Wow, it’s been two years already since our first public release, The Dark Mod 1.00! While it wasn’t quite as planned as it seems, let’s celebrate this anniversary by relaunching our new website. Since we’re using a proper CMS now we’re hoping to give you more regular updates on the website too.

On a related note, the team is currently moving towards freezing the TDM 1.07 development branch and go ahead with testing the release package.

A new Halloween speed-build contest is underway! There are at least half a dozen mappers participating, including heavyweights Melan and Bikerdude.

The mission must have at least one element that evokes Halloween. Scary missions will be preferred but things like: playing tricks, finding candy, fall decoration (Gourds, Pumpkins, etc), Pagan harvest festivals, etc … are all acceptable ways to evoke the holiday. Missions must be completed by October 31th.

Also we have a new Facebook Page! Visit us there for more frequent updates and info, or to give us feedback.

TDM 1.06 is now available!

The 1.06 release has LOADS of new content, both for players and for mappers.

This release includes two new characters (the inventor scientist and builder forger/engineer) as well as dozens of new animations.

Grayman has given AI relighting behaviour the delux treatment–AI will now notice and comment when lights are out, and will relight lights that mappers set as “should be on”. This applies to candles, torches and even electric lights.

Greebo has added campaign support, allowing multiple missions to be properly linked together.

For the first time, TDM can now be run on Mac OSX! Please refer to the wiki for further instructions, as the support is still somewhat experimental.

A new optional bow sight has been added for those that find aiming difficult.

Many other assets and improvements have been added. See our changelog for a full list.

Note: Remember, you cannot load older saved games after uploading to 1.06. Please finish your current missions before updating!

To update your existing installation, just run your tdm_update.exe file. The download size for upgrading 1.05 to 1.06 is about 48 MB; a fresh download will be about 2 GB.

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.