Dark Engine Viewer

[Force]

Dark Engine Viewer
Dark Engine resource viewer program, based on the Force Tech game engine:
— Opens levels, object and character models, textures and sounds.
— Has a free camera mode for quick viewing of levels.
— Has a game mode (simulation mode), with the realization of basic gameplay mechanics.
— Plays built-in object animations and skeletal character animations.
— Opens textures in DDS (DXT*), PNG, TGA, PCX, GIF, JPG, BMP formats.
— Allows you to listen to WAV sounds supported by the original Dark Engine.
— Does not require installation and preconfiguration. Can be placed in any convenient place on the system.
— Runs on OpenGL 3.2 (there is a compatibility mode with OpenGL 2.1).

You can download the actual version on my website:
https://forcesw.com (more info here)

Also you can follow me on Twitter to get actual development info:
https://twitter.com/Force_Software

I''ll be very grateful if you share information about the project! Thank you!

[Force]

Congratulatory part of the previous message moved to this post:

Hey taffers!

Today, on the day of the twentieth anniversary of the second part of our favorite game, I am pleased to bring to your attention my development, which some time ago I already posted on the Russian-language Thief community forums: Dark Engine Viewer! This ambitious program was born thanks to the dream of my own game. And, of course, thanks to the active community members who selflessly explored the resources of the original game and helped me integrate their support into this, so far, little program. I hope you find it useful and interesting, and tell your friends about it .

[FenPhoenix]

Whoa impressive work!

[JarlFrank]

That's definitely gonna be useful. Thanks!

[gamophyte]

Was using for along while now, very helpful in remembering all the junk objects I would make trying things out in DEV. Lovely to see it has been getting updates and more abilities!

[aerosq]

GREAT!
Thank you!

[Niborius]

That's amazing, impressive work! This will become very useful for making screenshots too! I know NewDark is already amazing, but I hope one day the game will have things like SSAO as well by running on DX11 or DX12 for example.

One thing I did though is to force VSync for the program in my Nvidia control panel, because my graphics card was literally screaming probably because there's no frame limit.

[Darkness_Falls]

Heyy, that looks pretty awesome! Thanks for making

Happy Anniversary to our beloved game

[Force]

Thank you all for your kind words and reviews! I hope that together we will make this program even better and more convenient!

That's amazing, impressive work! This will become very useful for making screenshots too! I know NewDark is already amazing, but I hope one day the game will have things like SSAO as well by running on DX11 or DX12 for example.

Yes! I have already posted a challenge puzzle on Dark Fate, from which mission this screenshot:



Though it already guessed... :P, but you can try to guess too

In general, if there were SSAO in New Dark, dynamic shadows and more real physics, at least as in Thief 3 or Half-Lief 2, this project would not have happened. I really wanted to see and play the original Thief with all these and other effects. Yes, there is a Dark Mod, but it's still a different game and it feels differently...

One thing I did though is to force VSync for the program in my Nvidia control panel, because my graphics card was literally screaming probably because there's no frame limit.

It is and is even on, but yes, it is such that the video card starts to fly away, especially on massive missions. There is still a lot of work to improve the rendering system.

[therealfarfetchd]

This looks very promising so far!

Any plans on making this open source?

[Marzec]

Wonderful. How do you load PCX textures onto walls? Do you convert them on-the-fly to something else?

[Force]

therealfarfetchd
Yes, I planned to publish the source code (or show it on request) when the work on the viewer is finished. Although for those who can help in the development, I am ready to provide it right now. Currently, help is needed in describing Dark Engine data structures and how to use them, in particular, model animation data.

[Force]

Marzec
I just unpack it as usual image data (like GIF or BMP) and send it to OpenGL. Yes, stb_image, that I use, can't handle pcx file, I had to search the network for a way to open these files.

[ZylonBane]

This thread should be in the Editor's Guild.

[Force]

ZylonBane
It’s hard to determine, actually. Now - yes, rather the Editors' Guild, but in the future it will become more like the OPDE, which is located in this section.

[Force]

Actual build:
Thief 2: The Metal Age 20th Anniversary build 2020‒03−28 13:00 MSK (UTC+3:00)


Last changes

2020‒03−28 13:00 MSK (UTC+3:00) Thief 2: The Metal Age 20th Anniversary Edition
+ improved mechanism for determining directories with game resources. Now the mission, located inside any directory of the game, easily finds the path to resources.
+ improved texture search engine for models. Added support for nested directories with language name (though now only "english" is being searched for so far).
+ added support for replaceable textures described by the TxtRepl r* parameter, where * is the texture number [0, 3].
+ increased maximum exposure limit (to increase brightness with the "+" and "-" keys).
+ now Thief 1 missions display high-poly models (if available).
+ added support for opening a program in the desired directory by passing a parameter on the command line or by dragging and dropping the directory onto the program window.

Updated fist post and Added version history there.

[ZylonBane]

...in the future it will become more like the OPDE...

Abandoned?

[Force]

ZylonBane
OPDE still helps and inspires programmers to apply their skills in such complex projects.

[zappenduster]

This could be a nice addition to ThiefEdit which (dis)plays text(ure)s and sounds.

But ... DL'ed it and tried both dark_engine_viewer_legacy.exe and dark_engine_viewer.exe, the result was ...

[2020-04-01 18:34:39] creating Stash
[2020-04-01 18:34:39] creating Window
[2020-04-01 18:34:39] ERROR! Fatal exception catched: Window error callback: WGL: The driver does not appear to support OpenGL
[2020-04-01 18:34:39] Program finished!
[2020-04-01 18:34:39] destroying Stash
[2020-04-01 18:34:39] destroying Log

[Force]

zappenduster
Yes, I was offered to make a texture view mode.
If you really need it, I can add. There is nothing complicated about it. Let's just say this will be another mode of viewing models. I can suggest overlaying the texture on the plane, cube and ball with switching modes.

We will someday get to the sounds too .

WGL: The driver does not appear to support OpenGL

Wow! What system are you using? What is your computer configuration? Graphics card?

[Force]

Actual build:
Thief 2: The Metal Age 20th Anniversary build 2020‒04−06 14:30 MSK (UTC+3:00)

Last changes

2020‒04−06 14:30 MSK (UTC+3:00) Thief 2: The Metal Age 20th Anniversary Edition
+ fixed display of file names and directories in the navigation list, they are no longer wrapped to a new line.
+ LEGACY HARDWARE mode now requires OpenGL version 1.0 instead of 2.1. But work in this mode has not been tested. I would be grateful for the response.
+ added glow of objects that have the Self Illumination property.
+ added support for the Anim Light property. In some modes, it affects Self Illumination property of objects. Full animation of this property has not yet been implemented, only the initial state is applied.
+ added support for languages specified in the dark config file. Resources will be searched in the appropriate subdirectories at the priority specified in darkinst.cfg or install.cfg.

This is last Anniversary build. All following builds will be in a different file. Feast assembly is fixed on this build.

zappenduster
Especially for you, I lowered the required version of OpenGL in Legacy version to 1.0.
But I have nowhere to test the ability to run in this mode (dx8 hardware needed). Therefore, I will be glad if someone leaves a response.

Thanks!

[Force]

zappenduster
What graphics card do you have? If its integrated, maybe you should update drivers?

For integrated graphics, go to your motherboard manufacturer's site and download the driver for your motherboard and OS.

Well, without advanced information about your system I can't say anything more useful.

[Force]

If it will be more convenient for someone, I do not mind transferring this topic to another section.

[Necrohowl]

Hey, just out of curiosity, that third screenshot is from a mission? If so, which one?

[Force]

Necrohowl
This is a Zontik's Patriot.