Articles - Brutal Doom: Kickass Edition mod for Doom II

Hello again, Doomers!

Good news! v0.50 of Dragon Sector (The Remake) is now available!

Feel free to check out the rest of this post, it's got some fun stuff in it, too.

It’s been a little while since our last update, so we felt it was a good time to make a post here and let you all know what’s been going on with Dragon Sector since our last release in October.

Before we get to that, though, there are a couple of links we’d like to share with you.

Next, I did a Q&A with @BarefootMapMaker about Dragon Sector, which will shed some light on some of the thinking behind the project and how we approach its making. It’s a pretty substantial read, so you may want to set some time aside. But if you’re interested in knowing more about the backstory of the mod, it will be well worth your time.

Dragon Sector (Remake) Personal Spotlight

Now, the news that you clicked this link for.

We had taken a break from working on the maps to recharge. We are now back at it, and Map 5 is progressing quite well. While he’s been at home, @BarefootMapMaker has been working on the map. I have to say that what I’ve seen taking shape over the past few days looks great! It’s been a real treat to watch it take shape.

This large industrial area manages to feel vast and claustrophobic at the same time. You get a definite sense that you’re in someplace huge, but the walkways make it feel cramped. There are also lots of opportunities for using cover to help you deal with monsters.

As always, here are a few screenshots to show you what it’s looking like at the moment.

I've been working on some monster modifications. There are a lot of monsters out there online, ready to use, and I always appreciate when folks let people use and modify their creations. It’s something that’s been part of the Doom Community ethos since the beginning.

That said, we want the monsters in Dragon Sector to feel unique, so we figure out what we want them to do, and then I go about making it happen. You might recognize a monster, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s going to behave as you remember it. We feel this helps keep things interesting.

We’re looking forward to bringing you this next map. We really want to thank everyone for downloading and playing our mod, and for leaving feedback. While we may not act on all of it, you can be sure that we are hearing you.

That’s it for now. Have a great one!

@BarefootMapMaker & @DarynS

Hello, everyone,

Today we're releasing version 0.43 of Dragon Sector (The Remake). While Map 05 is still in the works, we've made some adjustments and fixes to some of the other maps, which we felt warranted an update.

Here's a rundown of the changes in v0.43.

• Updated Liquid Texture Pack to v6.8.
• Improved security hardware assets hostility toward the player. Shooting the drone, bot, or turrets now has some wiggle room. A single shotgun blast should not set them off, now.
• Added an audible alert to indicate how close to turning the security hardware is. There are three tones of increasing intensity.
• If you don't shoot the assets while they're alert for a period of time, their alertness level will drop.
• Map03 - fixed a bug that prevented players from achieving 100% secrets
  • made a few cosmetic and gameplay improvements
• Map04 - fixed a bug that could prevent the player from continuing progression (fixed the cyberdemon trap).
  • made a few cosmetic and gameplay improvements

As for Map 05, it'll be a while longer. Things have been pretty hectic, and the time to sit down and really dig into the last sections of Map 05 just haven't been there. Rest assured, it's still coming, and it's going to be super fun!

We're glad that everyone is enjoying the maps. We for sure put a lot of painstaking work into them, into detail especially, and into gameplay.

We've heard some comments, though, that some of the features in our maps, don't work well with some mods.

We're really sorry to hear that, but...

We are only two developers, and we're doing this in our spare time. I chose Project Brutality for my design philosophy because I really enjoy playing it. It also permits me to pursue only one flow in design, making the project more streamlined, for when we do have time to work on it.

That said, while Dragon Sector may work with some other mods, we are designing it specifically for Project Brutality. Many of its features and gameplay challenges are designed specifically for that platform. We apologize if this makes if difficult to play with other mods, or in some areas, unplayable, but we don't see ourselves changing this design philosophy any time in the near future.

We appreciate everyone's feedback, and we're very glad most seem to be enjoying our efforts, but there's only so much two guys can do.

Enjoy the maps! And all comments and questions are always welcome!

Now I'm fairly certain that most of You have seen some of the stuff being worked on for Kickass Edition's Next addendum Which, unfortunately, will be the Last update to the Mod.

I know this might seem a little bit sad knowing that Development is finally coming to an end, and even then, There is a chance that the Next addendum might not get finished, I would like to reassure you that Me and a small team of Some friends plan to Bring Back Kickass edition in The near future, possibly around Mid-to-late 2023, Instead of the Original BDv21, we will be Giving the mod a much needed Update, using BLOODWOOLF333's Community Expansion Fork for BD as the base this Time around, So, while Kickass Edition might be coming to an end NOW, it won't fully be gone forever, All I can really say so far is to Keep your eyes Peeled for whenever my Team can continue Our endeavours and further benefit our Community...

Hello again, Doomers!

It's been a good while since our last update, but things haven't been sitting still. We've been hard at work on a bunch of improvements to the existing maps while getting ready to start on Map 5.

@BarefootMapMaker wanted to dedicate some good, uninterrupted time to working on Map 5. Now that's he's on vacation, that time is available, so the ideas that he's been itching to put down on the grid can finally come out.

We've also added a new Security Bot to the Dragon Sector base's roster of helpful assets. While it's still a work-in-progress, it's working more-or-less the way we want it to. There will be some visual tweaks and damage adjustments that will probably happen after this release, but for the most part, it's ready to help you fend off the host of intruders that have taken over the base. Just don't get in its way while it's firing. Just even a second or two in its line of fire, will cost you a lot of health and armor! And, as with all of Dragon Sector's security assets, shooting them too many times will cause them to see you as a threat, and act accordingly. In which case, you're likely to die just as fast as the baddies.

With this release, we'll also be putting out a full package which will contain everything needed (aside from the Doom II wad) to get up and running on Windows. The regular pk3 file isn't going anywhere, though. We're just adding this option for those who want everything they need to play our maps without having to go to a lot of bother.

We would like to thank Agent Ash, Barry Burton, Cherno, Marisa, and the rest of the fine folks on the Zdoom discord for sharing their knowledge and time. You guys have been super helpful and we appreciate it enormously!

A special Thank You also goes out to the content creators who have played our maps and made videos of them. So thank you AndroidFerret, Doom EX, Doomslayer117, DraugraK, Martinoz, and RatteKing, to name the most recent. Check out their channels! They make cool videos!

That's all for now. We hope that you enjoy the many changes and improvements to the current maps, and we're looking forward to bringing you Map 5!

Featured Changes:

• A new Security Bot has been added to Dragon Sector's assets.
• Updated Liquid Texture Pack to v6.7.
• MAP01
  • There is now a blue carded door that will let you return to the landing area if you need to get back there.
  • Replaced the Captured Marines with Security Bot placements.
  • Adjusted some item and monster placements.
  • A number of visual fine-tuning and fixes.
• MAP02
  • Overhauled the reservoir area, making it much better looking.
  • Added a lift to the tower. You can still make the swim from below, but logically it made sense that the base personnel would have a way to get up there.
  • Added a Bot in place of the Captured Marine.
• MAP03
  • This map has seen the most changes of the four. There have been a number of visual changes made that make the map feel more cohesive with the rest of the set.
  • Monster and Item placement have also had a lot of adjustments.
  • Some Security Bots were being unloaded, hmmmm....
• MAP04
  • The walkway area to the control room has received a face-lift. It looks a lot better, now.
  • Added a bot to that area.
  • Sped the doors up so that you don't have to wait to close them anymore.
  • Fixed an issue where you couldn't open one set of doors while the others were in operation.

Good Day, Doomers!

After several months of work, we're finally ready to release Dragon Sector (The Remake) version 0.40. With @BarefootMapMaker's hectic work schedule, this update has taken longer than we'd expected. He's been getting a bit done whenever he wasn't too wiped out from driving all day or night to concentrate on it.

For my part, I've been going back and forth with him over the phone, bouncing ideas between us, and implementing what I can. This is a work-in-progress for both of us, and we're both learning new things as we're making this mod. So, while not everything we want to do is possible now, as we learn more, it will be.

Okay, enough with the preamble. Let's get to the update itself.

First and foremost is the release of Map 04, the “Fuel Refinery”. It's an engineering level that draws inspiration from “The Focus” from Doom II. The most obvious of these nods are the shutters at the beginning of the map. These are decidedly more violent than those in the original, setting the tone that something Very Bad has happened here.

The map's key progression is also similar to The Focus, where only the Blue and Red keys are required to progress through the map. However, the Yellow key will let you gain access to supplies that will make things much easier for you.

Dealing with fuels and other toxic materials is not a clean job. The map starts to take on a darker and more dirty aesthetic in the deeper sections.

We've also got a tweak to the friendly drone and turrets. Both of them are more reliable allies, now, since we were able to dial in their behavior. However, you don't want to shoot them. You are not cleared to be on this base. Shooting the drones and turrets will cause them to see you as an intruder, and you'll be forced to destroy them if that happens. There is a threshold, so it shouldn't happen accidentally. It's another fun little wildcard element that you'll need to pay attention to.

Finally, we'd like to say this is our most intricate and detailed and technically advanced map yet. We added in some special lighting effects to enhance the atmosphere, and unique fixtures like the toggleable doors and cyclable airlock. There is also a ton of complex layering of 3D Floors happening here. I tried to look at how it's done, but my brain wanted to explode when I looked at the map in UDB. Still, @BarefootMapMaker can understand it, and boy, has he done something impressive.

All of this stuff is added to meticulous monster placement, to create some fun, challenging encounters. If you haven't picked up on it by now, setting up monster infighting is a key strategy to our maps. There are numerous opportunities in this map to do exactly that.

Okay, we know you want to go play the maps now, so we'll leave you with one more thing. We hope you enjoy these maps. They're a ton of fun to make, but they also take a ton of time to do so. So please, watch this mod, share it, talk about it to your friends, make YouTube videos about it. Help us get the word out. We'd really appreciate it.

Above everything else, though. Have fun, and stay safe!

And here's a video I just recorded of this awesome map!

@BarefootMapMaker & @DarynS