Hideous Destructor [last update dated May 13, 2013]

[FDARI]

I have now seen a couple of good chaingun moments. Such as "I know that this wall will slide away to unleash a horde of demons, shotgun zombies and imps." They start in a cramped space, I can fire from the flank, essentially requiring them to pass through a wall of hitscans to get a line of fire, and when the worst is over I can step forward and fire in to clear the rest of them before I'm out. Then the duplicate horde comes charging over the symmetry-line, though, and my gun just ran out...

The things that get stuck in ceilings: Other people have reported such things recently. It may be caused by a new zdoom version rather than a new HD-version, since such things have been reported with different mods. (Gibs hanging about, puffs in the ceiling, shards in trees...)

So when did the stuff getting stuck start happening, and can you make it happen without HD? Maybe check/post in the bugs-forum.

NPC Allies: Another option would be to summon them 1 at a time. Maybe even (for style) have 3 different items to show in HUD. (Starting with the 3-symbols, replaced with 2-symbols when used, then 1 symbol, each use beaming in 1 marine.)

[Lava Grunt]

...little tip to whomever wanted to aim better with the chaingun: Always crouch in times of accuracy. It helps tremendously.

[Greenmarine]

If I'm understanding correctly, as soon as the game thinks that you're crouching (item "iscrouching" is placed in the actor inventory), all calculations made using the "muzzle climb" (553) script are halved - which would include motion-related accuracy penalties, but Vaecrius might have removed those anyway, I'm a little bit behind the times.

[Big C]

Chaingun is the perfect chokepoint weapon. At least against packs of weaker enemies.

Otherwise you would wind up getting bumrushed by enemies while trying to reload your assault rifle. And it doesn't require you to stay pinpoint accurate for several useless seconds unlike the plasma rifle/particle beam.

Perfect example of an area where chaingun is useful: Starting area of E1M9.

Regarding chaingun's tendency to use up ammo swiftly, maybe ammo boxes should become ammo belts that work only for the chaingun and plain jane magazines could go exclusively into the assault rifle?

[Greenmarine]

Currently ammo boxes tend to spawn rifles, grenades and magazines. Making them spawn ammo boxes that are specific to the chaingun might be unbalancing to the amount of rifle rounds in a map - on the other hand, I've still never run dry. On the other, other hand I'm insanely conservative.

[Big C]

Currently ammo boxes tend to spawn rifles, grenades and magazines. Making them spawn ammo boxes that are specific to the chaingun might be unbalancing to the amount of rifle rounds in a map - on the other hand, I've still never run dry. On the other, other hand I'm insanely conservative.

I almost never use the full-auto setting on the rifle except in a dire emergency, so no shortage here either. Anything the full-auto mode is good at in close-quarters the pump shotty is better at, save for the rifle having the grenade launcher.

[Lava Grunt]

Currently ammo boxes tend to spawn rifles, grenades and magazines. Making them spawn ammo boxes that are specific to the chaingun might be unbalancing to the amount of rifle rounds in a map - on the other hand, I've still never run dry. On the other, other hand I'm insanely conservative.

I almost never use the full-auto setting on the rifle except in a dire emergency, so no shortage here either. Anything the full-auto mode is good at in close-quarters the pump shotty is better at, save for the rifle having the grenade launcher.

While the chaingun is better for this, full-auto rifle is pretty handy for Ninja Pirates.

[Greenmarine]

To be honest the chaingun is another one of those weapons that just works a lot better in coop with at least one other person - the chaingun is meant to be used while you're standing still, and that's generally suicide in this mod - with another fireteam partner it becomes an incredibly effective weapon again.

[Lava Grunt]

The Chaingun The Vulcanette is an anti-Ninja Pirate weapon, along with it being a chokepoint weapon.

Find some cover, and let them filter into your LOS. The narrower the better.

This works well with doors.

[Vaecrius]

If I'm understanding correctly, as soon as the game thinks that you're crouching (item "iscrouching" is placed in the actor inventory), all calculations made using the "muzzle climb" (553) script are halved - which would include motion-related accuracy penalties, but Vaecrius might have removed those anyway, I'm a little bit behind the times.

This is still the case. And what you described of the chaingun was exactly what I had in mind when I decided to make it what it is.

EDIT in response to FDARI's post below: ninja pirate

[FDARI]

Side note: My favoured anti-ninja-piracy-device (eh... Pirates vs. Ninjas; is that the joke? It suddenly occured to me) is the chainsaw. When I can set it up properly. Basically, if I can ensure close range NP, and if I can afford to raise and ready the thing, then I can carve up that beast. I can also use it for flailing in cramped quarters. (Just hold that fire button and cover all exits until something catches the chain and starts bleeding.)

Crouching chaingun might be worth a shot. A substantial number of them, even. (Not that numbers have substance.)

The chaingun is much like a long range ammo-eating chainsaw for ninja pirates, but the pain-pain-pain-pain-death sequence is not as reliable.

I have never really used anything but automatic fire for the rifle. I usually hit what I'm shooting for (short burst, mostly on target), and ammo has been ample. I'd use single fire to stretch the supply of a single clip/mag/whatnot (making each shot count, avoiding reloads), but not to conserve ammo in general. I find myself mowing down the second target a little sooner with assault rifle than with shotgun, so I kinda favour it.

[Vaecrius]

NEW UPDATE
(postdated so I can get some actual non-Doom-related work done tomorrow... yeah that's it)

Changes:

• Bugfix: the meds-using animation should no longer continue if you die in the middle of it.
• Bugfix: When consolidating weapons on respawn, shotguns would not be loaded if you died with only "saddled" shells.
• Cleaned up some console error messages.
• Overhauled the summoned marines. They never made sense from a military and logistical perspective, so now they're just explained as magic: literally the spirits of ancient warriors summoned from a talisman to fight by your side - for a little while. They replace the blur sphere instead of being given to you from level start. Have fun!
• On that note, a more important change: the marines ghostly warriors now clear their hate target every time they enter their see state to let them re-target whatever is in front of them rather than fixating on non-threats.
• Separated the various barrel actors. As a side effect, you can no longer customize the rate of killer barrels spawning. You should not notice any other difference.
• Nerfed the shit out of barons.
• The turrettes now use the boss cube sprite.
• Boss brain tweaked. Now you have to cause it pain five times to kill it regardless of hitpoint damage. Also, it is only limited to spawning monsters without mechanical components (turrette notwithstanding) and is a lot less... clockwork about its shots. Also tweaked its pain and death effects.
• Removed the +shadow flag on healer imps. It had been there for no reason except to make things difficult.
• Beefed up the beam explosion to make it worth using. From a safe distance.
• Stims now make existing wounds worse.
• Scaled down the vulcanette to make it look more reasonable.
• Some tweaks to weapon bobbing.
• Some tweaks to puff and smoke effects.

[FDARI]

Is there still a built-in feature to disable killer barrels altogether? Because while the annoying healerimps with their often overpowered power do annoy me, I eep them in and find them interesting and challenging; they add pressure. However, long experience with this mod has taught me that I enjoy the game more without killer barrels. If there is no builtin disabler, I can just load a minimod on top and get my custom HD that way.

(Things that ruin killer barrels for me: The day the vileshards started resurrecting barrels, from the moist scraps of metal on the floor; it doesn't look half right, it doesn't feel half right, I don't want it. And the peculiar notion that all these barrels are mutations that hate the player. They should hate the game? One could always think the barrels, corrupted or possessed by the forces of hell, have become advanced cannon fodder. I just don't like to think so.)

Yeah... The issue with killer barrels was always flavour and suspension of disbelief. There was some notion about the Doomworld that I did not want to relinquish, and it concerned among other things the psychology of barrels.

EDIT: Today's console warning: GIMMEBACKUP (unknown class)

[Vaecrius]

The day the vileshards started resurrecting barrels

They were originally explained in my head to be a statement of "fuck you we hellspawn don't care about the laws of thermodynamics" and it's only the humans who ever needed to carry the goo around as an energy source, but then that doesn't explain why they're all over Hell too.

I'll give it some thought.

[Lava Grunt]

Awesome update Vaecrius! You never dissapoint.

But, I do have one question though; is there an item I can summon that, when used from my inventory summon these new allies?

The maps I play kind of need backup at the get-go, as I'm often out in the open.