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I just picked up on what nbohr1more posted here about building from prefabs. I was just wondering how easy could we make it for novices to plug together modules to make new simple FMs. OK, likely they would lack originality and have lots of weaknesses but they might draw in more mappers who would not normally map and not all maps need to be highly advanced 'super maps.' I can't work on this currently but we could spend a few months kicking ideas around so maybe one day... Many of my first thoughts likely won't work. Let's see what if any will. Performance: Keep it simple so performance is less of an issue. Do not optimise. You only normally gain tiny fractions anyway except in complex situations and the prefabs rooms can be kept small and simple anyway. Just cover up ragged edges and junk waste. Keep focus entirely on speed building. Start Map: Needs a new simple one just for this probably just extended objectives, tools, ammo etc. Needs some thought. Prefabs: So I'm thinking first of customisable 'rooms'. A 'room' is defined as one closed volume with 'doorways' whether it be an alley, a mineshaft, whatever. Each room built to a standard wall thickness and grid. Each prefab labelled, eg, 'plug in compatible'. Standard texture types of same scale and alignment so can easily change. Each prefab has distinctily named layers for ease of re-selection and re-texturing. Each room has doorways at set points, eg, always say at positions 0.25, 0.5 075 along any wall. So to connect any two rooms you can align them easily. Doorways designed so they can be blocked off easily. For instance, if all doorways have a frame that protrudes 0.5 units then a 'blocker' prefab can be dropped over it.. This might for instance just be a a big vertical brush. Possibly leave the doorway inside for quickness but disable any working door. Stair room connectors and stair units. AI and pathing: A set of prefabs each with one AI type and say 8 paths + waits linked in a loop. Waits set at say min 10, max 30. Easy to change. Mapper changes AI skin & head for variety. Paths dragged to where needed. You can't really have too many; a one corridor guard can have 4 at each end. Paths are just discarded if not wanted by removing the AI's first target. Don't waste time deleting - you might change your mind later. Sitter prefabs with seat Sleeper prefabs with bed Problems: Dark Radiant's multiple item rotation bug is a big problem. Rotating a complete room prefab is hopeless. 4 sets of every prefab is not practical. So anyway, the mapper just Starts with the start map Inserts prefab rooms so each connects with another at doorways. Forms a basic structure of rooms. Retextures if needed. Adds or moves or changes any furniture or other models (or maybe does this later Inserts AI and adjusts Inserts loot Inserts custom objects Inserts and modifies just a few ultra simple pre-made generic readables. Modifies simple objectives.

Vertigo is a fun project, multiple paths will result with different outcomes, increasing replayability. I'm building the FM in shapes, ie: The standard city block: 512x512, alleyways: 256x512, market 1024x1024 (with minor deviations) etc. After building the presets, I stack them like legos; I found this method speeds up my build time by a huge margin, it also makes it easier to optimize with visportals. Also, I found building in this fashion (with twisting alleyways), increases performance by a lot, making it easier to add an incredible amount of visual fidelity. My original intention with Vertigo was to keep it small, but it's definitely grown in scale since I've started. I can't apply this method to Life of the Party considering I'm trying to keep key areas recognizable, while adding my own spin on how creative I want to be.

I dom't use it, i found it here with the filter set to OpenSource. the TOS and PP isn't excluding for an OpenSource app, if they use ads mean that they also need to pay an server for this online service. OpenSource is not synonymous with free either, perhaps after the beta phase it is no longer free, so perhaps you can take advantage of the fact that it is still free to create a series of textures that can be used or search another one in Futuretools. AI generated textures and assets, by definition, don't have any copyright, so you can use them as you want. https://www.futuretools.io/?pricing-model=free|open-source&tags-n5zn=gaming

I'm finding this mission a bit too frustrating. Far too many doors that needs keys, and nothing that needs lock picks. Then there's a building with only a single desk and guard, and the rest of the building completely empty, except for a few guards. Then a courtroom of that building with far too many guards and lights. Just one foot in that courtroom, completely lit up like a Christmas tree. And odd having rope arrows with no place to use them. Played for a few hours, could only find one key.

Maybe you can do something with the animated grass demo: Topic https://forums.thedarkmod.com/index.php?/topic/12985-animated-grass-test-map/ Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRCzWOeYxd0

Have you looked in this topic? https://forums.thedarkmod.com/index.php?/topic/21549-fan-mission-in-plain-sight-by-frost_salamander-20220807

well it seems to be a problem for many amd users i see from skimming unity forums, everything from outright crashes to awfull framerates ouch . one user found that running unity in a window made it run flawlessly while fullscreen made it run like alan wake2 on a 1050 gtx

After a long time and a lot of delays, I'm extremely happy and relieved to announce the release date for my first map; Lords & Legacy, on Friday the 30th of August, 2013! Lords & Legacy v.2.1 Resume: Screenshots: http://imgur.com/a/Lj8UJ#0 Notes: Build time: 2013/03/30 - 2013/08/30 To install, simply put the .pk4 file in your fm folder and install from the in-game mission menu. It is a large mission with optional objectives, so make sure to save often. The ropes in the beginning have a 'slick' surface, to simulate being 'slack lines'. They are difficult, but once you get a hang of the slide they can be fun. A couple of the large areas can be a bit rough on performance, and can be improved by adjusting the LOD slider in video options. A few of visportals open only when you get close. This is to keep the frames smooth inside the respective building, due to early inexperienced design. If you find any bugs which affect the gameplay experience, then you're very welcome to post them here, but please use the spoiler tags. Big thanks to 'Obsttorte', 'Springheel', 'Greyman', 'Bikerdude', 'Sotha' and rest of 'The Dark Mod Team'for all the help, guides and tricks. Also thanks to the other TDM users who provided fantastic support and feedback during the build. Thank you for beta-testing: 'Bikerdude', 'TylerVocal', 'Simplen00b', 'nbohr1more', 'Briareos H.' Special thanks to: 'Danus', 'Dsx' & 'Stanleh' for testing, help and support. v.2.0.1 changelog: Bugs: -The "Master Thief" challenge was impossible to do for a while, due to incorrect values. Fixed. -Getting seen by "The Killer" now also fails the "Ghost" challenge. -The 3 cardplaying guards no longer float mid air, as their chairs are now nailed to the floor. -Fixed the sound of the furnace continuing after the flames were extinguished. -Fixed weird glittering on the power cables around the map. -Fixed some moonlight popping in and out. -Fixed openable windows in Commons, clipping into the frame. -Fixed a book dropping through a desk. -Fixed visportals closing too close in Lancel's Tower, slight hit on performance though. -Added more monsterclip to Service Tower and Robert's Tower's entrance. -Improved a few vis_portals with func_portals. -Replaced curbs in Slums and Commons with some more detailed versions and changed textures. And a lot more little unecessary tweaks. Gameplay: -Added new challenge: (Jack White) - Do not knock-out anyone. -Reduced the amount of starting gear, depending on difficulty. -Added cubemaps to most windows on the map. -Redid most func_statics in Commmons Quarter to reduce tris and increase performance. Draw count is still somewhat high. -Removed all transparent windows as they didn't have actual gameplay value, just a performance drain in exchange for glitchy visuals. -Lancel's safe can no longer be picked. Find the key! -Added a couple minor cosmetic details in the sewers. -Moved a coinpurse from a wealthy commoner's sleeping butt to his nightside table. Also adjusted his furniture so thieves can better move around. -Changed sounds for several doors across the map. Once again, a big thanks to 'Bikerdude' for taking the time help out and locate room for improvement! v.2.0 changelog: Bugs: -Fixed various textures and surfaces and a few minor tweaks. -Tweaked some sounds to be in line with TDM 2.0 changes. -Fixed 2 certain AIs being too sensitive rather than drunk. (Thanks to AluminumHaste!) -Tweaked LOD on some objects, to prevent windows "popping" in and out. Gameplay: -Added more monsterclip to the towers, so the AI can now run up and down stairs. Only the stairs in the small tower has issues still. -Added more monsterclip in the city so the guards can follow you up all stairs. -Added a few minor details. -Windows in the city now dims sound, resulting in less aggro from guards and more convincing soundscape. -Reduced 'draw calls' in all the large areas, increasing performance. The map is still heavy at certain areas. Another big thanks to 'Bikerdude' and 'Greyman', for taking time out of their own schedules to help optimize the map's draw count and other significant adjustements! v.1.0.3 changelog: Bugs: -Fixed 4 black chairs in one of the towers -Fixed a floating painting -Fixed several clipping objects v.1.0.2 changelog: Bugs: -Fixed zfighting in the library's bookshelves -Fixed a black window in one of the towers -Fixed several typos in readables Gameplay: v.1.0.1 changelog: Bugs: -Fixed an issue with the main objectives not being in "sync". -Fixed console spam from a script Gameplay: -Adjusted required loot for each difficulty from "3000, 4000 and 5000" to "2500, 3500 and 4500".

In 2.12, the placing of two objects in the kitchen need adjusting: * The cauldron is floating to the left of the stove at coordinates (246.74 523.07 30.25 -6.1 179.2 0.0). * A bowl is sticking out from the bottom of a shelf at coordinates (229.17 696 30.25 -15.9 -174.3 0.0). I otherwise enjoyed this mission which is well crafted in both mapping and story. Things I particularly liked: * That it was possible to get an overview from the roof tops. * Multiple entry and exit points. * Evenly distributed keys and notes with hints resulted in driving the story forward in a good pace. * The setting and story elements: The rationale for builders patrolling the streets and the city hall. The chilling descriptions of the inquisition in books and notes, and how the city had invited this evil (or possibly even been tricked into doing so). Things that could improve: * I agree with thebigh's comment that it would have been nice if it was possible to enter some other building. Perhaps a room of a relative, or friend, of a victim of the inquisition and with a diary where they describe the victim's innocence and the fear of unfounded accusations keeping the larger public from ending the panic by coming forth with questions or as an alibi. Partly for additional story (mood) but also partly because it makes the surrounding accessible area appear more of an actual city than a scenery flat. Both OMs, A New Job and Tears of St. Lucia, have one such room each.

Google translated: https://rutracker-org.translate.goog/forum/viewtopic.php?t=6419292&_x_tr_sl=ru&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=nl&_x_tr_pto=wapp === There are lots of topics about black screens during the main menu. https://forums.thedarkmod.com/index.php?/search/&q=Black screen&type=forums_topic&nodes=58&search_and_or=and

I don't think anyone is actually suggesting that guns should be in the game. (Certainly that's not what I'm asking for.) Rather I see this as an opportunity for this very creative community to brainstorm some fun and clever explanations for why guns don't exist in this setting when clearly explosives of some sort do. Example: Suppose wesp5 is right: fire arrows and explosive mines both work because each contains an explosive fire crystal. The crystal is triggered to detonate from an impact, supplied by collision with a surface in the case of the fire arrow, and a clockwork mechanism in the case of the mine. Why then has no inventor ever thought to stuff a tiny one of these crystals down a hollow metal tube, stick an arrow in after it and then use clockwork to detonate the crystal in order to launch the arrow out at enemies with superhuman speed? (And this is me assuming ignoring that TDM doesn't already have straight-up cannons sitting around as props in some mission.) Unless... maybe small fire crystals are much more impact sensitive than the larger specimens, making them unsafe for use in a man portable device. Where could an idea like that lead us for world building? Maybe the main doctrine of war in this world is to have loose formations of archers equipped with fire arrows, capable of annihilating even the most heavily armored squads of enemies at 100 paces. Imagine what that does to warfare. Stealth and ambush become your best defense. Warfare evolves into elaborate sniper duels, where the moment you knock your fire arrow you either win or you die! So some elite soldiers revert back to using broad-heads, hunting their foes from the shadows. Maybe in some future FM we get to play one of these soldiers, either on a special infiltration mission, or returned from war with a certain set of skills. Or maybe we get an FM about a rogue inventor developing a new fire crystal formula that is more stable, and now he has this insane new weapon: a man-cannon that can kill beyond the range of any bow. Now he's selling the formula to the Minoans and our thief has to steal it... Many exciting possibilities; but that is only one example.

If you've been working on a mission for 2.05, and you've been using SVN for your assets, please switch to the beta package of 2.05. Some assets that appear in SVN won't be included in 2.05. For example, I was using this material for a curtain: textures/darkmod/fabric/ship_sails When I switched to 2.05, it disappeared. The material is part of the airship, which is being excluded from 2.05 because it isn't finished. (No, I'm not going to provide a list of what's not included in 2.05. Just make the switch and find out what's missing. )

On the wiki, I'm working on a set of pages with the title-preface and broad theme "The Parts and Whole". This looks at the hows and whys of map objects being formed into collections. The hub of this is The Parts and Whole: Overview Within the hub, so far, the section "Techniques that Affect DR Only" is built out with comparison tables and child pages. This covers these techniques: Hide/Show, Region, Layer, Filter, Group, Selection Set. I'd appreciate any eyeballs on the work so far. Please suggest or edit-in improvements. In particular, are there links to videos or other wiki or forum pages that you think most apt and should be added, e.g., to the "See Also" section? "The Parts and Whole" effort is mostly intended for newbies and so is not afraid to state the obvious at times. In some cases, it covers ground also handled by the necessarily-concise DarkRadiant User Guide, but with more depth and context. In other cases, the info was only found buried in forums. Because I'm trying to cover a fair amount of ground, the pages are text-only. Some of the child pages could benefit from screenshots some day.

I don't wanna sound lazy or spoiled by asking this question: I enjoy mapping, and DarkRadiant helps in not making the process all that hard! At the same time though, it is a lengthy and straining process, so I figure knowing this wouldn't hurt either. After all, scripts and prefabs and other contributions are shared throughout the community, so why not map chunks? But yeah: My question was whether any TDM contributors also publish any complete large structures for other mappers to use. By this I mean full buildings (with interiors), playable base landscapes, maybe even whole towns! I'm thinking of generic area templates that mappers can easily add characters to for their story, in case someone doesn't want to create their map from scratch. For instance, a whole town map with all roads and buildings laid out, entities for paths and doors and all other things, just no objectives or stories or characters as you add those yourself. Another problem is that if people abuse such templates, too many missions will end up looking the sane, which would of course get easily boring. This might be helped if perhaps just important pieces could be offered as prefabs... for instance various types of complete buildings, but it's still the player who makes the roads and places each one in each spot. Has anyone ever made and posted such a thing, and what do you think of the idea? This isn't a request thread mind you, unless merely bringing this up inspires anyone to do it... I'm only asking if anyone else's thought of this before. The reason I think it's a fun thought is that some missions have a few really nice areas, which are definitely created by talented mappers... therefore I wonder if bits of maps could be shared in a way that makes them easy to combine with one another, so that other missions can reuse good parts if of course their authors want that.

Hey all! I haven't properly played the Dark Mod since 2.05 or maybe even 2.04 until now and I've noticed that whatever I do in game the center and LFE channels of my 5.1 sound system remain silent. In other words, the output is actually 4.0 (2 front + 2 rear speakers) rather than 5.1. Now, I am not sure exactly but I recall no problems previously - until the EFX update 2.06, I think. I even found my older post about extremely loud LFE channel here: http://forums.thedarkmod.com/index.php?/topic/18741-really-loud-music/&tab=comments#comment-405277 As I understand, it is often made that the center and LFE channels are reserved for special sounds and not used often as the front speakers. For example, in Witcher3 center is mostly used for voices in the dialogs and the best way to check LFE is to use the aard sign magic. Or, in Skyrim it is known that LFE plays only when the dragon hits the ground. The first question is: do I have an issue with sound or not? Because maybe the sound output is ok and I've simply met no specific conditions utilizing the center and LFE channels? Minding my previous paragraph, I don't think it's EFX related but maybe the sound shaders simply changed since 2.05? This all brings me to another question: is there a way to check somehow in the Dark Mod wether the game outputs the sound correctly? About my setup now. I output sound via HDMI to Pioneer receiver with 5.1 setup. Everything works fine in modern games that provide 5.1 output support like the Witcher3 or Mortal Kombat 10 and 11. The windows sound configuration in control panel allows me to check all the speakers and it's fine. I have win 7 64 bit, OpenAl installed. The Dark Mod allows me to set 5.1 sound in options with no warning (I know that in other cases it gives a message like "your system does not support this sound configuration"). Please, help me to find out if anything's wrong with my setup and why my center and LFE channels are silent. Hate to start new threads but I didn't find anything related to my problem. Moreover, I feel the lack of sound-related discussions considering our community's interests.