Beleg Cúthalion on 7/10/2014 at 11:38

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The last time I tried this it didn't work - hence the hack you wrote for me for my FM. I can try a few things e.g. with altered GameSys files since many tutorials point out that the info actors containing e.g. the briefing video/audio files, the briefing schema etc. should be newly created actors from the GameSys, not modified existing ones. I started to question this method a while ago when changing the actors in the map still worked (so no need to change their archetypes), but it's a trial and error thing to figure this out. After all, the briefing video property couldn't be more clear, but still it doesn't work. :p

Beleg Cúthalion on 23/10/2014 at 19:57

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I wanted to strike you guys up once more since the new version of the SU is getting closer now. Judith, may I entrust you with preparing the quote parts of the movies? I hope someone else will help with the actual stuff, but I'd like to get things going now.

Beleg Cúthalion on 28/10/2014 at 10:00

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Ah, I feared as much. Well, we can always add them later. I'd have to re-build all the maps, though, because currently there is still the briefing text voice over which should be removed once we use the audio for the videos.

mensch on 9/1/2015 at 18:53

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I've been a lurker for quite some time now, but I've decided to register, as I might be able to help in creating the briefings. Deadly Shadows has always been my least favourite of the Thief trilogy, in part because of the many loading screens and the lack of those atmospheric mission briefings. It's still a great game, but both Thief 3 Gold and the Sneaky Upgrade elevate it to a higher standard.

As I'm no motion designer, I don't think I'll be able to recreate Judith's approach completely. The biggest challenge is in creating the stills to be used while Garrett is speaking. For my draft version I used some screenshots from the Thief wiki and the image, colour and lighting quality varies too much as a result. It's quite hard to make out what the still of St. Edgar's statue actually depicts, for example and the last image of the church door is rather nonsensical, considering the lines Garrett is speaking at that particular moment.

Reading through this thread, I gather it's possible to make screenshots using the level editor of Thief 3, but I have very limited experience using such a toolset. At any rate, only using in-engine stills, instead of screencaps from cutscenes (like the Chalice), seems to me the way to go. Also I'm not sure if this is still the visual direction you'd like to pursue, there are some references to other briefing tests by Judith and others which aren't available anymore.

If anybody is interested in cooperating and producing the raw material needed for the stills, we could identify the stills needed for each briefing. In the case of St. Edgar's Eve the list could be:

- St. Edgar's Church Exterior
- Builder's Chalice
- Statue of St. Edgar
- Hammerite priests in aggressive stance

I've uploaded the current version of my draft briefing on YouTube. Let me know if this might serve as a starting point for a full set of briefing videos.

[video=youtube;BQFYrHTs66M]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQFYrHTs66M[/video]

mensch on 9/1/2015 at 22:05

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Good to hear! I think I adhere to all the guidelines mentioned in the first post, so only Thief 3 assets and widescreen aspect ratio.

It's been a while since I've played Deadly Shadows, but I'll try one of the savegame collections available on several websites in order to make screenshots. I'll let you know should aereal stills be necessary.

Now that you mention it that is indeed the debriefing tacked at the end of audiostream. I took the audio from another YouTube movie and didn't notice Garrett talking about having nabbed the Chalice already... I'll try the tool you've mentioned in order to extract the audio from the game.