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Things that could be improved


Berny

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This is purely an aesthetic thing but...

 

While playing Gman's latest FM, there were some vent covers that looked like they had holes in them. However, light was unable to pass through them. Wouldn't it look better if they were mapped with a transparent texture so that light can travel through the small holes, instead of getting a complete black shadow? Can you do that in this engine?

 

I don't mean to be nit-picky here, but I've seen other games with grates like that where (when it moves), it casts lots of tiny shadows on other surfaces and looks quite awesome.

 

What do you think of this?

--- War does not decide who is right, war decides who is left.

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Can you do that in this engine?

 

No. You can fake it in various ways, but the shadow system does not recognize transparencies.

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Although you can build an actual grill with spaces to do that, but then you'd be rendering everything on the other side too, typically a mapper will chose an opaque style specifically for the purpose of keeping an area sealed, so performance isn't crippled.

 

There are light texture patterns to simulate this to some degree though.

"The measure of a man's character is what he would do if he knew he never would be found out."

- Baron Thomas Babington Macauley

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There are Mech "security bots" if you will. They don't attack you, they just cause a disterbance when they see you and light up the area. They are also quite loud, so you will hear them before you run into them.

 

I was thinking about the AI standing still while fighting again. Instead of doing animation tweaks, what about having some code that checks the distance to the opponent. If the distance is less than a meter, they would have a random chance of circle strafing left or right for a random time. I don't know how it is done in TDM, but in Quake, the bots "lock on" to you when they attack. You can clearly see this if you spectate them. So, what if the TDM AI gets close to you, is locked onto you as far as targeting goes, and does a slight bit of circle strafing?

--- War does not decide who is right, war decides who is left.

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Would be nice if AI can use the ladders (and ropes:).

They do in my missions, but the mapper does have to set it up so they can. (And accommodate the player expectation that they might not--if they would try to escape via ladder/rope to get a respite.)

"The measure of a man's character is what he would do if he knew he never would be found out."

- Baron Thomas Babington Macauley

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crystalgrave2_1_2014-02-22_204136_zpse19feaeb.jpg

 

Btw, this is the hooded revenant that I was talking about. I see that one has a red hood, but the other has the black hood but his face is still human. I was wondering if there is a skull face for the one that has a black hood. I couldn't find it in DR.

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Nice! How can I set it up?

http://wiki.thedarkm..._Pathfinding.21

 

(I use 8 rise by 1 deep simply for speed/grid alignment, makes copy/paste a set easier.)

Edited by RJFerret

"The measure of a man's character is what he would do if he knew he never would be found out."

- Baron Thomas Babington Macauley

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Regarding the blackjack hitting the ceiling sometimes and failing, I've always wanted a sideways swing option on the blackjack just for situations like this. This would be initiated just like the sideways sword swing. Would take an extra player animation and a bit of physics tweaking, though.

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The blackjacking problems might be caused by actually bumping into the AI when getting up from a crouch position, as this will put them into an alert stage making them impossible to knockout. you can't nudge them like you could in thief 2 either. best time to knock them out is when they are opening or shutting a door.

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Hey together,

 

sometimes I think, that windows can break or better atmosphere in the game:

1. From the mission creator side: Why can I open some windows, and some not? At least from the inner side of a building, every window should be able to be opened. Other solution is, they are locked and the picks don't work. That's at least the illuison that they "could" be opened! The same about doors. It's okay for me, if some doors can't be opened with picks or keys, but the should give the illusion, that the can be opened to intend a "world behind it". I know this can confuse players and lead to wrong paths, but I don't want the feeling, that behind this door the world is over. Also I am a master thief. What's a locked door for me?

2. Sometimes I wish, that behind the glasses of windows, I should see at least a glimse of the things behind it. So just a very little factor of transparency. And if there is nothing behind it, because of level-design, a jpeg of a fictional interiour, along with some noises from the happening behind it (baby screaming, discussions, laughing ...)

 

That would make a better atmosphere in the game, and gives players the feeling, that they are in a "complete" world.

 

Mainly, level designers should avoid doors and windows, that can't be opened because they lead to nothing. I know, it's freetime job and they are not paid for anything, therefore I can understand it. But in my perfect world, it would be like that.

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Sometimes realism has to take a backseat to gameplay. If a window highlights, but cannot be opened with lockpicks, players will assume there's a key somewhere. I think the novelty would wear off quite soon. If a window does not highlight, I think you should assume outside there's a long drop straight down, so there's no reason to use it.

 

If you can see in through a window, again, the player will assume there's a way in.

 

In both cases, as in life, it's usually impossible to prove a negative (e.g. no way in) so the player would have to search exhaustively. At the back of their mind would be the question "was there no way through, or did I give up too soon?"

 

If a door doesn't highlight, you could assume the player's character knows that that building doesn't lead anywhere, or any other assumption that suits you.

 

To compensate for such restrictions, mission authors can make sure there are plenty of genuine routes to take, including some that don't provide much of an advantage over others.

Edited by R Soul
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Yeah, you are right. It's all about balance between the game leading me a way, and a world I want to loose in my self. But I guess for windows that lead to a place I can go, a bit transparency is nice. Also for the effect, that outside guards may see me with my lantern, if it's on. If normal windows can be opened, this is mainly useless in case of gameplay, because climbing outside will lead to nowhere but a high fall to the ground. But it will feel lesser like: This is a level, created for me and more like a world, that also exsists without me.

Imagine in a city or rooftop mission, you are seen on the roof, you slip inside a flat, and without open the window, in the darkness of the room, you look through the glass on the street, if the guard is still looking for you. I think this could be nice and feels thiefish.

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Anybody else notice that occasionally, the guards refuse to fight you? I've seen this happen twice now (in different missions). I would get busted by a guard, he would come after me, take a swing or two at me, and then just stand there in his combat stance, not blocking or bothering to attack me any more. He would still run up to me, he just wouldn't attack or block. This is different from the old problem where they just ran into you constantly.

 

If there's anything I can do to help with this, let me know.

 

I've seen it on Inn Business and WS3

Edited by lost_soul

--- War does not decide who is right, war decides who is left.

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This is purely an aesthetic thing but...

 

While playing Gman's latest FM, there were some vent covers that looked like they had holes in them. However, light was unable to pass through them. Wouldn't it look better if they were mapped with a transparent texture so that light can travel through the small holes, instead of getting a complete black shadow? Can you do that in this engine?

 

I don't mean to be nit-picky here, but I've seen other games with grates like that where (when it moves), it casts lots of tiny shadows on other surfaces and looks quite awesome.

 

What do you think of this?

 

That's up to the mapper, who can:

 

1 - Do it the way I did, with an opaque backing

 

2 - Use a transparent texture you can see through, but which the renderer won't cast shadows through

 

3 - Do 2, but add your own fake shadow grill, so that the renderer casts shadows

 

4 - Build a complete grate from scratch that -- whether it moves or not -- will cast shadows

 

Lots of ways to do it, and it all depends on how much time the mapper wants to spend on it, or whether performance is an issue.

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Anybody else notice that occasionally, the guards refuse to fight you? I've seen this happen twice now (in different missions). I would get busted by a guard, he would come after me, take a swing or two at me, and then just stand there in his combat stance, not blocking or bothering to attack me any more. He would still run up to me, he just wouldn't attack or block. This is different from the old problem where they just ran into you constantly.

 

If there's anything I can do to help with this, let me know.

 

I've seen it on Inn Business and WS3

 

I haven't seen this.

 

Pls file a bugtracker issue.

 

Occasionally the AI will do all sorts of nasty things, regardless of what they've learned in AI High School.

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How about re-locking doors with keys once they are unlocked? So we can trap AI in a room when they don't have the key?

 

You can do that now. I think all you have to do is use the key on an unlocked door and it'll lock again. (Might be wrong about the method, but re-locking is provided for.)

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