Sotha
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Posts
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Joined
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Days Won
134
Posts posted by Sotha
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@Fieldmedic,
Identifying the problem is the first step in solving the problem. But it is only a problem if you think it is a problem. It is good that we have mappers with different philosophies.
I try to work in the mode of efficiency.
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How can I get maximum playability with minimum amount of work?
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I plan. I experiment with layouts with minimal work (throwing modules around) before committing to build it further (add sealing geometry.) If something is built, it stays. Minor revisions are possible but I avoid rebuilding like the plague, it is very inefficient: work with no benefit.
I try to think a purpose for each location: if the location has no purpose, it will not be built. After building the purposeful locations, I add extra connections if possible to break linearity (like the ventilation shafts in Ulysses2.)
The mapping process is fun in itself, but most rewarding is getting stuff done.
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Nice to see some good people working on some good-looking FMs! Keep up the good work!
I'll give an update on my WIP:
Geometry and detailing is mostly done. It is an old map, built first with the old technique and then later continued with modular technique. I have devised the plot (an Ulysses assassination job) and started putting AI and patrols in, but was distracted by making some custom animation, because it was a lot of fun.
RL has been very busy recently, so I have had very little time to work on it. Initially I thought of getting it released around new year, but at this pace it seems unlikely. Probably before the summer, then?
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If the candle uses func_emitter, the particle moves with the object.
If the candle used func_smoke, the particle would move on its own and not follow the object.
Perhaps you could change it by making a custom candle flame that emits func_smoke instead of func_emitter.
func_emitter is used probably because it is more efficient than func_smoke.
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I usually work like this:
1) make path_corner and path_wait. Put them next to each other.
2) make path_corner target path_wait
3) select both path_corner and path_wait
4) clone them around and place them where the AI should patrol. Rotate so that the path_wait angle points where you want the AI to look towards
5) fly through the AI patrol path from node to node and always make the previous path_wait of the previous node to the path_corner of the next node. You can do it like this: select previous node's path_wait. Fly to next node path_corner. Select it. Press ctrl+K. Deselect. Choose this node's path_wait and fly to the next node's path_corner & repeat.
6) done! Quick and easy.
Bonus1) you could make path_corner->path_anim->path_wait nodes to include some RITs or animations.
Bonus2) you could put each patrol route into own layer for clarity.
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It is a good point that recent revelations are destroying the people's trust towards the goverment... but it should INCREASE the critical thinking among the people. But looks like people are trusting more even the most outrageous claims as long as it feeds some kind of wild conspiracy theory. It makes no sense to me.
Also, marriage/being siblings does not automatically prove that there is a conspiracy going on. People in high places usually hang out with other people in high places and people usually marry people who they happen to hang around with. Imagine a small country like Finland: all the people who are going to be corporate elite graduate from only a few different universities. Generations of future company board members are bound to know each other already from their studying years. It is no surprise the economic elite (or the elite in general) in our country is well connected. Same for the US, right?
If you want neutral sources, occasionally check out what the foreign media is broadcasting about you. That is what the Russian minorities in countries neighbouring Russia do when they want to piece together what is really happening, because media is strictly under goverment control in Russia.
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@nbohr, I wasn't suggesting the Americans need to prohibit people of low education from voting. I was thinking that maybe the americans need to completely rebuild their education system.
Free and high quality science-based education for everybody. Sure, it costs money and would take a generation or two to reap the benefits, but in the end everybody (even other countries!) would win. But that is way too socialist for them, I guess. Or maybe it just won't work for big countries.
@Destined, sure. Low education means easier manipulation, but it also means living on a powder keg...
@Fake news:
High ranking people spread idiot level lies, which people believe without second thought.
This suggests that the high ranking people may be incapable of high level consipracies. Thus, is it even worth speculate on high level conspiracies? They do not need to feed complex lies to the people when elementary lies are perfectly enough and sufficient.
I mean, I read a journalist report by a finnish reporter who interviewed people in a small american town. The interviewed person casually said, without blink of an eye, that she cannot vote for Clinton because "she has murdered 3 people."
The citizen wasn't thinking why Clinton isn't in prison (let alone be allowed to run for president) if she is a murderer? Or think about whether the justice system is corrupted and broken if murderers are not put in prison? She thought everything else except the most likely scenario: that the murder news were fake. It confuses me.
In the perfect world:
People and news agencies have CREDIBILITY (IMPACT FACTOR for scientific publications). If they publish reliable, confirmed information, their CREDIBILITY goes up a little. If they publish shit, their CREDIBILITY goes down a lot.
When CREDIBILITY is low enough, nobody cares anymore what they publish or say. People with low CREDIBILITY do not get voted in a democratic system.
Somehow, nowadays, there seems to be no CREDIBILITY loss for publishing shit. Because technology advanced too quickly and people do not have the (critical) media reading skills required for the flood of conflicting information?
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That's what I find most chilling about all this, is this idea that facts are just subjective. This is what happens in a society when you give faith and "personal truth" equal footing to reason and evidence.
Gotta agree with that. That is happening also in Europe. The western civilization is doomed if we go there. Anyone can say anything, science and measurements do not matter. Those who scream the loudest are right.
But all large civilizations have eventually crumbled to make room to something new. Perhaps it is this is the beginning of the end of the dominance of the western civilization? I wonder what will come next? I suppose dictatorships or kleptocracies will beat idiocracies any day and in any way.
EDIT: now that I think about it, I guess the only way to avoid democracy turning to idiocracy is to make sure the people is EDUCATED as well as possible.
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I just read a newpaper item about a pizza restaurant that was attacked by a person who believed false news about Clinton-pedophile ring working in the basement and that future US president's security advisor had to resign because of it.
I mean c'mon. This is starting to look like a surreal tragi-comedy. But I do not know whether to cry or laugh. World politics go slapstick? Western civilization flushes itself down the toilet while you hear the studio audience applaud?
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Thanks for the reminder!
It is done.
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What if you make a .pk4. Install it normally.
Then when the .pk4 is installed, unpack the .pk4 file into the mission folder and remove the .pk4 file.
End result should be fm folder with all the mission files, and no .pk4.
Now if you edit any of the files, effects should be immediately visible just by relaunching TDM and the mission.
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Methinks all you gotta do is to make a custom soundshader that replaces soundshader called
tdm_objectives
{
description "Made by drewb50"
volume 5
looping
sound/ambient/ambience/city_streets02_loop.ogg
}with your own .ogg.
That ought to do it.
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A great service to the mod once more, sir!
Hopefully the mappers will fully embrace these and the graphical level of mission output will go up one more level.
Much appreciated! Thank you!
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It is possible and Obstorte worked on it.
IIRC, the end result has been that it has not been used much. Stealth game player base are apparently really dependent on the ability to save when they want. Why would a mapper make an ironman mission when some players outright refuse to play it if saves are disabled?
Poll and discussion here:
You could always unbind the quick save and load buttons and simply choose not to save... Why is it necessary to have a system to enforce your abstinence from saving? I know the thrill of mortality disabling saves generate, but I think you can get it simply by choosing not to save.
Or perhaps a separate ironman-mod: a .pk4 package you install into your tdm folder, which removes saving completely by unbinding quicksave buttons and overriding game save GUI?
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Thanks for playing and glad you liked the mission.
I didn't make any special KO-ability changes to the AI in thr mission: they are stock TDM.
KOing rules in TDM are much more complex than in the original Thief games. For example, if a guard with a helmet is alerted and has weapon in hand, you can never KO them anymore, not even when they relax from the alert.
Good rules of a thumb:
Always KO and unaware AI from the rear.
If helmet and weapon in hand, do not KO.
If helmet with face grill, do not KO.
If bare head, KO from behind.
If the AI is in combat or searching, do not KO.
More info here: http://wiki.thedarkmod.com/index.php?title=The_Dark_Mod_Gameplay#Blackjacking
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Here is an article on game design, which is an interesting read:
http://tynansylvester.com/2013/06/the-simulation-dream/
FMA's might benefit from the part dealing with apophenia.
Also, for improving storytelling, a list of emotional triggers is given here:
https://memetechnology.org/2013/06/13/emotional-triggers/
Reading these might give some food for thought.
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Thanks! Wikified. It is now in the Inventory wiki article!
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Does someone know what alert level must be exceeded in order to conversation to terminate?
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Nice!
Could I ask you to write a brief summary how the mapper can make "use inventory item on frob highlighted object" behavior?
I've always wondered how to do it, and perhaps others as well. I will add the info to the wiki ao that everyone can learn how to do it. It would be very useful to make adventure like "use items to solve puzzles" kind of missions.
Thanks for considering my proposal!
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Thank you for the update! Much appreciated!
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Is it like dropping the item on the altar or using the item from inventory with ENTER key while frob highlighting the altar?
If just dropping, you could use stim/response or hidden objective.
For stim/response: add a custom stim on the object, and add a response to the location is should be brought. You could look at Lich Queen's Demise map cannon and cannon ball for an example.
For hidden objective, see wiki objective editor entry for "item is in location". You could check Coercion blackmail note for an example.
For item using while frobbing, I have no clue.
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Hello! I would like to ask if there are any female voice actors available in our community? Does our community members have wives or friends who would be interested?
I'm thinking about the conversations for my WIP FM. No point in writing female lines if there are no available actresses.
Don't get too excited, the mission is far from finished. Just planning ahead.
Thank you!
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@esme,
Thanks for the effort you put in the long explanation. I guess I mostly agree. Fear comes from uncertainty and Trump is the embodiment of unpredictability. Well, at least for now...
That said, fortunately, the US is not a dictatorship, so the officials and bureucratic machinery can still probably limit worst of the worst.
Remember, too much worrying, over a long period of time, may be detrimental for your health and general well being. Surely Trumps US won't be Nazi Germany. I hope...
A good rule of a thumb would be probably that when you start seeing any news about political purges, it is time to pack your stuff and move somewhere else. It always has to start with the purges...
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You may be right, but in what sense is Trump NOT an "elite" as well?? He's an arrogant billionaire from New York who lives in a house of gold. Do they seriously think he gives a shit about the lower middle class?
Trump is part of the *economical* elite, not *political* elite. He was completely shunned by the *political* elite (both democrats and republicans!). So it looks like, that the people wanted to bash the *political* elite but not the *economical* elite.
That is assuming the masses functioned in a logical fashion. It could be that they voted for Trump just because he is a TrueTV character they are familiar with from their evening videoshows, or because he shouted the harshest and loudest.
@Esme
But I never actually feared for my life and the lives of everyone I love before today.
And I am utterly helpless to do anything about it.
I'm more scared of our ally with Trump at the helm than I am of our enemies.
Why exactly are you scared? I ask because I am trying to gauge how terrified I should be because of this....
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I can't wait to see the breakdown of how and why this happened.
My uneducated guess:
The ruling elite has been ignoring the economical decline of the uneducated lower middle class for too long. The lower middle class, who do not normally vote, mobilizes en masse as they realize they can give the ruling elite "a good thrashing."
-> Surprise election victory on all fronts for republicans.
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Mod DB voting began
in The Dark Mod
Posted
Careful... I think they may disqualify mods that get bogus votes.