Deluge [WIP]

[Chief Smokey]

Work has been slow since the team has taken the summer off to work on their own projects, but things certainly aren't dead. Three more maps have received updated visuals (the last of which I can not share information about for the moment - it's something quite special). It is entirely possible that the current set of maps may be expanded from seven to a full episode of nine when the time comes.

[Captain J]

Oh yeah, i'm just glad this project is still going. No need to be hurry, though! Take your time!

[marcusboer2004]

the mod looks great, i cant wait untill it gets released. Best of luck on finishing in 2021.

[Chief Smokey]

Well it's Halloween, and what better day to drop a new Update Showcase?



In other news, the Deluge Discord server is now open to the public. If you're interested in talking to the development team or getting sneak peeks at content not seen on the ZDoom Forums page then hop in: https://discord.gg/gVKr8umQFU

[Chief Smokey]

Although there's been a lot of progress done by a single mapper (myself) over the current duration of development, the assistance of a second or third one is required to take Deluge into the next stage. Requirements are a thorough knowledge of UDMF features including line and sector portals, 3D floors and importing/exporting wavefront .objs with UDB's relevant plugin - plus a capability to think outside the usual Doom-style level design conventions.

If you think you've got the skill for this join the discord server, make yourself known to the team and we'll audition you for the role.

[Chief Smokey]

The Deluge development team has formed an official studio under the name Floodgate Arts. This won't change much for updates here (everything will still be posted under my account) but it has changed the project's general public presence. It has been decided after months of a Schrodinger's Indie Project state that Deluge will be a commercially available game. The team has three main releases planned for next year - two public demos in spring and summer and then the full game late in the year (possibly Halloween).

You can follow the team's Twitter, ModDB and YouTube pages for updates of varying types while our Discord server provides a good platform for interacting with team members:
https://twitter.com/FloodgateArts
https://www.moddb.com/mods/deluge-onset
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCK5aNZMRKyT9GZPfIgd6YMQ
https://discord.gg/2jwQajnUfD

In other news, the team is planning to host a public question and answer session where we can talk openly about our plans for the game. I'll let you folks know once we've decided on a date and time.

[Captain J]

All i see is blood red and void black and this is the best thing i ever had. Brilliant skybox and the map detail!

[Chief Smokey]

There's a new article up on the ModDB page which covers the past, present and future of Deluge's level design. There'll be further articles covering other elements of the game following in the near future.

https://www.moddb.com/mods/deluge-onset/features/a-little-talk-about-level-design

It talks about who is involved and their past projects, the evolution from 2019 to the current day, the gameplay design approach and plans for next year. One very important piece of information is that the levels seen in screenshots all through this thread so far are actually prototypes that will be heavily redesigned or outright cut next year. Also confirmation that we will be releasing a public alpha build for playtesting in spring that will cover the first two or three levels.

As a bonus here's a little design evolution of the Bacillus City slums:

29th August 2019


5th June 2020


8th December 2021

[Chief Smokey]

Some of Deluge's gameplay is highlighted in our second article on ModDB. You'll get to see footage of new movement tweaks, combat and magic.

https://www.moddb.com/mods/deluge-onset/news/diving-into-the-gameplay

[Redneckerz]

Some of Deluge's gameplay is highlighted in our second article on ModDB. You'll get to see footage of new movement tweaks, combat and magic.

https://www.moddb.com/mods/deluge-onset/news/diving-into-the-gameplay

Just so you know, i mentioned Deluge in the Standalone Games thread at DoomWorld: Click

[Chief Smokey]

Happy new year! We've released a gameplay showcase to commemorate such a busy time for us and have some big news for 2022.



In other news we've been working on a new design document. This one has the benefit of drawing on the experimentation we've been doing so far, but also will demand many overhauls across the board. The story is being rewritten, many locations are going to be dropped or re-contextualized, the monster roster will increase in scope, entirely new gameplay systems will be introduced, the current set of maps will be replaced, and much more is going to happen. However once the team has pushed through this period of reworking we'll have finally found our footing and will begin work on the first publicly playable demo that is planned to release in spring.

Here's to a Deluged 2022!

[Captain J]

Very impressive large maps and the physic effect. I definitely can't wait!

[Chief Smokey]

After a hard year of work the team decided to take some time off in January. Now we're back in business with a plan to finish the project by winter this year. In the coming months we'll be focusing on increasing the monster roster and continuing to replace sprite-based props with model counterparts. If everything goes to plan then we'll be able to host a public playtesting session some time in spring.

[Chief Smokey]

Over February the team has been finalizing the monster AI, started work on brand new levels and experimenting with setpieces. Once we've got a new set of monster sprites ready we'll begin development on the first public playtesting demo that is intended to release sometime in mid-late spring.

[Chief Smokey]

With the immediate AI work now in the past, we've started work on redesigning the appearances of our monsters - starting with the Cloaker.

Old design:


New design: