Bastoc

Great stuff! Other noobies might want to have a look, maybe add to important editing list? Now I am wondering, where should I look learn how to convert from func_static to .ase? And then to make skins? On the wiki I found articles about modelling and skins, but with Blender. Is it possible to make everything from DR (provided it is simple geometry, you don't need Blender)? Thanks.

ARCHITECTURE According to what I read somewhere (cannot recall) TDM is set in a steampunk version of Tudor era. Based on what I have seen in the FMs I played, buildings are mostly: -cobblestone buildings and castles, inherited from middle-ages -cheap half-timbered black & white Tudor style houses -woodplanks houses, probably for poor people -ornate stone Elizabethan mansions -ornate Roman mansions -Roman or Gothic churches (not sure about that) -Georgian houses/mansions (even though it should appear later on, but fine after all it is steampunk) -metal buildings made by the Builders or Inventors, with pipes, steam, and all Any comments / confirmation would be appreciated. First idea: FM inside towns usually require a lot of half-timbered Tudor houses, mostly using the same framed plaster textures. They look great, but are used all the time. I have seen that some mappers have made their own timber frame to add diversity. You have to keep the basic beam grid pattern, but then you can put V-shaped, X-shaped or curved beam patterns inside each grid slot. Even better, IIRC some mappers have replaced the plaster (the infill, thank you Wikipedia!) by something else, maybe bricks. According to the Wikipedia article, there are many other historically accurate possibilities including wattle and daub, weatherboarding, and cobblestone. Could add diversity but maybe some would not fit TDM style. I will make some tests and edit when I am done. Maybe it has been already covered, though.

Greetings dear fellows, Although it is great that mappers can be creative and do pretty much anything in their FMs, since TDM has got its own universe, I think it is better if the design and story fit in the picture. Since I did not find a topic to discuss that, and people ideas, and I have some questions, here it goes.

Considering what has been said, and as a noobie mapper, I think if it's going to be a "noobie DR tryout" contest, it has to : -be a contest (not plain community work) : more challenge, more motivation -have a deadline: else it will take too long, never be good enough, and therefore never released -have a simple scope/theme: those who don't have any ideas for now can use it as inspiration, and those who feel creative will find a way to meet the requirements anyway. I think the build a house (not necessarily yours) scope is good enough for me, and I think kyyrma's idea of making a community FM out of them after is great. You can also add focuses: architecture, atmosphere, AI (RITs), graphical storytelling, scripting... so that people who are slow can do that first and then improve the rest if possible. A theme could be "The underside of Christmas" for instance: snow, gifts, gold, family, decoration showoff, plotting... Just replace Jesus by the Builder, and it's good to go . You plunder the houses, read people's notes, find about dissensions, creepy secrets, unlock bonus quests. Since TDM is kind of dark fantasy, it makes sense, and as you may know people go crazy for Christmas in real life sometimes! My two cents.

Yes, I think it screwed up because I used it to cut a door opening that needed grid 1 adjustments. And then went back to grid 16 and used CSG substract, hence the splinters grayman talked about I guess. What do you mean by splitting angular objects? (BTW: didn't know you can convert func_static to .ase, this can be useful if you use the same prefab many times to save drawcalls, right?)

Looks neat. Know about FMs that use SEED and/or LOD bias? EDIT: so that I (and who's willing to) can get some clues about good practices.

Just finished this FM. I have mixed feelings about it. On the one hand I loved the dreamlike atmosphere, the lights/fog, the sounds, the mysterious story. There were also some really interesting pieces of gameplay I have not seen before. On the other hand, the whole thing made little sense to me. I don't think the story is really consistent but that's kind of part of the atmosphere so okay with it. What really bugged me was the linear and hardly guided plot that resulted in poor gameplay flow. While I like to play puzzle games, it didn't really felt like it. More like, as I read above, "key hunting". The few hints I could get made little sense to me, and often I would end up roaming everywhere to test all keys/items combinations (killed all the guards for my patience's sake) and frobbing around randomly hoping to open the (n+1)th (secret) door. I was stuck countless times, and probably would have given up without walkthrough. However, I believe it would take only a few readables to make it coherent. To conclude, logically I shouldn't rate this FM more than Good. But even though I felt like I was playing something created by a fan of Myst series on drugs, I think the fancy atmosphere and original gameplay are unique so I'll remember it as Very Good

Ahah, I almost spoiled myself before realising this is about Old Habit 2! (thought it was a sequel). I really liked Old Habit 1, anyway. Very good flow, i was always able to plan my next moves. Inspiring. Some really exciting parts. While the main story plot is fine but a little classical, I loved the small "side" plots. Found the whole place very good looking. For what my aesthetic assesment is worth... That's it. Congrats ! Got to play the V2.

I have been using clipper and CSG substract lately and sometimes I have weird (internal) leaks, with the pointfile going right through some walls. The walls have solid textures except on the edges which were calked or nodrawed. But edges should not be an issue right? And maybe my walls were a bit overlapping each other as I had been messing around with them a lot, and that was the issue. Ultimately I destroyed everything and cut my openings properly, and now it works. I am not sure about clipper, but I read in Fidcal's A-Z guide that CSG substract is hated by some mappers, guess that is the reason! However, any advice would be greatly appreciated

Yep, one of my favourite missions, even among Sotha's Thomas Porter series which is a set of top FMs. And the optional task is one reason indeed, I think the flaw you mentionned is not really one though (see below).

Fabulous mission ! Here's a short review. About plot flow : excellent apart from two things IMO. About gameplay: excellent level design, really fun special part, but stlll one thing I didn't like. About feeling/atmosphere: About objectives: really motivating set of objectives To conclude, it's an excellent mission to play, and a good end to the Thomas Porter vs Lich plot (which is amazing as a whole).Hurray!

Ahah, that's good, maybe we would be a fine team then ! But I have some stuff to learn first ! Yes, had a glimpse about a i18n stuff if I remember well, I will read more about that later. Right, will do !

Hello guys, I think this is not a bad place to introduce myself, so here I go. I discovered TDM a few days ago, and I have to say the game is excellent and many missions are amazing. But moreover, I think the potential is tremendous, with so many passionate and skillful people. Could be the best stealth game ever, and make up for the trend of mainstream commercial stealth games that has been spreading lately. So I want to contribute. However, I am kind of lost in here. I know C++, but I never worked on practical projects (nor games) so I have no idea of how this works. I think AI is crucial and takes alot of work, so if I can help I will try. I had a look at the Coding wiki but the articles look too specific, where should I start ? I would love to work on FMs, possibly with others. Especially on plots since I used to write scenarii for pen & paper RPG, but I am also interested in level design. I guess I should start with the A-Z doc on DarkRadiant, right ? I can also translate into French. How does that work ? What about the readables in FMs ? Thanks for your help.