New Horizon

I agree. I don't want it or need it, but I don't think it should be a feature. I know people like to tweak their game, but loot glint is something that I feel changes the on screen world. I think if we firmly establish what textures are loot and which are junk that it eliminates the need for loot glint. Loot glint was just one of those little details that really derailed Thief 3 for me. Without it real loot blends into everything...this was more an issue with the textures being quite bland than anything. What got under my skin about it is that it didn't appear to be an organic part of the game world...it was more of a "wink wink" type of thing. My own personal philosophy, especially in a Thief style game, is that a helper feature like that can be achieved without the obvious wink of a sparkle. Now, the glow that I was mentioning in my previous post wouldn't look like a haze around the loot, just a very subtle glow that would make it look more important than non loot. It's the kind of thing that would make you think..."Is it there? Is it not?" It shouldn't be obvious, but it should be helpful. Essentially, you don't notice it..but you're using it. In many ways, Thief 3 cold have been subtitled..."Deadly Obvious".

Oh God noooooooo, what have I started. :lol: If loot is distinct enough from junk like in the orginal games we really shouldn't need it. I don't want to say I'm vehemently opposed to loot glint...ahh hell, I am. I think part of the reason they had to use loot glint in Thief DS is because they shared textures between so many different items that everything blended in, but that shouldn't be a problem for us. I have a few alternate suggestions as I don't think it's fair to drop it completely as I'm sure some found it quite useful. My first suggestion is to have a distinctive loot texture that will allow the player to learn what is valuable quite easily. I think with the doom 3 engine we also have specular maps on our side, so junk can be completely dull when compared to loot as well. Sort of like having loot glint, but just not the obvious kind. My second suggestion is that perhaps loot can also have an extremely subtle glow..could that be done with shaders too?

I'll do the concept sketch for the servant male.

I like it. As long as we stay away from..........GAH.......loot glint. ~shudder~

Anyone working on a peasant yet Springheel? If not, I can try whipping that one up for you.

I'm having a line of jewelry created around it to sell when we release the mod.

LOL That would be a great touch.

Hey, all I had to do was shrink it! It's a very nice looking gem/compass. Good work. Can't wait to see it in game.

I really like the look of that light gem. My only comment would be a repeat of the others, needs to be smaller...but that's just a cosmetic issue and will be tweaked later.

Looking great Springheel.

I agree. At first glance the graphics in T3 looked better, but technically....well, I won't say anything mean.

55 registered users!!! Whoa, I thought there was maybe a dozen of us. Where is everybody? :lol:

Well, it has been a long time since I've picked up a pencil, but you've all inspired me to try. I've been working on a Shopkeeper concept that I would like to propose and if these early sketches are acceptable, consider me on the concept artist list.

I heard an explanation for the swords somewhere, can't recall the location, but it had something to do with them being ressurected by...less than holy means. The Hammer, being a holy symbol, would most likely repell them. I think that was the reason for them using the swords.

Wow, very cool. Definately gets my vote.

You bring up a good point Domarius. I think it would be really cool to see a Haunt being almost completely skeletal...with rotten old clothes and rusting cracked armor.

:lol: Just trying to be helpful. I really do enjoy the feeling I get from your Models oDDity. With the original Thief 1 and 2 models, I could easily buy into them being real people...not so in T3, they were just too blah, I don't know. Your models feel right, they feel real. I could definately imagine myself being immersed in these characters.

Very nice BlackThief! Great work.

AMEN to that brother. AMEN!!

Yup, I can confirm that it was a 3D model as well. Before I joined the dark mod I was working on at T2 fan mission. I had been playing with the light gem model in an effort to make a design that was somewhere between T2 and T3.

:lol: Bingo, you said it better in fewer sentences than I could have in twenty posts!!!! That's what I was trying to say in....so many more words. Thanks.

Ahh, but what I'm saying is that it's not meant to unbalance the game. It would be included as a fun immersion adding experience by the fan mission author to allow the character to get the tools he needs to play the mission. It would probably be the top objective of the mission. 1. Stop by the shop to get supplies for the job 2. Make your way to the Builder Cathedral and find a way in. That kind of thing. It wouldn't have to be there for show, but rather as an integral part of the mission...but again, only as an alternate to the pre-mission loading screen that Goldfish submitted. If the mission couldn't believeably use a shop, or the FM designer doesn't want it...use the original style preloading screen.

I'm not familiar with the whole coding aspect of this...so I'm kind of talking in riddles here. If possible, what I was thinking is that there could be AI created that would be given assigned a shopkeeper mode. It would have to be possible to have a system in place that could simply be applied to items in a shop. The level designer can design any type of shop that he wants within his map, we don't worry about the map. All we would supply are the game mechanics to apply to the items in that store. The player could assign prices and so forth. It's still like a mini game, but it's real time in the mission. Hmmm, I'm having trouble explaining this. LOL It would essentially be no different than in "Life of the party" in Thief 2, where there were houses along Garretts route that he could break into and steal goods. The only difference is that the fan mission designer could apply a value to these goods that would be subtracted from Garretts cash inventory when he interacts with the shopkeeper, or he could just skip out without paying while the shop keeper turns his back.