ChronA
-
Content Count
11 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Posts posted by ChronA
-
-
And you confirmed that the game is using the GTX970 with something like GPUz?
Yes, TDM is definitely using the 970.
-
My system specs: Intel i7-6700 (running at 3.4 GHz of 3.4 GHz), 16.0 GB RAM, nvidia GTX 970 with 4GB video memory.
Graphics drives were a few months out of date, but updating them to 419.67 had no effect on the compass... except perversely making it so rather than being almost instant as previously, the soft shadow toggling trick now takes 5-6 seconds to fix the textures.
An interesting note, this new delay lets me see that the compass always starts out white, even if I have soft shadows turned off before launching the first mission each game session. So I guess the compass rendering starts out broken no matter what. The lack of soft shadows just triggers it to fix itself each time. Weird.
-
Yeah, just the shadow toggle trick.
-
Sure. Currently traveling and can't recall all my desktop's specs from memory (only that it has a GTX 970 and an i7), but I'll post as soon as I get back. I'm also curious whether the fix in the bug thread will work. Guess I'll find out in a few days.
-
Yep, that's the one. Thanks a bunch.
-
After finally realizing there was a new Dark mod update, I am loving 2.07 so far. This project continues to impress me with its commitment to customization and polish. Once I got all the new options dialed in the game really runs well and looks beautiful.
My only minor quibble is that my copy of the game seems to have somehow lost the texture for the compass item during the update. I don't think anyone else has posted about any similar issues so it must just be me. I don't suppose there's an easy way to fix it, short of reinstalling?
-
To grayman's question:
In the past two years or so I've been playing, I've never been dissatisfied with the alertness of the AI. All though even on the reduced sensitivity setting they are definitely much more perceptive than the AI in other stealth games, I have never felt it represented an insurmountable challenge. The current status quo of "difficult but fair" is quite an achievement and should not be discarded lightly.
However, since the effect of the sensitivity sliders is pretty subtle, and because there is merit in customization, maybe it could be beneficial to adjust things a bit. Perhaps fatten up the tails as it were... Consider for example: Nearly Blind - 5s, Forgiving - 2.5s, Challenging - 1.5s, and Hardcore: - 0.5s or less. That way Nearly Blind would be comparable to other stealth games, while Hardcore would be a real challenge requiring flawless observation and planning. Of course the danger of such an adjustment is that it could radically change the way certain missions play out, depending on the player's settings. With only half a second or less of grace, I suspect large areas with lots of guards and sparse shadows might become impossible traverse without being detected. That would be unfair to people who take pleasure in ghosting missions on high difficulty, and the map makers who want to accommodate that play style.
On whether vision and hearing sliders should be merged:
I definitely agree they should remain separate. When I first started playing and preferred a blackjack heavy style, I cranked the hearing acuity way down while leaving vision sensitivity on high. That way I could reliably stalk down guards for blackjacking without having to worry about moss arrows or ambush point, while still enjoying the challenge of reading patrol routes to avoid line of sight. It helped me avoid frustration and continue enjoying the game until I mastered more sophisticated strategies.
There's also an argument about user accessibility to consider. One's ability to employ counter play against visual and auditory detection is intrinsically limited by ones own perceptiveness with these senses. Someone with a hearing impairment (or crappy headphones/speakers) might not realize a guard is nearby and can hear them until it is too late. Likewise someone with a vision impairment (or a poorly configured monitor) might not be able to notice a far off guard who can see them across a large space. Being able to tone down these mechanics individually allows such players to continue enjoying the game without sacrificing a appropriate level of challenge in the other dimensions of play they can deal with.
-
Thanks duzenko. Although that tip didn't directly solve my problems, it did lead me to the right documentation.
For anyone having similar issues, what ultimately did the trick for me was going to TheDarkMod.exe>Properties>Compatibility > Change_high_DPI_settings > High_DPI_Scaling_Override where I checking the box for "override high dpi scaling behavior" and selecting "application" from the pull down menu.
Prior to this I had also turned off AA in TDM, in favor of forcing AA through the nvidia control panel, and I set r_nvidiaOverride 0 and r_useFBO 0 in the game console. (In case any of those were contributing factors.)
Currently I'm running in 1920x1080 fullscreen, on all maxed settings (except AA of course), and getting good performance. I have noticed some minor shadow flickering from turning off FBO, but it's not a big deal. Considering turning off FBO also cleared up a graphical glitch I was getting where some water surfaces had periodic horizontal black lines and extra layer of texture, I consider this a win. Plus it sounds like a lot of these issues will be getting fixes for the next update. So thanks again.
-
I'm having the same problem for a much more frivolous reason.
I have a 3840x2160 (4K) monitor, and really enjoy the extra resolution for day-to-day usage and gaming when possible. However, I usually prioritize maintaining a solid 60 Hz frame rate, and enjoying a game's best graphical flourishes (in that order), over squeezing a pixel-perfect rendering out of my hardware. TDM 2.06 has actually proved to be really fantastic in that respect. The game for the most part looks and runs great in 4K. The only problem factor is the Soft Shadows. My GTX970 can't quite hold 60 fps in 4K with them turned on.
Given my priorities, I'd prefer to reduce resolution to 1920x1080 in order to fully enjoy the beautiful lighting. But like the OP said, TDM does not properly respect the full screen option. The Alt-Enter fix "works" but, judging by the frame rate hit, it does so by covertly increasing the game's rendering resolution to match the monitor's native, instead of up-scaling the picture to the proper dimensions.
Does anyone have any suggested fixes? Manually changing my display resolution in Windows 10 options, each time I want to play TDM with Soft Shadows, is not my cup of tea.
-
Wow, that is an insanely cool looking lighthouse. The pyramidal sides give it an intimidating and slightly alien aspect that really fits the Thief aesthetic. That will be a great setting for a mission.
(I’m a new poster here, but I’m a long time lurker and enthusiast of The Dark Mod. This topic is juicy enough to tempt me out of the shadows.)
I think an ideal concept for a short mission is the idea of escape. The protagonist finds him/herself in a dangerous situation and needs to get away before it gets worse. Maybe our hero has just fallen down a well shaft into an underground lake inhabited by smugglers. Or woke up next to a pile of dead bodies at the bottom of a zombie infested crypt. Maybe she’s a retired thief who became a lighthouse keeper, but suddenly a gang of cutthroats showed up looking for payback… (If anyone had a lighthouse map and needed of an easy plot, you are welcome to that one...)In general the escape concept is nice because it sets up immediate narrative stakes and tension, without needing much clunky exposition or having to devote map space to build up a slow burning first act. There’s also no obligation to place lots of loot or provide additional objectives, such as leaving the area, to make the mission feel narratively complete (which I imagine could be beneficial to containing feature creep and preventing map-maker burnout). The story arc of the level finds completion entirely through the primary game mechanic of the player’s interactions with the enemies and environment, which I think puts the focus in the right place for a short mission.I think it’ss odd that very few TDM missions build off this concept. The one that comes to mind is Ulysses (mission one) and it had other objectives thrown in in addition to escaping. However the original Thief games featured a couple of escape missions fairly prominently. Perhaps the concept is simply overshadowed in the popular conception of what a Thief mission is by the preoccupation with treasure hunting and infiltration. Or perhaps it is felt (maybe correctly) that the format requires an established character to give the act of escaping narrative weight...
-
1
-
Things that could be improved
in The Dark Mod
Posted
Since last year I've been playing Thief games with a house rule that any time I knock someone out with the blackjack I must flip a coin. If it comes up tails then the victim was killed by the impact and I finish them off with the sword, accepting whatever consequence comes with that. It makes it so gas arrows are the only totally safe way of taking out guards non-lethally, but the blackjack still exists as an option in emergencies. My other house rule is that anytime I reload from save I must use a health potion, thus preventing me from save scumming through such difficulties without a penalty.
If you don't like the anti-realism of the blackjack or you just want to spice up your play style without going full ghost, I highly recommend this system.