teh_saccade

The prefs>readables - I don't have a custom path set, because it is mod\xdata and I create my own xd's and don't want DR putting them in other places - they go where I know they are and I can move them wherever they are required in my organisational system for DR (incl. snapshots for maps, when hopping between missions). You're using DR 2.6 and TDM 2.06. Looking at why you might be having issues with particles also. Seems pathing issue, but without knowing your win10 setup and permissions - might be because the files are "locked" to the user location on desktop, no cross priv's, as Orbweaver has said. I've gone back to DR 2.2.1 from Feb 2017, because I do not like the new ones and they sometimes crash for no apparent reason or not function as it did (eg, can't save a collision model, because the file is in use by DR, when using .ase export and import of model that is in use by DR... simple logic error, file's locked so crash - have to workaround by simply adding triggerhurt with 0 damage so it causes bounceback to model and disregard collision model for baked brushwork). Unity can suffer similar issue in some saved prefs, as some methods to store prefs use win registry and this can have permission issues that prevent users from, e g, changing resolution, because SYSTEM has full rights, while "owner" of the key doesn't - so system overrides and "owner/user" is left not being able to save their preferences between instances. Letting DR chuck everything where it wants to and then going in and organising it - it seems to fix a lot of problems I've encountered like this. It also helps me keep on top of my things by knowing where I put things and not messing with paths all the time - simply shuffling files and keeping an organised file-cabinet and clear workspace.

The only thing I might say is that the readables editor is something I avoid. In order to facilitate localisation, it's necessary to edit the .xd files to include text as strings anyhow - it might be a pain to have to adjust for whatever font you're using on the page, but DR handles it quite well and there are only a few typographic issues (which aren't due to DR, but the font files themselves). Unless that has been implemented and I haven't been keeping up with changes. Sometimes it's good practise to write the readables / .xd files yourself - I've never had a successful experience using the readables editor in DR and I know there are a few recreatable bugs that cause issues with readables made using it (which may be down to how I use it) that can cause frob to fail or the grabber to glitch out, etc... Also, as Orbweaver says - it's good to keep to the convention and install everything as per the "standard" set-up. I have a dedicated partition on an SSD for TDM and DR, plus another win user account that has access to TDM on an HDD so that it can be tested "on a fresh copy" and also transfer it to another machine to see how any map is shaping up. At the very beginning, I had some problems and it was also because I chose to not follow convention and install TDM and DR in my own way - once I RTFI and followed the instructions - everything worked. (except readables editor, that still drives me nuts and causes problems). Sometimes it helps to have all the readables out in notepad++ or a word processor, so that it's possible to simply copy-paste any alterations to your narrative into the .xd direct - but in order to do that, it helps to know how an .xd is made and how it works to produce something. Once this understanding is reached, it's possible to then expand upon this and enter the realm of custom fonts and doing more with your readables - is a message in blood on a wall a readable, or is it a decal? Depends on the method used to create it. Perhaps I'd like that message in blood to be localised, therefore I have to figure a way to get a custom font and place a readable on a wall, so it appears as a decal. It's not so difficult to achieve, but might require to learn about the readbles GUI's and how they work also. A good starting place is here; http://wiki.thedarkmod.com/index.php?title=XData_File_Creation

There was a bunch of sites crop up last year or so that are like Netflix / Flixify for gaming - where you don't buy the games, you simply pay a subscription each month and can play any of the games in their catalogue. Some of them had decent download methods, too - you could play the game before it was fully downloaded, as it would first download only the parts you needed to launch the game and get playing, while the rest downloaded as you were playing the game. However, the catalogues were pretty sparse and not many newer games were available. If they had newer titles and a bigger catalogue - I'd pay 30 a month to subscribe and download and play as many different, new or old games that I wanted. Cancel it when busy or away for a few months, come back and do it again. Idk why no other platform offers that "play while it downloads" streaming, like with video - it worked well for those titles that were able to support it. I'd sign up because they say they're going to give away a free game every 2 weeks. Then I'll add them as non-steam games. Their prices are a bit steep and none of their catalogue interests me - right before the holiday sale on Steam too. The site's only thing is they have Hades as early access and put a price on Genesis Alpha pre-purchase, however both will be released in the Steam store when it's out of early access/pre-purchase. Most of the "coming soon" games are heading for the bargain bin price section on Steam. Perhaps I'll sign up for the free games every 2 weeks, but - I'll have to add those games as non-steam games and have yet another launcher installed that I don't want to fill up my spam-box and take up space on my HDD: https://steamcommunity.com/app/462770/discussions/0/1745605598715512430/ Gonna be hard to dethrone Steam. Other than Blizzard for D2 (no launcher except game) they were the 1st people to make me install a games manager - which was awesome because no more icons all over the place and tidy desktop - for Dark Messiah and L4D maybe... 10-14 years ago? Perhaps Epic are taking a lesser cut and have an early access exclusive - but they're giving away a game every 2 weeks and making me disorganise my computer - existing outside the games manager with which I am familiar and has many safeguards and a good refund and returns policy and allows a good overlay and connection to my friends and other players and blahblahblah and install (I have had many bad experiences with) software made in Hong Kong. I'm never going to buy anything from them, because it exists outside my game manager software that I prefer and will be a minor irritation that I can do without - especially since none of the titles appeal (to me). But, I will make an account in order to be offered a free game every 2 weeks, until they stop doing that because they can't afford to any longer and then I will delete my account and say "so long and thanks for all the fish". I'm putting my money on the dog with 4 legs that isn't going to go in the deep frier and be served as chicken fried rice if it doesn't win the race. But I'll take the free prawn crackers and sample sushi, if I fancy a snack. That business model is flawed from the get-go.

I found a bit of a weird work-around for this, that's a bit of a pain to set up but appears to do something. Run TDM from one machine through Steam, stream it to the machine you want to play it on that has a weird aspect - Steam resizes everything to fit the screen of the machine to which TDM is being streamed. I've plugged in an old 4:3 monitor to an old machine and then Steam-streamed it to another machine that is running a monitor at 16:9 and there's no letterboxing as, eg, watching an old TV show from the 80's on a widescreen. There's a little clipping where it's stretched, compared to how the game looks on the other screen (sides cut off a little) but that can probably be fixed through FOV (which will tax the other machine further). GUI's look dodgy and stretched - but the game itself fits the monitor and doesn't look so bad, even if it is struggling because the other machine isn't really powerful enough to run the game. Quality is ok, takes ages to load. Don't notice any input lag but the game is almost unplayable due to the machine not being up to the task - it's basically playing it on a Gateway that is usually used for DOS 6.2 and Win 3.1, that can just about run XP, instead of on the powerhouse or streamed from one of my craptops (that have other aspects also, but I know I can stream 1920x1080 to them and use this machine for its power and play Total War Atilla on a computer that can't run it - Steam handles the resizing to fit). Not a very good work-around but it's a work-around. // doing it the other way - from the big machine at 16:9 to the gateway at 4:3 - it fits the screen and runs like a dream.

The co-ords are as near perfect as they can be for the loops (it's the same as a bezier curve describing a circle, really). Yeah, tried that also - one way to keep the direction of, eg, a light/camera/thing, constant is to bind to two nurbs so one is used as ante-rotation so the thing follows the outward face, changing angle as it moves around the curve instead of facing straight, as a moving platform might (which doesn't really require nurbs, if using args and script to simply move something like an elevator or "crumbling platform puzzle jump bit" or whatever). Idk either... idk it was a "hacky" thing - that might explain a lot of the issues when using them when args don't achieve what's required. Might have to simply redesign the system - perhaps a 2nd loop can fill in a few milliseconds behind so that tiny stutter is masked by another, and the 2nd loop' stutter is masked by the first. Appreciate the bounce - I'll try using the masking technique to hide the stutter, seems the most simple solution... dunno why didn't think of it earlier - that's a very obvious way to hide it. The hidden mechanics, it doesn't matter so much - the player never sees this. Ducttape and builder's foam fixes everything... // nice one - copy pasting the thing in DR and then renaming and copy pasting the same script but offset time by a little appears to hide the stutter. ; (good luck trying to select it again though... map>findbrush seems to work, move it and then re-insert position if tweak needed) Thanks.

If MS owned steam, I'd never pay for a game again. I'd sell my steam account to someone else for a few thousand and upgrade my mainboard and CPU to new-gen and just do work and use those hours to indulge my other past-times. The only reason I buy games on Steam is because I know the publishers and developers get around 70% of the sales price, plus a cut of trading, etc... Otherwise I wouldn't support gaming with my wallet in any way. I dislike very much the direction the industry has been heading in the past decade.

Any idea how to do this with "closed loop" nurbs and movers? I always experience a tiny stutter as the mover finishes its path and starts again. Currently controlling via hidden switches and wiring in-game for trigger and script call, as none of the methods I understand or know of work to loop the script - the stutter is caused by the script "replaying", causing the mover to jump from the end to start of the painfully tuned nurbs, until the switch is off and stops the script. If I can get this one thing sorted, I have the "CCTV", spotlights, "alarmsystem", "consequencepath" "motiondetector" and a bunch of other "fake" stuff (mechanical based, mostly tricks), working flawlessly instead of with that tiny stutter that means it's not up to standard. Well, except the nodraw spymirror - because the way skyportal works has changed, so that no longer functions, but I can take that hit the same way I took the movers don't cause damage hit and cope with it by crying in the corner. I've asked several times before about this loop [and/or/if/then] but never received an answer - perhaps Stumpy gave me a lead once, but I couldn't figure it... You guys know I don't ask a question until I've read everything and exhausted all my avenues to answer it myself.

Or scaling the GUI instead of stretching it.

Ever considered getting into dubstep, Stumpy..? :-p

Has anyone else received a win10 update / nvidia update that has forced some apps to ignore painfully tuned GPU / app colour profile and use desktop instead? Gamma's all over the place and it's messing up my prints - everything's coming out too dark - if I DCCW the gamma up - still doesn't match the colour profile for print. I'm having to print out a tonne of tests in order to get Xmas prints (red is very dark, draining all CMYK jets) and skin-tones displaying the same on my screen as on anyone else's or from print. The only colours that print out as they should are black and white - but I have to do all this in full colour and it's pissing me off. Asking everywhere.

Thanks Jack and Grey - I'll add that as/when possible, unless someone else does. Just to be clear: - grab the entire TDM mainmenu_custom_defs.gui from the game's pk4 , goes into fms\missionname\guis , edit the lines at 426/7 & 434/5 that reference MM_brief/menu_CMD "music [names];" - semi-colon inside quotes. - no need to add aditional #undef #define, because line edit #def's in relevent places for MM_whatever - in this instance 426 for menu & 434 for briefing screen (?). - "mysong1" oggs go in ..\sound\ambient. - make a sndshader that references the custom sound files and their place, with a few vars. desc. - more simple to follow convention of "mysong1, etc...". *.sndshd - Goes in ..\sound. - section "mysong 1" in sndsnd is for mainmenu, at best vol, etc... Your "mysong2" in sndshd is for briefing, also best settings (but vol may need tweak depending on ogg gain/vol). - works, so add documentation "Adding Custom Music to Main Menu and [de]Briefings", to provide limitation to subject, but pass info on how to do elsewhere with other MM_whatever "music name;" (if the person looks in right place and sees the def for which they want to alter music/sound) ? I'll merge info from both the posts - if I have it correct - and use your example shader for quick n dirty how-to, if ok, so others might achieve the same thing if looking at wiki briefing pages and follow "how to change the music" link.

Stgatilov - as acounterpoint to this... I've had several missions mean a complete rebuild because of a lack of keeping up with "what's going to happen", so - for me - access to an updated stable branch means I can "see into the future" in order to make sure my levels are are going to work in the next version, and account for this while building. One example would be the update that meant movers cause no damage (which destroyed a lot of my trap mechanics) and means you can get entrirely stuck under an elevator and have to reload in missions, such as Thief's Den (try crouching under the lift and see if you can get out after lowering it, as you stand underneath it), and so this impacts the level's design by creating a "way out" from undertneath these elevators. Either by resetting them to the "top position" by having the switch reset, or having an AI use - so the player is not stuck in a pit forever, and has a readable and perhaps a little exploration and loot to keep them occupied while waiting - or an alternative (maybe more hidden) way out for the situation (stuck block, board, leading to a passage) aka, "wow! I found a way into some secret passages that allow me to move around the level when I thought I might be stuck!". Savegames can be remade in a single playthrough - a map might take several months to go over and recheck/rebuild changes as required.

JackFarmer - did you manage to figure an anwer to the problem you were facing..? It would be good to update the wiki section on this, so others might more easily be able to find answers to these (slightly more advanced) questions.

(I forgot to include the :> sarcasm smilie to indicate that, "no kill objectives? Mines, broadheads and shiny new swords for everyone!" - forcing player moral decision is preferable, to me at least, than enforcing a restriction on player freedom)

Sounding an awful lot like a creative director, there, Springheel

Also you can't ban Bikerdude - he's a mod hero. (now I'm done) Do you want some of my alprazolam, Judith? It's a sad anniversary for me today so I'm gonna be taking some - they're expired but only by a month.

The main point here is "learning". I'm sorry for the mean things I said, some1stoleit - but it was in order to provoke discussions such as this by being an arse (a la south park's trevor's axiom), rather than the predicted stamping down and "end of discussion". The learning is the important part. How can the community best support new mappers to learn the things to raise TDM's FM quality, without causing stuff like this? There are two suggestions: 1. Authour includes in the readme what they're fine with people copying, facsimilie. 2. "Learning" FM's are put into editor's guild for the community to play, enjoy and learn from, in a level designer's own thread or in a thread that is specific to this end. These two things would avoid this issue from occouring again, as well as help people learn through hands on and dissection, rather than monkey-see, monkey-do and elves. It relies on a cohesive community that follows some kind of social contract, which I believe everyone can respect without things degrading into disagreements, flame-wars or become blown out of proportion and elicit vehement "corrupt fruit" metaphors. That's the last input from me, because I've repeated myself at least twice in this thread and I'm even boring myself. Also I doubt anyone reads what I write, unless it's helping to figure a solution to their problem in newbie questions (cos Judith, you know I can't be coherent or brain-fart all over the place - "I never asked for this", is probably more fitting, as Adam Jensen opened DR for the third time). // patches are awesome.

I'm still getting an unspecified error when exporting a collision model, that's taken from a brush model that was exported as .ase and imported by right-click "add model", because it's trying to export the collision model to the same path as the model... and the file is in use by DR, so it's locked. (please don't make me use zbrush or blender...) After setting the origins to be the same as the model - if I make a mistake while tweaking it a bit, and try to undo it - I get a "failed to save collision model" and DR crashes. (I just realised I don't need the collision model, as the brush model is bound to a mover and will cause damage, so dw about it - should push the player back anyway).

Official sanction - precedent set - rules established. It's ok to steal other people's work, so long as they don't find out about it. If they do, argue about it in private. I have to disagree, Grayman, and say that this is an not an issue between mappers, but one of integrity in the community. How about - instead of allowing these situations to happen, an FM authour states in the readme that it's ok to copy anything or puts some limitations on use, nipping the problem in the bud instead of ignoring it and letting the dogs fight over a bone? Then this will never happen again. ; if there's nothing in the readme - it's open season (it could even be a stipulation of the FM's release - the authour choose 1, 2 or 3 and that determines level of encryption).

You're trying to change the music for the briefing (the drone on the difficulty select screen), and not the video (the "waaaaannng"), right..? 'Cos the defs you're changing are for the intro video and not the briefing.

Heh, their name in 1337 is "some, I stole it..." Also, the FM appears to have been made by Bikerdude - they've put more time into it than the mapper, looking at that thread. There's no response from the mapper. the issue raised here is ignored - it's all talk between others. "Some, I stole it", displays a trend of wanting to copy things from the get-go - this is how people learn. It appears there are only a few sections that have been copied, but - for the rest of the map - is that a Barbie doll house / copy of something else, too? To summarise everything - this raises more a discussion on allowing people to learn how to operate on humans by performing surgery on 2nd hand pigs and learn to tattoo humans by practising on pig-skin, and also whether or not to add a layer of encryption to pk4's so as to prevent a slew of copy-cat copy-cats with manga cat ears copy-catting copy-cats. This looks like a case of sanctioned plagiurism of someone else's work, without any request or granted permission to do so. Therefore, it's up to the bosses to decide if they are going to allow the same levels, updated with new assets - or if FM's such as this are to be treated as training exercises for less experienced mappers who want to rush ahead and get cookies. Reading the thread - people have been aware that it has contained sections that are facsimilie copies from other missions for some time, yet have allowed it. The question is - will these same people continue to allow it to be pubished, knowing that it is like this - setting a precedent that it's ok to copy other mapper's brushwork and just slap a new coat of paint on it, while doing all the technical stuff that the rest of us have to figure out ourselves..? Why does no one hold my hand through the entire process and do all the work for me, when I have issues? Is it because I don't look like a girl and have manga cat ears and write long posts..? I'll be boycotting playing this mission for a number of reasons and am considering making a new account, pretending to be a girl and using a manga character as an avatar - because then I might get someone helping me and doing all the hard work, while I just build a doll's house and make it look pretty. Again - this is what you get when you promote modular design and prefabs.

I instantly recognise the images and I know those missions well - if I was playing that new one, I'd think that it was a remake or improvement by the original authour. I probably wouldn't notice that it was the same thing from two different missions, packaged by a different authour as a "new" one, unless someone pointed it out... There are a lot of stale FMs that are very similar. Tbh, the originals look better, except for the arched gate with the extra lighting to give the impression of a populated building. It just looks like a tweak from the original - the house over the arch is more aesthetically pleasing, but it's the same place. (actually, the geometry of the building makes me think that the architect was high, because that's messed up... wtf is up with that 45 degree bolt-on room at the top..? It looks weird, even though using the newer assets and fleshing out the scene make it a little more attractive - it's probably all fur coat and no knickers) Since you said it comes from WiP thread - unless "Cleaning Up" is by the same authour, or that authour has given permission, it's legitimate plagurism that only shows the offending mapper couldn't be bothered to come up with their own ideas or put in the work to create a section that's similar. Idk why it's a big deal - people will notice and that person will lose internet cookies. The end. If anything - it'd be nice to hand those sections back to the original FM authours as "hey what do you think of the improvements I've made?". This is what you get when you promote modular design and prefabs.

TL;DR: How many times have you seen a door in an FM? They're all pretty much the same door. My personal opinion on using any part of someone's level design is that it's a matter of being respectful of the other person, therefore asking permission and giving credit if it is granted. I'd never copy someone's architecture or level design geometry, because that's lazy and boring. If I'd like to use some script I don't understand - I'll message the person and ask permission to use it, and perhaps an explanation as to how it works so I can not simply copy it but tune it to my needs. Usually I'll post in newbie's help and hail mary for an answer that is rarely received, because no-one knows what the fuck I'm talking or they're busy doing their own stuff - so why care about my stuff? Maybe Stumpy or Obs will have a lead. But otherwise - this shit is difficult to figure out sometimes, so I'll download greebo's starter kit and fidcal's pre-made briefing and hack that up so it's the right shape and fits into my FM that I'd like to play and give myself difficulties and experiement and learn. If it's abandoned, then it's left there for people to do this. If it's a WiP, then it's a leak and - unless it's a studio such as FUbisoft, that deserve it because some dick in middle management was a dick and the company backed them - if it was my design, I'd be pissed, but the gate's open and the horse is out and there's no closing Pandora's box. If that's the case - it being a steal and a breach of trust - then it's no place for anyone to go sticking their nose and it's beef between the person who took it and the person who made it only, no-one else's - so there's no need to get upset about it, as it's not my problem - it's theirs. Or for community leaders to decide if they will allow the FM to be listed, even though they know it's the same as blah. Regarding TDM FMs, because there's no way to say, "oi - that's mine - you can't do that", there's nothing anyone can do to stop it. Just gotta suck it up and learn to not go public so soon next time. Hopefully this epistle will have bored the shit out of any further commentary on this issue, because: a) there's nothing anyone can do about it, except say, "no we're not publishing that FM because you stole from this person". but 2) That would be hypocritical because it goes against what the license says and - in some cases x) It doesn't matter because it's abandoned.

Blank face (nodraw) with a pre-made, opaque decal placed over it. Bearing in mind that decals won't have shadows and are no clip. Playerclip/Level design a way around that. Add collision arg: http://wiki.thedarkmod.com/index.php?title=Clipmodel (or arg on decal, "solid 1", so can be set to "solid 0" if required, called by trigger script or to destroy / rem. monster clip / player clip as required.) Translucent texture complete. ---- Decal texture tutorial goes to LOD tutorial instead of decals tutorial: http://wiki.thedarkmod.com/index.php?title=Decals Perhaps needs a re-route to here instead: http://wiki.thedarkmod.com/index.php?title=Text_Decals_for_Signs_etc.#Customising_and_Making_your_own