Avalon on 20/5/2004 at 20:52
Quote:
Originally posted by ZylonBane It shouldn't even be in the hands of the mission designers. Light is light-- it doesn't change from mission to mission. This is what common sense dictates, and is how the Thief games implemented it. To allow mission designers to make a brightly-lit room that
looks dark is a useless capability.
Actually, it's left to the mission designers in most 3d games - Thief included. Ambient lighting is often fucked up by FM designers, but it CAN be very useful. A good development tool is one that is versatile and lets you set your own rules.
dracflamloc on 20/5/2004 at 21:42
Thanks for the backup Avalon, have you had a chance to try out the editor?
ZylonBane on 20/5/2004 at 21:43
I guess I've been lucky in my selection of FMs then. I can't recall ever encountering the cognitive dissonance of a room's apparent lighting clashing with what the light gem tells me.
Avalon on 21/5/2004 at 01:30
Quote:
Originally posted by dracflamloc:Thanks for the backup Avalon, have you had a chance to try out the editor?
Yes indeed. Quite a handy tool you're building there, I'm excited already. So as to save this thread from inevitable clutter and to save your forum from its current lack of posty goodness, I've tossed my thoughts ahd suggestions up over there.
Quote:
ZylonBane stunned the world with his sudden lack of bitter goth loathing:I guess I've been lucky in my selection of FMs then. I can't recall ever encountering the cognitive dissonance of a room's apparent lighting clashing with what the light gem tells me.
Check out some of the "daylight" themed missions. Terribly bad in that regard. Ambient lighting should usually only be a couple of points higher than in a night mission for the best effect because Thief's various lighting options can naturally handle the rest; no, many go for broke with the ambient, so what appears to be the lightest of shadows is actually 100% darkness.
deadman on 21/5/2004 at 01:57
Quote:
Originally posted by dracflamloc Thanks for the backup Avalon
Hey, don't forget me :thumb: :laff:. Maybe I should check out that editor, too. But I promise, I'm no good *tsk*
I also agree with Avalon; I've played a few missions where ambient light was over the top, or the light gem values didn't match up with what logic would suggest (shadows which look black and don't hide Garrett at all, the opposite, in some cases). I'm curious what you mean by not needing textures though, dracflamloc. Is there just an internal M$ Paint app in the editor to paint up the walls and such? :cheeky:
Here's to a most-excellent project proposal :thumb:
deadman.
dracflamloc on 21/5/2004 at 03:03
It's not that we won't need textures, but it's more that... textures can be used, but the preffered method which will look amazing is if people created the level custom using something like Adobe combined with 3dsmax even. But I'm making a 2d tile editor for levels as well so it is possible to use just normal textures.
doctorfrog on 21/5/2004 at 03:09
Quote:
Originally posted by deadman Here's to a most-excellent project proposal :thumb:
deadman.
Amen to that.
Here's a conceptual contribution: Ever play (
http://www.the-underdogs.org/game.php?id=2417) Blackthorne ? One of the cool things about this game was that you could hide in the shadows by standing behind an object and pressing up. The main character would move "back" in the shadows, able to hide from enemies and dodge gunfire. It added a slight amount of depth to a 2D game.
Try downloading the game from The Underdogs anyway to see some classic Blizzard!
frogmandeadman on 21/5/2004 at 03:47
Wow, I was actually thinking of that game when I read of Thief2D, but couldn't remember the name for the life of me! I searched for "Black" at GameFaqs for SNES, but nothing :laff:. True, true, a most-excellent game, which allowed for hiding or going in doorways when the up button was pressed. Man, I should go back and play that.. such a classic ;)
Wow (second one), dracflamloc, an interesting thought. It'd be difficult from my perspective though, as you'd need to get the level all built up first, and be sure you wouldn't change anything before texturing. At least with my small tinkering in DromEd, I'm not good at all at building the architecture and
then texturing; I need/like to place a few brushes and then texture them, so I can see if it'll achieve the vibe I'm looking for. I've not used 3dsmax; the only 3d gfx app I've used to date remains Cinema 4D, so maybe using that with Photoshop would help (if you say so).
Definitely download Blackthorne if you don't know it, especially if it's abandonware now at the Underdogs (a site I trust and visit at times; at least you know they won't be hosting illegal games).
deadman.
dracflamloc on 21/5/2004 at 04:11
Yes I know that method won't work for many people who may still want to create a mission. So here's what I've done for you guys. I'm so nice. :D
I made a Tile-based Background Creator for you guys. It's available on the Downloads page. It doesn't come with any graphics though, but I'm sure you guys can find some tiles on the internet. Post any comments/suggestions/problems on the official Thief2D board.
Thanks! I encourage all of you to go sign up for my forums. It will help me get a feel for how many people will be interested in this game and will also help motivate me to keep going ;) Every time I see that member count jump I wet myself :wot:
dracflamloc on 21/5/2004 at 05:59
Okay BIG update. I made alot of progress on the Editor and have released a fuly functional version 1.3 for download! You can now start making your own missions. Read the news on my official site for more details!
I'm going to bed now... ZzZzZzZz...
