vfig on 23/2/2023 at 15:19
added demo mission to first post. also:
Quote Posted by vfig
Other thoughts: since NewDark adds new options for text and image decals in books, I think these should also work here, but haven't tested it. Imagine if you could just have a book with text and pictures in it that to introduce the mission!
yes, this works.
Quote Posted by vfig
It would be
really cool if a between-missions book (replacing cs* movies) could even use the qvar-driven decals, and so be different based on the player's actions in the mission!
and yes, this works too!
Quote Posted by Hit Deity
Nice.. Does that mean I can just test this out in Making a Profit and remove that cs20.avi file temporarily to see the book version instead, and compare?
in v1.0 of Making a Profit, as long as you havent deleted the "parch" subdirectory to fix the HD-mod-makes-the-fonts-unreadable problem, this will still work. in v1.1 of Making a Profit, i removed that subdirectory to avoid people encountering that problem.
note that the demo mission above should not have problems with the HD mod, as it includes both the stock book art and the fonts, so they have the same palette. for a real mission, you should just use tga/png/dds book art (i.e., not paletted) and antialiased fonts to avoid the problem entirely—or just say no to HD mods.
Hit Deity on 23/2/2023 at 15:57
Quote Posted by vfig
note that the demo mission above should not have problems with the HD mod, as it includes both the stock book art and the fonts, so they have the same palette. for a real mission, you should just use tga/png/dds book art (i.e., not paletted) and antialiased fonts to avoid the problem entirely—or just say no to HD mods.
Even better. Thanks for taking the time to do this. I am interested in it.
vfig on 20/10/2024 at 13:19
youtube happened to recommend (
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofMStVfLcxk) a video of thief with the software renderer. It was someone playing the TDP demo of baffords in a win98 vm, and with terrible audio. but the thing that stuck out to me was this: after clicking "Skip Training", they are shown the screen below—which they immediately dismiss, but i realised what was up:
Inline Image:
https://i.imgur.com/NqsQq98.pngyep! its a briefing book, standing in where the "simple job" cutscene usually goes. it is done with this exact technique; this is b02.str:
Code:
page_0: "Break into Lord Bafford's Manor, find his prized silver \
scepter, and steal it.
You start on the street, next to a well shack. \
The well allows you access to the manor basement.
The well is guarded, but the guard \
is drunk and unlikely to bother you. There's another guard \
patrolling nearby. Neither guard \
will attack you unless you instigate any violence.
To get into the shack, you'll need the key on the drunk guard's \
belt.
Once inside, make your way up to the second floor, and steal \
the scepter. Using your map and compass will help. If any guards \
spot you inside the house, they'll attack you first and ask \
questions later."
and dark.cfg contains the related config:
Code:
; For books-not-movies briefings
b02_text_bg brief
credits_text_bg brief
intro_text_bg brief
similarly, the TDP demo of assassins has B05.str:
Code:
Page_0: "Flush with cash from a big score, you head off \
to the shop of Farkus, a shady local merchant. Farkus is \
one of the few who will sell to an independent operator like \
you, without knuckling under to the pressure of the corrupt \
\"City Wardens.\" \
From Farkus, you can obtain a new set of lockpicks, with \
which you plan to make a play at the local Hammer temple."
makes sense! the baffords demo, with no movies in it, is a 46Mb download; b02.avi from the full game is 25Mb all on its own. back in those days, that could easily have added
hours to the download time—the demo
without any movies in it, on a 28.8kbps modem would have taken almost four hours to download.
(and before anyone asks, the intro.str and credits.str in both demos just says "Not supported in the Demo version of Thief")
