Things that could be improved

[Mr Lemony Fresh]

Hey, has anyone thought about this?

 

Prevailing noise levels:

 

If you walk near a loud machine that's whirring away (the closer you get to it's radius), or if you are out in the rain, the enemy's detection of your noise level lowers.

 

I think that would make things more realistic.

 

EDIT: DAMN somebody has beat me to it i had this though a couple of weeks ago. 'Knew I should have said it at the time...

Edited June 26, 2010 by Mr Lemony Fresh

[Fidcal]

Only the elite guards cannot be blackjacked AFAIK. Once you get the knack it is not difficult to blackjack such as city watch with more modest helmets. The trick I find is to aim slightly left. Since I've been doing that my KO success rate has gone from about 33% to 99% given a reasonable position to do it from. I don't know if that is because I have some kind of mental bias to far right but it works for me!

 

Why not practice the above with the sound alert and blackjack trainer? http://www.mindplaces.com/darkmod/fmdetails.php?id=19

[OrbWeaver]

Only the elite guards cannot be blackjacked AFAIK. Once you get the knack it is not difficult to blackjack such as city watch with more modest helmets. The trick I find is to aim slightly left. Since I've been doing that my KO success rate has gone from about 33% to 99% given a reasonable position to do it from. I don't know if that is because I have some kind of mental bias to far right but it works for me!

 

Possibly because the blackjack swing goes from top right to bottom left, so aiming slightly left will cause the impact to occur higher in the swing and therefore more likely to hit the head than the back.

[Springheel]

If you walk near a loud machine that's whirring away (the closer you get to it's radius), or if you are out in the rain, the enemy's detection of your noise level lowers.

 

That's been part of our design docs since the early days.

 

Just a lack of manpower, unfortunately.

[Mr Lemony Fresh]

Oh well, at least it's there nothing wrong with that idea.

 

Here's another thing that really applies to individual mission makers.

 

I think a mission briefing should give you a subtle clue as to what equipment should be taken on a mission, and I've found that although the missions have been fun, some have missed a good opportunity to make them better by allowing the player an informed decision about what he's taking with him. I usually just get lots of water arrows in case, because i can usually just get along with them alone, but it's not ideal.

 

Not a big issue, but someone might consider noting that in the wiki...

Edited June 27, 2010 by Mr Lemony Fresh

[aidakeeley]

Not really an improvement at all... but do I remember correctly that in that other game there were certain (magic ) mushrooms you could squash the light out of (er... frob off {frob off! taffer!})?

 

If so, I am not crazy in trying to do the same with many of those 'shrooms I come across in TDM. But! Still! Just to be clear: can I stop trying? Can I just forget that as far as TDM goes? Because that's fine, as it never made much sense; not because it has to make sense in the "you shouldn't be able to turn off mushrooms" or vice-versa, but, because, as with random candles that you can't extinguish, it bugs me no end when there is no indication which are and which are not on/off-able.

[Diego]

I never knew you could squash/turn off those shrooms!

 

I've just reinstalled T2 here, I got to find some to try this.. does it make a squishy sound?

[Fidcal]

It is technically possible for mappers to set this up now. Ideally we want a new entity and skin for mushrooms to indicate these; maybe stripy or blotchy or something. Ideally they want to look swollen like they are ready to burst. Perhaps that can be simulated with bright spots. I think there is something wrong with the current lit mushroom skins anyway. As I recall I set up skins so they looked 'self-lit' but they don't do so now.

 

I'll start another thread to discuss this.

[masterthief]

I thought that, in some missions could be witches. Edge of the forest alive. Dressed in black, ugly old women, who have all kinds of potions, poisonous and medicinal drinks, brewed in a large cauldron, you could steal from their own in our favor. While they are chanting spells, and magical power would be. Care should be taken from them. What do you think about this?

[demagogue]

One of the AI is a female pagan. It probably wouldn't take too much effort to convert her into a witch-type character.

[masterthief]

Sounds great! I watched the pagan image of woman, her nose should be bigger:laugh:And a black cat beside her. Oh, and broom! Just do not be able to use flying.

[masterthief]

 

These pictures look good. Jean Baptiste Monge illustrations.

[Moon Hoplite]

Hey

 

How about alchemy elements in this game. Like more potions for enhancements, brewing potions, etc. It would add to the arsenal of tools for a more efficient thief.

 

'''Hammerites''' should use a 2-handed hammer attack animations, not 1 handed. It's a fairly large weapon, and 2 handed is efficient for any ' competant soldier'.

[fibanocci]

Hopefully the "walking-on-high-heels-feeling" gets better. I often think one is walking on pretty clumsy spike heels.

[Diego]

The footsteps volume are much better in this last update, but I still think they are really loud. When I say it seems loud I'm using the AI reaction as a parameter. When I walk close to a guard, my footsteps sound tells me "he's going to hear that", since he doesn't it's not a good feedback.

[Springheel]

We're looking at adjusting them again.

[Melan]

Why? I think they are perfect, about as loud as they were in Thief. "Realism" is overrated.

[Diego]

Not about "realism", it's about feedback for the player, like the lightgem gives you reliable feedback on your visibility If what I hear doesn't match what the AI hear then it's not a good feedback (already considering that I'm supposed to hear my own footsteps louder because of proximity)

[Serpentine]

Why? I think they are perfect, about as loud as they were in Thief. "Realism" is overrated.

 

I think everyone on the team agrees with this, however the new sounds arn't focusing on realism, more sounding nice and expected, cleaning up bad sounds and recording better sets. They sound quite nice really

 

So don't worry, they arn't trying to make it some tip toed, soft fabric shoe stuff!

[Melan]

Well okay. If I wanted to change something, it would be AI footsteps on tile; that's a bit too much like flatfooted goosestepping and not enough like real walking. The volumes are just right I think.

[fibanocci]

Why? I think they are perfect, about as loud as they were in Thief. "Realism" is overrated.

I don't like the footstep sound that much. I prefer something that sounds more like T1/TG (as well as the movements, which could be easier, softer, just not like a cowboy). At the moment, it reminds me  of T3 (that I don't like at all).

 

Sorry for the rant.

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

  

[Diego]

Feels ok to me.. remember: different is not bad! You have to let go.. [/therapysession]

[Midnight]

I don't see what's so difficult about getting this right, I mean, why can't you please ALL the people, ALL the time??

 

Joking aside, I haven't really minded the volume that gets picked up by the player, it's all relative and once you're used to the base volume is useful for feedback.

 

However, sometimes I'm surprised at how easily some of the guards are aware of me after picking up the sound of my 'pre-blackjack' amble. I'm often faced with the situation where I'm crouched waiting for a guard to near, but they walk so damn fast I have to stand up once they've passed and they often hear me approach immediately.

 

I think the original Thief was maybe a little more forgiving in this aspect (i.e. the guard might hear you, but his reaction was slower so you could still blackjack him before he turned around fully and saw you / became fully alert). Maybe TDM guards swing around faster than I'm used to, but I guess I can get used to this with practice. I think I'll download Fidcal's test blackjack map tonight so I can get a better sense if this is just a false perception, and whether it's something that improves with practice.

[Diego]

Joking aside, I haven't really minded the volume that gets picked up by the player, it's all relative and once you're used to the base volume is useful for feedback.

 

Exactly! I completely forget about this when I play now. It's the "once you're used to" part that I suggest improvement

[Diego]

Anyway, this footsteps volume thing is jsut a matter of tweaking until someone who never played TDM could tell if they're being loud/quiet enough to/not to be heard during the game.