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TYROT has a little too much on his plate right now, so he's asked that I assign the lightgem to someone else. Here's what we need: A lightgem model based on the first design on the page: http://forums.thedarkmod.com/index.php?showtopic=703&hl= The design should stay fairly close to this, although there is room for modification. Specifically, the gap between the outer ring and the lightgem isn't necessary. Adding certain design elements from either oDDity's or Atti's model would be fine. The gem and the compass should be modeled separately, even though they should look like one model when on screen. The gem will have 16 different textures (from light to dark). The metal parts should be textured in a dark and rough fashion, like oDDity's version on the page above. Only one spike (the North one) should remain smooth and shiny. The gem itself should be very similar to Oofnish's version, as everyone quite liked this look. Any takers? Now that Spar has the lightgem more or less working, it would be great to have the actual model in-game.

Yes. You can throw punches from different sides and do a counter-attack, which usually leads to death of your enemy I just recently (not a week ago) played the game through. Here're some of my thoughts: What I didn't like about it was the feeling of me running in a tube. The levels were too narrow and pretty straight forward. You never really got any choices to make, saying which road to go. And in a sneaking game that's pretty much the worst thing you can do IMO. I did like the whole Riddick character. Anti-heros are always my thing. And yes, Vin Deasel do rock your socks, and so does the other voice actors. Also liked the 'preying mode'. Kinda succesfull. The HUD is pretty much perfect: when you're just running along without no combat or anything, there's nothing disturping you on the screen. Very well done. (Take a hint Dark Mod team. Oh, and when you were hanging on a rail and moving sides-to-sides the view throwed you in the 3rd person mode. Otherwise it's always 1st person. This system could allow you guys to make the Dark Mod game environment even more usefull, like I've stated in my previous topic -> http://forums.thedarkmod.com/index.php?showtopic=679 This way it wouldn't look bad to make the thief more acrobatic. The drawback is of course can the thief fans take it. Overall it was worth the 36 euros I payed for it, but it could have been A LOT better.

now that's why we dont give access to our forums for any greenpeace activists... btw do i underand correctly that you throw these things together on one day?

But we could create our own icons if we wanted. I like the glyphs; maybe we could change their designs? If not, we could definitely create something else to use as small icons. Sorry, I didn't see the last few posts before I just wrote my long-winded post there. Didn't realize the conversation was getting so heated. Here are more thoughts: "Better" is subjective. I feel you've done a great job so far; I personally don't want you giving up just yet. I also feel Springheel did a good job with our existing site. However, I'm of the firm belief that neither your's, nor his, look finalized enough for me to give my personal final stamp of approval. Neither of them look polished enough. In all honesty, I know you have spent several hours on this so far, but it's hard to create a completely finished, polished website within 3 days; no matter who the client. Obviously simplistic websites can be whipped out in a few hours, but to make them truly refined -- taken to the next level, if you will -- it can take much longer. When you proposed this, I thought this was going to be a couple week process, at minimum. To wish for things to be done and agreed upon within 3 days of starting is a little unrealistic, imo. At this point, I still prefer Springheel's site. Maybe it's because I'm used to it, but no -- I think it's just easier for me to look through all the info faster. But I have broadband, so load times aren't an issue for me. I don't know what 56K users think. So with that, I'm not seeing the big reason to switch over just yet. With more polish on your's, I feel the time would definitely come to switch over. But you must understand it's only been 3 days. None of us have had time to revamp Springheel's site yet, so it has remained. I hope you can apply more time to working with us; refining and building the mockups to really make everyone go "Wow!" It can be done, you just have to be patient with the process and try not to take our feedback personally. Since the internal site wouldn't be viewed by others and is based more on functionality than looks, I think you'll probably find that to be a less frustrating site to start with. Cheers! -Darkness Falls

Hey Degineth - Thanks a lot for trying so hard to help us out with this! You've put so many tired hours in to make us happy, and that's definitely appreciated! I know it's early in the development, and that our team leads' main desire is to have the internal site built, but I thought I'd offer some constructive feedback. Based on your mockups, I feel we're still a ways off from having the a final version that we'd all be happy with and hope you can understand this -- despite the number of hours you've put in. I've built a few other websites myself, so I know it can be a time-consuming process. DarkMod members: Stop reading this if you're bored with my post already or don't agree that I should give feedback at this point If it's any consolation, I prefer the direction of the bluer site. Here are my quick thoughts, though. (I know this process is going to suck for you, since everyone will have different ideas.) I'm not a team lead; so take my thoughts for what they're worth. If nothing else, or if my teammates don't agree with anything I say, just take these things as feedback and do with them what you will. I'm only trying to help. Some things I mention have already been mentioned by others. In regards to the blue site: (1) The colors seem a little too "Thief 3," in general, for my tastes. The powder blue in the top title definitely reminds me of T3. Also, the font colors in the body of the page are a little dark and hard to read on the black background. (2) The pictures on the left, on the News page, are a little dark. I understand the attempt at doing an effect there, but the images just don't pop out enough. I'm also trying to figure out if there's a pattern to the images used there (as far as what chracter gets posted with what news item -- like, are they icons?), but I don't see one. That's a bit misleading to my eye. (3) The powder blue horizontal line between news items doesn't seem necessary. Adds clutter. Separation between news items could be improved, in general. Indents, etc., could be used. (4) I like the initial functionality you're building for the Gallery page. I hope you can expand on this idea more, refine it more and make it faster to navigate. Maybe even add an "expand all" button so broadband users don't have to expand each category individually. I must admit, though, that I miss the "immediate gratification" I feel on our existing site where you immediately start seeing concept artwork and the such when you click the Gallery link. No need to go into 10 different folders to view screens and concepts. (5) Is there a way to pre-load the top menu bar rollovers and cache them in the user's browser so there's no pause in the image changes when you hover your mouse over them? Obviously Flash would do it, but I know you're trying not to use Flash at this point. (6) The top banner could use some graphical work. Do you have a portfolio of artwork you've done so we can gauge your artistic capabilities? If you're fairly new at Photoshop or creating orignal artwork, I'm sure one of us could work on the banner and other graphics to help out. (7) I'm with you, though. I can totally see our site in Flash... but I know several of my teammates hate Flash for some reason *sigh*

You know you're playing too much Thief when... ..you start making posts on internet forums entitled 'You know you're playing too much Thief when...'

Looks great, but i unfortunately have to agree with the previous statements, he looks more ready to charge a battle line than protect a building. I do like the chestplate a lot though, please keep that design if you do another version.

I thought we had an agreement that we keep silent on public forums about the new abillities of Garretts special moves and martial arts capabillities.

Yeah, the requests were the main reason why I started this thread. Maybe we should let the others know about it.... post a link in the other forums, maybe?

who here never cought itself analizing ways to break through some building, or looking for some wooden surface next to windows where you can put your rope arrow.... while going to the super market? entering somewhere and the first thing you look is for dark corners.. I felt so stupid! lol!

I only wanted to discuss it here before I knew you were being added as a contributor Now we can discuss it in the dev forums of course.

Hey guys, feel free to use stuff from our "official response" (thread hidden to the public) and let me know if it needs changing. http://forums.thedarkmod.com/index.php?showt...indpost&p=11426 One of the major selling points for me, is this; http://www.doom3world.org/phpbb2/viewtopic...=asc&highlight= This tutorial shows how any texture can be used just like "stained glass windows", to project a colour image the same way an overhead projector does. This can be used for many dark moody effects, such as dappled moonlight coming through tree branches or windows, and obviously stained glass windows in churches. The effect will fall onto static geometry and moving objects the same, because of Doom 3's dynamic lighting. Try and imagine what someone walking under the coloured image cast by a stained glass window in a church, or under the dappled moonlight through the leaves of a thick tree. Also, the Doom 3 renderer excels at dynamic lighting and lighting quality. The shadows and lighting effects look much better than Half Life 2. The downside is that having many intersecting lights can slow down the renderer more than it's worth, hence, the Doom 3 engine is suited to really cool dark looking levels. Guess what Thief has always been about?

ok.. you know i dont really know how hard to do World building in doom3 maybe i am too much used to the uber-easy Mw modding, where it wasnt much trouble to do such things..

how about adding these alphas as separate "building blocks" so fm authors can add as much of them to a tree as they want to..

Hi Natureboy, Sorry for the occasionlly abrasive critiques. I know it can be quite frustrating to have people critique work that isn't complete. In the future I think I'll move these kind of posts to PMs. But what Sparhawk said is essentially true. We have so many models right now we're having a difficult time keeping track of them. Our needs fluctuate as people come and go, though, so you could always check back in and see how things are going in a few months. And you can feel free to hang out in the public forums in the meantime. Thanks again,

more or less...the sparse announcements are documented at TTLG forums (there is a Bioshock Anticipation forum there). There's been some discussion of the premise, plot etc. there, and how it is a 'spiritual sequel' to SS2.

dear Natureboy im another modeller in the team..I think i can make some comments too..And remember oDDity made almost same comments on me while im modelling a character.. So listen this. Tree is not good...This is not a tree..I mean It s like beveling multiple polygons at once...In lightwave it takes 2 minutes (even less)..30 minutes is so much for that one...BUT keep on reading...because your zombie is GOOD I dont wanna defend anyone but i wanna make a comment on oDDity's comment. I know oDDity i know his "thirst for quality" and he has right to comment like this. I had his comments as im modelling and i was almost having a heart attack..But you know what...I m so much better now...Im getting even better with my characters..His one harsh critic made me realize that i have to go back to anatomy classes. Im building a fresh character modelling skills..ANd of course it was harsh from him, but he helped me alot..THAT is HONEST part...Do not take it as a personal, but as a professional critic. And if it makes you turn red...That s a good sign..Cuz you gonna learn more and more..(I experienced this and it really helped me) but YOUR zombie is really cool..I mean if you ask me ZBRUSH is a very different modelling tool it may confuse you time to time..In polygonal modelling software s thing are really hard, flows are important and making a single polygon is a very serious decision.. In ZBRUSH (an awesome program) everything is different. Polygons are reaching millions in seconds and this is FATAL in game design. ALthough im modeller for 7 years im still trying to learn optimising my hi-poly objects ...So do not get me wrong... It s not a wrong program but it s suitable for movie quality modellings..such as LOTR.. You said you use Softimage ..That s nice. If you say that you can model that ZOmbie in Softimage with polygons and import it into Doomengine with using normal maps.... it would be brilliant..Trust me the modelling is fun part but importing, making UVs tweaking, polygon reducing... This is the problem part..(otherwise i would have completed all models in one month) Conversions after conversions..... just because of different programs have different strenghts..And game designers are using Best Software combo for modelling and animation..for their games.. In this case for Doom3 combo is Lightwave (max) (modelling) + Maya (max) (animation) Trust me if you go with ZBRUSH+Softimage combo you will get crazy with your first model. So expand your horizon, re-test your modelling skills with traditional modelling softwares...and give your decision (of course give a try to Lightwave!) BEST

Sparhawk, I sent it to New Horizon (because he's in charge of PR, I figured he'd have people's emails ), so that he'd forward it to you and Domarius. If it hasn't reached you that way... [edit - found your email on ttlg forums. I will try sending it directly to there]

Hi, I've been watching this mod from late October and find it astounding at the amount of work done on it in such a short period of time. Always glad to see Thief-fans (the ones that were disappointed with T3 being nothing like T1 & 2 but more of a twisted medieval FPS. [the plot was good though, but I think LGS made that up] -- don't hate the game though, just think it should'nt have been rushed *cough* *cough* *saving-bug* *cough*). ANYWAY, To the purpose of my post. If you guys are'nt 100% happy with the building lighting (looks good to me, just thought if you wanted help), or wanted more "lighters" then I can try to help. I did lighting (for my own purposes of changing it to be thief like) for some maps in Thievery (not the ones that are on net, just for LAN-play, using my mod for it [which makes you light up heaps when walking, slightly when sneaking, etc, and also adds silhouette mode, da di da di da....]) to be dark, and more Thief-like. If you guys are interested, then I can send some screenies. If not then tell me here please. Either way, you guys are doing a great job, keep it up! --Dram

... which would probably need additional sounds. http://forums.thedarkmod.com/index.php?showtopic=864

Building on my earlier idea of 'useable objects', here are some animations I'd like to see for the various AI to use, on a random basis. Each object has a percentage chance of activating a response in an AI that comes near. I've included suggestions about basic range and percentage chance that an AI responds. Obviously these are all nonessential, but I think they would be a hell of a lot of fun and add to the immersion factor. Some of the more humorous ones should not be used for elite guards. Several of these objects could be place on an AI's regular route, and the random factor would add the illusion of some realism to their actions. I've tried to avoid any animations that actually touch or affect the object itself to keep things simple. OBJECT --- RESPONSE Fireplace --- AI rubs hands and holds them out to the fire. Med. range, 40% chance Furnace --- As above, Med range, 20% chance Tapestry, Painting --- AI stares with hands clasped behind back, then scratches head. Short range, 10% chance Window --- AI stares with hands clasped behind back for 5 seoncds. Med range, 20% chance Chair, Sofa --- AI sits down and sighs, gets up after half a minute. Short range, 20% chance. Bowl, Pot --- AI dips finger in bowl then licks it. Short range, 10% chance. Rat --- AI 'surprise' animation, draws weapon, then puts weapon away again after a few seconds and gives 'all clear' signal (house and drunk guards only). Short range, 20% chance. Statue, Mounted Head -- same as above (drunk guards only). Short range, 10% chance. Pot, bread, cheese, etc --- AI leans over and makes audible sniffing sound. Short range, 20% chance. Grandfather clock --- AI looks at clock and says, "Three hours and no sign of dinner yet," (or other random line involving time). Short range, 10% chance. Open Book --- AI looks down at book for a few seconds, then yawns. Short range, 10% chance. Statue, holy relic, etc --- AI stops and mutters brief prayer. Med range, 10% chance. Other AI --- AI nods in their direction and gives greeting. Med range, 20% chance. Bookshelf --- AI stares with hands clasped behind back, tilts head to side (to read title). Med range, 30% chance. Bed --- AI (civilian only) lays down on bed and falls asleep. Long range, 5% chance. Mirror --- AI stares with hands clasped behind back, nods a greeting in direction of mirror. Med range, 10% chance. Security camera --- AI waves in camera's direction. Med range, 20% chance. Anyway, just some fun ideas. I tried to imagine where we could reuse some simple animations. The potential for voice sets is enormous as well. Feel free to add your own ideas to the list.

Thanks Ishtvan...we're discussing these very issues on the dev forums at the moment.

I sent you several mails without response and you never really participated in the forums. From the task that I set you I have seen nothing up until today. So the question is: What exactly do you want to help us now all of a sudden?

These are a few suggestions made by mrD. (He is too shy to post them himself, so he made me do it) "The problem is, we're building universal themes that are to be used by others. It'd be much easier to make themes for a set of missions for example. But that is not the case. And they need to be on the same level quality and production-wise." The technical bits: Format Length Loudness Basic rules No samples used in the game are to be present in themes Anything that would make themes interfere with game sounds should be avoided Themes should be a layer

This is the thread I'm always updating; http://forums.thedarkmod.com/index.php?showtopic=708