sparhawk on 10/5/2006 at 10:44
Quote Posted by 242
Is it capable to render really LARGE and quite detailed open areas?
We have to see what exactly is possible when TDM is finished, but our current indications are quite good.
Quote:
I have in mind something like Oblivion or G2. I thought when I was playing them how immersive Thief open levels could be if Thief engine could render like that.
So you mean to pl ay what? Thief? Last time I looked, thief was not really much about wide open areas. Most of the times you are inside rooms, tunnels, caves, etc. trying to find a way inside. Of course there are big maps like the city level, but the bigness of the map is not mean in the sense of open, it is in the sense of "big map to exlpore". I really don't see a point in asking for large detailed OPEN areas in the context of Thief gameplay.
OrbWeaver on 10/5/2006 at 11:44
Quote Posted by 242
Is it capable to render really LARGE and quite detailed open areas?
The engine is perfectly capable of this, it just requires either or both of:
1) Level-design tricks to reduce the performance impact
2) A fast graphics card (which will tend to become the default as time goes on).
Komag on 10/5/2006 at 23:41
Quote Posted by sparhawk
In fact, I have a depp suspicion for projects where the websites and site entries are done as the first steps. My personal approach is to to create some working code first, and when I'm satasfied with it (not neccessarily complete) I start to create all this secondary stuff. I realize that a forum is neccessariy for a bigger project and also a name would be good to have, but all this other stuff, looks simply like attention grabbing to me.
EXACTLY - that's my sentiments that I just couldn't put a finger on. When someone comes along and makes big announcements with NOTHING to show, that alreadly spells disaster, because the priorities are in the wrong place. At least most likely.
Gore_Torn on 10/5/2006 at 23:52
Quote Posted by New Horizon
Then Gore comes in and encourages the further displacement of the aforementioned, much needed help.:wot: :tsktsk: ;)
:laff: Thats cuz I love people Horizon <3. Dare I show my careface? :laff: ;)
But as we all know, sooner or later people come back to the Dark Engine. But how well can the source engine replicate shadows? :confused: I think thats would be the most important Q if they actually came out with a beta. If I remember correctly, when CounterStrike Source came out in beta, some of the maps Shadows were all strange looking and incomplete. But of course that is a thing of that past now lol
Twist on 11/5/2006 at 06:50
Quote Posted by OrbWeaver
Source is totally inappropriate for Thief-like gameplay as it lacks proper dynamic lighting (unless one wants to go back to T1/T2-style lightmaps).
I don't argue this point, but Dark Messiah looks awfully Thiefy. Dark, atmospheric medieval environments, stealthy back-stabbing melee combat...
it even has rope arrows.
And it has a Thief pedigree with Purah and Randy Smith working with Arkane Studios in developing this action RPG. Additionally, Tom Leonard, a programming lead for Thief (and I think Thief 2), was a key engineer for Valve during Source's development.
While modding Half-Life 2 to make a Thief mod might be a stretch, what about modding the more evolved version of the Source engine and the more Thief-like base resources to be released as Dark Messiah?
Again, The Dark Mod has my full support and I'd really prefer not to see the community fractured, but the direct Thief influence in Dark Messiah may make it a compelling platform for Thief-like mods. (I don't even know that they'll release an SDK... but it wouldn't be surprising. :erm: )
Komag on 11/5/2006 at 07:27
Admittedly, Dark Messiah looks promisingly Thiefy.
sparhawk on 11/5/2006 at 08:08
Quote Posted by Gore_Torn
But as we all know, sooner or later people come back to the Dark Engine. But how well can the source engine replicate shadows? :confused:
It's simple. It can't. You can test this quite easily. In HL2 there is a "puzzle" where you have a magnetic arm to play with. Around it are some waggon containers, which you can also lift with it. Now lift one of them and watch the shadow of the container on the concrete surface while you move it around. It's obvious that they faked the shadows. You can see this in other places to, but this is the most obvious and easy to spot place.
Quote:
If I remember correctly, when CounterStrike Source came out in beta, some of the maps Shadows were all strange looking and incomplete. But of course that is a thing of that past now lol
Anyway, you must differentiate between static shadows and dynamic ones. I would expect that static shadows are correct even in HL2.
Thief13x on 11/5/2006 at 18:27
to be honest I saw this thread an rolled my eyes. I don't mean to be mean....but countless projects seem to be introduced and never heard from again. I know, I started a three mission pack FM for thief2 and spend hundreds of hours on it before giving up, and I had already released 1 FM before. You just registered, you just left, and no one is in here voutching for you. Combine efforts is my advice, let's finish something for once!
Great Fish Wizard on 12/5/2006 at 17:22
Arkane's first game, Arx Fatalis, had a way of distinguishing between dead and unconscious bodies, although I think that the player wasn't really supposed to be able to tell. When you used the night vision spell, the unconscious bodies were the color of the conscious ones but corpses were the color of the ground.
This leads me to assume that they'll do the same thing, or even better, with Dark Messiah. I wouldn't be surprised if you can knock someone obviously unconcious in Dark Messiah.
Gore_Torn on 12/5/2006 at 22:33
Quote Posted by sparhawk
It's simple. It can't. You can test this quite easily. In HL2 there is a "puzzle" where you have a magnetic arm to play with. Around it are some waggon containers, which you can also lift with it. Now lift one of them and watch the shadow of the container on the concrete surface while you move it around. It's obvious that they faked the shadows. You can see this in other places to, but this is the most obvious and easy to spot place.
Anyway, you must differentiate between static shadows and dynamic ones. I would expect that static shadows are correct even in HL2.
Yknow sparhawk i went back and tryed that part out with the magnetic arms and i saw that error! :eek: I couldnt belive they did fake the shadows too! I guess the high paced action distracted me from the awful truth :p. Man, I love the dark engine so much. It's just better for Thief flat out. :laff:
Quote Posted by Thief13x
to be honest I saw this thread an rolled my eyes. I don't mean to be mean....but countless projects seem to be introduced and never heard from again. I know, I started a three mission pack FM for thief2 and spend hundreds of hours on it before giving up, and I had already released 1 FM before. You just registered, you just left, and no one is in here voutching for you. Combine efforts is my advice, let's finish something for once!
Hear hear Thief13x. They kicked ass too! I wish i knew more about Dromed. Do they have a bible for Dromed? :confused:
