Sotha
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Posts posted by Sotha
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I can't believe that everything one needs to know is in that one chair tutorial and then you have all the basics to make models.
Of course. Such a claim has not been made by anyone. But can you deny that completing a chair tutorial is not a good start for learn modeling? Especially, when blender is so unintuitive that you cannot accomplish anything at all from scratch without proper instructions.
@Sotha: I'd still like to see it in a Dark Mod screenshot or you've still not finished.
Like I said, the idea was to test modeling and general use of Blender. At present I'm not going bother to get the model I'll never use in DR. There is no point to see the trouble until there is a genuine need for a new model.
The instructions Arcturus gives look fairly straightforward and understandable. If the information is correct and accurate it seems it would not take too long.
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Don't remind me - that ventilation grill is crap.
I never want to see that again! Fortunately the FM was good enough it didn't matter too much and it was a v. quick build so all is forgiven. Here's a quick grill I did yesterday which I thought was rough but yours takes the prize for crappiness! Maybe we should have a crappiest features contest. 
Heh. That grill was still there? I got feedback on it and fixed it.. From the other side!
This side I simply forgot.I also vote for the crappiness contest, but maybe we should wait that there is a bit more FM's. Then have a tongue-in-cheek hunt for screenshots on crappy things in maps.
It would be beneficial as a lesson on how NOT to do things. Now the big problem is how to do this without making anyone angry..I'd probably give some crappiness-votes for a few maps with insanely ambitious detail and open areas which results in bad performance on a quite new hardware. It's not all about graphics, but a delicate balance between graphics and smooth performance and this seems to be very easily forgotten by even the experienced mappers. I'm prone to think that experienced mappers actually stumble upon this more often, although they specifically should understand the harsh reality of performance vs. detail.
Somehow I tend to prefer frames-per-second over visual quality, as long as the visuals are not totally 'boxy' and the mission in itself isn't totally crap.
That's a really nice grill you have there, by the way!
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Don't look that far to China, you can see the same nonsense in f.i. Germany.
Some idiots^H^H^H^H^H^Hlawyers/judges think that you "consent (make your own)" content if you merely link to it.
Whoa! This is what happens when idiots make decisions on topics they do not understand at all. Awful.
Theory:
one might expect that since the internet is a very dendritic system, almost every page is linked to each other through some route. Does it not then mean that if you put one link and thus consent to the content behind that page and then consent all the links behind that one. Ultimately you're consenting to all the possible pages in a dendritic matrix of zillion web pages?
Well, it is a good way for lawyers and judges to keep themselves and their buddies employed and amass nice amount of wealth.
But really, maybe some sort of civil insubordination case to oppose madness like this should be in order?
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The appeal of totalitarian government and restrictions like this have never made any sense to me.
Heh.. I suppose the ruling party is the only faction that has the appeal for totalitarian goverment, for obvious reasons. The ordinary citizens have to obey because it guarantees their survival.
Have a nice day citizen! Or else!
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Heh.. Ouch. Gotta make the lavatory holes bigger and deeper next time.
Nice (and humiliating) way to stash particularily annoying unconscious guards.
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But the grain of the wood is still lying in the wrong direction on the chair legs. No woodsman ever cuts a length of wood across the grain which is the weakest direction. That chair would break if sat upon. It would shear across the grain and the legs would break in half.
Heh.. I'm no woodsman.
+9 minutes of work.
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what fog light did you use..?
To save time from doing boring foglight testing I basically checked the parameters from good lookin' existing work. It was from Fidcal's heart of lone salvation.
If it works, don't break it.. ;-)
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Well now, just to make sure that people will not regard this as a social-drama-only -thread, I'm going to remind that this is a mapping thread by posting a very WIP mapping screenshot..
More later.
I'm making nice progress and feel enthusiastic about this map. It's gonna be cool if I can pull it through..
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@everyone
Thanks for your comments.
@greebo
To fix this, either switch to edit mode, select the whole model and click "Mesh" > "Normals" > "Recalculate Outside" (Ctrl-N).
That worked and the textures are no longer weird.
@rich
Imagine you have a small cardboard box and the intention of unwrapping it so you can run it through your printer like a piece of paper.You are going to need to separate the box along a few edges so it will lay flat.
Selecting edges and marking them as seams designates where to "tear the box" during the unwrap operation.
If you logically mark seams, there is no reason why you can't select the whole model and unwrap it. But I believe he did it this way to demonstrate that there is more than one way to skin a cat.
Good explanation, I think I got it now.
@Fidcal
Yes, I must emphasise again and again - it's the tutorial that matters. It's unfair to compare one hour's work with Arcturus' tutorial with my painful struggles over weeks without it.
Agreed. I must clarify that my intention was not to show off and compare my work to your previous efforts. I mostly wanted to test myself whether the very negative comments made by others in this thread are true. The tutorial also contains a understandable looking instructions how make the model to the correct size and how to get the model in the DR. Also the resulting model is an ASE and not LWO, which I understood is not good?
If a total newbie like me can make a simple chair with good instructions in 1 hour, I suppose it is not entirely impossible to think creating some kind of custom model for a certain mission in a reasonable time.
I would love to see this tutorial by Arcturus to be wikified for others to benefit. Like Fidcal said, good information should be easily accessible. It's much easier to start with this information and I am in total agreement that it would have been impossible for me to accomplish anything without this tutorial.
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That's an unfair comparison. I could model the chair in that tutorial in five minutes if not less than that. It's a matter of experience and when you have none it takes a little while to do things.
Correct. I just had to try blender anyways. Curiosity kills the cat, I suppose. Here is my result with zero inital experience and Arcturus' excellent tutorial. It took about 1 hour to do. It was not so bad as I others may have suggested here.
For convenience here is the link to Arcturus' tutorial:
http://www.fileshost...hp?id=F02584AD1
I understood nearly everything until point 55.
*Why edge select specifically those edges? What are these seams? Why is this phase done? Why can't I just select all the faces and say unwrap?
*"Press b" why? what does that do?
*If you look at the chair seating texture, you'll notice that it is weird. The topmost face shows the texture downwards and the lowest faces shows the texture upwards. This applies to all faces on the seat part, but all other faces look fine. How to fix this? Why did this happen? I followed the tutorial to the best of my ability, but I made the chair slightly different for my own fun. Maybe I overlooked something?
Maybe it is possible to learn this after all. It would be really nice to be able to make some simple custom objects for specific missions and not be limited by the stuff available in TDM.
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Thanks for this thread! I've, as a mapper, been fantasizing of learning to model some objects for my maps, but on second thought.... maybe not.
Half a month for a chair does not sound reasonable, when to think what one could achieve in DarkRadiant in the same amount of time.
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@raymeld:
You really need to find the diary. Check the captains quarters very thoroughly. Check under some furniture.. There is a loose floor board
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Oh dear! This thread is turning into some sort of social drama. How exciting!
Now I have to admit that I'm not sure what is going on here, but at least the tone of aida's posts undeniably give this impression that he has been somehow irritated by my actions and is lashing at me. You can call me a hypocrite if you like, but I really am sorry if that is the case and I have not done it on purpose.
There has been some heavy assumptions on other peoples motivations, as borh pointed out. Also, words like hypocricy and pretext have been used here. I'm not sure if I am guilty of such things, but all of us are just humans and no one is entirely free of these.
In effort to cool things down, I'll clarify why I proceeded the way I did. No need to do further assumptions.
1) needed reliable maptesters (should be clear why betatesters need to be reliable)
2) aida volunteered.
3) checked reliability with the simplest (and only) method available, checking the forum member pages.
4) got suspicious by the deeply negative reputation. checked aidas other postings.
5) spotted a few posts with similar types as seen in this thread. Mostly relatively benign stuff, but often non-constructive, out of place and negative-attitude ones.
6) I do this for free and for fun. I want this to be pleasant for myself. I do not want to cooperate with persons who can turn unpleasant suddenly. It wouldn't be fun if it did.
7) decided that maybe I need someone else to test: I wouldn't want to risk this tester to ruin my fun. Basic psychology states that if you announce to someone that you do not want specifically their help, they may be get upset because of the oh-so-I'm-not-good-enough-for-you-huh- ?! -effect.
8) to mitigate this effect, I used apologetic tone in my message, which was described as "obsequious bullshit" and a typical sad example of something I did not fully understand.
So I the end, I have to make it clear that I've absolutely no personal distaste for anyone, although aida's postings here might cause such in someone else. Usually my courteous writing style avoids this kind of mess, now it did not.
*opens arms* Is it time for a group hug now?
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I was just having a snicker at how this fellow, Sotha, chose to refuse my offer to beta-test upon the opinions of others, about something he had no idea about... only to then profess his very heartfelt regret.
IOW, call him on his obsequious bullshit.
Well, this post of yours definately shows me that I indeed did the right decision at that time. I was only being polite, which probably went to waste in your case. Good thing I checked the reputation and I'll be doing so routinely from this point onward.
@biker
One map was released, yes. And now I'm working on another. I'll ask for testers once the time is right.
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Now with the previous map out of the way, I'm now starting to map something simple and small for the vertical contest. I'm not sure I can handle vertical maps performance-wise, and I'm probably going to spend less time on mapping now, so let's see if I get the map out in time..
Mapping started: 27.06.2010.
Plotwise it's going to continue with Thomas Porter after the events in Beleaguered Fence.
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I am guessing no because I think
the door is just most likely triggered from the flames being turned on or off not directly from the fire or water.
Correct. It is like Fidcal said.
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Thanks igor - this takes it to another level! I went back in after making Lark comfy in the haycart and virtually had a new mini FM to play. I played it straight and since most everyone was alert and standing in places impossible to get by in the light I felt happy to use some water arrows where needed.
I had previously moved that corner chair out to look behind it but standing up it looks like an empty corner so I had no reason to crouch. I think that would have been better with some small inconsequential thing down there to get the player to crouch and look - or even a tiny lever. It's a pity if any players miss it. Also maybe another clue that there is something hid in his room or why would anyone search it? (maybe there is and I forgot?) I searched previously very thoroughly. I dragged chairs around and stood on them to look on tops of wardrobes etc. but I didn't actually know there was anything to be found. If I had been certain I would have persisted. I came to the conclusion that the desk book was the diary and it's frob was broke so I gave up.
Even so I am not sure I would have worked out the Guardian torch thing without having accidentally seen a spoiler somewhere. Nor did I realise you can carry a candle down a rope! That is great! I lit both torches but I didn't check in between to see if one would do.
The chamber was awesome and a satisfying reward for my efforts. I guessed what the holy potions were for but deliberately saved and didn't use any to see what happened. Haha! Choice of death by lava or death by being ripped apart by zombies or both! mmmm...
Even after blessing the diamond it is awkward and I took hits but escaped by the skin of my teeth. And despite Pranqster's clever ruse I think I would have made the diamond static. It doesn't quite look right to me being able to knock it about so easily even if it kind of makes sense. I'd have put it in a mount of some kind to hold it.
You forgot. There is actually a clue pointing to the captains quarters. In the barracks there is a journal by one of the guards. But I have to admit that it is a STATIC clue. I'll do better next time, I promise.I think that would have been better with some small inconsequential thing down there to get the player to crouch and look - or even a tiny lever. It's a pity if any players miss it. Also maybe another clue that there is something hid in his room or why would anyone search it? (maybe there is and I forgot?)But anyhow, the idea behind the gallery was to reward players who investigate their surroundings very carefully, so it was deliberate that the captains log could be missed if the player wasn't observant enough.
I'm not sure this FM would have beaten Melan's Return to the City for visuals but it would have been close especially on gameplay and definitely would have been good enough to win a one-month contest. It felt actually as big as Builder's Influence but with tighter stealth gameplay. I got well over four hours real play. Very good FM.
Thank you very much!
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Complete and utter spoiler:
If you get behind the pedestal with the diamond, you can use a well-placed water arrow (no holy potion needed) to knock the diamond across toward the way you came in. Another water arrow or two can move it back to the first door where you can safely grab it and make your escape w/out the undead even seeing you
Hahahaa! Note to self: never underestimate the cleverness of the player!
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what was the "unmarked key" for?
I'm glad you liked it!
The unmarked key is for the corpse disposal door. But it is easily pickable too. But finding the key rewards the player with a quick door opening.
@Fidcal
Can someone confirm there is nothing worth searching for in Jailblock B?
They are cells. Typically people do not get to take any interesting objects with them there, so no, nothing ground breaking.
Can anyone confirm that door is supposed to be blocked?
Yes it is supposed to be blocked.
I read a clue somewhere about a lost key but it was a static clue (bad!).
The clue is not static. The letter in which John rats Oliver to the captain is static as it doesen't contain significant info. The REAL clue is in the trash bin. But there is no forced keyhunt in this mission, since all doors are pickable.
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@Diego and Chiron
Maybe cryptic emphazising helps:
"The Crystal Lense, the ward against the Tormented, standeth between The Boiling Hell and The Heaven Crystal.
Pilgrim! Never touch the Lense itself lest a terrible fate devours thee! Only the Builder's blessing on the Heaven Crystal can keep the Tormented at bay."
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Great mission, I really enjoeyd it. Would be great to make a prequel to this mission, that could be ending with a player's chase across the City to Lark Butternose's hideout
I am really pleased that so many have enjoyed the mission!
I've actually been thinking of making a prequel, the heist at the captain Knighton's manor. So maybe later if I have the time....
Two questions:
Where is they key for the evidence vault? Apparently it was lost outside by an inspector, but I cannot find it !
And I need a hint concerning the Captain / his diary...where is it?
Yes, the evidence vault key has been lost by one of the inspectors. He mentions in his letter (check the trash bin at the inspectors office) the places he went before he realised it was gone. Check those places.. If you are unable to find the key, you can simply pick the lock. But that is risky because of the constant guard patrols and the electric light.
The diary is in the captains quarters. Hidden. I'm sure you'll find it if you search the room thoroughly.
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Not sure if I missed something but took me 50 minutes to get inside without bj or water or alert.
Inside, meaning inside the jail from the streets? Yep, you've missed something.. Something on the streets, second floor of the jail building..
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If it is repeatable and you have a small testmap - yeah, please track it! No promises if anybody can look into fixing it, but a tracker entry is the first step and helps us!
Glad to be of help!
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2 (and a two thirds of) questions:
Are there the 2 other pages of the inspectors report to be found in-game? Is the captain´s diary a readable book, unlike that one on his table? And finally- why the holy water if (i couldnt find) no undead?
Much thankful in advance!
1) Unfortunately not, now I realize it would have been cool.
2) Yes, the captains diary is a readable.
3) Well, some people need holy water for their daily superstitious lives.. Yep, a bottle of holy water never did any harm to anyone..
Sotha's mapping thread
in TDM Editors Guild
Posted
You have sharp eyes. I left it barely visible intentionally. Yep, this is going to be a small/medium mission for the vertical contest.
The mission name will be The Glenham Tower.