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I'm pleased to announce my first ever mission, The Factory Heist. If you're in the mood for a short but challenging and intricate mission I'm confident you'll have some fun with this. Title: The Factory Heist Short description: Workers at a factory have unearthed a buried building beneath. Sneak in, find a way down there, and loot it for antique treasure! Filename: factoryheist.pk4, now also available on the in-game downloader Author: thebigh Date of Release: 12 September 2020 Version: 1.0 EAX: No Dark Mod Version: 2.08 Content warning: No spiders, no undead, no rats, just one skeleton hand Many thanks to my beta testers: Cambridge Spy, Vanished One, Wesp5, PranQster. Be sure to read the little book in Lukas Dunbar's office Screenshot: Help, I can't reach the loot goal:

well decided to have a look at setting it up on solus and ... it does not exist as a package. you can still build it yourself but there are some pitfalls. timeshift relies on dcron which was removed from solus so you have to create the auto backup sequence with systemd yourself (i hope your good at scripting). create a textfile, name it "timeshift.service" with following content: [Service] ExecStart=/usr/bin/timeshift --check Create a second textfile, name it "timeshift.timer" with following content: [Unit] Description=Run timeshift --check [Timer] OnBootSec=10min OnUnitActiveSec=60min [Install] WantedBy=timers.target` copy both files to /usr/lib/systemd/system (-> sudo cp timeshift.service /usr/lib/systemd/system # same for timeshift.timer) Now enable the timer: sudo systemctl enable timeshift.timer you might need these dependencies before building timeshift. sudo eopkg install libgee libvte rsync dcron libjson-glib even though dcron is listed as a dependency it does not work with solus because it is systemd based.

You're right, libxml2 can't be fundamentally broken since it is such a core dependency on Linux, plus the exact same XPath queries work perfectly fine even within our own XmlTest, so it must be something specific to how XML is being used within the registry setup. I found a couple of online sources which suggested that XPath queries might fail if the DTD doesn't validate, but we don't have any DTDs in our XML files and the XML_PARSE_DTDVALID option is not set by default in any case. Encodings are another possible culprit (especially since the problem seems to be OS-specific), but as far as I know encodings wouldn't change the parsing of characters like "[" or "@", and if the encoding was so fundamentally wrong that even regular 7-bit ASCII failed to parse, then how would "//game" ever be found? It seems that whatever the cause of the problem is, it is very well hidden within the API and would probably require building libxml2 from source and diving into it with the debugger to find out what is going wrong. Right, that sounds like the best approach. I'll set the HEADER_ONLY flag on Linux too then for consistency, and integrate it as a header-only dependency like libfmt.

Saw this FM in my list and it said my last playthrough was in 2020 so figured I'd try it again to see what was updated. What a good gem this one was! I think it's at the top when it comes to story and world building, one of the FM's where readables do a lot to immerse you and paint what's going on while events are dynamic and actually feel involved: I'd paint this as a textbook example on doing progression and elements of surprise in a FM... just my own feeling, but recent ones have become a bit too linear and predictable even if the graphics are more impressive, I feel kind of nostalgic for missions like this. With that being said, I should end with a hilarious thing that happened at the end and had me laughing out loud.

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!

I very much doubt it. You are building from source on Ubuntu whereas demagogue is reporting a problem with the released Windows build. I believe your error is the same one I encountered here: This error is triggered by a change in Greebo's repo which I haven't yet merged, so if you build from my repo you should avoid this issue.

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

New script for mappers: my flavour of a fog density fading script. To add this to your FM, add the line "thread FogIntensityLoop();" to your map's void main() function (see the example in fogfade.script) and set "fog_fade" "1" on each foglight to enable script control of it. Set "fog_intensity_multiplier" on each info_location entity to change how thick the fog is in that location (practically speaking it's a multiplier for visibility distance). Lastly, "fog_fade_speed" on each foglight determines how quickly it will change its density. The speed scales with the current value of shaderParm3, using shaderParm3 = 1000 as a baseline. So i.e. if shaderParm is currently at 1/10th of 1000, then fade speed will be 1/10th as fast. Differences to Obsttorte's script: https://forums.thedarkmod.com/index.php?/topic/14394-apples-and-peaches-obsttortes-mapping-and-scripting-thread/&do=findComment&comment=310436 my script uses fog lights you created, rather than creating one for you. Obsttorte's script will delete the foglight if entering a fogfree zone and recreate it later more than one fog light can be controlled (however, no per-fog-light level of control) adding this to the map requires adding a line to your void main() script, rather than adding an info_locations_settings entity with a custom scriptobject spawnarg in my script, mappers set a multiplier of fog visibility distance (shaderParm3), while in Obsttorte's script a "fog_density" spawnarg is used as an alternative to shaderParm3 smaller and less compactly written script fogfade.scriptfogfade.map

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.

The problem I have with antiportals is that using them is too hard. If the obstacle is small, then antiportal won't help much. If it is huge, then it's probably some building and you try to optimize outdoors area. The antiportal over whole building makes sense, but: Rectangular antiportal is not enough: you need something that fills as much of the building's volume as possible, at least a box or two crossing antiportals. Are you really 100% sure player cannot open doors and look through the whole building? Are you sure you would set antiportal in such a way that it won't block something visible? Your antiportals cannot affect all areas like visportals do, because when player is indoors, the antiportal will block his visibility. You want antiportal to work only when player is outdoors, so you need some filter with locations. It becomes so messy that if a mapper wants to optimize his building, he just better place all the portals around and hope for the best.

edit: I've created a video series to showcase the new modules and give examples of how to use them: http://forums.thedarkmod.com/topic/18683-using-springheels-205-modules/ Hope you enjoy them! There might be a bit of a learning curve, but before you know it you'll be creating scenes like these:

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

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/

Since it already has been mentioned in the forums, I'd like to announce a small project of mine. A few weeks ago I was playing Legend of Grimrock and it struck me that their level design is extremely simple and modular, and yet, the player can spend quite a lot of time in the game. And it looks pretty, too! So I wondered if it wouldn't be possible to create a modern "Dungeon Crawler" (solve puzzles, fight monsters, collect loot, progress your character, upgrade your equipment) type of game inside the TDM engine. The engine already supports a lot of things one needs for this, and the overal structure and assets work, too. And with prefabs, one might get the level layout done quickly. However, building a few test prefabs in DR is easy, but creating a full mission out of them is quite painful. Not only needs it a lot of planning, but you can also spend a lot of time "upgrading" things later on. For instance if you later want to add a grime decal to the walls, you have to revisit the entire map. Even worse is if you find out later that your block size must be bigger or smaller. So the idea was born to create a sort of framework that can assemble missions from prefabs. Preferable while getting the description of the mission from a text file. So far, this has been a lot easier than I thought. Here is what I got working so far: Overview: You can describe your mission in a (Unicode) text file. This contains overall options, different locations (each location can have its own ambient light, music,name, fog), and the connections between the locations. Each location can have multiple "floor levels", these are stacked on top of each other. The config file also specifies which symbol means "use this prefab". It is also possible to specify links (per location), which means you can say "this lever with the symbol A opens the door with the symbol D". The framework reads the prefabs, and then positiones them in the map. It also glues all the locations together, adds location_info entities, a player start, an exit, and an objective to reach the exit. The resulting map is then enhanced with script objects (all nec. assets are bundled together), and automatically dmapped via TDM. Everything then is packaged together into a working .PK4 file. My demo map takes about 20 seconds, where 15 are dmap. In addition to the "basic" stuff I also managed to get a few things working, like a pressure plate, portcullies, and also made some puzzles. Oh, and per location fog (fading from location to location). Different difficulty levels are also supported, one can specify "this prefab appears only on easy" etc. You can find more info and screenshots and demo here: http://bloodgate.com/swift/ There is also a developer diary where I will be posting interesting entries from time to time. Here is an DR shot of a sample level, consisting of small modular prefabs and one large (the large hall on the lower left): The next steps will be to add more randomness (either static at map generation, or at runtime, so the map is slightly different each time you replay it). Also, while it is already possible to "overlay" prefabs (e.g. "for this location, look first here before falling back to the default"), it is not yet possible to "reskin" prefabs. This would be something which is impossible in DR (you cannot really reskin worldspawn brushes, unless you live with the fact that it is all manual For now I'm quite excited!

I love the looks, atmosphere and layout of this mission and the map is beautiful drawn. I just found it took too long to find a clue about Deacon. It's all in one building and most other places feel very empty. There's a sound file in the sound\sfx folder called message_smythe.ogg . It's from an audiograph, I think, but I never found the audiograph. I found only 3 music audiographs. Is it actually included somewhere in the mission and if, where can I find it? message_smythe.ogg No, I knocked out the killer and (ironically) left him in a room together with one of his victims. I later returned and then he was gone. So I had to search him. Luckely this wasn't too hard in this case. We'll never find out what he would do about it..

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

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.)

Thanks. Anyway even the prehistoric version is crashing a lot, so I'm getting the message that it's not worth building on my little travel laptop and I'll stick to my gaming computer. It's not such a big loss. I used to build all the time using a really underpowered laptop, and it's nice sometimes, but I guess the game has evolved past that now.

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.

It's occurred to me that it has been quite a long time since I released anything. Meanwhile I've started and abandoned three largeish, ambitious missions because I got stuck, or I made something that I just couldn't get looking good, or whatever, and just gave up on it. But not everything has to be a big, sprawling epic. There's lots of smaller missions that remain fun to play despite their modest size: Thief's Den 1, for example. Even Closemouthed Shadows is still enjoyable. So... I am going to challenge myself to create a small mission in under 24 hours. Maybe I'll fail, but why set yourself a challenge you're sure to achieve? Where is the ambition in that? Whatever happens, at the end I will have at least a few serviceable areas done and that's better than the pointless fussing I've been doing lately. MY RULES: From the moment I post this thread I have 24 hours real time to produce a mission from scratch, playable from briefing to finale Implement three difficulty levels Include a small tribute to Grayman Include at least one secret The 24 hour limit does not include beta testing, a title screen, or producing cool promotional screenshots. I just need a mission to show after 24 hours The level will feature zombies, which is no doubt how I will feel this time tomorrow. Good thing I had a nap this afternoon. Well, here I go. Wish me luck.

I haven't personally run it so not sure how long it actually takes. @Amadeus how long did it take for WIS? @stgatilov To make runParticle part of dmap, is there a way to check if runParticle needs to be run or not first? For example, if there are no particles present with 'collisionStatic' keyword than just skip it. I wouldn't say this is big deal, but it's a manual step that the mapper could easily forget to run on release day... I meant the default weather materials - but Amadeus covered that in his question - thanks. Actually this doesn't seem to be the case. The rain seems to stay outside the visleaf if the door is open. In the example screenshot from inside the Inn in In Plain Sight, the rain patch actually extends over the roof of this building. With the door open, the rain 'stays outside'. However, you're right and still with this method you need to use individual patches and place them carefully (although I didn't have to worry about the height). It's not perfect because rain will still poke through awnings and stuff outside.