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Nov 11, 2017 18:17
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But is it compatible with Brutal Doom?
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Nov 11, 2017 18:41
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Since it occasionally comes up in this thread, I noticed that Nightdive recently released a status update for development on the System Shock Reboot. EDIT: Hey, page 1234!
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Nov 11, 2017 23:25
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Cream-of-Plenty posted:Since it occasionally comes up in this thread, I noticed that Nightdive recently released a status update for development on the System Shock Reboot. I'm pretty bummed that they dropped the original pixelated style in the demo. I backed entirely based on that. Now it looks like anything else built in UE4.
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Nov 11, 2017 23:40
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Cream-of-Plenty posted:Since it occasionally comes up in this thread, I noticed that Nightdive recently released a status update for development on the System Shock Reboot. I'm pretty interested to see how the systems in this compare to preys. Especially the combat and level design. The combat in Prey was OK, but once you figured out the "puzzle" for each enemy and situation it was pretty bleh. The level design on the other hand...was loving awesome.
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Nov 11, 2017 23:52
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I beat Pfh'joueur. Thanks to whoever it was in this thread who googled up a working version. This was a lot of fun and if I could get it to run with Aleph One on a modern Mac I'd recommend it wholeheartedly. For a one-woman project it is still really impressive. Pros: -Awesome mapping. Can't overstate how important this is, moving through levels just feels right and despite the fact that if there was ever a spoiler guide for this mod it's been lost to the bowels of internet, I never got stuck or frustrated. Almost every level has a couple different ways you can approach it, neat shortcuts, fun architecture...on the strength of this alone I think it is one of my favorite Marathon scenarios. -A couple of really wild effects: there's one used to give the impression of traveling into vacuum without making the whole level vacuum -- I guess this is some kind of custom "fluid" that saps your oxygen? Anyway it's quite neat. The force fields are also really sweet. I don't know if this was the first mod to have either of these things but I can't think of any other mod that does anything quite that cool, though Rubicon's flooded hangar level and Eternal's slime gravity lift spring to mind. -Good writing. Marathon's plot tends to work best when seasoned with comedy, when it's a bit more of a romp than a serious business tale of woe where you have to blow up rainbow aliens. When I play through a mod and Durandal or whoever is being a dreary fart at me every terminal, it saps my ability to give a poo poo, which is a problem this mod definitely doesn't have. But at the same time there's neat variety of characters with recognizable voices and a decent plot that feels consequential without being super overwrought. -Textures. I've never played EMR so don't know how much of her own work Sherriff plundered for this, but the texture work is just great across the board. Especially love the skyboxes and the (breakable!) flowerpots. -Entirely unique atmosphere. Hard to separate this from the texture work and the writing but combined with the weird ambience I feel like I'm playing through the security officer's lounge music fever dream from hell. -Good difficulty curve. Better than Infinity's tbh. Cons: -No new weapons or enemies. Not a serious problem, Infinity's sandbox is fine, guess I've just been spoiled by Rubicon and such. -Way too much ammo for even TC. This is a reasonably hard mod which throws large mobs at you frequently in later levels but I still had over 30 clips of AR ammo/grenades and over 30 fusion batteries by the end. Nobody likes running out of ammo but this reminded me of Eternal with how excessive your ammo supply is. "You Can Never Have Too Many Grenades", ok but there is no threat of scarcity at any time. -A few too many wacky alien names liberally salted with apostrophes. Even the name of the mod suffers from this! I can't tell a Pfhaket'far from a Da'nara T'Bat. It kind of helps to lend it a camp scifi feel but also kind of gets in the way of me remembering what's going on. -All the music in the game is locational, oddly enough -- I remember the intro level of Rubicon does this as well but I'm not sure why she went for it in this case. It's a little glitchy too. Might be Aleph One struggling with scripting originally intended for Infinity, I don't know. -Slightly weird pacing. Ship levels are mostly short and trivial, planet levels are mostly long and challenging, but the order they're in feels more geared to plot than to gameplay, and the game is so free with ammo that you rarely feel like you need a ship level. It's like the opposite of a carnage break and it's a bit meh. One of the chapters is a grand total of one (ship) level long. To be fair Marathon 2 did this too but Bungie had a better plot excuse and a gnarlier chapter screen. More annoyingly, the game straight up ends right when it feels like it's about to climax. You never really figure out what was going on with D'Hara, unless I missed another ending. You're just like oh well, finally met the guy, neat, time to break some bobs outta jail and split. UFOs!!! Feels like there was a final chapter cut out of the mod. Oh well. Still would recommend to any Marathon fan who hasn't gotten around to it, this is a really classic scenario.
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Nov 12, 2017 00:49
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skasion posted:-All the music in the game is locational, oddly enough -- I remember the intro level of Rubicon does this as well but I'm not sure why she went for it in this case. It's a little glitchy too. Might be Aleph One struggling with scripting originally intended for Infinity, I don't know. IIRC this is a quirk of Marathon's ambient sound sources- they restart their loops when you open map view for some reason, and possibly at other times. Not an issue for looped environmental sounds, definitely an issue for music.
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Nov 12, 2017 00:57
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haveblue posted:IIRC this is a quirk of Marathon's ambient sound sources- they restart their loops when you open map view for some reason, and possibly at other times. Not an issue for looped environmental sounds, definitely an issue for music. I definitely noticed something like this but I think there’s some other problem as well. It’s easiest to notice in the airlock right before you go into the vacuum section of Pfhaket’far — a track from the Marathon 1 soundtrack is supposed to kick in as you pass through, and if you stand right at the inner door of the airlock it works ok, but if you stand near the outer door it just starts and restarts a bunch of times instead. It’s a bit odd. Mostly the music is minimal enough that it’s no big deal, that was the only place where it bothered me.
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Nov 12, 2017 01:05
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Vanilla Marathon Infinity didn't have support for in-game music as far as I know, it only had support for sound objects, so that's how the music in Rubicon worked (as well as Pfh'joueur, presumably). Although, the music objects in Rubicon were only in Rubicon X (the Aleph One re-release)... but RX used the music objects really well, so if they wanted traditional background music, they probably would have done it. Aleph One does allow in-game music to work as you'd expect which is how Eternal and Phoenix operate.
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Nov 12, 2017 03:56
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ＵＮＡＮＮＯＵＮＣＥＤ ＢＵＩＬＤ ＥＮＧＩＮＥ ＧＡＭＥ is continuing to have really nice spritework. https://twitter.com/voidpnt/status/929532252953837571
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Nov 12, 2017 05:36
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The Kins posted:ＵＮＡＮＮＯＵＮＣＥＤ ＢＵＩＬＤ ＥＮＧＩＮＥ ＧＡＭＥ is continuing to have really nice spritework. Is that our first look at enemies? I've only been sorta following it.
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Nov 12, 2017 05:39
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The Kins posted:ＵＮＡＮＮＯＵＮＣＥＤ ＢＵＩＬＤ ＥＮＧＩＮＥ ＧＡＭＥ is continuing to have really nice spritework. Oh neat, you can see a skull in the explosion. I think. Maybe it's just me.
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Nov 12, 2017 05:48
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Whatever happened to Bombshell? Is that still a thing?
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Nov 12, 2017 06:48
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Narcissus1916 posted:Whatever happened to Bombshell? Is that still a thing?
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Nov 12, 2017 06:52
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The Kins posted:The game got released and bombed (yeah yeah i know). This Build engine thing was intended as a cute little pre-order bonus or whatever but the devs decided to take the initiative and turn it into a full game which is still in development. They should have waited until Ion Maiden was nearly complete before announcing Bombshell. That way the preorder bonus could have actually been a preorder bonus, and not a "wait for several years and you might get it". Also they could have polished Bombshell enough in the meantime to make it a better game.
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Nov 12, 2017 11:16
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Finally done with Quake and I've decided I don't really like it very much. Too many cramped areas. Too many melee enemies. Enemies are a little too bullet spongy and few in number (I realise these are related). It's a little too stingy on ammo. I'm not as much of a fan of the grenade launcher as I would if the level and enemy design was different. I wouldn't hate my life if I had to play through it again but I'd rather just play Doom or Doom 2 again. Those games I played back to back without breaking for anything else and then only got sick of it when I started in on map packs. Quake I had to finally force myself to play a level every day to get through. What do people recommend next in my little excursion through old FPS games? I think I have almost everything. Is Quake 2 worth even trying if I wasn't a fan of Quake? What about Unreal? Would you dive into heretic/hexen next or jump to build engine games?
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Nov 12, 2017 11:34
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Futuresight posted:Finally done with Quake and I've decided I don't really like it very much. Too many cramped areas. Too many melee enemies. Enemies are a little too bullet spongy and few in number (I realise these are related). It's a little too stingy on ammo. I'm not as much of a fan of the grenade launcher as I would if the level and enemy design was different. I wouldn't hate my life if I had to play through it again but I'd rather just play Doom or Doom 2 again. Those games I played back to back without breaking for anything else and then only got sick of it when I started in on map packs. Quake I had to finally force myself to play a level every day to get through. Quake 2's level design is overall better but it's also more grounded and less abstract. it tries really hard to tie together things as one big Strogg base deal you're going across. I rather like it alot, but it can also have an issue of bullet spongey enemies. atleast the Strogg are more interesting and actually have multiple different attack styles. Unreal is rad as hell, play it. it's confusing at times and really hard at times, but it's just genuinely fun and still feels highly unique in the sea of grungey 3D games at the time. the mysticism angle as well as the temples, spaceships, castles, and even small villages work incredibly well to tell a story through level progression and a few scant text logs.
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Nov 12, 2017 11:53
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Unreal's sound design is still awesome, too. Just about every aspect of the game was a technical showpiece of the time, but it's audio stands up better than anything else.
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Nov 12, 2017 12:18
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Unreal is still my favourite FPS ever. I replay it every year and never think that I've had enough.
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Nov 12, 2017 14:10
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Not an FPS but Keen Dreams is back on Steam, now published by Night Dive and including a load of fixes!
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Nov 12, 2017 15:45
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Diabetes Forecast posted:Unreal is rad as hell, play it. it's confusing at times and really hard at times, but it's just genuinely fun and still feels highly unique in the sea of grungey 3D games at the time. the mysticism angle as well as the temples, spaceships, castles, and even small villages work incredibly well to tell a story through level progression and a few scant text logs. SwissCM posted:Unreal's sound design is still awesome, too. Just about every aspect of the game was a technical showpiece of the time, but it's audio stands up better than anything else. Guillermus posted:Unreal is still my favourite FPS ever. I replay it every year and never think that I've had enough. That's three endorsements for Unreal in a row. What's the best way to play it these days? Is there a source port?
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Nov 12, 2017 16:43
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Convex posted:Not an FPS but Keen Dreams is back on Steam, now published by Night Dive and including a load of fixes! Oh, did they manage to buy the license off the first guy who put it on Steam and then did something weird to get himself banned from Steam?
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Nov 12, 2017 17:11
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GeorgieMordor posted:That's three endorsements for Unreal in a row. Just grab the Direct3D 10 renderer and go to town: http://kentie.net/article/d3d10drv/ compatible with Steam and GOG release (.226 version).
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Nov 12, 2017 21:01
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Unreal is worth playing just for the atmosphere and music. Without any nostalgia smoothing over the rough spots you might get annoyed by how long it is and I think it really suffers by not having a Super Gun for occasionally being able to tear through enemies quickly (my kingdom for a BFG!). Some of those encounters get a bit tedious. Even gimmicky weapons like the razorjack are occasionally incredibly powerful, though (depending on the level layout).
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Nov 12, 2017 21:39
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I tried playing Unreal and got stuck in the lava mine place thing. Killed everything, couldn't find out where to go next. I'm bad at old games.
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Nov 12, 2017 21:41
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Ularg posted:I tried playing Unreal and got stuck in the lava mine place thing. Killed everything, couldn't find out where to go next. This is probably its biggest fault: it's from that awkward era where everything was suddenly not just 3D, but also huge, and allowed for a complexity that worked fine in Doom 2 because there was only so much you could cram in there… except, being in 3D (and having portal tech at your disposal), you could start adding layers upon layers of that same maze-like complexity. And all you had to guide you through that were some easily missed text logs. No map, no well-established rules for guiding the player through level design, and definitely no objective markers in the UI. So getting lost is pretty much inevitable, and what saves Unreal over something like Quake 2 is that the room designs are distinctive enough that you can usually remember where you've been and (roughly) where you going. Except in Sunspire and the some of the spaceship levels (especially the darkened one near the very end). On the other hand, it makes up for that by having numerous non-obvious events that are based around enemy waves, and you're quite literally locked from progressing though the level until you've killed all the enemies… and the game makes this as unclear as it possibly could be. …but it's stil by far my favourite old FPS.
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Nov 12, 2017 22:05
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Unreal has probably the best graphics and art design out of any 90s FPS with a proper single player campaign, amazing looking and highly-varied environments, a lot to explore and look at, lots of lore to find with just enough left up to your imagination, great sound design, and fantastic music. On the other hand, the weapons suck and feel like poo poo to use and do very little damage compared to the average enemy HP, there aren't very many enemy types, and the most common enemy is a fast-moving bullet sponge that dodges projectiles (in a game where almost all the weapons fire slow projectiles.) I think Quake 2 is better overall as an actual game even though it's not as interesting to look at or listen to. The weapons are far more useful, the enemy variety is far better, and due to these things and smaller, more focused levels and more direction makes the whole thing move along faster. The lovely weapons in Unreal were definitely fixed in Unreal Tournament, though. I heard there's a mod to play the Unreal campaign with the UT weapons and that might be a much better experience. BattleMaster fucked around with this message at 22:24 on Nov 12, 2017 |
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Nov 12, 2017 22:13
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So I went with Unreal difficulty because I like Ultra Violence in Doom but those missile spamming dudes in the first level are no joke and eat a lot of rounds. What difficulty do people recommend for a first playthrough?
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Nov 12, 2017 22:14
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Futuresight posted:So I went with Unreal difficulty because I like Ultra Violence in Doom but those missile spamming dudes in the first level are no joke and eat a lot of rounds. What difficulty do people recommend for a first playthrough? Everything in the game is a massive bullet sponge and it only gets worse starting in a couple of levels when the Skaarj troopers become the majority enemy because they dodge on top of being bullet sponges. edit: The game does give you enough ammo though, it's just I think the developers felt like the fights would feel more like a life-or-death struggle than they do BattleMaster fucked around with this message at 22:29 on Nov 12, 2017 |
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Nov 12, 2017 22:16
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Tippis posted:On the other hand, it makes up for that by having numerous non-obvious events that are based around enemy waves, and you're quite literally locked from progressing though the level until you've killed all the enemies… and the game makes this as unclear as it possibly could be. Playing any modern CoD game, nothing has changed. Is this segment of the level timer based? Do I need to hold until the enemies run out? Are the enemies infinite for this section until I hit invisible triggers when I push up? The player certainly isn't told.
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Nov 12, 2017 22:17
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Tippis posted:This is probably its biggest fault: it's from that awkward era where everything was suddenly not just 3D, but also huge, and allowed for a complexity that worked fine in Doom 2 because there was only so much you could cram in there… except, being in 3D (and having portal tech at your disposal), you could start adding layers upon layers of that same maze-like complexity. I totally agree but for me I am pretty decent at creating mental maps. So I could go in and out of this level as much as I wanted. I knew how to move around it. I just could not find any sort of doorway to the next part of the area. Also Unreal is hilariously dark. It has some amazing environment design but Halo could basically steal that and do better by just letting me see.
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Nov 12, 2017 22:33
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Unreal really wants you to use flares (you get quite a lot of them) and the flashlight. Just tune a bit gamma and you'll be fine (you'll still need items from time to time to light up some places).
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Nov 12, 2017 22:46
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Oh, and top tip: if you can get a couple of people together, running it in co-op drastically improves the experience since it lets you counter that bullet-sponginess (but it also means you now have three or four people who are lost, rather than just one  ).Guillermus posted:Unreal really wants you to use flares (you get quite a lot of them) and the flashlight. Just tune a bit gamma and you'll be fine (you'll still need items from time to time to light up some places). Also this. The game gives you tons of stuff that lights up the environment (helps show off that dynamic lighting, don't'cha know). The game expects you to use the hell out of any and all of that stuff and gives you more than you ever really need.
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Nov 12, 2017 22:49
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Minigun alt fire can kill a basic scaarj in under a second, or two or three? headshots with the rifle. Go with unreal difficulty if you want to use the items, the seeds become useful, the amplifier too if you can remember to use it. Most players probably get stuck in Unreal around the same parts of the same maps. *On the darkened ship, when you encounter the big blue scaarj, stop and look around the room for a door after killing it, this is where you are supposed to go. *On the water temple map the rocket launcher room is the hub you're supposed to rotate around. When you go through the teleporter notice that the opening in the wall is now bigger and you can pass through it. *On the castle map in the first room, with red stairs, go up the stairs and left and check the room with the locked door, you have to return here later, and also later note the locked doors with the hanging signs, this is where you go through to the end of the map.
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Nov 12, 2017 23:07
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Is there a way to keep the higher res but increase text sizes or should I just stick with a lower res? Also what lower res should I be using with old games?
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Nov 12, 2017 23:24
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Ularg posted:Is there a way to keep the higher res but increase text sizes or should I just stick with a lower res? Also what lower res should I be using with old games? If you use .227 fanpatch instead of kentie's renderer, you can scale text: http://www.oldunreal.com/oldunrealpatches.html I'm currently using steam release with 227 fan patch and hi-res texture pack.
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Nov 12, 2017 23:29
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Does that fix the tiny-rear end HUD, as well? Because nothing I've found fixes that, and the only suggested workaround I've heard is the mod that lets you play the campaign in UT instead. (Also, yay, posting on page 1234)
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Nov 13, 2017 00:28
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I'm just now reading Masters of Doom, and Jesus christ, everyone should read this. It's just so loving good. I know probably the majority of goons in this thread have already gotten through it, but if you haven't yet and are even remotely interested in the story of id Software, I implore you to check it out. I laughed at both the Carmack cat thing, and Romero's Mormon discussion with Sandy Peterson. I would love to have been there back then.
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Nov 13, 2017 03:43
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Also, if you weren't aware, you can  in the Unreal 1 campaign, UT99 didn't invent it.Rupert Buttermilk posted:I laughed at both the Carmack cat thing, and Romero's Mormon discussion with Sandy Peterson. I would love to have been there back then. The cat thing isn't funny 
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Nov 13, 2017 04:46
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| # ? May 14, 2024 08:18 |
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Rupert Buttermilk posted:I'm just now reading Masters of Doom, and Jesus christ, everyone should read this. It's just so loving good. I know probably the majority of goons in this thread have already gotten through it, but if you haven't yet and are even remotely interested in the story of id Software, I implore you to check it out. The book didn't go into a whole lot of detail about what they actually did during the game development, although I guess that was to make it accessible to a wider audience. I wanted to learn more about how they balanced weapons, how they polished the levels, refined the gameplay, etc. Carmack really comes off as the living embodiment of every insufferable autistic programmer stereotype. It was hard to imagine how young they were during parts of this too. The Quake development was especially painful as someone who works as a software engineer - they're having like 101-level management dysfunction but nobody there has any experience of how to fix it. The team just worked until it suddenly didn't.
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Nov 13, 2017 04:53
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