Atomica

Jesus Christ mate.

Microsoft can't and won't kill off the ability to run Win32 applications, at least not for a LONG time. They can't - it's the primary reason for using Windows after all, the applications. The store is wildly unpopular and restricting it to solely Store apps is going to piss off a lot of people who aren't aware of what Win 10 S actually is. I know a bunch of open source applications like Paint .NET, Kodi and Inkscape have now got Store versions so there's some capability for having a semi-useful experience with just Store apps, but it's still way too limiting no matter what Microsoft might say. So people who buy these cheap laptops with Win 10 S might either return them, or buy the upgrade to Pro if they want to keep the laptop. People have said the sky is falling with regards to Microsoft and Windows for YEARS and proclaim a mass migration to Linux, and yet time keeps on moving and people continue to use Windows everywhere, with Linux distros having basically stalled in desktop share. I say this as someone who has a certain affection for Linux, because of its control and freedom. But I can't ignore the fact that people get emotional over this stuff and worry too much and that clouds their judgement. As for Paint being killed off, that was clear the moment Microsoft put Paint 3D front and center in the Windows 10 Creators Update. In any case, classic Paint is deprecated, not removed. It will be removed eventually, but you know what? Someone will create an installer for it if the new paint doesn't satisfy your requirements, just like people made installers for the old calculator and media center apps that still work in Windows 10. Windows is too widespread for anything to be killed off permanently - you just need to know how to Google.

You raise an interesting point of what I consider an issue with a lot of modern games. Objective markers are very common place in a lot of games nowadays, and no doubt a lot of the motivation to use them is due to the mainstreaming and increased accessibility of games. Fortunately you can turn them (and a lot of HUD elements) off, but here's the problem - I get the feeling that many games are designed with these HUD elements in such a way that if you turn them off, thing become abnormally difficult because the developers didn't balance the game to work well with their absence. I just don't trust turning off most HUD elements these days because I don't want to expose myself to unnecessary frustration because the developers were under the assumption that you can't get lost because it's clear where you need to go. Part of this is due to the fact that games do a LOT more than older titles and have far more visual density. Some people enjoy being lost and having to stumble across objectives like this, or try to use the in-game map or follow wall markings to know where to go. That's fine, but given that older titles didn't have these features, they had to construct things like visual landmarks and design areas such that you could find your bearings if you paid attention. Maybe I'm just talking shit and pining for the old days, but I stay away from turning off most indicators and HUD stuff unless it's really obnoxious.

OK I've got a confession to make - one of the reasons I kinda liked Thief 4 (I have to say "kinda" because I almost feel like I have to apologize for enjoying the game) is that I am not a true Thief alumnus. I've never played Thief 1 and have only played the demo of Thief 2 (and for the demo I didn't get very far because I didn't "get" the sneaking concept at the time compared to most other FPS titles). Ever since I found The Dark Mod however I became a lot more appreciative of the nature of true Thief-style sneaking games and how immersive they can be, so despite the formula being a bit distilled in Thief 4, I could still enjoy it for what it was. If I was a hardcore Thief fan though, I would probably have more of an issue. I see a lot of parallels with Deus Ex: Invisible War. I find that game rather dull, but if I wasn't a big Deus Ex 1 fan then maybe I could have appreciated Invisible War more as its own game rather than comparing it to the original. Unfortunately I missed out on the optimal time to play Thief 1 & 2, but I find The Dark Mod to be a very worthy alternative.

I can't remember if looting itself makes a noise (from memory I think it has a quiet "swoosh" sound effect when you swipe something), but according to that video's YouTube page, the "WOOSH!" sound was added in for comedic effect and is not how it sounds in game.

Thief 4 is OK. People argue that it's not a true Thief game and to some extent, that's true. It is still a pretty decent stealth game however, but it does have some MAJOR issues: If you want to enter an area through a window you have to bash the E key repeatedly while Garrett breaks in. Since this is actually hiding a loading screen, it makes zero difference how quickly or slowly or how much you press that key - it's just there to give the player some sense of immersion. Since it's just an artificial action that the player can't actually speed up on their own, I'd rather the game just play the breaking-in animation for however long it actually takes, and save my keyboard in the process.The developers were so obsessed with developing a full-body experience for Garrett that they went overboard with animating every single action... especially when searching for and acquiring loot. Pick up that loot, OK I'll just reach out and grab it. Search that drawer, OK I'll just reach out and pull it out, grab the loot if it's there and then close the drawer. They're fairly quick animations and don't sound so bad, until it becomes clear that this is how opening things and grabbing loot is done for the entire game. It slows shit down considerably, and I'm not convinced it improves immersion all that much if you don't see your hands doing the work.There are some forced chase cinematics that play regardless of how well you've been a sneaky thief. Part of me doesn't mind this because it helps reinforce the fact that sometimes shit just happens regardless of how well you've been ghosting, but it changes the tone of the game in such a manner that it's quite jarring.The audio engine is buggy, in particular with people speaking. Often you'll see subtitles for things that you simply can't hear, while other times you'll hear a conversation at normal volume despite the participants being much further away than they should be to have that level of volume.I've played through it once and have tried multiple times to replay it, but the replays never get far. Honestly I prefer to go back to the Dark Mod because it's less bloated with this unnecessary shit.

For fuck's sake CNN. You fucking idiots. This just gives Trump more ammunition to point at and say, "See? I told you so. The media are not to be trusted", which further reduces the respect people have for the media, which further improves Trump's position. How can the media act like they can keep the Government accountable if their reputation is tarnished by doing this shit and no-one can trust their reporting anymore? Come on CNN, get your act together.

Yeah well I was joking anyway. I've got a 3 year old and a 2 month old. I'm not even sure I'll have the energy to do any major mapping, but damnit if I won't try!

OK, I am now more informed about the issues involved. Thanks for the technical info everyone. I'm starting to think that a Requiem-style mission might take a little longer than I thought.

Ray casting? I'm fine with the idea that if you provide more info to the engine about how the map is constructed, then the engine will be able to work more efficiently. It just seems primitive that engines can't work this particular problem out in an efficient, automated way (at least Doom 3 era). Knowing my luck I'll define a visportal/visleaf so badly that the engine will never render the room at all and I'll just see infinity.

Interesting. I always assumed that modern engines (and I still consider the Doom 3/TDM engine to incorporate at least some modern tech designs) have the ability to automatically cull blocked geometry from rendering. Of course they would never render anything outside of the players FOV, but I always thought that it should have been obvious to the engine that if a wall is in the player's way, then there's no reason to render anything beyond it. I don't know the exact technical term for this (something-occlusion-something?), but I guess I'm just surprised visportals are a thing.

I'm curious why that is (TDM being slower in Linux). I've noticed this being an issue in virtually all id Tech 4 (i.e. Doom 3-based) games in Linux, whereby unless you force vsync in the game (which I don't like using due to input lag) you'll get a lot of stutter and fluctuating FPS. At least for me anyway, but I've been trying to get these games to work smoothly in Linux for years and it's never quite gotten there. Sometimes things just work really well at random and I can't replicate it, but then it goes back to being shit on the next run.

Thanks for that. I think it was a very good idea to impress upon people the importance of establishing limits. I've had this issue with my own programming projects, where I'll have this grand idea in mind but never actually finish it because the scope ends up being just too large for person to handle. By working on smaller projects that become building blocks for future projects, it's possible to incorporate the things I've learnt and built previously, but can now use the ideas I had but didn't have the time to implement previously. Good to see that mapping is exactly the same.

What a bunch of dicks. EDIT: I'd use the c-word because I'm an Aussie, but I don't know how far to push the language here.

I actually kinda like it, the getting lost part. Reminds me of old-school games that forced you to try to remember landmarks and areas rather than just relying on a quest HUD indicator. The fact that I find them disorientating might be more of a sign of my own navigation skills getting rusty because I've become too used to modern game niceties that hold my hand through such labyrinths. Having said that, if a mission has too many same-looking corridors or tunnels with few distinguishing features, then it does start to become a bit of a chore.

Man I have to get on this Discord trend - everyone seems to be doing it. Back in my day everyone had their own IRC channels, then eventually Steam groups became popular. No-one cares about either one anymore though.

Well... shit. I've only been a lurker (until now, signed up for the mapper workshop) but regardless I've always loved playing your FMs. Heck I didn't even notice any friction - maybe it wasn't public, or I wasn't paying attention. Regardless though, if you feel the need to take a break then it's definitely the most mature approach here. Probably good for your mental health as well. I hope you return at some point after things settle down. Good luck!

I am also interested in this workshop. Hell, I've been playing this mod for ages - figure I might as well see if I can contribute with a mission or two.