Werewolfintheshadows on 2/8/2006 at 10:38
I'm a big fan of TDS and contrary to most, I actually like the engine. Sure the headbob and the collaboration between camera-body movement isnt perfect, nor the ragdoll reaction by npc's, but I think it adds a tiny element of humour that some games miss out, and Thief has had some great comedy moments, and I wouldn't change it now we've got it. I dislike the modifications made tothe game to incorporate XBOX play more than anything, 3rd person, climbing gloves and loading sections to limit level size.... :-(
Since I'm a fresher to the TDS editor I can't comment, and I've heard its been restricted so not everything you want to do can be done which is a great shame and I blame Eidos for it grrrr! But the look and feel of TDS to me was as good as TDP/TMA and long may it go on to bigger and better things. Since I have doom3, and the doom3 engine hasn't inspired me (it clashes with my graphics card anyway!-required the hotfix driver). However your screenshots look promising, still a way to go I think to give it a truly thiefy feel, and I'm a fan of the original official content more than anything, but hey keep up the great work and if it goes on to be as good as you say it will be, I'll be more than happy to convert to the unofficial as well ;)
Long live thief
Crispy on 2/8/2006 at 12:28
It wasn't restricted deliberately - it's just that the developers didn't implement features that they didn't need (or didn't have time for).
The editor was never intended for public release; that's why it's so buggy and hard to use. In-house tools often are; they don't get the same debugging attention as the game itself. This is also the reason why the 3ds max export tools only work under 3ds max 5.1; the dev team didn't need anything else. No sense wasting effort fixing up the editor if nobody is going to use it once the game has shipped, as they expected to happen.
Anyway, I look forward to Dark Mod - if it's broken, we'll be able to fix it! But I don't expect it to be broken, since you guys are doing a great job so far. :)
New Horizon on 2/8/2006 at 14:02
Quote Posted by Werewolfintheshadows
However your screenshots look promising, still a way to go I think to give it a truly thiefy feel, and I'm a fan of the original official content more than anything, but hey keep up the great work and if it goes on to be as good as you say it will be, I'll be more than happy to convert to the unofficial as well ;)
Long live thief
Thanks. :) Yes, we do have a distance to go at this point...roughly two more years. The problem we face is that if community members aren't further involved in the creation of content for our toolset, then it doesn't really stand a chance to be as good as it could be.
We've managed to inspire some of the best FM authors out there to join up, but we could still use some help getting that Thiefy looking content (textures, models, etc...) created for the toolset.
Werewolfintheshadows on 2/8/2006 at 22:25
I'd like to say hey I can help, and maybe further down the line after my fm's are through i can once i have more experience, but i don't have any experience in that avenue im afraid, its a bitch of a time just working with the buggy TDS editor and my pc crashed today so i have alot on my plate, if it was just filling in boxes i could do it lol but i dont have any past history with the engine or much editing, alot of members here seem to be ex-company workers who have worked either on group projects, work with computers for a living, or worked for eidos/ttlg/or lgs. So I rank pretty low, it's not that i know nothing, i just doubt I know enough.
ascottk on 3/8/2006 at 03:57
Quote Posted by Werewolfintheshadows
alot of members here seem to be ex-company workers who have worked either on group projects, work with computers for a living, or worked for eidos/ttlg/or lgs. So I rank pretty low, it's not that i know nothing, i just doubt I know enough.
:laff: Not me! I just got my bachelor of music in contemporary music a few months ago :wot: I had absolutely no experience with game editing/modding before t3ed came out. Once it came out though, I was hooked for over a year. But now, the magic has faded for t3ed due to the severe lack of documentation & support. That's why I joined the Dark Mod because there's a lot of documentation & support for d3 and there's still a lot of potential for that engine.
Ziemanskye on 3/8/2006 at 09:41
There seems to be this weird impression that a lot of people in the editing guilds are pros.
Where do people get that idea from? I'd love to get paid for doing this, but like most of us here, I build levels because I enjoy it (and I can't model people, though I keep trying).
We've occasionally got Krypt and Null from Ion Storm in here, and Rantako I think got signed up with Irrational, but that's all I can think of on the T3ed Guild. Oh, and st8g8 I think might be involved too, but I'm not sure.
*shrugs*
Werewolfintheshadows on 3/8/2006 at 09:55
I've always got that impression, on the successful fm's it seems to be a limited number of names that re-appear and there was a thread awhile back listing some of the names involved with the companies, I'm sure str8g8 was on it, but hey could be wrong, but the difference in the editor knowledge and the fm quality sort of speaks for itself when they post.
Crispy on 3/8/2006 at 11:13
Hang around here for long enough and you pick up a lot of random trivia about T3Ed. :) Of course there's no substitute for practical experience, and we're all on the front lines in those terms. If we appear knowledgeable about a particular subject, it's because we've banged our head against it for hours or days or weeks, or read about someone else doing so. :P
Me, I've never worked for an IT company in my life, let alone a games company (though I have worked in an IT department - just low level tech support). Thief 3 is the first game I've done any real modding for. Unlike ascottk, I haven't finished my degree yet - in fact I just started six months ago. :)
The only potential advantage I have is that I'm a competent programmer. But T3Ed doesn't allow me to use that skill at all, since the scripting is purely point-and-click - and besides, level design is more about art than it is about programming.
New Horizon on 3/8/2006 at 14:09
Quote Posted by Crispy
The only potential advantage I have is that I'm a competent programmer. But T3Ed doesn't allow me to use that skill at all, since the scripting is purely point-and-click - and besides, level design is more about art than it is about programming.
Crispy, I don't remember if I've approached you before, but we could sure use an extra hand on our customized version of (
http://www.mindplaces.com/darkmod/darkradiant.htm) the Radiant editor, it's currently being worked on full time by Orbweaver. You wouldn't have to be a full time contributor or anything, but if Orbweaver could set you up with the occassional task, it would be a great help. :) PM me if you're interested.
Version 0.5 has been released internally.
Martin Karne on 3/8/2006 at 23:12
Well I haven't got a game job in the industry.
And I have published only 4 maps for 3 engines.
Unreal I, HL I, RtCW.
The first two engine releases were less than beta.
The last engine had a beta map and a final map of another area anyway.
I am an electronic tech, and I wish I had the skills to be in the game industry.
I have done a lot of textures for HL I, tech style but since my last big maps HL wont come out any time soon, you might have to wait for it some more.
Only recently I feel confortable doing Deus Ex maps, but no promises just testing out.
And now the excruciating guess work involved in making T3 maps, who knows.
