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Sotha's mapping thread


Sotha

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An ambient level of 6 appears to be the real sweet spot. The lightgem is just barely affected while standing, so you still get the crouching bonus...and the AI react in what feels like a realistic manner.

Coincidentally, 6 is the value I have been using in my missions. -_-

 

Well, time to pick up the torch now that Sotha has decided to take a break! :ph34r:

Come the time of peril, did the ground gape, and did the dead rest unquiet 'gainst us. Our bands of iron and hammers of stone prevailed not, and some did doubt the Builder's plan. But the seals held strong, and the few did triumph, and the doubters were lain into the foundations of the new sanctum. -- Collected letters of the Smith-in-Exile, Civitas Approved

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There's something not good if such a small difference in any light of just one or two numbers makes that significant a difference. I generally use around 6 but some mappers like to use location settings to vary the ambient. The trainer does this (although I don't think there any AI around where it is effected, eg, outside and down in the gamma room.) Maybe AI visual acuity is just set at a border that coincides with the common ambient light 'window' of 4 to 8 typically.

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Yes, I also find it a bit odd that a difference of 2 should be that noticeable.

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Seems to make a difference to the AI. I notice it mainly because our mappers generally use lower numbers. I'm just going through all the maps, and so far 5 and 6 are most common...with only 1 map so far using a 9.

 

There are a couple of maps that have used 4, and a few that used 7.

 

It seems that most everyone agrees that closer to 6 is better though. It really does feel like the sweet spot to be honest.

 

Like I said earlier, 6,7, and 8 are visually similar...it just seems that above 6 gives the AI a little more edge, without any real visual difference.

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A bit off topic - Dark areas in ambient 6 will be extremely blotchy? on most LCDs, I'd recommend around 8 if possible, you can decrease the effect by biasing it slightly towards blue by a point or two usually :) Some of the 'brighter' FM's have been around 11, so it's still pretty damn dark, just a bit more appreciable for most players.

 

Another : disabling dynamic contrast on your monitor and post-processing in gfx options is strongly suggested when coming up with ambient/lighting choices. Post-processing is going to make it slightly darker most of the time, dynamic contrast from your monitor is going to lighten dark things up while leaving bright areas bright, skewing your call :/

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A bit off topic - Dark areas in ambient 6 will be extremely blotchy? on most LCDs, I'd recommend around 8 if possible, you can decrease the effect by biasing it slightly towards blue by a point or two usually :) Some of the 'brighter' FM's have been around 11, so it's still pretty damn dark, just a bit more appreciable for most players.

 

11? 9 is the highest I've seen yet and I've gone through 27 missions so far. Are you getting that number from the D3 Editor, or DR? DR gives different numbers. :) I'll have to try 11 in DR, but with 8 making the AI as touchy as they are, I don't even think the missions would be that playable at 11. I honestly haven't seen this blotchiness on either of my LCD's....even on ambient 4.

 

Another : disabling dynamic contrast on your monitor and post-processing in gfx options is strongly suggested when coming up with ambient/lighting choices. Post-processing is going to make it slightly darker most of the time, dynamic contrast from your monitor is going to lighten dark things up while leaving bright areas bright, skewing your call :/

 

This is more about the AI reactions than visual appearance though Serp.

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Here is the links to the new packages. Could someone please put these to be available in the ingame downloader? Thanks!

 

Mandrasola

http://www.mediafire.com/?j3wxczh3mwpba6g

I bumped the versions and checked that the PK4s on bloodgate and fidcal.com are up to date, but I can't download the Mandrasola package from the link you give me. Mediafire is garbling the download link to some invalid server for me, can you re-upload that PK4 please?

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I bumped the versions and checked that the PK4s on bloodgate and fidcal.com are up to date, but I can't download the Mandrasola package from the link you give me. Mediafire is garbling the download link to some invalid server for me, can you re-upload that PK4 please?

 

I could download it. Weird.

Well here is a new attempt:

http://www.mediafire.com/?mqmo2k199z2b9l6

Clipper

-The mapper's best friend.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Oh, I just spotted this in my profile comments. I never check those, so I recommend asking questions here.

Glyph Seeker:

30 Apr 2011 - 15:01 Sotha, would you be tempted to tie together your Thomas Porter missions somehow when campaign support gets added? Or would that be just an absolute nightmare to do?

 

The answer is: yes, I'm thinking of bundling the TP campaign into a one campaign set.

There are several obstacles:

  • My Time. (I'm short on it.)
  • Updating the campaign with a new mission requires a campaign restart from the players. That means that people would always need to start from the beginning when a new mission is added. Savegames would probably be obsolete.
  • I need to figure out how to make SoBuCoB (Sotha's Button Controlled Briefing) work with campaigns.

So these limit the campaign building. Basically I think I can campaignify the series only after I've released the final mission that ends the TP story. I am uncertain when that will be. So don't hold your breath. ;)

 

In the same note I will announce that I'm building a new mission. I wanted to do something different from what you've seen from me thus far.

 

The mapping is progressing at a rate of few brushes a day, so I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for this map. Anyways, I do have a plan and if I manage to realise it, it is gonna be one of my most dynamic maps.

Clipper

-The mapper's best friend.

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Oh, I just spotted this in my profile comments. I never check those, so I recommend asking questions here.

---

 

The mapping is progressing at a rate of few brushes a day, so I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for this map. Anyways, I do have a plan and if I manage to realise it, it is gonna be one of my most dynamic maps.

 

Ah, yes - sorry, didn't realise how easily buried comments were in people's profiles! Will use the forum from now on.

 

Thanks for the reply! Please understand that it was a simple enquiry, and not a demand! x-D

 

And you've answered it smartly - partial campaigns wouldn't really work as a release. They would have to be complete before hand - which is an even bigger committment than creating an FM in the first place!

 

Mind you, I'd replay all the Thomas Porter missions if you did put them into a campaign! =-3

"No proposition Euclid wrote,

No formulae the text-books know,

Will turn the bullet from your coat,

Or ward the tulwar's downward blow

Strike hard who cares—shoot straight who can—

The odds are on the cheaper man."

 

From 'Arithmetic on the Frontier' by Rudyard Kipling

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  • 2 weeks later...

I love corners even in RL where you can look down two roads at the same time, usually triangular blocks. It's like looking into two worlds at once and each oblivious of the other - but you can see both - kind of split screen.

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Whee! Very exciting, Sotha! I've almost finished all of your missions! Just about finished the Beleagured Fence.

 

You and Jesps are up high on my list of favourite mappers so anything new from you is always a plus. =3

"No proposition Euclid wrote,

No formulae the text-books know,

Will turn the bullet from your coat,

Or ward the tulwar's downward blow

Strike hard who cares—shoot straight who can—

The odds are on the cheaper man."

 

From 'Arithmetic on the Frontier' by Rudyard Kipling

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Simple and effective construction; like that round tower and the forking street. A little bit of dirt would do it good, though.

Come the time of peril, did the ground gape, and did the dead rest unquiet 'gainst us. Our bands of iron and hammers of stone prevailed not, and some did doubt the Builder's plan. But the seals held strong, and the few did triumph, and the doubters were lain into the foundations of the new sanctum. -- Collected letters of the Smith-in-Exile, Civitas Approved

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