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Creating a new thread for this as it was being discussed in an old beta-testing thread starting here: https://forums.thedarkmod.com/index.php?/topic/21822-beta-testing-high-expectations/&do=findComment&comment=490751 I suppose the main questions are: when should this spawnarg be used, if at all? why was it introduced in the first place? Can we get it documented properly on the Wiki so misuse isn't propagated? @stgatilov @Dragofer

I was just thinking if a conventional depth pass may also do the trick: Render world geometry as an untextured unlit Z-buffer at a small cheap resolution (eg: 256x128 default)... knowing each entity's distance from the camera, an entity is discarded when its projection doesn't touch at least one pixel darker / further than its own location. Could that work? Something worth noting: If you own a relatively modern video card (last 5 years or so) and use an 1080p @ 60 Hz monitor, you may get the maximum performance... even that requires lower quality settings (absolutely no MSAA) but now it's possible to get a constant round 60 FPS. The big problem is playing on either a 4k or 144 Hz screen and hoping to reach anywhere near your VSync limit, god forbid both at once. Most of us don't want more pixels in our monitor so 1920x1080 is still the expected standard, unless we have TDM players who play on a large TV which wouldn't surprise me. Yet we are going for 144 Hz... once you get used to it and can't go back, anything under 120 FPS starts to feel like you're lagging. At the moment I get +80 FPS in most areas, +100 in some, +120 very rarely when I'm lucky... the full 144 only if I'm literally staring at a wall and of course in the main menu.

Hi all, I just put the 64 bit version of TDM on my machine running Zorin 15.2, I figured it's based on Ubuntu so it should be OK When I ran thedarkmod.x64 I got the intro music playing & a black screen with a pop up saying - I couldn't stop TDM & had to blip the power button to get the system to shut down. So I dug around a bit on my old windows system that ran TDM on the same monitor & found the following lines in Darkmod.cfg seta r_customHeight "1080" seta r_customWidth "1920" on the Linux system they were seta r_customHeight "600" seta r_customWidth "800" So I changed the figures to match the old windows system & tried again & it worked the training mission loads nicely I couldn't find any setting for 60hz, but as it seems to work I'm fine So I'm posting this in case anyone else has a similar issue

Hello! Tracking down information on software and plug-ins that work with D3 / TDM can be a tough. So I have created a thread here where people can post what software/ plug-ins/ tutorials or other references they've had success or failure with in TDM. 3DS MAX 2013 64bit .ase - Default .ASE model exporter works. However you have to open the .ase file in text edit and manual change the *BITMAP line on each material to read something like: "//base/textures/common/collision" which allows the engine to read the correct material path. md5.mesh / animation - Beserker's md5 exporter/importers for 3dsmax. http://www.katsbits.com/tools, Importing and exporting works. The model must be textured, UV'd, with a skin modifier attached to the bones to export. PM me (Kingsal) for help with this. Imported models using the script will not be weighted appropriately, so this is not recommended if you are simply trying to edit existing tdm content. (Use blender instead) MAYA 2011 32bit md5.mesh - So far I've not had any luck with Maya 2011. I am using Greebo's MayaImportx86 for Maya 2011. I've got the importer working however I get a "Unexpected Internal Failure(kFailure)" and the import fails. This could be due to something finicky in Maya that I am not doing correctly. Will keep trying.. Blender 2.7 about - Blender is commonly used and pretty well supported on the forums/ wiki. Various versions may work as well - https://www.blender.org/download/ md5.mesh / animation Blender MD5 importer/exporter (io_scene_md5.zip): https://sourceforge.net/projects/blenderbitsbobs/files/ Sotha's guide Blender Male/ Female rigs by Arcturus - Here Edit by Dragofer: more links found in this post.

There's a group of players who have meticulously tested and adjusted ghosting rules for The Dark Mod. Please see: Official Ghosting Rules: https://www.ttlg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=148523 Ghost Rules Discussion: https://www.ttlg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=148487 Why alienate an established group of dedicated players?

Ambient atmospheres are in my opinion one of the best parts of the Dark Mod experience, not just for getting a mission to have the right feel but also for inspiration and to have them playing in the background when creating maps. The more the merrier, so here's a thread to collect all the links to ambient music and environmental sounds that could have a spot in TDM's setting. Ambients from the TDM forums Gast's Eerie Lullabies Magnanimous Merry's Miscellanea Orbweaver's Dark Ambients Spadey's Ambients Radioteque's Ambients Kyyrma's Composing Ambient Tracks for Dummies - Kyyrma shows how ambient soundtracks can be made from a set of sounds. Also contains some of his finished ambients. Request for more interior sounds - this thread is a very productive community session where members came up with a large and good selection of new ambients. Uncle Peti's Sound Den Dragofer's Ambients - post #6 in this thread SeriousToni's Ambients - posts #8, 12, 15 and 19 in this thread Ambients from the TTLG forums Custom resources list Gigagooga's Ambients 1 - possibly the largest pack of ambient musics and nature sounds, all of them high quality. Gigagooga's Ambients 2 - this pack puts more weight on shorter swells/hits/pads to be layered on top of a subtle ambient. Gigagooga's Ambients 3 Yandros' ambient loop Sephy's Ambients - a large collection of ambient pieces, including many shorter ones which will be valuable for anyone wanting to try a layered ambience approach like in the Thief OMs and Full Moon Fever. Internet databases www.freesound.org - some of the better composers in my opinion are ERH and BrandonNyte. www.purple-planet.com - a large selection of all kinds of ambient and musical soundtracks to be used freely. www.darkwinter.com - an internet label that publishes a lot of dark ambient music under a Creative Commons license. www.endlessascent.com - sister website of Darkwinter for non-dark ambients. Youtube Asatru Dark - also has very nice reference images for outdoor stone memorials, statue arrangements etc. #4 Void by Raffaele du Marteau & #6 Dreaming of Nowhere by Raffaele du Marteau - possibly the most forlorn pieces I've found on the internet. Alacazam - a prolific Creative Commons ambients composer . Cryo Chamber - for-profit label for dark ambient music with a large selection on offer. Going by their Youtube comments they're fine with people using their soundtracks for games etc., although you'd probably need to buy the soundtracks first. Dark Ambient Mixed Session - as much ambient as something to have in the background while mapping.

So I take it other people are finding the FPS pretty bad in a bunch of locations? 86 FPS isn't bad per se, but running that low FPS on a 240hz monitor feels......not great.

Interesting monitor for TDM I stumbled upon:

DarkRadiant 3.8.0 is ready for download. What's new: Feature: Support new frob-related material keywords Improvement: Mission selection list in Game setup is not alphabetically sorted Improvement: Better distinction between inherited and regular spawnargs Improvement: Silence sound shader button Improvement: Add Reload Definitions button to Model Chooser Fixed: Model Selector widgets are cut off and flicker constantly on Linux Fixed: DarkRadiant will not start without Dark Mod plugins Fixed: GenericEntityNode not calculating the direction correctly with "editor_rotatable" Fixed: RenderableArrow not drawing the tip correctly for arbitrary rotations Fixed: Light Inspector crashes on Linux Fixed: Models glitch out when filtering then showing them Fixed: Skin Editor: models not centered well in preview Fixed: "Copy Resource Path" includes top level folders Fixed: Skin Editor: internal test skins are shown if Material Editor was open previously Fixed: Changing Game/Project doesn't update loaded assets correctly Fixed: Model Chooser: initially hidden materials aren't revealed when enabling them Fixed: Choosing AI entity class 'atdm:townsfolk_commoner_update' causes crash Fixed: Sporadic assertion failure on shutdown due to LocalBitmapArtProvider destruction Fixed: Prefab Selector spams infinite error dialogs on Linux Windows and Mac Downloads are available on Github: https://github.com/codereader/DarkRadiant/releases/tag/3.8.0 and of course linked from the website https://www.darkradiant.net Thanks to all the awesome people who keep using DarkRadiant to create Fan Missions - they are the main reason for me to keep going. Please report any bugs or feature requests here in these forums, following these guidelines: Bugs (including steps for reproduction) can go directly on the tracker. When unsure about a bug/issue, feel free to ask. If you run into a crash, please record a crashdump: Crashdump Instructions Feature requests should be suggested (and possibly discussed) here in these forums before they may be added to the tracker. The list of changes can be found on the our bugtracker changelog. Keep on mapping!

Looking at the code, the originals were "pm_mantle_pull 750" and "pm_mantle_pullFast 450". The new "pm_mantle_pull" value is "400". A "pm_mantle_pullFast" value of "450" would be slower than regular pull, not faster. With both being set to "400", they are at least similar. Other than that, it's subjective and the feedback from playtesters was positive. Also, referenced internally here: https://forums.thedarkmod.com/index.php?/topic/22256-movementcontrols-settings-in-main-menu/&do=findComment&comment=489158

That sort of tone doesn't fly in our forums.

I would use this massive list for any fan missions, it includes campaigns too: https://www.ttlg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=148090 There are a lot of Fan Missions for the picking, I myself go for the lesser known ones and the short variety, because sometimes they hide a gem or two. Just like jaxa, I'm a bit outdated after the temporal retirement, but I do remember some amazing campaigns like "The Black Frog". If you intend to play The Black Frog, you should play the first two of the L'Arsene series missions, it's how I did it myself. Also, yes, L'Arsene are a fantastic series. The first mission of L'Arsene is a "rough draft", author was a bit new to Thief level making, but still great either way, after the 3rd you will see how his skill increased by a massive amount.

Unfortunately, TDM forum deletes the separator between the numbers. So I have to guess where one number ends and the next starts Also, user can rename screenshot manually, or push it through something that would rename it automatically. Thenwe won't see coordinates on screenshot address on forums.

tdm_show_viewpos cvar and screenshot_viewpos command: https://forums.thedarkmod.com/index.php?/topic/22310-212-viewpos-on-player-hud-and-screenshots/

Of course, it is one of the reasons for the decline of online forums, since the advent of mobile phones. Forums on a mobile are a pain in the ass, but on the other hand, for certain things there are no real alternatives to forums, social networks cannot be with their sequential threads, where it is almost impossible to retrieve answers to a question that is asked. has done days ago. For devs for internal communication, the only thing offered is a collaborative app, such as System D (not to be confused with systemd). FOSS, free and anonymous registration, access further members only by invitation, full encrypted and private. https://www.system-d.org

Hey, as the Thief games and The Dark Mod vastly benefit from monitors with a good background lighting, meaning, a monitor without, or with minimal background bleeding, clouding, or IPS glow, i wanted to ask if anyone knows a decent 24" budget monitor, which doesn't suffer, or doesn't suffer that much from the mentioned phenomenes. I use this monitor for quite a while now (must be 6 years now, or more): http://www.chip.de/artikel/BenQ-G2220HD-TFT-Monitor-Test_43328296.html It was a very cheap monitor (i think i paid 120 or 130 € for it), and, the background lighting is pretty good, no clouding in the edges, no glow (after all, it's a TN panel, and, i think the thing called IPS glow is only happening on IPS, and Samsung's PLS panels), and the lighting is pretty consistent, and unobtrusive too. Mind you, the monitor is a bit dim, and it doesn't get excessively bright, even on 100% brightness. More current monitors get brighter, but, maybe that's part of the problem? Anyway, so, after years of using this thing, i recently ordered a Samsung PLS monitor, for 132 €, this one: https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B01BCF0006/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Turned it on after putting it together, and, was very fond of what i was seeing. Nice picture, sharp and bright. Was very happy first. Then, as i know that it is a lighting sensitive game, i started TDM. Jeez, horrible. Big clouds in all edge, and, especially in the lower left edge. So dramatic that it was hardly possible to see wall, or floor textures in dark places. I could also switch to any setting i wanted, also manually adjusted brightness, contrast, and colours, it helped nothing, those clouds totally destroyed the experience. Ok, sent it back, heavy-heartedly, because the picture otherwise was really good. Ordered this ASUS monitor, which is a TN panel, because i expected a similar experience to my old BenQ monitor: https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B014RKZ81O/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Turned it on, picture seemed so-so. No realy improvement to my BenQ, actually, the opposite, i found it a bit worse, and it had a really bright glow, already visible on the desktop too. Booted TDM, to see what the background lighting is like there. One word: Terrible. Don't buy this monitor if you want to play any game, which is a bit more dark, or even, when you play normal games. I'm seriously wondering. Did monitors in that price segment get worse? Seriously, my BenQ seems better than both of those. The Samsung had a better picture by default, and was also more sharp, but, completely messed up when the picture became darker. I wonder, did anyone make the same experience? Can you recommend a similarly priced screen? I know there's also some BenQ 24" for that price, but, i'm really a bit scared now... i don't want to order another monitor, just to send it back again...

Relax @Näkki, it's great to hear you enjoyed the game. My personal expectations were just a bit different when I read the Steam page, although the various trailers should have been a warning that stealth maybe wasn't the biggest priority of the devs. From the Steam page: "Weird west legends meet eldritch horror in BLOOD WEST, an immersive stealth FPS." Also "Blood West is a stealth FPS inspired by the genre classics such as the Thief series (whose fans will be happy to hear the voice of Stephen Russell, the actor voicing the master-thief Garrett, returning here as the protagonist), S.T.A.L.K.E.R. games, or - from the contemporary catalog - Hunt: Showdown. The gameplay rewards the careful approach: scouting the area, stalking your enemies, and striking from the shadows. Can you figure out a way to clear a fort full of ghouls and monsters without raising an alarm?" From my personal experience I think the game is predominantly Hunt: Showdown, a bit of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. and a very small portion Thief. Stealth is very unforgiving and makes it almost impossible early game when there are various enemies around, but hey maybe I just suck at it. I don't see Deus Ex in it, unless the skill leveling is the Deus Ex part for you and then I have to disagree with you, as that seems like the trait system in Hunt: Showdown. Edit: What I also understood from the Steam forums is that the original VA was dropped close before the release of the full version and replaced by Russell with no real explanation from the devs why this was done.

So, if I understand you, no Thief Gold FM does sound and text notifications of completed objectives? The missions in The Black Parade surely did. I'm completely confused now. I was sure that original Thief Gold had those objective complete notifications (at least the sound). Reading this thread suggests otherwise though: https://www.ttlg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=132977

rtings.com when looking for a monitor

VA would be a great panel tech for dark games like The Dark Mod as well, if there wouldn't be the drawback of the slow pixel reaction times, especially in dark scenes (which leads to ugly smearing with moving objects). Unfortunately, it is not even guaranteed with more premium models, as far as I've always read. The only decent monitor in that regard that I've seen is the Samsung Odyssey G7. It's curved though, and that's another issue with VA monitors: They're mostly curved. Again, I think, for now, IPS is the best compromise, if you can get a panel with good contrast ratio, and happen to be lucky with a low amount of IPS glow in your specific model. I also think IPS is the most versatile, because, apart from being decent for gaming, it's also good for image or video editing, if you get one with good colour space coverage. For the future, OLED is surely the way to go, if they go for a cheaper price. That said, burn in still seems to be an issue with OLEDs. As @Xolvix wrote, all panel techs have their pros and cons.

If you want to have no ghosting, get a 240hz QD-OLED https://www.displayninja.com/best-oled-monitor/#ASUS_PG27AQDM

Interesting topic, I'm not trying to restart an old debate but it's too bad Bikerdude isn't still here because he knows a lot about monitors and other technology. He helped me get my current monitor and he also helped a lot of other people here with these types of questions.

Greetings everyone! I recently got into TDM and am already having a lot of fun playing through and ghosting missions. However, coming from Thief, I am mostly relying on the rules and my experience with that game, while there are clearly differences in how TDM works. Right now, there is talk in the ghosting discussion thread on TTLG to amend the ruleset and include clarifications pertaining to TDM. So I wanted to drop by and ask: is there an active TDM ghosting community already and have any rules for this playstyle been developed? I would also like to ask someone to take a look at the draft of this addendum to see whether everything looks correct: https://www.ttlg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=148487&page=16&p=2473352&viewfull=1#post2473352 Thanks!

A Problem Arises I've paused subtitling of the Lady02 vocal set, because of a problem with the voice clips described here: https://forums.thedarkmod.com/index.php?/topic/21741-subtitles-possibilities-beyond-211/&do=findComment&comment=490151 While a way forward is being determined, I'll work on a different vocal set. Maybe manbeast, for which Kingsal just provided me the voice script.