The Dark Mod Fan Mission Contest incentive?

[nbohr1more]

The Dark Mod is a total conversion mod for Doom 3 that converts the game into
a game very similar to the "Thief" series games from Looking Glass Studios

http://www.thedarkmod.com
http://www.moddb.com/mods/the-dark-mod

Example gameplay:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-gwMTwKoSA


I am posting here to find out if there is anything that would motivate veteran mappers to participate in a mission contest for The Dark Mod.

Some generic ideas that spring forth:

1) Recognition at the Moddb and TDM sites?
2) Prizes (games, t-shirt, mug, hardware, money?)
3) Mod team membership?

Please post any demand that would plausibly get you or any mapper you know to
participate in a TDM contest.


Thanks,

nbohr1more

Edit:

Here is The Dark Mod's mission author page with links to Tutorials and the Starter's Map (a premade map with just about every TDM feature demonstrated).

http://www.thedarkmod.com/mission-authors/

Here is Komag's Youtube site with many TDM editing tutorials (which also could be helpful for Doom 3 modders in general):

http://www.youtube.com/user/Komagb?feature=watch

[Eraser]

I must say, the mod looks absolutely brilliant. I don't think I'd participate in a mapping contest for it though. I have no experience with mapping for Doom 3 nor do I think I have the time for it. I know how long it took me to build my Testing Procedures map for EntityPlus and I'm not sure I'd be up to it to create something for the dark mod that has the level of quality seen in that gameplay video.

[nbohr1more]

Thanks for the feedback Eraser.

The video is from a speed-built mission that used a lot of prefabricated assets. That said, the mapper "Melan" is one of the best authors of either Thief or TDM missions (I'd rather show a really good example than something more middling.).

Also, for anyone who might still be interested, building a mission for TDM isn't like making a Doom 3 mod from scratch. The AI are already significantly intelligent so you don't need to do any scripting if you don't want to. The extinguishable light entities (candles, torches, etc) are all prefabricated. There is a huge TDM specific texture library. There is an "Objectives Editor". So mission building can mostly be just about mapping (of course, the Doom 3 scripting and material systems allow for advanced users to make some remarkable customizations too).

[obsidian]

You're using your own branch of GtkRadiant for map building, correct? Do lights appear in the editor in real-time or do you have to run the engine to test?

I suggest you write a "Getting Starting with Mapping" guide for TDM starting with installing the mod, then the editor, then building a basic layout with mod specific entities like candles, torches, ladders, etc.

Level editing has a daunting learning curve, I think you might get a few people building maps if you can somehow make that learning curve easier to transition into.

[nbohr1more]

Thanks for the tips.

Yes, there is a real-time light mode in the editor (though shadows are not real-time in the editor for performance reasons).

We do have a "Start Mappers Guide" and example starter map and Fidcal's "A to Z" tutorial. I'll have to update my posts with links to those.

One of the other TDM veterans also suggested that we setup a community video chat where participants all try building rooms then the result is merged into a manor heist mission (etc).

Yeah, it can be daunting to jump into a new platform. My target was intended towards highly skilled Radiant mappers who might be enticed to experiment with our branch but if I widen the scope of this appeal maybe I'll get more bites.



Thanks

[Bliccer]

I would need to have a D3 copy first :/

[Eraser]

Get the BFG edition in October