We are proud to announce the release of The Dark Mod 2.08! 

Long in development, many fixes related to Multi-Core, Uncapped FPS, and the 64-bit migration are now available. TDM 2.08 goes further with the process to modernize coding standards in TDM, replacing legacy OpenGL functions and ARB Assembly shaders with modern techniques. 

Mappers will be pleased to see many new quality assets as well as enhancements to rain, fog, skylight, AIs and visportal diagnostics.

For the eye-candy crowd, new Bloom, 64-bit color mode, and SSAO options have been added!

For Linux users, the project can now be compiled via CMake.

A full changelog can be viewed here, but some highlights include:

Better Visuals: Cabalistic has finally added the much requested SSAO feature to TDM. Using a method called Scalable Ambient Obscurance, now areas with flat ambient lighting come alive with new detail! He’s also implemented a new Bloom method, and brightness and gamma will no longer interfere with desktop brightness.

Better AI: Grayman has refined the AI yet again, for instance ensuring that sitting and lying aren’t thwarted by obstacles.

Better Gameplay: The player’s ability to move and interact with the environment has been improved thanks to fixes to mantling as well as climbing ropes and ladders. Ragdolls are easier to handle and shouldering them is accompanied by an animation.

Better Mapping: The mapper’s toolkit has seen several enhancements. A new X-ray surface and new spectrum spawnargs modify how objects are perceived. Rain is much less taxing and uses static collision detection to limit its fall. New visportal diagnostics make it easier than ever to track down notorious internal leaks.

Better Performance: The dev team has as always been hard at work making improvements to performance and laying the groundwork for even more improvements in the future. Multi-Core’s stability has been enhanced and is no longer listed as an “Experimental” setting.

New Assets: Many quality textures and models were added by both Team members and community contributors. Especially of note is the inclusion of Kingsal’s manbeasts and Springheel’s new zombies, and expect to catch glimpses of the werebeast. If you are a mission author, please take a look here.

New Sounds: The player’s movement is now accompanied by new sounds when mantling, swimming and sliding down ropes and ladders.

To update, simply run the tdm_update.exe file in your darkmod folder. Please be aware that old saved games will not be compatible with 2.08, so finish any missions you might be in the middle of first!

This hotfix release is intended mainly to fix serious problems with OpenGL that some players have.
The set of differences with the original 2.07 is minimal.
The hotfix release is expected to fully replace the original 2.07, and be called simply “TDM 2.07” in the future.

Unlike the usual case, this release does not break savegame compatibility.
You can load savegames produced by the original TDM 2.07 in the 2.07-hotfix version perfectly fine: no need to do anything.

The changes in 2.07-hotfix:

1) Fixed GLSL shaders not working on the latest AMD graphics drivers.
With original 2.07, players with AMD gpus had to either set r_useGLSL 0 or to download custom shader files.
Everyone who had this problem: please update to 2.07-hotfix, set r_useGLSL 1 back and remove glprogs directory if you have it.

2) Fixed GLSL shaders not working on some Linux drivers.
The same workaround was used to avoid the problem, which should be reverted after update.
It is also possible that shadow maps will start working for some players (due to this fix).

3) Fixed r_showportals 1 to work properly with Multi Core Enhancement and with subviews.
With original 2.07, it had problems like postprocessing being disabled or wrong rendering of portals.

4) Fixed missing tdm_coals_hot_ns material on some maps.

TDM 2.07 is primarily a stability release, aimed at improving several experimental features that were added in 2.06. Soft shadows now work better, for example, with fewer graphical glitches and a new Shadow Map mode that allows for contact hardening (and generally better performance).

In addition to greater stability, there are a few new gameplay features, including a new frob helper that can be turned on in the Gameplay menu.

Mantling low and medium-sized obstacles is now faster and smoother, and further mantling improvements are already in the works for the next update.

There are a few new assets included in the update, including some new architectural module pieces, new chain models, and several trap prefabs (along with videos on how to set them up).

For a longer list of changes and additions, see the 2.07 wiki page, or the full changelog.

To update to this version, simply run tdm_update.exe in your darkmod folder.

After a lengthy public beta phase, we are proud to announce the release of The Dark Mod 2.06!

The Dark Mod has undergone a lot of reorganization under the hood. A substantial amount of work was done to improve rendering performance and overall framework tech. Legacy OpenGL methods have been replaced with their equivalents in modern OpenGL. This is also the first TDM release to offer a native 64-bit build.

A full changelog can be viewed here, but some highlights include:

Better Visuals: Duzenko and Stgatilov have implemented a Soft Shadows option that finally removes the sharp edges of TDM shadows. This has a huge impact on the visuals of TDM missions. This option is currently labelled “Experimental” in the menu as we have had reports of issues on certain hardware. See here if you are experiencing flickering or other problems.

Better Sound: EFX audio now allows users without Creative hardware to enable EAX in the menu—a feature that processes reverb data and changes sounds based on the surrounding environment. Currently, only a few maps, like Volta 2: Cauldron of the Gods, by Kingsal, are set up to use EAX effects, but since all users can now benefit from it, mappers are encouraged to use this feature going forward. Interested mappers should see here.

Better Menus: The TDM menus have also been given a visual update, boosting the resolution and adjusting the graphics for widescreen monitors. Durandall has added scrollbar functionality to the mission menus, and Obsttorte has implemented a new menu option that allows users to customize the size and opacity of HUD elements, complete with a visual preview.

New Assets: A new set of Springheel’s architectural modules is included in this release–a set of 50 models for creating church interiors. A number of new models have been added to other sets. Also included is a huge number of new prefabs, allowing mappers to quickly and easily create detailed map sections, as demonstrated in Springheel’s Speedbuild series.

Better Mission Intros: This is the first TDM release to offer video codec support other than ROQ. TDM 2.06 allows for FFMPEG video support, which means that mappers will now have an easier time adding video briefings to their missions.

Better Gameplay: An error that kept food from restoring health has been fixed, and all food will now restore a certain amount of health when eaten. Guards can now sleep and wake up while seated.

Better Performance: Finally, experimental multi-core support is included for the first time, via patches from Cabalistic’s VR branch. While this can cause performance enhancements, it is currently in “Experimental” form as some users may experience random crashes with this option enabled. Uncapped FPS is also now an option for users after this update.

To update, simply run the tdm_update.exe file in your darkmod folder. Please be aware that old saved games will not be compatible with 2.06, so finish any missions you might be in the middle of first!

TDM 2.02 is now available!

This version includes a number of new features and bugfixes for The Dark Mod. Several exploits have been dealt with, such as a fix for the bunny-hop exploit by SteveL, and new behaviour that allows AI to notice if you blatantly grab onto a door they’re in the process of closing, by grayman.

A fix of a sound bug that was causing sound to drop off too quickly in large spaces (resulting in AI frequently ignoring noise arrows and calls for help) has also been fixed by grayman, and a new AI Hearing slider has been added to the main menu.

New Horizon has adjusted our blackjacking detection so that players are less likely to fail by being too close to an AI.

AI may notice that they’ve been pickpocketed, and will add that to their evidence of an intruder if you cause a mild alert while snatching something from their belt.

In addition, Springheel has added a new AI and vocal set (acted by Goldwell) for mappers to play with: The Moors.

For a more detailed look at the changes and improvements, see here: Changelog

To get the new update, simply run tdm_update.exe.

Note: Saved games from previous versions will not work under 2.02!

Square Enix and Amazon.com have announced the results of the THIEF mod contest!

In the first category, “Look, I Created a Mod”, the winner is our very own Gelo (Moonbo) Fleisher with his TDM Fan Mission “Requiem”.

As for the second category, “If I Could Mod, I Would Create…”, the winning team is Joachim Eko Sjoberg and Kevin Stuart Elliott for “The Lighthouse”.

Congratulations to the winners!

We’re getting close to a development freeze for our next update, which will include some important bug-fixes and a lot of goodies. We discovered a bug that affected more than half of all missions that caused loud noises to drop off quickly, meaning AI weren’t hearing noise arrows or yells for help like they should. Grayman is also adding new behaviour for AI who have been pick-pocketed. Additional menu customizations are on the way, as well as a new AI character.

There have been a load of new missions released lately–4 new ones in March alone! And at least two new missions, one by Springheel and one by Moonbo, author of the hit “Requiem”, are due to be released soon.

Good times for The Dark Mod!

A small update, TDM 2.01 fixes several issues surrounding combat and makes some graphical improvements to character models.

Some technical fixes have also been added:  Taaaki has fixed the issue with TDM failing to reload missions if your folder was not named “darkmod”, and grayman has solved some save/reload crashes.

The player was taking double damage from weapons in 2.0; grayman has fixed that, and Springheel has made several other modifications to combat, including making it harder to avoid weapons by running backwards. The end result is that combat has been made slightly more forgiving at lower difficulty and harder at the higher difficulties.

This update improves the appearance of several female character models, as Springheel has worked on improving the meshes, as well as adding a few new heads.

Lastly, a physics bug that made the map “The Swing” unplayable, has now been fixed.

To get the update, simply run your tdm_update.exe file.  Bear in mind that saved games may no longer work after updating, so be sure to finish any missions you’re playing first.

(also, we’re in the process of moving our server, so bear with us if you encounter any connection issues)

We’re very gratified to be chosen as the 2013 Mod of the Year by PC Gamer.  You can read the article here:

In other news, we should have a new update out in a matter of weeks that addresses some combat issues and improves some female character models, among other things.