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Incline True Thief 4 Dark Mod is released

DJOGamer PT

Arcane
Joined
Apr 8, 2015
Messages
7,352
Location
Lusitânia
I used too have trouble running this (for some reason it stuttered like a bitch)
Managed to "fix it" today

Recommend me some missions!
 

Unkillable Cat

LEST WE FORGET
Patron
Joined
May 13, 2009
Messages
27,089
Codex 2014 Make the Codex Great Again! Grab the Codex by the pussy
We are proud to announce the release of The Dark Mod 2.10!
We are proud to announce the release of The Dark Mod 2.10!

iris.jpg.0efeaad53f8c57ee475e28642c26748f.jpg


The Dark Mod 2.10 comes with considerable improvements to loading times as well as a slew of new visual and gameplay features for mappers to experiment with, such as volumetric lighting ("god rays") and more advanced security cameras!

Many of these new features are prominently on display in the six new missions released for the 2.10 Connections Contest that are now officially available in the mission downloader!

A full changelog can be viewed here, but some highlights include:


PLAYERS

Loading Times
Considerable effort has gone into streamlining how textures are loaded, making more effective use of multiple CPU cores, and removing artificial delays. This even includes new handwritten algorithms for normalmap compression and mipmap generation so that TDM no longer relies on graphics card drivers.

Performance Improvements
As part of ongoing performance improvements, soft stencil shadows with anti-alising will be faster to render.

Object Handling
Afraid to grab a candle near a sleeping guard? Handling objects will now produce less noise, or none at all if holding down the "creep" button. You can also now control how far an item is thrown based on how long you hold down the "throw" button. Lastly, dragging unconscious bodies should feel better now (even if rats did their best to spoil the fun a little).

Main Menu Interactions
Tooltips have been added for many of the items found in the settings menu: a long-awaited feature! We've also reorganized the procedure for switching between missions to make it more intuitive for newcomers.

Window / Input Changes
The Linux build now relies on the GLFW library to create windows and handle the keyboard & mouse (thread), eliminating many of the issues with OS integration on Linux.
On the Windows side, some minor changes were made to fullscreen/borderless modes.


MAPPERS

Entity limit is no more!
What was once the bane of TDM's most ambitious mappers, the entity limit has now been raised eight-fold to 65,536. No longer will mappers need to spend long hours merging entities.

Compilation Times
To complement the faster loading times, compilation times have been brought down too. Optimizations were made all over the dmap code, adding new algorithms and data structures to improve both speed and precision.

Advanced Security Cameras
Security cameras have been reworked from the ground up with the aim of bringing them to the same level of polish as TDM's AIs, both in stealth gameplay and customizability. Most importantly, security cameras in new FMs will track the player or AIs and react to bodies. Wiki

Volumetric Lights ("God Rays")
Unlike adding fake translucent geometry around lights, volumetric lights automatically match their source light, including light volume geometry, projection & falloff textures, and even shadows. Note that shadowcasting currently only works in "shadow maps" mode.
Wiki

Xray Screens
Xrays are a Doom 3 feature that has been reintroduced to TDM and developed further. The screens are able to change the appearance of entities seen through them, even making them appear or disappear if desired. Look out for them in future Inventor's Guild or magical-themed FMs. Wiki

Subtitles
Subtitles can now be assigned to sound files and have been added to the pre-bundled mission "Tears of St. Lucia". Note that we did not consider localization of subtitles yet. Wiki

Tracking Secrets
Secrets are now easy to designate, with no custom scripts required. They'll also be shown on the mission statistics screen at the end of the mission if the FM uses the new system. Wiki

Main Menu GUI Customisation
Mappers can change much of the main menu from a single purpose-built "customisation" .gui file instead of having to replace core files. You can find more details in guis/mainmenu_custom_defs.gui inside tdm_gui01.pk4.
Since several missions had to be updated to this new system, their customisations will no longer work in 2.09 or earlier versions.

Location Diagnostics During dmap
Location overlaps should now be much easier to find and fix thanks to new console output and pointfiles created during compilation.

Image Formats
As a compact alternative to TGA for uncompressed images, PNG images can now be used in materials. Note that loading PNG images may be slower than TGA.
DDS images can now be used in image programs, although doing so is discouraged because of the additional quality loss due to compression.

New Script Events
The mapper's scripting repertoire has been expanded by new script events for dealing with vectors and bounds, setting solidity, detecting surface type via trace, and reading more properties about entities and the player, such as "notarget" or the calibrated light gem value.


ASSETS

Fancy Wooden Furniture
A whole new suite of fancy wooden furniture pieces including prefabs has been contributed by Wellingtoncrab. They can be viewed in the release thread.

Automaton AI
The semi-robotic AIs from Sotha's Ulysses mission have been added to the core mod, together with new prefabs for cosmetic recharging stations to include in patrol routes as well as a camera screen showing what the automaton sees.


PROGRAMMING

Tracy Profiling
TDM's rudimentary GL profiling has been replaced with the Tracy profiler, which has its own cool viewer. It has already greatly helped the TDM development team in their optimization efforts.

Mission Database
The mission database has been moved to an SVN repository which automatically synchronizes all mirrors and makes backup copies of old versions of missions.

More Technical Stuff
A generic hash table has been added. "Clear" in the idlib method now works as most programmers expect and unit test integration has been improved.


To update, simply run the tdm_installer.exe file in your darkmod folder. Note that tdm_update.exe is no longer supported, but you can download the new installer from the Downloads page if you don't have it yet.

Please be aware that old saved games will not be compatible with 2.10, so finish any missions you might be in the middle of first!
 

V17

Educated
Joined
Feb 24, 2022
Messages
266
The 2.10 update is just half of the story. The second half is that a mapping contest just ended, one of the requirements being that the new missions use some of the new 2.10 features.

I haven't played any of the new missions yet, but they look great and Iris especially seems to be exceptional judging by the forum reactions. Also unless I missed it the mission Painter's wife hasn't been mentioned here, that's an absolutely humongous city mission (biggest yet) made by a whole team of people which is definitely worth playing. Took me almost 5 hours to finish and I didn't even complete all the side quests. It's great fun to traverse.
 

Maggot

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Mar 31, 2016
Messages
1,243
Codex 2016 - The Age of Grimoire
Painter's Wife went from getting frame drops at certain angles to a constant 144fps after this new update
 

Melcar

Arcane
Joined
Oct 20, 2008
Messages
35,222
Location
Merida, again
It's very likely my 5800X brute raping the game, but yeah, it runs much smoother now. With my old 1700 @ 3.7GHz with the same RX 480 ran the game just fine with the sliders maxed out (except AA) but would sometimes choke. Now it's locked 60fps and can even go 2xAA.
 

udm

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Aug 14, 2008
Messages
2,752
Make the Codex Great Again!
Not that I know of, but you can get some good recommendations in the last 10 pages. Of course you'd have to sift through them lol.

Most of the FMs I've played are good anyway.
 

V17

Educated
Joined
Feb 24, 2022
Messages
266
I can give some recommendations. Disclaimer: I've played quite a few TDM missions and the Thief trilogy, but I haven't played any T1 or T2 fan missions, so I don't know how refined my taste is.

  • Sir Talbot's Collateral: My favorite mansion mission. Compact at first sight but actually decently large, with several entry points, several ways of traversal and a lot of verticality.
    Also you blackmail a dude for smoking weed.
  • Accountant 1 & 2: A nice miniseries which stands out by being really polished and pretty good looking too. On the easier and more linear side, so they're decent starting missions.
  • Perilous Refuge: Already mentioned somewhere, a relatively large and diverse mission with more than one theme. The atmosphere is grim and almost hopeless.
  • The Painter's Wife: Biggest mission in TDM so far, a city with several vertical layers, ton of secrets and sub-objectives etc. Recommended for more experienced players.
  • Snowed Inn: I really like the feeling of cold loneliness this mission evoked (even though it's not grimdark by any means). There are some fun gimmicks, but otherwise the gameplay is not that special, there's just something about the setting that works for me and kind of reminds me of irl urban exploration.
  • Volta 1 & 2: beautiful missions with slightly different architecture that reminded me of Thief more than other TDM missions. Just well done and polished, with a few exceptions (EAX sound is pretty janky in places)
  • William Steele missions: A miniseries where each mission has a different theme - some simple (like a rooftop mission), some with a unique gimmick (WS4: Warrens). The earlier missions are a bit less refined (esp. visually), but good nonetheless and the whole series is worth a playthrough. It has an actual story.
  • Chronicles of Skullduggery series: Story is mostly forgettable, each of them has a very similar theme, but they're pretty polished and fun. City missions depicting a small but dense quarter with 2-3 vertical layers where you have one main objective and several smaller ones you can discover along the way. Some of the secrets are quite difficult, getting all the loot can take a while. There's also usually a secret room where you can activate special challenges and limitations which considerably raise the difficulty.
 

V17

Educated
Joined
Feb 24, 2022
Messages
266
Played most of the new missions and I have to add some recommendations because it feels like everyone outdid themselves this time.

  • Noble Affairs: Really polished and coherent city heist/sidequests mission, big and nonlinear enough to be interesting but not too big or too difficult, so it flows really nicely. There are some small differences to most other missions (like only one lockpick), it's obviously inspired by Dishonored in places and it has a voiced female protagonist (who I didn't like that much, but it's a nice change)
  • Iris: A huge city mission, close to Painter's Wife in both size and quality. Really good looking, full of details, polished, atmospheric, with new sound ambiences etc. One of the most impressive missions so far. However the topic is kinda melancholic (an old thief doing his last job), so if you miss old sarcastic Garret, this might not be for you.
  • Hazard Pay: Underground zombie adventure type of mission somewhere in the desert. Cannot say enough positive things about this one, the sense of adventure is all there, it introduces redesigned zombies and other new features, the level design is very well thought out and it's just fun. The highest difficulty setting features limited saving in several specific saverooms for tenser atmosphere.
  • Written in Stone: first half is a city mission, second half is infiltrating an occult compound full of undead. Even though it's well made and has some really cool parts, it just didn't click with me too much for some reason. The community loves it though.
  • The Black Mage: Another half and half mission. The architecture feels a bit bare at the beginning, but it's worth playing. There are a few nice puzzles and the ending is great.
    Your goal is to shut down an undead Stargate

One negative thing I noticed is that 2.10 is slightly more buggy than previous releases. Some bugs are already fixed in the svn, but no releases yet. The worst one is that I've had 3 crashes when shooting an enemy in the face, so safescumming before engagement might be advised.
Oh, and play with shadow maps to enjoy all of the volumetric lights everywhere.
 

V17

Educated
Joined
Feb 24, 2022
Messages
266
What a shitty video. There is no distinction between "official" missions and "player-made missions", they are all community made because the whole game is community made. The missions included in the game are in no way special, they're just there because some introduction is necessary, but they're not particularly great (especially the tutorial) and nobody wants to replace them for historical reasons.

The dude just decided "I will review this game based on a couple very old arbitrarily chosen community missions and ignore the other 160 community missions that create the actual game", and it's not just because of ignorance because he acknowledges it. That is nothing but laziness.


The fact that the community is unwilling to create some official curated list of beginner missions or something like that is in my opinion a weakness of the game and I think it would make sense to talk about it. But he would have to do an actual review for that, which this is not. It's not bad publicity, but jesus, make an actual effort next time.
 

ironmask

Arbiter
Joined
Jan 12, 2019
Messages
416
This review is almost as bad as the gggmanlives video. Now that one was awful. TDM sadly has no good review videos.
 

Semiurge

Cipher
Joined
Apr 11, 2020
Messages
6,083
Location
Asp Hole


I wish we could respond to ratings we receive with our own ratings.

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The voice actor imitates Stephen Russell's inflections pretty well.

The npc animations and models look almost as clunky as in Thief 3 - why should I use this as a platform for fan missions instead of T2? Does this engine make possible gimmicks and level sizes that the old ones can't?
 
Last edited:

udm

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Aug 14, 2008
Messages
2,752
Make the Codex Great Again!
It has a lot of quality-of-life features (eg mantling without jumping), better physics, better lighting effects that can be affected by physics, more intense lock picking (imo).
 

V17

Educated
Joined
Feb 24, 2022
Messages
266
Well if you're used to T2 and like it, it might not be worth it spending a lot of time learning a new system and a new style of mapping (even though it's still brushwork, it's not the same, especially if you want to use it to the maximum), plus getting used to all the slight differences in gameplay.

But it does have advantages. The most visible is graphics of course, especially some of the new missions using new tech (the engine is quite far from vanilla Doom 3 now) look great. The lighting system is really good (both the static and dynamic parts), it now supports volumetric lighting and while the engine has a problem with hi-poly assets, it does support hi-res textures and can look really crisp. The materials are more complex, you can do some global color corrections etc. I'm not exactly a graphicsfag, but I think atmosphere is pretty important in Thief/TDM and this gives you more options to create it. The sound engine can be slightly better as well when used properly (thanks to EAX), which is sadly not that often. The physics engine is better, but tbh I don't think it's very important for gameplay, apart from the ability to throw shit.

I don't know enough about scripting in T2 FMs to compare, so correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems to me that TDM is a bit more flexible. Some authors create their own monster variants with different behavior for their missions pretty easily. Or the new version supports "x-ray glasses", an item that makes you see (and interact with) things that are invisible to the naked eye - like magic walls that vanish, but are impenetrable without the glasses on, or writings on the wall that are only visible through the glasses. If you want to create something custom, TDM seems to be more open towards that.

As for level sizes, probably not. You can try (or look up videos of) Iris and The Painter's Wife, those are the biggest missions so far I believe, but they're probably not any bigger than the biggest Thief missions and they required some planning and optimization to achieve good performance. The engine has a difficulty with the combination of many polygons + many light sources, which makes it more suitable for either interiors or exteriors that are broken by walls or otherwise partly obscured. Overlooking a big area with many lights and NPCs is not viable. It does allow you to make the levels more detailed and dense though.
 

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