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Darkmod: Inspiration thread

Bikerdude

By Bikerdude
in TDM Editors Guild

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Spooks
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Outlooker
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A Hungarian firm specializing in digital 3D reconstructions of historical buildings and landscapes. Lots of images of old Hungarian castles and chateaus with many details and design ideas based on rea

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  • 3 weeks later...
SteveL

SteveL

Posted
Posted

Lovely texture work! The plaster rotting off the tavern bricks: is the plaster a decal with an alpha map? Do we have decals like that? I've only used dirt or slime ones so far.

Melan

Melan

Posted
Posted

This article on Islam's Mediaeval Underworld is very interesting, and puts my mind to thinking about scenarios involving the forthcoming Moor characters.

The year is-let us say-1170, and you are the leader of a city watch in medieval Persia. Patrolling the dangerous alleyways in the small hours of the morning, you and your men chance upon two or three shady-looking characters loitering outside the home of a wealthy merchant. Suspecting that you have stumbled across a gang of housebreakers, you order them searched. From various hidden pockets in the suspects' robes, your men produce a candle, a crowbar, stale bread, an iron spike, a drill, a bag of sand-and a live tortoise.

 

The reptile is, of course, the clincher. There are a hundred and one reasons why an honest man might be carrying a crowbar and a drill at three in the morning, but only a gang of experienced burglars would be abroad at such an hour equipped with a tortoise.

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

Melan

Melan

Posted
Posted

Lovely texture work! The plaster rotting off the tavern bricks: is the plaster a decal with an alpha map? Do we have decals like that? I've only used dirt or slime ones so far.

Typically, you'd use separate textures for that in Dromed - although the Dark engine is actually very good with transparency. There are some blood and vine decals, although they don't occupy a separate category - they are just a sort of object without volume or mass.

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

Goldwell

Goldwell

Posted
Posted

Inspiration doesn't have to just come from pictures. Listening to classical guitar whilst mapping is quite relaxing and inspiring

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOZhkTLTKzU

Shadows of Northdale Campaign
ACT I: A Curious Mind | ACT II: Down The Rabbit Hole

Stand Alone Missions
Accountant 1: Thieves and Heirs | Accountant 2: New In town | Spring Cleaning | Lord Edgar's Bathhouse | Snowed Inn | Noble Affairs

  • 2 weeks later...
Melan

Melan

Posted
Posted

It is not yet released.

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

Digi

Digi

Posted
Posted (edited)

Can the Thief games themselves be considered inspiration? Below is a great, if jaded, comparison image that reminds me of what's great about the old Thief games (and why T4 failed creatively compared to T1-2 and even T3).

 

http://i.imgur.com/5XVAlbS.jpg

 

Now, in fairness, that's the opening sequence in T4, but it wouldn't fare much better against the opening level of T2. And that's far from the most intricate level in T2 (though it's a good one).

 

But the point is about linear gameplay. Often, T4 would have "choices" but it only served to provide brief diversions before putting the player back on a linear track in most levels. T1 and T2 aren't entirely innocent of this, and would occasionally become one-tracked. But "choice" is often misunderstood. It's not just, say, a back entrance to a mansion (though those are always good too). The best Thief levels, to me, were open playgrounds. Yes, there were goals and paths. But trying to pinpoint "choices" was impossible due to the variety of ways the level could be tackled.

 

Maybe you disagree with my assessment of T4, but that's beside the point. This isn't a review, and don't want to start that discussion up here. But I enjoyed this image, and the reminder it gave me about missions.

 

{edit} ...to all of which I'm going to add the disclaimer that my currently in-development FM isn't ambitious enough to escape this same criticism (it's too small to be anything but linear). I can appreciate how difficult it is to create "playground" levels, and hope to be there eventually.

Edited by Digi

"Fancy burricks are afraid of dogs, if they encounter each other the dog barks and the burricks poop." - Thief: Deadly Shadows Game Designer

  • 2 weeks later...
Melan

Melan

Posted
Posted

Now just take a look at this:

 

tumblr_m748wtARJi1qf9ov9o1_1280.jpg

 

Look at it.

 

(View of San Gimignano, Italy, 1920s)

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

RJFerret

RJFerret

Posted
Posted

OK, I'll look at it. Just don't ask me to visportal it! ;p

"The measure of a man's character is what he would do if he knew he never would be found out."

- Baron Thomas Babington Macauley

Digi

Digi

Posted
Posted (edited)

OK, I'll look at it. Just don't ask me to visportal it! ;p

 

This might be off-topic, but I'm curious: How DOES one visportal something like that? Would the visportals just be for interiors, with the exterior being rendered all at once? There's probably some solution I'm unfamiliar with, but, like, I can't imagine any intermediate solutions while still having that tallest tower in the background show up in the player's view from that location. I'd create a series of outdoor "rooms" with skyboxes that break up the map into sections...but such a solution would prevent vista shots like Melan's shot there.

 

I understand visportals for interiors and some linear or contained outdoor locales. But I struggle with visualizing them for larger, more open outdoor environments.

Edited by Digi

"Fancy burricks are afraid of dogs, if they encounter each other the dog barks and the burricks poop." - Thief: Deadly Shadows Game Designer

RJFerret

RJFerret

Posted
Posted

Aw man, spoil my joke by seriously asking! It's not actually implausible.

 

The "sky" would be lower than you imagine, and caulk. The towers would be func_static props with parts of them in the visleafs of the viewer, so they would render despite the rest of their area not. The performance would be worst at the pic's camera view, as all the visportals would be open. However if the player was on one side, the entire other side wouldn't be rendered. (Don't consider the higher level roofs accessible/climbable--there's be no performance hope then as all exterior visportals would be open.)

 

The key is to interrupt the line of sight as much as possible, which obviously is the exact opposite of the intent of the photographer.

"The measure of a man's character is what he would do if he knew he never would be found out."

- Baron Thomas Babington Macauley

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