The Dark Mod - TTLG Forums

nbohr1more on 23/6/2011 at 00:40

To help spread awareness of this project, please visit the following Digg link and comment or Digg.

(http://digg.com/news/gaming/the_dark_mod_for_doom_iii_is_now_available_for_mac_osx)

Thanks!

Shadowhide on 23/6/2011 at 07:09

Quote:

nbohr1more4

Thanks!

For those looking for a large multi-mission story I personally recommend Sotha's 5 mission "Thomas Porter Series", but nearly every individual mission is a treat to play thanks to the TDM team's many contributions.

i can't understand why you reccomending "Thomas Porter Series"
This missions are dissapointing.I can't feel connection beetwen missions.they looks boring and undetailed.Thomas Porter itself has no unique voice,so he sounds like every other TDM protagonist.
just look at it :
(http://darkfate.ru/?thumbs=files/projects/darkmod/fm/Knighton_Manor/screenshots/screen002)
(http://darkfate.ru/?thumbs=files/projects/darkmod/fm/Knighton_Manor/screenshots/screen006)
are you really think this is looking good ?
There is cool,interesting and high-quality campaing "No Honor among thieves" which is leave "Thomas Porter Series" far behind

negativeliberty on 23/6/2011 at 08:26

Congrats on the update! I look forward to playing it this weekend. I'm deeply curious how the re-lighting AI fix is going to work out in practice. Will it affect all AI (or presumably more likely just those with torches?) or just those AI the FM author sets up? And then, only if the extinguished light source is on their patrol?

At any rate I guess I'll find out soon enough, it's probably more fun that way ;) Thanks for your continued (and consistently awesome) efforts!

Fidcal on 23/6/2011 at 11:02

Quote Posted by Shadowhide

i can't understand why...

You said it. The reason most of us enjoy the Thomas Porter series and you don't is because of different values. This is what I do: I enjoy the FMs that I prefer and accept that there may be qualities in other FMs that I cannot understand or appreciate as much. If I read that many others are enjoying them then I know they must have something good in them. Bit like music really. :)

Shadowhide on 23/6/2011 at 11:19

Quote Posted by Fidcal

of course its only my opinion,but i think those missions looks worse than T1 OM
(http://darkfate.ru/?thumbs=files/projects/darkmod/fm/Knighton_Manor/screenshots/screen006)
yes it have more than 30K polys,but it looks bad and boring anyway
well,if i correct,TDM supposed to be nextgen thief game,so quality of the missions should be high.If first mission from mapper looks like that-its ok,but if third or fourth mission still looking same - its not good
i want you to compare this
(http://darkfate.ru/?show=files/fan-missions/Thief2/Transitions_in_Chaos/Part_1/screenshots/dump029)
to this
(http://darkfate.ru/?thumbs=files/projects/darkmod/fm/Knighton_Manor/screenshots/screen002)
what is looks better ? i think T2 mission

Fidcal on 23/6/2011 at 13:25

The T2 FM looks excellent but my impression of the Dark Mod FM is that it looks better - though I didn't analyze it in detail, I just reacted to it more favourably. Also it is generally agreed that gameplay is far more important than how a game looks visually. There are a lot of Thief missions I enjoyed more than some Dark Mod ones but so what?

Does it not make you think perhaps you are missing something if most other players enjoyed the Porterhouse series and you are unable to? Do you trust your own judgement so much? A little humility and a little contemplation might be useful here. I hope you understand. :)

Renault on 23/6/2011 at 13:55

Everyone should keep in mind too that TDM is still fairly new; authors are still learning how to build correctly with it. Specifically with the two examples Shadowhide linked above, I think it's more about building style and proportions than it is about pretty graphics or fancy textures. People are still learning the editor and trying to get the scale of the levels to feel correct. Some authors who are really nailing it are Jesps, Fidcal and Bikerdude. In time others will too.

I've enjoyed the Thomas Porter missions quite a bit. I did feel however that Knighton Manor felt really "flat," and the rooms and hallways should have been taller and more mansion like. But the mission itself is still a lot of fun. Fidcal said as much, but anyone who is a true Thief fan is far more concerned with gameplay than fancy graphics or architecture anyway.

And Shadowhide, you really could lighten your tone a bit, sometimes you come off as just plain mean.

Melan on 23/6/2011 at 14:01

I agree that Transitions in Chaos looks better. It is one of the best-looking T2 FMs not built by DrK or Lady Rowena, and its visual strengths lie in the composition of scenes, use of custom resources and lighting (which isn't so visible on the brightened screenshot). As I have written before, design trumps technology.

By comparison, the Porter series is less visually interesting. It shines in varied gameplay, however; The Transaction and The Beleaguered Fence have very good sneaking/ghosting challenges, and they also feature good puzzles/exploration. They are the closest in style to Thief2 OMs, which may also be a factor in their popularity. So I think it is a good series, but if I wanted to demonstrate the graphical potential of TDM, I would probably choose something by Bikerdude, like the lower areas of Alberic's Curse. (NHAT is also very good in that respect)

Shadowhide on 23/6/2011 at 14:37

Quote:

By comparison, the Porter series is less visually interesting. It shines in varied gameplay, however; The Transaction and The Beleaguered Fence have very good sneaking/ghosting challenges, and they also feature good puzzles/exploration

First : visuals os visit card of the level.if mission looks boring,i will not play it.exept good climbing RTTC was looking very good.just walking around the city was pleasantly,because of good architecture
Second:i forced myself to complete all Thomas Porter missions and Transitions in Chaos,so i can compare puzzles and exploratin.Transitions in Chaos have huge mansion,city part,sewers,cave with Trickster minions,a lot of "item on item puzzles" like return flute to a servant,ghost story,objectives like save children ect. Knighton Manor didn't have anything exept 1 puzzle , small mansion,yard,lots of guard,lots of boring lockpicking ect.

Quote:

So I think it is a good series, but if I wanted to demonstrate the graphical potential of TDM, I would probably choose something by Bikerdude, like the lower areas of Alberic's Curse. (NHAT is also very good in that respect)

or RTTC
darkmod should looking good,nothing scripted in TDM didn't impressed me yet.so i decide my own mission be scripted as hell

Chiron on 23/6/2011 at 17:36

I think that the Thief2 FMs of the past ~8 years sometimes get the best of TDM in comparison (which is unfair imo) when it comes to atmosphere. The washed out low-tech look of Thief2 textures give it a cozy, dirty & gritty atmosphere which the clear and sharp visuals of TDM cannot match (yet).
A few months back I started a complete playthrough of all Thief2 FMs in chronological order.
And in the first 3 years the FMs are often worse than anything that the TDM builders have released so far. Imo the TDM FMs already started at a relatively high level, and I think we will have our first epic TDM FM or campaign pretty soon.

Plus in Thief2 the playing style ist different. AI, no matter if guard or haunt, are obstacles at best, but almost never threats, you always know how you can take anyone out.
In TDM I am much more excited, because e.g. Revenants really can kick my butt, whereas I can
slash down a Thief2 haunt anytime. So in my oprinion a direct comparison of TDM and Thief is a moot point.