What Are You Planning For A First Tdm Fm?

[Order of the Hammer Bureaucrat]

"Nanotech" is neither all hype nor as hot as the news would have you think.

 

The news makes it out to be something it is not. In reality: small crystals which respond to EM narrowband radiation accurately have been developed, quantum dots. Some people are trying to deposit certrain alloys at the atomic level between components on semiconductor chips to minimize EM interference and maximize heat dispersal - which is a daunting task with very many steps. Other people have those carbon tubes, which in reality are made by heating lots of carbon and then sifting to reveal the one millionth which is the tubes. As I walk in the hallways there's all these machines and hand-made apparati behind closed doors, but it's nothing exciting. The media talks about all these machines that will roam you bloodstream, paint which is like TV, and other crap you might have seen. True, oleds sound like that tv paint, but they still can't solve the degradation problem. And the bio tech is really a hype as the goverment and major corporations are sponsoring it a lot mostly because the baby-boomers are getting older. A little progress is made, like my professor who a few months ago synthesized and energized a beating piece of a human heart in a petri dish from a few cells. All my friends are telling me to go into bio tech because it's the hype right now and because it's sponsored a lot right now, but I want to be what traditional engineers have been during and after the victorian era - industrialists.

 

 

I've given it some thought, and now I think I might want to tackle a mission centered around the theme of an oriental-inspired "Opium Den" much like the ones that created a sort of esoteric charm across Britain at the start of the Victorian Era. The story revolving round that of enchantment, addiction, fantasy, dreams, and the like.

 

Opium dens are not picturesque nor big, like a shop on any street. the level would have to have a lot more of London than just a den to be playable.

[Maximius]

A while back I floated the idea of a map of two airships battling in the skies, with our hero having to sneak from the doomed ship across some ropes to try and hide aboard the victorious ship. I tried to model the ships in D3ed but Im too clumsy and they looked like crap.

[oDDity]

Well, change the idea, and have two dog turds floating in the sky instead. Then it doesn't matter if they look like crap.

[Ishtvan]

The news makes it out to be something it is not. In reality: small crystals which respond to EM narrowband radiation accurately have been developed, quantum dots. Some people are trying to deposit certrain alloys at the atomic level between components on semiconductor chips to minimize EM interference and maximize heat dispersal - which is a daunting task with very many steps. Other people have those carbon tubes, which in reality are made by heating lots of carbon and then sifting to reveal the one millionth which is the tubes.

 

Yeah, that's what I'm saying, the stuff has been around for a while, there's been steady progress, but the news just picks up on far future predictions that have also been around for a while. There's also the fact that pretty much any type of research can claim to be "nanotech." Quantum dots and nanowires have been around for quite some time, 15-20 years. For quantum dots, there is progress being made on growing them efficiently and reliably, and also patterning the material around the dot to create an optical cavity with high Q at one of the emission frequencies of the dot, which could be used as a single photon detector or laser.

 

As I walk in the hallways there's all these machines and hand-made apparati behind closed doors, but it's nothing exciting. The media talks about all these machines that will roam you bloodstream, paint which is like TV, and other crap you might have seen. True, oleds sound like that tv paint, but they still can't solve the degradation problem.

I wouldn't say there's nothing exciting going on. There's a company D-wave that's currently commercializing a form of quantum computing (although it uses macroscopic superconducting solenoids to enable it, not anything "nano"). In 2004, quantum encrypted communication was carried out between banks in Austria using entangled photons. Throat cancer surgery can now employ microstructured photonic-bandgap fibers to guide CO2 laser light down your throat instead of breaking your jaw like they had to do before. It's the microstructure of the fiber that lets it guide the light through the hollow core; any of the bulk components of the fiber would just burn.

 

All my friends are telling me to go into bio tech because it's the hype right now and because it's sponsored a lot right now, but I want to be what traditional engineers have been during and after the victorian era - industrialists.

I think it's wise to go with whatever interests you most rather than follow the hype. Politicians who fund things are stupid and follow the hype, but just because something is hyped and funded now doesn't mean it will stay that way throughout your PhD project and when it's time to get a job.

[Maximius]

Well, change the idea, and have two dog turds floating in the sky instead. Then it doesn't matter if they look like crap.

 

 

 

Oh, Im sorry princess, I forgot to clear my idea with you first. Ill tell you what Odd, you can bust my balls about my FM ideas, and Ill humiliate the living shit out of you every time you open your mouth about, well, pretty much anything other than modelling.

[Dram]

Oh great, another flame war

 

I think I'll sit outta this one...

[Maximius]

Oh great, another flame war

 

I think I'll sit outta this one...

 

No there wont, not from me, but Im heartily sick of oddity vomiting over any idea that hasnt been stamped with his seal of approval. This Mod means a lot of different things to different people and to CONSTANTLY insult the ideas of others is ask for it back. No one is planning to sneak over to the Ould Sod, place a .38 against his temple, and demand he play the "Airship Mod." If it were constructive criticism, great, Im not a game tech and I defer to those who are but this is pure bile.

Edited March 9, 2006 by Maximius

[Al3xand3r]

Looked like a simple joke to me, not a flame. Don't start projects too big for your abilities anyway. Start small and work your way up.

[Vadrosaul]

Looked like a simple joke to me, not a flame. Don't start projects too big for your abilities anyway. Start small and work your way up.

Agreed. I figured it as Oddity's cheeky humour. You did self-deprecate your own design...

[Dram]

Yes, Odd loves to be an ass and watch you get worked up, so by going crazy you let him win

 

And yes he loves to stamp down ideas which he thinks are crap or whatever, don't take it personally, at least not from him anyways

[Maximius]

Looked like a simple joke to me, not a flame. Don't start projects too big for your abilities anyway. Start small and work your way up.

 

 

Agreed. I figured it as Oddity's cheeky humour. You did self-deprecate your own design...

 

 

Yes, Odd loves to be an ass and watch you get worked up, so by going crazy you let him win

 

And yes he loves to stamp down ideas which he thinks are crap or whatever, don't take it personally, at least not from him anyways

 

Id find it easier to believe what you are all saying if there were one single instance of the guy engaging in a reasoned conversation to present as evidence. But you're right after all, and I was a bit salty myself this morning for some reason. Sorry for the unpleasantness.

[Dram]

hehe, on the Dev forums Odd can be reasonable, but also the same as here. Plus i recall a few times when he was level headed here.

[Ombrenuit]

Opium dens are not picturesque nor big, like a shop on any street. the level would have to have a lot more of London than just a den to be playable.

 

I planned the Den to be featured, but the mission to include the City streets of course. As for the picturesque quality, I essentially wanted to go for a turkish palace motif. There will be a number of other buildings as well naturally, and in essence, I was greatly inspired to try something of the sort after the "Place of Ill Repute" mission in Thief 2x. I want to capture the quality of late night and a world of decadence and unwavering madness when focusing on the theme of addiction and drug altered moods.

Edited March 11, 2006 by Ombrenuit

[Order of the Hammer Bureaucrat]

late night and a world of decadence and unwavering madness when focusing on the theme of addiction and drug altered moods.

 

Oh, how truly this describes me!

[Ombrenuit]

Cyber, what you seem to be making doesn't feel like thief at all, aside from a stealth oriented game. The Dark Mod does have a distinct setting, and it appears that you are trying to use the mechanics to make your own (which would involve modding the dark mod). I can just imagine the first mission now:

 

"I have a simple job planned for this evening: break into a mercedes, steal a fat yuppie's priceless trinkets (and stereo if my fence is in a good mood), and leave quietly. Bafford is out of town and rumor has it that he took his wife and kids with him. The time is right for a bit of burglary...

 

 

...the car is always armed with an alarm, and the main street is far too exposed. But Cutty tells me there is a better way in, around the side--more out of the way. Bafford, like most of his kind, probably keep his treasures in the trunk...no point in waiting. It's time to begin.

[Magnesius]

Garrett is just about leaving his fingerprints on the side window!

[demagogue]

I've been long thinking about adapting some classic IF adventures into Thief FMs ... they'd work even better in TDM.

 

The best one, the one I want to do the most, would be Magnetic Scroll's *Guild of Thieves*, which fits the thief world to a T. It has everything you'd ever want in a medievalesque burglary FM, and all the readables, back-story and logical progression, all well designed I thought, is already mapped out for me!

 

Aside from this one, I wanted to do an adaptation of The Pawn (I just liked the world it was in) or what would really work well is Anchorhead, which is a very Lovecraftian, dark horrorish piece that, as an interactive game, is brilliantly plotted, scripted and logically worked out (what distinguishes IF from normal fiction) ... It reminded me a lot of Rowena's Curse in its logical flow, where the plot progresses/unfolds as you solve key puzzles/events (or Ominous Bequest, although less so) & I like that style, but more than that: the atmosphere/ environment/ setting is absolutely lush: overcast, rainy, foggy, dark forested, victorian archetecture and furniture (although there are some modern objects as well).

 

Finally, I was thinking about trying to adapt some more serious literary works just to start raising the bar on the possibilities with FMs, so e.g., Camus's The Plague, with the PC as the character trying to do anything to escape the arabesque, Meditteranean quarantined city, while at the same time dealing with more serious themes about mortality and religion (without being preachy).

Edited March 12, 2006 by demagogue

[Ombrenuit]

Demagogue, a mission surrounding intricate stories (as of these text adventures) could be very interesting. I'll be awaiting to see how they develop.

[Maximius]

I want to capture the quality of late night and a world of decadence and unwavering madness when focusing on the theme of addiction and drug altered moods.

 

 

Ahhh, my undergraduate years......

 

 

This sounds like a really neat idea ombrenuit, the smoky oriental haze of an opium den, hanging carpets and braziers of incense, lazy fragments of music plucked from a harp, muffled laughter and sighs, and Our Hero sliding into the midst of it all. But you would have to record a new soundbite for the AIs: " Dude, someone copped my stash!"

[Order of the Hammer Bureaucrat]

Ombrenuit, I loved your avatar since I first saw it. When I found out it's from Gankutsuou I downloaded the series and watched all 24 episodes in a short time. Haydee.

 

As for an FM, aside from the huge city I have in the works, I was thinking of recreating some Sherlock Holmes episodes as FMs. They are short, focused, have a good atmosphere and a driving plot. The Copper Beeches are first on my list. Of the possible themes in TDM, I particularly love the Victorian era theme, but the medieval era theme is discordant with me.