sparhawk on 15/10/2004 at 11:50
Quote Posted by Eshaktaar
As I understand it, work on the Dark Mod will continue regardless of the release of a T3 editor.
Yes. The Dark Mod has several advantages.
It uses id's Doom 3 engine which has a really good graphics and supports everything we need
ID is known to have a very good community support for modders.
ID is known to release their sourcecode after some time. It's of course not guaranteed but it is a fair chance while on T3 the chance is so close to zero that it doesn't really matter.
Doom3 already has the editor inbuilt. So we need only to build tools which are related to our mod and not to all the other stuff like level creation, lighting, texturing and such.
ID will releas an SDK. Chances of getting a T3 SDK is so close to zero that it doesn't really matter. We must be lucky if we will get an editor at least.
The community support for D3 is VERY big because it already has a good communit where many people know all kind of things. I don't mean to say that the Thief fanbase is not a good community, but of course if ever an editor is released the building community has to start almost from scratch while for Doom it already exists for quite some time.
Because of the support from ID we can change practically every aspect of the game to our needs (models, AI, scripting, etc.).
Doom 3 is released also on Linux, so I (and I guess there will be others who also appreciate this) we can play Thief then on Linux without the need of rebooting just to play a game.
So, all in all, I think even IF (VERY BIG IF) an editor is released for T3 we will ONLY have an editor. In Worst case this means that we can create levels and nothing more. We are limited to Windows only. We can't change models, props. We can't fix certain bugs (like AI behaviours) and so on. So there is a really big advantage over continuing on the original Thief series.
I'm really sorry about that, but it seems Edios want's to play it this way. I sure would by new releases of Thief if there will be some, but then again, I would think about buying them immediately when they are released because of how badly T3 has been done in many regards.
SneaksieDave on 15/10/2004 at 16:39
Quote:
Sound doesn't occlude.
Gah, I can't believe how long and how many times I forgot to go and verify this. Anyway, I finally did, and although what I have to say is pretty much what I said before, it is at least good news. And the good news is, "oh, yes it does." :)
There might be ways to set it up differently in the editor, with each set of individual entity properties or the like, meaning that maybe an id designer screwed up on some "room brushes" (if such things exist in some form) or forgot to set sound blocking properties on some doors, but there is no doubt about it - sound both occludes and pathfinds (for lack of a better term). Meaning, it will be stopped (partially or completely) by closed doors, AND that sound doesn't just pass full strength through walls in an expanding sphere - it does go around corners as it should. The example I mentioned that would show this truly does show it. I have only the demo at this time, but it should work the same for both. Fire up a new game, and start your trek to see sarge. Before you get to him, you will pass the kitchen on your right, right next to a doorway. When that doorway opens, you will hear the two technicians talking about something... I think they're talking about rumors of seeing things. Anyway, when the door opens and closes, you will hear and not hear them, respectively. That's the first proof. For the second proof, open the door, and then run into the kitchen. Face them through the wall. The sound of their voices will not come from in front of you (even though you are facing them directly) - it will come from your left, thus bending around the corner and through the open door.
This holds goooooooooooood things for The Dark Mod. :)
cheese_thief on 15/10/2004 at 18:10
I'll have to go check this out...
*Starts up D3*
cheese_thief on 15/10/2004 at 21:23
I confirm what is said above
SneaksieDave on 15/10/2004 at 21:42
Note: the following is not intended to complicate matters or shake the mod development process! It's just idle curiosity.
Have you guys considered HL2 perhaps as a superior platform for The Dark Mod? I don't personally know much about the specifics, as I haven't been following HL2 closely. However, looking at HL1 editing, it sure took off (in a huge way) for some reason...
Sure wish Ion^H^H^H id would hurry the hell up with the SDK.
Campaignjunkie on 15/10/2004 at 22:02
I think Half-Life 2 might be a better platform in some respects; the scale of levels in general can be a lot larger and expansive, it has a more established community (many things from HL1 still apply in HL2), and the ability to display many more characters / AI's on-screen than D3. However, it doesn't have a universal shadow system like D3, which is probably important for a game like Thief that relies so heavily on the mechanic. I am also unsure of details for the sound systems in HL2, while D3 is confirmed to support these features.
But, these are still only assumptions, compared to concrete results with D3; we still have to wait until HL2 is actually released, of course. Great job on the work so far though, captures the Thief atmosphere nicely. :)
SneaksieDave on 16/10/2004 at 00:30
Quote:
Sure wish Ion^H^H^H id would hurry the hell up with the SDK.
Whoa creepy... and there it is. Move out! Go! Go! Go!
(
http://www.iddevnet.com/) Doom 3 SDK
Hmm...
*idea* :idea:
"Sure wish Ion Storm would hurry the hell up with the SDK."
Renzatic on 16/10/2004 at 01:09
\:cheeky:/
Eshaktaar on 16/10/2004 at 09:40
Now go implement rope arrows and combinable items. Pretty please?
