Did I miss anything? - TTLG Forums

Rob Hicks on 27/10/2010 at 04:18

Hi there,

I think I last posted here in 2006 - in case anyone here remembers me, I'm the guy who put DEDX together and who promised (but never delivered) Dark Metal. All I can offer in my defence is that real life got the better of me and my life turned upside down for a good few years.

I was happy to see, when I checked today, that this community still exists. Some familiar names, lots of new ones. I guess a classic like Thief will never die if its fans remain loyal. When I was last 'active', my Dark Metal project was at about 90% completion. Well, time will certainly have taken its toll - new PC, moving house, another new PC, yet another new PC - but I'm sure most of it is somewhere. No promises this time (I'm four years older chronologically, but probably twenty or so physically and mentally) but I'll see what is salvageable and try to make it available.

Anyway, good to see you all are still here lovin' the bugs.

Rob Hicks

darthsLair on 27/10/2010 at 05:38

:DWelcome Back Rob !

Melan on 27/10/2010 at 07:55

Wow. Welcome back, Rob! DeDx was a godsend in building my missions, so now I finally have the opportunity to thank you! :cheeky:

Shadowspawn on 27/10/2010 at 13:39

Welcome back Rob!

Real life - tell me about it. It's stolen almost all of my Thief time.

jermi on 27/10/2010 at 16:42

2006? Well in that case you probably missed all of (http://www.ttlg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=121449) this. Basically, Thief looks better now than it ever did.

MoonAchilles on 27/10/2010 at 19:12

Welcome back and good luck with your mission :)

I just finished a seven year old FM so nothing is impossible :cool:

Renault on 27/10/2010 at 19:54

Hey Rob, welcome back.

Yeah, you missed a few things, like DDFix (as jermi mentioned). Also, The Dark Mod, the Thief 4 announcement, and the chance that we might actually get the Dark Engine source code (check ThiefGen). You also missed some fantastic FMs.

Hope you can find time to finish off Dark Metal. It would be kind of a waste not to, right? At least since 90% of the work is done anyway.

Anyway, good to see you, stick around if possible. :cool:

Rob Hicks on 28/10/2010 at 17:09

Thanks all for the warm welcome.

I've managed to get Dromed up and running again - surprisingly easy on a 64 bit quad core. Dark Metal... hmm... I think I've salvaged most of it, but my handwritten notes are nowhere to be seen. I think I have a bit of a learning curve to go through, so don't hold your breath. I played around with all the AI, arrows and other thingies I'd made - most seem to work, but some quality control is needed (I was obviously less critical back in 2006).

DDFix - wow! That's something. An immediate improvement in texture rendering, and the bloom effects are fun to play with (but easy to overdo). Can anyone link a guide to using high res textures in Dromed? I'm sure it's not as simple as just putting some big 32-bit textures into a folder (or is it?).

Anyway, good to be back! A fine day wasted fiddling with the old camel.
Rob

The Phantom on 28/10/2010 at 18:12

Welcome back, Rob! :)

Always nice to see an author return after posting something like (http://www.ttlg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=109278&p=1737005&viewfull=1#post1737005) this.
I hope you manage to finish this promising project!

Nameless Voice on 28/10/2010 at 18:20

Quote Posted by Rob Hicks

I'm sure it's not as simple as just putting some big 32-bit textures into a folder (or is it?).

Actually, with the latest version of DDFix (not currently linked to in the sticky thread) it is that simple. The textures need to be in powers of 2 and in a readable format (dds, tga, bmp), and they go into res\ddfix\auto\ followed by the same folder structure as the textures they're supposed to replace.

Reference: (http://www.ttlg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=117616&p=2025066&viewfull=1#post2025066)