Hideous Destructor 4.10.0b

[Matt]

After some more testing it does seem to be entirely a damage numbers issue... I think I will increase the shotgun damage slightly next release.

[Big C]

Ahhh, goodie goodie.

Truth be told I've been getting *slightly* worried about power creep in Hideous Destructor on the player's part---the players have been getting new weapons and new functionality to old weapons---but given that monster/level difficulty tends to get higher later in the game while wounds threaten to make the player's health lower and lower (as well as the firepower needed to take on boss enemies still being fairly scarce) I think my concerns probably aren't too warranted. For example, I had a normally-typical playthrough of UDooM E1M2 go South in a hurry because of an unexpectedly-placed evil barrel. Moral of the story: Nothing ever goes as smoothly as the ol' drawing board says it will.

[Matt]

For what it's worth, increasing shotgun damage automatically increases shotgun guy damage

[Big C]

I am truly joyous beyond words.

In all seriousness Hideous Destructor has a curious equilibrium. Things tend to either go very smoothly or very, VERY badly.

[Abba Zabba]

Heh, not that big of a sweat considering that slayer zombies still do more shot for shot - along with sometimes letting you have both barrels. I can live with this

[Big C]

My main point regarding power creep is that I'm worried more tools will give players a way to cheese the game, somehow. For example, the airburst is VERY useful---albeit chiefly against infantry and other low-tier enemies, and maybe for painchancing arch viles from safe locations. On the other hand, it's still not as good as direct impacts, which is worth considering against boss monsters like Barons.

Other example: The T-Buster's primary fire mode is possibly the most ammo-efficient explosive weapon in the game in terms of how much kaboom you get for a full mag, but it's also unstable and difficult to use against moving targets, unlike the fire-and-forget rocquettes.

...Query: Do you guys think there's room in the mod for white phosphorus grenades? Modest explosive damage, but guaranteed probability of lots of pretty fire, with less-common availability than regular grenades? There's already lots of weapons with an incendiary component, but the fire still tends to be a secondary feature of the main, ballistic component of the weapon. WP grenades, on the other hand, would have delivering fire as their express purpose.

[Abba Zabba]

I've been mulling over the idea of different grenade types (and their ease of creation and, well, application) and I honestly wouldn't mind a special, rarer grenade; and I like the trend of incendiary explosives already in the mod (HEAT rounds, bronto bolts too? IIRC), so I certainly wouldn't object to being able to dish some more burning back at the enemy.

[Big C]

Yeah, HEAT rounds inflict some fire, Bronto bolts inflict some fire, the T-Buster (both modes) is a pretty ammo-efficient method of inflicting fire...

...I could have sworn airbursting rocquette-grenades in grenade mode were supposed to generate a little fire when they detonated (due to the leftover propellant that would otherwise be used to power the rocquette's flight) but that seems gone as of the current update. Was this intentional or a bug, Vae?

On an unrelated note, I'm learning to appreciate the Vulcanette after previously disliking it---I had previously disliked it for its weight, need for batteries, and poor performance as a door-breaching weapon. The Vulc is a good weapon for controlling the amount of enemies entering your view, but a poor weapon if the amount of enemies in your view is already too much---which leads to the problems with door-breaching. For that, you want a weapon capable of killing a lot of enemies instantly (like explosives) or just a HERP since that's like a Vulcanette without exposing you to return fire.

Back to the Vulcanette, it combines high DPS with great braced weapon accuracy, and the ability to "top off" the magazine like with the Hunter shotgun. I actually think it's a more efficient use of ZM66 magazines than the ZM66 since you should never have to waste any rounds reloading with the Vulcanette---the ZM66 is more useful sometimes, though, if not as ammo-efficient (and also more prone to weapon glitches).

It also sometimes makes a better shotgun than the Hunter, as you can just move through tight corridors and hold the trigger down---you'll hit something eventually. The Hunter, on the other hand, needs a bit more aiming and doesn't offer you as much firing time per-magazine. (It is, however, much lighter.)

EDIT: I have reached a conclusion, and that is that the three true final bosses of Hideous Destructor are ninja pirates, killer barrels, and fire. No other obstacles disrupt my tactics so magnificently.

EDIT2: Also, thank you Vae for the many many uses of the tinkling-brass sound. So, so satisfying.

EDIT3: If there's going to be penetration through hard cover, is there going to be penetration through enemy targets, too? This could be complicated. ZM66 ammo sounds like it's design to punch through armor yet still tumble in flesh, whereas 7.76mm ammo would probably just punch straight through anything as long as it had kinetic energy.

EDIT4: I like that shotgun blasts now make the 'meatslap/burrito' sound when they hit an enemy.

[Arek_PL]

shotguns are good for everything weaker than hell barons only thing better at rifle is better long range accuracy and grenade launcher

[Big C]

Also better penetration against hard cover and a better reload-time-to-magazine-size ratio, but yes.

[Silentdarkness12]

There are only two cons I can think of regarding the Vulcanette.

1. When it recoils, IT RECOILS.
2. Revving up the chaingun alerts all the monsters.

And as far as the battery requirement is concerned, it's actually extremely efficient. Chances of you ending up without a battery or enough battery juice to use the Vulcan are rather slim, honestly.

[Matt]

The burning bits were supposed to be unused propellant... I decided to go back to the original use-excess-propellant-for-the-explosion instead.

Good to know the vulc is doing exactly what it ought!

[Abba Zabba]

Couple bugs:

Nazis don't eject casings.

And it seems that the liberator doesn't have a chambering sound for when you manually chamber it (as in just picked it off the ground and hit fire). I can't think of any other time where you manually chamber it as reloading does that for you, but yeah.

[Big C]

And as far as the battery requirement is concerned, it's actually extremely efficient. Chances of you ending up without a battery or enough battery juice to use the Vulcan are rather slim, honestly.

It's a bit of a problem if you're on some early maps (like UDooM's first few maps) and you nab a Vulcanette off the floor, though, because sometimes it doesn't come with a lot of battery and finding a new one in those early episodes can be a bit of a hunt.

[Abba Zabba]

Vae, do you think that if you have the sprint key pressed that all jumping commands are turned into leaps instead for those moments where you can't get a running start?

Also, really liking the new bolt sprite.