that as well.
    1 point
  18. The Flathub package has been updated, it should be available once their system finishes building it.
    1 point
  19. Pretty sure my comments regarding Deathloop as the followup to Dishonored cover these points as well.
    1 point
  20. @Daft MugiI don't think so, but I don't really think "stealth" is much of a genre of games. Thief is part of a legacy of games which have grown beyond being describable as "stealth" games. Most modern "stealth" or simulation focused games simply make alternative playstyles more viable and games well outside what you might consider the normal reach of such things have started to appropriate stealth and simulation mechanics. Deus Ex, Breath of the Wild, The Last of Us 1 & 2, Metal Gear Solid 5, Dishonored 1 &2, Prey, Hitman, Modern Wolfenstein, The Evil Within 2, Elden Ring - all are or can played as "stealth" games. In none of these does detection feel like an irreversible fail state because the player actually has the kind of options that allow them to keep playing. This has to hold up if you want to consider save restrictions, and most of these games don't go that far anyway. Thief is actually better at this than TDM - a quick flash bomb can end an issue with being detected really quickly. In TDM the game does not hold up very well. Try the same thing and you will likely just blind yourself. Good luck knocking out the ai you manage to hit with the bomb as they go through a single cycle animation and then stand like statues for a few brief seconds before they resume hunting you down or you manage slink into the darkness and then into an incredibly long cool down period for the simulation to reset. Try to fight back and whatever blows you manage will land with the impact of a sponge. It's rare that players engage with this part of the game, so the design is not as "robust" so to speak. In this context reloading the game makes an awful lot of sense to me, and taking that ability away makes very little unless you contend with that in designing your mission. You can see maybe how this informs the design of Deathloop (which is not entirely successful imo) - Dishonored is game which holds up very well when the player is detected, but rarely did players who quickly found a comfortable and repeatable method to play engage with and see more than a sliver of the game. Whether players wanted to see more or not I don't know, but the designers were obviously interested in seeing if they could get players out of this mold. So Deathloop makes the player contend with the consequences and then theoretically leverage more aspects of the game, but in return it attempts to make the risk very low and the opportunity to experiment and try the same scenario with a different approach very high. The game is designed for you to play scenarios over and over again - so there isn't much risk in starting over when you're going to be doing this anyway and if you're going through the same content you're likely to want to change things up every once in a while. Did it entirely work? No. Was it interesting to play? On aggregate it more or less worked for me, though I would have preferred Dishonored 3. Am I happy they tried something a little new even if it didn't work entirely? Yes. So why should there be save restrictions? Because we should be open as players and creators to trying new things. We don't have to like them and they don't have to work the first time, but it's how we grow.
    1 point
  21. I vaguely remember stumbling across this in the code once. But now, for the life of me, I can't find it. Perhaps I'm remembering wrong - I'll keep hunting.
    1 point
  22. I have been an advocate for mission ratings a long time. I understand both sides of the coin of course, but the casual player likely prefers to just pick one of the best rated missions and start playing instead of reading through all the mission descriptions, potentially digging through forum entries to find a suitable mission. Things like average playtime, general mission type and player rating would be really helpful here. Or maybe instead of rating, something neutral like "number of times played / downloaded". I think that would be way too elaborate. How about rating on the mission finished screen?
    1 point
  23. I still think that data is valuable though, even if it is in poor taste by the player. The question the creator should ask themselves is, "Why was the first impression of my mission so poorly received?". Even so though, I really think that kind of reviewer would be in the minority. You guys seem to have a very pessimistic view of the average TDM player. And if you feel the missions can't stand up to a bit of scrutiny I think that says something. I would argue that the scores on Thief Guild are mostly accurate. Not perfect of course but I believe that is due to sample size. Sure you will always have assholes that score everything but Iris '0/10' and some people that give everything a '10' but every data set has outliers. And the more you have, the more things tend to average out.
    1 point
  24. In a weird coincidence not seeing “huge interest” in adding save restrictions to every mission either. Apologies @marblemanI think you’re thread took a wrong turn at some point and I have probably contributed to that. Hopefully you got at least something you were after.
    1 point
  25. That sounds to me like an auto-save, which you have in many games and which often is an indicator of such things. Does TDM allow for autosaves?
    1 point
  26. Making a map, even a small and simple one, is a lot of work and I don't think it's fair to deride even less highly rated levels as "amateurish" or "mediocre". Mappers are creating something and giving it away for free, and that kind of talk seems disrespectful to me.
    1 point
  27. Quicksaves should be restricted because: We want the game to be the exclusive domain of a small minority of hardcore players who are able and willing to spend 14 hours a day honing their Dark Mod skills, and we regard all other players as "scum" who should bugger off and play Candy Crush instead. We assume we know best what gameplay experience will be most rewarding, and want to force our one-size-fits-all solution on every single player for their own good. We want to encourage the development of unofficial forks of the game (since it's open source), and regard the resulting player confusion as just another part of the excitement. We firmly believe that game difficulty should only ever move in one direction: upwards. We are unable to improve any of the unpredictable and confusing mechanics which motivate save-spamming in the first place (like blackjack failures or hitting the wrong part of a light with one of your 6 remaining water arrows), and we consider removal of the save function as the easiest band-aid.
    1 point
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