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Melan

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Posts posted by Melan

  1. I think you are looking for something like this. It could also host models, prefabs and other assorted geegaws. Hell, it could even be a subweb of the TDM wiki.

     

    It'd need to be set up and some light vetting procedure established (the Thief repo has been filled up with modern-looking and often pilfered assets by a notoriously wood-headed TTLG member), but it would soon repay the effort. If the asset upload were in the form of PK4s, it'd be a question of drag, drop and try to get someting into your mission.

    • Like 1
  2. Well maybe I don't have ~exacting standards~ but I enjoyed the mission. It was most challenging in the warehouse section, where the combination of the open plan, harsh industrial lights and the crowd of patrolling guards form a deadly combination. The rest is much easier (a smaller and a larger loop, in essence); ironically, it gets easier and easier as you get closer to your goal.

     

    It is good for what it is, a really. Sure, much more can be done with modules, even in ways that will not have this kind of performance impact, but this is essentially a demo for a building technique.

  3. I also find these differences interesting. Most of the time (at least where the mission allows it) I am personally shooting for a vague surrealism, of weighty but slightly improbable construction and a sort of over-urbanisation that's most definitely hostile and claustrophobic. I am also keen on inscrutable advanced technology. This style was inspired by earlier FMs (Calendra's Cistern, Assassins, Rocksbourg and Uninvited Guest), and is related to the missions skacky, squadafroin and firemage are doing nowadays. It also draws from the narrow alleyways and constant height differences of the ancient Mediterranean cities, which preserved a lot of their mediaeval character. However, as Gothic architecture goes, it is not the rich and ornamental Gothic of the great cities, but the more simple and austere "poor man's Gothic" of Central Europe (which I prefer).

     

    Others, I think, draw on different sources. Springheel's streets are more historically authentic and are far more real than mine, and they seem to draw on Georgian-era ideas. Lots of junk, lots of mud, and more realistic technology. Spooks has also gone for this style with a wonderfully realised outer city district in King of Diamonds (which has a lot of the character of period slums, from the backyards to the tightly packed housing). Then you have Grayman's city mission, kvornig's more Victorian take and Sotha's (which has a kind of mediaevaln romanticism? Johannes Burock seems to be going for something similar with his WIP) - again, different concepts, and all very fascinating.

     

    I don't think these alternate visions can all be contextualised at the same time. You can put together some of them some of the time, but not all of them all of the time. I personally don't think there should be a complete canon, although it is fun to see people building on each others' ideas.

    • Like 4
  4. Both factors play a role. Newer missions tend to have more detailed geometry and a more generous object count. However, as nbohr1more's post has also shown, there has been a gradual performance improvement over the various TDM versions, thanks to a series of fixes.

  5. Here is my (spoiler-free) review I posted on TTLG:

    The Ravine by Spoonman.
    You are about to embark on an adventure into a place both wonderful and strange, and you will go through the looking glass a few times before it ends. If this description appeals to you, The Ravine will be your mission. This is a hard mission to write about without spoiling things, and I won’t (not even in screenshots). Let’s just stick to a general impression.
    The Ravine draws from that aspect of The Dark Project which has been least often captured in fan missions: a journey into an irrational and dangerous world which defies conventional explanation, but which makes sense as a dream, a collection of strange impressions. The nature of mysteries like this is that they are only effective as long as they aren’t given a rationale, and they lose their power once they are completely figured out. This mission, rather smartly, never gives you that key. There are no readables, no conventional storytelling and no fully built framework to place your experiences. It just is, like a puzzle that has no solution, but could have multiple guesses. Its closest parallel is Gems of Provenance, although it is very different.
    The Ravine is a large, complex level that has countless pathways through it, and several hidden places (I got 2600 out of more than 4000 loot). There is verticality, there is horizontality, and there are all kinds of interconnections. The starting area alone would make a small level, but it doesn’t stop there. It is vast; it is also dark. Completely dark except for light sources and your trusty lantern. The lantern becomes invaluable in your exploration, but it also draws attention to you, as it should. This is a proper tradeoff and a fun gameplay element. There are places where rope arrows would come in handy, but the mission is sadistic enough not to give you any, ever. After a more quiet beginning, the AI patrols are numerous and make for a proper challenge.
    Graphically, it is on the less detailed side, and the zero ambient does sometimes look rough with the stencil shadows. But it is never ugly, it is thematically consistent, and very often does ingenious things with simple architecture. The soundscape is very impressive – properly menacing, mysterious, using sound cues to both guide and disorient you.
    All in all, this mission is odd, imaginative, and a whole lot of fun. Don’t spoil yourself – just play.
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