Dark Mod Theme limits

[nbohr1more]

I apologize if a topic along these lines has been submitted before...

 

I am interested in creating a Halloween theme-ed FM... I used make Jack-O-Lantern chalk

sketches in High-School and the lighting system in Doom 3 has re-ignited my interest in the shadows (especially since the release of TDM).

 

Would it be appropriate to include elements like Ghosts and Witches in a TDM FM?

...or would that be considered to be a different mod type?

 

I was also thinking about a hallucinogenic FM where the player had eaten moldy bread and Ergot poisoning induced visions of Goblins and Fairies cause all sorts of mischief (so lots of small humanoid characters...). The character would have to try to figure out whether they were really interacting with the real world or if they were drawn into an illusion. If they failed to distinguish these episodes they would end up in a nasty jail/asylum (whatever they called 'em in this era).

 

I know that rats are present in DR are any other small animal types present that could be replaced with those types of models?

 

Would either or both of these themes be objectionable to the TDM community?

 

Does anyone have a recommendation for "easy" 3D sculpting software to make the Jack-O-Lanterns, etc (Blender?)?

 

I know this is a bit of a pipe-dream for me as my free-time is limited. If someone finds the above concepts compelling I can supply hand-drawn artwork for motivation or illustration. (But I will look into doing it for myself...).

[Mortem Desino]

Truly, you're not constrained by anything. There's even a thread here where someone wants to use the TDM assets to make a modern-looking level. Go for it! It sounds like a heck of a lot of fun! Thief 1 and Thief 2 have had some really strange missions made by the community, so you won't be alone. Maybe some little misfit might be a little insulted, but I certainly won't be.

 

May I make a recommendation (from personal experience)? This idea sounds fantastic, but I know that even I wouldn't have the motivation to finish it up by myself. Instead, start small. Make a short, 100% working TDM fan mission. You'll become comfortable with Dark Radiant, you'll familiarize yourself with the TDM assets; And that is probably the best start you can make.

[jdude]

As far as I know we had a crow we were working on a long time ago but I don't think it got anywhere because we moved on to more important stuff. I'm sure if you have the modeling knowledge and skills you could easily add more animals using the rat as a template.

 

The TDM universe is essentially a recommended outline. There's no need to follow it but it's sometimes really good as a mapper to have a theme you can follow rather than spending hours establishing your own. So it's there for people who aren't that interested in creating their own intricate environments and themes to allow for quicker mapping.

 

I think your outline sounds great, I'd love to see that mission

[nbohr1more]

Thanks for the tips and encouragement. I will try to set aside some time to try and make a "simple" FM for practice and keep these ideas in the back of my mind. Maybe my first try'll be good enough to share...

[Melan]

May I make a recommendation (from personal experience)? This idea sounds fantastic, but I know that even I wouldn't have the motivation to finish it up by myself. Instead, start small. Make a short, 100% working TDM fan mission. You'll become comfortable with Dark Radiant, you'll familiarize yourself with the TDM assets; And that is probably the best start you can make.

 

Sound advice (although I broke it with my first Dromed release, which was big). If you know your limits, you will also have an idea how much it will take to transcend them.

 

Thematically, I wouldn't mind seeing levels with a slightly different style than the usual, even if my ideal will always be the dark mediaeval-meets-industrial age mixture pioneered by Looking Glass.

[demagogue]

I personally love Halloween theme-ed FMs.

I was very happy to release my own FM on Halloween.

You may be able to use some existing models in creative ways to get what you want ... with attachments, translucency, different skins, etc.

But I also agree you'd get a lot of experience making a manageable FM for a first time.

 

Anyway, the great thing about a toolkit like this is, you're the author, so you're the boss. You can build whatever makes you happy and don't need anybody's permission. I really like that part of it. (Just realize people will be honest about their feelings if they like it or not, and that's okay too...)

[Goldchocobo]

I personally love Halloween theme-ed FMs.

I was very happy to release my own FM on Halloween.

You may be able to use some existing models in creative ways to get what you want ... with attachments, translucency, different skins, etc.

But I also agree you'd get a lot of experience making a manageable FM for a first time.

 

Anyway, the great thing about a toolkit like this is, you're the author, so you're the boss. You can build whatever makes you happy and don't need anybody's permission. I really like that part of it. (Just realize people will be honest about their feelings if they like it or not, and that's okay too...)

Hey Dem, you should really consider fancying up and "officially" releasing that halloween FM! It was fun!

 

edit: my bad, didn't mean to thread hijack

[nbohr1more]

Hijack away GC!!! I too would be interested in demagogue's Halloween FM (or any Halloween FM!!!) Halloween Contest this year???

[demagogue]

Um ... Patently Dangerous was my Halloween FM, lol.

It was released on Halloween.

The FM you're thinking about, GC, wasn't mine but another one, so I can't speak for it.

[nbohr1more]

Yeah, GC confused me as I thought you were referring to Patently Dangerous (but I also thought he may be joking about your release in some insider way...). But if there is another Halloween FM I will happily consume it if the link or name is provided... (I haven't played through the whole FM list yet so I have yet to render an opinion on Patently Dangerous... but the forum posters seem to like it quite a bit...) Speaking of FM confusion... was the original Thief's Den demo converted into an FM (or incorporated)?

[nbohr1more]

I took a little stroll through Patently Dangerous... Verry Nice... And I see there are no plan to covert Thief's Den (should've digged the forum a little better...)

[Domarius]

Your biggest hurdle will be the amount of work involved in what you proposed - that is a lot of variety of characters, they alone will be a massive amount of work. Start experimenting and see how quickly you can churn out a model and an animation, to get a feel for what kind of time you'll need to devote to it.

 

A lot of good ideas for personal projects never get finished because we don't impose the same deadlines on ourselves as we would have if we were actually doing it for a job - and then subsequently we don't cull out what's unessecary and get lost in the details instead of getting it finished.

 

 

Be prepared! Try and make it manageable.

[Amita12]

I was also thinking about a hallucinogenic FM where the player had eaten moldy bread and Ergot poisoning induced visions of Goblins and Fairies cause all sorts of mischief (so lots of small humanoid characters...). The character would have to try to figure out whether they were really interacting with the real world or if they were drawn into an illusion. If they failed to distinguish these episodes they would end up in a nasty jail/asylum (whatever they called 'em in this era).

 

Holy crap, this sounds amazing . I'm sure that if you post a project proposal topic in one of the threads with an outline, ideas, and concepts that you could collaborate with a group of people in making such a mission.

 

Good luck, man! I look forward to playin either FM's

 

mike

[nbohr1more]

When I was in my teens I used to dream of Photo-realistic Virtual Reality games that involved being a detective. I conjectured about one set in the Sixties where as an under-cover cop you end up taking psychedelics and your visions actually help you solve the crime. (my dumb teenage mind thought that "Purple Haze" would be a great title ignoring how corney it is to evoke such a cliche...) I would imagine that my walks to my friend's house down the road were in-game VR sequences and that the detail I was seeing was in the street just rendering into my eye's via VR goggles.

 

Yeah, I'm going to try and make the Halloween FM in August when my wife is away on vacation but it'll be simple as I'm a newb. Cant speak to how long it will take...

[Amita12]

When I was in my teens I used to dream of Photo-realistic Virtual Reality games that involved being a detective. I conjectured about one set in the Sixties where as an under-cover cop you end up taking psychedelics and your visions actually help you solve the crime. (my dumb teenage mind thought that "Purple Haze" would be a great title ignoring how corney it is to evoke such a cliche...) I would imagine that my walks to my friend's house down the road were in-game VR sequences and that the detail I was seeing was in the street just rendering into my eye's via VR goggles.

 

Yeah, I'm going to try and make the Halloween FM in August when my wife is away on vacation but it'll be simple as I'm a newb. Cant speak to how long it will take...

 

Well, like I said, man, it's always a great idea to collaborate with people! I think that through collaboration you could make something really unique, balanced, and heavily worked upon. But, that opinion is only coming from my current project with a large group of friends (i'm making a 2d animated series). I think that your idea about the visions is a great one! It's a very unique idea I've never really heard of in the thief/TDM community and could probably be very successful if done right.

 

I wish you luck, man

 

mike

[nbohr1more]

Thanks for the encouragement.

[lost_soul]

It sounds like a great idea. Bring on the ghosts! My suggestion is to make a haunted house. You can make the objectives to retrieve something from inside, or explore the place for clues. Perhaps this could be the first really scary TDM mission, in the spirit of Return To The Cathedral from Thief.

 

On haunted houses/scary environments: the key IMO is great ambiance. The background sounds really draw me into the world.

[nbohr1more]

@lost_soul...

 

There's at least a few FM's with creepy sections already...

And "The Dead Gathers" (which has been under development for "awhile") is a scary one I suspect...

 

I was thinking of a FM where paintings throughout the manor have a fraction of the devil's real face on them. Each time you catch a direct glimpse it completes a mental picture in your inventory. If you see the whole face the devil appears and kills you...

 

(BTW I don't have a copyright on any of these ideas go ahead and use 'em if you want...)

Edited July 19, 2010 by nbohr1more

[stumpy]

detective game, sure that wasn't dreaming after eating cheese and playing a Tex Murphy game. (eg like The Pandora Directive)

[nbohr1more]

Thanks for the tip. I'll have to try out "The Pandora Directive"

[Baddcog]

Alot of Taffers like Horror FM's so you can't go wrong there.

 

But deffinately best to start small and get a feel for it.

 

The great think about TDM is that there are really no limits (of course officially there is a setting). You can make ANY creature you want, the real limits are that YOU have to model it, rig it, animate it (and possibly script it, the rat has special scripting so it behaves randomly and doesn't tax performance, that could be used for alot of small creatures that don't attack)...

 

But in T2 we were really limited there, sure people made new creatures but they HAD to fit existing skeleton structures and anims. I made an ant and beetle, but I had to work around the spider base (it was 4 years between the start of the beetle and when I actually got it to work - the ant is buggy, but works). And I made a lizard man, but had to rip constantines limited motions from T1 to make it work.

[nbohr1more]

4 years! ...

 

I hope making animated Md5's is easier than that (you never know with my brain power )...

 

Tip o' the hat to you for your persistence

Edited July 20, 2010 by nbohr1more

[demagogue]

Yes TDM will be much more open to custom assets in that way, but it's also a bigger investment than T2 assets (with the exception of sound) just because there's more work to do to make fitting & working models and textures for TDM than T2, but not prohibitively thankfully. And once you've done it once it's much easier the next time around. Also they'll look better in TDM and probably make a bigger splash, so it's worth it.