The Dark Mod - Free standalone stealth game (not a mod!)

[Security_Tubbs]

The Dark Mod, which used to be a mod for Doom 3, has now been released as a free standalone game. It basically recreates and improves the first two Thief games (mechanically, not the levels etc.) in the Doom 3 engine, while very stealthily avoiding any sort of copyright problems. Their website has been murdered by traffic for two days now, but you can download the game through a torrent:

magnet:?xt=urn:btih:C88DCDE604CABBDF6913E0171CE759E878EEDF2F&dn=tdm_win.zip&tr=udp%3a%2f%2ftracker.publicbt.com%3a80%2fannounce&tr=udp%3a%2f%2ftracker.openbittorrent.com%3a80%2fannounce

 

Once I got the game started (I had a bit of a memory problem, I think) I was almost overwhelmed by all the good old memories of the original Thief games. The feeling has been captured very well, and I had adrenaline pumping through my veins within minutes of sneaking around... in the tutorial level. Not only does TDM appear to be a good stealth game and a worthy honorary successor to the originals, but now I can take my mind off and completely block away the horrible abortion Thi4f is most likely going to be.

 

[edit] Changed the thread title, since the 'mod' part might be misleading.

[mikemariano]

The trailer looks terrific.  I will buy a Steambox specifically for the Dark Mod.

[Erkki]

Some barebones website is up now, but why the hell don't they have an "official" torrent link on there...? Thanks for the link, Tubbs

[Security_Tubbs]

Tonight I had some more time, and I got into an actual mission. I tried the other mission that comes with the installation, besides the training mission, The Tears of Saint Lucia. A very nice level indeed. But boy, did it leave me a nervous wreck. It took 1 hour and 16 minutes (not counting the times I got my ass handed to me by angry Builders and had to reload a save), and I bet three quarters of that was me huddled in a dark corner listening to footsteps. Then, when the time was right and I had mustered the courage to move out, I'd see the door handle on the opposite end of the corridor turn unexpectedly, and back into the dark corner it was.

 

I did gain some confidence once I got more familiar with the mechanics of the game (how close exactly does a guard have to get to spot you in complete darkness etc.) and in the end I got quite fast and confidently from one end of the level to the other without being spotted.

 

Now I'm pondering wheter my willpower is strong enough to handle another mission, or if I should play something more cheery.

 

ps. Looks like the website is back up. Download and ~60 additional missions available now.

pps. If you're playing the first standalone release (2.0), make sure to install it in a directory called "[whatever]\darkmod". Anything else, and saves don't work (I have first hand experience of this).

[Justin Leego]

Thanks Mr.Tubbs!

[Security_Tubbs]

Played some more levels. The Knighton Manor was a good one. If we keep the Tears of St. Lucia as a baseline, so it would be a 5 (out of 10). The Knighton Manor would also be a 5. It was also probably about the same length as the Lucia one.

 

I also tried Vengeance for a Thief: Part 1 which unfortunately wasn't as good. Maybe a 3 with this ranking system. The beginning was decent, when you have to break out of a jail cell and sneak around without any equipment, until you recover them from an evidence room. In the latter part of the level, you sneak around pretty monotone streets desperately trying to find doors that you can actually open and find loot. As the name implies, there is a part 2 of this map, but I think I might skip it for now, and play some other level next.

 

So come on, people. Try this game and play some levels, so you can recommend me the good ones.

[Security_Tubbs]

I tried Requiem and Lords & Legacy, both of which seemed very promising. Especially the former seemed very detailed and high quality. Unfortunately however, they both had so many characters, lightning sources or whatever, that my FPS was constantly somewhere below 10, so I couldn't bring myself to play them for very long. My computer is crap, so anything better than a 5 years old laptop will fare much better. So those seemed worth a try at a first glance.

 

And just now I finished Flakebridge Monastery, which wasn't as detailed or very challenging. But the level was rather large and quite atmospheric. At one point I was pretty terrified entering a room, and at another point I nearly shat myself (although that was a cheap jumpscare). Overall: 4

[Dewar]

Interesting. I don't have much of a history with the Thief games, but I did buy Thief 2 on Steam. This might be a good primer for that.

[Ucantalas]

Hm, I've never played the Thief games, but I enjoy stealth games in general... I think I will probably check it out, and come back here with my findings.