[Mod] Beware the Dark [bewarethedark]

[Ben]

Version 0.3.3 released

No new features, so just a version number bump at the patch level. (Then again, I never promised a rigid versioning scheme. Maybe I should at some point.)

The only change is in configurability: There's a new file "bewarethedark.default.conf" which contains the entire configuration. To configure the mod without your changes being clobbered by or blocking a mod update, copy this file to "bewarethedark.conf" within the mod folder, or within a world folder for world-specific values. Then modify those copies. The three configs are merged together in that order; see the .default.conf for details.

I plan to use this configuration system for all my other mods, and would be grateful for any feedback!

Other than that, I do consider this mod feature complete for now, and am looking to move it to "released". There is one more code change I'd like to do, but that should be it.

[Ben]

Version 0.3.4 released

And here's the code change I mentioned: the "persistent player attributes" part is no longer a "mixin", but a regular part of the mod.

[Gerald]

I like the idea and the implementation seems good.

I tried it (i do not know if it is version 0.3.3 or 0.3.4, you should update the primary post).
I noticed the sanity changes quick, while i think of insanity as an slowly increasing problem, which is hardly cured, so i changed the damage in the config (nice feature!). The problem is that the "real damage" is as bad as the "sanity damage". If there is a healing hunger or armor mod insanity is not deadly anymore. Could you add a possibility to scale or set the "real damage" or a "instakill" option, which means a player dies immediatly if he has no sanity.

I am thinking of a mod nonreturnable extinguishing torches. (I think, it is easy enough to be my first real mod.)
It could be an interristing combination with the charcoal mod.


I wondered the sanity is not reset on respawn.

[Ben]

I like the idea and the implementation seems good.

Thanks!

I noticed the sanity changes quick, while i think of insanity as an slowly increasing problem, which is hardly cured, so i changed the damage in the config (nice feature!). The problem is that the "real damage" is as bad as the "sanity damage". If there is a healing hunger or armor mod insanity is not deadly anymore. Could you add a possibility to scale or set the "real damage" or a "instakill" option, which means a player dies immediatly if he has no sanity.

Ah yes, you're right – the two "damages" are quite coupled. I thought about this, and I think the most flexible solution would be to have another table (optional) with damage values when sanity is depleted. I'll have a look when I get around to it.

I am thinking of a mod nonreturnable extinguishing torches. (I think, it is easy enough to be my first real mod.)
It could be an interristing combination with the charcoal mod.

Yes, definitely. Anything where the player has to manage light and darkness. Good luck with the mod!

I wondered the sanity is not reset on respawn.

Oops. If this is the case (can't check now), that's a bug. Thanks for pointing it out!

[Ben]

Version 0.3.5 released

Just confirmed: sanity did indeed not reset on respawn. Fixed, and thanks Gerald!

[Ben]

Version 0.3.6 released

Another bugfix: the sanity loss / damage had not been scaled by the tick time (default 0.5 seconds) as it should. I've fixed this, meaning the damage per second should not change if the tick time changes.

However, I did not adjust the damage values in the default configuration file. This means that if you're using Beware The Dark, and have not changed anything, you should now lose and regenerate sanity (and damage) at half the former speed.

I left these slower values because I they do seem closer to what I had in mind, and I also fear I may have set higher values during development just to "see something change". I'd be happy to hear what other users think about the old and current sanity and damage speeds. If there's enough interest, I could also add a flat multiplier in the configuration for quick play style switching.

@Gerald: I'm still working on your request about separating damage from sanity loss. Watch this space ;-)

[Ben]

Version 0.4.0 released

Well, that was fast :-P

The configuration now also defines a table "insane_damage_for_light". This can be used to adjust the (HP) damage when a player's sanity is completely gone. Missing values default to the original "damage_for_light" values.

For example, to cause insane players to lose health even in "safe" light levels, fill the table with 15 entries of 1.0 each. To cause instant death when running out of sanity, fill the table with 9999.0.

[Echoes91]

This made its way into my Minesim subgame among with your thirsty mod.
Thank you for the great work!

[minerdudetest]

Great mod! Works with MineClone 2 without changes. Thank you!

[Christian_Soldier]

Beware the Dark mod

In Other Well-Known Voxel Games™, darkness is dangerous because it spawns monsters. In MineTest (specifically, minetest_game), darkness just makes it more likely for you to walk into a tree.

This mod changes that in a very direct fashion: you are damaged by darkness, the darker the damager. Managing light and dark becomes a first-class game mechanic, and "surviving your first night" just got real. So craft those torches!

Current behavior

If you stand in a node with light level 7 or less, you slowly lose your sanity, represented by a "sanity meter" (a line of eyes). The darker it is, the more sanity you lose per second, and when it runs out, you get direct damage instead.

Stand in bright light to replenish sanity. Sunlight is best, but standing directly on a torch should help, too.

Future plans

None at the moment.

Version: 0.4.0
License: Code LGPL 2, Textures CC-BY-SA
Repository: GitHub

Download:

• Version 0.4.0 (.zip)

Spoiler

• Version 0.3.6 (.zip)
• Version 0.3.5 (.zip)
• Version 0.3.4 (.zip)
• Version 0.3.3 (.zip)
• Version 0.3.2 (.zip)
• Version 0.3.1 (.zip)
• Version 0.3.0 (.zip)
• Version 0.2.1 (.zip)
• Version 0.2.0 (.zip)
• Version 0.1.1 (.zip)
• Version 0.1.0 (.zip)

Dependencies:

• hudbars by Wuzzy (optional)
• hud by BlockMen (optional)

Sounds epic! I'll definitely try this.

[dawgdoc]

Brings to mind Amnesia: The Dark Descent

[minerdudetest]

@Ben: Hello! I have improved the mod with few fixes. I have pushed the changes in pull request! thank you!

[voxelproof]

Beware the Dark mod

Future plans

None at the moment.

I'm not a fan of horror with few exceptions in literature, and I certainly won't play the game which lurks in your interesting mod, but if you are interested after all in further development of this idea let me give you some tips.

As it is now, the mod is esencially a specific survival game where a player controls light-dependent character (maybe he breaths thanks to some weird kind of photosynthesis) and is deprived of uncertainty which characterises every good horror setting of a fictional world. To give such a game grim ambience you should consider changing the way in which darkness 'attacks' the in-game character and subdue a player to the feeling of permanent danger which increases significantly whenever darkness covers the world. Such property of darkness should consist in a certain probability of being affected by the dark and also in the speed of such deterioration of character's health, usually slow but sometimes so rapid that without a nearby source of strong light the game ends in respawn. This should also be accompanied by some scary sound effect, not loud, but characteristic enough to induce feeling of imminent danger.

But putting this sort of evil spirit into a game is not enough to make it rewarding. Feeling of constant menace will become boring or tiresome with time (I'm afraid this is true to a much larger extent with the present game mechanics of your mod) and to entice larger engagement of a player you can give him a chance to defeat the invisible force, for example by attaching it to some mysterious dangerous artifact which, when found and destroyed will free the world from the gloomy clouds of the forces of the night.

This is roughly based on the short story "Hunter of the Dark" by Lovecraft which btw is considered by some as the most terryfying tale ever written.

As for me I'd be happy to see the mod "Beware the Cold", which would be even more scary given it would be much more relevant to what people experienced in my country, when sometimes going outdoors at -40 degrees centigrade resulted in death after walking just a few hundred meters (such accidents occured about ten years ago during extremely cold winter), even when victims were sober and young.

[Christian_Soldier]

Why are you guys focusing on making this into some sort of horror mod? Sure, it can be used in horror maps, but what about just using it as another challenge of survival in MT? It could also be used for so many other things as well. It could be used as kind of like a toxic gas that is only harmful in the dark. It can also be used on a moon map where it represents cold which is only at night.

[theFox]

There should be laughing and other creepy sounds the more you loose sanity.

[Christian_Soldier]

There should be laughing and other creepy sounds the more you loose sanity.

Please consider my previous comment.

[voxelproof]

There should be laughing and other creepy sounds the more you loose sanity.

Please consider my previous comment.

Although personally I prefer playing Minetest in purely relaxed way, with no hurry needed to gather resources, fight enemies and all that stuff, I think that a good survival may contain certain elements characteristic for horror gameplay, and then the feeling of approaching danger can be amplified by some appropriate sounds. In fact I know many mountain tales about true events that are nothing short of real horror, all the more terryfying that they are all real.

It would be very interesting if someone made a version of this mod featuring cold with respect to the altitude and snow conditions. In such case a player's character should loose health also during daytime if stayed on snow without nearby source of warmth.

[Christian_Soldier]

There should be laughing and other creepy sounds the more you loose sanity.

Please consider my previous comment.

Although personally I prefer playing Minetest in purely relaxed way, with no hurry needed to gather resources, fight enemies and all that stuff, I think that a good survival may contain certain elements characteristic for horror gameplay, and then the feeling of approaching danger can be amplified by some appropriate sounds. In fact I know many mountain tales about true events that are nothing short of real horror, all the more terryfying that they are all real.

It would be very interesting if someone made a version of this mod featuring cold with respect to the altitude and snow conditions. In such case a player's character should loose health also during daytime if stayed on snow without nearby source of warmth.

I agree that it would enhance gameplay if it included creepy sounds and such, but what if someone just wanted a mellow, relaxing version of it where you're not at the edge of your seat? What if someone (like me) just wants a simple add-on to where you get hurt by darkness, without it being creepy?

[voxelproof]

I agree that it would enhance gameplay if it included creepy sounds and such, but what if someone just wanted a mellow, relaxing version of it where you're not at the edge of your seat? What if someone (like me) just wants a simple add-on to where you get hurt by darkness, without it being creepy?

OK, I see your point :) So kinda relaxed fight to survive. "Gentleman always walks and never runs" ;) Anyway good that someone made use of darkness to enhance the gameplay.

[Christian_Soldier]

Anyway good that someone made use of darkness to enhance the gameplay.

I agree. :)

[voxelproof]

In fact I know many mountain tales about true events that are nothing short of real horror, all the more terryfying that they are all real.

If someone is interested what this is about, here's a short list of unexplained and eerie accidents that took place in the Tatra Mountains (all are well documented).

1. In 1925 prosecutor K. Kasznica, his wife and 12-years old son went on a long trip to the High Tatras. The route included traversing Lodovy Stit's (Ice Peak) slope. Suddenly the weather conditions became severe with wind so strong as to make further advance impossible. At the advice of a rescuer who accompanied them they took shelter behind a large boulder. Despite they were all in good health all men quickly lost consiousnees and then died. The only survivor was the woman. Autopsy showed injuries of internal organs characteristic for suffocation. The most probable cause of the fatal accident was spontaneous appearance of area of extremely low pressure due to the aerodynamic turbulence caused by the strong wind.

2. 15.11.1979, 15.20. Pilot of SP-3130 glider T. Wajda, in good health flying in perfectly fair weather at the altitude of 5800 m above Tatras hits invisible obstacle. The glider is completely destroyed and the pilot survives only thanks to his parachute. A few months later another pilot flying over the same area experiences sudden loss of conciousness. He survives only thanks to coming round near the earth's surface. Both gliders were of a very solid construction, proved in many international challenges and different weather conditions. Possible explanation is so-called "air waves" forming above sharp mountain range.

3. The list of tourists who mysteriously disappeared in Tatras is so long that it prompted some scientists to propose a theory of pit-traps, concealed microcaves that sorta 'swallow' unfortunate travellers. However it doesn't explain all strange events: climber Ernest Weiss disappeared in 1909. His body was found only four years later near the well-searched path to the Rysy peak. A very similar accident happened to the Czech tourist Karel Kozak in 1921. But the list of people who vanished without trace and whose bodies were never recovered goes in hundreds (when included all the not documented stories told by the local people going back to the 19th century and earlier).

4. Perhaps the most spectacular event of this kind took place in 1999 when a woman who took to a relatively easy mountain trail in West Tatras disappeared -- however not exactly 'without trace'. She left her backpack.

But what is truly shocking about this particular case is that the woman walked on fresh snow (it was winter) and tracking her was very easy for a team of three rescuers who set out for the search. Her traces suddenly discontinued exactly where her backpack with all documents, money and provision lay on the snow as if she literally was annihilated by some otherwordly force. There are no proposed explanations of this accident which is perhaps the most uncanny one in all the history of the Tatra Rescue Service.

5. In White Creek Valley there're rich deposits of uranium ore which was excavated by the Soviets in the 50's. Sometimes the levels of radon near the shafts were so high that caused acute radiation syndrome among unaware tourists. The number of deaths is uncertain but what is sure, before securing these spots at least a few people died due to the radon poisoning.

6. Perhaps one of the most terryfying places in Tatras is Drege's Gully. It's a 'natural trap', a terrain formation leading unaware of imminent death tourists astray into a "path of no return". Some victims committed suicide jumping to their deaths in desperation when got stuck at the edge of a 600-ft precipice which ends this fatal descend, without possibility to go back. Large number of victims is caused by an optical illusion which makes this ominous downward path appear easy and connected to the base of the range.

And many, many more...

If someone wants some "true horror" mountain stories of this kind then he should definitely start with perhaps the best known one:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyatlov_Pass_incident

[texmex]

These are inspiring tales, voxelproof! I can imagine a game of polar expeditions in vast planes of arctic stillness where signs of earlier fatal expeditions haunts the players’ sanity.

[voxelproof]

These are inspiring tales, voxelproof! I can imagine a game of polar expeditions in vast planes of arctic stillness where signs of earlier fatal expeditions haunts the players’ sanity.

I hope someday we will make a good survival game where a player fights not with mobs, but more or less realisically modelled natural conditions. It doesn't need much work to have such a game just now; what is to be done yet is some improvement in physics of movement (each step should act as punching a node), introducing hypothermal exhaution and tiredness, making swimming in cold water really dangerous. Btw it would provide incentive to built rafts, as far as I know there's no such motivation now.

In "Eden" or, in general, in "Heaven" tweaking of Gael's valleys mg there're lots of barren landscapes, mostly snowy plateaus but sand deserts also. And, what's the most interesting, there indeed seem to be some 'traces' of some sort of hidden activity within these worlds, trails of unknown creatures, large statues which seem to depict some notable events in history of a mysterious civilisation, rocks which strongly resemble ruins of small castles and outposts.

And that's not all. I am going to touch the subject of angels of Eden in the future, it might be very interesting especially for those with less rational mindset ;) What I can say for now is that users should be careful when flying across Eden :)

[Christian_Soldier]

These are inspiring tales, voxelproof! I can imagine a game of polar expeditions in vast planes of arctic stillness where signs of earlier fatal expeditions haunts the players’ sanity.

I hope someday we will make a good survival game where a player fights not with mobs, but more or less realisically modelled natural conditions. It doesn't need much work to have such a game just now; what is to be done yet is some improvement in physics of movement (each step should act as punching a node), introducing hypothermal exhaution and tiredness, making swimming in cold water really dangerous. Btw it would provide incentive to built rafts, as far as I know there's no such motivation now.

In "Eden" or, in general, in "Heaven" tweaking of Gael's valleys mg there're lots of barren landscapes, mostly snowy plateaus but sand deserts also. And, what's the most interesting, there indeed seem to be some 'traces' of some sort of hidden activity within these worlds, trails of unknown creatures, large statues which seem to depict some notable events in history of a mysterious civilisation, rocks which strongly resemble ruins of small castles and outposts.

And that's not all. I am going to touch the subject of angels of Eden in the future, it might be very interesting especially for those with less rational mindset ;) What I can say for now is that users should be careful when flying across Eden :)

I think that's a very good idea. Having the game be more of a challenge to survive the different landscapes and biomes is very interesting and sounds exciting. I think we should have hazards that are even in the shape of mountains and such, and maybe even shorten the amount of time we can hold our breath.

I think having Eden and angels in Eden is also a good idea, but maybe there should also be a way to disable the generation of it in case someone doesn't want there to be an Eden. I personally would keep Eden enabled. I think angels in Eden are a very good idea because, in the Bible, it says there was an angel guarding the entrance to keep poeple from entering. Plus, it would be really cool :) .

[vincentux]

Hello,
I wanted to test this mod, but I have this error (see attachment).
The mod folder names it: minetest-bewarethedark
Can someone explain this to me?
Windows 7
Minetest 5.0.1