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Greetings everyone! I recently got into TDM and am already having a lot of fun playing through and ghosting missions. However, coming from Thief, I am mostly relying on the rules and my experience with that game, while there are clearly differences in how TDM works. Right now, there is talk in the ghosting discussion thread on TTLG to amend the ruleset and include clarifications pertaining to TDM. So I wanted to drop by and ask: is there an active TDM ghosting community already and have any rules for this playstyle been developed? I would also like to ask someone to take a look at the draft of this addendum to see whether everything looks correct: https://www.ttlg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=148487&page=16&p=2473352&viewfull=1#post2473352 Thanks!

By way of introduction, Penny Dreadful is a fan mission series dealing with the exploits and misfortunes of Gerald Foxley, lowlife and common opportunist. To stick with the theme of lurid and disreputable pulp literature, these missions were planned to be nasty, brutish and short, which sort of worked in PD1, was not entirely working in PD2, and went out the window with PD3, which ended up much bigger than I ever expected. The series also allows me to experiment with gameplay ideas which do not completely fit TDM standards: Foxley is slightly worse at stealth than the TDM baseline, and can't pick locks: you will need to find different ways of getting into places. In the first episode, The Grail of Regrets, what started out as a routine case of extortion ended with Gerald in the possession of the eponymous Grail. In the second, All the Way Up, these newfound fortunes proved to be shorter than anticipated, as Messer Montrose, a corrupt nobleman, and his ally, the local Bailiff conspired to rob Foxley of the prize to further their own ends. The Grail is now in the hands of Archibald Flint, a powerful crime boss ruling from a mansion on Fiddler's Hill, an infamous den of thieves. However, to get close to him, Foxley has to remove a few obstacles in the way... Erasing the Trail "Kill a man and take his life; wound him, and restore his pride." -- alleyway proverb. "In a city where every window is an eye and every doorway a whispering mouth, it is hard to keep a secret. When I learned of crime lord Archibald Flint's involvement in robbing me of the Grail of Regrets, I knew I'd have to strike quick, and strike first. But I failed. By the time I got near his place on Fiddler's Hill, every gate to his hilltop mansion was locked, every alley patrolled by thieves eager to kill. Two days later, I watched my tenement go up in smoke and flames. The hunt was on, and it wouldn't be over until they'd have their quarry dead or captured. Flint's main enforcer is a man named Grunt, known to communicate in written orders after his throat was cut in some altercation... a real bloodhound. I will have to deal with him one way or another to get the heat off of my back, and allow me to reach Flint himself... Flint is also looking for my dead body, and I'm planning to have it delivered right to his doorstep. Another underworld figure, Almsmaster Quandt, lives a few streets from Grunt's mansion, and he is said to be my spitting image, an uncanny resemblance. Wonder if Flint will recognise the difference... well, time to find out. Sometimes the only way to deal with a hornet's nest is to kick it over. This night, I am back in the middle of it. I have already run into a pair of sentinels, but I slipped into a small garden and jammed the lock behind me with a bit of wire. Hope they don't raise the whole neighbourhood, or this will be over real quick. Time to get moving." Download links: Mega (200 MB)mission downloader!***Performance warning***: as usual, this mission pushes the limits a bit (although less than PD2). The hardware requirements exceed the TDM baseline, and the loading time is fairly long. Optimalisation should be credited to Bikerdude, while the remaining problems are all mine. High-resolution player map (for printing, etc.): Notes: Erasing the Trail is intended to be an open-ended city exploration mission, where you can approach your objectives from multiple angles, and discover multiple solutions to complete them; some more straightforward, some more obscure.Gerald Foxley is a rank amateur who can't pick locks. You will have to find alternate means to break into places.There is no poll to rate the mission because I do not believe in them. Your comments are welcome in writing, however!You can find my concept art in the PK4 file. These images obviously contain heavy spoilers.This mission series predates, and is thus unrelated to the Penny Dreadful TV series. Special thanks: to our testers, Aluminumhaste, Kingsal, Nbohr1more, Oldjim, Skacky and Premier; gigagooga for several new ambient sounds, and sound conversions (Fabrice Hautecloque from Ishar III, tension loops from Golgo 13: the TV series);Yandros, Bikerdude and Goldchocobo for voice acting;epifire! for custom models;The Canon Texture project for texture work.

Penny Dreadful is a fan mission series dealing with the exploits and misfortunes of Gerald Foxley, lowlife and common opportunist. To stick with the theme of lurid and disreputable pulp literature, these missions are planned to be nasty, brutish and short (more or less). They also allow me to experiment with gameplay ideas which do not fit TDM standards. In the first episode, The Grail of Regrets, what started out as a routine case of extortion ended with Gerald in the possession of the eponymous Grail. In the second, we will quickly learn that his newfound fortunes would be even shorter than anticipated... All the Way Up "Some say sudden wealth is a blessing, but those people are suckers. Me, I am the more careful kind. So when it turned out The Grail of Regrets, this sinister relic I dug up from a long-forgotten undercellar, brought in an unexpected number of the rich and influential, I knew my only course of action was to sell, and do it quickly. My best offer came from Archibald Flint, the boss of Fiddler's Hill and its merry men: one of the bigger names in the business, and as they say, the occult. Not that I would say no: if a man like him wants something, an independent can only hold out so long as he has contacts left - or fingers. Trouble is, someone else also wanted to do him a favour... On my way to Fiddler's Hill, I took a shortcut through Willett's Bridge, an antique thoroughfare bypassing some of the slums I wanted to avoid. The place enjoys a bad reputation - high tolls, confiscated cargo, and a series of gruesome accidents. Not the best place to be seen carrying a precious relic, but when you are in a hurry it is easy to make mistakes. The ramshackle mansion above belongs to a man named Messer Montrose, a factor who lords over the place with a group of thugs, and whose contacts with the Bailiff of the nearby jail has made him above the law. His men were waiting for me high above the city, and after a savage beating, threw me over the bridge down into the muddy streets. And so..." Download links: MEGA (43 MB) ...and the mission downloader! ***Performance warning***:due to its construction, this mission's hardware requirements exceed the TDM baseline. The mission has been tested on a variety of configurations, and generally produces acceptable frame rates on contemporary or slightly out of date hardware. Some older PCs may experience significant slowdowns in the open areas, which may render the mission unplayable for some people. I offer my apologies for this inconvenience -- optimalisation should be credited to Bikerdude, while the remaining problems are all mine. You will need TDM 2.02 to play this mission. Notes: There are multiple ways to accomplish your objectives, and even more to explore the mission - although some are less obvious than others.There are no lockpicks in this mission, as Foxley can't use them; also, he is no master thief when it comes to stealth - be careful! Brute force, if necessary, is legitimate.There is no poll to rate the mission because I do not believe in them. Your comments are welcome in writing, however!You can find my concept art in the PK4 file. These images obviously contain heavy spoilers.This mission series predates, and is thus unrelated to the Penny Dreadful TV series.Special thanks: to my testers; Airship Ballet, AluminumHaste, Lux, Obsttorte, Premier, Skacky and Xarg for detailed and thorough feedback, which has been invaluable. Springheel for the custom GUI and loading screen, RJFerret for help with objectives, Goldchocobo & Co. for voice acting, Grayman for gib generation and, last but not least, the Canon Texture Project for various canonical textures. 1.1 update note: This mission has been released in an updated version. This update contains a number of small bugfixes, it adds slightly more equipment on lower difficulties, and cuts down on file size by removing duplicate assets which have been incorporated into the TDM core since the mission's release (43 instead of 102 MB!). Thanks are due to my testers, Bikerdude, lowenz, nbohr1more and Oldjim.

"Dame Fortune is a fickle mistress. Every time she opens a door, she throws a brick through your window..." I'm happy to announce that my second FM, "The Last Night on Crookshank Lane", is now available on the Mission Database: https://www.thedarkmod.com/missiondetails/?internalName=crookshank Backup download is also available here: https://share.anon-kenkai.com/crookshank.pk4 Big thanks to @Airship-Ballet, @wesp5, @JackFarmer, @taffernicus, @Bergante for beta testing and feedback. Special thanks to @datiswous for generously providing in-mission subtitles. This is a much bigger and more ambitious FM than my first attempt, and it ended up taking a year and a half to complete. It was also a very educational lesson in the importance of proper map optimization. It's a sort of soft-sequel to "The Threepenny Revue", but not part of a series per se, and can be played as a standalone mission. I took inspiration from FMs like "The Painter's Wife" in TDM, and "The Sound of a Burrick in a Room" from Thief Gold, and although I'd never put myself in the same league as either, I was always impressed by their size, scope, and detail. City exploration FMs have always been my favorite, and those maps and others like them inspired me to take a crack at something similar. Enoy!

I think recommendation styles often split between cinematic FMs with great atmosphere, story, and big set pieces at the arguably cost of open gameplay vs. gameplay FMs ones with really well thought out, challenging, and open level design at the arguable cost of tight impactful storytelling. In a way that's the old ludo vs. narrative debate. Of course there are some FMs that do both sides well, but even then there's usually some emphasis on one side of the coin over the other. Anyway, my FM love language is definitely on the gameplay side of the coin, and while I can appreciate the big set pieces and storytelling beats, they don't do as much for me as FMs with environments really well designed for challenging gameplay where I'm fighting for progress. To each their own though. I'm glad there's not one style of FM and we have a good amount of diversity.

Many forums with an off-topic subforum end up with some political talk in there.

ttlg seems to down again at least for me I tried different forums but got same message that there is a problem connecting to site!

Hah I knew I would find a thread about Filcher here. I just played for a couple of hours. What I really liked about it is that it addressed the elephant in the room when it comes to this flavor of stealth games: the fuckup cascade issue. This gameplay shines when we are in the flow, exploring cautiously, making progress, etc. Then we make a mistake, go back in time a few minutes, and the satisfaction and reward of the experience diminishes because we know what lies ahead. It's the kind of incongruent design that's difficult to tackle. Like Sonic games, where you have to go fast, then get punished for going fast with spikes. I say they tackled this by removing saves and making the levels shorter and a little easier. But then as the campaign progresses, the levels start to get longer and harder and we end up having both the original problem of Thief compounded with the frustration of having to restart from the beginning every time. But it was fun.

Hello! Tracking down information on software and plug-ins that work with D3 / TDM can be a tough. So I have created a thread here where people can post what software/ plug-ins/ tutorials or other references they've had success or failure with in TDM. 3DS MAX 2013 64bit .ase - Default .ASE model exporter works. However you have to open the .ase file in text edit and manual change the *BITMAP line on each material to read something like: "//base/textures/common/collision" which allows the engine to read the correct material path. md5.mesh / animation - Beserker's md5 exporter/importers for 3dsmax. http://www.katsbits.com/tools, Importing and exporting works. The model must be textured, UV'd, with a skin modifier attached to the bones to export. PM me (Kingsal) for help with this. Imported models using the script will not be weighted appropriately, so this is not recommended if you are simply trying to edit existing tdm content. (Use blender instead) MAYA 2011 32bit md5.mesh - So far I've not had any luck with Maya 2011. I am using Greebo's MayaImportx86 for Maya 2011. I've got the importer working however I get a "Unexpected Internal Failure(kFailure)" and the import fails. This could be due to something finicky in Maya that I am not doing correctly. Will keep trying.. Blender 2.7 about - Blender is commonly used and pretty well supported on the forums/ wiki. Various versions may work as well - https://www.blender.org/download/ md5.mesh / animation Blender MD5 importer/exporter (io_scene_md5.zip): https://sourceforge.net/projects/blenderbitsbobs/files/ Sotha's guide Blender Male/ Female rigs by Arcturus - Here Edit by Dragofer: more links found in this post.

============== -= IRIS =- ============== WELLINGTONCRAB TDM v 2.11 REQ Ver. 1.3 *For Maureen* -=- "Carry the light of the Builder, Brother. Unto its end." -Valediction of the Devoted "What year is this? Am I dreaming?" -Plea of the Thief Dear Iris, I am old and broken. When we were young it felt like the words came easily. Now I find the ink has long dried on the pen and I'm as wanting for words as coin in my purse. I can tell we are nearing the end of the tale; time enough for one more job before the curtain call... ============== -Installation- Requires minimum version of TDM 2.11 **Dev build dev17056-10800 (2.13) fixes several visual effects which have been broken in the mission since the release of 2.11. For that reason playing with that version or later is currently recommended** -Iris does not support mods or the Unofficial Patch- Download and place the following .pk4 into you FMs directory: Iris Download ============== *Thank you for playing. Iris is a large mission which can either take as quickly or as long as you are compelled to play. I hope someone out there enjoys it and this initial release is not completely busted - I tried the best I could!* *Iris both is and isn't what it seems. If commenting please use spoiler tags where appropriate. If you are not certain if it would be appropriate a good assumption would be to use a spoiler tag* *Support TDM by rating missions on Thief Guild: https://www.thiefguild.com/* ============== WITH LASTING GRATITUDE: OBSTORTTE - Whose gameplay scripts from his thread laid the foundation which made the mission seem like something I could even pull off at all. Also fantastic tutorial videos! DRAGOFER - Who built upon that foundation and made it shine even brighter! And whom also provided immeasurable quantities of help and encouragement the past couple years on the TDM discord. ORBWEAVER & GIGAGOOGA - For generously offering their ambient music up for use. EPIFIRE - Who lent me his fine trash and trash receptacle models. AMADEUS - Who was the first person who wasn't me to play the damn thing and provided his excellent editorial services to improving the readers experience playing TESTERS AND TROUBLESHOOTERS: AMADEUS * DATISWOUS * SPOOKS * ALUMINUMHASTE * JAXA * JACKFARMER * WESP5 * ATE0ATE * MADTAFFER * STGATILOV * DRAGOFER * KINGSAL * KLATREMUS - What can I possibly say? Playing this thing over and over again could not have been easy. Deepest thanks and all apologies. -=THANKS TO ALL ON THE TDM DISCORD AND FORUM=- ==SEE README.TXT FOR ADDITIONAL ATTRIBUTIONS & INFORMATION== HONORABLE MENTION: GOLDWELL - If I hadn't by chance stumbled into Northdale back in 2018/2019 I would probably still be trying to get this thing to work in TDS, which means it probably would not exist - though more details on that in readme. ============== Boring Technical Information: *Iris is a performance intensive mission and I recommend a GTX 1060 or equivalent. I find the performance similar to other demanding TDM missions on my machine, but mileage may vary and my apologies if this prevents anyone from enjoying the mission.* *Iris heavily modifies the behavior of AI in the game, how they relate/respond to each other and the player. So they may act even stranger than they do typically in TDM. Feedback on this is useful - as it can potentially be improved and expanded upon in future patches.* -=- This is my first release and it has been a long time coming! If I forgot anything please let me know! God Speed. 2.10 Features Used:

Yeah, obviously this list is very subjective. I can easily call Iris a masterpiece of level design for its complexity and depth, but calling it a caricature of the genre is absolutely bizarre to me. Also you don't have Written In Stone in your list, which is another one of the most remarkable FMs and I don't know if you played it or not, but if yes and decided that's it's not that great then it gives me an idea about your criteria. In general I don't see the point in making such lists for two reasons: 1. User score can be meaningless, because some players are unable to see further than their own nose, so they may lower the score if gameplay or navigation were just too hard for them. But this is not the level/game-design's issue, it's the player's inability to see the full picture and embrace the challenge that was delivered by the given complexity, while the complexity itself and the attention to details can be remarkable. 2. Such lists are pretty egocentric by nature and thus they have no value. Except if someone judges something by the overall quality and doesn't measure it by their own preferences. For example this: ...is not a valid criteria.

I'm the developer of AngelLoader, a fan mission loader/manager for Thief 1/2/3/SS2. I recently decided to try adding Dark Mod support. The latest release is here: https://github.com/FenPhoenix/AngelLoader/releases I'm going to keep a log of issues, ideas, notes, etc. here and we can discuss them or whatnot. If anyone has ideas or suggestions, feel free to post them here. TDM version requirement: I've only tested it with TDM 2.11. I'm not sure but I dimly remember FMs used to be stored differently at some point in the past? If so, it wouldn't work with those older versions. I assume people would normally keep their TDM install up to date, but just a heads up. How it works: In the Settings window -> Paths tab, choose your Dark Mod executable. Click OK. Now your TDM FMs will be detected, scanned, and added to the list. For the other supported games, there is the concept of "installed" vs "not installed", this is because they normally come in archive files and then the loader can "install" them (extract the file into the "installed FMs" folder). For TDM there is no such concept (FMs are always installed), so the green checkmark "installed" indicator means that that FM is the currently selected one (the one that is loaded up when you start TDM), and only one TDM FM can be "selected" at a time. This indicator is kept in sync with the game, so if you change your selected FM inside TDM, AngelLoader will update its "selected" indicator in-app. Notes & Issues: Deleting FMs: Deleting TDM FMs is not supported yet. I notice TDM itself doesn't allow you to delete FMs either; it has been noted that people have accidentally lost their data and so the option was removed. AngelLoader puts files into the recycle bin when it deletes them, and I could add the option, but figured it was okay to leave it out initially since the game doesn't let you do it either. Note, though, that you can still delete TDM FMs from AngelLoader's database if you've manually deleted the actual FM from disk first. To do this, first click the "Show only unavailable FMs" button (red X page icon on the top bar). Last Played and Finished-On-Difficulty: Finished-on difficulty is now autodetected. Last played date is taken from the game's database only if AngelLoader doesn't have one in its own (its own is more granular). In the FMs folder, there is a file missions.tdminfo which stores certain pieces of data about FMs. Included among this data is which difficulty the mission has been finished on, and the last played date (down to the day only). AngelLoader also stores this information, but it doesn't get these values from this file at the moment. Instead, the last played date (down to the instant, not just the day) is set whenever an FM is started, and the finished-on state must be set manually. I could have it watch the file for changes and update the finished-on-difficulty automatically for the current FM. This would override the user setting, but in theory should be accurate anyway. I could also auto-update the last played date, but because it's only down to the day, that would be less optimal than just setting it on FM start, which would give a more granular date and would have sorting working better. So if you played two FMs in one day, the latest played one would sort at the top. Mods tab is disabled: For NewDark games, there is built-in support for mods, and they can be enabled or disabled per-FM in an official capacity. I've disabled the Mods tab for TDM because - from a cursory look anyway - I don't think there's such a per-FM method of mod management. Language selection is disabled: In the Edit FM tab, there's an option to choose which language to play an FM with. I've disabled it for TDM because there's a language option in-game (not the case with NewDark) and I haven't looked into how I would scan a TDM FM for supported languages anyway. "Play Without FM" Option: For the other games, there is the option (in the bottom bar) to play them with no FM. For TDM there is no such thing as "no FM", but the option is still there currently. It will simply start TDM without passing it anything, and whatever FM it has selected will be there. I might remove the option since it doesn't really make sense. This might make people wonder "where's the button for TDM" but on the other hand having it isn't really useful. Not sure. Mission downloading and updating: An in-app mission downloader is in progress. There is no mission downloader or anything like that currently. It simply lists what you've got on disk. This means that to get new FMs or check for updates to existing ones, you still have to go in-game. I don't know how people feel about the convenience factor of this, having to go in-game to get your FMs and then back out to AngelLoader. However, duplicating the TDM download functionality would mean it might well break if TDM ever changes anything about its downloader. Custom resource stats: In the Statistics tab, custom resource display is disabled for TDM. I haven't looked into what sort of "custom" things a TDM FM can have and how I can detect them. I may do this in the future.

@Melkesideck Here you can search missions, these are mansion/estate missions: https://www.thiefguild.com/fanmissions/?advanced_search=&series=&collection=&table=&page=&works=&work_lists=&sort_by=newest&search=&games=5&released_from=all&released_to=all&genre=173&original_games=fms

I tried to post on TTLG Forums first, but despite registering i am still unable to make new posts so i asked elsewhere. Meanwhile I figured the problem by simply scaling down cutscenes resolution. My native screen resolution is 1280x800 and cutscenes in that format work well. Sorry for any double posting or using wrong forums for posting my question. Thank you for all the replies and help so far.

I tested this further but now with a mission. fms/mission.pk4 > sound > a.sndshd fms/mission.pk4 > sound > b.sndshd a wins. I would appreciate an assessment by @stgatilov. Based on the below source code logic (FileSystem.cpp), shouldn't b be parsed first and win?

Main post updated with the new version and changelog. I intended to avoid modifying sound files to increase their loudness, but idTech4 doesn't seem to care about ReplayGain tags...

BoilerDunce Setting B: pm_walkspeed 75 pm_runmod 2.45 pm_creepmod 0.5 pm_crouchmod 0.45 pm_walkbob 0.22 pm_runbob 0.4 pm_crouchbob 0.11 walkspeed: same as type A runmod: True sprint, much faster than even Taffingtaffer's. Get yourself hurt kind of running, but not the fastest possible sprint, since without any kind of player momentum, it would feel mechanical and floaty to go any faster in my opinion. Might also be a good future core TDM feature- player inertia / temporary speed loss while making sharp turns. We're not a shinobi after all. creepmod: Sneakier than Type A crouchmod: Sneakier and much less athletic than Type A walkbob: Shorter steps, not as sneaky, just a brisk travelling pace. runbob: Longer steps, so as to be less Shinobi-like and accommodate less athletic mission protagonists. Also probably sounds like more like the length of stride the playermodel has. crouchbob: Slower. The only problem is, with the run modifier being so strong, you can crouchwalk comically fast compared to how few steps you take. Which sucks, because running while low is supposed to feel very cool. I have a feeling there's no squaring that circle. A system that forces compromises, very dastardly of TDM. I like this setting too much to not voice it though. Alternative: Type C Same as type B, but: pm_crouchbob 0.17 pm_crouchmod 0.7 pm_creepmod 0.4 This makes crouch-sprinting into more of a jog that looks way too low but is at least within the realm of possibility and only slightly goofy compared to totally goofy. I get the feeling the player character jogging low like this is probably a bit worn down by the years. This also makes normal crouchwalking about as fast as a very unathletic person can crouchwalk with moderate stealth- its a bit faster than Type B and is more suitable for travel like Type A, but splits the difference, I think. It's not FULL stealth normal crouchwalking like Type B. Creep-crouchwalking is now also slightly less gut-wrenchingly stealthy than Type B. But still full-stealth like the creep modifier's use should imply. It also clocks out at about the fastest a very unathletic player character would be able to move at full stealth. Maybe Type C will win the contest for feeling with Type A and B. I will await the answers from the Taffer and Snatcher, since they are in the best position to test them back to back. I'm not the one who can hotswap these. Including them all is not my intended suggestion. I leave that to your discretion. Type B's crouchsprint really is atrocious. Be on the lookout for a similar problem in your own settings.

Being a total conversion, would TDM even qualify? Is there interest in getting TDM in GOG's system like with Steam? T1/T2 FMs are technically mods but are treated more like things you swap in and out.

This deserves attention, so I'd like to contribute to its footprint by mentioning something else I've thought about the footstep system. Personally, it seems like the character takes too many steps relative to how fast they're moving. I don't know how tall the player character is, but it just feels like their stride sounds shorter than it should. I wish I knew a way the way to mess with the relative rate of footstep sounds to playerspeed. I'm sure you or snatcher could find out though.

You're right, I copied your spoiler without thinking and didn't notice your movement speed values were TDM's. Upload updated with better organized presets and my personal headbob values added to reduce motion sickness. I'm keeping BoilerDunce's footstep rate & movement speed and your footstep rate values, just to offer different options. As for complementary mods... I should actually check out how many FMs use custom footsteps to include FM-specific versions in the mod. I feel like author custom additions are underestimated and discussions get bogged down in TDM-core talks. Missions make this game, after all. That's why I mentioned Kingsal's (and by extension, Amadeus') running speed increase; they also increase the bow pulling speed. Not sure if they came before or after you. I've already grabbed "Sir Talbot's Collateral" files, which come from the Volta series, for a future optional addon so we can use them in all FMs. I knew about SeriousToni footsteps. Besides the water ones, which sound great, I'm not too convinced on the rest showed in the video. Didn't many make it to TDM, anyway? Their name appears a lot in TDM-core sound shader files. I'll take a look at the whole pack, however.

And I thought you fixed your problem: https://www.thiefguild.com/topics/95063/thief-the-black-parade-cutscenes-problem By the way, I can only recommend to patch your clean Thief Gold installation with TFix Lite instead of TFix. That way, you will avoid any potential issue with the mods you may or may not have enabled in the full TFix. Best for a fan mission install to use TFix Lite. And, another by the way: You will have much better luck to find help with your problem on forums which are dedicated to Thief Gold. This forum is for the Dark Mod. Try https://www.ttlg.com/ , for example.

The game cannot find the map file under /darkmod/fms/name_of_mission/maps/ Perhaps you have the wrong folder design or you packed your mission with the parent folder included in the pack?

Yeah, mission files always take preference. Two options I can think of: By creating scripts that launch at missions start and try to change sounds on the fly (laborious and it is not guaranteed to work in some cases). By directly placing modded pk4 in fms/thismission/ Considering the recent finding about filename priority the second option needs to be carefully assessed. Should a modded pk4 load first or last? Should my modded filename have a specific name?

Back in the day, Tels managed a squad of volunteer translators for TDM. I am not Tels, and could never do that. Nowadays, language translation using AI, either traditional machine learning (ML) models or large language models (LLMs), is common and increasingly fluent. It is often used as an adjunct to speed the work of professional human translators. By itself, AI translation can be imperfect but usually sufficient. Can this "sufficient" approach be used for TDM, to expedite translations? Let's see. I gave some initial thought to a bulk-translation daemon that might range across FMs and fill in all missing translations, without necessarily involving mappers. In the future, possibly AI could tackle that whole enchilada. I was at first visualizing something more modest: a backbone in a standard programming language (I sketched out C++ and C# projects, but lots of other possibilities) that would make calls to an API (I looked at those of Google Translate and ChatGPT). However, I changed focus due to certain concerns... Different FMs, and subsets with each FM, would likely have far better translations if they were properly grouped, ordered, and translated separately, with an appropriate context (e.g., phrase engineering) added. The FM's mapper is best placed to provide this grouping and context. I'll detail what I mean in the next few posts. The mapper would not be expected to know any TDM-supported languages besides English. Instead, each translated phrase could be back-translated to English and examined. Is the "round-trip" meaning OK, even if the English words have changed? Problematic translations could have their context tweaked and rerun. Many AI systems, particularly for API access, require a billing commitment (e.g., credit card). For a professional translator, this is no problem, and subscriptions allow access to more (and putatively better) models and higher quotas. This seems less appealing for TDM. A few paid AI systems have a no-subscription, pay-as-you-go account tier. The cost per translate is typically pennies. But it does introduce quota- and expense-management, and may exclude API usage. Access via API requires an API key (or at the higher end more elaborate security regime), with attendant key-security headaches. Which AI model is thought "best" for translation? Doesn't matter too much, because we can't afford the best. Furthermore, there's endless churn among AI models, with antidotal reports that a given model fluctuates in quality over time, and successor models can be worse than their predecessors. So, with these concerns in mind, I looked for public web-based AI sites that require no billing and provide low-quota but adequate AI. The mapper would enter and retrieve data manually. I will focus on ChatGPT in this exploration, after a quick preliminary test confirmed some promise. Also, as this exploration proceeds, I hope to propose changes to TDM to make it more viable for "sufficient" quality machine translation. Problem areas are incomplete fonts, space-constraints, and layout issues for translated strings. My proposals will likely surface as separate forum threads. That's enough for now. I'll be trying for 1 or 2 substantive posts per week, as I tackle a particular FM.

Last update before the stable release. I took a express DarkRadiant lesson to add AIs walking back and forth to the footstep test map. Guards and females now play logical sounds for all used materials, at a good volume level and with a good maxDistance for the player's ears. 1.0 will bring patches for all FMs that use the Volta sound mod. This will be annoying... Each FM uses different amounts of files, has different sound shader organization and some even include their own tdm_player_thief.def. It will also include any adjustments for core shaders if any of you find anything strange. This is a call for player testing. Optional sound packs will come after 1.0