The Dark Mod Gameplay

Since The Dark Mod is designed to simulate the stealth gameplay of Thief, many things will be very familiar to Thief players. There are some features that work differently, however, and some features are still only partially working in this alpha demo. The following guide will explain how things work (and what doesn't work yet) in The Dark Mod.

IMPORTANT if you are in a hurry

If you don't have time to read the entire article, you should at least be aware:

• There is a SEPARATE button to use inventory items (like keys or potions)
• There are two mantle controls - one jumps and one does not.
• Reading things and looking at maps does NOT pause the game. With multi-page readables, use the next/prev inventory icons to scroll through pages
• Running or walking against certain movable objects will push them ahead of you.

Read the various sections for more detail

Adjusting your Settings

1. Select "Settings" from the Main Menu
2. Select the type of setting you wish to adjust: Audio, Video, Controls, or Gameplay
3. The controls are set to defaults familiar to Thief players, however there are new keys/features that are worth reviewing.

Note: Changes to many Video settings will not take effect until you reload D3, however there is no warning message about this yet.

Starting the Mission

1. Select “Start Mission” from the Main Menu.
2. The Mission Briefing will begin playing. Hitting esc) skips it.
3. Read your objectives, and choose your Difficulty Level. Then select “Buy Equipment”.
4. After purchasing desired equipment, hit "Start Mission". (The option to "Drop" starting items is available. Currently there is no option to undo this decision, except to go back to the "Difficulty" screen. This will reset all your purchases.)
5. The Mission Loading screen should appear. Be patient...loading can take several minutes.

Stealth Gameplay

Note: If you are familiar with stealth gameplay already (ie, you have played Thief before), then you can skip this section.

1. You are a Thief, not a Warrior. Your best path to success is to avoid being seen by your opponents. You are unlikely to survive a toe-to-toe fight with a guard, and you’re almost certainly not going to survive two.
2. Noise can give away your position: crouching, moving slowly, and walking on soft surfaces (such as moss from moss arrows), all help to reduce noise.
3. Staying in shadows helps to hide you from the enemy. The light gem at the bottom centre of the screen shows how well lit you are. The darker the gem, the more difficult you are to see.
4. Listen to the guards around you. They will give you verbal cues if they are suspicious or if they think they see something.
5. If you are spotted but get away, guards will eventually stop searching for you (though they will be more suspicious in the future).
6. To manipulate something, center the object in your view. This will cause it to highlight. If you click your "Frob" key, you interact with that object (called ‘frobbing’). For many objects, that means picking them up. It also flips switches and opens doors.
7. You can pickpocket items visible on other characters, like keys or purses, by sneaking up to the character and frobbing the object.
8. Water arrows can be used to extinguish flames to make an area darker.
9. You can lean forward to look down and lean around corners to see if anyone is coming.
10. There are two controls to pull yourself up onto surfaces - if you jump while in front of a ledge or furniture then you will climb (mantle) from the top of the jump. There is also a separate mantle-only control so if the mantle fails you do not drop back and make a noise. Mantling will fail if there is not enough room above you, so backing up sometimes helps.

In particular, note that the mantle is view-sensitive. This means you should look at the edge you want to climb, eg, to climb on a chair, look down at the seat then press the mantle control. By this means you can clamber over relatively low but awkward obstructions and even select one ledge above/below another.

The Dark Mod Gameplay

Below are descriptions of gameplay and WIP (Work In Progress) issues that you should be aware of. Some things work differently in The Dark Mod than Thief, and a few things just don’t work at all because we’re not finished them yet.

Objectives

Your objectives are displayed after the Mission Briefing. When you complete an objective, a chime will sound and “Objective Completed” will be displayed at the top of the screen. To check the status of your objectives during the game, hit the Esc key to go to the Main Menu, and select Objectives.

When you have completed all objectives, the map will close and a “Mission Succeeded” screen will appear. Likewise, if you fail an objective or are killed, a “Failed Mission” screen will appear. You can restart the map by selecting the "Restart" option or via the Main Menu.

HUD Display

The lightgem at the bottom of the screen indicates how easy you are to see. This is primarily due to how much light is hitting you, but also includes things like whether you are crouched, moving, or have a weapon drawn.

When you are injured, a small red healthbar appears below the lightgem. It will remain visible until you are returned to full health.

When you are underwater a small blue bar will appear above the lightgem. This bar measures how much air you have left. When the blue bar runs out, you start to take damage. Surfacing or using a Breath Potion will restore your air bar.

An icon of your currently selected weapon is displayed in the bottom left corner of the screen. Your currently selected inventory object (or your loot total) is displayed as an icon in the bottom right.

Weapon hotkeys are different than in Thief, since the key underneath Esc (~ on US keyboards) is reserved for use by the console:

• 1 Put away weapons
• 2 Blackjack
• 3 Short Sword
• 4 Broadheads
• 5 Water Arrows
• 6 Fire Arrows
• 7 Rope Arrows (not used in this mission)
• 8 Gas Arrows (not used in this mission)
• 9 Noise Arrows
• 0 Moss Arrows

Inventory Objects

Cycle through your inventory using the Inventory Prev/Next keys (default: [ or TAB for next item and ] for prev item). Inventory objects are stored in groups, so all keys will be stored together, all readables, etc.

To ‘use’ an inventory object, select it and then hit the Use key (default: U). This will drink potions, throw mines, activate the spyglass, etc. To "use" objects on other objects (like using a key on a door), select the inventory, highlight the thing you want to use it on, and hit Use.

You can drop inventory items by hitting the Drop key (default: R) twice. See the section "Holding Junk Objects" for more information. Note that mappers may designate some important inventory items as undroppable.

You can clear the inventory selection by hitting the BACKSPACE key.

Inventory Object: Spyglass

A good Thief likes to scout ahead. To use the spyglass, select it in inventory and hit Use. You can use the next/prev weapon keys to zoom in and out. You cannot use weapons or frob objects while using the spyglass.

Inventory Object: Player Lantern

Light is usually the bane of thieves everywhere, but there are times when you need just a little to make your way around. To this end, some thieves carry a covered lantern with a hood that can be closed to block out the light. To use the lantern, select it in inventory and hit Use. This will lift the cover if the lantern is currently off, or close the cover if it is currently lit. There is also a hotkey for using the lantern; by default this is L. This lantern is clipped to your belt so your hands are free, and it can even be used underwater for short periods.

Obviously using the lantern makes you visible to any nearby opponents.

Inventory Objects: Maps and Readables

In The Dark Mod, both maps and readables (books, scrolls, etc) are inventory items. To read them, you scroll to the object in your inventory and then hit the Use key. The map or readable will be displayed on screen. Note that this does not pause the game. Unlike Thief, events continue to unfold around you, and you can be attacked while reading if not careful. You can see your environment around the edges of the map/readable, but the best suggestion is to find a safe place to read. With multi-page readables (distinguishable by folded corners on the page), use the next/prev inventory icons to scroll through pages. Hitting Use or Attack will put the readable away.

The Map key (default: M) will also automatically bring up your map.

Inventory Objects: Keys

Some doors or chests require keys to open. To open a locked door, select the appropriate key by scrolling to it in your inventory and hit the Use key (NOT the frob key) while highlighting the door. Note that certain types of door locks (like padlocks) might have to be frobbed separately.

Doors and Lockpicking

Lockpicking was not included in this map. All locked doors will have a key somewhere in the map.

Blackjacking

You must hit an opponent on the head to knock them out with your blackjack. If you're quick and hit a guard before he notices anything suspicious, you can knock them out with a hit from any direction. If the guard is already alert, however, only a blow directly to the back of the head will succeed.

Combat (WIP issues)

Melee combat is one of the last major features to complete, and it is still in the early stages of development. At the moment, you can do little but slash at your opponent. Blocking is not complete, and there are only two forms of attack.

Combat in The Dark Mod works (or will work) like the game Mount and Blade. Hold down the attack key and move the mouse slightly to the right, and you will make a slash to the right when you let go of the mouse. Move the mouse slightly left and you will make a left slash (At the moment this is only a cosmetic distinction). Your short sword (and your bow) will not penetrate plate armour, and both do less damage when striking areas covered by chain or leather armour. AI take more damage if hit in vital areas (head and chest) than they do in the arms and legs.

Note that if AI can see you but not reach you, they will become angry and start throwing whatever they can get their hands on at you (currently, that means wine bottles).

Holding Junk Objects

This is one area that works quite differently from the Thief series. “Junk” objects (anything that you can carry that doesn’t go into inventory, like chairs, candles, or bodies) are held out in front of you when frobbed. Unlike in Thief, they take up physical space, and can be used to push or manipulate other objects. They can also bump into other objects, making noise (or being knocked out of your hands), so be careful.

To grab a junk object, frob it as normal. The object will stop highlighting, and any weapons you have selected will lower. At this point, you can use the next/prev weapon keys (default: mousewheel up/down) to move the object closer/further away from you, and moving your mouse around will move the object (it stays basically in the center of your screen).

The heavier the object, the slower it moves, so you may notice a ‘lag’ if you turn quickly with heavy objects. It can take a while to get used to this.

To drop an object, hit the R key. By crouching and angling your view down gently, you'll find that you can easily set down objects without making noise. You can also throw a held object by hitting the Attack key. Tapping the Attack key throws the object a short distance; holding the Attack key down and releasing it will throw it further.

To rotate a held object, hold down the Z key or middle mouse button, and move your mouse. By default, horizontal movement of the mouse yaws the object around the vertical axis, and vertical movement pitches the object up and down. Holding down the RUN key makes horizontal mouse movement roll the object around the forward axis. This can be useful for replacing objects that have been knocked over, or for placing moveable objects in creative ways (like putting a plank over a gap, or stacking chairs). It is possible to “drop” inventory items into your hands, where they can be manipulated as if they were junk objects. Select the object in your inventory, and hit the Drop key R. The object will appear in front of you like a junk object, and you can rotate it, set it down, etc. To put it back into your inventory, you must "use" the item again (U) or scroll to the next inventory item (TAB or [/]).

Some objects that are too heavy to lift may still be movable. Walking or running into such objects will push them along the ground.

Junk Ojects: Candles

You will see lots of candles spread throughout the map. Lit candles can be frobbed and carried around to light your way. They can also be used to light other candles or torches. See the video on our webpage for an example.

Note: The candles in this map are older versions, so the "pinching out" behaviour described on our webpage does not work on them. They can only be extinguished with water arrows or dropping them in water.

Also, be aware that multiple light sources can cause a significant drain on your framerate. If you go around a room lighting six or seven new candles, don't be surprised if your framerate drops significantly.

Moving Bodies (WIP Issues)

There are two ways to deal with dead or unconscious bodies in The Dark Mod. You can both drag them and carry them.

To drag a body, you must ‘frob’ it (which probably requires crouching), and then back away. The body will drag along with you until you frob it again or the body gets stuck on something.

This is not the most graceful way of moving bodies and is not recommended for long distances. Bodies can catch on things and get pulled out of your hands. It can be useful for quickly shifting a body into a shadow, however. You can even move individual limbs to put a flailing arm back into a shadow.

You can also carry a body over your shoulder. While a body is being dragged, hitting the Use button will lift it up over your shoulder. While carrying a body you move much more slowly and cannot use weapons or inventory objects (though you can open doors). When you are ready to drop the body, hit Use again. If there is not enough room, you will hear a grunt and nothing will happen. Back up a bit and try again. When you drop a body, it will be the opposite orientation from the way you picked it up (if a body is face-up when you lift it, it will be face-down when you drop it). This allows you to easily search a body for keys or other objects.

Shouldering bodies was added fairly recently, so it is a little rough around the edges.

Note that AI will notice and get suspicious if a friend’s weapon is just lying around, so you’ll need to hide that as well.

Climbing

Crouching while on a ladder will automatically detach you.

Mantling

There are two different ways to mantle in The Dark Mod. One is by holding down the Jump key, which Thief players will be familiar with. There is also a key specifically for mantling (default: C), so that failing to mantle will not result in jumping and making noise. Currently there is a slight difference between the two mantling methods, so occasionally one method will work when the other will not. You cannot mantle while carrying a junk object. Mantling is affected by where you are looking, so a successful mantle is more likely if you are looking directly at the edge of the object you wish to climb.

Rising Code

To avoid trapping the player when 'clipping' into surfaces, the D3 code gently pushes the player upwards until the player's collision box is free. Usually this is not a big problem, but occasionally it can cause the player to float right out of the map. If you notice you suddenly start to float upwards after moving, try quickly moving the opposite direction--often this will move you out of the geometry you are clipping.

Known Issues and Bugs

Please read before posting feedback!

The Dark Mod is not slated for a beta-release until some time in 2009. While the Saint Lucia map demonstrates just about all the major features that will be present in our beta-release (the exceptions being combat and lockpicking), we have not entered a dedicated bug-fixing phase yet. You will definitely encounter incomplete features and known issues/bugs. Here are a few of the more common ones:

AI WIP issues: Many of the AI animations are placeholders (though not as many as our last demo) and we plan to have more animations than are demonstrated in this demo. One particularly noticable omission is the lack of 'turning' animations--AI currently spin around when standing or searching.

The AI vocals are not entirely finished, so you may hear the builders say a few lines in a different voice (the placeholder vocals sound like a drunken Benny).

AI intelligence has come a long way from our last demo, but is still not perfect. AI will sometimes say things that don't make sense while searching. The "go get help" behaviour AI exhibit when hurt or weaponless does not always work properly. Rarely, one AI will block another's path and they'll walk into each other endlessly.

AI do not currently respond to collision sounds, so if you drop a bucket behind them they won't hear it.

AI notice bodies in lit areas, but they don't currently get tactile alerts from them. They will happily kick a dead body out of the way in a dark area without noticing.

AI notice arrows if you leave them stuck into walls. However, they also will react to them up to two minutes after you remove them. This was a recently noticed (minor) bug that we didn't have time to fix.

Occasionally when AI put away their weapons, they get attached in the wrong spot, with sometimes humorous results.

AI Shadow: The shadows of AI occasionally get cut-off at the head or feet, making the shadow look weird. We're not entirely sure why this happens.

Sounds: Many sound effects are placeholders. Collision sounds (where things bump into other things) are especially poor.

Bow Aiming: The lack of a bow-sight is intentional. However, the bow currently is offset slightly—the arrow actually goes up a bit from where you are aiming, as if you were ‘lobbing’ your shot. This is a known (minor) issue that needs to be fixed, but it shouldn't cause too many problems in the meantime.

Subtle Highlighting: The "froblight" effect that highlights an object is occasionally difficult to see, especially on bright-coloured objects and candles. This needs to be tweaked individually, eventually.

Particle effects cut off: Sometimes particle effects (like splashes from water arrows) are cut off or flicker when they occur at particular angles to the player. This is a purely cosmetic issue we have yet to track down.

Menu issues: Changing certain graphic settings, like the resolution, requires a restart of Doom 3. However, there is not yet a message that tells you to do so.

The menu to occasionally freeze after loading a saved game. The background is visible but no menu options appear. The menu will eventually load (after 2 or 3 minutes), or you can call the console (alt+del+~) and type 'exit'. This is caused by a hardcoded Doom3 issue that we may need the source code to fix.

Sometimes when you resume a game from the menu, the mouse click is carried over to the game, causing you to swing your weapon or throw a carried object.

Save/Restore Game issues: Crouching information is not currently saved when you save your game. You will be standing when you reload the game.