BEAR on 9/12/2008 at 04:18

---

Just to put in my two cents here. The biggest thing I've realized about TDM in the time I've spent looking forward to their mod and the short time I've been observing their inner workings is that the most important thing to a project like this is the team. Not the technology, and not any one persons mad skills or prowess. Its worth ethic and determination and they have it. This is what separates every wannabe flashy new mod that sounds great.


They've long since proven themselves in terms of their ability to produce a product. The TDM machine has shown that people can come and go, and the project can continue. It has a base of talented and driven people who will see this through.

There was a time when any little project like this would have excited me, but I've realized what it really takes to do a project like this through: years of dedication and hard work. The TDM team is mature enough to know what it was going to take, and that impresses me just as much as their technical ability. I think it would be cool to see old thief missions ported to a newer engine, and even working with The Dark Mod I know there will always be a place in my heart for old school thief, and I don't think TDM will ever totally replace it, but another half-cocked project that will just excite people and never see the light of day is the last thing the community needs.

sparhawk on 9/12/2008 at 10:21

---

I can't agree more on this. The team is very important, and the determination. It doesn't really help you to have excellent people if they are not following it through. All that is left in such a case is a bunch of pretty screens. Of course it's even better to have good people which are also dedicated. :)



There are a lot of good games out there, but there are only a few ones which really make a difference and of course the list is totally subjective. Monkey Island, some of the C64 games and of course Thief are among them. I don't think that you can replace them either, because they have a special place, which is independent of their technology. Even today, when I walk with my dog in the evening, I often happen to see some neighbours garden with some lights and trees and suddenly they remind me of some thief map, because the atmosphere of it is so strong. Never experienced this with any other game and this is what makes Thief so strong despite it's age. :)

Schwaa2 on 9/12/2008 at 17:08

---

That really is the thing here. Ogre is ONLY a RENDERER. It's a great one at that and an awesome project. But those guys have been building that up for about the same time DarkMod has been in progress.

Then you have to add a sound library -these also exist.

Then you add a physics engine - these exist.

....

Then once you have all the pieces together to make your 'engine' you need to add an editor - some exist or you can build your own.

Then you have to start scripting to make all these work together, scripting to make your game work, art assets...

So yes, tools are available to make any kind of game you want open source. That doesn't make it easy, or fast.
-------------
I'm not knocking Ogre, as said before I am using it and doing Beta testing on an indie game that uses it. It's awesome, I hope to be involved in an indie game using it one of these days.
But to start over just to use it doesn't make any sense at all. DarkMod is almost there and the FM's are gonna be great.

Nuf said.

New Horizon on 9/12/2008 at 21:28

---

It's not arrogant, it's just being honest. Why start the 'exact same work' all over again, when it's already near completion and will be completely open soure anyway? If TDM didn't exist, and some other open source project similar to TDM were created, and then someone started up nearly the exact same project 2 or 3 years later...that would be redundant too. Would you rather have the community talent spread out over 6 half finished projects that will never get finished due to lack of manpower, or have most of them working on one or two very focused projects?

It's better to have one or two highly focused projects like TDM and OPDE, than it is to have half a dozen.

jtr7 on 9/12/2008 at 22:12

---

I am far more likely to get into editing software that doesn't require purchasing a game I have no interest in, with the money going to a company I don't have a desire to support. If I'm going to spend money, I'll do it to support the project, but I don't want to own Doom 3, or give the company my money. That's my only issue. The project, what people have done with it, and will do with it, is, and will be, incredible.

Creative endeavors are highly subjective, and people are going to give their time, energy, and resources to a project they are intellectually and emotionally invested in before they even begin to work on it. The many projects show a diversity of philosophy, opinion, and motivation.

As we know, teamwork requires compromise when the members are cut of different cloth. The team must gel at a minimum level for it to be productive. The energy from friction can propel a project into a higher level, but most often, the friction just sucks. It's ideal to have more TTLG talent working together, but it would be a rare thing to see. People don't want to put their own projects on hold. It's easier to support a general idea, than to share a specific vision.