[TDM NEW MAPPERS WORKSHOP]

Love the video. Great start to things, thanks! Will be jotting some things down over the upcoming days to get some map/mission ideas on paper

[TDM NEW MAPPERS WORKSHOP]

Awesome, thanks! Watching now

[Maya Help]

I would also like to be able to export animations from a more current version of Maya, say 2014, and export to md5mesh... as I'd like to try and animate some fairly simple things for The Dark Mod.

 

Is Maya 7 free to download at this point, since that came out years ago? I think I could use that animate in and export to md5mesh. (Not sure how good its animation tools are, though :-/)

[New Mapper's Workshop -- Sign Up Here!]

I'm interested in this (sign me up)

[2.05 reviews and media posts]

Yes, they are hard to find. I'll repeat my suggestion to rename them to 1. Mission, 2. Mission and so forth so they will be right on top of the mission list! As there will be a needed update due to the bugs, this should somehow be made before the Steam release. Maybe this could be a way to get rid of the buggy mission too, like people will play the renamed mission and the buggy one can be just deleted from the mission list?

Renaming would be helpful, but it'd still need an official designation of some sort, imo. Whether it be a TDM icon/logo next to the official ones, or a "TDM" official designator before or after the titles (e.g., "TDM Mission 1: A New Job", or "Mission 1: A New Job (TDM Official)", with "(TDM Official)" being in a much smaller font), etc. Or, as you might prefer, "1: A New Job (TDM Official)" or with a TDM icon/logo in lieu of words

[2.05 reviews and media posts]

Another, separate mention on PC Gamer:

 

http://www.pcgamer.com/mod-lets-you-remove-fps-and-fov-limits-in-id-tech-5-games-like-wolfenstein-the-new-order-and-rage/

 

It's funny, after all these years, I think some people still don't understand what TDM is. He mentions it comes with a level editor, and includes "the first of three introductory missions." I sent him an email to clarify.

As for the introductory mission thing, that's legit, though, right? Thedarkmod.com's update says, "Many of these new assets are showcased in a new introductory mission for TDM that is included in the update. This mission is the first of a three mission story which serves as our official introduction to TDM’s gameplay and setting."

 

I'm just trying to find out how to play the new mission... isn't intuitive to find. Maybe I have to uninstall my currently loaded game (Down By The Riverside) and it'll pop up on the main menu. UPDATE: Nope, did that and don't see it. The "Training Mission" entry I have on my main menu talks about how it coincides with the v1.08 release, so I'm assuming that's not it. Oh well, I'll find it sometime... just need to do more Google and/or forum searches

 

UPDATE #2: Found this thread. All is well... http://forums.thedarkmod.com/topic/18647-tdm-205-official-introductory-missions/

[Steam Greenlight: TDM is ranked #1 atm.]

Nice work, Goldwell and Nocturne I'm curious what the "2009" date represents? Is that when it was first released to the general public, or? The wording is a little vague in the video, kind've misleading to me. I thought it was referring to when work actually first began on the mod. And production began back in about the 2004 timeframe; so, when I first heard the 2009 date I was thinking to myself, "Hmm, that doesn't sound quite right..." -- and had to look up the original start year..

 

Maybe my interpretation of hearing the 2009 info is different than a casual non-team member observer would interpret it since I was involved for a while early on.

 

Here's the quote from the video:

"It started as a modification for Doom 3 back in 2009"

 

 

Probably no need to update this video... but if a future video were to come out down the line, I might suggest clarifying a tad bit more on what that 2009 date represents Really is just a matter of adding/changing a simple word or two

[Fan Mission: Samhain Night (v.3.3 update) by PranQster (2020/03/01)]

 

Laaaaate comment, but I thought I might as well.

 

 

You are indeed stuck in there, as the creator never put a second switch in, figuring that no one would do that (and underestimating the paranoia of Dark Mod players). Sorry brah. For what it's worth, you don't have to fight everything in there (I gave up after like seven tries). Just stay crouched and to the center as you enter, and you shouldn't be noticed. Then grab the crown through the coffin and run.

 

 

Ahh, excellent. Thank you for replying

 

 

Since you confirmed I was stuck, I loaded a pre-fight save and things were much easier this time around. And then I continued and ended up completing the entire mission.

 

Note: One issue I encountered a few times in different places, which has probably been said before: there were a few places I got stuck. I couldn't move and couldn't jump to free myself. I could only look around. It happened around irregularly shaped rocks in the ground, or behind rocks... where I got into an inescapable nook in the rocks and had to load an earlier save.

 

[Fan Mission: Mother Rose by grayman (2016/01/01)]

Thanks for making the mission, grayman! Some quick post-completion notes...

 

 

 

When trying to place the coffin, I wish pressing the "Use" key (which is the tilde (~) key for me) and/or frobbing Sarah's gravestone, while the coffin is selected in your inventory, would drop the coffin. Why? Embarrassed to admit, I spent 5-10 minutes just trying to get it out of my inventory and onto the grave I tried quitting back to main menu and re-loading; I tried fully quitting the game and re-loading; but none of that helped. I even looked at the above gameplay vids hoping they experienced the same issue, but they didn't; so then I thought my saved game was busted. I tried re-loading to an earlier save and went back to the grave... didn't help

 

As you probably know, I was not hitting the "R" key to drop it out of inventory. I was instead using the key assigned to "Use." It kept flashing the coffin green in my inventory like it does for a lockpick, but it just sat in my inventory.

 

TBH, for more detail, here is the full story if u wish to read... if it helps when considering an update:

The first time I went to the grave with the coffin, I actually did drop it into place, no problem, and I completed the objective straight away. It was seamless; intuitive; instinctual... I didn't have to think about it, I must have subconsciously pressed the "R" key to drop it. It worked fine; all was well. But I wasn't pleased with how the coffin got placed, so I re-picked-it-up and re-dropped it a few times, hoping I would be able to position it how I wanted; and also to see if I could open the lid and place the doll inside. It felt like the coffin was maybe upside down and/or had the wrong end at the feet and I wanted to fix that/make sure to respect Sarah more. In doing this, I successfully completed the objective quickly 3 or 4 times in a row. In those hurried moments (fearing the approaching ghost), though, after about 4 re-positions, I subconsciously started pressing the "Use" key instead of "R" and it stopped dropping the coffin. Arrgh. And then once it became this conscious effort, I completely didn't think to use the Drop key I thought I had maybe broken the functionality in the mission by trying to re-position too many times, which is why I tried re-loads, etc.

 

I think normally in Thief-like games, "Use" is often the button that gets used for these things(?). And in TDM, "Use" drops an unconscious body, so maybe I started subconsciously thinking along those lines... completely forgetting about "R". And seeing the coffin flash green in inventory reinforced to me that "Use" was the correct key...

 

*My bad* hehe

 

I had to watch FenPhoenix's video to learn where the safe was... I don't know how I missed it. The lock buttons on fireplaces was a little obscure of a puzzle, but fortunately found them fairly quickly.

 

 

[Mod DB voting began]

I haven't seen yet any note saying Mod DB 'Mod of the Year' voting began, so figured I'd mention. Sorry if it was posted before (just delete this thread, if it was).

 

I assume The Dark Mod still qualifies as a mod, even though it's standalone, right? I mean, a mod is a mod, even if a game was modded so much the mod became standalone, right?

 

Vote for whatever mod you like most, but for convenience here is a link to TDM on ModDB.com: The Dark Mod

 

I think they're in the first round of voting, to narrow things down to a Top 100.

[Fan Mission: Samhain Night (v.3.3 update) by PranQster (2020/03/01)]

Quick review:

 

 

Randomly downloaded this map tonight (Halloween night) and was pleasantly surprised to see carved pumpkins (and other Halloweeny type things, spiderwebs, graveyard, skeletons, etc.) Wish I could have followed the pagan people down the tunnel, hehe.

 

Overall, was interesting design/style throughout. There were some frustrating saves/loads to get through some areas because of enemies ganging up on me without me having a chance to pre-plan fight/escape/maneuver tactics and such; but I also partly chalk it up to me not being a master of the Dark Mod fight system yet (sword not hitting the spiders very well, broadhead arrows not hitting the ending skeleton guy very well or ever?, not being very adept with the sword, the aimer on the bow seeming a little off to the left, etc.).

 

To defeat the end guy (or what I assume is the end guy (the crown protector)), I had to trigger his appearance and quickly run up the stairwell and attack everything from there. Not sure if that's intended, or if that's the primary way to beat them, but is the only thing I could get to work. Unfortunately, one time while I was doing this I got attacked in the stairwell by skeletons that came from behind me from the previous room (they must have heard or seen me). So I re-loaded and then shut the door to that passageway by frobbing the sconce thingy and quickly jumped thru the doorway so the skeletons couldn't get me while I was fighting that main skeleton guy in the room at the base of the stairs.

 

But now I think I'm trapped in that room? I defeated the skeleton and spiders in that room, and grabbed the crown. But the secret door to the stairwell is shut (because I closed it), and there's no way that I can see (yet) to re-open it Is there a way out, or am I permanently stuck now? I tried dousing the green torches, and all but one of the candles around the sarcophagus (ran out of water arrows), but that didn't do anything. I don't yet see any secret switches in that room.

 

I might need to re-load an earlier save and not close the secret door this time... but I don't look forward to fighting everything again Granted, it won't be too burdensome now that I know how to do it. But, then again, I may very well have to deal with the skeletons from the previous room in addition to the skeleton/spiders from the crown room. *gulp*

 

 

[Fan Mission: Volta and the Stone by Kingsal (05/26/2016) V1.3]

Quick review:

 

 

Nice mission with cool aesthetic/visuals/colors. I liked being able to blow the horn, and hearing the horn back Cool ambient music. The load screens said to use "M" for map... but for me, 'm' is not assigned to map I think by default(?). Nice secrets and loved the beams to walk on above rooms. Felt the character's inner-voice audio was a little too harsh/crisp sounding on the "s" sounds. Overall an enjoyable mission, thank you!

 

 

[DOOM (2016) - Graphics Study]

Saw this article and thought it was pretty neat, with a lot of screenshot examples

 

DOOM (2016) - Graphics Study

http://www.adriancourreges.com/blog/2016/09/09/doom-2016-graphics-study/

 

 

[Torch hitboxes?]

I learned to aim above the torch and let the water cascade down. Even though it's fun to watch the water fall down unto flame, I do wish direct hits were more foregiving, as well. I've wasted plenty of water arrows (or rather, did plenty of QuickLoads) as a result of direct hits often failing to extinguish the flame. Physics tells me a direct hit would propel the water forward to account for an extinguishing of the flame.

 

Even if direct hits were more foregiving, I'll still frequently aim above the flame because it's a fun to do it that way. It's been a while so I might be offbase, but I think I've even aimed 5-10 feet above flame and let the water fall down onto flame and have that work. I like it

[Greetings and congratulations from Dram]

Hey Dram, good to see you and your avatar again.

[Square Enix and Amazon.com announce Thief Mod Contest]

Ooh! Ooh! Pick me! Pick me!

Darn! You're quick

[Square Enix and Amazon.com announce Thief Mod Contest]

Well deserved, Moonbo! I really enjoyed Requiem. Congratulations

[Things that could be improved]

That's what I thought, Springheel; though I can't remember which mission. Seems like it was at least 2 or 3 years ago when I saw it. Yeah, I could've swore there was at least one time where it happened, but all these other comments were/are making me feel like I was dreaming..

[Things that could be improved]

Thanks RJFerret! I must be spacing then. An idea in a bulletpoint list somewhere either in my mind or on TDM paper that I put a visual to. Weird.

 

That explains why I couldn't put a candle inside that vase on the ledge of St. Lucia earlier tonight, though, too! lol. I guess I won't try so hard to do that in the future for other seemingly hollow objects; and will stop turning mugs, shoes and bowls, etc. upside down, hehe.

 

I'll have to check out your "Inn Business" sometime. Sounds interesting

[Hey, A new Youtube Gamer here]

Good job, Tanika Nice to see you trying The Dark Mod. You might try the mission called, "Requiem." I found it interesting and fun

[Things that could be improved]

This does not work.

Yes, it does, unless the feature was removed or never fully fleshed-out. It was purported to be a feature of object manipulation, as I recall... allowing mappers to do that, if they wish. I'm pretty sure I've seen it used a couple times before; unless that was just in the 'demo' days of the feature. Like a key or coin in a boot, and similar, where you turn it upisde down and it falls out.

 

For Tears of St. Lucia...

 

I figured the key was affixed to the pot's bottom so it wouldn't go flying when knocked down. But I thought that was more the exception, used in that unique circumstance, than the rule.

 

[Things that could be improved]

I'm not sure I understand that? What do you mean? I always succeed at auto-picking... it's just the game requires you to hold the mouse button down and sit through multiple click cycles before it advances to the next lockpick (two, for me). I used to have the "seta tdm_lp_pick timeout" set to "100" instead of "10," but that doesn't seem to make any difference in anything.

 

PS: I also have a habit of object-manipulation turning bowls, mugs, buckets, etc. upside down to see if something falls out, but mappers hardly ever put anything in them :.( That was one of the benefits of object manipulation, so was hoping to see it used a little more than it is. And do you suspect banners and tapestries will be cuttable with a sword someday, or cloth animation movable to the side with a frob? Maybe there are maps that have this already and I just haven't noticed.

[New players: How did you deal with "that guard" the first time? (Spoiler Warning: Tears of St. Lucia)]

There are at least a dozen LPs of people shooting it down with an arrow (...) You're not supposed to throw something at it, although that can work. Shooting arrows works, or in a pinch you can actually climb up there.

I've had issues with it, too. I don't know if it's much different today vs. a year+ ago when I last *really* tried, but I remember wasting like 15 arrows without it falling down. Other times I remember it has come down more easily. It just seems to depend on if the physics want to be finicky. It shouldn't need more than an arrow or two, but it sometimes did/does(?). It might need to be placed on something that makes it sit on an angle or more unbalanced to make it more apt to falling. That said, I just mantled up there today and reached out with a lit candle to knock it down Then left the lit candle sitting in its place. It's not easy getting a lit candle up that high; especially since you can't climb with a candle in your hand.

(EDIT: Yeah, just tried again, and it's still doesn't come down very easily when you're standing in front of it from the ground and shooting up at it. I launched around 10 arrows at it to no avail... so stepped off to the side and hit it from that direction and it fell. It should fall off pretty easily no matter where you shoot it from, imo.)

 

 

 

As for getting past the guard, I think I might have found an alternate path around him once ... but I have no clue how to do it anymore. I've tried a couple times the past week, and the only way I can get past is to run past him and hide. Maybe I need to pay more attention to the readables (which I didn't do).

 

 

Does it have anything to do with what appears to be a secret room in the Bear and Belcher Tavern? Is it possible to get into that secret room? I took a candle and looked all around that place to no avail. No secret switches or anything found.

 

I also took the key from the pot and opened the padlock and went down through the sewers a couple times the past week, but I popped out before the guard. It didn't take me past him. Maybe there's another path in there that I need to find/take?

 

So, yeah. I've played Thief a long time... and I think this is a pretty challenging introduction to it, lol. I think it could benefit from a couple more options to getting around that guard. I can understand a little if the solution is in one of the texts, but not everyone likes reading in game or is used to texts giving the only solution to a problem.

 

 

(EDIT: Okay, I finally found the way everyone is talking about, but that's mainly because I was on the look-out for an obscure alternate path based on this thread's posts/feedback. I almost walked right past it again. Yeah, it seems too obscure of thing for an intro mission, imo. I recognized the area, so I must have been there a long time ago, though.

 

And at the Bear & Belcher, I still can't tell if the room with a dead rat in it is accessible. If not, that's just mean to have there There's even a strange blue-ish thing in there that piques my curiosity (I can't tell what it is). A newbie should be rewarded for finding a way to get in there to encourage them to do similar things in future missions. I've spent an hour looking for a switch or something to get in there with no success. Even brought a crate in there from down the street to stand on at the cracked door, and even propped a 2x6 plank against that door to try and see if that vantage point would help anything. If there's a way in, I recommend making it a tad more apparent; assuming this mission is intended to be an introduction to TDM gameplay. It also looks like there's maybe an area to explore up above the room where the guy is sitting in the tavern (if you look through the slats of the ceiling, there is intrigue), but I can't figure out how to get there, if it's possible. I'm not used to inaccessible areas like that in Thief-like gameplay; there's usually a purpose to such curiosities. PS: If you launch two or three broadheads at the dead rat, he goes crazy in that room, heh. Goes airborne and bounces off of walls, etc.)

[Things that could be improved]

We could have you just wave at it like nuThief.

Please no, lol

 

To set candles to go out when frobbed means they can't be movables, which means you can't carry them around to light your way or light other things, which would be a loss, IMO (though individual mappers can and do use that method). The 'frob to pick up' 'use to use' mechanic is also well established in TDM, for lights, bodies, etc, so making a special button for lights isn't ideal either. The current system may not be perfect but I'm pretty content with the way it is now, but if enough people find it a problem, I'm sure mappers would start using the other kind of candles.

Good point. I like the flexibility of being able to move candles. In Requiem I took a candle and placed it at a grave site, for example. For no reason other than I could, and it was symbolic of paying respects. I wouldn't really want candles glued to tables everywhere.

 

There is some charm to having to pick up candles first, but I wouldn't be sad to see a new button created (it could be unassigned by default) that allows us to put out candles or shoulder bodies with one keystroke.

 

Yep, that's how you do it. The engine automatically centers the object if it's not dead center when you frob it, which means looking slightly above will cause it to lift into the air, looking down will cause it to bang into the surface below it.

Yep, I'm aware of what's going on with the mechanic and do my best to avoid the consequences of an uncentered candle (or junk object) lift off. Accidents sometimes happen, though, and it never feels like it was my fault. Aside from creating a new button, I don't know that there's any other option. Unless... has it been tested to keep the object perfectly in place where we pick it up at? Maybe it should not re-center itself.

 

I realize part of re-centering is probably a visual cue to let us know that we've grabbed the object, but maybe there's a different (still subtle) way to signify that (e.g., a tiny/very subtle frob highlight flash at the moment of grabbing; or slightly brightened frob highlight while we are actually holding it; or? there'd be some way, imo). This could help in other situations, too. For instance: The other day, I was snagging a bunch of loot off a table (a fury of mouseclicks, which I think is fun when you can do that on big piles of coins ). However, somehow some junk object or candle well off to the left of the pile of loot that was in the middle of my screen took focus and I accidentally grabbed that instead, which caused a clanging raucous as it re-centered on my screen. Since I was clicking like crazy, I didn't have time to see that the object had been highlighted before clicking the mouse that fateful time. A guard was nearby who became alert. I blamed the game, so I QuickLoaded. If the object didn't re-center and I knew I had grabbed the object (or if it just picked it up and dropped it where it was really quick because I was mouseclicking so fast), I would've had a better chance of not causing sound.

 

But it's probably been discussed to death behind-the-scenes and there are good reasons for how/why the system works as it currently does. I don't claim to know all the variables factoring in. Just sharing two cents (from the pile of loot I grabbed, heh).

 

The current number of cycles might be too much, but having it succeed on the first cycle every time amounts to 'auto-win'. Having the game do skill-based things for you is something we want to avoid.

Where's Sparhawk when you need him I think he was also wanting T1/T2 style lockpicking, and thought for sure he was going to selfishly code it in. Ha! Darn.

 

I hear what you're saying. I've just never liked manual lockpicking in any game that requires too much attention, so I have my selfish reasons, I suppose. I get bored with it and it becomes a frustrating, repetitive task I don't like after about the tenth time in any game.

 

Honestly, all that is probably needed is to allow the assigning of value "0" for "seta tdm_lp_basecount" in Darkmod.cfg to truly be zero when assigned, and then I can adjust it myself. (Or maybe it's the "seta tdm_lp_autopick_attempts" setting I need to have "0" actually act like a zero; not sure.) Instead, setting to "0" seems to put autopicking into some sort of "fail forever" mode.

 

Using "1" seems to be the lowest you can go, but I think that somehow creates a "1 + 1 = 2 cycles" event rather than the "1 cycle" (0 + 1) event I'm looking for. I've already tweaked it as follows, which is better but not perfect yet. I don't think there's any way to set these to make it be a 1 cycle event...

 

seta tdm_lp_debug_hud "0"
seta tdm_lp_pawlow "0"
seta tdm_lp_randomize "1"
seta tdm_lp_autopick_attempts "1"
seta tdm_lp_pick_timeout "10"
seta tdm_lp_sample_delay "1"
seta tdm_lp_base_count "1"

 

Another way to go might be to just make the value "1" equal "1" instead of "1+1".

 

What is "seta tdm_lp_pawlow" for, by the way? I'll check the Wiki again, but I don't think it said when I looked before.

 

Never noticed this, but it should be sorted out if so.

Yeah, it's been that way as long as I can remember and makes the blackjacking action iteself seem a little sloppy (not as tight) as it could/should, imo. I don't think my computer processing speed is the culprit either, since other sound events seem to be timed okay with the on-screen action and Thief 2014 ran quite well for me. Would be interesting to see how blackjacking feels if it's possible to sync the sound up better with the action.

 

Binding frob to right mouse and use to center mouse allows for easy blackjack/catch body as well as pick up candle and extinguish flame. I found this far more useful than the default binding of enter for use.

That would be awesome and more convenient, but I have the center mouse used for object manipulation. What key do you use for object manipulation? I tried doing what you say and also moved the 'Object Manipulation' trigger to the TAB key, but holding TAB doesn't let me manipulate objects anymore.

[Things that could be improved]

For autopicking: I still contend I successfully advance a lock manually the first click-cycle the large majority of the time; so making autopick do the same would not be a strong net benefit and doesn't all the sudden ruin a mapper's complexity desires.

 

For candles, I also don't like that i have to lift it up with right mouse button, then put it out with TAB or Tilde (~) key (default was an even more inconvenient 'Enter' key), and then carefully set it down. Just seems like way too mich of a cerebral interaction than it needs to be. Not intuitive/natural, thus not immersive for me. Every time I interact with a candle, I'n reminded of how if it were real life, I'd not have to lift the candle up.

 

All in all, I'm just recommending things that will cause me to play the mod more and have more fun while doing so.