snatcher
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Posts posted by snatcher
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Brightness, gamma and ambient.
Brightness and gamma are user settings mappers can't (shouldn't) change. My opinion is that players shouldn't feel the need to change these unless real-life conditions change around them (day vs night, lights on/off, new monitor, etc).
What mappers do in their missions is setting a single or multiple "ambient" lights to their maps. We can think of it as "the mood of the map or area". This ambient can change between zones: bright fullmoon outdoors, pitch black sewers, blue ghostly atmosphere, etc. My opinion is that players should be able to adjust the ambient of a mission based on their preferences or current mood (brighter or darker).
You can try this yourself. Set your brightness and gamma just how you like it. Launch this mission, bring down the console and enter, in example:
r_ambientGamma 1.2
The mission suddenly is a tad brighter and the light gem and gui/hud elements remain unaltered.
Mind you, r_ambientGamma is persistent: you have to set it back to 1 when you are done with the mission, otherwise it stays at 1.2.
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I haven't played the latest entry in the Lieutenant series yet but I am looking forward to it
On the subject of darkness (or lack of depending on preferences) players shouldn't rely on brightness and gamma since it impacts everything, including gui/hud elements. Increasing brightness and/or gamma too much makes the game look ugly.
Since the Tone mapping initiative by @Arcturus and @stgatilov got panned by our most exquisite members perhaps the right solution is an in-game ambient slider players can raise or lower at will in tiny increments. This slider must be dynamic and respect (mapper's) changes between different zones. I would probably place such slider somewhere in the inventory screen. When players click on the slider the inventory fades out to facilitate the adjustment. The slider has a visible mark somewhere pointing to the map's default ambient, that way players can tell where they are vs author's intentions.
A different version of the r_ambientGamma cvar would be required. The new cvar should reset when switching missions or closing the game.
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Hi ClockWood,
23 hours ago, ClockWood said:2 - There is no falling to your death sound. [...] I fell to my death multiple times, and it always felt so weightless and anticlimactic doing so. [...]
Yeah, besides that there are a couple of player dying sounds that are also very anticlimactic.
23 hours ago, ClockWood said:4 - This is a small nitpick, but the water footsteps sound a bit off. Everything else in the sound department is generally very good, but the water footsteps sound as if someone dipped their fingers on a bathtub and is moving them around. It lacks impact. [...]
Yes. Fortunately @SeriousToni came to the rescue with his Alternative Footstep Sound Package
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Hi Bergante,
On 6/26/2025 at 11:50 PM, Bergante said:Yours : the Forward lantern isn´t here
"Forward Lantern"... such a misleading name for a mod, I feel embarrassed
The changes to the lantern are so subtle that no wonder you didn't notice anything. But wait, perhaps that was the plan all along?
When I started playing TDM my brain noticed something was off with the player lantern but I couldn't understand what it was. This post by @Briareos H reinforced the thought and at some point I decided to take the lantern to the lab. I modded it to the best of my abilities - while respecting the original vision - and I have since been happy with the result. You can check the Modpack 4.6 release post for additional details.
By the way, thanks @datiswous for letting Bergante know about the Player Lamp mod!
On 6/26/2025 at 11:50 PM, Bergante said:anyones ? : Inventory Grid - to F2 does not show up like messaged before (old appearance, no sorting)
The modded inventory grid/menu is part of "Core Essentials", a melting pot of many things. Check this post for my justifications. You can extract the relevant files though, and create your own standalone inventory mod.
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It's good to see you around Bikerdude!
On 6/23/2025 at 6:44 PM, Bikerdude said:Is this what I think it is, as in virtual rooms that go behind windows..? This will indeed be most welcome and imho be part of the core.
Nope. It is my first attempt at a
mission?campaign?unusual assortment of things!I understand the Title is open to interpretation and you left me wondering... care to elaborate what you had in mind when you said "virtual rooms that go behind windows"?
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Fall 2025
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12 hours ago, kingsal said:
Thanks! I thought they were pretty fun.
I haven't looked at those powder kegs in a long time, but it might be worth re making them someday. I remember them being fun to light with the flint and then tossing them on bad guys heads.Uh.
I never figured out how powder kegs were supposed to work... until today. Such a fool I am.
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On 5/2/2025 at 7:48 PM, kingsal said:
Coming in late in this discussion, but I've made some breakable crates for Volta 3 that work pretty well.
Your crates in Volta 3 are excellent. Goodies inside and all!
I wish your poweder kegs from Volta 2 were as good: for strategic playing kegs should explode with a single hit of a broadhead. Unfortunately they require many hits rendering them useless.
Elements such breakable looting crates and exploding barrels should be part of the core TDM offering.
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On 4/10/2025 at 12:58 AM, datiswous said:
Is this the same as nameless_objects ?
In v5.0 of the Modpack I simply added names to some actors: Rat, Elemental, Spider, Steam Bot and Fish.
For objects you still need the Object Names Mod.
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On 3/25/2025 at 12:59 AM, nbohr1more said:
2.13 is out, eager to see if any new reports arrive now that the CVAR thread-safe fix is in production.
Still there, unfortunately.
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While working on the Fragile Bottles mod (idea / release) I examined the Flinder feature and my conclusion was that it never was fully realized and it is not ready for general / complex use.
Here is the relevant topic:
For the breakable bottles I couldn't figure out safe offsets and I found flinders would often clip with one another or spawn where they shouldn't and I opted for a scripted solution to have full control. I originally intended bottles to break into two pieces but sizes and heights of bottles vary and I ended up using only one piece but that piece along with a particle and the sound sell the effect nicely, imho.
For flinders to work I guess the first step is to work with the original model and split it into pieces while retaining the origin. I think this is the most important aspect to avoid issues. If you then add some dust particles you can probably hide the swap a little and do away with less pieces. Since you can hardly control where the pieces will end and to prevent the player from getting stuck, flinders will have to be frobable or perhaps non-solid and fade out shortly after spawning.
"In Remembrance of Him" by @RPGista can perhaps be a source of inspiration. Go to coordinates 12305 -5900 -185 for a less elaborated but still effective alternative to what you are trying to achieve.
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Waiting (im)patiently for a version compatible with 2.13, @jivo !
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I will work harder! You keep pushing to make this game better!
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6 minutes ago, wesp5 said:
But I don't want to just copy all your stuff [...]
We are essentially doing the same thing. You have the passion and the attitude and I wish you were eager to go beyond minor edits and learn new stuff to be able to bring new, compelling mods, to TDM. There's much to be done!
6 minutes ago, wesp5 said:[...] also I took a look at your script and there must be an easier solution. It works for the gas arrow, why wouldn't it work for other GAS_STIM tools? The core developers need to fix it for the gas mine anyway and I hope they find an different way that I could use...
Check this post. That's all I know about the matter because as soon as I realized about the shortcomings I changed direction and moved on.
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41 minutes ago, wesp5 said:
Do you know why? I'm pretty sure I just copied the stim from the gas arrow.
No, I don't know why. Adopt the Shock Mine.
In fact, consider Core Essentials + Classic Blackjack + Shock Mine + Blow / Ignite + Whistle as the starting point for the Unofficial Patch so that we always are at the same level. Add your additions on top.
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15 hours ago, wesp5 said:
Okay, but gas stims don't go to knockouts? So gas mine and gas arrow are not credited the same as my stun mine?
- Fire arrow: OK
- Gas arrow: OK
- Explosive mine: OK
- Snatcher's shock mine: OK
- Wesp5's electric/stun mine: NOT OK
- New gas mine: NOT OK
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22 hours ago, wesp5 said:
So do the explosive mine kills go to the player or not as well?
Sorry missed this. Yes, explosive mine kills go to the player.
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1 hour ago, Zerush said:
Nice mod, works flawless, but i don't see the modpack banner in the mainscreen, nor anywhere else (???)
Can't you see this?
(Mind you, it only gets displayed in the main screen when nothing else is selected, in example, when you launch the game)
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6 hours ago, wesp5 said:
The sortable inventory grid looks cool too! Might I use it in my patch?
Yes.
6 hours ago, wesp5 said:Has anything else been updated like the whistle or blow skills?
Yes, almost everything.
6 hours ago, wesp5 said:You also mention that you fixed something in my shock mine. What is that about?
Uh, your electric mine is stim-based and my shock mine is script-based. Both look the same on the surface but the approach is completely different. Your electric mine doesn't credit KOs to the player (just like the recently introduced gas mine) and that's why I took the shock mine in a different direction.
6 hours ago, wesp5 said:And what is the problem with the stackable non stackable items?
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7 hours ago, datiswous said:
I think this is really interesting and personally I love seeing a bit of change from the default "it has to look like Thief".
Right! So much potential... The more mod-friendly the engine becomes the more interesting initiatives will see the light.
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1 hour ago, wesp5 said:
The compass is not in the tools section but has one of its own, because of a bad string in tdm_playertools [...]
It never made much sense to me that the compass had its own category which made me believe it is by design for some reason. Watch out for side-effects in missions. "Compass", "Loot" and "all others" are three different things.
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- Popular Post
- Popular Post
TDM Modpack 5.0
Compatible with The Dark Mod 2.13 (only!). The download link can be found in the opening post.
Introducing...
~ THE LIGHT STONES ~
The shortcomings of the Light Gem come from the fact that we normally have nothing to compare its luminosity with and it is many times difficult to tell how lit we are. Fully concealed? Slightly lit? Besides, no wonder the original creator(s) of the Light Gem had to come up with the red frame because at some point it is impossible to discern medium from high brightness.
The Light Gem has served us well but the time to mod it has come. Inspired by a comment by @Zerg Rush here is my take on the light indicator:
This new light indicator does not make use of the red color. As far as usability goes I think it is best that we stick to yellow for light, red for health and blue for air.
The Light Stones mod probably isn't the perfect solution but a step in the right direction for sure and the best thing of all is that I didn't touch a single line of code: the effect is achieved by simply altering five images. Light levels are calculated by the game engine the same as always but the outputs are displayed differently now.
Love it? Hate it? See the Light Stones in action and let us know what you think!
This mod is available in all missions.
~ Visually Visible Player Weapons ~
On the subject of light, according to the Light
GemStones having the bow or the sword sheathed make you a tad more visible and I thought we could organically let players know by making these weapons "visually visible" in the dark. While I was at it I also made the Blackjack slightly visible for players to be able to discern its texture in very dark conditions instead of seeing a black shape. The change in the blackjack is minimal and I don't expect any complaint.This little tweak is included in Core Essentials and it is available in all missions except in A House of Locked Secrets, Hazard Pay and Noble Affairs.
~ Modpack Settings ~
Up until now we used an external file to configure some controls and now this functionality has been built into the game and the "Auto Commands" mod has been decommissioned.
Simply click on the Modpack banner in the Main Menu to access this screen and setup controls to your liking:
I haven't figured out yet how to detect if a particular mod is installed and this screen is always the same regardless of whether you have a mod or not. I will look to improve this in the future.
~ Inventory Menu ~
In previous iterations of the Modpack the Inventory Menu has gone through several visual and functional upgrades and this time thanks to @datiswous and @nbohr1more we can change the sorting of the items:
~ Flash Grenade & Shock Mine Mods ~
There's nothing new for players in these mods but I want to stop here for a second to say something.
When creating mods I not only do my best to make them compelling and compatible with most missions but I also try to anticipate what mappers might do. The Flashbomb had never been modded by any mapper but due to some limitations during the 2.11 times the Flash Grenade mod was doomed to break a mission and it eventually happened in Kingsal's Moongate Ruckus.
Despite it being my problem I wasn't sure how to tackle the situation and Kingsal was very kind and in an update he included a fix in his mission to avoid the incompatibilities.
@kingsal, I once asked you include the file "def/tdm_playertools_flashbomb.def" in "Moongate Ruckus". I finally had time to review my mod in detail and make it as resilient as possible so feel free to remove the file in your next update.
Thank you very much for your understanding.
On a side note, the Shock Mine mod was also created during the 2.11 times and it has now received a similar treatment and the modded mine shouldn't break anything in the long run.
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Fellow @wesp5,
For this release I revisited and updated most of the mods and some are of your concern:
The bottle fragment in the "Fragile Bottles" mod used to replace the original entity but I changed it to replace only the model (and the skin) thus preserving the entity. This approach is way safer to guarantee compatibility with crazy stuff mappers might do.
By default, FPS are uncapped in 2.13 and the "Blinking Items" and the "Loot Animations" mods have received and update to make them feel more or less the same under any FPS.
Consider updating these mods in the Unofficial Patch.
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Once again, thanks @Dragofer for making standalone mods possible, thanks @stgatilov for everything you do, thanks @taaaki for hosting the game and maintaining this place and, last but not least, thanks @nbohr1more for all the house keeping.
Here is the full change log (the download link can be found in the opening post):
• v5.0 New release - Compatible with TDM 2.13 (only). - LIGHT STONES: Initial release. - AUTO COMMANDS: Decommissioned (replaced with an in-game menu). - CORE ESSENTIALS - MISC: Player weapons are visually visible in the dark. - CORE ESSENTIALS - MISC: The inventory grid/menu allows sorting items. - CORE ESSENTIALS - MISC: Inventory count removed for non-stackable items. - CORE ESSENTIALS - SMART OBJECTS: Added names to some actors / ragdolls. - CORE ESSENTIALS - FRAGILE BOTTLES: Bottle fragment now replaces the model instead of the entity. - CORE ESSENTIALS - LOOT ANIMATIONS: Mod revisited to make it work nicely with high FPS. - CORE ESSENTIALS - BLINKING ITEMS: Mod revisited to make it work nicely with high FPS. - FLASH GRENADE & SHOCK MINE: Removed potential incompatibilities with future missions. - SHOCK MINE: Shop price doubled (80 gold now). - SKILL LOOP: Final update to make it more versatile in destination.Happy Taffing!
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9 hours ago, wesp5 said:
- If main menu info tips are displayed, they keep being displayed in the background of the mission difficulty menu.
This used to happen in (at least) 2.12 as well. Press escape while a tip is being displayed and it will stay with you even when watching the credits. Fortunately the tip goes away when a mission starts.
9 hours ago, wesp5 said:- If you enter an alternative key for the "sheathe weapon" key it will be cut off, but only if default key ' is still active.
I am not not totally sure I get what you mean but... This is normal and probably unavoidable. The space is limited. Try setting Print Screen and Capslock to any control.
So far this is but it isn't a "TDM 2.13 issues" thread, imho. Consider a different name for the topic not to mislead an audience eager to try the new version!
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Fan Mission: The Lieutenant 4: A Reciprocal Gambit by Frost_Salamander
in Fan Missions
Posted
Not only fan missions, all three official missions (Training , New Job and St. Lucia) have different ambient so yeah, ditch it.