Darkmod: Inspiration thread

[Bikerdude]

If like me you scour the web looking for inspiration for your next TDM mission then look no further..

Now... talking of images have you guys seen the latest from the master that is DrK from his Rocksbourg4 campaign. We need more dirty texture in TDM me thinks...

Edited March 12, 2017 by Bikerdude

[Melan]

DrK is an undisputed master of the art. He uses his assets in a very cohesive manner.

 

WRT dirtier, darker textures, there are a few in the package I submitted and there are source images for more which I will convert at a later date (in my first batch, I focused on trims and ornaments; the next will be more about basic stonework when I get to it). Plus CGTextures has recently started to upload decal textures which will also help. It is a question of time, though, and right now, I'd rather build then work on textures - considering that I have not released a mission since RttC and didn't build so much, I am waaaaay behind my plans.

Edited August 18, 2010 by Melan

[LEGION]

Hey, Bikerdude, how did you voted both? I would like to have a banana sandwich too, made me really hungry...

 

Oh, I never played any Rocksbergh mission, no 7sisters, no CoSaS and no T2X too. But I´m sure they all will be good inspiration, just need to have more time during the days and less need for sleep, but how to arrange that without drugs?

[Bikerdude]

Legion, oh dude you have got to play those missions. They are the pinnacle of T2 mission design, that and Ive done some vocals in the Rocksbourg series.

Edited September 13, 2012 by Bikerdude

[nbohr1more]

Not sure if this should go in the general Dark Mod category, Off Topic, or Editors Guild but I like the idea of having a thread with screens from Thief FM's or other games with a similar theme or time period... for inspiration.

[Bikerdude]

I wasnt sure which is why I put it here, if the mods want to shuffle it to another section by all means.

[nbohr1more]

Well..., keep the screens coming no matter where they put this thread

[LEGION]

Legion, oh dud you have got to play those mission. I mean Jesus, they are the pinnacle of T2 mission design. That and you will heard my vocals in all of the Rocksbourg series..

 

Yes I will. I´m still in the middle of the regular Thief 2 campaign that I was in as I discovered TDM, I already downloaded all this missions...

 

Hey, NilsBohr, now you too voted twice, how the?

[nbohr1more]

Firefox?

 

There were 3 check-boxes so I checked 2 of them.

 

I am not sure how it's rendering in your Browser...?

 

I would delete your vote and see if you can choose both if you have strong feelings about the banana sandwich option

[jaxa]

<input type="checkbox"> 

vs

 

<input type="radio"> 

 

I've got to say I love your waterfall vid, Bikerdude.

Edited August 18, 2010 by jaxa

[nbohr1more]

Yep.

 

It should be browser agnostic.

 

[LEGION]

Outch, i´m such an idiot. I got so used to the FM-polls that my mind couldn´t understand that I could check more than one...

[Bikerdude]

I've got to say I love your waterfall vid, Bikerdude.

but did you check out thos Cabal trailers, simply awesome...

[LEGION]

but did you check out thos Cabal trailers, simply awesome...

 

edit: solved.

Edited August 19, 2010 by LEGION

[Bikerdude]

Bloody hell on toast Batman... this castle looks bloody awesome and I had to check it was the Dark engine i was looking at... At some point I'm gonna build another castle mission, but have it like this where is a central courtyard etc.

 

Translated version - http://translate.goo...%3D3578&act=url

 

Edited September 13, 2012 by Bikerdude

[Chiron]

The great ones of Thief2 like DrK, Yandros or JasonOtto are all not just DromEd masters, but also masters of atmosphere.

The source of this atmosphere usually is the general washout look of Thief2 combined with

dark, dirty & gritty custom pictures. Maybe it's this what TDM is sometimes missing: Dirt

 

I want to recommend a T2 series for everyone still looking for inspiration, it doesn't use a lot of custom textures or objects, but the storytelling is great: L'Arsene by Gaetane

http://thiefmissions.com/search.cgi?search=%2bseries=Arsene

[LEGION]

What the hell, Bikerdude. Doesn´t that big Thief-hud annoy you? I can´t stand it. Not only use I the hud (lifeshield & LightGem I mean) from Calendras Legacy, but I decreased it to the following:

 

 

If by any chance you don´t know how to do that I give you a quick manual, it´s pretty easy.

 

In return you could explain me how you made that 'Click Image to enlarge'-code. When I look at your posting-code the images are already there! Is that a feature from Imagehack?

Edited September 16, 2010 by LEGION

[Komag]

I too use a half-size light gem and TINY health meter graphics - my choice is little tiny blood drips, very very small and dark dark red

[Nosslak]

In return you could explain me how you made that 'Click Image to enlarge'-code. When I look at your posting-code the images are already there! Is that a feature from Imagehack?

If you post any images that are wider than the forum width the forum will automatically resize it to fit, this happens with Imageshack, Photobucket and most likely any other external site that you host images on (instead of attaching them to the posts).

Edited September 17, 2010 by Nosslak

[LEGION]

Ah, that´s it. Thanks Nosslak. So that´s the reason I never got that during my tries because all my shots are in my desktop-res.

[Tudor]

It's so hard for me to understand how people can make these kinds of maps in a subtractive editor.

I grew up on Worldcraft and Hammer, and for me it was always place the things into the void, and know the tricks so it doesn't do weird things. I'm still not fully taught in the art but I know a lot of tricks, now. How can equally old map editor that uses such a error-prone way of mapping, produce such amazing results? It is beyond me.

[Midnight]

As someone who has used Dromed a fair bit (not released anything yet tho ) I can say that without doubt there are some things which are much easier for a total newbie to quickly grasp in a subtractive editor like Dromed.

 

Take this image of Galata tower in Turkey for example:

 

 

It would be simple to create this in Dromed by creating a solid cylinder and then cutting away at it with cylinders and rectangle brushes to create the arches. I can see how I might do this in DR, but working with patches (and specifically creating end-caps for arches) has been a bit hit and miss in my experience.

 

Half the time when I use patches I'm either gobsmacked at how powerful they are, or immensely frustrated that the vertices don't line up etc. All this can be overcome with time and patience of course, but I still maintain that the learning curve for stuff like this is much steeper in DR (and presumably Hammer) compared to Dromed.

 

Edit: Since you were talking about how you would create advanced architecture... being able to make something as impressive as Rose Cottage is obviously the result of years of experience with Dromed, and although the tools are very primitive, you learn to use those primitives in very clever ways over the years. When I started with Dromed, any time I walked down a street I would be looking at architecture and thinking of ways to recreate certain features using subtractive techniques. After a while it becomes second nature.

Edited September 17, 2010 by Midnight

[Tudor]

In Hammer it's just a matter of position the right things, clip what you need if the shapes are off, and then just keep it on the grid and it won't mess up.

There is more to it, due to the old BSP format and compile tools being completely crazy, but it feels more logical, growing up on lego it feels like second nature. I'm fairly good at sculpting, but sculpting using primitives always seemed a big hassle.

[Tels]

This wikipedia entry has a few pictures:

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constructive_solid_geometry

 

Some things are really really easy in subtractive CSG, and some are much easier in additive. The point is that Dromed allows both, while the idTech engine is only additive - if you want to subtract, you basically let the editor do the subtract for your and it creates two parts that when added together, result in the difference. That is, however, not always easy, and often results in unusable results.

[Midnight]

Well, to be honest I don't think that either method is actually more or less intuitive since a subtractive editor like Dromed can be used in a purely additive way (i.e. create your void to begin with and then go ahead as if you're using any other additive editor). Yes, if you create something like a doorway and the frame using a subtractive method then it's not very intuitive, and worse you could end up with badly aligned textures.

 

If it's a question of ease of building, then again it's a mixed bag.

 

Just as another example, to create a simple vaulted ceiling in Dromed would simply be a case of placing two intersecting subtractive cylinders laying on their side. They would automatically create the 'vaulted' centre of the ceiling. Nice and easy for a newbie, and easier and faster than using patches with DR. But then you're limited to a basic vaulted ceiling, as far as I know there isn't a way to create a ribbed vaulted veiling in Dromed (the example above I assume is an object, otherwise I just gave up to easily ). So there are definite benefits to each method / editor.

Edited September 17, 2010 by Midnight