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snowy

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Everything posted by snowy

  1. Great! I couldn't see your mock-ups anymore, but I did see a mock-up from Springheel that looks similar and I'm a fan of this presentation. Consensus on a design is probably the most tricky part, unless you already have that covered. I can probably help you with the code.
  2. I like the ideas of allowing multiple play styles through a mission, similar to Hitman and Deus Ex. Ghosting, blackjacking and combat are standard. Key hunts, lock picking, underwater parkour and rooftop parkour are less standard. How would "unfortunate accidents" play out in a TDM mission? Would a "whoops, dropped a heavy box onto a guards head" count as such an (unscripted) unfortunate accident?
  3. Let's try that. I did switch buttons "Set Finished" and "Main Menu" around, because I think a back-button should always be on the bottom row. Also I think it would be best to keep button names as brief as possible, so I kept "Refresh List" the same name. See files in attachment and a screenshot: mainmenu_newgame.gui mainmenu_defs.gui
  4. Sure, I can help with that. I'd add a new GUI "markMissionCompleted" command to darkmod_src 2.07 game/ModMenu.cpp:134 like this: (I should probably refactor this into its own re-usable function shared by SysCmds.cpp:157) Then copy the "Refresh list" button from the tdm_gui01.pk4 guis/mainmenu_newgame.gui:151 and add the "completed" command before the "refresh" command. I added the files mainmenu_newgame.gui, mainmenu_defs.gui and ModMenu.cpp as attachment. It's a draft, of course. Feedback for better wording and button arrangement is welcome. Here's a screenshot with the new button marked with red to get this ball rolling: Yes, and if the type has multiple descriptors, we can truncate it down to a single line with the triple dots "...". I think mission size is important for people with a slower internet connection, but it shouldn't be a primary factor in choosing a mission. So I'd be fine with replacing size on the download page with multiple type descriptors. Mission size wouldn't be gone, it would still be visible for secondary evaluation on the "More..." page. When I think about it, the way I really use the "spiders and undead" column on the wiki is two-fold: To evaluate if there will be combat and un-blackjackable enemies in the mission. I really dislike combat and love to blackjack everything. To avoid missions with possible scare jumps or overly graphic scenery. I am one of the "faint of heart", I try walk the very fine line between good amount of suspense and too scary. I would like to be able to see if a mission features any monsters. It'd be fine if that were visible on the "More..." page along with all the other mission details. mainmenu_newgame.gui mainmenu_defs.gui ModMenu.cpp
  5. From a design perspective, the mission types are a mixed bag consisting of locations (mansion, city), genres (horror) and game play types (platforming). Ideally we'd want to split these 3 groups and allow multiple tags in each group. This would cover both single missions and campaigns. It could possibly facilitate an advanced tag-based search if we'd ever want one. And maybe even something fancy, such as a mission recommendation system based on, for example, highest percentage overlap of type tags from already finished or downloaded missions. I wouldn't do those features in C++. Python has easier access to data science tools to do such things. To keep it simple, I'd say the wiki mission type list has a high overlap with the TTLG mission type list that has been in use since 2006. So after 13 years of use, maybe it's just a good list. Mission authors can choose a single mission type that most represents their mission. It can be an artistic decision. A campaign simply remains a "campaign" and missions without a type remain a "single mission". I added a screenshot of the mission download menu with mission type included in the existing layout, marked with red. Because the release date value is fixed in width, there's room for a type value next to it. Since type names are not finalized yet, we can make each type name fit in that type value space. This would always be a single value. I don't know how missions are uploaded. If it's a form, the mission author can select a mission type from a drop-down list. If it's a PM, maybe the mission author can simply mention the mission type in the PM. Because it's a fixed type list, I think we should exclude type from darkmod.txt. Otherwise we'd either have to allow a free type text that could deviate from the online types in the mission manager, or guarantee fixed types in the mission manager by matching the type text with the fixed type name list using something like Levenshtein distance. I'd say the mission type is always read from the online mission mirrors. I think the idea is to help players to more easily select missions to download. Once a mission is downloaded, we can assume players have already made their preferred selection, so mission types in the offline mission manager are less important and more a nice-to-have. I don't know how missions are updated, can I assume they are updated the same way they are uploaded?
  6. Then I misunderstood. Thanks! But maybe if the final result is good enough, it'll get picked up. My goal is simple: the ability to see the specific mission type when selecting missions to download in TDM without changing the current layout. I see showing specific mission types in TDM is no problem. I propose a fixed set of mission type keywords based on the wiki mission page, which I assume is already agreed upon by the TDM community: single, multi, bank, castle, city, church, experimental, tavern, prison, lostciv, horror, mansion, museum, caves, daylight, pagan, pirate, platforming, sewers, ship, rooftop, tomb, training and warehouse. TDM can automatically translate these keywords into the correct language in readable form by mapping, such as "bank" translating to "Bank Jobs" in TDM. Many translations are already available in the lang files, missing translations can be added. I can handle the coding, scripting and translations unless someone else prefers to do that. Once that's done, these mission type keywords need to be added as attributes or field values to the missionlist.xml, which I assume is downloaded from the mission mirrors. I don't know if the XML is manually edited or generated from the darkmod.txt in the missions. For backward compatibility with older TDM versions, these mission types will need to be a new attribute or field in the XML. That's as far as I got. Any feedback to approve, disapprove or improve the plan is welcome. What do you think about this plan?
  7. I wish the rope arrows were retrievable when they are misfired, similar to vine arrows. Any time I use a rope arrow, I quick save just in case I break one.
  8. I like that verticality! Maybe add a mini-tutorial with a note on rope arrows and what to look for though, because when I started looking into FM missions recommended for their verticality, I was totally clueless what to look for to use rope arrows on. It took a while for me to "get it", but when I finally got it, it was amazing.
  9. I'm not aiming for a complete redesign, instead I'm aiming for a smallest significant improvement if there is one. If I just add these lines to mainmenu_download.gui:516 in tdm_gui01.pk4/guis to show "mission type" in the mission details alongside release date (which has a fairly constant string width), right half of the type value aligned with the "More..." text: windowDef SAMDPropertiesType { rect 125,30,80,16 text "#str_04354" // Type: AVAILABLE_MISSION_DETAIL_TITLE } windowDef SAMDPropertiesTypeValue { rect 152,30,190,16 text "gui::av_mission_type" AVAILABLE_MISSION_DETAIL_TEXT } That's a subtle change to conveniently show the mission type in TDM without a complete redesign, right? I bet most won't even notice it unless they actively look for it. I know it's not useful yet, since it only shows Single or Multi, but we can probably expand that enum Type in Mission in darkmod_src 2.07 game/Missions/MissionManager.h:82 since only Multi is checked in two other files, unless this also requires changes in the DR repository. I'm a total TDM and DR architecture newbie, so it's all probably way more complicated than it seems. You're the experienced dev. If you want to shoot this idea down again because you still think it's too complicated or a waste of time, I won't spend any more time trying. All good ? mainmenu_download.gui
  10. If that means the mission list has been improved enough and everybody agrees, then I'll stop bringing it up. I do like the improved mission list mock-up you made, though. It's similar to the insightful mission wiki page, except all that information shown conveniently in TDM itself.
  11. I know this is a very old topic, but is there still interest in improving the mission menu? I can help out with the scripting and C++ stuff if necessary.
  12. Most players (or people in general) don't read, let alone dig around on websites for information. It'd be nice to just fire up TDM and get all the info in there. I see this idea isn't new. Does anyone know what happened to this?
  13. The DR method doesn't work for me on Ubuntu 19.04 with DR 2.6.0 x64. When searching for models etc by typing, the search box does appear when typing and the first deep nested map opens up for the first letter I type, but the list doesn't respond to any text changes in the search box after that. The up and down keys do nothing. Unpacking the pk4 files is a good idea, I hadn't thought of that. I've just been scrolling around and taking notes of useful file locations and names. Thanks!
  14. If the maps are fun, what does it matter who's behind it? If I stopped using every product because of the person behind it, I'm not sure if I'd still have a normal comfortable life I mean, just look at some of the musicians and actors. Plenty of fine works there, but not everyone is as breathtaking as Keanu Reeves.
  15. This page show no FM packages to me: http://www.thedarkmod.com/missions/ But this mission page does work and it has more information on the missions, I'd use that: http://wiki.thedarkmod.com/index.php?title=Fan_Missions_for_The_Dark_Mod
  16. The "downloadable missions" list in TDM itself would be more useful if those two fields were added in the mission details, I think. Right now I'm only using the in-game mission download list if I already know a title I want to download, which I found out about on this forum or that wiki page. Am I the only one that does that?
  17. I've enjoyed many missions in TDM and I've also been able to avoid missions that would possibly frustrate me or make me quit playing. This list is heavily responsible for my great enjoyment of TDM: http://wiki.thedarkmod.com/index.php?title=Fan_Missions_for_The_Dark_Mod I use that list mainly for these 2 reasons: Check the mission type so I can easily pick indoor or outdoor missions, whatever I'm in the mood for. Nice to have. Check if the mission features monsters, because I dislike combat, jump scares and I mostly enjoy the suspense of blackjacking anything that moves. Critical for me personally. Now if I just played through missions without looking at that wiki list, I would've probably played a lot of missions with monsters and quit a lot of missions. I wouldn't have enjoyed TDM as much as I do now. Being able to identify missions I'll likely enjoy in advance really helps a lot. Sorting and filtering are nice to have, but not necessary. The Dark Mod already shows useful missions details such as "title", "author", "release date" and "size". Would it be possible to also add fields "mission type" and "monsters yes / no" there as well, only in text? Maybe you'll disagree about the monster part. Just be aware that it does make a difference to a player like me. For example: I've never played and never will play beyond the first Thief 1 mission that I've enjoyed with multiple replays, because the second mission features zombies that change the gameplay I enjoy from the first mission to something I don't enjoy. I've heard there are more great missions in that game like the first mission, but that's a loss for both me as a player and possibly the campaign authors who'd want more people to play through their entire campaign unless this choice is intentional. Obviously horror campaigns and horror missions should feature horror. But non-horror campaigns maybe shouldn't do that if they want every player to play through the entire campaign from beginning to end. I won't play through the entire campaigns of William Steele and Shadows of Northdale in sequence because of the missions with undead, even though SoN Act 1 and William Steele's the Warrens are two of my most favorite TDM missions. That's fine by me and maybe that's also fine by the authors. If that result is unintentional and the missions become serialized into a campaign someday, just be aware that these missions might become blocking for players like me.
  18. I like fireflies too and want to use them in my outdoor regions. I think in Alberic's Curse the fireflies are moving lights. At least the ones I've noticed high up in the trees. One option I've found is to create my own fireflies in the Particle Editor for a func_emitter: Create a new particle with a single stage. Use shader textures/darkmod/sfx/fake_haze_01 and give it a color. Set "count" to 1, unless you prefer more fireflies at the same spot. Duration to something long, like 25 seconds. Set path to "helix", radial and axial speed to 5, and cylinder size X & Y to 20. Set speed 10, size 4 and gravity -0.1 Tweak until it roughly looks and moves the way you want. Fake a light with a normal light if the fireflies remain roughly at the same position. Maybe bind the light to a func_bobbing entity to give it slight movement and make it a little more convincing. For falling leaves it's the exact same thing, except with a leaf shader and a positive gravity number. Another more crude firefly option I've tried is to bind a tdm_wisp particle to a light and two func_bobbing entities with x_axis 1 and y_axis 1 with a different phase each for movement. For some reason, my wisp particles are always drawn behind water surfaces. I use a lot of water surfaces in my outdoor region, so I have to keep the wisps high up in the air and away from water. Waterfall particles are also drawn behind water and these need to be near water. I hope this bug will be fixed. I hope this helps. If you find better ways to get convincing fireflies, please share
  19. I saw a video on two "hidden" TrenchBroom features that might also be interesting for Dark Radiant. The two videos below link to the same video with different timestamps, for a quick example of each feature. Feature 1 - The ability to select 2 faces from 2 separate brushes, then using CSG Merge to automatically create a new brush bridging the gap between these two brush faces. This would save time in drawing a new brush and moving edges / vertices for the same result. Video example: Feature 2 - The ability to select a brush face, then when extruding (for example with the resize tool), this will create a new brush instead of extending the existing brush. This is useful for quickly creating trims without having to draw a new brush or use the clipper tool. Video example: I don't know if these features are complex to implement. And obviously these effects can already be achieved in Dark Radiant with the existing tools. These features just make the edits a little faster and more convenient. Are these features interesting enough to include in Dark Radiant?
  20. Thank you! I hope that fixes the issue. In my case, the stuttering is definitely caused by the capped FPS. Vsync has no effect on the stuttering. Also, with com_showfps I see the same 50+ FPS with both capped and uncapped, so the stuttering is not reflected in the in-game FPS counter. As if there's no performance difference, only visual stuttering. I'll play uncapped, that fixes everything for me. I'll let you know if this problem is gone in capped once I can try 2.08.
  21. After these changes, I don't see any glitches. The smooth frame rate as a result makes the game a much more immersive and enjoyable experience for me. Can other people try these settings too and see if it makes any difference for them? If I understand this article correctly, all games using the doom 3 engine are affected by micro stutters, but not everyone notices them: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=891278647 If that's true and there's no downside to it, can these settings be made standard in TDM for a default smooth frame rate for everyone?
  22. This is my favorite TDM mission so far. Part open world, part mystery, part detective. This mission made me aware of city type missions, also searching beyond TDM and finding skacky's excellent city missions. I went from a casual "trying out a TDM mission every now and then" player to really getting hooked and wanting to experiment with DR as well. That whole chain started with this immersive and inspiring mission. Thank you, grayman!
  23. Yes, I experience the same micro stuttering. Actually, I played so many mission with it, I got used to it. Until I came across this article on how to fix micro stuttering in the doom 3 engine: https://pcgamingwiki.com/wiki/Doom_3#Micro_stuttering I opened Darkmod.cfg with a text editor and used these two settings as explained in that article: seta r_swapInterval "1" seta com_fixedTic "1" And the game runs really smooth. That seems to fix the problem. I've only just found out, so I don't know if it creates any other glitches.
  24. Thank you, peter_spy, demagogue and Jedi_Wannabe. That's very motivating. I'll keep on mapping this way then, it's the most productive and fun way for me for now. TDM is Thief 4 to me, I really like it. Especially the way the player moves and the always reliable mantling and shadows. Those real shadows cuts down on me relying on the lightgem and finding hiding places by trial and error like in TG/T2. I think I don't even really need the lightgem in TDM. The TG/T2 community has more mission diversity and mission types, but I'm sure TDM will catch up and beat it in popularity at some point. That TTLG Thief FM Mission Type List is inspirational for gameplay ideas.
  25. I've played a lot of Thief Gold and Thief 2 fan missions. I've also played a lot of The Dark Mod missions and now I'm trying to build my own mission in DarkRadiant. I have followed tutorials on how to use the architecture modules in DarkRadiant, but when I'm mapping my own missions so far I'm doing my own low polygon architecture with my own brushes. I do this for a couple of reasons. I find them easy and quick to make, edit, fully customize into anything imaginable and always snap perfectly to my grids. Also, I find it easier to discover how TG and T2 fan mission architecture is done by playing and looking around in these missions. The Dark Mod missions all look beautiful, but I find it difficult to discover how it's made, replicating it and making it my own. As a result, my mission architecture looks more like something you'd expect to see in a TG or T2 fan mission, with the bumpy textures, lights, shadows and particles from the Dark Mod engine. I don't mind. But if any of my missions end up becoming interesting enough gameplay-wise, is this bad? Must I use the modules everywhere eventually to keep graphics to the expected Dark Mod high standards?
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