eepcat

Yup...thar she blows. T'anks. - eep! Can you see it? I figure you should, because you have "Beta Mapper" in your profile.

I'm not sure about the Development Forum. Could you post a link and I'll find out? I'm heading off to night schol, so I probably won't get back to you until tomorrow. Thanks, - eep!

Hi all, I've spent some time walking through the code...that's a lot of code! Are there any issues/features in the bugtracker that you would like me to look into? - eep!

Thanks for all the info. I've been programming with Visual Studio for many years now, so I should be able to get things loaded without much problem. I would like to spend about a week (in RL time) getting familiar with the layout and design. I have the full edition of Visual Studio 2005. Are there any known issues between full and express editions? I'll start with DarkRadiant this weekend. I was thinking about adding a menu item called "Make Really Great Mission Now!". This function would read the mind of the user, execute a series of self-modifying algorithms, and generate the actual output file in less than 40 milliseconds. - eep!

One of the mistakes I made the first time around was trying to jump right in and getting something compiled. This time I'd like to get a "bird's eye" view first, then get familiar with the code. As I see it (and please correct where I'm wrong), the Dark Mod is three main parts: 1. DarkRadiant - level editor based on open-source GTKRadiant 2. Game/physics/graphics engine based on open-source Doom3 engine? 3. Custom resources pack (textures, objects, ai, etc). Source code for 1 and 2 are in a SourceForge repository. Tools required to build: 1. SVN to get the source code (I currently use Tortoise) 2. mingw for compiling/linking Questions: Is there a development environment that coders are using? Any special project file format? mak files? Are the files .cpp\.h files? Could I get a quick overview of how tasks are assigned, submitted, tested, etc? Thanks a bunch - I hope I can start contributing real soon, - eep!

Most beautious, Komag. Many thanks. - eep!

I'm a big fan of the Elder Scrolls series of games. I stared with Daggerfall, but never played Arena. It's available for free from Bethesda Softwork's website, so I'm playing it for the first time....talk about a walk down memory lane! Has anyone here played it? Since the download doesn't come with a manual, I don't want to be wandering aimlessly for hours and hours. Any tips? - eep!

If I can find a way to record the voices in my head...will you give them a shot too? - eep!

I was organizing some space in the den today and came across the Thief Deadly Shadows box. It's been a couple of years and I don't remember much about it, other than disappointment. I've been concerned that I was perhaps too hasty in my judgement of the game, so I installed it again. I'll spare you my rather strong opinion about the experience, but suffice it to say I am eagerly anticipating playing DarkMod mission - - the engine is so much better and DarkRadiant is sheer joy to work with. - eep!

Sweetness!...very motivating - eep!

One great thing about fan missions...you never have to worry about budget. There are dozens of T1 and T2 missions that far exceeded the official missions. I used to ask..."why couldn't the pros pull this off?" Well, they can, but they were handcuffed by budget. The only budget here is time and we all have plenty of that - eep!

Act now and we'll throw in a pair of tight gloves! - eep!

...that would be on a 20-sided die, no? - eep!

Today I casually took a look at the posted screenshots. They are amazing! You guys are already setting the bar so high, I have no hope of reaching it...but I'll still try! There is a ton of artistic talent here and this is going to be a huge success. Great, great work. The Builder will be pleased. - eep!

By mid-June I should be free of DromEd forever....mu ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! - eep!

Sparhawk, I designed a couple of simple levels in A4, but in the end it served only as a good lesson in level design. I especially enjoyed learning their scripting language (C Script?). It answered a lot of questions I had about AI in 3d games. I then spent about two years trying to find an open source engine (starting with the Wolfenstein raycasting engine) and eventually starting work with Revolution 3D (for Visual Basic back then). I started working on a sewer racing game when I started work on my first Thief FM...I have stuck with DromEd since. I realized that developing a complete game is a team effort, and recruiting a team is awfully difficult when you don't have any real credentials...so game Mods were a better choice. Knowing that most of the members of this community are TTLG vets, I know that it will be an open community with a passion for the Thief world. - eep!

Hello All, Eepcat here. It would be a great priviledge to contribute to this effort. I have been a member of TTLG since 2001 and have authored five missions with DromEd. I've also worked with Game Studio (A4/A5) and the Morrowind construction set. GtkRadiant is a sweet editor and I look forward to working with a more intuitive and user-friendly editor. I am a computer programmer for an aerospace company (though I actually work on systems for yachts...go figure!). I offered my coding skills back in August, but RL issues ended that rather quickly. Mission designing is much more accomodating to the tides of real life, so I know that this is something I can make a solid contribution to. The Thief series is one of only two game series' to cause complete obsession (the other being SSI's AD&D Gold Box series circa 1988). This effort is a great way to keep the spirit of Thief alive while moving in a new direction using modern tools for modern hardware. I'm currently finishing my FINAL DromEd mission for the Masters of Horror contest. I'll post some screenshots from recent missions later tonight or (probably) tomorrow. I hope to put togther a mission that serves as a well-documented tutorial on traps (unless someone beats me to it, of course). I have a patched Doom3; I've used Subversion before; a cable modem for those big downloads, and lots of patience (thank you DromEd). Please fire away with questions... - eep!

Sounds good. I've got about two months of work left on my (final?) DromEd mission. Once I'm done, I'll check back in and see what's shaking. Komag, I assume you are laboring day and night with a DarkMod tutorial? (I know there are others, but I'm a sentimental cat) - eep!

What sort of traps/triggers will be available for the Dark Mod? I'm planning a fairly small mission which contains a number of traps. In DromEd these would be accomplished through bounds triggers and pressure plates linked to emitters, portcullis, etc. There was certainly plenty of "trap" behavior in Doom 3 with all the creatures dropping out of the ceilings ad nauseum. I'm at the point where I know I need to "cut the cord" from DromEd and move on, so if the toolset has a good selection of traps, this might be a good mission to try as a beta mapper. If it works out, it could serve as a demo for the mod's trap interface. Trappiness = Happiness - eep!

It's hard to believe that three months have gone by. I just endured one of the most stressful periods of my life. I won't bore you with the details, but suffice it to say I am terribly short on energy and motivation these days. I had hoped to offer some help on DarkMod, but I have so little time that it would be a struggle from start to finish. I never even got the development environment set up. I appreciate the time spent and apologize for having to bow out. Best wishes on the project. It will be an interesting 2007! - eep!

Thanks. I was able to download the source and have a look-see. Unfortunately, I've been doing some travelling for work, trying to finish a DromEd mission, and dealing with the death of a close friend. It may be a little while before I'm able to get started on anything. I have a question about source control: what is the procedure for checking out, modifying, merging, etc. I'm used to files being locked when checked out, but that does not appear to be the case with SubVersion. - eep!

Downloaded tools, but link to code is dead. - eep!

Very well. I will take some time to acquaint myself with the tools and also mapping in GTKRadiant. I will let you know if I feel confident to continue. Thanks for your time, - eep!

I agree with you, Ishtvan...it is very difficult to judge a programmer's abilities. My background may or may not be a match. I've had quite a varied experience, from embedded laser scanners, to CCD camera drivers, to PC applications, to Java applets. Several years ago I wrote an old-school D&D-type game series which featured my own cheesy 3d engine (node-based) sort of like Pool of Radiance crica 1988. Later I wrote a game (which I have since completely lost) which used the raycasting engine that Wolfenstein 3d used. I've also used the Direct3D API (not since 5.0, though), and started developing a game using 3D Game Studio (the A4 Engine at that time), but the project was too much to pull off alone. All in all, I have a decent understanding of 3d graphics and an appreciation for its development. The bulk of my experience in the past two years has been building dynamic GUIs driven by either a structured database, or multiple ".ini"-type files. If any of that seems helpful, I'd be glad to work on some small tasks to get a feel for the environment. If it doesn't work out, I've done several DromEd missions, so mapping would be second nature once past the initial learning curve for the editor. I was also a part-time musician some years ago and am currently working on some ambients for my next mission...so sound production is also a possibility. I'm hoping to help the effort, but want the team to make the right decision(s) for the project. - eep!