joebarnin

Congrats! Never played this one before, so now I will!

A famous painting is on display at the local museum. Steal it, of course! Title: Now and Then Filename : nowandthen.pk4 (download) Author: joebarnin Date of release: 08 September 2020 Version: 1 EFX: Yes Requires: TDM 2.08 Author: joebarnin Custom ambients: JackFarmer Gameplay notes Thorough investigation is encouraged. Scary AIs: No spiders, skeletons, undead, or ghosts. One live rat and one dead one. Makes use of the 'peek' ability, allowing the player to peek through a keyhole by leaning forward. The use of this ability is optional (it is never necessary resolve the mission). Thanks to: Beta Testers: Cambridge Spy, thebigh, JackFarmer, Amadeus, Kerry000, wesp5 Voice actor: Mike Components: Builder Compound models & textures - Peter Spy (dr.judym81@gmail.com) Museum painting lights - Grayman Gramophone with record - Goldwell & Epifire Custom ambients - JackFarmer Main menu screen & music - JackFarmer Ambients - Orbweaver Many many modules - Springheel https://freesound.org/people/LucasDuff/sounds/467697/ https://freesound.org/people/humanoide9000/sounds/422245/ Thanks to Springheel, Sotha, and Fidcal for their tutorials. I keep going back to them and I always learn something new. Notes Slight spoiler: Fun fact: I have released 3 missions, each almost exactly one year apart: Mission of Mercy - September 14, 2018 The Heart of St. Mattis - September 10, 2019 Now and Then - September 8, 2020. Not by design, it just worked out that way. So I guess look for my next mission in early September next year! Hints (contains spoilers)

Jedi - I'm available in a day or two, once I publish my mission. If you're looking for fresh blood, feel free to use others, but if you don't mind me looking at it again, I'll be happy to have another go at it.

Today I tried the original Mission or Mercy on 2.08 and it failed loading (“Script object ‘numberwheel’ not found on entity ...”). So I assum that the script files still need to be included in each FM that uses an atdm:combination_lock_small?

Apparently this mission has been broken since 2.07 (or 2.08?), because of the numberwheel script issue. I didn't realize it until now. Here is a link to the repaired FM: https://www.dropbox.com/s/ymy4v38x7k286tx/warehouse.pk4?dl=1. It is listed as version 2 in the darkmod.txt file. Can I ask that the mission repository be updated with this new version? Thanks!

Possibly. But I think there were reasons for removing the script from the release. According to this post talks about it: Looks like I need to fix my "Mission of Mercy" FM. It is broken now - I guess I didn't see that notification.

I can only speak for my mission (the soon-to-be-released "Now and Then"), but this issue can be resolved in the mission scripts. I fixed it yesterday so it'll be in the released FM. Here are the details. In this mission I use the atdm:combination_lock_small. As is discussed in various threads, when using this asset you have to include the appropriate script file(s) in your <fm>\script folder. In this case, atdm:combination_lock_small has spawnarg "scriptobject" = "numberwheel_lock". At some point, when I was developing my first FM, I got a hold of numberwheel_lock.script (which was at the time included the TDM release. Subsequently it was removed, I think). I've put this in my \script folder for each FM I've built, and it works fine. Except in the following case: the door is a secret door that isn't frobable, and it has open_on_unlock=1. The default code in numberwheel_lock.script makes the following call when the combo is correctly entered: t.Unlock(); The variable 't' is the target of the combo lock (the door). This statement unlocks the secret door, which, because open_on_unlock=1, opens it. Except: if the user has "Open Doors on Unlock" = Off, that overrides open_on_unlock. So in that case the door isn't opened. And since the door isn't frobable, there is no way to open it even if it is unlocked. The fix is to modify numberwheel_lock.script to call t.Open() as well t.Unlock(). This unlocks and then opens the door. Oh, and you have to remove the open_on_unlock=1 spawnarg from the door too. These changes work fine, and are appropriate IMHO, since each FM 'owns' their copy of numberwheel_lock.script. It's a shame that each FM developer may need to make this adjustment, but I think that's an artifact of numberwheel's history.

See https://wiki.thedarkmod.com/index.php?title=Triggers#trigger_hurt.

Good comments by @Andersonand @Obsttorte. But if you’re looking for another ‘gamey’ option, you could implement some sort of Fast Travel mechanism. Perhaps an artifact the thief carries that when used transports then back to the western zone. That way at step 4 they aren’t irritated, they’re like “cool, I can use the Orb of Movement”. Of course, you’d have to explain why they have it, etc.

Count me in!

Sure, jump on in!

I'm looking for a few beta testers for my new mission, "Now and Then". It's a medium-sized mission. I'll create a thread in the Beta Testing forum shortly. Please sign up here so I can get a feeling for how many testers are involved. Thanks!

Sorry for the delay in responding, for some reason I didn't get notified about your post

In my version of Photoshop, the Save As dialog has a Save Alpha Channels checkbox. That does the trick for me. Disclaimer: my Photoshop version is very old (CS2) and I'm no graphics expert.

@kinIn case you haven't found this already: https://wiki.thedarkmod.com/index.php?title=Console_Useful_Controls

I ran into this problem early on during beta test, and it was fixed in a later build. But maybe not fixed completely? I don't know of any console command. Maybe try back tracking until the music changes - go back to the underwater station, see if that 'resets' the music, then go forward. Just an idea.

The way I've done it is to make the Lock an atdm:froblock, with spawnargs: used_by=shelfkey, target=swingdoor and then your swingdoor doesn't need used_by or locked.

Do you have the release version of DM 2.08? There was a crash in beta versions that wasn’t fixed until just before 2.08 was officially released.

I tested this. It does work, but only if you use the def_attach method for attaching the key (https://wiki.thedarkmod.com/index.php?title=Attaching_Props_to_AI#Belt_Objects_-_Keys). It does not work if you use the bindToJoint method for attaching the key.

Congratulations! This is a massive and enjoyable mission. Get ready for multi-part fun! Interesting, that this mission and The Painter's Wife were released close together. They don't have much in common, other than they are excellent (IMHO) and HUGE. A tribute to the modders, and a tribute to TDM platform that enables two very different missions.

I think it will work that way. There are two ways to allow a guard to pass through locked doors: if they have the key, or if they have the 'can_unlock' spawnarg. So if you attach the key to the guard but don't give them 'can_unlock', they can pass through the door if they have the key, but once you steal it from them they won't be able to open the door. At least, that's my understanding of how it works. I haven't actually tried this.

Another option is to leave the window slightly ajar. This shows, from a distance, that it is openable. Use the "open" spawnarg (set to '1'), along with 'start_rotate' or 'start_position' (depending on whether the window is a mover_door or mover_door_sliding). Give you total control over how open the window is.

An excellent mission! Nice layout and architecture - exploring is rewarded. Wonderful set of interlocking stories, full of politics/factions/intrigue/corruption. Lots of opportunities for thieving (of course) and for doing good. Thank you, Bienie!

Congrats! Looking forward to this one.

Thanks, that solved it - I did as you suggested, and set image_useNormalCompression back to 1, and now reflections look good. So I guess I didn't have a clean release after all. In general, are the steps you listed a good idea for getting a clean release? So, if I run into strange behavior, is it best to do those steps first to see if that resolves the issue?