Q: What is this whole Dark Mod thing about, then?

A: The Dark Mod is a total conversion mod for Doom 3, which aims to create a moody, stealth experience reminiscent of the 'Thief' games from Looking Glass Studios.

Q. So is it a game, or a toolset?

It's primarily a toolset. Our goal is to provide all of the textures, models, AI, and programming necessary to allow Fan Mission authors to create their own stories. We will be releasing some playable maps at the same time, both for fun and to demonstrate all the new features. Once the tools are released, we have plans to create our own campaign for release at a later date. We are all fans of stealth gaming, so we want to release the tools as quickly as we can so we can benefit from the creativity of mission authors out there!

Q: Since the editor for T3 has been released, will you give up on this mod?

A: Not at all. The Doom 3 engine is very versatile and highly moddable. It provides excellent graphics, a fast renderer, and the game runs well on lower-spec PCs, even though it is built to make use of technology still a few years away. There is very little you cannot do with the Doom 3 engine. By contrast the T3 editor has some built-in limitations, such as limited level sizes. Many people also find it quite difficult to use. Other benefits of the Doom 3 engine include in-game cutscenes, rope arrows, and swimmable water.

Q: What about copyright issues?

A: We will be making no references to any Thief trademarks or Eidos’ intellectual property. The Dark Mod is not Thief--there is no Garrett, no Keepers, no Mechanists, etc. However, since both Thief and The Dark Mod are based on a steampunk version of our own history, there are plenty of similarities.

Q: You’re not the makers of Thievery UT or Nightblade, are you?

A: No, that’s BlackCat games (www.thieveryut.com). Nor are we aiming to steal their multiplayer audience. The Dark Mod will be focused on single player fan missions and campaigns.

Q: So, when will you be ready?

A: We can't say. Right now we're aiming for a beta-release by the end of 2008, but it's too hard to predict exactly when we'll be done. The term 'finished' is also misleading--we will be continuing to work on features and extra assets even after we release the initial tools to the community.

Q: I have some super cool modding talent – I can make models, textures and code neural networks whilst stirring tea with one hand. How can I join the team?

A: Use the Forum link in the menu and visit the Help Wanted section.

Gameplay

Q: Is there a 3rd person view?

A: We have no plans to support 3rd person. A true stealth experience is a first person experience.

Q: Is wall-hugging included?

A: No. Without third person, it isn't really necessary.

Q: Will you have a central hub for missions, like the city in TDS?

A: We won't be including anything like this in the toolset. It is a possibility for a campaign release at a later date, however.

Q: What player equipment will be included/not included?

A: All the classic tools will be included, like the blackjack, short sword, bow and flashbomb. We already have fire, gas and water arrows, along with rope and noise arrows. Eventually we will be adding a few tools of our own design, like unique vine arrows and lanterns.

Q: Swimmable water?

A: You bet. It's already done, though we don't have animations yet.

Other

Q: I haven't played Doom3 so I don't know if its engine can render weather effects. Are you going to implement rain, snow and fog in Dark Mod? I just can't imagine Thief-like game without snow....

A: Definitely. The particle effects in D3 are most beautiful indeed. The alpha demo we released in January, Thief's Den, demonstrates rain effects. We also have nice-looking snow effects as well, which can be seen in our screenshot section.

Q. What factions are you planning to include?

A. First of all, the goal of The Dark Mod is to give FM authors as much freedom and flexibility as possible, so in most cases it will be up to THEM which factions they want to use. At the moment though, we plan to include models and voice-sets for the Builders (a religious organization that believes their mission is to 'civilize' the lands, and to build great works to honour their God), and the Pagans (primitive people living in small tribes and villages). The Inventor's Guild is a group of scientists and engineers. There is also a small but powerful Order of Mages. Check out the Gallery page in the website for pictures of these various groups, or visit our wiki for information on The Dark Mod universe.

Q: What about books? Will we be able to have different art for every page?

The creation of books will be a little more complicated than books in dromed, but you will be able to place just about anything that you want into it. There will be no limit to the number of pages/drawings/or even fonts (if as an FM author you want to implement your own fonts) that you can put into a book. Theoretically speaking you could create entire books that could be read, or blueprints, or notes with sketches.