Since Ipower tends to drop people's connections halfway through larger downloads, I decided to make a public access FTP folder on the server people can download the game and upload their own games to. ‎  As long as it doesnt become spammed somehow I will just keep access 100% open to that folder.

To log in, download any ftp program (I recommend filezilla) and use the following credentials:

host: ftp.swordofmoonlight.com
username: ddaccess
password: password#1
port: 21

For now the newest versions of DD will be kept there as well as any public demos you guys want to make available. ‎  Please try to keep the public folder clean and dont use it to deposit anything that is not SOM related. ‎  Since the folder is part of the overall ipower account and not part of the swordofmoonlight main domain, you wont be able to link to your files without using some sort of FTP program. ‎  So if you post about a file you uploaded, make sure you list the login information so people can get to your stuff to check it out.

Man I am bored of games. ‎  I just spent the last weekend going through every old game I had on my psp and I am pretty much out of good games that I am willing to play through.

I am offering money, I dunno $10 maybe? If someone will just bring out a good demo SOM game for me to play so that I have a shred of hope that something worth playing will come my way soon!

Something I really like about Som games is the 16bpp mode. I just love the posterized effect. It reminds me of the PSOne, but is also very psychedelic and has a painting like quality.

One of the best things about 16bpp mode is the items in the menu preview really come to life. They have a kind of shimmer as they spin around which I can only liken to a brushed metal pixel shader. I like 16bpp mode because everything seems so alive, morphing, and bursting with colour.

So I really freaked out today when my pet project lost its shimmer!! I don't know if something I did with my Som extensions made it disappear or what. I can't seem to get Som to go into 16bpp mode under DirectX7 to test it atm to see if I'm missing anything. So I immediately tested Dark Destiny and my testing project, and they had shimmer.... even better than anything I'd noticed before. So I did a lot of tests to no avail.

Without shimmer your items looks just static, like light is painted onto them. I think the shimmer I've been used to in the past was caused by have a very close fog distance. So the parts of the item closer to the eye would slip into the fog and that would cause a shimmer. I can detect a little bit of that, but it seems to be kind of lost right now. But Dark Destiny doesn't even have fog until way back... so I got to thinking and eventually realized its shimmer was caused by the map lights!!

The lamps you add to your map don't seem to effect "shimmer" of items. It's really a bug I think that the map lights would effect the items menu, though maybe not since under extreme lighting conditions you'd expect the same light to hit your items while examining them I suppose. But this is something I suggest authors consider taking advantage of.

First off, the ambient light will presumably change the general colour of your items in the preview (have not tested this to be sure) but it does not contribute to the shimmer effect. If you want serious shimmer, ditch fog and play with the directional lights. Until now I was of the mind the directional lights were the most ridiculous feature of the map editor. You can't actually setup directional lighting on your map with a global light unless the map is very simple and an entire side of it is occupied by the light source in question...

However you can give the environment a little bit of opalescence and three dimensionality by adding very faint directional lights... consciously not even perceivable. Because lets face it, with a perceivable directional light, if your map has anything like a cave, that totally ruins it (why is there a light outside and inside the cave and why does it always light the eastern walls of the cave for example) ...but best of all these lights will make your items really come to life, even very muted ones.

Bear in mind, every directional light you add is an extra light calculation for every vertex. And Som basically draws triangle lists, so make that every vertex of every triangle (at least until maybe I can get around to optimizing around this)

I think even one simple directional light might do the trick. To be honest in most maps in DD I did not realize there was any lighting going on. But every map seems to have some. And don't ask me what the "X/Y angles" mean. I don't actually have a clue.

In 32bpp mode the lighting of the items is less visually perceivable, but it's still worth while. With just an ambient light, there seems to be some lighting going on, but it's weird, like the light source is a satellite of the item always fixed in the same relation, and also not in an interesting position (symmetrical items will be symmetrically lit)

SO IF YOU TAKE NOTHING ELSE AWAY... add at least one subtle directional light to your maps today.

PS: On the Ex front I'd like to add an extension so you can setup a lighting arrangement just for the items preview. which would allow you to not sacrifice any performance under normal play. And surely I can set something up to let you adjust the lights in realtime in game until they're too your liking. For your maps also. And I think I would also like to sometime integrate the mouse with the item preview screen and add a key or two for adjusting the speed of the preview etc along with default settings.

I think I have a good theory as to why the graphics don't show up correctly in the editors.

Working with D3D9 I began to have doubts that the mipmap "autogen" feature was actually working. The roofs of the houses in DD were especially telling. So it turned out (under D3D9) autogen was not compatible with dynamic textures (at least with my drivers) which Som needs in order to interact with GDI which is what Som uses to copy its images into the DirectX textures.

So I let Som manage its own mipmaps and what I ended up with is the visual bug where most of the level appears invisible, which I'm sure plagues a lot of people, including myself the last time I tried to play a Som game on the XP machine I had originally been using to work with Som. I think this bug accounts probably for a lot of the instances where Som alone would just not work out for people. It turns out this bug pretty much happens whenever the DirectX 7 drivers let Som manage its own mipmaps. Many drivers when a mipmap surface is requested these days just return an error while silently managing mipmaps on behalf of the application. When the drivers do that Som seems to do fine in hardware mode.

But if Som goes and tries to make its own mipmaps something seems to go wrong, and they come back as all black images. SomEx can off course correct for this one way or another. Then in your game all the surfaces that sample a mipmap come back with an all black pixel (ie. transparent to Som)

Whether the original texture or a mipmap is sampled is based on the distance between the texels projected on screen which determines the mipmap level. So basically stuff further away gets a mipmap, but that can depend on the resolution of the texture also.

So in the map editor for example, since the view in either the piece preview window or the piece setup view the camera is always back a little ways the entire graphic is likely to be mipmapped or the front may not be but the back is, which pretty well describes what you see... on XP especially... Vista/7 may have some additional problems.

But anyway, the reason the editors always get stuck this way and the games don't is because I'm pretty sure the editors always display graphics in software mode so to be compatible with window modes on all computers.

And I'm pretty sure the reason I could use the editors without disabling my graphics acceleration on my XP computer was because I had either disabled or forced mipmapping. I think either way would fix the problem.

SO FOR THOSE OF YOU PAYING ATTENTION, you probably don't need to disable hardware acceleration in dxdiag if your advanced display settings section has an option to override mipmapping.

And the reason things probably work if you disable hardware acceleration is the software renderer appears to try to mimic the hardware onboard, so with it disabled there is no mipmapping support.

Hello everyone, I'm sort of semi-new (Tom of Diadem of Maunstraut fame helped me start into SoM before my computer went boom) to the whole development process that is creating games by SoM... it's really nice to meet you all and I do apologise if the things in this topic are somewhat hard to make sense of.

I presented a question to Tom a while back about the character potentially 'shapeshifting' to different monster types. He gave a few suggestions about making different versions of maps to represent the change of view as the creatures with stat and item changes, but I was wondering if any of you could give a fresh insight into the idea?

Another question I have is about is it possible to potentially make new monsters using the textures that are already on other monsters (such as the wood texture from the tree stalker monsters on a dragon or lizardman monster)?

With those questions out of the way, I suppose I should get to the main point of the topic which was the request... I'm a really huge fan of the King's Field equipment (I just have to say, the dark armour of King's Field 2 (Or King's Field 1 in the US and UK) was easily my favorite armour and the excellector was easily my favorite sword from King's Field 3), but SoM does not have any real models for items from these games (and it really doesn't look nice trying to remake Excellector and having to use the ice blade/dagger for looks) so I was wondering if I could request model downloads of the items from the King's Field games for those things that really do not exist in SoM already. If they do exist already, that's great (and I'd like to be pointed to them) but if they don't, I am hoping someone will take up the request as I'm not really very savvy in model editing (as you can likely guess). The reason for the request is I have a idea but I kind of need the models so that I can help distinguish for the player what each item truely is (as otherwise, they'd have a hard time telling the difference by looking that Excellector is not a Ice Blade or a Shard Sword)

thank you for this unusual SoM game. I have done all KF games and never thought of a puzzle one.I love the new look and feel of it you may have something on this.I have 7 solves,4 intell,10 magic,copper+steel key,1+2 displace.I have been running around lost as what to do next.I can't get past fire or pull arrow I see alot things above me.what have i missed I know you dont give a walkthrough to everyone. but a gentle kick in right direction would help thank you again for you time

Thank you for one awesome kicka-- game.You wanted to make the player earn everything they get.I love some of the surprizes you come up with in place of wall spikes.I have problem in opening water world.You are teleported there and screen has warning about silence and you hit any key to start.When i do DoM quits and i am in desktop.i tried different armour,weapons,acc,even nothing.i tried leveling up equipping different magic.I even keep 2 saves of all progress nothing helped.i would be greatful for any help thank you again

I first thank you for great game you created.I love the fact it has the Kings Field feel and new avenues also.I just loved those arena battles make you think fast.Now to my problem i retrieved the Gaia stone for queen and she tells me path is open then next we are enemies again.I put on aqua boots and looked all over by queen and elsewhere.Did i miss something or is this a bug have had no other issues[just draw but dealing with it]. Thank you for any help you could give.

I'm not positive how many ways Som can be immediately improved visually without any loss or input from authors. But I came up with a goody today, and I can think of at least a few more, and I have a feeling if everyone just listed their pet peeves that might lead to some others. I'd like to restrict any discussion to improvements that don't require setup by authors and would be an all around improvement with only negligible cons if any.

My number one pet peeve is the map pieces disappearing along the flanks in wide open vistas, especially in widescreen mode. The factors that lead to this are potentially many but it's safe to say I think that Som was never intentionally meant to be played in any aspect ratio other than 4:3. Even though there were other aspect ratios for monitors, and even PAL for TVs, Som seems to be hindered by an NTSC-J (ie. Japanese console games) mode of thought. I've got no lead on this but it's high up on my list. Most likely if a fix exists it will require interfacing with Som's memory to some extent.

Another problem is the object vs. map pieces lighting mismatch. Theres no way to integrate an object with map pieces if the lighting setup is complex because Som only computes shadows etc for map pieces. But if the lighting is simple the colours should fuse as much as possible. I'd like to see if the object lighting can't be calibrated to improve upon this. However best results (with the traditional lighting model) would come from a tool that could fuse static objects into map pieces (making a new custom piece)

I would like to see if the 4 lights per object limit cannot be exceeded by forcing all lights in the map to light objects/monsters.

Finally I want to report on a very simple fix which fogs transparent objects. I've tested it with DD and it's a radical improvement even in the area with the white fog. Whether the effect is perfect or not depends on the order the fog is blended (if perfect it's added to the object's colour which is then blended with the current pixel colour -- if imperfect the object is blended then the fog is added on top of the summed pixel) either way by forcing transparent objects to have black fog you get much better results whether your fog is dark or light (the entire spectrum of fog)

I will attach a screenshot. Obviously the best thing about this is your transparent water sheets blend into the fog like everything else, instead of being constantly bright and then suddenly disappearing with a hard edge. Which is a big improvement (just to be clear)

For instance the seaside cliffs in DD, or the water realm in DoM. This will be available in the next SomEx.dll release, by adding "do_alphafog = yes" to the [Options] section.

UPDATE: Added a brightened version of the same attachment/image.

Attached Files

Thumbnail(s)
       

Todd mentioned collaborating on a project before,

I just wanna say, I have a project, and I don't really have any huge ego about it being a one man show. And I'd really welcome the chance to try to work out how to collaborate on a game, and I'm sure I can provide some technical tools for making that feasible. In fact in order to keep things in perspective I've chosen to basically start with Diadem of Maunstraut and just give it some TLC and a spit polish. I'm pretty sure Tom hates the idea (not to mention myself) but I'd already convinced him to agree to let the game be out there as opensource for anyone who wants to play with it and that's a tradition I'd like to encourage/foster because that's how I feel gaming should evolve. DoM I think is significant because it's the first full fledged SoM game (sorry Japan you had 10yrs to do something solid with Som!!) so I'd like to see it if not branch out like a tree, at least shoot up like a weed.

Todd thinks every Som game after DoM is going to be visually compared to DoM by poo-pooers. ‎  So I reckon before the original Som assets are completely dead to the acute ADD afflicted amongst us they might as well be put to a little more use.

My basic intention is to produce a game that is if not technically comparable to a contemporary/mainstream title it can be at least artistically so. Which is to say a video game critic/reviewer with half a brain cell should have no problem recommending the game to new/old gamers alike.

I've never seen even a low budget film of any merit that didn't have a long ass laundry list of people credited. Not to belittle anyone's solitary effort, but if we really want to turn peoples heads (to pay attention to Som) it's going to require collaboration.

I think I know everything necessary to produce a game. I know enough about everything to at least be able to intelligently communicate what needs to be done and empathize with anyone's role. I regard myself a sort of virtuoso in most skillsets required. I'm however only a mediocre writer but I know good writing when I see it. I have an even better ear for music I think but I was not in the band in highschool and never got into music (though there was a time when I definitely could've at least fronted an act or two ) ...which is why I chose DoM; which is, if I have to go it alone, it already has an original/lovingly crafted soundtrack.

I've already worked out everything I want to do. And my only insistence upon anyone who'd like to help is that everyone involved understand that I shall have the final say so on anything and everything. My preference would be to act as the director and software engineer. I of course want people to leave there mark, and just because I say I have final say doesn't mean in the slightest I would not be compromising or accommodating... it would just mean I get to draw the line, like it or leave it. That may sound bad, but IMO there's never been a good film or game that didn't have someone in this capacity. Anything done by committee is doomed to mediocrity and I just don't want to poor a lot of time into something that could go that way.

I have a good idea of all the changes to DoM I intend to make. The list is not super long, and not particular. There is probably the equivalent of four good sized new maps. At least two of which I've already prepared. I've also spent a lot of time cleaning up many of the maps. What I mainly need are writers, play testers, and graphics people. I think the writing in Wicklow game was pretty solid, if Johnny Park is still around he could maybe help. I'm not a fan of dialogue so it shouldn't be a huge job. If anyone wants to help with play testing, that's a lot bigger role than it sounds. It's basically also the playtesters' job to tweak the monster/consumable item layouts and stats etc. Graphically I intend to use as much as the Som assets as possible, including Tom's stuff in DoM and some stuff I like from DD. Some of Tom's stuff will need new textures or new objects because I think they were ripped from KF1 and never properly textured. I intend to add one full body piece of armor which I finally have concept art for which I like. It's a very important piece of armor to the game. And I want to develop a tree set with basically almost solid foliage which can be pieced together to create lush settings (basically the parts of the trees need to be separate objects so they can be placed in different arrangements) ...aside from these queerly evergreen trees everything else in the world of DoM is dead or dying... they play an important role in the game. Otherwise there are probably a few spot treatments and I would not mind if the outdoor set could be doubled in terms of flexibility.

If anything is sacred to you, you might not want to get involved. If you're militantly religious about religion X or even King's Field you might be offended. I want to draw onto and add to the mythology of KF and ST which is something DoM already does. And I want the entire game to be interpretable on a Jungian level in a very Wizard of Oz kind of way. I also intend to play up the occult themes in DoM which Tom swears he unwittingly attributed to the game by way of the black metal he listens to / now presumably denounces (or pleads ignorance too)

There is a very antihero theme similar to ST. Your main allies are (not unlovable) demonic forces, but you also pray to their more or less benevolent equivalents. The ultimate antagonists are neither good or bad in a worldly way but are Lovecraft like cosmic horrors which threaten to devour the world of DoM demons and their better halves alike. Kind of like in Elric tales the most truly evil force in the game is the equipment the player will come to rely on for power.

I overcome the monotony of Som's hack'n'slash on sedatives model by throwing as many monsters at the player as possible and not necessarily awarding the player for killing them. Mostly the challenge lies in the numbers however which are fairly involved. You have a lot of stats playing off one another and you're up against the clock because your mp drains over time and without it you become a sitting duck. It's really like your fatigue. If you choose to develop your MAG equivalent then you can go further distances/last longer but with less physical power and all around regeneration, but if you go the STR route you have lots of regen and stamina but must rest a lot. Afaik STR and MAG are the only innate stats that change thruout the game which effect the players performance. They play many roles however. There is also a lot going on with the status ailments which all play different roles than intended. There are also at least five different modes of travel depending on the weight of the players inventory everything except negligible "one of" items has a weight. The game is designed to not take long and feel like an arcade experience with lots of replay value with an emphasis on best time ranking.