JulioTheDanks

Okay I was wondering. The AI fixes and updates are eagerly awaited.

What is your final vision for the Dark Mod? What do you want your finished product to look like?

I've played several missions, but obviously not enough and as I was typing that last night I realized that many of my criticisms would be out of ignorance. Although the feedback was faster then me playing through all the missions to figure out what was there and what wasn't. Keep in mind I downloaded every mission so the list is long to choose from. I understand the team has preferences, but I'm trying to think of how this mod can appeal to a wider audience. People want features and freedom and get frustrated by limitations, no matter how trivial. That is the nature of american gamers today. The more features a game has. The less criticism can be made. I'm not saying levers or loot should glow. This is is excessive. But DS at least at a tiny little twinkle that made it so at least I didn't completely overlook loot and intractable devices. Several missions may have been designed poorly. I know for a fact I had a really hard time with several because of sound portal issues. I will admit. I played DS extensively because it was the newer release. That's just what I do. And the game itself was not bad to be honest, but not as good as Thief Gold. Which is have gone through great lengths to keep it installed on a windows 7 platform. This is not as easy as it sounds due to compatibility issues. So I'm familiar with both games. But I'm going to go back and play Thief Gold some more to see what made that game so great. My mind is still stuck on more modern games. Bioshock does spoil you XD. But the game is great so does it matter? Honestly I just want this game to have a more universal feel. With so many fan missions (many of them poorly made and inconsistent) I cant really get a good feel for the game. I want the developer team to make their campaign. They know the game dynamics better then anyone and then I can make a fair analysis of the game once I've played their campaign from beginning to end. Can somebody give me a list of recommended missions to play? I'm sure some more valid criticisms can be made once I've played the more popular missions out of the 40 or so. Honestly any other criticisms I thought are just bugs that can be fixed and will be fixed. So I just started coming up with whatever came to mind. The thumbs up and thumbs down responses are helpful though. I can work with the teams preferences. Whats the teams overall idea for the finished product. Its hard to submit ideas without knowing what they want in the end...

NEW WEAPONS: Crossbow: higher damage - slower firing rate. Dagger: if people come at me with a dagger in this game why cant I have one? lower damage - faster attack speed - user takes small amounts of damage when parrying blows - faster movement. Bring back gas arrows and fire arrows and landmines. 3RD PERSON MODE: not a priority I understand but none the less the feature was much welcomed in DS. DIFFERENT OUTFITS: Armored: higher damage resistance - slower and less stealthy. Black hood: no damage resistance - stealth bonuses Disguises? I wonder how it would play out if you could take the clothing of knocked out opponents? THROWING HEAVY OBJECTS AT ENEMIES INJURES THEM: you have the physics engine for it. Why not? ABILITY TO RE LOCK DOORS: You can relight torches. Why not re lock doors to prevent AI from investigating sounds or cutting you off on predetermined escape routes? FASTER MOVEMENT WHEN WEAPONS AREN'T EQUIPPED: Makes sense to me. When the AI gets better it would nice to have that edge so that players can outrun AI rather then run at their pace. If I'm going to sheath my weapon and run rather then stand and fight I feel like there should be some sort of plus. Otherwise why not stand your ground with a single guard? THE ABILITY TO CHOP OPEN DOORS: This will be a check and balance for when the player re locks doors. Allows the player to buy time while he makes a escape and it just sounds like a fun feature to have. TRANSFERABLE LOOT: Whats the point of stealing things if I cant spend my ill gotten gains on equipment for the next mission. FIX THE SETTINGS MENU: I had a lot of trouble putting my own controls in at the control menu. It would often assign buttons that I didn't even want in the calculation with out my consent. Also changing the settings in a mission does not transfer over to other missions. The mod needs to start gearing to a more universal feel rather then fan mission to fan mission. AI ON THE FIRST FLOOR SHOULD NOT REACT TO MY MOVEMENT ON THE SECOND FLOOR: How does a guard differentiate from my footsteps to that of another guard when hes on the first and I'm on the second? On levels with multiple floors not only do I have to worry about the guards on the second floor from hearing me but the ones on the first as well. Doesn't make a lot of sense to me and can be frustrating having death squads come up the stairs to find me. GUARDS SHOULD REACT TO TORCHES BEING PUT OUT BLATANTLY IN FRONT OF THEM: Just saying. Makes sense. Rather then have a guard comment on how dark it is why doesn't he draw his blade and investigate? I thought this world was perilous and fraught with danger. GUARDS SHOULD REACT TO DOORS BEING LEFT OPEN: Their job is security. Doors being left open for no reason should instigate some sort of reaction from the guards. SOME GUARDS SHOULD HAVE RANGED WEAPONS: I have a bow. Why not them? LOOT AND INTRACTABLE ITEMS SUCH AS LEVERS SHOULD GLOW OR TWINKLE: I had a hard time sometimes noticing switches or loot. Give them something to stand out. ELEVATOR AND DOOR MOVEMENT SHOULD OVERRIDE PLAYER MOVEMENT AND AI MOVEMENT: Rather then a door stop opening because I'm in the way have it push me open. Instead of having a guard or me jam a elevators movement have it crush me or the guard. Allows for smoother game play and makes more sense from a physics standpoint. HAVE THE OPTION FOR MISSION CONCLUSIONS: So what happened after I got out of that mansion after stealing that stuff? Did I go home and eat waffles? Did the guy I tried to sell my loot to screw me over? Mission complete is rather unrewarding. Why not give me some more story line? WHY DO GUARDS ON PUBLIC STREETS ATTACK ME ON SIGHT?: Is there a curfew? Am I wanted? Whats the deal? It would be nice to have AI be able to differentiate when I'm doing something illegal and when I'm not rather then drawing their blades on first sight of me. UNDEAD SHOULD BEAT DOWN DOORS RATHER THEN OPEN THEM LIKE THEY ARE PEOPLE: Its rather annoying to close a door on a zombie and feel secure only to watch him open the door like hes a human being capable of rational thought. Why doesn't he just throw a rock at me too while hes at it? BRING BACK OIL FLASKS: Having a temporary impassible wall of fire is useful. This is only the tip of the iceberg and I'm sure I don't understand a lot of the programming that goes into ideas like these so I understand if many are far fetched. I just thought all these ideas would make the game play something MORE then its predecessors. Please give me feedback!!!

The DarkMod team should really get the campaign out. Im having trouble writing a overall review because all the missions are fan based and not the actual teams. Most of these fan missions have a lot of problems. Half the time its not even apparent where I'm supposed to go. They lack the flow that the Thief missions. I find myself enthralled by the environment and plot, just as I did with Thief Gold, but the confusing levels, overwhelming number of AI patrols (to compensate for their limited intelligence) and lack of any sort of dialog make the game rather difficult to play sometimes. I enjoyed in Thief Garret talking to himself. He often gave much needed clues and warnings that allowed me to actually play a entire level through without dying constantly. None of the less for a unfinished product this mod has immense potential. It really just needs some finishing touches such as better AI, Dialog, a set DarkMod campaign and story line. Some minor features I would recommend is when doors open have them push you back rather then just stop when they hit your character. Idle dialog between AI to give it a more authentic and real feeling. A farther range of which you can pick up and interact with objects. The ability to knock out AI once they return to passive mode. Armor should not deflect my arrows, I'd rather it just reduce the damage. A set character treasury, theres not much incentive to collect treasure if i can transfer my ill gotten gains to the next mission for equipment. Conclusions at the end of each mission. Rather then fan out and search, AI cluster together in mobs and corner me, perhaps AI should fan out and search? These are just some immediate observations from what I've played so far. I will continue to play and see what else I can think of or observe. WHAT I DID LIKE: AI throw rocks, brilliant. Combat is choppy, but much more dynamic and interesting then mindlessly stabbing everything to death or spamming arrows. Doom 3 engine, looks way more appealing. Ability to relight candles and torches, dont know why I would but having more freedom to interact with the environment is always welcome. The undead, compared to Deadly Shadows hammer haunts the new ones are friggin terrifying (a more defined horror aspect of the game would be welcomed). New items are nice! (such as the lamp and telescope) HOW BOUT NEW WEAPONS? Overall you guys have really recaptured and in many respects remade this mods precursors. But it would be great to see you guys put more of a personal touch into it. Make it your own and better. I cant wait to see this mod come to what i am sure will be a finished a polished token of glory. If any of this was helpful let me know. If it was annoying tell me to sod off XD

Does anyone have any specific setting I should put on a voice recording program to get the best quality?

OH!!! And I will get right on some voice samples and concept art aimed specifically at a Dark Mod theme. I just need to find someone with good sound equipment. Mine is inferior.

Well. I've been playing video games since I was old enough to pick up sticks or tap on a keyboard and I've played all the Thief games and I've learned what makes a good mission and what doesn't. So If I had a specific mission to play and write a review for I can get right on it and you can tell me what you think.

I can write relatively well and am familiar with the dark mod universe along with its precursor, the Thief series. So I think I can add a creative list of possible character bios and dialog. I can draw as well and would be happy to post samples if you are interested. Most of my artwork focuses around a medieval/fantasy theme and I believe with a little trial and error I can draw up some great concept art for architecture, characters, props, weapons and etc. Also I can submit a bunch of voice acting samples as I can cover a wide range of accents, although my British one is the most practiced. I just have all this imagination and I'm looking to sink some time and effort into something. I've recently started fallowing this mod (with sheer glee) and I want to do anything in my power and ability to contribute. I sadly cannot program, but I would be more then happy to help come up with level layouts and plot development. I've just picked up Dark Radiant and I'm going to start submitting my own fan missions in the near future. So perhaps later along the road I can be of some more practical use.

I live right by the Maryland Renfest and their music I feel would capture the essence of the game. Shall I grab some samples?