smithpd

I installed the patch, deleted my bad saves, and recreated them. So far it has prevented the save game bloat. At one point my Quicksave was up to around 200 MB, and another named save was around 100 MB. Now after 10-20 saves into Quicksave, it is still at 22 MB. I looked at a couple other FMs, including Crown of Penitence that had crashed several times previously, and there were no bloated saves in there.

As a player, I find the idea of random loot of limited usefulness. As sparhawk has said, lack of repeatability can cause problems and frustration. Examples include: ghosting, where one player may find success and another not, for mechanical reasons only, not skill; obtaining advice from other players; playing in a collaborative mode, where two or more people are comparing notes; speed runs, where you need to develop an optimum route. I also agree that mission design is what causes good replayability. That said, I agree that a random number generator, rand(), is a good thing to have. But I would make it something that has to be implemented in a script rather than having "random loot" a standard feature of the tools. I would not make it so easy. Designers should know that if they use this feature certain game play elements as described above will be destroyed. This thread has gotten way off topic. The original post, about graded awareness and alert status, was very good. I'd definitely like to see some adoption of that.

I have mixed feelings about randomness, but I definitely do not like the idea of adaptive alertness. Here's why. One aspect of Thief I have always enjoyed, apart from the fact that it is a great game, is the social discussion among players concerning "How did you do that?" This was an important aspect of the ghosting community in it heyday. Status was achieved when a player accomplished something others could not. Slightly random patrols are not a problem in this regard. A repeating situation should occur eventually, but you may have to wait longer for it. It is not much different from having multiple AI on patrol, each with its own timing. I like the Dark Mod team's design (as stated by Springheel) of minor random variations about a predictable mean. I think that would make for more interesting game play, even if it does make comparison of ghost results more problematic. I can live with that, and I look forward to it. What I would not like to see is AI with adaptive alertness, hearing, and vision based on skill of the player. In my view, that would make discussion of game play and strategy meaningless. I prefer to select my own skill level, not let the game do it for me. If that adaptive behavior is contemplated, I agree with Komag that it should be an option, just as it was for Far Cry. I never exercised that option.

I just downloaded the file darkmod_ost1.zip, as mentioned here, and I have to say that this collection of sounds is fantastic! I can't remember game sounds I liked so much since NIN's soundtrack for Quake. Comments in the above post about some entries not being being thief-like seem off base to me. What does that mean? Thief is moody. These sounds are moody. That's enough for me. BTW, what is an OST?

I am a moderator at the Eidos Thief forums (kick me if you like), and I also spend a lot of time at the TTLG Fan Mission forum. I work with the TTLG Fan Mission people frequently when beta testing fan missions. So far as I know, that last statement is simply not true, at least in the FM forum. General Chat may be something else... I don't know. Anyway, I know one moderator in the FM forum who would be unhappy to know you feel this way. Really, I think that they would be, and they already are, very appreciative of your work, just as I am. This does not mean that you should not have your own forums. But I would think that if TTLG starts a Dark Mod forum it would be a good thing for The Dark Mod.

I am very glad you have a good-sounding audio card and are not depending on EAX for sound "quality" in The Dark Mod. I have never been able to tolerate EAX for more than a minute or two. It seems like artificial reverb to me, so I keep EAX off. I have been thinking seriously of tossing my Audigy and getting an m-audio Audiophile card, or perhaps a Revolution. @kwc: How do Thief 1 and Thief 2 sound on the m-audio Audiophile? Thief 2 is a little finicky for sound. I had a Turtle Beach Santa Cruz, an otherwise good card, and it sounded terrible with T2, so I had to get rid of the Santa Cruz. I don't want to make the same mistake with the m-audio....

Excellent work, TYROT. Do you, or has he/she published music anywhere?

Thanks, New Horizon. I did not realize that. The forum policy/ rules are not easy to find... Sorry about the OT. That was a great video! Real talent in assembling the elements and the sound. The music resembled some of Nine Inch Nail's work on Quake. Could this be NIN, or is it my imagination?

I agree with Zaccheus. Frames have the problem that you cannot make a bookmark to the page you are actually on. All I see in the address box of my browser is the URL of the home page. So I cannot bookmark something to return to it later, nor can I copy a URL to make a link from one post to another. The latter could impede comunications. At the Eidos forum, where they use frames as the main entry point, you can bypass the frame by using another URL that points to the forum starting page within the frame. Then it is good to go. Is there such a URL for this forum? If so, publicizing that might help as a temporary fix.

In my opinion, your policy of not deleting posts is too lenient. Do you see what kind of drivel it has lead to here? Instead of a civil discussion about a nice Christmas present, you have a bunch of tastless complaining. Things will become much more pleasant if you show zero tolerance for trolls and spammers. Also, zero tolerance for public arguing against moderator decisions, such as deleting a post. TTLG was a mess when it first started. Now it is much better owing to improved moderating. My suggestion is: don't plead with trolls to behave in public. Ignore them. After one or two private e-mail discussions, ban them. Don't waste time and create more conflict by justifying your decisions. Ask people use e-mail or PM to complain about moderator policy. ============ I really liked the Christmas video, although I share the view that it would have been better to see more examples of current work. I hope you can do that sometime soon. As for the Dark Mod, I am really excited about it. You people have shown some great talent. I am confident that Dark Mod will replace T3Ed when it comes out. Keep up the good work.

OK, thanks for the advice. Another way to get "good" habits would be to make some Doom 3 maps instead. I have participated in the testing of many great Thief missions already, so I have a good feel for their design. It is mainly the mechanics and the programming aspects that I need to work on.

I sincerely hope that the Dark Mod team are not discouraged by the release of T3Ed. From what I have read, Dark Mod should have fewer limitations and be true to the original Thief concept. I am still very interested in the release of Dark Mod -- so much so that I wonder if I should try to learn T3Ed or wait it out. What would you suggest?