Search the Community

I'm no graphics nerd, but I can barely tell the difference between the two. What I can tell from messing around a bit: soft shadows of low quality look like garbage with both maps and stencils (EDIT: wrong, I didn't realize I was looking at shadow maps for a volumetric light shadow. Stencil definitely looks better). increasing soft shadow quality decreases performance in both implementations. I think the CPU/GPU of the end user would influence which is gives better performance both maps and stencils can produce a pixelated shadow if you look close enough. (EDIT: wrong. Again, was looking at a volumetric light shadow). I tend to use maps, because for whatever reason I seem to get a few more FPS out of them. As a mapper, I am certainly NOT interested in endlessly tweaking a scene to make the shadows look perfect. I just don't care enough. If they look shockingly bad I will put some effort into it though (which will probably mean just disabling them for the offending entity). It's rare that I feel this is necessary though. So I guess I don't really get the argument that stencils are amazing and maps are crap. I just don't see it or am too dense to notice. (EDIT: indeed I was being dense. I was comparing shadow maps with shadow maps because I was looking at a volumetric light shadow). Also, in my last couple of missions I had graphical bugs that only showed up with stencil shadows enabled. It would be nice to not have to deal with that all the time.

I have resolved 99.9% of the glow-bleed issues with this mod at a small sacrifice to the amount of glare. It should now look great in all missions. https://www.moddb.com/mods/the-dark-mod/addons/flame-glare-mod

Yep. I'd gladly include an automap in my missions.... if someone else were to draw them all for me.

You don't need different specs than with playing normal missions, although this is a newer mission, which usually means requirements might be a tad higher.

Are you saying using (only) shadow maps in missions with a lot of VL gives better performance than using (both) stencil shadows in combination with shadow maps in those scenes?

Just finished mission 1 30g short so wondering what I missed, and whether anyones made a loot list for each mission? Also, are there any missions that take part inside the old underground city? That one was my favourite in Thief. Cheers!

Okay, so I managed to beat all four of the previously-released Hidden Hands missions in preparation for this upcoming campaign, so now I'm ready to tackle this bitch once the thread's up.

A couple more: https://forums.thedarkmod.com/index.php?/topic/21739-resolved-allow-mantling-while-carrying-a-body/ https://forums.thedarkmod.com/index.php?/topic/22211-feature-proposal-new-lean-for-tdm-212/ https://forums.thedarkmod.com/index.php?/topic/22198-feature-proposal-frob-to-use-world-item/ https://forums.thedarkmod.com/index.php?/topic/22249-212-auto-search-bodies/

Hi folks, Had this issue after updating to the latest. Do I need to start fresh? Cheers, Gokudo

Welcome to the forums Ansome! And congrats on making it to beta phase!

Look pretty useful to me! On a related note, I think we need to resurrect r_showShadows. Biker has been testing maps in both 2.12 and 2.11 and 2.12 always shows higher shadow tris in r_showprimitives even though 2.12 usually runs the missions better.

Is this a campaign? I mean this one specifically, I know that there are more "Hidden Hands" missions.

Mission Name: Full Moon Fever Author: Spoonman Build time: 5 months. Version: 1.10 Released: 14/05/2016 Type: Manor Size: Medium-large Completion time: About an hour. Difficulty settings: Higher difficulties require you to find more loot and also place restrictions on killing enemies. Known issues: Some areas of the mission can get noticeable drops in framerate. Download links: http://www.mediafire.com/file/ub2vf0t4wwd4ks1/fever.pk4/file Special thanks to: Melan and Xarg for beta testing this mission and providing input on how to improve it. Grayman for his minecart and tracks models from "Somewhere Above the City" Bikerdude for his map from "Alberic's Curse" Gigagooga for his custom ambient sounds (thanks to Melan for recommending them to me)

I figured this was only done to avoid missions breaking if they add their own stuff. Checking out the link above it doesn't seem to work with init scripts where most of the changes of the patch are. If I rename the tdm_user_addons file I get an redeclaring user_addon_init error and if I rename that, all the patch scripts are gone. So what am I doing wrong here?

Author note: A couple of weeks ago Kingsal & myself set ourselves a challenge, to see if we could make a small wholesome winter themed Dark Mod mission. And if we could do it as a speed build in two weeks. The final result was Snowed Inn. Enjoy and Merry Christmas! Thank you to our beta testers Epifire & Skacky. Thank you to Moonbo for his briefing video script revision. NEW UPDATE AVAILABLE 1.2 Version 1.2 Dropbox Mirror Version 1.2 also available via the in-game downloader File Size: 379 mb

That, and the amazing atmosphere and soundtrack. TBH, I don't mind the graphics at all. But, I don't mind the early Tomb Raiders' graphics either. That's something I would criticize about it: The missions are just too complex, and confusing to navigate, for the most part. I think they exaggerated a bit there. It also kind of takes the wind out of the sails, if every single mission is such a monster. In some, I just rushed through the end to finally finish the mission. The original missions in both Thief 1 and 2 were pretty well balanced between moderately sized and large missions, and they had a good feel for "climaxes" in the actual main story.

Changelog of 2.13 development: dev17026-10712 * Nested subviews (mirrors, remotes, sky, etc.) now work properly (6434). * Added GUI debriefing state on mission success (6509 thread). * Sound argument override with zero now works properly under cvar (6346 thread). * Environment mapping is same on bumpy and non-bumpy surfaces under cvar (6354 thread). * Default console font size reduced to 5, added lower bound depending on resolution. * Added high-quality versions of panel_carved_rectangles (6515). * Added proper normal map for stainglass_saint_03 (6521). * Fixed DestroyDelay warning when closing objectives. * Fixed the only remaining non-threadsafe cvar (5600). * Minor optimization of depth shader. * Added cm_allocator debug cvar (6505). * Fixed r_lockView when compass is enabled. dev17008-10685 * Enabled shadow features specific to maps implementation (poll). * Auto-detect number of parallel threads to use in jobs system (6503). * Improved parallel images loading, parallelized sounds loading, optimized EAS (6503). * Major improvements in mission loading progress bar (6503). * Core missions are now stored uncompressed in assets SVN (6498). * Deleted a lot of old rendering code under useNewRenderPasses + some cleanup (6271). dev16996-10665 * Environment mapping supports texcoord transforms on bumpmap (6500). * Fully disabled shadows on translucent objects (6490). * Fixed dmap making almost axis-aligned visportals buggy (6480). * com_maxFps no longer quantizes by milliseconds on Windows 8+. * Now Uncapped FPS and Vsync are ON by default. * Supported Vsync control on Linux. * Added set of prototype materials (thread). * Fixes to Stone font to remove stray pixels (post). * Loot candlestick no longer toggle the candle when taken. * Optimized volumetric lights and shadows in the new Training Mission (4352). * Fixed frob_light_holder_toggle_light on entities with both skin_lit and skin_unlit. * Now combination lock supports non-door entities by activating them. * Added low-poly version of hedge model (6481). * Added tiling version of distant_cityscape_01 texture (6487). * Added missing editor image for geometric02_red_end_HD (6492). * Added building_facades/city_district decal material. * Fixed rendering with "r_useScissor 0" (6349). * Added r_lockView debug rendering cvar (thread). * Fixed regression in polygon trace model (5887). * Added a set of lampion light entityDefs.

I took a quick look at the training mission and I didn't notice many changes in the first place. Some new windows on walls that didn't have them, but was something gameplay related changed? I found there are still a lot of unique items missing in the object handling section which I added in my patch for example. The main issue I have with the TDM training mission hasn't been tackled, namely that it isn't a mission at all, just a loose collection of tutorial areas. Which is fine when you want come back and re-train something, but bad if you want new players to have fun discovering TDM! Yes, the two campaign missions try to do the latter, but in other games the training/tutorial is done much better in a linear fashion (e.g. Half-Life and Opposing Force) or is even integrated in a story (Bloodlines and many others). It would probably be a lot of work, but maybe it would be possible to modify the training mission, so it represents a linear sequence in which you learn one basic principle after another while actually playing a mission that is has a story and is fun! If you really think people are going to replay it, maybe shortcuts could be added to the single areas. Right now all areas start from a central room, maybe they could be connected so that there is one way where you enter a door and go around the whole room to exit at the end? (If people agree, that the training mission should be changed, maybe we should open a new thread for this discussion.)

TDM Modpack v4.0 This new version of the Modpack is intended to be a long-term release. The Modpack is mature and stable enough to stay for some time how it is today, right where I want it to be: the foundation on which you build your favorite set of Mods for The Dark Mod. Good care was put to make sure the mods included in the Modpack stay true to TDM and neither the missions nor the gameplay are altered in any relevant way. Yes, we have more tools and skills at our disposal but it is up to you, the player, to make use of them or not. Play The Dark Mod your way. Compatible with 2.12 ONLY If you have previous versions of the Modpack I suggest you start fresh: disable and delete old mods. Use the mods included in version 4.0 from now on. TDM 2.12 introduces a great new feature and we can now have different mods from different sources running in parallel. Thanks @MirceaKitsune for pushing! Thanks @Dragofer for opening this door! What's more for 2.12 internal resources for mods have doubled and we can now load more mods than ever before and we are grateful for this! Thank you, @stgatilov! What's new in version 4.0? Starting with this release I am getting rid of the individual versioning and all mods are now at the same version (4.0 in this case). "TDM Modpack" is now the name of the project and the previous main "pack" has been split into two standalone mods: "Core Essentials" and the "Skill Upgrade". (The Skills are further split into their own packages and if you don't want a particular skill just look for the relevant pk4 and remove it). SHOULDERING BOOST - Decommissioned In TDM 2.12 we can now mantle while carrying bodies and the "Shouldering Boost" mod is no longer relevant and it has been decommissioned. In this new release of TDM we can also mantle while carrying objects therefore double thanks to @Daft Mugi for these quality of life improvements. Truly appreciated, thanks! SIMPLE SUBTITLES - New! Work on the subtitles is in progress and for the next version of TDM it is expected that players will be able to customize how subs are displayed on screen but until then, this new standalone mod offers an alternative for players looking for a rather simplistic presentation. Enable "Simple Subtitles", go to the audio settings and set the scope you prefer: Story [default]: Story only On: Story and general speech (Give it a try!) Off: Disable subtitles You can find more details of the mod in the opening post or in the readme included in the download. We must thank @Geep, @datiswous and @stgatilov (among other contributors) for the good work on the subtitles so far! Well done, guys! SMART OBJECTS - Present and Future Sometimes it is difficult to tell if an object is being held or not and the "Smart Objects" mod (now part of "Core Essentials") gets a little update and whenever you manipulate an object three dots [...] are displayed on screen: These three dots are a placeholder for real names, something I plan on addressing as a separate mod in the coming weeks... Here is the relevant topic: Nameless objects... a missed opportunity Stay tuned. INVENTORY MENU - Reworked The TDM user interface suffers from gigantism in some areas and the inventory menu has been re-worked and it is now delivered in a more compact format: The menu is 15% smaller and while the text has the same size as before item names are sometimes cut and I added a tip at the bottom to make sure the full name is always available. The updated menu is part of the "Core Essentials" mod. MINOR TWEAKS In each release of the Modpack I always tweak something and in for 4.0 I changed many things internally. You shouldn't notice any of the changes but it is worth giving the improved Whistle Skill a try... Here is the full changelog: • v4.0 New release - Major reorganization and global revision: Compatible with TDM 2.12. - All mods now share the same version (4.0 in this case). - Previous "Modpack" split into "Core Essentials" and the "Skill Upgrade". - Skill mods presented in their own, standalone pk4. - CORE ESSENTIALS: New, re-worked inventory menu. - CORE ESSENTIALS: New high mantle sound for our protagonist. - CORE ESSENTIALS - LOOT ANIMATIONS: Added scroll animation for paintings. - CORE ESSENTIALS - SMART OBJECTS: Display onscreen a subtle signal (...) when holding an item. - CORE ESSENTIALS - SHOULDERING BOOST: Mod decommissioned (alternative included in TDM 2.12) - SKILL UPGRADE - MANIPULATION: Improved script, smaller footprint. - SKILL UPGRADE - DISTRACTION: New approach (again). - HUNTER BOW: Increased radius of gas arrow effect. - BASIC SUBTITLES: Initial release. That's pretty much it for now. Thanks site admins, developers, mappers, modders and members of the community but more importantly, thank you taffer, for playing and supporting The Dark Mod. The download can be found in the opening post. Cheers!

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.)

I think mappers specifically don't use it because it removes an element of exploration. Personally I think it's useful in big missions where you can get lost quickly.

There are missions that already have this. Check out A house of locked secrets for example. The feature is called Automap. For info see here: https://wiki.thedarkmod.com/index.php?title=Creating_Automaps

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".

I am happy to announce the release of the first post-release Dark Mod FM: Patently Dangerous by demagogue. http://www2.thedarkmod.com/missiondetails/?id=6 Briefing: "Nobody said hypocrisy didn't have its uses. The Inventor's Guild, always so secretive about its own inventions, isn't beyond a little espionage when it comes to the inventions of others. They've hired me to steal the design notes from a young man named Soren Rikk, just on the outskirts of the Highlands Ward. He's reputed to have made a huge discovery in a field the Inventors have some interest in. It should be an easy job. Soren isn't known to be a dangerous person." Notes: - Thanks to my beta-testers: Fidcal for early testing, Broken Arts & Leatherman, and everybody else that gave comments (basically most of the Dark Mod team ). Thanks also to alacazam for permission to use his cool ambient. - Notice there is a map in your inventory. The default key-bind "m" will bring it up. - There have been some reports of a little slow-down near the start on some systems, but it should pick up after that. If performance is slow for you, see the Performance Tweaks wiki entry. - Enjoy! Happy Halloween everybody. Screenshots:

At long last, I am finally releasing my first mission, A Score to Settle. It's been a long road! I started this mission three years ago, when I didn't even know you could move the verts of a brush, and knew nothing about visportals or patches. I'm sure I've made every noob mistake in the book. I have learned a huge amount from this map, and have developed a great deal of respect for anyone who goes through the entire process of building and releasing a mission. A Score to Settle is a small to medium sized mission, where you set out to find and humiliate the leader of a rival gang. It is meant to be a challenge to players who are familiar with TDM, and is probably not a good mission for those still getting accustomed to TDM's mechanics (it's also not appropriate for children). ASTS uses 1.06 features, which means that AI are capable of relighting lights. The chance of this happening goes up depending on the difficulty level you choose. Difficulty levels also affect the number and quality of AI, the number and type of lights, and AI acuity (AI have slightly better than normal hearing on Hardcore). The difference between Casual and Hardcore is considerable. The mission includes several video and audio files, so it is hefty at 135MB. edit: Please follow the objectives carefully. If you don't do the "first" objective first, you'll spoil some of the story for yourself. Hope you enjoy it!