Petike the Taffer
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Posts posted by Petike the Taffer
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Though we want to avoid making TDM too Thief-like, I wouldn't object to the presence of the mighty Bridgeport Clocktower.
Incidentally, here are some photos I once posted to ttlg.com, showing the old bell tower in Košice's old town:
(Older photo, there was some construction work on the square at the time.)
I think she would fit right in as a humbler, less stylized city clocktower or bell tower. The one introduced in TDS was perhaps a bit too grandiose in appearance.
And here's a little scene from a marketplace in that same old town quarter:
It's always reminded me of that one mission in Thief II, with the marketplace by the canals.
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While I've lowered the details in the graphics settings a bit to make the mission less resource-intensive, I have to say I've thoroughly enjoyed it.
Though the area the mission takes place in is not that huge, I was still pleasantly surprised by how much there was to do in this mission. Just the sheer amount of options ! Lots of nice design touches with the lighting, public architecture, people's households, and especially with the inn and the bank. I found those latter two incredibly enjoyable, as well as actually quite difficult to navigate.
And that one nasty surprise in
the sewers
was something I was not expecting.
But I loved how it tied into the overall storyline, that was a cool if weird twist !
Overall, this is a fairly demanding mission. I would recommend it to intermediately experienced TDM players, but complete beginners should steer clear until they've played at least a few of the easier and less time-consuming missions. On the plus side, with all the places one can break into or at least explore in mind, the player "gets plenty of bang for his/her buck", to use a popular phrase.Perhaps one of the best recommendations I can give for this mission is that it reminded me of some of the better Thief II city missions or some of the Thief II engine fan missions of yore. Some elements felt like a nice homage, but indirect enough.
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"Since" used as "because of" is perfectly all right, but it's usually used that way in informal conversations or dialogue.
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Interesting suggestion, esme. :-) I have vivid memories of first watching Dark City.
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Oh, I very much enjoyed their rendition of Lake Town (and virtually all the other production design too). They were spot-on with the architecture.
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I never thought anything Tolkienian could be usable as visual reference for TDM, but some of the illustrations and designs people have used for Bree often look fittingly close to TDM's preferred styles of rural and town architecture:
Darek Zabrocki - Morning
Darek Zabrocki - Bree
(Bree as depicted in The War in the North RPG)
(Bree in the undeveloped RPG The White Council)
(concept art of Bree made for the LOTR adaptations)
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It will be soon, bikerdude.
As I've noted earlier, I'd prefer to have the mission translations finished as well before public testing, just to allow others to test the package all in one go. I'm trying my best with proofreading and avoiding forgetting something, but I'll be all the happier if the public test of the new lang files finds a few more errors or bugs I've overlooked in my initial testing (once I finish the basic work). -
OK, I've tested it. It all finally worked this time around !
I even found a small error in the all.lang file thanks to a notification by the command prompt, but that was inconsequential to the overall procedure. I'll now test the game to see if it runs properly and whether there are any bugs (I think there won't be, but still, it's better to be sure...).MAJOR EDIT: The game is working fine. Forgot a few .lang files on the first try, so I had to modify a few more things and try again. But it's working now.
I'm still weirded out by the command prompt only wanting to change directories its way, but who cares. At least it all works and you can get the whole thing running and generate the new text.I am soooo writing a tutorial for this whole thing. Soon. Just to diffuse any confusion that might exist over this.
And just for future reference, I'm adding [sOLVED] to the title of this thread.
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Windows 7 32 bit, TDM 2.03, and for the perl scripts, Strawberry Perl 5.20.1.1-32bit.
Sorry if I forgot to mention that already at the start.
I should have thought about that.A good bit of news: I've... somehow finally managed to get the change directory command to work. In the perl command line, curiously, I even forgot about that while working on it (as I thought I had turned on the Windows cmd instead, but no matter).
Currently, I've changed the file path to the one I need and I'm going to see whether the perl script will work. According to my older conversation with Tels, "perl gen_lang.pl" should be sufficient once I have the folder path set. We'll see how the generating goes... Be right back.
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If you break up your cd command, at what stage does it fail?
From the very start, regrettably. I really don't understand what failed there. It was much more responsive before, even when it took me a few minutes to figure out. Now, it just isn't working altogether, as if the command prompt was unable to even understand what the cd command means.
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I open the "cmd" in "systems32" folder and start off with:
C:\Users\Myname
I have the "gen_lang" perl script file in D:\Gamefiles\gen_lang\tdm_lang_gen\. I try to change the directory by typing in:
cd D:\Gamefiles\gen_lang\tdm_lang_gen\
And all I get is, every single time:
Invalid directory
or just
C:\Users\Myname
It's all the weirder, because earlier, it didn't take me that long to figure it all out.
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The perl script file (gen_lang.pl) and added strings folder I've used previously while testing my translation in 2.02 are still kept at D:\Gamefiles\gen_lang\tdm_lang_gen\. So yes, second disk, a folder called Gamefiles, and then the two folders that were unzipped from the script zip - gen_lang, tdm_lang_gen, and in it, the script and the "strings" folder. I haven't changed the location at all.
Also, I've created a translation-included tdm_base01 and copied it to the game folder before I tested the script, so the problem shouldn't be with that. And yeah, it's a proper PK4 tdm_base01 file, previously unpacked, strings in all.lang rewritten in the section of the language I've been translating for, then rezipped and PK4-ed again, and everything.
Edit: So... Any ideas on what I might be doing wrong ?
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That's for FM translations, not GUI translations. And until I get the perl script problem sorted for the GUI, I'd rather not tackle the script for FMs.
Can you provide some details? What happens when it "doesn't work"? Do you get an error and a stack trace, or what?
I'm not familiar with the localization code but I'm sure it's fixable. I don't remember any changes in 2.03, other than extra translations being added to all.lang.
Well, bizarrely, it tells me that the script cannot be found. This has not happened before. And I didn't move the script. I've even replaced my old copy of it with a fresh one today, but the folder structure I used before for generating the GUI translation via the script has been unchanged since then. So I really don't get what I'm doing wrong. Maybe I've forgot to import my translated strings into the strings folder that comes with the "gen_lang.pl" perl script ?
(Note: There is a difference between the "gen_lang.pl" package and the "I18N.pl" script. The former is for the GUI, the latter is for missions. I've only used the former up until now, as I want to finish the GUI before I try to generate translated text for missions as well.)
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Recently, after spending some time giving advice to one of our forum members on how to translate the GUI and in-game text via the use of the perl scripts, I have run into some serious issues. I've tried my best to figure out the problem on my own or by discussing it with some of the developers via PMs, but at this point, I am utterly stumped at what's going on.
The key issue being that, though I have changed nothing about my strawberry perl installation and the placement of the perl script and associated strings folder(s), the command I originally used for generating the GUI translation (a few months ago) is not responding anymore. Whether I used a Windows command prompt or the built-in "perl (command line)" .bat (it's basically a .bat isn't it ?), it just doesn't work.
I've checked and rechecked the location of the script and the structure of my folders a million times over, same with the typing in of the exact command line. I am unable to even change the directory with the "cd D:\ (...etc.)" command. I was able to do it perfectly fine before.
I really can't explain why this is even happening, other than either:
a.) I must be missing one little detail somewhere in the process, but am not sure what it could be...
b.) the version of the "gen_lang.pl" perl script I've been using is, simply, incompatible with version 2.03. Even though I've asked Tels about this, he was none the wiser. So I'm really unsure.
There's also another potential issue:
The documentation for how to do a localisation of the GUI feels... completely outdated to me. I think we'll have to do some extensive updating on this matter in the near future, as even the wiki has only very basic documentation on this stuff and it hinders further TDM development for other languages.
I suppose it speaks volumes that even months ago, I had to first personally contact Tels to even get the script needed for translating the GUI. Things went better after that, but ever since I updated to 2.03, I had to redo the entire translation (thankfully, only by copying the existing text). This was due to the known incompatibility issues between 2.02 and 2.03. (My translated strings for 2.02 simply wouldn't work for 2.03, so I had to start over.)
In hindsight, I think I should have updated to 2.03 before even starting the translation. But if the incompatibility issue with the perl script is indeed real (I'm not sure, honest), then I would have gained little with that anyway, as it wouldn't work.
Ultimately, this is a massive Catch-22 of sorts and I'm just completely baffled what to do at this point.
I wanted to finish the translation/localisation of the GUI and the base package missions by now, but this problem has rendered it impossible. I'd really like to finish and test the localisation already, just because I probably won't have much additional time come September. (That, and I finally want to move on to actual mission development.)Any advice, guys and gals ?
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Surely an ethership or void-vessel mission, not a spaceship mission ?
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I'm open to "wacky missions", but as the TDM library is still only growing and I've yet to build a mission, I'd prefer to try something conventional for a first try. :-)
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I've been wondering about this as a sideplot (or even a part of the main plot) in a potential mission:
If some individual inventor or Inventor's Guild member worked on creating a primitive steam-powered wagon (not really a "car" yet), could it fit TDM's setting ? Provided the invention would not actually take off, because the outcome of the mission would prohibit it ?
By steam wagon, I mean something in the vein of the famous Cugnot wagon from the 1760s. Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot's 1769 "Fardier à vapeur", to be precise. Nothing elegant, an extremely cumbersome wagon (perhaps equally three-wheeled), with a bulky and similarly non-elegant early steam engine mounted at the drive wheel in the front.
The narrative role of the invention would consist of our thief protagonist infiltrating an inventor's workplace and finding out about the plans to further develop or perfect the vehicle... Only to discover shortly afterward that the inventor is either on his last leg due to severe health problems, or was already killed by some mob that blackmailed him, or even a rival inventor.
Ultimately, the player wouldn't be able to prevent the inventor's death and this sideplot in the story would end on a downer note, with the implication that no one will invent a similar invention anytime soon in the TDM setting.
Does this make any sort of sense as a narrative element ? I've thought about it as a sort of handwave to underline how, in the setting, technological progress isn't all that rapid, despite the presence of steam engines and whatnot.
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The link got broken for some reason, so here's a second attempt: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Burges's_intent_for_Castell_Coch,_1874.png
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Wales seems to be the gift that keeps on giving in terms of interesting architecture that could fit TDM...
.jpg/682px-Castell_Coch_1_(2994270993).jpg)
.jpg/800px-Castell_Coch_(4631).jpg)
(A link to an 1874 plan of the place - the original medieval castle's ruins are in the lower part of the picture, the 19th century redesign is in the upper part.)
"But Petike...", some of you will no doubt say, "That's a Gothic Revival castle. The only medieval bit of it are parts of the foundations, as the original castle fell into ruin centuries before the post-1850s reconstruction..."
That's indeed true. But given TDM's semi-industrial atmosphere, this castle has some odd 19th century architectural elements that blend in quite seamlessly with the otherwise medieval or early modern looking exterior. Here's a cool example:
Just look at those glorious chimneys !
If that doesn't given the whole place a "techno-pseudo-Gothic" vibe, nothing does. Even their placement at different part of the keep's roof makes the whole sight look somewhat otherworldly, compared to what you usually imagine when it comes to castles and their medieval chimneys.
The castle overall is fairly generic, but I like the occassional blending of eras that comes with some of these details.
Interior-wise, I'm not sure how much of it could be usable as esthetic inspiration for mission building. Of the photos I've seen, most rooms are a bit too modern and cozy looking to base missions on (IMHO), but the banquet hall is a bit more sober and unadorned in its overall style and furnishings:
.jpg/398px-Castell_Coch_(4560).jpg)
.jpg/800px-Castell_Coch_(4567).jpg)
.jpg/398px-Castell_Coch_(4580).jpg)
More photos and images can be found here.
A 3D tour of Castell Coch:
https://cadw.gov.wales/visit/whats-on/virtual-visits/virtual-visits-historic-homes
Finally, a short vid:
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It is the strong bluish tint, I think. I experimented with it in my map, and it stuck out like a sore thumb.
Personally speaking, while I like the second texture as well, I think it should only be used for environments that have an appropriate context. The appearance of those boards makes it look like they've been in some outdoor environment for a long time, possibly near a humid location (e.g. a swamp, a wetland), and possibly as part of a ruined or slowly falling apart wooden building. I can imagine that texture quite well in some mission that's set at a lakeside house or cabin overrun by vegetation and various dirt sediments brought about by years of rainy and windy weather.
Here's a pack with some of the newer textures.
http://drive.google.com/file/d/0BzHmWZvs_ns1VksyaXJLR2dLLVE/view?usp=sharing
FWIW, if you really want to add some of the textures to core resources, now that I've already done the heavy lifting with the normal maps, recoloring and desaturating the diffuses is an easy operation.
Cool, just like your previous efforts.
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My story is completely mundane and yawn-worthy: I learned about The Dark Mod on TTLG after I joined its forums in the late 2000s. It was specifically about the first bigger demo missions, such as the earlier versions of St. Lucia, etc. (I think I might not have heard of the Den mission back then and only learnt of it much later, possibly just during the last two years).
At the time I first heard of TDM in 2009 and 2010, I didn't pay it much attention. I saw some screenshots, read what there was about it, and thought it looked promising. But I wasn't holding out much hope that it will ever become finished or that easily accessible, as I knew all too well mods and total conversions and fan remakes die all the time and their dev teams lose interest or disperse. Another stumbling block was that I wasn't willing to buy Doom 3 just to run the mod. (Not a Doom fan, and the third installment seemed boring to me, hence my reluctance.)
When I later read about plans to make TDM completely standalone (earlier, I wasn't sure whether the Doom 3 requirement could ever be done away with), my interest rose a lot more. I was very happy to hear the news in autumn 2013, but due to focusing on work qualification stuff related to my job at the time, I couldn't really delve into the game yet. Come the previous autumn, I finally remembered that I wanted to download and try out TDM. Well, and here I am, and hopefully I'll start building my first minor FM soon.
I first heard of TDM on the Wikipedia "List of open-source video games". I was bored and tried out some new games, TDM actually was quite convincing and is the first stealth-based game I have ever played.
Amusingly enough, that's how I learnt of the space sim Orbiter. I don't fool around in it as much as I used to a few years ago, but I still like it a lot, especially some of the newer additions and improvements to the base package.
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Played this the previous Saturday and it was a very enjoyable mission. The winter feel was certainly there and I found some of the ideas used in the castle to be fun and amusing. Since I prefer non-supernatural missions, I liked this one even better than Flakebridge Monastery, as intriguing as that earlier mission was.
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W-O-W
BC's been fiddling with TDS for years, so it didn't really surprise me when I first learned of the "TDS Gold" project. And as far as I know, Beleg has also made one or two TDS fan missions (but don't count on my memory).
DSR 4x (3840x2160) / 17% smoothness / HBAO+ / Anisotropic 16x / All maxed out (Bloom too) / SneakyUpgrade 1.1.5 (Fat Edition)
Great work.
Think I'll finally reinstall TDS soon. -
The scouting orb was tied to Garrett's mechanical eye. So unless an fm author stated that the character in their fm also had a mechanical eye it wouldn't make much sense.
One workaround I could think of is that the character has some sort of semi-magical VR glasses equivalent in his inventory. These fulfill the same role as Garrett's one mechanical eye, but they'd offer more of a binoculars-style view of the scene. Whenever the player drops a scouting orb equivalent somewhere, the character puts on the glasses and can observe stuff.
The downside to the device would be that it's not comfortable to wear, given its primitive magitech nature. It could also relay the vision in a slightly blurred fashion, like the eye did in TDS (though not as drastically). These two properties would discourage its overuse as a tool and make it more of a trump card only for some particularly useful situations.
Are gamers in general not as interested in TV/Movies as most people are?
in Off-Topic
Posted
I am a generally picky television fan. You often find me watching some of the better European documentary channels I'm subscribed to. Or I watch stuff that interests me. In the recent decade or so, I've become quite weird by being mostly out of the loop when it comes to what shows are currently popular on domestic and international television.