my demo impressions and open source

[dr_webber]

The St Lucia demo is leaps and bounds better then Thief's Den even though its still flawed.

this was the first time I felt like I'm playing a thief game even though its actually doom 3.

 

the level begins somewhat badly, you're supposed to find a note thats hidden a little too well

not to mention that some notes are a little hard to understand because of the handwriting.

thanks to Selestrielle who posted a question on the forum I found a key that leads to the sewers.

after that you get into the church you finally get to sneak around.

the main problems I had with the mod were not the bugs but the stuff that was added to the mod that wasnt in the thief games.

first off knocking someone out is too hard if Im supposed to aim for the head then shouldn't there be a crosshair or something to help me aim, or just make it like possible to knock them out by hitting them anywhere from behind.

second whenever I would try to drag the priest after knocking him out (I knock him out after he notices me) he would get stuck in doorways, the guard with an eyepatch kept appearing when I would be trying to hide the priest, itll be easier if you could hold his body like in the games.

third, what is this thing with the guards throwing bottles at you, thats weird and just plain annoying.

 

as for the bugs there was one weird bug I encountered, a guard started chasing me so I shot a fire arrow at him, his feet kept moving although he was dead, theres a similar bug in oblivion

I had trouble saving and loading through the menu so I used the f4 and f5 buttons.

 

I did like the physics thing, early in the mission there was a bunch of planks covering a hole on the cieling in a broken down building, I used the sword to get the planks out of the way and climb up the hole, kinda reminds me of half-life2

 

someone on the forum posted that you guys should charge for the mod, I think that you should make it open source instead.

maybe not right now but after the initial release or after you guys get tired of working on the mod

the developer of Heart of Evil for Half-Life made his mod open source and some people are already working on improving it.

Edited October 27, 2008 by dr_webber

[AluminumHaste]

Interesting points, I particularly love the bottle throwing, but I think the number of bottles should be like 1, and then it's just stones from the ground instead (makes more sense). What would you prefer that the guard just sat there yelling at you to get down while you pummel him with arrows ala thief series? This is much better and makes the guards just a little more interesting and believable.

 

Also the blackjacking, yes it's a lot harder than in thief series but that's a good thing, you need to hit him in the head yes. I find that I have no problem centering the guards head on my screen but this is a WIP so maybe things will change.

 

You can also shoulder bodies after frobbing their corpse, hit the use button and the body is carried on your shoulder, works really well for me

 

That last bug with the guards feet running after you kill them, I've never noticed that personally. Must be pretty comical to watch though.

 

Thanks for the feedback, hope to see you around the forums.

[New Horizon]

first off knocking someone out is too hard if Im supposed to aim for the head then shouldn't there be a crosshair or something to help me aim, or just make it like possible to knock them out by hitting them anywhere from behind.

 

Crosshair? This isn't a shooter. Keep in mind, this is still a BETA so not everything is going to be perfect. We didn't invent the idea of aiming for the head you know, TDS did it and it worked out ok...give us time to make the system more forgiving.

 

second whenever I would try to drag the priest after knocking him out (I knock him out after he notices me) he would get stuck in doorways, the guard with an eyepatch kept appearing when I would be trying to hide the priest, itll be easier if you could hold his body like in the games.

 

You CAN hold the body like in the Thief games. Once you frob the body, hit your 'use' button to have your character 'equip' the body. Carry the body where you want to drop it and then hit 'use' again to drop it.

 

third, what is this thing with the guards throwing bottles at you, thats weird and just plain annoying.

 

If a guard can't reach you, they will spawn something to toss at you. It gives the AI a little more clout, after all...they can't climb. Eventually, we want the AI to spawn small stones, but bottles are acceptable for now. It's a beta afterall.

 

as for the bugs there was one weird bug I encountered, a guard started chasing me so I shot a fire arrow at him, his feet kept moving although he was dead, theres a similar bug in oblivion

I had trouble saving and loading through the menu so I used the f4 and f5 buttons.

 

This may be solved when we switch our AI to a new animation rig that is being worked on.

 

I did like the physics thing, early in the mission there was a bunch of planks covering a hole on the cieling in a broken down building, I used the sword to get the planks out of the way and climb up the hole, kinda reminds me of half-life2

 

You can also 'frob' the boards, hold down your mouse button and toss them out of the way.

 

someone on the forum posted that you guys should charge for the mod, I think that you should make it open source instead.

maybe not right now but after the initial release or after you guys get tired of working on the mod

the developer of Heart of Evil for Half-Life made his mod open source and some people are already working on improving it.

 

Our intention has always been to go open source. We've said this from day one, and mention it all the time.

[dr_webber]

Interesting points, I particularly love the bottle throwing, but I think the number of bottles should be like 1, and then it's just stones from the ground instead (makes more sense). What would you prefer that the guard just sat there yelling at you to get down while you pummel him with arrows ala thief series? This is much better and makes the guards just a little more interesting and believable.

 

its done in a strange way in the mod

I dont know how but its done really well in Assassins Creed

 

also shouldering should be simplified

why do I have to ask in the forum how to do a simple action like shouldering

 

 

another thing I forgot to mention is that you guys should tread carefully with the hammerites thats copyright protected grounds

Edited October 27, 2008 by dr_webber

[Springheel]

also shouldering should be simplified

why do I have to ask in the forum how to do a simple action like shouldering

 

You could have also read the Gameplay instructions that were linked from the wiki download page. I know reading instructions is so old fashioned. We were going to telepathically send complete knowledge of all features to everyone who played, but unfortunately our psychic got sick.

[BrokenArts]

[Springheel]

another thing I forgot to mention is that you guys should tread carefully with the hammerites thats copyright protected grounds

 

We don't make any reference to "Hammerites", which don't exist in the TDM universe.

[HappyCheeze]

another thing I forgot to mention is that you guys should tread carefully with the hammerites thats copyright protected grounds

 

They're not "Hammerites". And the player character isn't named Garret, and our mod isn't called Thief.

[SneaksieDave]

another thing I forgot to mention is that you guys should tread carefully with the hammerites thats copyright protected grounds

Indeed it is.

 

But they're not Hammerites (that information is also on the wiki).

 

 

Edit: Dayum guys, dog pile!

[New Horizon]

another thing I forgot to mention is that you guys should tread carefully with the hammerites thats copyright protected grounds

 

Read the wiki!

 

There are no Hammerites in TDM.

 

http://wiki.thedarkmod.com/index.php/Main_Page

http://forums.thedarkmod.com/index.php?act=P...amp;qpid=169123

 

We spent a lot of time preparing the wiki with all the necessary information players would need. Please take the time to use it. It will save you a lot of frustration.

[dr_webber]

The world of The Dark Mod is bigger than any one person's story. It is a world full of individuals, people who have their own goals, faults and attitudes. There are few "truths" in the world, only different groups of people who strongly believe in things they cannot prove.

 

couldnt be bigger then middle earth

[Springheel]

I'm going to assume you're not a native English speaker.

 

"The world of The Dark Mod is bigger than any one person's story," does not mean that the TDM universe is bigger than any book ever written. It means that it is a world full of individuals and their stories, rather than being a world that focuses entirely on a single, main character, like the Thief world does.

[dr_webber]

I'm going to assume you're not a native English speaker.

 

you assume right

im russian

Edited October 27, 2008 by dr_webber

[Selestrielle]

[...]

thanks to Selestrielle who posted a question on the forum I found a key that leads to the sewers.

[...]

 

You're welcome ^^

 

[...]

 

I did like the physics thing, early in the mission there was a bunch of planks covering a hole on the cieling in a broken down building, I used the sword to get the planks out of the way and climb up the hole, kinda reminds me of half-life2

 

[...]

 

What planks are you talking about? I thought it was impossible to break anything with the sword... (I tried)

Edited October 27, 2008 by Selestrielle

[LeatherMan]

What planks are you talking about? I thought it was impossible to break anything with the sword... (I tried)

 

They don't break, but hitting them will move them out of your way.

[Chi Haotian]

I particularly love the bottle throwing ... What would you prefer that the guard just sat there yelling at you to get down while you pummel him with arrows ala thief series? This is much better and makes the guards just a little more interesting and believable.

 

Why not implement T2's solution of having the guard run off and summon an archer to shoot the player down?

[New Horizon]

Why not implement T2's solution of having the guard run off and summon an archer to shoot the player down?

 

Because there isn't always going to be an archer in every mission?

[AluminumHaste]

Why not implement T2's solution of having the guard run off and summon an archer to shoot the player down?

 

And that was implemented to get around the limitations of the AI, while it did work okay, it was so easy to get a guard off your back by just shooting a rope arrow into the ceiling and then climbing up a few feet so he couldn't get you and he'd run and get help.

This makes more sense and is a lot more believable, except for the never ending wine bottles of course A patrolling guard can here the screams and come and investigate.

 

Correct me if I'm wrong but I have memories of taunting a guard who couldn't get to me, and another patrolling AI just walk by like nothing was the matter because he couldn't see me in the shadows, but the other guard already knew I was there.

[HappyCheeze]

Correct me if I'm wrong but I have memories of taunting a guard who couldn't get to me, and another patrolling AI just walk by like nothing was the matter because he couldn't see me in the shadows, but the other guard already knew I was there.

 

You're wrong. I went into your brain and doublechecked your memory, and that didn't happen. Sorry Haste

[Tels]

Why not implement T2's solution of having the guard run off and summon an archer to shoot the player down?

 

It's already implemented. The "throw bottle" is just the backup plan for the AI if no archer is around or the archer can't be reached, is already dead, the AI can't find or use a bow themselves, they like to stone people with bottles more than shooting arrows, they have an bowstring allergy, whatever.

[AluminumHaste]

You're wrong. I went into your brain and doublechecked your memory, and that didn't happen. Sorry Haste

 

No I meant in T1 and T2

[muncadunc]

the AI can't find or use a bow themselves'

 

Does that mean that AI can go find and use weapons?

[Tels]

the AI can't find or use a bow themselves'

 

Does that mean that AI can go find and use weapons?

 

Technically, yes, AI should be able to use weapons that are around, but this behaviour is not coded yet in. Did I mention we could use some help?

[Crispy]

Technically, yes, AI should be able to use weapons that are around, but this behaviour is not coded yet in.

Ahem. I'm pretty sure that having AI pick up and use nearby weapons is not on our 1.0 feature list (but feel free to point it out if I'm wrong). Please be careful about making unilateral public promises to include features; make sure they're in the design docs first.

 

If someone goes and adds it off their own bat, that's a different matter of course. (AIs using elevators, anyone?) Point is, we can't promise to add this feature.

[greebo]

Yes, we discussed this feature, but it's not on the list for TDM 1.0 so far.