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Good day to you all, Doomers!
@DarynS here, making this release post. @BarefootMapMaker has been slammed with work lately, but we have been able to make some tweaks and fixes to the maps that we did want to get out to you all.
Before we get to the changes, I'd like to make sure everyone is aware that Dragon Sector (The Remake) now requires the use of GZDoom 4.11 to work. This will prevent the crash that happens at startup on older versions of GZDoom. If you download just the PK3 file, you'll need to keep this in mind. However, if you download our Full Pack, this is included, so you don't have to think about it.
Other than that, this should be the last of the 0.5x series. I know we said that before, but there were a few bugs that crept in that we couldn't leave there. Plus, it gave us the opportunity to start sprinkling in the story cards throughout the maps. These should give you more insight as to what happened on this base. They are strictly optional. There's no items to collect, they're just messages left on computer screens for you to read.
We'd like to thank anyone who has downloaded the map set over the past few years, and we hope that you'll continue to stick with us as we learn and grow. We've still got a lot of fun and devilish ideas planned, so if you haven't already, give us a Watch on our main page.
Now then, here are the changes in version 0.53!
- GZDoom 4.11 is now required to run Dragon Sector. This is to avoid the crash when starting a new game.
- Tweaks to all of the maps to make the secrets a bit easier to spot.
- Changed the Supreme Fiend's BFG attack to a shattering projectile. The BFG made the encounter a bit too unfair.
- Added Brightmaps to the Supreme Fiend to make it easier to see when it goes into a darker area.
- Changed how the Friendly Security Bot and Drone work. They can no longer turn on you if you shoot them too much.
- The Security Bot, Drone, and Turrets no longer do damage to the player if they're caught in a crossfire.
- The Security Bot and Drone will stop moving is they are near the player, so it should be easier to have them follow you.
- Integrated CamTex's Flashlight Mod based on some player feedback.
- Started to add Lore to the maps. These take the form of Comm screens you can read, if you want to. We have always had story explanations for the map features we have. It seemed like a good time to start sharing those.
- Many minor bug fixes and optimizations to the maps.
As to the progress of Port Titan (Map 6), there isn't much to report. As I said, @BarefootMapMaker has been really busy with work, and working on a brand new map after a long day of driving is often the last thing on his mind. That said, we'll post some WIP screenshots when there's enough to show off.
Until then, we hope that this more polished version of the Map set will keep you all playing. We love to see your playthroughs, so if you do a video, link it in the comments!
We've also put together a Settings Guide for Project Brutality, which should help getting it set up for the best Dragon Sector experience.
Alright, enough waffling!
Rip and Tear!
@BarefootMapMaker & @DarynS
Hello again, everyone!
We're back today with another release. Version 0.52 also brings with it some changes to the requirements. Due to the scripting functions we are using, Dragon Sector (The Remake) now requires GZDoom 4.10 or above. Because of the crash bug we found in the last release, we're recommending using a 4.11 Development build, which as of now, has the crash bug fixed.
We realize that this is an inconvenience, so for the Full Pack we have bundled the current Dev Build as well as the current build of Project Brutality to make things easier. We hope that as we continue to evolve this project, that you'll continue along this ride with us. We did our best to try to retain legacy compatibility, but to do what we wanted to do and to not crash when you begin a game, it just wasn't possible.
This release should be the last of the 0.5x series, unless we run into another showstopper that needs to be addressed. Now, BarefootMapMaker has started work on Map 06, Port Titan. It's still in its early stages, but you can probably infer something from the name. We look forward to showing you how it's coming along, once it's fleshed out a bit more.
In the meantime, we'd like to thank everyone for the support, and for playing our maps.
Right then! On to the notes!
Improvements This Update:
Fixed a lot of performance issues with map05 - Nuclear Station.
--All monsters in monster traps have been set to dormant, only activating when called upon by player actions. This prevents a lot of CPU bogdown, as monsters only activate when they are needed. There are over 600 monsters in this map, and it was causing a lot of CPU overload. Which, as said, has been fixed.
Security Drones and Bots have been significantly improved. They now do line-of-sight checks, to make sure the player isn't going to be hit by their fire. This prevents a lot of unnecessary fragging by these assets, and it helps them to be used a lot more intelligently and with a lot more confidence. Special thanks goes to inkoalawetrust for his help with these improvements! We're still working on the Drones and Bots. The more we learn, the better they'll get!
We added a nice collection of “Materials” textures to our texture assets. Just tastefully added stuff, to help set the maps off more, without changing the overall feel of the maps. It is a noticeable improvement. Special thanks to Chilvence, KuriKai, Jacob Østergaard - email address(freelanzer@gmail.com), Reinchard, Tea Monster, Ron Goode, for the DHTP, to AndrewMRX for the displacement shader, and DraugraK & Berzerk Doomer for the PBR pack.
We compressed our entire texture library. This helped reduce the size of the pk3 by about 200MB and it helps significantly with texture load during play. Everyone should notice a significant uptic in performance. It is still recommended that everyone precache textures, however, as this always helps with performance when loading in large texture sets.
Made a few minor texture changes across all of the maps. Nothing earth shattering, just stuff changed here and here to help make the maps all look a little better.
Changed how the Rebreather works. It now only lasts for Five minutes instead of twenty. However, the rebreather's battery only depletes when you're using it. There is now also a timer on-screen to let you know how much time you have left. Picking up multiple rebreathers will still add to its time.
Gameplay Changes:
- Map01:
- changed the Blue Armor to Green Armor in the acid room of the Morgue. The Blue Armor is now in a secret area.
See the tutorial for instructions on how to get up and running.
Rip and Tear!
Update: 1/28/2023 - If you downloaded the Hotfix from yesterday, there was an error we missed. It is now fixed in this current update.
(Important note for this release: GZDoom seems to have introduced a bug that causes a crash at startup if you try to start our set from the game menu. As a result, for the “Full Pack”, we're releasing it with the previous version of GZDoom (version 4.7.1). For 4.8 and above, when you launch with your launcher (e.g. ZDL) just tell it to start at map01 and at what skill you wish to play at.
Also, we just learned you can go to Options > Display, and set the Screen Wipe Style from Melt to Burn. The set will load just fine with this change. Otherwise, GZDoom v 4.10.0 seems to run just fine. We'll try to let everyone know when the folks working on GZDoom resolve this bug. Now onto our release notes!
BarefootMapMaker found some performance issues in Map 5. They were substantial enough to warrant an update to the release. We're posting this as a hotfix, because there are no other changes, apart from this performance fix. We hope that this helps some of you out!
Regarding the GZDoom crash issue with 4.9/4.10. We've just been informed that the team has been able to nail down the cause of the issue. The fix will be in the 4.11 release of GZDoom. For the moment, the current workarounds still apply. Going forward this should not be an issue anymore.
Featured Changes:
Map05 is complete! “Nuclear Station” is undoubtedly, our most ambitious map yet. It was over six months in the making, and is easily twice as large as any of the other maps before it. It has nearly 500 tags, a great many of those specialized actions, many of these happening in interesting combinations. It will be a tough play for the casual Doomer. A full bucket of fun for the hardcore Doom-player!
- Changes in this edition:
- Map-Set-Wide Asset Updates:
- All of the plasma assets have had their plasma shots updated. They look way cooler now. And a lot more realistic.
- The Rebreather now makes bubbles while you're swimming with it on.
- Added some new textures.
- Changed the Intermission song. Keep it Dark by Ross Andrew McLean
- Added music credits to the intermission screens at the end of each map.
- Monster Updates:
- Updated the Supreme Fiend's seeker bombs with new sprites.
- Map Updates:
- Map01 – Executive Complex
- Received a bit of lighting work and a face lift to the executive suites and conference room areas.
- Changed out one of the security bots out for a drone, in one of the secrets (it was too hard to get the bot to follow you correctly from the area). Also, set its activation on a switch, giving players the choice whether to activate it.
- Changed the location of the bot in the Brig area. (It's still in the brig, but access to it is more straightforward (requires red key) and players are given the choice whether to activate it.)
- Map02 – Resources Reclamation
- Fixed a few textures.
- Changed how the bot is activated, giving players the choice whether to activate it.
- Map03 – Skyway
- Received a major face lift. A lot of detail has been added and a lot of sections improved. Give it a play and see for yourself. :)
- Map05 – Nuclear Station
- Fixed texture alignment issues.
- Changed the map's track to “Surrounded” by Hayden Folker
- Optimizations to improve performance. (v0.51a)
- Map-Set-Wide Asset Updates:
See the tutorial for instructions on how to get up and running.
Lock and Load!
(Important note for this release: GZDoom seems to have introduced a bug that causes a crash at startup if you try to start our set from the game menu. As a result, for the “Full Pack”, we're releasing it with the previous version of GZDoom (version 4.7.1). For 4.8 and above, when you launch with your launcher (e.g. ZDL) just tell it to start at map01 and at what skill you wish to play at.
Also, we just learned you can go to Options > Display, and set the Screen Wipe Style from Melt to Burn. The set will load just fine with this change. Otherwise, GZDoom v 4.10.0 seems to run just fine. We'll try to let everyone know when the folks working on GZDoom resolve this bug. Now onto our release notes!
It's only been a week, but we're back with another update. There were some things we wanted to clean up, including making some major changes to Map03. We think that the map is finally at the level of quality we originally wanted for it.
A slight update on the crash situation with GZDoom 4.8/9/10. We're in contact with the development team, and we're trying to nail down what the issue is. The Full version is not subject to this crash, as we're still bundling the older version of GZDoom with it. Once we know more, we'll let everyone know. In the meantime, check the note above for the workaround on the crashing versions.
Featured Changes:
Map05 is complete! “Nuclear Station” is undoubtedly, our most ambitious map yet. It was over six months in the making, and is easily twice as large as any of the other maps before it. It has nearly 500 tags, a great many of those specialized actions, many of these happening in interesting combinations. It will be a tough play for the casual Doomer. A full bucket of fun for the hardcore Doom-player!
- Changes in this edition:
- Map-Set-Wide Asset Updates:
- All of the plasma assets have had their plasma shots updated. They look way cooler now. And a lot more realistic.
- The Rebreather now makes bubbles while you're swimming with it on.
- Added some new textures.
- Changed the Intermission song. Keep it Dark by Ross Andrew McLean
- Added music credits to the intermission screens at the end of each map.
- Monster Updates:
- Updated the Supreme Fiend's seeker bombs with new sprites.
- Map Updates:
- Map01 – Executive Complex
- Received a bit of lighting work and a face lift to the executive suites and conference room areas.
- Changed out one of the security bots out for a drone, in one of the secrets (it was too hard to get the bot to follow you correctly from the area). Also, set its activation on a switch, giving players the choice whether to activate it.
- Changed the location of the bot in the Brig area. (It's still in the brig, but access to it is more straightforward (requires red key) and players are given the choice whether to activate it.)
- Map02 – Resources Reclamation
- Fixed a few textures.
- Changed how the bot is activated, giving players the choice whether to activate it.
- Map03 – Skyway
- Received a major face lift. A lot of detail has been added and a lot of sections improved. Give it a play and see for yourself. :)
- Map05 – Nuclear Station
- Fixed texture alignment issues.
- Changed the map's track to “Surrounded” by Hayden Folker
- Map-Set-Wide Asset Updates:
See the tutorial for instructions on how to get up and running.
Show those demons what you're made of!
(Important note for this release: GZDoom seems to have introduced a bug that causes a crash at startup if you try to start our set from the game menu. As a result, for the “Full Pack”, we're releasing it with the previous version of GZDoom (version 4.7.1). For 4.8 and above, when you launch with your launcher (e.g. ZDL) just tell it to start at map01 and at what skill you wish to play at. The set will load just fine. Otherwise, GZDoom v 4.10.0 seems to run just fine. We'll try to let everyone know when the folks working on GZDoom resolve this bug. Now onto our release notes!)
Changes in this version:
Map05 is complete! “Nuclear Station” is undoubtedly, our most ambitious map yet. It was over six months in the making, and is easily twice as large as any of the other maps before it. It has nearly 500 tags, a great many of those specialized actions, many of these happening in interesting combinations. It will be a tough play for the casual Doomer. A full bucket of fun for the hardcore Doom-player!
- Changes in this edition:
- New Monsters:
- Enhanced Cacodemon.
- We've done it again. We took the Enhanced Cacodemon from Realms667 and added our own flavors of spice to it. It's now a lot faster, a lot scarier, and a whole lot deadlier!
- Supreme Fiend!
- -Expect him to appear as a final boss in the end of map05!
- Cosmetic Adjustments:
- Made new splash screens for in between the levels – a unique one for every level transition!
- Map01:
- Changed the “UAC” hologram in the center of the map.
- Fixed a pair of lifts which had unnecessary lips.
- Map04:
- Changed the banner over the exit, to better reflect what the next map is going to be.
- Play Adjustments:
- Map03:
- Removed the Sewer Monsters from the secret alcove in the second big outdoor area.
- Changed an ammo pickup in a secret.
- Map04:
- Added a (rather obvious) secret that will enable players to raise the drawbridge in the final area – thus permitting them to avoid going up that long flight of stairs, if they want to.
- Made some minor adjustments to monster placement.
- Monster Drops:
- Made some minor adjustments to,
- -SuperDemon – he now has a chance to drop more items.
- -Flesh Spawn – now has a chance to drop a health bonus pickup.
- -CyberImp – now drops only rockets, not rocket packs. He will always drop at least one, with diminishing chances for three more.
- Asset Improvements:
- Rebreather no longer counts in item pickup percentages.
- We added a small bit of tracking ability to the plasma bullets fired by the Drone, Security Bot and Plasma Turret. They don't strictly home in on their targets, but they do appear as if the assets are better at aiming at their targets now.
- Drone and Bot are now less erratic in their movement.
- Added recoil to the rocket turret. It also now fires two rockets at once.
- Improved Drone death animation. It now bounces around, madcap, before exploding!
- Improved Bot explosion animation.
- We changed the soundtrack for map03 – Skyway. It is now “Dark Sci-Fi Cyberpunk” by Stringer Bell.
- New Monsters:
See the tutorial for instructions on how to get up and running.
Show those demons what you're made of!
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