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I was thinking about how I've been a bit of a pessimist whenever I post stuff in the off-topic section of The Dark Mod Forums, and whilst I do stand by the fact that it's healthy to face unhappy realities of the world in order to provide discussion so that people will spread that discussion and the problems are eventually gained notice of and fixed, I also realize that it's kind of depressing, talking about war and strife. So, I decided to talk about a topic of how we can make the lives of people who are sick and dying happier, and help them experience things they wouldn't be able to otherwise due to their conditions, such as elderly in retirement homes or cancer patient children undergoing chemotherapy or other people who can't go out and travel much. I was thinking about how I haven't gone to the Zoo, Aquarium, or Museum for over a decade, and how I haven't gone to an amusement park, water park, or the beach in summer since covid started. Then I thinks to myself, at least you've done that in your life, some people aren't as lucky or well-off as you've been in life; some people never got around to doing that sort of stuff in their life and now they're stuck in a nursing home, or some are still young but stuck sick in the hospital, and may not live long enough to do that stuff. So I got to thinking, I've seen people on The Dark Mod Forums who've discussed making a VR version of The Dark Mod. And I wonder to myself, hey, you don't know how to program any of this for the less fortunate, but you like to suggest stuff to people, plant seeds in their ears like, so I decided to suggest this to you guys: What about making VIrtual Reality Experiences for the less fortunate? Zoos, Aquariums, Amusement Parks, Carnivals, Circuses, Fairs of the normal and medieval variety, Museums, that sort of thing. And they don't just have to be based on reality, with V.R. you could create a zoo full of unicorns, dragons, zombie animals, aliens, demons, and other fantastical beasts, or make Amusement Park rides that aren't feasibly safe with modern technology, like a roller coaster that reaches up into outer space and through an asteroid belt! I know this comes out of nowhere, but the idea hit me and I'd feel guilty if I didn't share it.

The devs didn't title this thread, and @datiswous said they're attempting to mislead people by using Russell's name and a retro style to make it resemble Thief, which is cynical. I grew up on forums like I'm sure anyone who likes a game from '98 did. I actually left the Discord immediately after joining it because it was more off-topic doom-posting than anything relevant to the mod. I thought the forums might be better, but it's mostly just grown men yelling at clouds and telling strangers how mature they are, and a few brave souls actually developing anything. Depressing place, I'll just stick to enjoying new missions every 6 months without an account.

True, but, 1. this thread is called "Western stealth FPS with Stephen Russell", and, 2. nothing you said changes anything for me. The gameplay still doesn't look like something I'd enjoy. And, if you really think this forum is cynical, then you don't visit forums much. Actually, the majority of the users are are pretty mature, unlike in other forums.

We didn't make the holidays (such a busy time of year) so here's a New Year's gift, an unusual little mission. Window of Opportunity Recover an item for a regretful trader out in a wilderness setting, and discover more! Available within the in-game mission downloader or: Download: http://www.thedarkmo...ndetails/?id=79 Alternative: https://drive.google...WTMzQXZtMVFBSG8 Some unorthodox gameplay on regular/ghost difficulties. (Arachnophobes might prefer short mode...) Please expect to need your lantern in regular and ghost modes! Short ("easy") mode is a smaller map, so if you are looking for areas others reference below, or 100% of the loot, you'll need to play on another mode. I wanted to create my first mission before I became influenced by too many others' ideas, and limited myself to what has been done before. As such, this mission is not set in a city/town, and has some features that are likely to be provocative. There's a section some really like, which others don't, either way I kept it short to not last too long. That being said, I hope you do find it fun! :-) Special thanks to those who provided valuable testing and feedback: Goldwell, Kyyrma, plotzzz, 161803398874989, PPoe & Bikerdude (who also contributed a sound). (Please remember spoiler tags to not expose things meant to be discovered by playing.) Like so: [spoiler]secrets[/spoiler] If you are having trouble finding the main objective, here's what to pay attention to in the mission for hints: There is a spot it's possible to get stuck on the ground in the corner by the cliff/rockfall where there's a rope laying on the ground, please take care if you poke around there!

With TDM 2.12, after the credits finished, the "Mission Complete" screen did not display. I found that the screen was black and I could hear my footsteps when I tried to move around. I think the reason for the mission not completing successfully was that the "Do not kill or harm allies" objective was never marked as "1 = STATE_COMPLETE" instead it was left as "0 = STATE_INCOMPLETE". Note, I didn't use noclip throughout the mission. Same as: https://forums.thedarkmod.com/index.php?/topic/18054-fan-mission-the-accountant-2-new-in-town-by-goldwell-20160509/&do=findComment&comment=458491

Beta 11 Fix finished-on state auto-update was unreliable Slighty improve scanner title/author detect Tags are now named some whatever regular-version-looking thing to force GitHub to put the newest at the top

How about using TDM automation framework (and maybe pcem/qemu)? More info see: https://forums.thedarkmod.com/index.php?/topic/19828-automation-features-and-discussion/

There was an idea to add two features to GUI scripts (6164). The first one is runScript command, which allows GUI script to call a function from game script. Interestingly, this feature is already supported in the GUI engine, but the game code only processes this command when the player clicks left mouse button on the GUI (i.e. usually it works in onAction handler, but not in namedEvent or onTime handlers). Obviously, ID initially did not envision runScript as a global feature which works the same way everywhere, their idea was that it is context-sensitive, and whoever calls the GUI code can then pull the commands generated by the call and do whatever he wants with them. I'm not sure I really want to change this architecture... Anyway: what are the possible use cases for runScript command? The second feature is namedEvent command, which simply generates/calls a named event with specified name on the whole UI, which can be then handled by matching onNamedEvent handlers. However, this command can be implemented in several ways: Whenever namedEvent command is executed, the named event is processed immediately. The rest of the script (after namedEvent command) is continued only after generated named event is fully processed. Whenever namedEvent command is executed, named event is put into some kind of queue, then the current script continues to execute. The generated named event is executed at some moment later, but surely on the current frame. The point 2 can be further differentiated on the exact order when generated named events are processed. So the first approach is how functions normally behave in normal imperative languages, with a real call stack. The second approach is delayed execution, like what we currently do with "resetTime X; -> X::onTime 0 {...}" combo (at least everywhere in the main menu GUI). My worry with the first approach is that it is an major change for GUI engine with no past experience, and it will probably not match well with the long-established GUI wierdness (I mean e.g. the wierdness that all expressions in GUI script are executed before the script commands start executing). And it would work different both from the "resetTime + onTime 0" combo. On the other hand, the callGui in game scripts do execute named event immediately. And I must admit nested GUI calls could be used to reduce the issues from the GUI weirdness mentioned above. Also, this command exists in Quake 4, but I'm not sure how exactly it works. And it's probably good idea to make TDM work the same way.

I can't say for sure that it's 100% impossible, but I've never heard of anybody doing it and would have no idea how to go about it.

Looks like I am vertically challenged. I took forever to get out f the "main generator" room because i didn't realize that Finally, I reached the workshop, and again I have no idea how to get out of that place. I could reach level 1 by jumping off of a small pole (?) in the center, but now I have no idea how to move up further.

This one has nothing to do with the change. It happens in 2.11 too. I have no idea what is wrong here, and why one patch casts shadow while the other similar one does not. There is even auxilliary surface with "shadow" material inside the stairs, which should also cast shadow but it does not.

If the "mission fails as soon as stealth score turns non-zero," that would not be good for ghost players. They might need to find out "how" they failed and experiment to avoid alerting guards. They might need to take those score points as a "bust". They might need to take those score points to complete an objective. Then, mission authors would need to encode exceptions into their missions, which would be a lot of work (if they decide to do it at all). However, part of what makes ghosting challenging and fun is when mission authors do not create their missions with ghosting in mind. Please see: Official Ghosting Rules: https://www.ttlg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=148523 Writing code for these rules would be a huge undertaking. Ghost Rules Discussion: https://www.ttlg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=148487 Creating an official mode could alienate these dedicated ghost players, because it would clash with what is considered ghosting in the community. Including the Stealth Stat Tool mod in the official release would be more useful. Or, making the audible alert states of guards quick and easy to recognize could help as well. For these reasons, I don't agree with an official "Ghost" mode. If the dev team were to do it, we should consult with @Klatremus so we get it 100% correct or not pursue it at all. (This ghosting bit should probably be in its own thread.)

You could try installing the Windows Subsystem for Linux and see if you can get a Linux build working on Windows. However I have no idea if WSL is comprehensive enough to allow you to build and run GUI apps using wxWidgets and OpenGL. I suspect it would be a fair amount of work to get the CMake build working, since it's never been tested on anything other than a regular Linux installation (AFAIK).

I realized when I played it that The Abomination, a giant gray monster composed of the fused forms of multiple zombies that attacks with tentacles and travels by digging tunnels underground, is obviously a ripoff of Subterranean Boss Infected Dolagius from Silent Fear, one of the first custom level mods for Left 4 Dead and the first one to have a custom boss I'm pretty sure of.

Mandrasola is a small sized map in which aspiring thief Thomas Porter steals some herbal products from a smuggler. The mission was created by me, Sotha and I wish to thank Bikerdude, BrokenArts and Ocn for playtesting and voice acting. Thanks goes naturally to everyone contributing and making TDM possible. This mission occurs chronologically before the Knighton's Manor, making it the first mission in the Thomas Porter series. Events in chronological order are: Mandrasola, The Knighton's Manor, The Beleaguered Fence, The Glenham Tower and The Transaction. The winter came early and suddenly this year. Weeks of strong blizzards and extremely harsh cold weather hit Bridgeport hard. With the seas completely frozen, a rare occurence indeed, most of the City harbor commerce has stopped completely. Vessels are stuck in the ice and no ship can leave or enter the City, resulting in the availability imported goods declining and their prices skyrocketing. One of these imported items is Mandrasola, a rare herbal product, which is imported overseas from the far southern continents. Mandrasola has its uses in alchemical cures and poisons, but mostly this substance is used for its narcotic qualities by commoners and even the nobility. The problem with Mandrasola is that excessive use is extremely addicting and the withdrawal effects are most grievious. Many are utterly incapable of stopping using Mandrasola and are transformed into quivering human ruins if they do no get their daily dose. And now this expensive and rare substance is running out from the whole City. Me and my fence, Lark Butternose, would love to grab this monopoly to ourselves: selling the last few doses in the City would probably be worth a fortune. According to Lark's sources, there remains only one smuggling lord who still has Mandrasola in stock. The problem is that this individual maintains an exclusive clandestine operation and only supplies a few nobles. Despite our best information gathering efforts we couldn't learn who the smuggler is and where he or she operates. Luckily we have an alternate plan. While searching for Mandrasola related information, we learned that a noblewoman called Lady Ludmilla is addicted to the substance and has paid high prices for small amounts of it. We also know that she has visited frequently someone in the Tanner's Ward waterfront, and since she goes to the area personally we believe she is visiting the smuggler. The plan is simple: I must monitor Ludmilla's most likely entryway to the Waterfront and then follow her to the smugglers hideout. I'd better be very careful around Ludmilla. She must not realise I'm following her or she probably won't lead me to her dealer. Hurting her is also out of the question. After she leads me to the smuggler's hideout, I can take my time to break in carefully and steal all the Mandrasola I can find. While I'm there it wouldn't be a bad idea to grab some loose valuables as well. I've now waited in the blistering cold for a few hours already. Looks like there are a few city watch patrols in the area to complicate matters... I think I heard a womans voice beyond the north gate. That must be lady Ludmilla, I haven't seen many ladies in these parts. I'd better get ready.. Links: Use the ingame downloader to get it. WARNING! Someone always fails to use spoiler tags. I do not recommend reading any further until you've played the mission.

To cater to both audiences. I mentioned LibreGameWiki as one example. nbohr1more mentioned other uses. Explicitly allowing reuse and spread will help TDM reach a wider audience and would hopefully attract more volunteers. More volunteers which can help improve both TDM versions. There are several benefits for a project of being in the Debian repo. One is that TDM Debian-users can report defects on any package directly to Debian (no need to register on separate forums). Debian may then fix the issue themselves (in their "TDM-libre" package) and will offer the patch upstream to TDM, who can then choose to accept or reject the patch. I envision "TDM-libre" to have the same capability of downloading any mission as regular TDM. The only difference is that "TDM-libre" would come packaged with the regular engine (which is GPL+BSD) and an included mission that has libre media/gamedata. When I play TDM by myself, I want the unlimited-play and can accept commercial restrictions. But if I were to promote it somewhere, or charge for a stream when playing online, or make a video, I would want a version without commercial restrictions (and can temporarily accept limited-play) to make sure I don't violate anyone's copyright. Perhaps. That's what I'm trying to find out.

I suggest you use the term "I", to make clear that it is something YOU want, and that you speak for yourself. But, as wesp5 mentioned, I don't really know what this is about, at all. And, I'm also wondering about all the newly registered people lately, who just arrived at this forum, and already want to revolutionize this mod. This is a thing I noticed 2 or 3 years ago, and which hasn't been present in the 15 years I play this mod and frequent these forums now. Really seems like a common thing these days, to not knock on the door, but kick it in, and stomp right in.

Below, I'll be describing what I see as a problem, in the form of a draft bug report. But perhaps there is some compelling reason to keep the existing behavior? So comment. --- Feature request: Prevent stealth retexturing. When you select a surface with Ctrl-Shift-LMB, you give it a blue dot. If you then paste or apply a new texture (e.g., from the Texture Browser), that new texture appears where expected. But you may have, without realizing it, retextured all other surfaces of any objects you had left selected. Typical problem cases: The blue-dot surface belongs to an object that you left selected. So all surfaces are retextured. If it’s a wall, you may not immediately realize that the far side and edges have changed. The blue-dot surface belong to a primitive component of a multi-part entity, and some other primitive component, perhaps out of sight, is still selected. So you change both the blue-dot surface and all surfaces of that other component. Discussion: I would like this to work, at paste time, just like Ctrl-MMB does. Namely, given a particular surface designated, ignore any object selection, and just paste to that surface. More specifically, if a blue-dot surface exists, paste/apply just to that. If it doesn’t, and an object selection exists, paste to all its surfaces.

TDM has tons of textures from "free" texture resources that do not allow redistribution and cannot be incorporated into a commercial project. Someone would need to create a huge replacement pack of textures that do not break the look of existing missions and do not infringe on the copyrighted textures. Also, many artists who contributed to this project do not want 3rd party entities to use their work in commercial projects. They intended the models, textures, sounds, animations to be exclusively used for Darkmod content. You would either have to replace ALL assets or contact every contributor and ask them to re-license their assets. Many contributors are no longer active with the project and haven't visited the forums in years so it would be no easy feat. I cannot speak to Debian policy but I think that they treat installers that add non-free content the same as non-free content itself. One could argue that Steam is such an installer but I guess Debian would counter that there are a few fully Libre games on Steam. I think Debian, Ubuntu, or Linux Mint need to consider a repo that allows for games (etc) that include non-libre content but intentionally offer this content for free to the community with no stipulations other than "don't try to sell it as a product".

The gamepad implementation allows for a great degree of flexibility to personalize settings, aside from a few minor issues that I mentioned here: https://forums.thedarkmod.com/index.php?/topic/22337-gamepad-bindings/ I would say that playing TDM with a gamepad works very well, especially considering that it was implemented as experimental and hasn't been changed since then. If I could, I'd go back to 2021-you and congratulate you on buying that gamepad. I notice that your DarkmodPadbinds.cfg looks very different from mine...

It seems like more and more "thief" and "thief players" is becoming a short hand to dismiss community members earnest desire to improve the game - which happens to be a barely legally distinct "thief style" game which was made by thief fans for thief fans and is "designed to simulate the stealth gameplay of Thief". Who is the predominant player base of the game supposed to be beyond fans of the thief games? Is there some better avenue to find feedback for the game beyond this forum? FOSS and linux forums? I have seen maybe half a dozen posts from that segment. I am a thief fan, I play thief fms, my association with those games is what drives me to play and make things for this game. Are we supposed to pretend the original games are not a huge reason why most of us are here at all? TL;DR version:

Thanks! 1) Doing LONG_PRESS PAD_A (what I, for lack of knowledge, call "jump-mantle" or "_jumpmantle") differs from doing PRESS PAD_A ("_jump"). "_jumpmantle" differs from "_mantle", so they must be mapped to different button-calls. "_jumpmantle" differs from "_jump", so they must also be mapped to different button-calls. This appears to be the case, but it is not evident (or changeable) in DarkmodPadbinds.cfg. "_jumpmantle" seems to be hard coded to always connect to the same button as "_jump" but with a long press. It is as if bindPadButton PRESS PAD_A "_jump" is not actually just binding PRESS PAD_A to "_jump", but rather interpreted as "link PAD_A (regardless of button press time) to behave exactly like keyboard SPACE for short and long presses". I would have expected the default DarkmodPadbinds.cfg to explicitly read: bindPadButton PRESS PAD_A "_jump" bindPadButton LONG_PRESS PAD_A "_jumpmantle" bindPadButton PRESS PAD_B "_crouch" bindPadButton LONG_PRESS PAD_B "_mantle" ... but neither LONG_PRESS PAD_A or "_jumpmantle" is listed in the file. If there are actions "_jump" and "_mantle", I suppose there must also be an action "_jumpmantle" since it is possible for the player to do all those movements: * "_mantle" does the movements "crouch on the high surface, then stand up" * "_jumpmantle" idoes the movements "jump slightly forward, then land standing on the high surface" * "_jump" idoes the movements "jump up, then land exactly where you started" If the actions "_jump" and "_moveup" are not synonymous, then perhaps the action "_moveup" is what i call "_jumpmantle"? 2) Thanks for the link! It was useful in more than one way. I'll link to that page from https://wiki.thedarkmod.com/index.php?title=Bindings_and_User_Settings#Gamepad_Default_Bindings if I can get an account on the wiki, which proved more difficult than i thought (https://forums.thedarkmod.com/index.php?/topic/22327-how-can-i-create-an-account-on-the-tdm-wiki/). However, it does not answer my question how to find out the name ("<button>") used for a button on my gamepad. Basically, I would need to press the button on my gamepad and some program could tell me "That button is called 'PAD_A'". In my case, I have a gamepad "Logitech F310" (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Logitech_F310_Gamepad.jpg) which has a "Logitech button" (see image) that I want to use. I was hoping to find out the "button name" for that button and then edit DarkmodPadbinds.cfg to map it to a function. 3) ... but if that button has an "unusual name" that TDM does not recognize, then it may perhaps not work. E.g. if that button is called "PAD_LOGITECH" and TDM cannot recognize that name, then I cannot map anything to it via DarkmodPadbinds.cfg. Using QJoyPad I can map any keyboard key to it instead, as a workaround, but I cannot map MODIFIER to it (since MODIFIER cannot be set to a keyboard key). If current implementation is still called "experimental", then I must say it works very well; @cabalistic: kudos for that! I may not have continued playing TDM had it not worked with a gamepad.

Actually yes! I am aware of the pointfile. But thank you for pointing it out. It's actually the pointfile specifically that has been giving me headaches. Interesting, I had no idea! Do you know where I might find it? Ha, and here I thought it would be better to use brushes for simple geometry rendering instead of complicated entities. Thank you for the warning. I bet the reason I'm having so many issues has to do with NoDraw textures...I'll take a look next time I get the chance. Thanks, to the three of you. It's good to know that I'm looking in the right places and have some new avenues to venture.