Leaning

[SuaveSteve]

When I watch others play, Dark Mod or any Thief, I notice a lack of leaning attempts. One streamer even remaps the keys to something else.

I don't use lean myself for a simple reason:

When I lean
I am seen

Guard now mean

I find it useless for when I actually need it: the area of a corner is lit too much for me to risk moving forward. I remember being very frustrated in Thief Gold when I would lean in the first mission and the guard at the end of the hallway would immediately go alert. For any other situation where leaning would work, I could have moved out the corner anyway, such as the guard facing away or the light being low enough.

It feels like the extreme opposite of Dishonored's (100% forgiving, as long as your original position stays behind cover).

Am I doing something wrong?

[nbohr1more]

The lightgem is affected by leaning but I think it's still somewhat forgiving. I recall leaning into near fullbright lighting without

getting immediate notice. Is there a specific mission where you encountered a problem with alert behavior?

 

We probably need to update this article to reflect some of the changes since 1.0.x

 

http://wiki.thedarkmod.com/index.php?title=Visual_scan

[SeriousToni]

I find it useless for when I actually need it: the area of a corner is lit too much for me to risk moving forward. I remember being very frustrated in Thief Gold when I would lean in the first mission and the guard at the end of the hallway would immediately go alert.

 

Are you sure?? I always thought, Thief wasn't changing the light meter when you lean..?

[chakkman]

In Thief, when you lean for a short time, you're not seen by the guard, even if it faces you. Like doing a flash lean. Not sure if it's the same in TDM, but i think so.

[Deadlove]

I don't know about flash leans, but I know that in TDM if you lean into a lit area, the light gem will not light up as much as if you were to move into and stand in the lit area. So the light gem alerts the player that their presence is more exposed by leaning into a lit area, but not as much as if they were standing in the lit area.

[New Horizon]

Here are how the two systems differ.

 

Thief: The player is represented by two spheres. Light samples are taken only from the bottom of the lower sphere, so if you are standing under a light around a corner and lean into shadow, you will still register as being lit. If you are standing in shadow and lean into light you will register as being unlit.

 

TDM: The light samples are averaged from the top and bottom of a 4 sided diamond that represents the player. When the player hits the lean button, the model moves just slightly. So if you are standing in light and lean into shadow, you will then be darkened a little bit. If you are standing in shadow and lean into light, you will be brightened a little bit.

[Oldjim]

TDM: The light samples are averaged from the top and bottom of a 4 sided diamond that represents the player. When the player hits the lean button, the model moves just slightly. So if you are standing in light and lean into shadow, you will then be darkened a little bit. If you are standing in shadow and lean into light, you will be brightened a little bit.

and spotted - I speak from bitter experience which is why I don't use lean

[New Horizon]

Depends on several things. The lighting and distance from the player and the visual setting you have the AI set to in the menu. Grace periods were factored in some time ago as well, so nobody should be instantly spotted from a far off distance.

[Professor Paul1290]

I use lean a lot, but not really to stay unlit as much as to try to see the guards around corners before they see me so I have some time to react.

 

I wasn't actually aware of how exactly it interacted with light until this thread.

[Brianetta]

Hi all. Just discovered TDM yesterday, having fun now.

 

I used to lean a lot in Thief and Thief II, and I leant a lot in St. Roderic's while playing Tears of St. Lucia. It's handy for listening through doors, and it's also handy for looking around corners when you want to return to your shadow. Stepping out is one thing, but if you'd just found that one sweet spot of perfect dark, you'd lose it.

[Springheel]

Hi all. Just discovered TDM yesterday, having fun now.

 

 

Welcome!