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We missed covered the last update to The Dark Mod back in February, and I'm glad someone emailed it in as its becoming quite impressive. They fixed up a few graphical bugs, added in some good looking new models and features and tons more.
I actually used to play a lot of Thief when I was younger, so I'm pretty happy this project exists as it's quite cool.
I've tried it, and while it is impressive it has a few minor issues I would like to see corrected. The first is alt+tab support, of which on Ubuntu it has none. It also turns off my second monitor, which is really rather annoying. It also starts up in a super low resolution, not sure what's so hard about detecting the current resolution, but a few games do it.
As for the game, the lighting especially is impressive and it really can look quite beautiful at times. It always amazes me when stuff like this is free.
I tried a few of the tutorial sections, and the mechanics all seem pretty well done. I don't know if I'm just tired or stupid (probably stupid), but I couldn't get to grips with the lock picking in the tutorial. Did anyone else struggle with lock picking?
Be warned: The updater will download the entire game into the directory it's currently in. Which was really quite annoying for me to then hand-pick all the files in my downloads directory and put it all in a folder. Make sure you use the updater in the directory you want the game to be in. I also suggest running it in terminal, as it just downloads with no UI.
About TDM
The Dark Mod is a FREE, first-person stealth game inspired by the original Thief series by Looking Glass Studios. In it you play a hooded figure slinking through the shadows of a gothic steampunk city, hunting priceless valuables while avoiding the swords and arrows of those hired to stop you.
The Dark Mod was originally released Oct. 17th, 2009. The standalone version, TDM 2.0, launched in Oct. 2013.
If you give it a go, be sure to come tell us what you think. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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I suggest moving Darkmod.cfg out of the game directory to see if that helps with any graphical issues. I think the download comes with one, but the game is supposed to make a custom one for your computer when you start up the game.
@stan I think he laughed because it was sort of an insult to consider that an extensive task, especially done for free, would be considered easy. I'm guessing you're not a programmer in any way, so I don't see how you would put your estimate when you have no idea of what's involved. It's not saying you're "stupid" (I don't know why you would assume that in the first place), it's saying that you don't know at all. Don't be afraid to say "I don't know" or "I have no idea whatsoever", and don't say something when you don't actually know anything about it (It's called a ruse, bluff, lie, even false boasting). There's nothing wrong or insulting about saying "I don't know".
It might not have been too appropriate, but was laughing at your major understatement really insulting? (Play some MOBAs, then you'll see real insults. This is friendly banter compared to that!) I really don't see why a game has to have Alt+Tab and SDL2 to be good. Aren't you supposed to be playing the game, not multi-multi-tasking (obsessively checking facebook/twitter?). I think it's a bit disrespectful to the ones that developed the game to not devote time to just playing the game, so you can really get into it (like a good movie, and not stopping every few seconds to check your smart phone messages ... imagine if you did that while others were watching too).
It can be ported to SDL2, but is there any motivation to do so right now? Are people lining up waiting for the game? Is there a huge demand for something that SDL2 has that's imperative to have that SDL can't do?
@stan I think he laughed because it was sort of an insult to consider that an extensive task, especially done for free, would be considered easy. I'm guessing you're not a programmer in any way, so I don't see how you would put your estimate when you have no idea of what's involved. It's not saying you're "stupid" (I don't know why you would assume that in the first place), it's saying that you don't know at all. Don't be afraid to say "I don't know" or "I have no idea whatsoever", and don't say something when you don't actually know anything about it (It's called a ruse, bluff, lie, even false boasting). There's nothing wrong or insulting about saying "I don't know".
It might not have been too appropriate, but was laughing at your major understatement really insulting? (Play some MOBAs, then you'll see real insults. This is friendly banter compared to that!) I really don't see why a game has to have Alt+Tab and SDL2 to be good. Aren't you supposed to be playing the game, not multi-multi-tasking (obsessively checking facebook/twitter?). I think it's a bit disrespectful to the ones that developed the game to not devote time to just playing the game, so you can really get into it (like a good movie, and not stopping every few seconds to check your smart phone messages ... imagine if you did that while others were watching too).
It can be ported to SDL2, but is there any motivation to do so right now? Are people lining up waiting for the game? Is there a huge demand for something that SDL2 has that's imperative to have that SDL can't do?
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Quoting: MajorLunaCI suggest moving Darkmod.cfg out of the game directory to see if that helps with any graphical issues. I think the download comes with one, but the game is supposed to make a custom one for your computer when you start up the game.
Just tried it, but unfortunately no luck. Same result as before.
I have trouble believing I have some unique configuration, since I never tinker with anything "under the hood" on my OS.
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Quoting: GuestQuoting: MajorLunaC@stan I think he laughed because it was sort of an insult to consider that an extensive task, especially done for free, would be considered easy. I'm guessing you're not a programmer in any way, so I don't see how you would put your estimate when you have no idea of what's involved.Looks like you both missed the "in my experience" part of my reply.
Since you're so experienced and think it's so important, step up and contribute. Otherwise, I call bullshit on your "experience".
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Quoting: adolsonWow, you really know how to motivate people. I'm taking notes here. You should be a community manager of some sort. :)Quoting: GuestQuoting: MajorLunaC@stan I think he laughed because it was sort of an insult to consider that an extensive task, especially done for free, would be considered easy. I'm guessing you're not a programmer in any way, so I don't see how you would put your estimate when you have no idea of what's involved.Looks like you both missed the "in my experience" part of my reply.
Since you're so experienced and think it's so important, step up and contribute. Otherwise, I call bullshit on your "experience".
In reality the "cost" of migration from SDL 1 to 2 depends very much on the specifics of the project. I don't see how it would ever require any "serious" refactoring, but it is entirely possible there's something about The Dark Mod's codebase that makes this more difficult than it should be. Anyway, this is what the official migration guide says:
QuoteWe think you'll find it's not as hard as you think, and often times, you'll be either replacing function calls with direct equivalents or undoing some hacks in your code to deal with 1.2 deficiencies.My personal experience with SDL is limited to say the least, but so far I have no reason to call bullshit.
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Quoting: tuubiQuoting: adolsonWow, you really know how to motivate people. I'm taking notes here. You should be a community manager of some sort. :)Quoting: GuestQuoting: MajorLunaC@stan I think he laughed because it was sort of an insult to consider that an extensive task, especially done for free, would be considered easy. I'm guessing you're not a programmer in any way, so I don't see how you would put your estimate when you have no idea of what's involved.Looks like you both missed the "in my experience" part of my reply.
Since you're so experienced and think it's so important, step up and contribute. Otherwise, I call bullshit on your "experience".
In reality the "cost" of migration from SDL 1 to 2 depends very much on the specifics of the project. I don't see how it would ever require any "serious" refactoring, but it is entirely possible there's something about The Dark Mod's codebase that makes this more difficult than it should be. Anyway, this is what the official migration guide says:QuoteWe think you'll find it's not as hard as you think, and often times, you'll be either replacing function calls with direct equivalents or undoing some hacks in your code to deal with 1.2 deficiencies.My personal experience with SDL is limited to say the least, but so far I have no reason to call bullshit.
That's great and all, but The Dark Mod doesn't use SDL at all right now. If it were such an easy task as you guys seem to think, it would be done by now.
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Quoting: adolsonThat's great and all, but The Dark Mod doesn't use SDL at all right now. If it were such an easy task as you guys seem to think, it would be done by now.Ah, implementing SDL support from scratch can be a whole different can of worms indeed. I don't know why I thought you were discussing migration from SDL 1. Sorry about that.
Still, I hope someone takes up the task, as SDL 2 solves several problems every cross platform game has to tackle anyway.
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I laughed because it's clear you have no idea of the monumental undertaking of porting an engine to SDL would be.
Others are correct, we're not using SDL at all.
It's being looked at as it would help a lot of issues, especially with *nix systems.
And my other comment was in fact due to your boast of "in my experience", which pointed to some sort of development role on projects that were upgraded to SDL.
If it is indeed not a lot of work in your experience, we could use someone of your talents absolutely.
I'm an asshole, the developers of the Dark Mod are all very friendly and patient, while I am not. So please don't be too insulted by my comments.
It does grate on my nerves that after almost 10 years of hearing people say "just do X...", with the assumption of either "how hard could it be?" or "it's not that much work", and that's it.
Others are correct, we're not using SDL at all.
It's being looked at as it would help a lot of issues, especially with *nix systems.
And my other comment was in fact due to your boast of "in my experience", which pointed to some sort of development role on projects that were upgraded to SDL.
If it is indeed not a lot of work in your experience, we could use someone of your talents absolutely.
I'm an asshole, the developers of the Dark Mod are all very friendly and patient, while I am not. So please don't be too insulted by my comments.
It does grate on my nerves that after almost 10 years of hearing people say "just do X...", with the assumption of either "how hard could it be?" or "it's not that much work", and that's it.
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