NewDark original releases: SS2 and Thief2

[674036a3536e9cam64dd]

Strange, I can't share my nanites with my fellow comrades in co-op. Any ideas?

[674036a353927voodoo47]

alt+drag did not work? the multiplayer has always been full of bugs, and as the patch 2.4 notes did not include any info about multiplayer fixes, so we have no way of telling whether things got better.. or worse.

[674036a353a95Kolya]

Or it could be as buggy as it always was.

[674036a353d2aValiant]

Strange, I can't share my nanites with my fellow comrades in co-op. Any ideas?

I had the same problem.

[674036a353e61Kolya]

Could you try unbinding the Alt key from any key-bindings?

[674036a3540f3Valiant]

Could you try unbinding the Alt key from any key-bindings?

Will do, I'll have another shot at SS2 with my GF.

[674036a35427bDyrverE]

OMG, I drop out of the loop for a while and a dream shows up, I'd even left Windows behind to a full time Linux usage, but since it won't run through Wine I just had to go back, you just had to drag me back! Oh well, awesome patch is awesome by all means. Finally I could just run it, no issue at all with any rendering glitches, control configuration errors, video-crashes or mods making it wonky. And it even includes support for DDfix specific addons.
Trying out some things in the scripts and materials and man, the possibilities with this is beyond what I thought it would be at first glance! Did I just die and go to heaven?

[674036a3544b8voodoo47]

wait

SS2 with my GF.

marry her.

[674036a354654DyrveE]

I wish someone would have told me the exact same thing seven years ago, now I forever alone because no other female measures up but a certain A.I. xD

Now another theory I had, about how the patch came to be is the only explanation that makes any sense. SHODAN made it herself for us on Windows 7 to bask in her glory much easier and The Black Raven is just another Polito.

[674036a354772Kolya]

...

[674036a354902voodoo47]

ouch.

..smell of your hair, I hope?

[674036a354a19dyrverE]

HAHA great one Kolya... My sexheh butt more likely than the smell of anything. Yet no input on my theory!? BTW Is it possible to use higher scaled textures on walls in the game, or would those need recalculated mis files or something?

[674036a354b21SoldierG65434-2]

Forgive the vagueness of this question, but I've been away for a while and am kind of overwhelmed by this new patch. As far as the new features go, what should I be activating and why, and most importantly how? Also, what is mod compatibility like for this?

[674036a354c0cvoodoo47]

just get the latest ss2tool, and you will get instant improvement in stability and performance. you will need mods for better graphics, just like before.

[674036a354e85SoldierG65434-2]

just get the latest ss2tool, and you will get instant improvement in stability and performance. you will need mods for better graphics, just like before.

Ok, so it's mostly just preformance enhancments? I've been seeing people talking about new renderers and other graphical improvements but I'm not sure if that's all theoretical or not. Also, what about the stuff like the HUD scaling?

[674036a35503cvoodoo47]

that is correct. bugfixes, and a lot of new features and capabilities. let me just quote the readme of a showcase demo that is floating around:

- Modern OS support (Windows XP/Vista/7)
- Modern display resolution support
- Native widescreen support
- Native DX9 support
- Native FSAA and filtering support
- 32-bit rendering
- 32-bit lightmaps
- High-resolution textures
- Texture material system
- Visual post-processing effects
- Thief II style skyboxes
- FFMpeg-based video playback
- OpenAL audio playback
- Mousewheel support
- Large hard drive support
- And much much more...

the demo can be downloaded here: http://www.ttlg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=140085

[674036a35517bDyrverE]

Oh ok, it worked! Asked a stopid question before. Threw a quick tests together instead of waiting for response. And now it's even more apparent how misaligned some of the textures are originally. xD
Image: http://i.imgur.com/oi5VS.png

[674036a355369JDoran]

So, just to clarify (as I've not tried this with mods yet), if you do a clean install of SS2 (by copying the SHOCK folder over to your hard drive), then install and run SS2Tool and use it to apply patch 2.4, then you can install SS2MM and use SS2MM to run all of the mods, as you could before, including ADaOB? The only difference between a 2.4 installed SS2  and an SS2 installation that doesn't have 2.4 is, as far as installation and usage goes, that with the 2.4 install you do (of course) install the 2.4 patch, whereas without it (as we have done before 2.4 was released) you used SS2Tool's built in bug-fixes, whereas if you now choose to use the 2.4 patch then you ignore SS2Tool's bugfixes, and instead use SS2Tool to install patch 2.4? And after that, you can use SS2MM and all mods and fan missions, regardless of whether or not your SS2 installation is patched to 2.4?

And there's no disadvantage to using patch 2.4 (at least in single player mode, I don't care about multiplayer)?

[674036a355454voodoo47]

yes.

no (well, you won't be able to launch he game under win9x, but that shouldn't be an issue).

[674036a355571Kolya]

It should also be noted that some of the newer mods, which make use of DML files (notably some of vurt's latest mods), won't work with SS2MM, because SS2MM doesn't copy DML files. We're working on a solution.

You can always install any mod (including DML mods) by extracting it to the DataPermanentMods folder.

Note to staff and uploaders: We should tag DML mods as such.

[674036a355655voodoo47]

ah, true. and agreed, NewDark mods should be tagged (as MM incompatible).

[674036a355989JDoran]

voodoo47, thanks.

It should also be noted that some of the newer mods, which make use of DML files (notably some of vurt's latest mods), won't work with SS2MM, because SS2MM doesn't copy DML files. We're working on a solution.

You can always install any mod (including DML mods) by extracting it to the DataPermanentMods folder.

Note to staff and uploaders: We should tag DML mods as such.

Ah, I didn't know that. Is there a list of such existing mods? And if I do unpack them to a folder called "DataPermanentMods" (presumably in the "Shock" folder), will this mod always be active, so that I should only install it to the "DataPermanentMods" folder when I want to play it?

I agree that it would be good for all mods to be tagged as such, at least until SS2MM is upgraded to cope with these files.

That's technology isn't it? Everytime you upgrade something, something unforseen crops up to sour the mood.

[674036a355af1voodoo47]

yeah, the DataPermanentMods should be used for mods you want active at all times (permanent). currently, only vurt's mods require NewDark.

https://www.systemshock.org/index.php?topic=4185.0
https://www.systemshock.org/index.php?topic=4167.0
https://www.systemshock.org/index.php?topic=4139.0
https://www.systemshock.org/index.php?topic=4135.0

[674036a355f9bKolya]

ah, true. and agreed, NewDark mods should be tagged (as MM incompatible).

What I mean is to tag DML mods with a "DML" tag. This is in accordance with the existing content related mod tags. Content related tags are factual and won't change whereas a tag like "SS2MM-compatible" might easily change with time.

And if I do unpack them to a folder called "DataPermanentMods" (presumably in the "Shock" folder), will this mod always be active, so that I should only install it to the "DataPermanentMods" folder when I want to play it?

The SS2Tool creates the DataPermanentMods folder inside the gamedir. Creating this folder yourself won't cut it. And yes, mods in this folder will always be active. So it's useful for basic mods like SHTUP or Rebirth.