Articles - Brutal Doom: Kickass Edition mod for Doom II

As the summary states, the Final addendum for Kickass Edition has Been released, It is so hard to believe that the mod's development has finally come to an end, but I'm happy and thankful for everyone who has shown their love and support for what was quite literally my first ever mod, I'm so glad that I stuck around with this mod, rather than leaving it on v3 (As I intended to do originally), As keeping myself working on this mod has been a stressful, but rewarding experience.

At this point, I think I've added so much shit, that I don't think I could add anything else to the mod, and if that doesn't tell you something about how much I've added in, then I don't know what will...

We’re very pleased to finally bring Version 0.60 of Dragon Sector (The Remake) to you today! Before we get into the details, we want to share one critical piece of information.

If you have been using Project Brutality and you have been updating from build to build, you will likely run into an issue where upon loading the maps, your framerate will start normally but then begin quickly degrading, slowing to a crawl in performance, within the first few seconds of play.

There seems to be some sort of interaction between our mapset and Project Brutality’s more recent Staging builds. We are aware of it, and so are Project Brutality’s developers. Neither of us have been able to yet, nail down what is causing it.

However, there is an easy fix for this and it should only need to be done once.

Go to your Documents\My Games\GZDoom folder and delete the gzdoom.ini file. GZDoom will create a new one, automatically, the next time you start it. The game should then run normally. Unfortunately, you will need to rebind your controls and adjust your preferred graphical settings, after you delete the old ini file. A bit of a pain, but Project Brutality’s developers are working to find the problem.

New Map: Facilities Support

Map 6 of Dragon Sector (The Remake) is now ready for release! This is an intricate, yet fast-paced map which will put all of your skills to the test. At the end of it, you’ll be faced with a new Boss Encounter that will make you bring your game, or else! Also, this map is moody, atmospheric, and features some very detailed environmental structures. If we don’t say so ourselves (and we do!), this map is better, visually and mood-setting, by a good margin, than all of the maps in the set which come before it, as good as they are!

Three months in the planning, I, BarefootMapMaker, thought for a long time about what I wanted this map to be, and what I wanted it to look like, feel like, and play like. I did all of this before ever laying the first vertice. Then, once I got started, it was an exercise in meticulously sticking with my plan. I’ll let the results speak for themselves, but I am fully satisfied that most who play this map will find it an extremely satisfying experience. I don’t take making these maps lightly. I love making Doom maps. I want the best. The best play experience for myself, and to no lesser extent, for you. I think you’ll agree that this latest map in our set, will be the best Doom experience you’ve likely ever had.

Other Map Improvements

• Map 1:
• Added lava texture to the floor of the pit, with a glow that extends a good way up the walls of the cliff.
• Switched the long line of health bonuses in the Pharmacy, to Traffic Control, and vice-versa for the Soul Sphere.
• Map 2:
• The Tower leading to the exit has been tweaked and polished. Thank you, Hawkwind!
• Replaced the Megasphere in the secret reservoir with a SoulSphere. And replaced the backpack pickups to a MegaArmor pickup, down atop the reservoir’s drain. I did this to help improve play balance, in both avoiding overloading the player with ammo, and to ensure the player gets 70% armor protection.
• Replaced the Rocket Launcher with a box of rockets, in the northernmost elevator access to the lower levels. There has always been one available in the maintenance bay, near the beginning of the map, so having another where it was, was redundant.
• Map 3:
• Fixed some rendering issues.
• Added and adjusted a few monster placements, to help better balance the map’s pacing and playability.
• Map 4:
• Adjustments to some monster placements.
• Moved an Autosave line to avoid saving at an inopportune time.
• Script Cleanup.
• Added glow to the Nukage lagoon, outside of the first control room.
• Completely reworked the lighting scheme around the catwalks, in the lower, flooded area of the refinery.
• Map 5:
• Script Fixes.

Additions & Fixes

• New PowerUps: Health Regeneration & Temporary Poison Immunity.
• Underwater Bubbles now appear while swimming, not just with the rebreather pickup. They can be toggled in the Dragon Sector Options.
• Added the ability to place PB specific items while still retaining mod compatibility. Now, where we wanted a backpack, a backpack appears, always! Same with specific weapon types. If PB is not detected, you’ll get a base item instead. We have implemented this across all maps.
• The Security Drone and some of our Cacos can now Dodge incoming fire.
• Fixed the Cyberimp. It was dropping way too many rockets.
• The Agothademon (the white Cacodemon variant) now has a chance to drop a Blursphere.
• Vast improvements made to the graphics of Drone and Bot and Plasma Turret fire.
• Tweaked several Autosave lines, throughout all of the maps, to help improve performance (some doors would not open for you until the save was complete, the lines being too close to those doors).

That’s it for now! We want to thank everyone for the support, and for giving our maps a shot. Making maps with this much detail and intricacy, while still being fun is a real challenge, and it takes a lot of man-hours from both of us to get them to where we feel comfortable releasing them.

Dive into the mapset, immerse yourself, get to know Dragon Sector. These maps are challenging, and will push GZDoom far. But in the end, we think we’ve created something to be proud of.

So, lock and load, Doomers! You’re in for a hell of a ride!

BarefootMapMaker & DarynS

Hello again, good Doomers!

It’s been about a month since the last update to Dragon Sector (The Remake), but we haven’t been sitting idle. There have been a lot of things that we felt needed refining, and we’ve taken that month to do exactly that.

Along with the fixes has come a total rebalancing of all of the maps. They aren’t so stuffed with ammo now, which will make finding the base’s assets and using them to your advantage more worthwhile.

We have also laid the groundwork for Cooperative play. Currently there are 5 player starts per map. We have tested this briefly, and it does work over LAN, but our results were mixed when playing with Project Brutality. Still, if you fancy playing our maps with a friend, let us know how it goes, and we can always work from there.

Here are the changes for this release:

Fixes

• Adjusted the Perspective so your POV no longer appears stretched vertically.
• Fixed an issue with the Aracnorb Queen and Aracnorb that caused them to drop a stream of items if they fell from any height.
• Fixed a bug that could sometimes make Grell corpses block player movement.
• Fixed the Poison Damage on the Grell and CacoLich projectiles so they now actually poison the player.
• Grell, Cacolich and a couple of other monsters, now slowly vanish after being killed.
• Fixed a bug with the Agathodemon, where it can become unshootable in some instances, when stealthed.
• Removed our Flashlight. Project Brutality now includes one, so we removed our implementation to prevent possible conflicts (activation key will need to be rebound).

New Additions

• New Plasma Turret Model. Replaced the old Plasma-Gun-pickup model with something that looks far better.
• New VitalBoost Sphere. This adds 100 to your Health, with no ceiling on maximum health.
• Integrated m8f’s TargetSpy addon. With it, you can see monster, ally, and boss health, with crosshair passover. You can customize the way it displays, or disable it entirely in the TargetSpy options. Options for the addon are found at the very bottom of the Main Options screen.
• Replaced all Voodoo Dolls with Invulnerable, self-propelled custom actors.
• Added support for 5 player Cooperative play. Consider this a proof of concept. Item and Weapon spawns may need to be adjusted in the future.

Improvements

• Rebalanced placement of Items and Monsters in all the maps to be more of a challenge.
• Reduced the Railgun Arachnotron’s Health.
• The Railgun Arachnotron’s (and map 6 boss’) shot now knocks the player in a direction relative to the projectile’s angle, instead of just directly backwards.
• Pre-scaled resolution of the Camera Textures, to help improve performance.
• More Lore Panels have been added.

Map Specific Fixes

• Map 01 - Executive Complex
• Reworked many of the low-tier monster placements.
• Map 02 - Resources Reclamation
• Reworked many of the low-tier monster placements.
• Reduced the number of exploding barrels in the first areas.
• Flooded corridor can now be drained from the Control Room.
• Set all of the Flood Control doors (those big ones that lower) to stay lowered once opened. The two in the corridors only remain opened when switched from the Control Room. The three around the reservoir entrance stay open at their respective switches.
• Reworked the final encounter in the main reservoir area. It is no longer just a “Caco swarm”.
• Map 03 - Skyway
• Removed the odd looking and not very useful scrolling floor from the first Skyway segment.
• Security station received significant reworking.
• Reworked and improved the lighting throughout all of the outdoor areas.
• Changed out a few monster placements and added some others.
• Map 04 - Fuel Refinery
• Reworked many of the low-tier monster placements.
• The final flooded area can now be drained.
• Map 05 - Nuclear Station
• Replaced the damaging sectors in the first large area with randomly occurring electrical arcs.
• Map 06 - Facilities Support
• Reworked the boss encounter.
• Changed out the music for a new track.
• Removed the bots and drones from the final area. Replaced the bots in their alcoves with powerups.

We hope that you enjoy this new update! As always, we want to thank everyone for the support over the years, and we look forward to bringing you more Dragon Sector in the not so distant future.

All the best!

BarefootMapMaker & DarynS

Hello Doomers!

It has certainly been a hot minute since our last update. If you have been following our blog posts, you’ll know that there has been stuff going on behind the scenes, though. Today we’d like to bring you up to speed officially on what is happening with Dragon Sector (The Remake).

Map 7’s concept has not been coming together. Instead of trying to force it, we’d prefer to have the idea, the main flow and the aesthetic in mind before we get going. BarefootMapMaker doesn’t want to put out a map he is not fully happy with and doesn’t enjoy playing, so for now, this release will only include the six maps previously released.

That isn’t to say that there is nothing new. All six of the maps have received substantial additions, rebalancing of both monster and item placement, and in some cases, completely new areas. So, if you’ve already played through them, it will feel much different now, especially given the recent changes to Project Brutality.

Unfortunately, this also means that savegames you made previously will not be compatible with the new version. So if you have a playthrough going, maybe finish it up before starting fresh with the new version.

There has also been a lot of work done to other aspects of the mod. Several of our monster variants have been tweaked. We’ve also added a new beastie to fight, the Behemoth. Thanks Amuscaria for that one.

Last, but not least, are the changes to the Security Bot. This is the initial implementation of inkoalawetrust’s KAI library. Now, the bot is much better at finding its targets, and much more reliable when it comes to following you around. No more spinning around like a top and veering off at random.

As we continue to move forward, more features will be added, and KAI will be implemented on other actors, like the Drone, or some monsters. It’s taken a lot of work and brain numbing trial and error to get here, but DarynS feels pretty good about what the bot is capable of now, and looks forward to improving it in the months to come.

Here is the full list (that we can remember) of changes to v0.65.

Fixes

• BFG Commando’s Shot now hurts the player again.
• Fixed an error that caused a lot of “Invalid Sound Position” errors with the turrets to appear in the console in Map 04.

Improvements

• Initial Implementation of inkoalawetrust’s KAI Library for the Security Bot.
• Security Bot is now much better at following you and navigating around the level.
• Pressing “Use” on the Bot will make him stop firing at whatever it is fixated on and look for something else to target.
• The bot’s eye now follows the player and targets.
• The Item Magnet’s range has been increased.
• The Item Magnet’s Upgraded Range and Speed have been increased.
• The Item Magnet operates a lot more intelligently than it did before, it now only pulling items that have direct line-of-sight to the player.
• Poison Resist powerups now stack.
• The VitalSphere and related powerups now bestow bonuses based on selected play difficulty.
• The Roach is now quite a bit faster. He also does more damage and regenerates a lot faster. He is now a pretty decent challenge, some weapons much better than others at defeating him, and some not very effective with him at all. Especially when he is encountered in packs!

Map Changes

• Map 01 - Executive Complex
• Ammo increases to help better balance of gameplay.
• Removed the “Magnet” powerup, moving it to map 02.
• A few structural upgrades.
• Added a few monsters in key and in new locations.
• Removed the need for the Blue Key to release one of the security drones.
• Map 02 - Resources Reclamation
• Ammo increases to help better balance of gameplay.
• Reworked the secret reservoir area to add a significant structural upgrade.
• Map 03 - Skyway
• A good number of structural improvements - many decorative but also many functional.
• Ammo increases to help better balance of gameplay.
• Changed some powerup locations to make them make more sense as to placement and relevance to progression of play.
• Map 04 - Fuel Refinery
• Added structure to some areas to make secrets a little less obvious.
• Added strategic elements to some areas of the map’s/play areas’ structure, to help the player make better use of the map’s features for the purpose of dealing with monsters.
• Final area can now be drained, with the addition of a lift that can access the bridge from the area’s floor, after the drawbridge has been raised.
• A new monster added to this map - the Behemoth, which replaced the Mancubi which were there before.
• Map 05 - Nuclear Station
• Changed the monsters that emerge from the portals in the secret area where the blue key is found. This increases the area’s challenge while also giving the player decent chances at additional pickups.
• Reworked the “Boss Encounter” number of pre-fight pickups.
• Map 06 - Facilities Support
• Changed the hoard of monsters that come out of the closed alcoves in the later part of the map, from just Zombie Fodder to a larger variety of monsters.
• Filled the “Void” within the turn of the stairs. It features a large structural set of features and is now the method for gaining that level’s special powerup - The Damage Enhancer.
• Added a larger number of Core Tentacles to the hub area, to make that area of the map a more engaging challenge.
• Reworked the final “Boss” encounter, in addition to adding a significant structural feature to that play area.

Thank you all for your support and for playing and enjoying Dragon Sector (The Remake). We’re far from done, so keep an eye on this mod page and on our ModDB blogs.

Those of you who have made content featuring the mod, with the amount of changes and improvements that we’ve made, you might find it worthwhile to revisit the mod.

That’s it for now. Download and let rip!

BarefootMapMaker & DarynS

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