Petike the Taffer

But I like Newport. I'm already thinking about explaining its name as the result of some colonists from Bridgeport (and eventually elsewhere) originally founding a trade post with a small dock on the site of the future town. Over time, it became strategically important or lucrative for local shipping routes. What until then amounted to a hamlet, quickly grew into a bigger village, and eventually, a town. I might add a few colourful details to the backstory of the town (with a hint of inaccuracy or popular misconceptions). Some ideas I've had is that the creation or development of the the naval trading post might have been spearheaded by some nobelman or businessman who was originally from Bridgeport, but became infamous or unwanted over there (due to making enemies, or embarassing himself among the local cream of society, or having major debts or other economic problems) and decided to move out and start anew. Plus, he coupled this with an "I'll show them !" attitude and was instrumental in trying to prop up Newport's growth as a potential rival to Bridgeport. Ultimately, it didn't end up that way, but in the 200-300 years time, Newport did become a fairly major town (or small city) on that part of the coastline. Obviously, this backstory idea could influence the visual presentation of the town. Like many boom towns throughout history, I think Newport might be an odd mix of very regular town planning and very higgledy-piggledy, spontaneous construction from the past. The former would be predictable in parts of the town that were meant to serve as something of a "display case" of its economic prosperity, while the less regulated architecture would litter the bits that few cared about in the long run. As for the distance from Bridgeport, it should be at least a few dozen miles. In our modern measurements, maybe some 80 kilometers down the coast.

Eh, but I'm not into translating the names of the settlements (despite working on a localisation now, which I will soon be finishing). I just wanted to ask whether Newport was ever used as a setting in any FMs, since I want to use it in mine and was interested whether there is any lore about it to build upon. I guess it'll fall to me to establish some stuff about it then !

Sounds like the perfect opportunity for your's truly to finally use it for something. I also plan to have an off-handed reference to Singsmarsh in the FM, as one of the character's family originates from there. It's a town briefly mentioned (but not seen) in the older mission Lockdown.

Well, here are some links: http://wiki.thedarkmod.com/index.php?title=I18N_-_Translator%27s_Guide#German http://forums.thedarkmod.com/topic/10648-german-terminology/page-5?do=findComment&comment=294719 "And that's all she wrote...", basically. Which surprised me, as I was under the impression that Newport is this already FM-established town, in the vein of Sotha's Glenham (and its multiple appearences, direct and through mentions).

Weird question, but for all I've read of Newport, I haven't seen a single FM set there. I was wondering about this precisely because I wanted to know if it had been portrayed in any FMs, as I'm planning of using it as a setting in my own. I'd like to keep some of the "lore" on it (for lack of a better term) consistent, hence my search. (I've also been expanding the wiki's list of towns appearing in TDM, but that's more of a secondary concern.) Aside from the discussion on how to translate Newport's name in the German localisation, I have not see a single mention of it. So, is it currently in limbo as a location concept for the TDM universe ? Was it at least mentioned in some readables in any particular missions ? I'd really like to know.

I love those shows. There's loads of insightful stuff in them.

Some of you are probably familiar with these BBC living history documentary series, but to those who aren't, I recommend giving them at least a single watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5IMeODLND8 Secrets of the Castle (playlist of episodes) Learning about 13th century castle construction and maintenance via the long-running Guédelon Castle project. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1ERDYjsHBg Tudor Monastery Farm (playlist of episodes) Farming in early Tudor England, at the start of the 1510s. A Tudor Feast at Christmas (playlist of episodes) How the nobility and better-offs of Tudor England prepared and enjoyed their Christmas time feasts. Tales from the Green Valley (playlist of episodes) Life at a restored sheep farm in the Welsh borderlands in 1620, during the reign of James I. Victorian Farm Life at a Shropshire farm in the 1880s and 1890s. Now firmly in the industrial era, but still prior to the advent of mass motorisation. Victorian Pharmacy Barmy as well as reasonable medical treatments from the second half of the 19th century. Even pharmacies had their childhood hiccups before they became increasingly professional institutions. Edwardian Farm Life in early 20th century Devon, in the Tamar river valley. Farming, fishing, crafts, industry, mining, the rise of motorised transport, even tourism and seaside holidays... You can find plenty of inspirational stuff in them when it comes to portraying crafts, agriculture, industries, transport and even festive culture of the past. I think the pharmacy episodes might be a good bit of inspiration if you want to portray some early modern apothecaries in certain city-based FMs. The individual series have, inadvertently, covered the diapason of periods that served as sources of inspiration for Thief and TDM. So you owe it to yourself to try these out. I think they're really informative, plus the historians hosting each series have a good sense of humour to go with their professionalism. Note that I've sorted the shows by period, not by their actual production year. P.S. I don't condone unofficially uploading stuff to YouTube, but when it comes to these sorts of docus, I'm willing to turn a blind eye and thank those who've put them up.

As I've promised earlier, I'll try to make some, and record them in a sound-dampened environment (I have a bit of experience with that, despite not having top-notch sound recording equipment at home). The downside is that winter has already passed and we didn't have that much nicely crackling ice this winter anyway. But that's nothing a little trickery with water, a freezer, a baking tray, a soft pad and a heavy boot can't fix.

Sorry to hear that. If I could help, I definitely would. Pity there isn't much of a possibility for me to help speed up the development process on this campaign. It would be awesome if it was finished one day. If I may ask, how much of the campaign is finished at this point, expressed in percents ? Just curious.

Well, of the existing missions... Lord Dufford's is set in Lunarium, "a city that lies five thousand leagues east of Bridgeport, and is home to many people who came here due to the magical healing properties in the air surrounding the spires". I have not played that FM, but it sounds interesting. (And it's possibly a homage of sorts to TDP's The Mage Towers mission). Briarwood Cathedral had, for some strange reason, palm trees. I know it's on an island and there is a pirate subplot in the story, but I always found the presence of palms to be a bit peculiar in that mission.

Played this on medium difficulty. I usually don't like missions with forced ghosting and very minimal equipment, but I've really enjoyed this one. The general's hidden safe impressed me with its technical finesse, though it took me a while to figure out how it works. The only major bug I've experienced in the mission was when the drunk bowman occassionally got up, walked towards the wall next to mess hall entrance, and kept on walking, making some rather hilarious animations. All in all, a very good mission, Sonosuke.

I've finished playing both In A Time of Need and Breaking Out the Fence tonight (the former on highest difficulty, the latter on medium difficulty), Excellent work on both Kyyrma ! The first one is an exemplary easy mission for someone who's just learning the ropes on TDM gameplay. I wouldn't hesitate to say that it would be an excellent mission if it was included alongside the training mission and The Tears of St. Lucia. As for the second one, you've done some proper hard work on making the rainy environment look very convincing and atmospheric, the spider tunnel was quite spooky, the design details of the tavern and the shop were great (in some places downright exquisite), and most of all, you've made an excellent prototype for security sensors ! I second those who've asked you to maybe offer them as a permanent addition to the game assets. They'd be great to see in other FMs ! The little pier with the boat, the green coded safe and the light switches in the hallways and rooms gave me a very Thief II-esque vibe. No mean feat on your part. These are simply great missions !

it is ? Dang... I still haven't finished it. I guess I still have to postpone updating my copy of TDM.

Thank you. Actually, this might even work ! Not sure yet, but now that I've seen the screenshot, I'll give it some thought. I'd need to do some reskining, obviously, (the symbols would have to go, etc.), but it does look serviceable for the character. Given that I want the lady to reoccur in some future FMs featuring the same protagonist, and the fact that I want to use her as a semi-active part of those storylines, she'll need a more practical and less homelier look (as she's basically an ordinary maid during the events of the first FM). This hooded look with the long cloak might be just right for her (especially in the later FMs), provided I can make a somewhat unique skin for her AI. If the new vocal set for the female mage gets done by then, I'll need to find a different female voice actor either way, given that this will be a recurring character and I want to make her feel a bit unique.

I like your suggestion of using a different AI and reskinning it as a time-saving measure, guys, but if the clothing that the female mage is wearing is a bit too robe-like, I think it might not seem as realistic. Obviously, I could adapt the visual side of the story to this temporary solution a bit, but I just need to be sure that the mage lady is not dressed in something that looks too much like... well, a night gown. It would be unintentionally amusing, even if I reskinned the clothing. So I'm hoping that she's wearing something roughly in the vein of a warm cloak that would make sense during the winter time. As I currently have DR uninstalled and I only plan to put it back on once I run the TDM updater (which is not yet), could I ask you for a simple screenshot of the female mage AI ? That would be really, really helpful. Thanks in advance ! To explain my need for such an NPC a bit further: The storyline of my FM will feature the protagonist cooperating closely with a female ally, and though she won't be by his side for the entirety of the FM (only from around the middle of it), both characters will have to cross quite a big chunk of the city streets in the FM, and reach a certain gatehouse. They'll walk outside the gate and into the wilderness and the mission will end there, as they're leaving the city (preliminarily, I am thinking of utilising Newport as the setting for the FM).

I've listened to your tracks and I like quite many of them, but you would probably have to practice more ambient stuff at first. Your tracks are usually closer to more orchestral or instrument-heavy music. You seem to know your stuff, though, so feel free to offer us help if you start work on something that could fit TDM. Seconded.

While the criticism of flash mines is IMHO fairly sound, I think gas bombs and gas mines should be incorporated in addition to gas arrows and flash bombs. Particularly a gas bomb. I think it could be useful for reflexive self-defence or for non-lethal KOs where a long-distance weapon like a gas arrow would be a bit of an overkill. Mines, whether they go kaboom, create a flash or release gas, have, to me, always seemed like little more than an excuse to set up a trap. Nevertheless, I find non-lethal mines appealing. Though as Springheel said, the flash mine is relatively less realistic than a flashbomb. Still, setting either a gas mine or a flash mine could be an interesting trap, or perhaps could work as a guard KO-ing puzzle. But as with all explosives in TDM, they should be rare and come in very low numbers. The only major use I ever found for explosive mines in either Thief or TDM was in undead missions, where they were a weapon of last resort if I ran out of holy water, water arrows or fire arrows. As TDM undead are invulnerable to flashes and gas and take a while to kill in melee, using a mine on them can be an occassional life saver.

I understand that, but what I meant was that we wouldn't need an entirely new set of animations for the NPC. The "winter edition" with the coat would obviously be a bit different on the outside (in the torso area), but we wouldn't require rigging up the whole mesh for a modified animation set of the usual maid AI model.

Ah, the bugs in that game... *excited voice* The bugs, man, the bugs... My personal favourite video about the character glitches and lackluster AI is this one:

Well, I guess this thread is my best bet. A reworked, "winter edition" of the maids' and other female servants' model. One in which the AI is wearing a simple, plain-looking fur coat, roughly like this one (the front can include either historically plausible buttons or lacing, depending on what might look better). As the heads of the AIs seem modular from the DR screenshots I've seen so far (haven't worked with it yet, so I'm basing it off of those), I think the only real thing in need of editing would be the existing meshes and textures for those characters. I have a particular interest in this AI model because the FM I plan to develop takes place at winter time and includes a major lower-class female character who's going to be spending a lot of time outside. I don't find it plausible that she would be strolling around in that sort of cold with her usual "barmaid cleavage" clothes. Looking at some of the furniture and decorations included in the latest TDM update, I'm actually not that worried about props in general. But if I come across something during the building and writing of the mission, I'll remember to ask here.

LMAO ! Interesting gameplay concept...

My, my, this thread has taken off. I'm glad it's successful. This is a great find, Sotha. I've already bookmarked it. This can be tricky to pull off well at times, if the author just decides to go for the "megalomaniac" approach to designing a mission. Back in the day, I've played several Thief FMs that just went on and on and on and kept piling up story element upon story element to the point of complete tedium or as if deliberately trying to confuse or dazzle the player. I prefer a mission's story - even a very carefully paced, slowly developing one - to not be too overwhelming in one go. Sometimes, it's better to keep things relatively simple (read: non-convoluted) and save part of it for later missions (especially if the whole narrative warrants a campaign), rather than trying to cram in every possible plot twist and extention to a story of a single mission. I enjoy your definitions, particularly the metaphores used for those two common types of approach to a mission's narrative. And that sentence I bolded in the quote ? I completely agree. One of the strengths of Thief and TDM is using the very environment and locale as not just a setting for a story, but as the story, however mundane it might seem at face value.

I'm just your meek, unremarkable freelance translator from rural Slovakia. I also did some volunteer work on castle ruin research and conservation, if anyone finds that interesting. Otherwise nothing particularly peculiar about me.

I am nearly finished with this mission on the highest difficulty. Compared to your newer mission, Briarwood Cathedral, which I found frustrating by the end and not finished yet, I really, really, really enjoyed this mission. It has some good variety, a good portrayal of a small chunk of the city, lots of fine little details. And it was just... fun. I agree with some of the mansion criticisms, but I found the place interesting and the interiors felt appropriate to me. I haven't played much TDM FMs where you can switch the lights on/off, so seeing this as an available option was a pleasant treat. I often dislike hunting for secrets, but finding the secret switch was fun and fairly straightforward this time around. And unlike others, I didn't mind the glass lampshades projecting patterns onto the ceiling - I actually found it rather cool. I really liked what you did with the gas arrows in this mission. Let's just say I put them to good use on certain guards. In short, this is one mission I'll certainly replay in the future. However, I do have one question:

Yeah, old topic, but I've just remembered the whole base soundtrack is also available for download on ModDB: http://www.moddb.com/mods/the-dark-mod/addons/official-soundtrack-vol-1 Well, at least Volume 1. I think the main menu's "Nocturne" (including the newer, music box arrangement) and the ambient track for the Briefing are not on it and people will have to find and unpack them manually from the game files (like I did it), but other than that, most of the commonest music tracks are available in that one zip. Oh, and I'm editing this thread to [sOLVED], just for future reference.