R Soul on 10/6/2015 at 21:18

---

It contains higher quality versions of most of the original textures and objects, and the game uses these instead of the original files. Neither FMs' files nor the original files are actually modified. Sometimes an FM contains the author's own original replacement - this takes priority if the EP is installed correctly.




vsync: Stops the framerate exceeding the refresh rate of your monitor. The refresh rate is usually 60Hz, so framerate is limited to 60fps. With some FMs and some computers you'll be lucky to get 6fps :joke:
If you don't use vsnc you may get a 'tearing' effect on your screen. Here's an example: (https://www.withfriendship.com/images/j/45065/Screen_tearing-image.jpg) https://www.withfriendship.com/images/j/45065/Screen_tearing-image.jpg.

postprocessing: Not sure of the details, but it's an additional set of graphical effects. Bloom is one - all light colours are made to glow. I don't know if it's clever enough to know what is an illuminated surface and what is just a bright colour.

mipmap bias: Some texture types (e.g. DDS) contain not just the main image, but a series of smaller images which are usually softened. These are shown as the player gets further away, reducing load on the graphics card (I think) and making the texture look smoother when seen from far away. Ordinary textures can get a shimmering/sparkling effect as the graphics card generates its own mip maps instead. Mip bias affects the distance at which each image is shown. A negative number keeps the bigger images on display over greater distances, which keeps the texture sharp.

fortuni on 11/6/2015 at 06:26

---

Thank you R Soul & Voodoo

another couple of Qs

1. in the original FAQs there is a section that reads

How do I get the game ready to play FMs?
It may be helpful to start with a fresh install of the game when beginning your launch into the world of FMs. Though many will find that this is not needed, some may encounter problems that can be solved with a simple re-install.
It is also very good to have a fully patched version of the game. T1 has a patch which may or may not be required by an FM, though the EAX capabilities it introduces into the game may increase your enjoyment of many FMs which support this feature. The latest version is 1.33.
TG has no patches to worry about. The only version is 1.37.
With T2, however, it is very likely that a player will run into problems if using an unpatched version of the game. The latest version is 1.18.
You can find the patches for the above games at The Circle or (http://www.thiefmissions.com/patches/) thiefmissions.com . Be sure to select the proper T2 patch!

This thiefmission site lists 27 patches and so it unreasonable for new players to work out which patch they actually need so could some let me know precisely which of these patches are required for T1 and T2.....ps before you respond that all digital versions of TG and T2 come pre-patched, this paragraph is in the paragraph specifically written for people who have installed from the original CDs

2. also there is a section that reads

Finally, a file named convict.osm must be present to play FMs. Without it, the game will be badly broken. Grab it here: Thief 1 / Thief Gold / Thief 2 or at thiefmissions.com.

sadly the Thief1 / Thief Gold / Thief 2 link is for Thief-the -Circle that has been down for some some now and the Convict file listed on the thiefmissions site i suspect is Old Convict

can any one supply me with a good link for each of the 3 convict files....or are they all the same....but we do need the correct link...ps if all 3 games use the same convict file and if someone can confirm that thiefmission hosts the correct convict file i will use that link

3. also this line

Can I play a TG FM if I only have T1?
Yes you can in many cases, but you must first apply the Thief Gold patch, available here or (http://www.thiefmissions.com/patches/) here to your Thief installation.

again the first link is for Thief-the-circle, the second is for thiefmissions...the TG patch is at the bottom of the list but there are 2 patches listed 'tgpatch_basic.exe' and 'tgpatch_basic.zip'.....again i'm guessing but i suspect they are the same patch, just that the second one comes in a zip file whereas the first does not...can anyone confirm this or inform me which would be the best file to recommend in FAQs

4. Gecko's HQ Water Mod Pack
i know that the Water Mod tool comes within Gecko's HD mod, but can you use it as a stand alone tool if you DO NOT have HDmod installed of if you have dis-abled the HD mod ?

i also note that Gecko has released his Water Mod Pack
is this pack a stand alone pack for Thief players to install and thus be able to change the look of their water within FMs without the need for the HDmod or is it a pack for authors in order to give them the opportunity to have a range of water textures withing their missions as implied by the highlighted line



5. Could someone give me a short 1 line description of exactly how 'Bloom' from the New Dark Graphics Settings Tool alters the graphics

fortuni on 11/6/2015 at 13:04

---

That is great news, neither nickie or I realised that



i assumed that as well....guess i'll need to download it check it out



I both agree and disagree....i agree there is too much technical stuff in there, but with your comments above about TFix resolving my first 3 queries, if we can now delete those sections most of the technical stuff will disappear all together from the thread....which is great news

I disagree as my feeling is that Fan Mission FAQs is where newbie's are most likely to go to understand something and so it should give a basic understanding of all the common aspects of Thief that they are likely to come across during their first few months of Thief. This would necessitate as short an explanation as possible of each item and what it does, how to install it and/or how to use it.



I absolutely agree that is how the Technical FAQs should be laid out, but i'm only looking at Fan Missions FAQs


an example of how i have written the section on EP
Enhancement Pack (EP2)...Highly Recommended
EP2 is a patch that contains higher quality versions of most of the original textures/objects from the game and uses these instead of the original files. Neither FMs' files nor the original files are actually modified. Download from (http://www.ttlg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=141621) here, to install EP2 all you need to do is to pop the file into your Thief folder then check your cam_mod folder and make sure EP2 is in your mod path which should look something like this

; ---------
; Mod paths
; ---------

; the max path count is 63 for "uber_mod_path" and "mod_path" combined
; (avoid an excessive amount of paths, it can make file handling slower)

; these are mod paths that override the active FM in the search order
;uber_mod_path mods\UpToDateOSMs+MyGemMod

; these are normal mod paths which are applied after the active FM in the search order
mod_path NecroAge+ \ep2+ \MyBowMod+.\TexturePack
;mod_path MyBowMod+.\TexturePack

Note: this highlighted path is uncommented, ie there is NO ; at the start of the line

voodoo47 on 11/6/2015 at 17:03

---

yes, afaik. also, no manual edits are required if you want to install EP2 or NecroAge if you have TFix - just drop the archives into the root folder and everything will work.

voodoo47 on 12/6/2015 at 10:46

---

the original gamma slider in the game options not working? no idea about the newdark tool, but last time I've checked it was not able to detect the current cfg setting, making its use somewhat limited.