The Dark Mod: Teaser 2 - July 8th, 2006

[woah]

:DDD!!

[ZylonBane]

:DDD!!

A man with three chins?

[Arumakani]

I was wondering whether you'd be able to hide in cupboards etc if you suddenly see people and you are in a compromising position?

[New Horizon]

I was wondering whether you'd be able to hide in cupboards etc if you suddenly see people and you are in a compromising position?

 

Sure, if the map maker created a set of cupboards that the player could fit into while crouched I suppose. You're not going to be able to squeeze into any type of space however, there are constraints.

[ZylonBane]

Sorry, that's not good enough for Aroo. He demands a "Hide In Cupboard" button.

 

There must also be a "Slaughter Guard Using Totally Awesome Special Move" button. And there should be unlockable costumes. And you should have a cute sidekick who follows you around. And you should get points for taking pictures of things.

[Gildoran]

Don't forget that the cute side kick gets a totally awesome move to slaughter guards with.

 

In all seriousness, the player bounding box is large enough that making a cupboard for the player to hide in may be difficult without making the cupboard look out of scale. Then again, the bounding box is subject to change, so it may be possible.

[ZylonBane]

Speaking of bounding boxes...

 

A minor but annoying issue in Thief is that when crouched, the height of the space you can fit into varies depending on where Garrett is in his walk cycle (presumably because LGS implemented headbob by undulating the upper collision sphere). So sometimes you can have to jockey around a bit before you can get into a crawlspace.

 

Will TDM have this issue?

[Gildoran]

I'm pretty sure it won't. I seriously doubt the head-bob will be tied to the collision model.

[demagogue]

Just to fill out the implications of that, that suggests the collision model, if it isn't varying by head height, and you want head bob, will have to be set at the highest head height setting.

 

For as troublesome as jiggering into tight spaces was in the original series, at the same time it did open up more player freedom by covering slightly tighter spaces than could be done without this effect, when the current height of your head is the ultimate judge of how low you can go, and not a set boundary always below which your head bobs (possibly unintuitively). Don't get me wrong, the trade-off may be worth it in player convienence, my intuition is that it probably is, but I think it should be seen as something of a trade-off.

Edited August 11, 2006 by demagogue

[ZylonBane]

Nah, it was just inflicting the interface on the player. In real life, you'd just duck your head. In the Dark Engine, you basically have to trick it into letting you enter a tight space. Once you're in there, the headbob isn't a problem.

 

And the difference in space height is only a couple inches, so it hardly opens up more freedom in any significant way.

[Komag]

This was one of the small things that TDS did better than T1/2. Plus in TDS you can mantle up into a crawlspace, whereas in T1/2 it must be a full standing room up there

[Dram]

Speaking of bounding boxes...

 

A minor but annoying issue in Thief is that when crouched, the height of the space you can fit into varies depending on where Garrett is in his walk cycle (presumably because LGS implemented headbob by undulating the upper collision sphere). So sometimes you can have to jockey around a bit before you can get into a crawlspace.

 

Will TDM have this issue?

 

OMFGLOL....So that's why it was a pain in the ass getting through some parts

[Ishtvan]

AFAIK, in D3, the head bob is just a camera trick that's completely decoupled from the collision detection. So no, we shouldn't have that issue.

[sesobebo]

Which font was used in letter in this movie?

[Dram]

Which font was used in letter in this movie?

 

JD Handwriting AFAIK. It's a free font.

[Arumakani]

Afre you able to retrieve rope arrows? I know once a fire,moss, water arrow is used you can't but a rope and normal one seems realistic to retrieve.

[Gildoran]

Yes, as in Thief, you'll be able to retrieve rope-arrows.

[Dram]

Yep, you'll be able to retrive the vine arrow, the rope arrow, the broadhead and the noisemaker. At least from what I remember

[Michael]

Wow, the teaser really impressed an old Thief fan, looks like TDM will follow the mood and style of T1&2 rather than the new TDS style. It looks so clean and professional.

 

And I thought the old style will never make a return, the mod makes me want to buy D3.

I was able to see a big building made of bricks, does the neat warehouse mission of T2 return?

 

Everything seems to be perfect, but maybe you guys could add a bit more realism - I noticed that guards getting hit by a arrow to the neck/head area collapse immediately. I would suggest you to do a short ''dying'' animation; the guard grabs the arrow and collapses or tumbles...somthing like that. But what do I know, maybe thats too complex to animate-or code. Yes I know that a neck/head shot is lethal, but even with a perfect shot like that the guard should react a bit.

 

I really wish you guys much luck to push the mod to a beta.

 

*I noticed that the thread is a bit old, newbie mistake!*

[sparhawk]

Actually, if an arrow would penetrate in the area of the neck, it could indeed mean an instant kill without any possible reaction, because there resides the brain stem, which is one of the eldest parts of the brain. Injury to this part of the brain is a sure way to kill.

As to animations. We are lacking people and most notibaly animators, so we have to see that we can finish the most important features first. Such gimmicks will have to be done by the community.

[AluminumHaste]

Actually, if an arrow would penetrate in the area of the neck, it could indeed mean an instant kill without any possible reaction, because there resides the brain stem, which is one of the eldest parts of the brain. Injury to this part of the brain is a sure way to kill.

As to animations. We are lacking people and most notibaly animators, so we have to see that we can finish the most important features first. Such gimmicks will have to be done by the community.

 

Okay since no one is really replying to my application thread, I'll just do it in here.

I'd like a small programming task, something small that I could peck away at. It's the best way for me to learn. I can't just look at code and learn it, I have to use it and I have no idea where to start on my own sooooo, gimme something to do please.

And this was a nice trailer (albeit a dark one), I really like the style.

[ascottk]

Doom 3 actually has code for slow-mo ragdolls they use for deaths. I'm not sure we want to go that route though.

[Springheel]

Our plan is to include a few death animations that blend into ragdolls. But we'll cross that bridge if and when many other things get done first.

[Head_Case]

Your high-res file did not work on my RealPlayer.

 

Other than that, the low-res version looked fantastic!! I'm a long time Thief player and wondered how you will get around the rights to the Thief franchise? I'm not a modder but have a great interest in field (I'm a physicist and work full time and teach part time at graduate math level as well, besides being too old at 65).

[Dram]

Your high-res file did not work on my RealPlayer.

 

Other than that, the low-res version looked fantastic!! I'm a long time Thief player and wondered how you will get around the rights to the Thief franchise? I'm not a modder but have a great interest in field (I'm a physicist and work full time and teach part time at graduate math level as well, besides being too old at 65).

Glad you liked it

 

We're not creating another "Thief", just a "Thief-Like" game. Pretty much Thief but respecting intellectual property etc.