Announcing TDM 1.05!

This update is primarily a bugfixing release, though there are a couple new assets, and a useful new “alarm entity” added by Tels to create area-wide alerts for AI. Grayman has worked on a number of pathfinding fixes and improvements, and New Horizon has tweaked our blackjacking collision boxes to make KOs more reliable–feedback suggests that this removes most of the difficulties some people were having with blackjacking. This update also fixes some problems that were introduced in the last update, including crashes on certain missions.

Run tdm_update.exe to download the new update.

Note: While missions are fully compatible with this release, you can NOT load any previously saved games after updating to 1.05. If you’re in the middle of playing a mission, you might want to finish it before updating.

The latest update, 1.04, is out!

To update your existing installation, just run your tdm_update.exe file. The download size for upgrading 1.03 to 1.04 is about 260 MB; a fresh download will be about 2 GB.

This update provides a number of new assets for mappers, including mage and thief characters, new vocal sets, and an improved LOD system. Players will also benefit from smaller saved game sizes, more intelligent AI pathfinding, and greebo’s brand new mission preview screen (see image). Players can now see details and screenshots of missions before choosing whether or not to download them.

The full changelog can be found on our wiki: What’s New for 1.04

Note: While missions are fully compatible with this release, you can NOT load any previously saved games after updating to 1.04. If you’re in the middle of playing a mission, you might want to finish it before updating.

At long last The Dark Mod version 1.03 is available for download!

To get the update, just run your tdm_update.exe file (inside your darkmod folder) or see our website for more info: https://www.thedarkmod.com. With the new updater the download size for upgrading 1.02 to 1.03 is about 210 MB. A fresh download will weigh about 1.8 GB.

Ultra-short summary

• Graphic overhaul: New Ambient method, Interaction Shader and HDR-Lite Post-Processing
• Various code changes with regards to AI, physics, sound, location system, inventory
• New textures (lilies, skyboxes, metal, roof and brick textures)
• New female AI including two new vocal sets “Wench” and “Lady”
• A couple of new models, fixed a few fixed issues with existing models
• Built-in Mission Downloader, plus some changes to the settings GUI
• Added Werebeast and Horse AI, spiders upgraded
• New update system supporting differential downloads
• A couple of new systems are still in preparation, so expect more goodness to come in TDM 1.04 (Overhauled Level of Detail system, AI pathing upgrades and more)

The full changelog can be found on our wiki.

Note: While missions are fully compatible with this release, you can NOT load any previously saved games after updating to 1.03. If you’re in the middle of playing a mission, you might want to finish it before updating.

The team is in the final stages of getting the 1.03 update ready for release. This new update has a huge number of features, including a new in-game mission loader, new characters (wench, noblewoman, horse, etc), new graphic options, and a huge number of bugfixes. The difference when playing is quite noticeable–both the graphics and sounds have been taken to the next level.

The Dark Mod has made the top 100 list of mods at MODDB. Help vote us to the top! http://www.moddb.com/mods/the-dark-mod

As the developers are generally too busy to focus on self-promotion, nbohr1more has taken on the task of updating our MODDB page with screenshots, interviews, and other goodies. Here’s one interview with Grayman, our newest developer.

A belated congratulations to Sotha, the winner of our 2010 summer vertical build contest. His mission, The Glenham Tower, is awesome, and a must-play for anyone who enjoys scary missions!

As we approach the one year anniversary of TDM’s release, we’re pleased to see that there are already 32 missions released. A hearty thank-you to all the mappers who have done a fantastic job of helping TDM to thrive. 🙂

The latest update, TDM 1.02, is ready for download. This is a medium-sized update (about 500 MB), adding textures, models, new AI and patching a few gameplay issues. It includes a new vocal set courtesy of Bikerdude, “active props” by Springheel that allow AI to play cards or drink from bottles (see below), and a fix for the saved game crash issue by greebo. See a full list of changes here.

To get the update, just run your tdm_update.exe file. For more details, see here.

Note: While all missions are fully compatible with 1.02, you can NOT load 1.01 saved games after updating to 1.02. If you’re in the middle of playing a mission, you might want to finish it before updating.

In other news, some fantastic missions have been released in the past few months, including The Heart of Lone Salvation by Fidcal, and a 4-mission campaign, No Honour Among Thieves by Goldcochobo.

At long last, the TDM 1.01 update is ready for download! This is a BIG update, that adds dozens of new assets for mappers (including 6 new AI types, new models, and new ambient tracks), as well as fixing numerous bugs. New features for players, like a crouch indicator and combat difficulty levels, have also been added. We’ve also responded to the many player requests to reduce the volume of the player footsteps. See the full list of changes here. There should be something for everyone.

To get the update, just run your tdm_update.exe file. For more details, see here.

Note: While 1.00 missions are fully compatible with 1.01, you can NOT load 1.00 saved games after updating to 1.01. If you’re in the middle of playing a mission, you might want to finish it before updating.

In other good news, DarkRadiant 1.2.0 is ready for download as well. Check out the cool readable editor! Grab it at: http://darkradiant.sourceforge.net/

Voting for our Christmas Contest is now complete. There were half a dozen entries, all of which were built in less than two months. Seeing the amount of quality that was achieved in that time (by mappers completely new to Dark Radiant) was really encouraging. All of the missions were a blast to play, but the winner (sweeping all three categories of Gameplay, Visual Appeal and Story) was Melan, for “Return to the City”. If you haven’t played his mission yet, you should. Get it here.

Sorry I haven’t updated before this, but a lot has been going on since the last news update!

The team is working hard on the first update to TDM 1.0. Springheel (me) has been adding some more zombie types to the game, and Crispy has been setting up “sleeping” behaviour on them, so zombies can suddenly get up and ambush you.

More excitingly, a number of completed missions for our Christmas Contest are starting to roll in. “The Parcel” and “Too Late” were the first, and “Trapped!” has just been released today (see our FM forum for specific download details). At least three other maps are in the beta-testing phase and should be released soon. While these contest maps are generally small, it is exciting to see what people are doing with only a few weeks of exposure to Dark Radiant! There are two other, larger maps created by team-members which should be released in the next few weeks as well.

Since the downloads page on the website is too slow to keep track of every mission released, Sneaksie Dave has started a wiki list of all completed missions. Check it out if you want to stay up to date on new releases.

The response to the release of The Dark Mod has been very gratifying. There have been over 3000 downloads thus far, and the vast majority of the comments we’ve received have been very positive. Thanks to all those who took the time to offer feedback! Rest assured, we’re working on several fixes and improvements for our first update (likely due sometime before the end of the year).

Be sure to visit our forums if you’re having any problems installing TDM…we’ve also put together a FAQ on our wiki with solutions to common problems.

In other exciting news…although it’s only been two weeks, we’ve already released our first new Fan Mission! Demagogue is the author of “Patently Dangerous”, a city mission about inventor espionage. Get it on our Downloads page, and post comments here.