simplen00b
-
Posts
612 -
Joined
-
Last visited
-
Days Won
8
Posts posted by simplen00b
-
-
I do (fairly) regular backups of my partitions with Macrium Reflect. Just have to make sure I tick the check box saying 'Allow access to restricted folders' when I mount an image otherwise I can get barred from opening certain folders.
Overall v. happy with it, and it's been a life-saver on a couple of occasions when the laptop's got infected.
-
Does African blues count?
-
I can enjoy the blues occasionally in small doses, but my main problem with it is the standard blues chord progression - after 2-3 songs I start getting Attention Deficit Disorder (or, to put it another way, bored) and just sit there thinking "Put some different chords in".
Seasick Steve's had a bit of coverage in the UK, the noise he can get from a guitar with 2 or 3 strings is pretty amazing
- I really liked 'Chiggers', wasn't so keen on the second song, but I'll definitely check out more of his stuff - he's got quite a punky attitude which I like. -
I found the phrase book just a few minutes of getting into the mansion.
One of the great things about this FM is that key items aren't necessarily in the same place the next time you play it.
-
I just wanted to say thanks (for what its worth, not much I guess)
I'd say all gestures of thanks/appreciation are welcome
. -
Or a third possibility is that we'll get a large masterpiece (even better IMHO)I want a small masterpiece rather than a large never-released thing
. (No pressure, JB. Jus keep goin.)
-
Brillant - many thanks guys. Had a suspicion I was reinventing the wheel.
@grayman: I had clicked around (in my typical baboon-like fashion) around on 'dense cylinders' and 'append' but like I say, absolutely no background in this sort of stuff so had no idea what was happening. It do make a difference when someone explains it!
@RP - think I understand the tangency info (bit like bezier curves - ????); I think I'll leave trying to get my noob brain around patch tessellation for a later time.
Thanks. (Just don't hold your breath.)nice to see you are working on a map, SN!
Thanks again! - yes, one of a few I've knocked together. Will try to upload them to my minus account At Some Point.Is that a new texture? Either way, I like the look of it.On a completely different topic - I'm sure a few months ago I came across some Wiki instructions on how to call up the console in TDM with one key-stroke instead of three. (Something to do with changing the properties of the TDM shortcut - ????) Did I imagine it? Can't find it anywhere now.
-
I'd better reply to this over at the Newbie thread now I've put it thereLol select the patch cylinder and invert it, CTRL-I I believe.
.
-
(Copied this over from the 'What are you working on now?' thread as this is more where it belongs. Looks like I've joined the patch mesh debate at just the right time.)
I'm (slowly and painfully) working on the first part of a possible FM, which I'd like to start with a fairly long tunnel approach as a secret entrance to an underground mission (so the tunnel would be the first, fairly small part of a larger map). I'm going for mostly tight & claustrophobic with some jumping & climbing challenges, with maybe one or two wider areas with the space for some AI interaction before reaching the main mission area.
I'd appreciate any comments on whether my approach to constructing tunnels is (1) fine; (2) OK but there's a much easier way; (3) seriously flawed and just going to cause problems down the line. I have no background in this type of thing at all - I'm just using DR in a point/click/make-something-pretty way, and I seriously don't understand any of the technicalities of what I'm doing.
Construction method:
(1) created an 11x11 Simple Patch Mesh
(2) vertice-wrapped it into a rough asymmetrical tube
(3) duplicated it four times and placed them end-to-end. (I did put them altogether as a Selection Set, but this doesn't seem to get saved once DR closes. Is there a way of grouping/welding them together to make one object?)
(4) pulled and bent them around, again moving vertices.
A couple of screenshots if they're of any use - this is in its very early stages, so everything's still pretty smoothed out and slapped on ATM. Just wanted to get some feedback on whether this approach is OK before I really went to town on it! (NB: The endless brick wall in the background of the first shot won't be part of the eventual map
.)
AluminiumHaste replied to my original post suggesting I use a patch cylinder. I did try that but can't work out how to get the texture on the inside.
EDIT: AH has pointed me toward the wonder of 'Invert' (ctrl-I)
. So next newbie question - the cylinder patch doesn't seem to have many vertices (vertex points?) on it to play around with. Is there a way of either (1) adding more vertices to it, or (2) stitching together several short cylinders to make a long cylinder with more vertices I can bend and stretch? -
I did try that - couldn't work out how to get the texture on the inside.That looks pretty good but why didn't you use a patch cylinder.?
Just occurred to me I should be posting this in the Newbie DarkRadiant Questions thread. I'll copy it over there now.
-
EDIT: Realised I should have put this in the Newbie DR Questions thread, so I've deleted this post and copied it over there now. Hope that's OK.
-
I spent literally about five minutes looking at Melan's posted pic, imagining how great it'd be to clamber over it in TDM. (Five minutes sounds like a pathetically short amount of time, but I can't remember when I just sat looking at one picture for that long on a computer screen.)amazing stuff, tuggs at my heartstrings in some sort of longing manner - I wish to explore those worlds, and I feel a sort of "loss" knowing they aren't real
Living in it would probably be a nightmare though.
-
And also the title of a rather excellent album/song from early '80's gloom-rock merchants, The Comsat Angels:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VX-PCmjroY0
But yeah, Shakespeare got there first, methinks...
-
I knew it wasn't finished when I went into it so I didn't have any major frustrations, and actually quite enjoyed the feeling of having an insight into a 'work-in-progress'. Really looking forward to v2.0
. -
My comments (in no particular order):
Liked the non-hostile ghosts; some back-story about who they were and why they were still around (with maybe an optional objective on releasing them from ghosthood?) would be great. I did whack one with my sword a couple of times which seemed to harm it, but as it wasn't harming me I didn't hit him (her?) any more.
The little girl story was excellent; again, huge scope for development, with maybe an objective for releasing the area from the curse - ? (Dunno whether Dewdrop could be incorporated into this somehow.) (BYW, you're probably way ahead of me on developing the back stories; I just offer them as my 2¢
.)Thought the architecture was excellent, especially in the city.
I had my usual fun of luring undead into areas where I can whack them but they can't whack me (unless I misjudge it), and of course my usual edge-of-the-void exploring (this was the highest I seemed able to get):
Didn't understand why the guards in the tavern didn't attack me but the guards near the canal did. At first I thought it was because it was the guarded entrance to the plague ward, but after over half-an-hour of trying to find a way past, I gave up and trotted back to the square where I discovered the proper route.
The readables in the chapel need proof-reading (especially the diary on the pew).
The only major freeze I got was at the door of the room with the sitting-down ghost, but if I went through the window it wasn't a problem. There was a slight freeze at the door of another room that looked like the door was partly open into The Void, but it turned into a room when I got closer (although there wasn't anywhere to go from there that I could see).
Overall assessment: this FM has huge potential that IMHO is about 20-30% realised in its current form.
-
Low-angle point-of-view is apparently fairly common in horror films as it forces the viewer into a child-like (and therefore helpless) frame of mind. (That's the theory according to something I remember Robert McKee saying about Alien anyway - there's loads of low-angle stuff, especially in the opening sequence apparently, but I haven't seen it recently so can't say for sure.) If it's true, we're sort of half-way there with 'crouch' mode
. Re the video: anyone else have a Cradle flashback about 0.35?
-
Wow...I stand condemned; that 'common sense' option didn't even occur to my cold, thieving heart (sob)...I think I did...
I dropped Annabelle's diary in Leofricks room, as common sense would predict that upon awakening he would read the diary and find out she was forced to write the letter, which would in turn stop him commiting suicide altogether.... It worked
got message for secret objective no#2 - "You have PREVENTED a tragedy".***admiration for Sotha's story-telling/game-planning/general-TDM-geniusness rises even further***
-
Something I've been meaning to ask about Leofrick:
When you stop him from hanging himself, you get the "You have postponed a tragedy" message.
I initially assumed that using the word 'postponed' was your dark sense of humour (i.e. "You have postponed a tragedy; however, you have only postponed it and it is a foregone conclusion that something equally or probably even more awful will happen to this couple later on"), but I then wondered whether you actually meant 'prevented' or 'averted' (which offers a bit more hope for a 'Happily Ever After' scenario.)
Not a biggie. Just wondered.
-
Looks amazing!
Judging by the building on the left, it's at least one storey high, right?
-
OK, now finished playing hardcore (for the third time):
The 'more lights on increased difficulty' idea is great! Is this the first time it's been done? The main one I noticed was the lamp in Sykes' room - really ramped up the difficulty, and whatever I did to get him to move (throw the beer mug, make a bit of noise), he always ended up facing towards me and I couldn't see how to get to him. My technique now is
mantle across the table and stove to the far corner, then creep up on him from behind.
At one point he did see me in the corner, but instead of coming to attack me, he just stood shouting curses and throwing stones at me (the guards outside came belting in as well). I managed to get up into the attic and cleared it out (and discovered there's no gas arrow up there on hardcore
) - TBH, can't remember if things had quietened down by the time I came down again, or whether they were still on alert and I just did a cowardy-custard reload.In general, the objectives all unfolded pretty logically for me - I think I may have found Syke's HQ before Gridley's but I couldn't see Gridley hanging around so many thugs so I kept hunting for Galloway Road. Even found the attic-switch pretty easily, but I think it was more by luck than skill, and have worked out how to trigger the trap without getting hit.
The only glitch I sometimes get is with the chain dangling near the upper balcony inside Sykes' HQ:
I climbed down it to get to the thugs downstairs - a couple of times when I tried to jump off, I started instead to get slowly 'sucked back' up to the top, no matter what direction keys I pressed, and a couple of times I've suddenly died for no reason I can see. Anyone else had this?
Sykes' "special room" is really very nasty - definitely not suitable for children. You've created quite a memorable baddie for a small/medium mission - I usually try to adopt a 'no-kill' policy in my gameplay (I never really like 'forced-kill' objectives), but he's one of the few FM characters I'd be happy to top. Maybe in the future...
Really like the final section
with the raised alarm - like you say, it stops it from just being a "schlepp back to point X" (especially for those of us who leave piles of KO'd bodies in our wake), and man, is it hard on hardcore! (Duh.) The way the thugs block the only possible route can get borderline frustrating, but third time through, I did make it back to Gridley's without killing anyone. Mind, it's so difficult I was forced to actually use flash bombs successfully for maybe the first time ever in TDM. One time I had a torch-bearing thug bear down on me; somehow I managed to outrun him, then ran into another thug; I managed to elude him but he was blocking my exit and prowling around for me - he got so close I stood and dropped both flash bombs just as he turned away, so they had no effect
.Got busted and ended up doing a reload that took me all the way back to Syke's HQ, which is an indication of how immersed I had got (I usually quicksave every 30 seconds). And I've still got 85 loot to find.
Oh, and final comment on the skybox-climbing thing: on reflection, I think I treat that as a separate 'game' in itself to the actual mission. I usually indulge in that kind of exploration when I've knocked everyone out and completed most of the objectives - I just got into it first off in this FM cos I saw that flag pole sticking out the wall, thought "Thank you very much" and was up at the skybox within about 30 seconds of mission start
. But I can't combine the two - I did try and it just felt wrong. Really glad when I have the chance to play both though!So, again, excellent FM - great layout and architecture, good story, memorable characters, and you've hit one of the best levels of challenging-but-not-frustrating gameplay so far, IMHO. Many thanks.
-
Some random thoughts/observations:
1. Could be wrong, but I think Siyah and I are in a very small minority of TDM players who like to do this sort of 'close to the edge' exploration.
2. Climbing & jumping is one of the most immersive aspects of TDM for me. I got lost in this FM for well over an hour just clambering around the roofs before I thought "Oh yeah - better start trying to fulfill the objectives I guess"
.3. My attitude to mappers that allow that kind of exploration (whether they intended to or not) is complete and utter gratitude.
4. The core essence of Thief/TDM is 'going somewhere you're not meant to go'. A few of us just like taking that concept and extending it to the game mechanics themselves, in a meta, er, contextual exploration of the very nature of, um, something.
Whatever. Look, I just really enjoy it, OK?5. I've always loved this picture:
Can't really explain it - I just love that woozy, quite surreal feeling of the 'earth meeting the sky', and that's what I get from this kind of climbing in TDM.
6. I don't want to add to the already huge workload that mappers face, but if they wanted to leave little notes in areas that they think are inaccessible but may not be (sounds like it isn't easy to tell), that's fine. They could just say something like "Aren't you an old clever clogs then?" (or "Hi Siyah & simplen00b!"
).Unless it was a Sotha map, in which case I would expect a note saying "Curiosity killed the cat", triggering an army of undead to suddenly appear and start advancing across the rooftops toward me, hurling poison darts and fireballs as the entire map filled up with hydrochloric acid.
7. However (in all seriousness) I'm fine with things as they are, and grateful for the maps that get produced whether I can get close to the skybox in them or not. I would beseech mappers not to start smothering areas with playerclip, but end of the day, their map, not mine.
8. I'll try to get round to posting a review of 'Score to Settle' at some point in an effort to get the thread back on topic.
-
Yay! Someone else found the 'leap of faith' as well!* Sometimes I wonder if it's just me.Recorded a gameplay video. Sometimes I'm sick of AI's sharpness, and this is one of them. There's a short killing spree in the begining, but rest is smooth.
Mind you, Siyah, you could have avoided all that initial unpleasantness with this:
My video finishes around where yours starts, and I have to say, Siyah, brilliant jumping & climbing in yours. I got to the small courtyard but all I found to do then was get into that square this way:
so I didn't find your way round onto Sykes' roof (that leap you do at 1.36 is genius). Which means that you could get (almost) from the mission starting point into Sykes' HQ without touching the ground.
Brilliant FM, Springheel, definitely on my top 5, and I've only played on easy so far.*at 0.48 on the video
-
Well, we're fans of a game that can reward the player for looking into toiletsit's not every forum where you can start a topic "Have you ever been in a sewer before?" and everyone would understand that's a good thing.
. Is there any other game which does that?(Thinking about it, not sure I'd want to know if there was.)
Edited to add quote
-
Wasn't really sure what to vote - my answer would be that I'd hope all three were climbable and would give them a go, but I don't get frustrated if they aren't - so I voted 'sometimes' as it seemed the least inaccurate answer.
I do get frustrated by wooden structures that rope arrows just clatter off (pretty sure I've come across them but can't remember a specific FM); likewise broad, horizontal/gently-sloping pipes should always be climbable IMO, even if they don't go anywhere.
Submissions of any kind, prefabs, FMs, textures, models, and any other help
in TDM Editors Guild
Posted
A few more textures:
Medieval wall
Cave rock
Quartz rock
All uploaded at http://simplen00b.mi...m/mKQmdKEUQ/13g with all the materials files (normal maps etc, but no spec maps) to put into DR.
My normal maps rarely go beyond the "Looks alright to me/**shrug**" stage, so feel free to improve on my efforts if anyone wants to
.