Snatcher's Workshop - Mods for The Dark Mod

[snatcher]

13 hours ago, wesp5 said:

So what will the upcoming new skill be?

Remember this?

On 8/18/2022 at 8:01 PM, wesp5 said:

[...] You could try to add even more features like Blink from Dishonored [...]

I am unable to implement something like the Blink without breaking the logic of most missions but I have always been fascinated by a different but similar mechanic that could have a place in TDM: Teleportation.

Edited July 22, 2024 by snatcher

[snatcher]

My approach is very simple. You can teleport back and forth between two dynamic locations:

1. The very first jump sets location 1, and nothing else happens.
2. You can then go about about your business and jump back to location 1 whenever you want. The location you were before the jump to 1 sets location 2.
3. You can then go about about your business and jump back to location 2 whenever you want. The location you were before the jump to 2 sets location 1.
4. ...

As you can see you can teleport only to places you have already been to.

Now that you get the idea it is decision making time. Feedback (and jokes) appreciated.

What happens if the player gets teleported to...?

The gap of an elevator

My take: You deserve it, mindless taffer. I don't care.

A position occupied by a door (ie auto closing doors)

My take: Abort jump. Force the door to open/close. Teleport again.

A position occupied by a moveable

My take: Try getting the player on top or simply allow a clip through (the engine handles these situations well). I thought of kicking it but I don't quite like the idea.

A position occupied by AI

My take: Abort, try again later (if AI decides to take a nap the player is screwed). Remote KO/kill is effective and sounds like a fun mechanic but perhaps it is a little overpowered?

A position occupied by a door blocked by a moveable and AI going around in circles

My take: Abort (the player is definitely screwed).

Your take?

Edited July 23, 2024 by snatcher

[wesp5]

Sounds good to me, but you need to mark the jump position somehow. Like with a magical circle on the ground?

Edited July 23, 2024 by wesp5

[snatcher]

Thanks for the interest @wesp5.

33 minutes ago, wesp5 said:

Sounds good to me, but you need to mark the jump position somehow. Like with a magical circle on the ground?

Yes, this was on the table but eventually discarded, at least, for the initial release. I am not sure it is needed?

The mod is complete. It is just that I have been thinking so much about the points of failure that I fear my mind is a little clouded and I need to hear opinions. I have just shared a copy of the skill with you to give it a try.

Edited July 23, 2024 by snatcher

[ERH+]

Dont forget about player in crouch position (in sewer, airduct) making initial point, then teleporting back while being upright at full hight and ending with his head inside wall.

Edited July 24, 2024 by ERH+

[snatcher]

6 hours ago, ERH+ said:

Dont forget about player in crouch position (in sewer, airduct) making initial point, then teleporting back while being upright at full hight and ending with his head inside wall.

Good point ERH+, unfortunately I didn't figure out how to force a crouch therefore for a jump to be successful there must be enough vertical space in origin and in destination, regardless of whether the player is crouched or standing. Far from ideal but the current implementation is quite convincing imho and players should eventually figure out how the mechanic works. Who knows, perhaps someday we can force a crouch and make the skill more compelling.

I have shared a beta with you in case you want to give it a go.

[wesp5]

I haven't tested that aspect, but do you get some kind of visible or audible feedback if the start location isn't working?

[snatcher]

In my mods:

• Silence: Nothing to do here.
• Hmm: Try in a different way.
• No, no: Forget it.

[snatcher]

We do these things not because they are easy but because they are hard fun!

TDM Modpack v4.5

We have a new skill in the family and in this new version of the Modpack I have split the skills into two categories:

• Adept: Peek, Blow & Ignite and Whistle
• Expert: Alchemy, Loop and Penumbra

You may opt for one skillset, the other, both or none:

Each skill is still delivered in its own standalone package and the pk4 have been renamed to reflect the actual name of the skill. That's for you, @uyvie !

---------------------------------------------------

LOOP SKILL

Teleport on demand!

The first time you use the skill it will remember your current location and nothing else happens. The next time you use the skill it will remember your current location AND it will teleport you back to the previous location. You can reset the Loop by holding the "Use" key for 10 seconds.

Here are some ideas:

• Initiate the loop at the beginning of the mission in case you want or need to backtrack
• Explore two different areas in parallel
• Establish a point of interest you can quickly and easily go back to anytime: a safe room, a shop, high ground...
• Run away from AI, avoid the cool down period and carry on with your business
• Ambush AI
• Anything else you can think of

Limitations

I haven't figured out how to force the player to crouch and this means you cannot teleport if there isn't enough vertical space in case you teleport back in standing position. Forget about teleporting in tight spaces such as vents, at least for now.

In this initial release I have been very conservative and in order to minimize risks the skill can get at times a little annoying: you cannot be too close to walls or any other potential obstacle. Depending on the feedback received we can take some risks and make the skill more responsive. We will see.

Summing up, whenever you hear the "hmm", it is either because there isn't enough vertical space or you are too close to a wall or obstacle.

Points of failure

There are certain situations in which the loop may fail:

• If you try to teleport to a location that is occupied by AI the jump will be aborted. You can try again later.
• If you try to teleport to a location that is occupied by an object the skill will do its best to overcome the obstacle. Sometimes you must try a few times to clear the destination.

There are some edge cases though that are unsolvable and you may very well get stuck. If you are unable to teleport you can break the loop by holding "Use" for 10 seconds. This action resets the loop and it cannot be undone.

This new skill is far from perfect but it gets the job done and hopefully, it brings a fun new mechanic to the game and adds replayability value.

---------------------------------------------------

STEALTH MONITOR

Updated...

The STEALTH MONITOR mod displays the stealth stats and it has been made persistent. This means that if you switch from Loot to Stealth it will never revert to Loot unless you trigger the action.

---------------------------------------------------

DYNAMIC INVENTORY

Revisited...

When picking up loot the DYNAMIC INVENTORY mod displays the loot info in the inventory and shortly after reverts back to the last non-loot item selected. This old mod has now been rebuilt outside of a file often - wrongly - employed by mission authors [tdm_frobactions.script] and this means that the mod is now available in all missions.

...and Extended

In the core game when unshouldering a body the inventory is cleared for good. This can break the flow in some situations and the functionality of the DYNAMIC INVENTORY mod has been extended and when unshouldering bodies the mod will now revert back to the last item selected.

Just enable CORE ESSENTIALS and you are good to go.

---------------------------------------------------

Speaking of...

CORE ESSENTIALS

For some reason few doors in the core game have, by default, a shorter frob distance than all the rest. What puzzles me is that we are not talking doors that one may consider "special", but perfectly normal, regular, standard doors. Do arms get shorter when manipulating some doors?

Players get used to certain distances and this breaks the flow in some missions and it has been resolved in CORE ESSENTIALS. Mappers can change frob distances wherever they please (players shall judge their decisions) but I find it unacceptable that something like this comes by default.

The subjects in question are:

• arched01_111x40_left
• arched01_111x40_right
• 3panel_104x56
• door_96x48_2hinge02
• 6panel_104x56
• stained_glass01_104x56
• stained_glass01_118x52

Why do you make such a big point for seven doors, you ask? Because as of today there are more than a thousand instances of these doors in the mission catalogue.

Please note this is also fixed in the Unofficial Patch but since there are no boundaries between the Modpack and the Patch it has been fixed here as well.

---------------------------------------------------

I hope you have fun with this new version of the TDM Modpack.

Cheers!

Edited July 26, 2024 by snatcher

[ChronA]

@snatcherThere should be a map making contest where the challenge is to build a level around the new tools and mechanics in TDM Modpack, Unofficial Patch, and other TDM-original novelties. I bet the community could create some wild mission concepts around tools like Loop.

[wesp5]

About marking the loop spots, here is a screenshot of a magical trap from the Bloodlines Prelude mod I helped with. It is lighted and moving which it doesn't need in TDM, but it could be a cool side effect that guards can see the spots and wait for the player to appear which would make it less powerful and would force the player to think where to place the spot!

Edited July 29, 2024 by wesp5

[snatcher]

16 hours ago, ChronA said:

@snatcherThere should be a map making contest where the challenge is to build a level around the new tools and mechanics in TDM Modpack, Unofficial Patch, and other TDM-original novelties. I bet the community could create some wild mission concepts around tools like Loop.

The Loop is currently limited by its intended functionality but it can be extended, and considering Mappers have at their disposal the whole space/time continuum the possibilities are... indeed wild!

11 hours ago, wesp5 said:

About marking the loop spots, here is a screenshot of a magical trap from the Bloodlines Prelude mod I helped with.

I still haven't found a use case that justifies a location mark. This is a two-way loop after all and I think I rather prefer that players get a little disoriented in short distances, to be honest. I don't know.

11 hours ago, wesp5 said:

[...] but it could be a cool side effect that guards can see the spots and wait for the player to appear which would make it less powerful and would force the player to think where to place the spot!

What I need is for AI to get the f out of the way, not to linger around! Point taken, though. Thanks Wesp5!

[snatcher]

@ChronA, I shared this with @wesp5 privately already but I share it here again.

One of my favorite T2 Fan Missions: Towers of Twilight by RippedPhreak.

Half way through the mission you give up in a puzzle and shortly after you find *it* and you quickly realize not only you can solve the puzzle but you now can go to places you couldn't go before in the entire mission. Perfection.

9:10 mark. Spoilers!

[Wronschien]

Hello, I have a problem installing the mod "skill upgrade (adept)". It simply makes the game to crash on boot.

The error window displays this :

Quote

ERROR:Error: file script/tdm_user_addons_mod_skill_04_distraction.script, line 28: user_addon_init_mod_skill_distraction redeclared

--------------------------------------
Error during initialization. Error: file script/tdm_user_addons_mod_skill_04_distraction.script, line 28: user_addon_init_mod_skill_distraction redeclared

 

Btw I noticed something strange : if I disable all mods, the version line on the bottom left of the screen still reads "TDM modpack 4.0" (not 4.5), when it should revert to the dark mod version right ?

I indeed installed Modpack 4.0 before, is there something that it left behind ? Something that maybe conflicts with version 4.5 and provokes the error above.

[snatcher]

Hi Wronschien,

I believe you disabled mods while the game was running and old mods are still there.

JSGME basically copies and deletes files:

• When enabling a mod JSGME copies the mod files from the MODS folder to the TDM root folder.
• When disabling a mod JSGME deletes the mod files from the TDM root folder.

When the game is running files are blocked (cannot be deleted) and the Mod Manager, unfortunately, does not check whether the mod files have been truly removed or not.

The solution:

1. Close the game
2. Run JSGME and make sure all mods are disabled
3. Go to the TDM root folder and manually delete any files that begin with "x_modpack"
4. Launch JSGME and enable the mods you want
5. Play TDM normally

[Wronschien]

Indeed there were all the V4 mods still in the folder, works like a charm now.

Actually I think what I did was to remove the previous MODS folder, along with JSGM with its ini, without disabling the mods first.

Though now, when disabling all mods, the version number doesn't appear at all at the bottom, wasn't it there before ? Well that's no big deal anyway.

Thanks for your help.

[snatcher]

1 minute ago, Wronschien said:

Though now, when disabling all mods, the version number doesn't appear at all at the bottom, wasn't it there before ?

If you don't enable any mod you are playing vanilla TDM.

[Wronschien]

Yes but I think there was the version number of TDM before installing the modpack. Maybe I remember wrongly, but it's of no importance of course.

[snatcher]

The functionality to display the version number of TDM in the main screen is still there but it was hidden (by the developers) at some point. Don't ask me why.

Edited August 4, 2024 by snatcher

[Wronschien]

Oh alright then, thank you again

[snatcher]

TDM Modpack v4.6

This update makes the TDM Modpack compatible with the development version of TDM 2.13, in case you want to test or use 2.13 now or during the upcoming beta phase and miss some mods... This new version of the Modpack remains, of course, compatible with 2.12.

Let's take this opportunity to introduce a new mod:

FORWARD LANTERN MOD

I think this image explains very well what this mod is about:

The implementation of the player lantern light has always bothered me. And while I understand the idea behind it, and despite its long radius, it feels annoying and frustrating for some reason. I started thinking about it and I realized the problem had to do with how light is distributed on screen: most of the times all I want is to focus on what's right ahead of me but the light forces me to focus on the sides.

These two images should make my point very clear:

~ CURRENT ~

 

~ NEW ~

 

On the technical side it is worth noting I moved the origin of the light from the hip to the bottom of the spine. I did this because in some situations the light would clip through objects and disappear but now that the light is well buried into the body clipping is impossible.

Let us know your opinion about this mod and the player lantern in general!

This mod is available for all missions except Flakebridge Monastery, Hazard pay, Moongate Ruckus, Snowed Inn, Vota 1, 2 & 3., which come with their own tweaks to the lantern.

---------------------------------------------------

THE LOOP SKILL GET ITS FIRST UPDATE

In the initial release I explained I was very conservative with the approach and in order to avoid potential issues you shouldn't be too close to walls or objects when using the Loop. Well, you will be glad to know a workaround has been found and the Loop is as responsive as it gets now and you can use it almost anywhere.

Almost?

I still haven't figured out how to force the player to crouch and the exception remains when there isn't enough vertical space. I hope someday the developers allow mappers and modders to force the player to crouch so that this mod can be fully realized and mappers can start their missions in vents or tight spaces.

- Whoops, I'm outta here!

 

You will probably notice that the Loop feels like it takes a little longer now: I detected that when jumping to some locations the engine needs some lead time to render the new environment. The jump essentially takes the same time as before but I added an extra second right after the jump to allow the engine to render everything properly.

---------------------------------------------------

FINAL REORGANIZATION

Starting now each skill is presented in its own slot and the Shadowmark Tool has been removed from Core Essentials and it is presented separately as well:

Such a nice set of Mods we have!

I hope you have fun with this new version of the TDM Modpack! The download can be found in the opening post.

Here is the full changelog:

• v4.6 New release
- Minor changes to make it compatible with the upcoming TDM 2.13.
- FORWARD LANTERN: Initial release.
- SHADOW MARK: Now in its own mod slot.
- SKILL UPGRADE: Skills now presented in their own mod slots.
- SKILL LOOP: More responsive. Update to allow the engine render the world timely.
- SHOCK MINE: Description added to the shop.
- CORE ESSENTIALS - MISC: Decreased brightness of the Objectives and the Inventory.
- CORE ESSENTIALS - MISC: Decreased brightness of stock newspapers.
- CORE ESSENTIALS - MISC: Removed two anticlimactic player dying sounds.

Cheers!

Edited December 30, 2024 by snatcher

[snatcher]

Here are some opinions about The lantern (topic from 2012).

If you tested the Forward Lantern Mod chances are you probably didn't feel the difference. The idea behind the mod is to stay true to the original and instead of blatantly increasing the radius or brightness I opted to distribute the light differently.

If you ever felt something was off with the Lantern go and play a mission with the Forward Lantern Mod. You may not notice anything but your brain should.

[wesp5]

I never really cared about the lantern reach, as I only use it when I have to search something with nobody around .

But I have another problem: While playing the re-release of "Winter Harvest" I noticed an issue which is caused by my patch and in extension your mod, because we both included Goldwells animated loot code which can break a certain script in the mission. I don't really know what the code does and I don't even know why it is triggered by a non-loot-item, so maybe you can help.

If you play the mission you have to place an orb item into a receptacle after which some particles are triggered and the item vanishes. With the loot animation active the particles are not spawned and the item does not vanish from the inventory. If you delete the following from tdm_frobactions.script everything works fine. Can you please take a look and fix this for similar cases?

    if (inv_item != $null_entity)
    {
        inv_item.unbind();
        entity bird = sys.spawn("func_static");
        bird.setModel(inv_item.getKey("model"));
        bird.setFrobable(0);
        bird.becomeNonSolid();
        bird.setOrigin(inv_item.getOrigin());
        bird.setAngles(inv_item.getAngles());
//        vector plBody = $player1.getOrigin() + (($player1.getEyePos() - $player1.getOrigin()) * 0.65);
        vector plBody = $player1.getEyePos() - '0 0 20';
        vector moveVec = plBody - bird.getOrigin();
        moveVec_z += inv_item.getFloatKey("frob_offset");
        moveVec /= 24;
        float i;
        for(i = 0; i < 24; i++)
        {
            bird.setOrigin(bird.getOrigin() + moveVec);
            sys.waitFrame();
        }
        bird.remove();
    }

 

Edited December 22, 2024 by wesp5

[snatcher]

Hey Wesp5,

The original animation script applies to any object that makes use of frob_item(). The Modpack is not impacted because from day one I limited the animation to loot only but you kept the original version to make it work with keys, readables, etc. Something else in "Winter Harvest" is calling frob_item() thus breaking the logic. I will see if I can figure out what is going on.

[snatcher]

@wesp5

What you can do is to restrict the animation to loot and items that go into the inventory (including weapons), filtering out anything else, like this:

	if (inv_item != $null_entity && (inv_item.getFloatKey("inv_loot_value") > 0 ||
		(inv_item.getKey("inv_name") != "" && (inv_item.getKey("inv_category") != "" || inv_item.getKey("inv_weapon_name") != ""))))
	{
		// animation
	}