Things that could be improved

[datiswous]

The installer should automatically reset the settings it changes and leave the rest intact. Currently it resets all settings (default) and gives the option to preserve the settings, but no clue if something will break.

 

Apart from that I think the installer should tell you what is going to change before installing, so you can more easilly make the decission.

[Wallace]

1) Only need 1 hand icon when carrying a body, 2 on either side of screen is redundant.

2) Why are NPC names visible when carrying their body? How would the PC know? This is quite unimmersive.

3) When adjusting HUD in options, slider to far left should make HUD element dissapear, rather than merely very small.

4) Option to disable "bling" sound when picking up loot, as well as mission complete screen jingle.

 

[thebigh]

2 hours ago, Wallace said:

Why are NPC names visible when carrying their body? How would the PC know? This is quite unimmersive.

Adding NPC names to bodies is up to the mapper. It defaults to "body" or "corpse" if the mapper doesn't change it.

[NeonsStyle]

Something I would love to see in TDM is AI noticing doors opening. ie The player is next to an AI and opens a door, the AI ignores it. It'd be really cool the AI stopped, and noticed the door opening/closing and investigated it. Whether this would create an alert though would be up to the team. Be so cool if this was added. It's not a difficult thing, change of state of the door and it would really add to the immersion. 

One of the things I really adore in this game, that I rarely see mentioned is the realism of the AI movement. They walk so naturally, almost like they were done in motion_capture which of course they were not. Whoever did it is bloody good at his craft. 

[wesp5]

I believe this is already implemented only it must be set by the mission creators and many never bothered to do so.

[AluminumHaste]

AI do notice doors, but only in certain situations. If you interact with the door when they are, they will become suspicious.

If they close a door and start walking away, if you stop the door from closing all the way, the AI should turn around and toggle the door again and start getting suspicious.

 

But keep in mind, while it's an immersive sim, there's always a tradeoff between realism and gameplay/fun. Having AI hear everything realistically or see or react realistically to every little thing is NOT fun and is very frustrating.

Also I can't remember which dev said it (Grayman maybe?) but the code to handle AI and doors is already massive and complex.

[Wallace]

- A way to hide missions in mission list.

- Mission complete music is far too loud, either reduce volume or option to remove it completely.

- Mouse wheel scrolls objectives when accessed in game but not when access from main menu.

- Use WASD or arrow keys to scroll briefing text screens.

Edited September 1, 2024 by Wallace

[NeonsStyle]

No! Currently, if a mapper sets a door entity that an AI will notice if <door_name> is open, it will alert
and begin low level investigation. 

What I want to see is when a player is opening or closing a door next to an AI, that the AI notices the door
moving, just as a person would, and acts accordingly. 

[datiswous]

On 9/1/2024 at 9:11 PM, Wallace said:

Mission complete music is far too loud, either reduce volume or option to remove it completely.

I agree. This bothers me usually

[Guest]

More simple and accessible controls would be welcome. I have not played the game for a long time, so I cannot always remember which button does what. Especially when there are so many buttons to press. My idea:

Mouse 1 - Draw weapon (when unequipped), Use weapon, Drop held item (click), Throw held item (hold and release)
Mouse 2 - Interact, Use held item (eat food, blow candles…), Use tool (when not frobbing)

This would make interaction more fluent, especially for the tool and item usage. The same way like in the Thief 1 and 2. So no separate “use item” key is needed.

An combat could be improved. Instead of mouse movement, you will choose an attack direction with W,S,A,D keys. And swords could collide each other. When you and enemy hit in same time, both perform a parry and take no damage.

[datiswous]

On 9/4/2024 at 11:50 PM, jagedew said:

Mouse 1 - Draw weapon (when unequipped), Use weapon, Drop held item (click), Throw held item (hold and release)
Mouse 2 - Interact, Use held item (eat food, blow candles…), Use tool (when not frobbing)

This is all already done with mouse buttons, except for draw weapon, because it's not clear which weapon to choose. With the scroll button you can roll through the weapons and they're automatically selected.

There's a secondary use by holding the mouse button. So you don't need the "use item" key.

Apart from all that, we don't need to copy everything Thief. These are old games, let's move on.

[snatcher]

On 8/27/2024 at 9:57 PM, Wallace said:

1) Only need 1 hand icon when carrying a body, 2 on either side of screen is redundant.

2) Why are NPC names visible when carrying their body? How would the PC know? This is quite unimmersive.

3) When adjusting HUD in options, slider to far left should make HUD element dissapear, rather than merely very small.

4) Option to disable "bling" sound when picking up loot, as well as mission complete screen jingle.

 

1) It symbolizes that you cannot use weapons or items but yeah, considering you can go up a rope arrow with a body on your shoulders it would probably be better to hide the the weapon/items and show part of the body being shouldered.

2) Already answered by @thebigh ? You have to give some concessions here for immersion purposes.

3) What element you would like to hide and why?

4) There are a million ways to address this. You may be interested in mods.

[thebigh]

1 minute ago, snatcher said:

2) Already answered by @thebigh ? You have to give some concessions here for immersion purposes.

Yeah, this is something the mapper decides on. The engine allows you to give the bodies different names but by default they're just "Body" and "Corpse" IIRC.

In prvious maps I've given each NPC a specific name, but I probably wouldn't do that anymore. Reserve those for people whose  name the player's character would know, and give regular guards generic labels like "Guard" or "Watchman" or "Servant"

[Melchior]

Neat idea for Complex/Difficult mission debreifing screen / end-of-campaign final screen:

• An "Accomplishments" list / display for mapper defined ...
• 'Attained' "Whatevers" ( Awards / Difficult-deeds / Medals / Special-finds / Certificates / ect...)

Each would / could have a textual description, icon or image added to a post-play final-screen (all customizable).

Controlled thru map-script & campaign state flags, so there could be different sets per playthru - or any combination of factors.

[thebigh]

You can do all that already, just by setting achievement-related persistent campaign variables and then reading them back in just before the post-game debriefing.

 

https://wiki.thedarkmod.com/index.php?title=Setting_up_Campaigns#Scripting

[grodenglaive]

On 11/22/2024 at 4:01 PM, thebigh said:

Yeah, this is something the mapper decides on. The engine allows you to give the bodies different names but by default they're just "Body" and "Corpse" IIRC.

In prvious maps I've given each NPC a specific name, but I probably wouldn't do that anymore. Reserve those for people whose  name the player's character would know, and give regular guards generic labels like "Guard" or "Watchman" or "Servant"

I actually like it when the bodies have names. It humanizes the AI to a small extent and for me, that is more immersive.  

[taffernicus]

Inspired by smell mechanic's post, I realized mechanical watcher can't hear sound/voice at all, so is it better to add sime kind of phased array microphone for acoustic source localization?

Edited November 29, 2024 by taffernicus

[taffernicus]

but it just adds more layer of difficulty, it adds alot to player's plate

[Friendly_Taffer]

Is sound masking a thing or too difficult/complex to implement?

[MadMachine]

Speaking of things to improve:

Where can I find version number for the TDM I have installed?

[datiswous]

20 minutes ago, MadMachine said:

Where can I find version number for the TDM I have installed?

In 2.12:

Press Ctrl-Alt-~ to open the console. I think you see it on the right side.

 

In 2.13 (dev/beta) you see it on the main menu.

On 3/4/2024 at 10:10 PM, stgatilov said:

* Added TDM version + engine revision in lower-left corner of main menu.

 

Alternativly you could run the installer and it tells you which version is currently installed.

Edited January 8 by datiswous

[grodenglaive]

I wish the forum had a dark mode. The screens seem extra bright this morning... maybe I need more sleep.

[Baal]

18 minutes ago, grodenglaive said:

I wish the forum had a dark mode. The screens seem extra bright this morning... maybe I need more sleep.

It has. Go down to the bottom of the page, and look for "Theme".

[grodenglaive]

47 minutes ago, Baal said:

It has. Go down to the bottom of the page, and look for "Theme".

Excellent, my eyes thank you! 

[datiswous]

I editted mine a bit further:

See: