Jump to content
The Dark Mod Forums

Things that could be improved


Berny

Recommended Posts

Hmm yes, seems strange that it´s completely black though seeing as I was pretty close to a light source. Think the game is a bit generous here. Guess it´s a matter of taste, I just find those close-encounters without being seen kinda... cheesy? I don´t know the right word, just takes me out of the game a bit when it happens.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On a completely unrelated topic, a music volume slider would be great. The music is sometimes really getting on my nerves a bit and too loud compared to other sounds, but I can only regulate it with the SFX slider which also governs pretty much everything else it seems.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'd like a way to disable music tracks also.  I think it's tied to the ambient slider not sfx?  I usually have that all the way down because I don't generally like music playing from no where  (In context within the game is fine and excellent of course).

Also, that reminds me, the main screens don't seem to obey the volume.  It's quite jolting to switch out of the game to save your progress and have music playing in your ears full blast.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, AluminumHaste said:

Turn off menu music in the settings in game.

It's when you're in a mission, then press ESC to goto the menu to, say, save a game that the music plays regardless of the main menu music setting.  It will say "off" in the settings but music will be playing.  I just verified that toggling that setting while a mission is going doesn't help either; although there is kind of like a blip/reset of the music track when toggling.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 hours ago, Sneaker said:

It's when you're in a mission, then press ESC to goto the menu to, say, save a game that the music plays regardless of the main menu music setting.  It will say "off" in the settings but music will be playing.  I just verified that toggling that setting while a mission is going doesn't help either; although there is kind of like a blip/reset of the music track when toggling.

I'm not the only one then. I've opened an entry on the bugtracker.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 hours ago, blaa said:

I just had a little idea but now clue if it´s possible, dynamic lock picking difficulty based on light level.

Full light (lantern on or very bright room) -> normal

Twilight -> hard

Complete darkness -> expert

I don't think that this is a good idea. You would punish the player for doing, what he is supposed to do (staying in the dark). Also, it is not really realistic: You cannot see inside the lock, while picking it, so you have to rely on touch anyway. So, it does not make any difference, if you pick a lock in the dark or in the light.

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 8/3/2020 at 6:25 PM, Filizitas said:

About the Blackjack thing, i ask myself why it even exists.
In my studies about immersion and realism i came across multiple  voices that clearly said that the blackjack is a murder weapon.

Do people honestly believe that you can safely knock someone out with a heavy stick?

I like the way they do it in dishonored, it is very close to the real world equal and is indeed much more safe.
The Black Jack needs an unrealistic amount of Game magic multiplicator to work.

And the way that you can just bonk everyone on the head from any angle... and they all just fall over safely and fast. That is very very OP.

It doesn't matter IMO. The blackjack is as much a gameplay element as choking is in Dishonored, or in the Splinter Cells. You can't safely knock out someone by choking either. It also is completely random how long the knocked out guy will be unconscious. I really see it as a gameplay thing. It isn't realistic, just like it isn't realistic to hang onto a rope arrow.

Being a gameplay element, it should be dependable, and predictable though. I never had issues to knock guards out in Thief, or to choke them unconscious in Splinter Cell. Whenever I made a mistake, I knew why it happened. 

Edited by chakkman
Link to comment
Share on other sites

14 hours ago, Destined said:

I don't think that this is a good idea. You would punish the player for doing, what he is supposed to do (staying in the dark). Also, it is not really realistic: You cannot see inside the lock, while picking it, so you have to rely on touch anyway. So, it does not make any difference, if you pick a lock in the dark or in the light.

 

I find it weird to think about it as "punishing players", it´s a risk-reward element, think hiding in the dark in Amnesia. Or just "can I pick this entire room clean before the guard returns or do I only do half of it and return to the shadows". Similarly "can I get away with picking this in the light before a guard sees me" would be a risk-reward element, a moment of additional tension.

As for the realism of it, I would think lockpicks use visual feedback to some degree. At least you can see at what angle and how far the pick got in when you "almost had it", for example. However I´ve never picked a lock in my life so would have to ask a lockpick.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, blaa said:

I find it weird to think about it as "punishing players", it´s a risk-reward element

I doubt any player coming from Thief or other stealth game would think the same, or would understand such mechanics intuitively. You'd have to carry out tests with a control group to verify that, but I bet it would end with mostly negative feedback. Typically players require consistency when it comes to lockpicking. And it is a risk-reward element already: it's easy when a door or container is in the dark, but it adds tension when you have to do it in a bright light, before a guard comes along.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As the lockpicking system in TDM is based on what you hear, I wouldn't know why it should be harder in the dark or when the room is lit.

The "strength" of the door lock should be up to the mapper, and it should range from easy (less important doors/entries) to hard (main doors/entries/safes). Anything else makes no sense to me.

Edited by chakkman
Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 minutes ago, chakkman said:

The "strength" of the door lock should be up to the mapper, and it should range from easy (less important doors/entries) to hard (main doors/entries/safes). Anything else makes no sense to me.

 

Lockpick difficulty isn´t anything the mapper can influence, it´s under gameplay -> difficulty ;)

But I see the idea gets no love, I concede, I concede

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think the difficulty in the settings sets the overall difficulty of picking doors (i.e. the threshold when the player has to release), but the mapper can set the difficulty of each door (the length of the sequence). See here: https://wiki.thedarkmod.com/index.php?title=Doors#Lockpicks

Edited by chakkman
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think this might be a bit confusing, as there are two different things at play here: lockpicking difficulty and lock complexity. Changing difficulty in the game menu affects how much silence there is between the lockpicking patterns you hear (when you press the use key with lockpicks equipped). So this requires faster reflexes when set to high. The number of pins (stages, i.e. picking length with particular lockpick required) is set by mapper and this is lock complexity. IMO changing lockpicking difficulty based on lighting conditions will confuse players who are probably used to a chosen lockpicking difficulty level and have a sort of muscle memory habit associated with it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 hours ago, blaa said:

As for the realism of it, I would think lockpicks use visual feedback to some degree. At least you can see at what angle and how far the pick got in when you "almost had it", for example. However I´ve never picked a lock in my life so would have to ask a lockpick.

I have bought a couple of lockpicks several years ago and even managed to pick a few locks with the instirctions you get from the internet. The visual feedback you have is negligible. The lock turns only a couple of degrees before you can open it. The main indicator is the feeling of the pins snapping in place.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

Here's my attitude. If you have an idea you think may be interesting 1) you can expect you'll get pushback whether it's a good or bad idea (people have intuitions, but for a lot of things no one really knows how good or bad it will be until they've seen it in action), 2) you don't have to care. If you think it's an interesting idea, there's bound to be other people out there that think it's interesting, 3) but, especially if it's not a popular idea, you can't expect you'll get much help making the feature happen either.

So at best, what you're really talking about is a feature you make for your own FM. And if you actually start making it, instead of asking is this feature a good idea, if you ask more concrete questions like how do I dynamically change spawnargs with a script, or how do I teleport in a completely different lockpick in (if the dynamic spawnarg switch doesn't work), you'll probably get a better response with actual answers you can use. Also, just the act of trying to make an FM and going through tutorials is going to teach you probably everything you need to know to make it happen. Generally speaking, it's an open source game, so practically anything you can imagine is possible, but some things take more time than others. This I think is quite possible (I gave two ideas of how above), but it might take more creativity and tutorial diving than usual to solve.

I'm a big fan of FMs trying out new mechanics, even things that I think may not work well, I'm curious to see how it plays out anyway. So I say go for it and try to set it up, and let's see how it plays. Make sure players know about it in advance though, and be prepared for it to get slammed.

  • Like 3

What do you see when you turn out the light? I can't tell you but I know that it's mine.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

Two things jumped out at me when bikerdude's Dragon's Claw was recently updated.

The in-game downloader really needs to show the 'last updated' date for a mission, gives the user better confidence if they've heard there's been an update.

This thing with versions seems to clash with authors. Some authors use their own scheme. Some defer to the numbers the system uses. Okay, why don't we relabel "version" in the downloader to 'release #'. Authors may provide their own custom version string if they want and that can be shown if added.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

To add to the above, is it possible to give the ability to Sort the Mission List? Not just A-Z, but also by Author, by release date, by recently updated, and perhaps a far cry, a voting system (been brought up a million times) to sort by top Favorited by The Community, and then a personal favs list?

As my father used to say, "A grenade a day, keeps the enemy at bay!"

My one FM so far: Paying the Bills: 0 - Moving Day

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.


  • Recent Status Updates

    • Petike the Taffer

      I've finally managed to log in to The Dark Mod Wiki. I'm back in the saddle and before the holidays start in full, I'll be adding a few new FM articles and doing other updates. Written in Stone is already done.
      · 0 replies
    • nbohr1more

      TDM 15th Anniversary Contest is now active! Please declare your participation: https://forums.thedarkmod.com/index.php?/topic/22413-the-dark-mod-15th-anniversary-contest-entry-thread/
       
      · 0 replies
    • JackFarmer

      @TheUnbeholden
      You cannot receive PMs. Could you please be so kind and check your mailbox if it is full (or maybe you switched off the function)?
      · 1 reply
    • OrbWeaver

      I like the new frob highlight but it would nice if it was less "flickery" while moving over objects (especially barred metal doors).
      · 4 replies
    • nbohr1more

      Please vote in the 15th Anniversary Contest Theme Poll
       
      · 0 replies
×
×
  • Create New...