Improving combat in the mod has been one of the major focuses of the update. All weapons have been adjusted in some way or another. New defensive abilities and moves are being implanted. The goal is to make the game play more focused and responsive. Rivensin’s game play was influenced by Quake, Resident Evil 4, and bits of Devil May Cry. The patch turns the dial a bit more towards the Resident Evil end with new aiming and defensive mechanics. Here are some highlights of the changes:
DEFENSE
Previously the ability to kick and stun enemies was only for the Ruin Blade by doing a combo or Finishing move. This has changed. The player can perform a high kick or round house kick with any weapon quickly. Kicks, pistol whips and other melee attacks can stun or knock down the enemy and give the player a brief moment to regather themselves during hectic times.
During very very early development of the mod, a shield spell was implanted… but quickly removed. I’m not quite sure why it never made it into the game. Well it’s now in. The player can activate the telekinetic shield holding down the shield key. While active the shield gauge will quickly dwindle and Scarlet will take no damage. When inactive it fills back up very slowly. The player can quicken the charge of the gauge via picking up the blue Anima shards dropped from slain enemies.
AIMING & HEAD SHOTS
As mentioned before, a walk aim system has been implanted similar to many modern shooters. While walking the player’s aim tightens greatly and camera zooms in a bit. Multiple fixes to the third-person cross hair system have been done further. The projectile offsets and cross hair’s sticking to objects issues have resolved. This makes performing head shots much easier.
Head Shots have been improved. The frozen rag dolls associated with them have been fixed. New sound fix and a larger blood fx have been added. Many vanilla enemies in Doom3 did not have support for it, or visually glitching from not having it. Those issues have also been resolved. While not all enemies have full visual support, the door is open to one day have it for all.
RUIN BLADE UPDATES
Work continues on improving the sword combat in the game. The missing damage decals on enemies and objects have been added. You’ll now visually see wounds and gashes on the enemy. Originally the alt fire/melee key for the sword was simply a duplicate of the main attack. The key is now used as a finishing move modifier. In the future I plan to expand it’s use.
Previously the Sword featured the ability to perform combos and finishing moves. This system has been altered and is still under examination. The main issues for the old system were the time to perform powerful attacks and many were duplicates. This system has adjusted to quicken performing these moves. It is very possible to take down very large enemies such Hell Knights and Archviles with just the sword in hand.
POLTERGEIST COMBAT
One of the highlights of the original release was fighting the ghostly poltergeist and nightmare imps. However you only encountered them a few times. In the upcoming build they will be prominent. As a herald of Death vanquishing the damned and sending spirits back to where they belong is you job. It’s only fitting that more are encountered to enforce this. Eventually their presence will become a key part in progressing through levels.
With Scarlet encountering more of these ghostly figures, her arsenal has received an upgrade. Previously the only way to destroy spirits was with the Ruin Blade. The alternate projectile modes for Advocate, Onslaught and the Ruin Bow can now damage them. The visual effects associated with them have changed to ghostly blues to fit the theme of the game better and a clue as to what they do.|
DOOM WEAPON UPDATES
Every weapon from Vanilla Doom3 has been ported to Rivensin. This was a much larger task than one would think. Almost all weapons needed script changes, modified animations and more for proper third person support. All weapons also feature a melee attack to briefly stun enemies. While none of the weapons yet feature new alternate firing modes, they all have flashlights attached. The lights can be toggled on and off.
A far more detailed list of the upcoming changes can be found HERE
I am still looking for help testing out the new gameplay additions. If interested send Revility a message on the mod db or just let me know in the comments section below or on the Rivensin moddb forums.
The Rivensin 2018 update for Dhewm 3 is scheduled for a late October/early November release for Windows, Mac, and Linux.
