Oh boy, this is turning into a bigger update than just maps!
Like I've said on Twitter and in previous posts, I have long since given up on calling the mod done gameplay-wise. I feel like that not only hamstrings my own creativity, it's a touch dismissive toward people who have given exceptional feedback. That being said, from this point on, I will include a "Changelog So Far" section at the end of each of these WIP release articles.
Maps
First things first. The boss maps are in and working fully as intended apart from exits, as the maps they exit to don't exist yet. As you can see, some maps have had minimal changes, while others are completely overhauled in comparison to those found in BOSSTEST.
The entrance and exit areas are put together, as well as other aspects of the maps including a nasty surprise for the Motherdemon battle.
Weapons
New Guns!
We are now up to two weapon pairs that have been totally replaced.
- The Lava/LN2 Guns have been replaced by fiery and icy machine pistols, the Lacerator and Dual Cryolators.
- The Decoy Glove and Zapper are now totally out of the picture, in favor of the Nanoswarm Glove and Hive Hand, enabling you to throw out handfuls of robotic flies, perfect for stunning targets!
These weapons are fully implemented into the mod, so you can pick them up and use them as easily as the old ones!
Additionally, the Plasma Storm has seen an... upgrade. See for yourself.
Auxiliary Actions
It is now possible to throw a punch with any weapon equipped. This attack scales in damage with your maximum Nanotech, and upon death, monsters have a chance to drop a miniature ammo pickup capable of refilling any weapon.
With the punch occupying the altfire key, I was able to put detonators, scopes, and bashes on zoom. This flexibility lead to the creation of more auxiliary actions. These are designed to fill tactical gaps in the weapons' specific purpose without generalizing them too much... or just to include actions that are iconic to those weapons. See the videos tab for a video showing off all of these!
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What to Expect From WIP #4
- New Weapon Sprites - There are several issues with the projectiles not appearing to come out of the weapons firing them. With the existing sprites, this is impossible to fix without causing serious issues, but I have lined up some models to create new sprites.
- Restructuring - The current layout of mod files is not the best, I admit. I plan to take the NATIONXX maps out of rc.pk3 and put them with the textures and new arena props, all in one single WAD file.
- More Maps - I have yet to decide which maps I will include in the next WIP build. I need to finish NATION01, which was started last year before I hit a case of author's block. Deserts are a pain to design.
I am always open to help from other mappers, and I have been reached out to with offers once or twice. If you are interested. Shoot me a message and include a WAD containing some of your work. Here's a few ways you can reach me.
- Discord (Scarlet Mango #9198)
- Twitter (@_ThatBlindGuy)
- Email (thatblindguy92@gmail.com)
Changelog So Far
ADDITIONS
-Three Annihilation Nation-exclusive weapon pairs: Pyrocitor/Magma Vulcan, Electro-Grinder/Spiralizer, and Spitting Hydra/Tempest.
-Option to toggle dynamic lights, trails, Nash Gore, and debris.
-Arena boss monsters, and their maps, NATION09, NATION15, NATION19, NATION28, and NATION41.
-Secret difficulty, Highway to Heck.
-BOSSTEST map for... testing bosses.
-A punch for every weapon. Monsters killed with this have a 25% chance to drop a 5% ammo capsule.
-Auxiliary/altfire actions for most weapons that lack a scope or detonator. Harbinger and Supernova have gained a scope.
-Sets of prop and trap actors for use in Annihilation Nation. These are subject to being expanded at any time.
MONSTERS
-Made Blots immune to Dance-type damage.
-Ethereal Souls now take time to appear before attacking. They also do not disappear under standard behaviors.
-Poison souls spread less gas. Gas clouds do more damage initially, but this drops off with time as its radius increases.
-Homing Afrit balls are less aggressive.
-NEVERRESPAWN flag added to summoners and Lost Souls.
-NEVERFAST flag added to any monster projectile with a speed of 40 or greater. This prevents them from being impossible to dodge when fast monsters are enabled.
-Orange, green, and black Hellspawn firing patterns are easier to read.
-Fixed some projectiles still rolling a D8 when they should have been rolling a D5.
-Chaingunner fast-fire damage reduced.
-Monsters that can float up now check vertical position. They shouldn't float off into space any more.
-Arachnorb attacks reversed. It now fires a spread normally, and in bursts when hurt or under aggressive behaviors.
WEAPONS
-A few more sound changes for better distinction.
-Synthenoid reaction time decreases with each level. Self-destruct melee removed.
-Gave weapons the kickback they should have had from the beginning.
-V1 and V2 Chopper fire rate reduced, V3 and V4 fire rate increased.
-Bomb Glove and Meteor Gun damage increases faster with each level.
-B6 Obliterator fire rate slightly increased, damage dramatically increased, reload sound and animation changed, time reduced. Now fires in a horizontal line.
-Mini/Mega-Turret Launcher, Gravity Mine, Singularity, Feltzin Device bombs, Synthenoids, and Zurkons have restrictions on how many can be active at once. Detonator added for clearing the area of them. This is used by pressing the Auxiliary key.
-Multiple Hoverbombs can be fired in succession.
-Singularity ripping damage reduced.
-Soaring Comet homes in on targets. The meteors it breaks into have much more aggressive homing.
-Flux/Splitter Rifle adjustable zoom removed in favor of being able to move while aiming.
-Lava and LN2 Guns replaced by the Lacerator and Dual Cryolators.
-Combustor range increased.
-Tesla Claw and Thunderbolt range increased, spread decreased.
-Hydra Saw damage reduced.
-The wrench can now deflect projectiles. Weapon switching is now possible while the wrench is in flight.
-V3 and V4 Arbiter accuracy increased.
-Blitz Cannon charge shot uses less ammo.
-N90 fires two shots for one unit of ammo, and its projectiles move much faster and do more damage, but accuracy is slightly reduced and homing is removed.
-Bouncer shell sprite changed.
-Decoy Glove and Zapper replaced by the Nanoswarm Glove and Hive Hand.
-All altfire actions aside from punching (scope, detonator, bash, etc.) have been moved to an "Auxiliary" key. Altfire renamed to "Punch".
-Plasma Storm now fires single bolts of lightning at individual targets.
-Meteor Gun, Arbiter, and Decimator damage increased.
-The majority of weapons now have auxiliary actions.
ITEMS
-Warp Pad beacons no longer factor in vertical distance when checking proximity and make a sound when they disappear.
-Holoshield is now always forward-facing and has been recolored. Height reduced.
-Bolt pickup sounds are much softer and less obnoxious.
OTHER
-Renamed the Enhanced GFX option to Smoke and Flames.
-Moved graphical options from Mod Menu->Mutators to Mod Menu->Enhanced GFX.
-Fixed key display on the status bar.
-Updated and corrected typos in MENUDEF.
-Added custom help screen.
-Difficulties have been tweaked in order to remove changes to monster health.
-Maximum health in challenge mode increased to 800.
-Textures34.wad renamed to rc-CustomMapTextures.wad. Terrain definitions added.
-XP mutators removed.
-Option added in Enhanced GFX to reposition the gadget icons in the event the player's resolution causes issues with them.
BUGS FIXED
-Landing on solid objects would not reset the double jump script. Solution: Check for the player's vertical speed in addition to their distance from the floor.
-Sometimes, kill taunts play at the start of a map. Solution: Set the token's InterHubAmount to 0.
-Bolognese and ice deaths caused graphical conflicts. Solution: Use the player's damage type as a flag to prevent the spawning of Bolognese gore.
