Trouble playing The Black Parade missions in DromEd Game Mode.

Garrett731 on 7/11/2025 at 19:03

I wondered if it was possible to increase enemy movement speed in The Black Parade. Someone recommended opening The Black Parade mission files in DromEd and using the scale_sim_time and scale_player_speed commands in the Game Mode.

Attempting to follow the DromEd Editor installation instructions from (https://www.ttlg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=134733), here's what I do:

1. Install Thief Gold from Steam and extract the thief_gold folder to my desktop.
2. Install the TFix_1.27c patch (leaving the checkboxes untouched), and select thief_gold as the installation path.
3. Create my own 'Fan Mission' folder in thief_gold (the fan mission selector won't allow me to select the default FM folder in thief_gold as the archive), copy/paste The Black Parade.7z into it, play/install The Black Parade.7z in the official fan mission selector. The Black Parade opens. I exit.
4. Extract the contents of DromEd Basic 1.14 (Beta4) from (https://www.ttlg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=141708) to thief_gold and overwrite all.
5. Extract the contents of Thief1 Gold Newdark Dromed from Tools in DromEd Basic 1.14 to thief_gold and overwrite all.
6. Extract DromEd.exe and darkdlgs.dll in editor.zip in t2_v127.zip from (https://www.ttlg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=141148) to thief_gold and overwrite all.
7. Open DromEd.exe in thief_gold and attempt to open a mission file from The Black Parade in my custom Fan Mission folder.

When I do this, DromEd.exe states it can't find the corresponding Gamesys file for that mission. If I select the corresponding Gamesys file in the same folder, DromEd attempts to load it, but everything looks visually broken.

I've never used DromEd and have little modding experience. I tried to include as much detail as possible -- please let me know what I'm doing wrong, or if there's another way of increasing enemy movement speed in The Black Parade. :angel:

Thanks for your time and patience.

voodoo47 on 8/11/2025 at 09:57

or you can ask someone to just give you the code;

Code:

DML1

// Creature->Time Warp
+ObjProp "Undead" "TimeWarp"
{
"" 1.00
}
+ObjProp "Beast" "TimeWarp"
{
"" 1.00
}
+ObjProp "Elemental" "TimeWarp"
{
"" 1.00
}
+ObjProp "Robot" "TimeWarp"
{
"" 1.00
}
+ObjProp "Animal" "TimeWarp"
{
"" 1.00
}

save into a txt, change the filename to gameys.dml (windows must be set to show file extensions), place it into the fan mission folder. 1.0 is the normal speed, the lower the number, the faster the speed - edit the values as you prefer.

3. yes, the place where you store the fm archives has to be anything else but the folder from which the game will be running the unzipped fan missions. this is intentional.
7. you forgot to create a shortcut to Dromed.exe and add -fm at the end of the command line, once you run that shortcut you will be able to select the fm and the editor will load it properly. also no custom fm folder, once the fm is properly extracted and installed in the FMs folder the selector will see it and load it.

Garrett731 on 8/11/2025 at 12:48

So I don't even have to carry out step 4-7? I can just create this coded txt file? Starting from when I first install Thief Gold on Steam and drag thief_gold to my desktop -- before I've even installed TFix1.27 -- would you be kind enough to give me step by step instructions on how to do this? I have no real modding experience (I don't even know how to create or save into a txt file) and OCD, so I always worry I've done something wrong and have to start again, ha. Your code suggestion seems amazing and so much more practical. :angel: I also take it 'robot' means guards/human enemies?

voodoo47 on 8/11/2025 at 13:05

ok, sure;

-grab your TG install, drop it somewhere that is NOT program files
-run TFix, patch up
-run the !FMselect shortcut, and point it at the folder where you keep the downloaded fan missions (fm archive path), it will restart and show you the zipped missions, double click to install a mission, then exit

all set, now you can do the code part from my previous post. once done, fire the FMsel shortcut again and launch the mission (double click), the dml tweaks will be applied automatically.

Garrett731 on 8/11/2025 at 13:10

Thanks I'll let you know how it goes.

Garrett731 on 8/11/2025 at 16:30

Quote Posted by voodoo47

Unfortunately, it didn't work -- all guards and non-human enemies are still walking at the same speed.

Here's what I do:

1. Install Thief Gold from Steam and extract the thief_gold folder to my desktop.
2. Install the TFix_1.27c patch (leaving the checkboxes untouched), and select thief_gold as the installation path.
3. Create my own 'Fan Mission' folder in thief_gold, copy/paste The Black Parade.7z into it, 'Play' The Black Parade.7z in the fan mission selector. The Black Parade is installed and opened. I exit.
4. Open Notepad, copy/paste everything you sent (starting from 'DML1' and ending with '}') into it, lower all values from 1.00 to 0.10, save as a txt file, and rename to gameys.dml. Windows warns me the file might become unusable. I click Yes.
5. Put my gameys.dml file in FMs (where The Black Parade is now installed.)
6. Open FM selector, double click The Black Parade.

As a side note, what's classed as a 'lower value' from 1.00 in the .dml file? Will -1.00 work? Also, does this affect the human guards as well? I'm guessing robot means the human enemies.

voodoo47 on 8/11/2025 at 18:31

ah yes, two things - "place it into the fan mission folder" as in, singular, that means the gamesys dml needs to go into the fan mission's main/root folder (TheBlackParade folder in this case). and, this fm will actually refuse dml mods by default, so you also need to edit its fm.cfg, and get rid of the apply_dbmods 0 line.

no negative values, iirc, keep it between 0.1 and 1.0 (0.5 should give you creatures twice as fast vs set to 1.0).

also, I've actually checked, and some child archetypes have that value set, so the dml code/mod will not be that simple. I'll be back in a few moments.

//there we go;

Code:

DML1

//load nvscript
#script "NVScript"

//to speed things up, we need to create a custom metaprop
CreateArch "MetaProperty" "TurnOnTheSpeed"
{
}
+ObjProp "TurnOnTheSpeed" "TimeWarp"
{
"" 1.00
}
//remove the TimeWarp prop from all concretes upon beginscript so that the TurnOnTheSpeed meta would take effect once assigned to a concrete
CreateArch "MetaProperty" "KillTimeWarp"
{
}
+ObjProp "KillTimeWarp" "Scripts"
{
"Script 0" NVRemovePropertyTrap
"Script 1" NVMetaTrap
}
+ObjProp "KillTimeWarp" "DesignNote"
{
"" NVRemovePropertyTrapOn="BeginScript"; NVRemovePropertyTrapProp="TimeWarp"; NVRemovePropertyTrapCount=1; NVMetaTrapOn="Sim"; NVMetaTrapMeta="TurnOnTheSpeed"; NVMetaTrapOff="NULL"; NVMetaTrapCount=1;
}
+MetaProp "Creature" "KillTimeWarp"

note that by changing the TimeWarp value, you will be changing the speed of ALL creatures right now, so cannot set different speeds for undead and robots for example - let me know whether this is enough.

Garrett731 on 8/11/2025 at 20:08

Quote Posted by voodoo47

Code:

You're wonderful. Thanks. :angel: I'm curious: is it possible to add in a code that ensures the player will either die or lose the mission if they're too close to a hostile/pursuing enemy? Even though the enemies are faster, they stop to commit attacks, so even if they get right behind you, they're still pretty harmless as long as you keep moving.

voodoo47 on 8/11/2025 at 20:15

I think I could make them emit a death field that would kill the player if too close.

also, updated the code a bit, I think it's a good idea for the metatrap to trigger only once.

Garrett731 on 8/11/2025 at 20:22

Quote Posted by voodoo47

I think I could make them emit a death field that would kill the player if too close.

also, updated the code a bit, I think it's a good idea for the metatrap to trigger only once.

An instant death field for all enemies sounds awesome! :angel: Please include it with the updated speed code if you can. Would the proximity value of the death field also be customisable like the enemy speed? I'm certain you have the right idea, but it would be nice to be able to adjust it anyway.