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lowenz

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Why don't we get featured at moddb on the banner like some of the other mods do?

2.0 isn't uploaded yet on ModDB!

Edited by lowenz

Task is not so much to see what no one has yet seen but to think what nobody has yet thought about that which everybody see. - E.S.

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I tried this out today, and three things leapt out at me as a Thief fan:


  1. New mechanics! The lighting system is fully dynamic now, which adds a new dimension to hiding in the shadows. For example, you can move crates to set up safe shadow & no-LOS zones in a room. Manipulating and rotating objects is surprisingly satisfying, especially when they hide secrets and keys. You can light objects from other lit ones, and blow out candles and other small flames. NPCs now relight extinguished torches, notice missing items and raise an alarm if their absence is prominent enough, and never do the "Oh well, I guess it was just rats" routine once they've glimpsed you, however briefly. The jumping/mantling system is very tactile now, letting you climb up on rafters and beams, and even engage in some proto-parkour. Every change they have made to the Thief formula (even minor ones, such as the new audio based lockpicking system) is for the better.

  2. It’s pretty! From the trailers, I was not expecting much, especially considering the Doom 3 engine, but with everything cranked up to high it looks amazing. The texture work is well beyond most AAA console ports these days (like Dishonored), and the lighting is appropriately atmospheric. It's important to get the gamma/brightness settings right, and there's even a section of the tutorial mission devoted to helping you adjust them.

  3. The writing: This varies across the missions (different authors), but I was pleasantly surprised by how good it was. I'm referring to the little things like NPC dialog, notes, flavor text and lore found around the world, because there's no actual scripted narrative here. The mission briefing/cutscene does a great job of contextualizing the missions without feeling like Thief fan fiction. The only thing it's missing is Garrett's wry commentary.

I had played an early build a few years ago, but this has come a long way. I think it's now mechanically (and obviously graphically) superior to the Thief games. It's actually difficult to believe that this game exists--not as a Kickstarter, a greenlight title, or pre-alpha game for purchase, but as a highly polished, free, fully featured tribute to Thief that's better than the originals in many ways. This is to Thief what Black Mesa is to Half-Life, and probably more than that.

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A few comments from people who have successfully downloaded on /vg/:

 

I actually got to do this on the Tears mission! On the walkway in the room with the statue, I picked up the box and dropped in on a guard's head and he was fucking out. Spectacular.

 

>blackjack hammerit

>CLONK CLONK CLONK

>OH FUCK QUICK I HAVE TO GET RID OF HIM

>gets stuck

 

AAAAAAAAAH GENIUS

I never thought they would at sounds of metal armor hitting the ground.

 

 

The hammer haunts sound fucking terrifying

 

 

I've just finished the Tears of St. Lucia. Thief has been saved, in spirit if not in name.

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Not working :blink:

It totally should.

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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Must be a problem on your side, because it loads for me. Linked, again.

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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A few comments from people who have successfully downloaded on /vg/:

 

If you save them on your hard disc you can update the main page's quotes later when it works again :)

"Einen giftigen Trank aus Kräutern und Wurzeln für die närrischen Städter wollen wir brauen." - Text aus einem verlassenen Heidenlager

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Just saw the April News update on the progress on going standalone, but couldn't find a thread to post in...

 

.....

 

To keep the standard at that level, I am not at all shocked that it will take until Autumn/Fall release for 1.9.

 

Anyways keep up the great work, I usually get to see most new release's around my birthday month of October - B)

 

October...

 

Ruh-roh ... pressure. :o

 

Looks like I was right, the TDM team always deliver like clockwork!

 

I can always count on a Birthday pressie from the team, My birthday is the 16th of October (the Mod was released on 17th October 2009 and nearly always gets an update around the anniversary time!)

 

Thanks guys, downloading now (uninstalls Doom 3!)

Edited by Scope
  • Like 1
-Scope
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Nice to hear the last bit:

 

One simple mechanic really changes how the game is played. I can no longer read and twiddle my thumbs. Got caught a couple of times forgetting that time still passes by.

I'm starting to make my own map now. Is anyone else making their own mission?

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It's actually difficult to believe that this game exists--not as a Kickstarter, a greenlight title, or pre-alpha game for purchase, but as a highly polished, free, fully featured tribute to Thief that's better than the originals in many ways. This is to Thief what Black Mesa is to Half-Life, and probably more than that.

Sweet, the last sentence is the killer.

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Wow, more than BM! Well, it's a sure thing talking about the longevity: TDM can last FOREVAAAAAAAA, thanks to Dark Radiant :D

 

And maybe it's the best tribute ever to Carmack and ID4 Tech.

Edited by lowenz

Task is not so much to see what no one has yet seen but to think what nobody has yet thought about that which everybody see. - E.S.

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Here's most of the thread on TTLG's FB page (sans the troubleshooting; and substituting real names for TTLG nicks), which I think a lot of people here aren't members of.

 

 

 

demagogue

DARKMOD IS NOW STANDALONE!!!

http://www.thedarkmod.com/downloads/

Get it while it's hot! <p>

Seen by 41 Marissa Gabetta Artist, Sam Roberts, Dia Horn and 14 others like this.

What do you see when you turn out the light? I can't tell you but I know that it's mine.

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