Dark Messiah Mods and Tool links

[Acleacius]

There are many things I liked about Dark Messiah but the lack of RPG, On Rails story and bugs caused the game to suffer greatly. I just finished a couple of games and made some 5 mods that made the game much better, not perfect by any means.

Anyone remember the Flies bug, once it was activated as a sound file (fresh kills) it would go on and on, seemingly forever. There even seemed to be a bug using the Lightning Daggers that made Fly sounds, heh. This mod fixes this issue by adding a Blank sound file in it's place.
Kill the Flies

The Nightvison spell given for free at the beginning of the game and uses no Mana was excessively bright. It caused Whiteout of almost everything, especially near Light Sources or White Spider Webs. The Spell Wizard Eye is now mostly fixed, I say mostly because I was only able to remove about 90% of the Whiteout. Now you can actually see objects and floors with Almost Colors, the only Whiteout left are the Light Sources and Spider Webs but they have been reduced by about 70%.
Wizard Eye Fix

A fairly minor issue but still extremely annoying to a Stealth player was the Extremely LOUD sound effect of Crouch/Stealth/Sneaking on Metal. It was so loud as to be close to running sound level, now it's much better.
Crouch on Metal Sound Fix

There was never a Key Setting to allow Crouch Lock, so we Stealthy types were required to constantly hold down the key. Now if you don't mind typing "exec crouchlock" each time you play, you can have Crouch Lock.
Crouch Lock

This was a EXTREMELY necessary mod "Xana STFU" in case you don't remember how annoying she is, I won't recount it here as I would never wish to cause anyone that much pain and suffering even in a post. This mod doesn't take away any Story aspect of Xana, it just removes the Utterly Annoying comments like "Wonder if that bow we found could help here" or "hurry climb that ladder" or "the ghoul is getting away" or "this is a dead end". Xana has about 380 sound files, I removed 72 of them and I can't tell you what a Damn Relief it is, she still annoying but much more tolerable. The way I figure it is she needs to still have her attitude come through due to her Species. I couldn't see removing all the annoying parts, then she would come off as nice, which clearly isn't the intent of her character.
Xana STFU

Also here are the links to the tools currently available, in case anyone wants to contribute.
GFC Scape.
VTFEdit.
VGF2TGA.
GIMP.

Also Gamefront's Dark Messiah has several mods, though the site is closed now and I couldn't add mine to the site.

Good luck

 

[Raapys]

I want a new campaign.

 

[Black]

I want new DM, the first one was so good.

 

[octavius]

I don't recall any bugs, but the most annoying thing about the game was of course the "sexy" "oooh I'm soooo sensual" bitch that led you by the dick.

Overall it was an enjoyable game (I didn't have very high expecations), but I found the Charm spell to be unbalancing.

If I'm to play it again I'll definitely use the Crouch-Lock and Xana STFU mods.

 

[Captain Shrek]

Dark Messiah remains one of my favorite games. I liked the combat, the pace of the narrative (though narrative itself was ugly) and the mechanics of combining your talents into useful effects. I thought the points system was well implemented (not unlike Vampires) and hence allowed a balanced character to be, majoring in one core role (mage, rogue or warrior) and getting minor benefits of the rest. Also, the gameplay was mostly brutal, with enemies that could own you at any level unless you were paying attention.

I hated the fact that the game was short, the story underdeveloped and the RPG mechanic too restricted. The longer story would have helped everything.

Can some one tell me if there's another game like this? I am nostalgic and downloading DMOMM right now.

 

[Dele]

Dark Messiah remains one of my favorite games. I liked the combat, the pace of the narrative (though narrative itself was ugly) and the mechanics of combining your talents into useful effects. I thought the points system was well implemented (not unlike Vampires) and hence allowed a balanced character to be, majoring in one core role (mage, rogue or warrior) and getting minor benefits of the rest. Also, the gameplay was mostly brutal, with enemies that could own you at any level unless you were paying attention.

I hated the fact that the game was short, the story underdeveloped and the RPG mechanic too restricted. The longer story would have helped everything.

Can some one tell me if there's another game like this? I am nostalgic and downloading DMOMM right now.

When it comes to combat, Severance(blade of darkness) is better than Dark Messiah, but it isn't big on the rpg elements(i think it has levels and weapon upgrades but no stats).

I never found Dark Messiah to be difficult though, on the other hand i got my ass kicked several times in BoD.

 

[octavius]

When it comes to combat, Severance(blade of darkness) is better than Dark Messiah, but it isn't big on the rpg elements(i think it has levels and weapon upgrades but no stats).

Behind-the-ass camera.

 

[Twinkle]

When it comes to combat, Severance(blade of darkness) is better than Dark Messiah, but it isn't big on the rpg elements(i think it has levels and weapon upgrades but no stats).

Yeah, no stats. Leveling up boosts hp/stamina and unlocks combos. No weapon upgrades at all.

 

[Raapys]

I'd say that's as it should be. No good reason for first-person in a melee fighting game.

Loved Severance, but the combat system itself was rather simple; combos, blocking and dodging, not much different from most other fighting games. What made it so great was the physics and the feedback system; the way weapons really felt like they had weight, the way your weapon bounced off when blocked, the way shields split when destroyed, the dismemberment when they died, the way every weapon felt unique, the excellent sound, etc. And some cool combos, of course.

I think that's what most games are lacking though; the 'feel' of the combat. That's also one of the things Messiah got at least partially right.

 

[Tycn]

Dark Messiah has awful combat and the weapons are identical in every aspect but damage. You fuckers must really enjoy kicking things.

 

[gromit]

No good reason for first-person in a melee fighting game.

As self-appointed lifelong advocate for the outward simplicity and subtle depth of Dark Engine and Arx combat, I wish to convey to you their most sincere disagreement. Dark Messiah, too, even if (insofar as their engines implement the mechanics) I think Thief with 3x the enemies, no shadows, and an extra slash and kick would play better for the melee itself (or at least make better use of the first-person.)

I've probably written about this before, but I have a friend who played through all of Metal Age as if he was paid on commission to brutalize guards (it IS dreadfully fun to rough 'em up and get off scot-free, and I encourage those who usually ghost to try it.) I probably wouldn't have even noticed this if not for watching him do it, but you can throw up your block, catch an incoming sword, and mostly roll and parry it quite as you'd like, by changing position and angle. Back and up. Down and to the right. It's completely awesome, appears to have the physics and animation working in concert (which kind of blows my mind if true) and is so criminally underused in the game itself that it MUST be a holdover from when it was intended to be a more complete Underworld style.

You could do this stuff in third-person, but you'd almost have to handle it differently. Closing in and putting the viewing angle between your body and your sword makes it a hell of a lot easier and more intuitive for this to happen with uninterrupted control. I had done it a few times before without knowing I could, just because, well, "sword in front of camera, mouse moves camera, sword stops objects, TWITCH." A nicer fit for third person, in contrast, might be a push of the movement controls timed to a successful lock or block which then does a push in the desired direction. That may be just my personal bias coming through, though, as I've always felt that pulling the camera back and abstraction go hand in hand, for reasons of style, psychology, and practicality alike.

 

[Captain Shrek]

Dark Messiah has awful combat and the weapons are identical in every aspect but damage. You fuckers must really enjoy kicking things.

I don't know what you call great combat. This was an action RPG and it served its purpose regardless of the criticism I posted earlier. But I like low magic settings and so I see no problem with the weapons.

 

[Captain Shrek]

Fuck. I want to talk about this game.

I just finished it again and enjoyed it. I seriously believe that there is a lot to learn from this game. If the FPS-RPG game genre is to exist in fantasy settings, I would strongly recommend the combat in this game to the proper way it should be done.

The Physics engine of source is still quite faulty (flying dishes on a tickle), but some improvements in its core rules should put it straight. The combat in this game is not filler and with a slight increase in difficulty (nightmare should be made normal) it become quite challenging for pros. The environmental hazards can be extended quite a bit beyond fires and spikes (who the fucking idiot keeps spikes everywhere???!). Only the falls over really steep precipices should kill (the enemies fall 2 metres they die! They fall in 4 feet water they die!). Spikes should not kill but only bleed with added ability for the AI to treat you to the same kicking into things behavior. Now they just kick....

Also spell-environment interaction can be increased: freeze spell FREEZES water so that enemies standing in it are stuck. You can use fire arrow to set fire to YOUR weapons to inflame them (so can enemies) etc.

Also it might be nice to have a similar strategic placement of the talents so that you MUST follow a single line of skills (magic, stealth, melee, archery) to get to the highest level of that skill without loosing ability TO OPTIONALLY GO FOR OTHER SKILLS. This preserves flexibility of role without compromising of entirely different combat styles over multiple playthroughs....

I need to discuss this guys. SO CONTRIBUTE PLEASE.

 

[deuxhero]

Can some one tell me if there's another game like this? I am nostalgic and downloading DMOMM right now.

Skyrim sounds like it's combat is a complete rip off of Dark Messiah (And I'll call it that till Bethesda admits Arkane is working on it), so prehaps that when it is released.

 

[Dele]

da2 strong contender against this game for goty 1993

 

[Captain Shrek]

Can some one tell me if there's another game like this? I am nostalgic and downloading DMOMM right now.

Skyrim sounds like it's combat is a complete rip off of Dark Messiah (And I'll call it that till Bethesda admits Arkane is working on it), so prehaps that when it is released.

Is Arkane involved at all with Skyrim????

If so IMMA CHARGING MA POCKETS.

Veteran Studio Joins Bethesda Game Studios and id Software as an Internal Studio for Bethesda Softworks

OK. This has some validity.

 

[Raapys]

Well, the rest of the game is going to suck, so we might as well hope for a decent combat system.

 

[Berekän]

Lack of editor killed the game, fuck Ubisoft, so much potential wasted.

 

[Tycn]

Dark Messiah has awful combat and the weapons are identical in every aspect but damage. You fuckers must really enjoy kicking things.

I don't know what you call great combat. This was an action RPG and it served its purpose regardless of the criticism I posted earlier. But I like low magic settings and so I see no problem with the weapons.

You see no problem with staves having the same range as daggers and damage value being the only functional aspect in which weapons differ? I guess in a mindless hack and slash such as DM such shortcomings might not be apparent but as a melee combat system it's terrible.

On the topic of similar games, try Zeno Clash. Even though you mostly use fists the combat is more satisfying compared to Dark Messiah. Enemies respond to your hits better and when you do get a more powerful weapon they feel suitably slow and powerful.

 

[SCO]

Arkane released the source code of Arx. So maybe, if it isn't some middleware ridden shit (i think it might, but don't know).

 

[J1M]

Dark Messiah has awful combat and the weapons are identical in every aspect but damage. You fuckers must really enjoy kicking things.

Actually, yes. I kicked as many things to their death as possible. Spikes? Kick. Cliff? Kick. Fire? Kick. Crate? Kick!