Graphic improvements?

[computertech82 2]

I re-found dark mod again. Seems to have an update to it, but the game looks like it's the original thief game. Will the game ever get updated to look like the newer games? 

[nbohr1more 2091]

Have you enabled advanced graphics options such as Soft Shadows, Bloom, and SSAO?

What missions have you played?

What aspect looks like the original Thief games?

[peter_spy 1529]

10 hours ago, computertech82 said:

I re-found dark mod again. Seems to have an update to it, but the game looks like it's the original thief game. Will the game ever get updated to look like the newer games? 

If you mean that you see that the engine itself has been upgraded, but the textures, models and other game assets have not, then you're correct. The latter would require a lot of time, effort, and at least a few highly-skilled modelers involved. (And there aren't many idtech4 modelers here in general.) So, the answer to your question is, "It probably won't".

[chakkman 380]

11 hours ago, computertech82 said:

I re-found dark mod again. Seems to have an update to it, but the game looks like it's the original thief game.

I recommend a visit to the optician then.

Seriously, TDM always looked much better than the original Thief's. Except Thief 2014.

Edited January 12 by chakkman

[Zerg Rush 22]

I think TDM is graphically pretty good, anyway better than the Thief I know.
It naturally depends on the configuration adapted to the graphic capabilities that each one has.
Possibly the quality can be greatly improved to match the latest generation games, but not everyone has a high-end gaming PC to be able to play it then.
I don't have a high-end PC and many games currently offered are well above what I can play with a moderately acceptable FPS.
Besides that the graphic quality does not necessarily define the quality of a game and in this aspect TDM is far superior to many more modern ones.

Laptop Lenovo 15 AST, Windows 10 64, AMD 8Gb RAM, GPU AMD 2Gb, 256 Gb SSD.

 

Edited January 12 by Zerg Rush

[HMart 318]

Lets see:

Thief 1/2

https://media.moddb.com/images/downloads/1/13/12812/dump026.jpg

https://www.mobygames.com/images/shots/l/22894-thief-ii-the-metal-age-windows-screenshot-that-s-what-thief.jpg

 

Dark Mod

https://www.thedarkmod.com/wp-content/gallery/environments/thedarkmod-2018-05-25-23-38-03.jpg

https://www.thedarkmod.com/wp-content/gallery/environments/thedarkmod-2018-05-26-00-20-43.jpg

 

Yep the same....

[peter_spy 1529]

^ But comparing Thief screenshots to TDM promotional WIPs is an exaggeration as well It's not that an average TDM mission looks like that.

But there are a few cool looking ones, no doubt about it, you can use sites like Thief Guild to look for something you might like.

Edited January 12 by peter_spy

[HMart 318]

Fair but those images show what TDM is capable off in the right hands, even with the current assets and there are missions that have scenes like that or better, of course TDM missions are made by fans, everyone of them with different skill sets and so some may look less than that, but IMO even the "worse looking" TDM mission looks at lest comparable to Thief 3 not original thief.

Edited January 12 by HMart

[peter_spy 1529]

Saying that TDM looks like Thief 1/2 is kinda trolling, so I ignored that

[OrbWeaver 617]

It may be that he is not referring so much to the capabilities of the engine, or even the resolution of the textures and models (which is not all that easy to notice if you are not specifically looking for it), but to the style of map creation. I have noticed that some missions tend to use design techniques which were common in the simpler Thief games but look less realistic compared to the level of detail in modern games, e.g.:

• Truncated slivers of bricks around and above a doorway rather than a realistic supporting beam or lintel, making it appear that the door or window is just cut into the surface rather than built around.
• Weird, inconsistent slivers of interlocking bricks on the front of steps, rather than a row of complete bricks or a single large stone.
• Bricks on two sides of a right-angle corner which do not line up with each other as real bricks would, making it look like a brick-pattern wallpaper applied to an underlying surface (which is essentially what a texture is).
• Unsupported large flagstone textures on ceilings (which would in reality fall straight to the ground).
• No skirting boards, trim, coving, ceiling beams or any other details which often appear where walls join horizontal surfaces.
• Lack of dirt and grime — everything looks totally clean, homogeneous and repetitive, right up to the edges of rooms.

That is not to say that all missions look like this, and some (including those I have played from Grayman) are notable for their realism, but I think it's easy to fall into the trap of rapidly slapping textures on brushes (or cutting brushes without regard to texture alignment) giving a result that players can instinctively recognised as "wrong" without being able to determine the exact reason why.

[Jetrell 60]

Just my two cents, I think computertech82 is either ignorant or a troll but probably a combination of the two. Even a blind person could easily see that there's no comparison between the graphics of the "original thief game" and TDM.

Nothing to see here, moving on.

[Zerg Rush 22]

Like I said before, TDM, at least with the graphics adapted to my Lap, is quite realistic. Where perhaps it fails a little sometimes is in some glitches, when a character is sitting in the air on the table and the like, and the AI is sometimes exasperating, for example the girl I fought in 'The Transaction' is unable to run in the right direction, things like that But I think this happens in the best games too.

[chakkman 380]

It does. People sitting in the air instead of on the chair is something I've seen in dozens of games really.

[Anderson 316]

I think computertech84 didn't only mean that graphics aren't AAA quality according to 2020 standards but, moreover, the animations might be the weakest part of the game overall. That's something that hasn't changed much since the TDM was released. At least for most NPC's.

Edited Tuesday at 07:51 PM by Anderson

[chakkman 380]

Still ten times better than the original Thief's.

[Zerg Rush 22]

Not forgetting that we are comparing a free game with commercial games with all kinds of state-of-the-art facilities and a squad of Chinese programmers.

It would be fair to compare TDM with other free and OSS games, to see how many "AAA" we find among them.

A AAA game is not defined not only by the spectacular graphics, but by its content, playability and re-playability. I am not worth a game to go in 20-30 levels to go from point A to B linearly, with no other content than to shoot everything that moves.No matter how good graphics they have, this is played 1-2 times and then forgotten. TDM however is to play for years, with very different content and genres, from Steahth, FPS, Adventure, Survival Horror, Mystery, Platform ... (and even a Tetris ), THIS is not AAA, but AAAA +.

[Anderson 316]

33 minutes ago, Zerg Rush said:

Not forgetting that we are comparing a free game with commercial games with all kinds of state-of-the-art facilities and a squad of Chinese programmers.

It would be fair to compare TDM with other free and OSS games, to see how many "AAA" we find among them.

A AAA game is not defined not only by the spectacular graphics, but by its content, playability and re-playability. I am not worth a game to go in 20-30 levels to go from point A to B linearly, with no other content than to shoot everything that moves.No matter how good graphics they have, this is played 1-2 times and then forgotten. TDM however is to play for years, with very different content and genres, from Steahth, FPS, Adventure, Survival Horror, Mystery, Platform ... (and even a Tetris ), THIS is not AAA, but AAAA +.

Indeed, it's a miracle that TDM has gotten this far with continuous updates still. So few open source projects get any meaningful progress in years. Maybe TDM would have had more content if there was some form of donation available. Maybe not. Who knows? There's many Pay to win "free" games out there that unscrupulously demand money for things people don't need (even if they ask for it). Alas... Maybe things are better the way they are. Slow but steady.

[Zerg Rush 22]

RPG games are very popular for my wife. In this genre there are certainly many from Pay2Win, although there are also free exceptions, which, although they have purchase options within the menu, these refer practically only to cosmetic supplements that do not provide or only provide insignificant advantages. One of them, which is quite good, very playable and, which is not at all frequent, available for both desktop and mobile. It is called Eternium and this is definitely not Pay2Win, it allows you to play as far as you want, without restrictions and completely free. It can be downloaded freely from the corresponding stores (Windows, Google Play, iOS), it is singleplayer, although there are challenges for all the players where you try to climb a table, but each one on their own.

[HMart 318]

Zerg Rush that reply looked like something a bot would post because of how off topic it seemed.   And how the Eternium link, at a glance looked like a link to Ethereum the bit coin type virtual money. I almost reported you!   

Edited Tuesday at 11:48 PM by HMart

[Zerg Rush 22]

Nothing to do with Ethereum, the link is to the independient Company Making Fun, fans of the old Diablo Game. They create first Mage and Minions, renamed it later Eternium.

But yes, it's some OT, responding to the discussion, sorry for this.

[STiFU 728]

14 hours ago, OrbWeaver said:

It may be that he is not referring so much to the capabilities of the engine, or even the resolution of the textures and models (which is not all that easy to notice if you are not specifically looking for it), but to the style of map creation. I have noticed that some missions tend to use design techniques which were common in the simpler Thief games but look less realistic compared to the level of detail in modern games, e.g.:

• Truncated slivers of bricks around and above a doorway rather than a realistic supporting beam or lintel, making it appear that the door or window is just cut into the surface rather than built around.
• Weird, inconsistent slivers of interlocking bricks on the front of steps, rather than a row of complete bricks or a single large stone.
• Bricks on two sides of a right-angle corner which do not line up with each other as real bricks would, making it look like a brick-pattern wallpaper applied to an underlying surface (which is essentially what a texture is).
• Unsupported large flagstone textures on ceilings (which would in reality fall straight to the ground).
• No skirting boards, trim, coving, ceiling beams or any other details which often appear where walls join horizontal surfaces.
• Lack of dirt and grime — everything looks totally clean, homogeneous and repetitive, right up to the edges of rooms.

That is not to say that all missions look like this, and some (including those I have played from Grayman) are notable for their realism, but I think it's easy to fall into the trap of rapidly slapping textures on brushes (or cutting brushes without regard to texture alignment) giving a result that players can instinctively recognised as "wrong" without being able to determine the exact reason why.

Yeah, and there is also that mostly rectangular level design, which just doesn't look very natural in a medieval context. We are not designing modern north american cities here afterall. Obviously, those rectangular designs are due to the usage of brushwork instead of models and I actually don't mind it at all, but it does reduce realism. 

[peter_spy 1529]

I'd say it's more about lighting. Most people put one shadow casting light per room or light source, and call it a day. They're not curious how lighting works, they don't examine photos or movies, etc.

[Araneidae 36]

15 hours ago, Anderson said:

the animations might be the weakest part of the game overall.

I think this is true: the door opening is particularly noticeable, this is something you're watching all the time in game, and the magic of a character standing a yard away from a door, waving their hand, and the door opens, is always a strange sight.

[Springheel 4630]

1 hour ago, Araneidae said:

I think this is true: the door opening is particularly noticeable, this is something you're watching all the time in game, and the magic of a character standing a yard away from a door, waving their hand, and the door opens, is always a strange sight.

Plenty of games don't have the character reach out their hand at all, which is even more magic.

 

[HMart 318]

7 hours ago, Zerg Rush said:

Nothing to do with Ethereum, the link is to the independient Company Making Fun, fans of the old Diablo Game. They create first Mage and Minions, renamed it later Eternium.

But yes, it's some OT, responding to the discussion, sorry for this.

No need to ask sorry you did nothing wrong.