Combined_Arms v2.1: Reloaded edition! (hotfix 5-2-21)

[Brohnesorge]

There goes any productivity I might have had. Time for the ol' Suitcase of Gor run. I've been most excited for Past Linked so its cool to finally see it realized

[thedeathrunner123]

When playing with gore mods like NashGore or BD mons, the crissword is broken and shows a gib pile instead.

[Strung]

Love the mod but the Hero with the all in one rifle, ammo drops froms enemies are really in your face, any chance you could make a option that turns off what they do any justs leaves the crystal.

[Captain J]

The updates out, i got super excited, currently playing the game with Community Chest 4 plus monster pack Malefactors. So yeah, i'm indeed having an awesome experience!

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- Vulture SMG gets mighty powerful if you fire it long enough. But for some reason when i press Alt-Fire, the barrels reset without sound or animation. It's efficiently fast, but i thought it was a glitch. No?

- Cyclops Auto Cannon's Zoom animation looks sick and smooth. Super loving it! I can see the screen fading in and out once i zoom with it but for some reason the effect's gone when i'm switching into other weapon.

- It's about the Custom Monster, Soul Cube. It floats around, attacks you and does not bleed. But for some reason it generates blood splat decal when get hit.

- I'm seeing some hitscan enemies firing mine thingies that can travel in long range. But the thing is, no matter how further i am they would still fire mines and most likely will never reach their destination. Pretty sure it's mid-range attacking stuff.

Besides that i've found no further glitches. And btw Tech Monk is by far the most exciting class to use and he can be powerful if you know how to combo!

[Combine_Kegan]

I've done a quick hotfix update for both Combined_Arms and Malefactors, go grab it

[openroadracer]

Okay, so am I just dreadfully boring, or are the other classes too gimmicky for me? (Or more likely, both?) Because honest, I just feel like the Blastmaster feels the best to play.

But of course, that is subjective opinion, so take it with a grain of salt.

[Combine_Kegan]

Okay, so am I just dreadfully boring, or are the other classes too gimmicky for me? (Or more likely, both?) Because honest, I just feel like the Blastmaster feels the best to play.

But of course, that is subjective opinion, so take it with a grain of salt.

Hard to say. If you got a class that fits you, then there you go. Funny you say the Blastmaster feels best to you, as that's the class with a gimmick that's tightly woven into the primary fire, even moreso than the other 3 classes.

[openroadracer]

Okay, so am I just dreadfully boring, or are the other classes too gimmicky for me? (Or more likely, both?) Because honest, I just feel like the Blastmaster feels the best to play.

But of course, that is subjective opinion, so take it with a grain of salt.

Hard to say. If you got a class that fits you, then there you go. Funny you say the Blastmaster feels best to you, as that's the class with a gimmick that's tightly woven into the primary fire, even moreso than the other 3 classes.

Maybe it's the fact that the Blastmaster's gimmick, the effects of weapon heating, are so much more straightforward to me. It's literally just "primary fire increases heat, secondary fire uses heat for special attacks". It's not as complex as the Tech Monk's combos or Past Linked's sub-weapons.

In fact, it honestly feels like the Blastmaster is probably the most directly offensive and aggressive of the classes. Even when your heat gauge is high, you're never really out of the fight; and the "maximum overheat" heavy flamethrower attack in particular almost makes it a good idea to deliberately overheat your weapons just to unleash a massively powerful incinerator weapon.

I feel the reason I choose the Blastmaster over the Artificer is more to do with the Super Shotgun replacements, though. I just don't feel like the caltrops of the Sharp Shooter are really all that useful unless you're able to use it to subvert enemy ambushes; but that would mostly requiring knowledge of when and where those ambushes will be. It makes the weapon more unwieldy than it has to be. The Blastmaster's Firebrand is literally just a double barrel shotgun firing incendiary buckshot, with increasing power as its heat goes up.

Maybe all this just proves that I'm even more boring than I think I am.

[Combine_Kegan]

Okay, so am I just dreadfully boring, or are the other classes too gimmicky for me? (Or more likely, both?) Because honest, I just feel like the Blastmaster feels the best to play.

But of course, that is subjective opinion, so take it with a grain of salt.

Hard to say. If you got a class that fits you, then there you go. Funny you say the Blastmaster feels best to you, as that's the class with a gimmick that's tightly woven into the primary fire, even moreso than the other 3 classes.

Maybe it's the fact that the Blastmaster's gimmick, the effects of weapon heating, are so much more straightforward to me. It's literally just "primary fire increases heat, secondary fire uses heat for special attacks". It's not as complex as the Tech Monk's combos or Past Linked's sub-weapons.

In fact, it honestly feels like the Blastmaster is probably the most directly offensive and aggressive of the classes. Even when your heat gauge is high, you're never really out of the fight; and the "maximum overheat" heavy flamethrower attack in particular almost makes it a good idea to deliberately overheat your weapons just to unleash a massively powerful incinerator weapon.

I feel the reason I choose the Blastmaster over the Artificer is more to do with the Super Shotgun replacements, though. I just don't feel like the caltrops of the Sharp Shooter are really all that useful unless you're able to use it to subvert enemy ambushes; but that would mostly requiring knowledge of when and where those ambushes will be. It makes the weapon more unwieldy than it has to be. The Blastmaster's Firebrand is literally just a double barrel shotgun firing incendiary buckshot, with increasing power as its heat goes up.

Maybe all this just proves that I'm even more boring than I think I am.

Don't know what to tell you. Different strokes for different folks. Gimmicks are my thing, you have a class that you enjoy, there you go. I'm not backing down from any of my other gimmick sets or anything else I got planned.

[openroadracer]

Maybe it's the fact that the Blastmaster's gimmick, the effects of weapon heating, are so much more straightforward to me. It's literally just "primary fire increases heat, secondary fire uses heat for special attacks". It's not as complex as the Tech Monk's combos or Past Linked's sub-weapons.

In fact, it honestly feels like the Blastmaster is probably the most directly offensive and aggressive of the classes. Even when your heat gauge is high, you're never really out of the fight; and the "maximum overheat" heavy flamethrower attack in particular almost makes it a good idea to deliberately overheat your weapons just to unleash a massively powerful incinerator weapon.

I feel the reason I choose the Blastmaster over the Artificer is more to do with the Super Shotgun replacements, though. I just don't feel like the caltrops of the Sharp Shooter are really all that useful unless you're able to use it to subvert enemy ambushes; but that would mostly requiring knowledge of when and where those ambushes will be. It makes the weapon more unwieldy than it has to be. The Blastmaster's Firebrand is literally just a double barrel shotgun firing incendiary buckshot, with increasing power as its heat goes up.

Maybe all this just proves that I'm even more boring than I think I am.

Don't know what to tell you. Different strokes for different folks. Gimmicks are my thing, you have a class that you enjoy, there you go. I'm not backing down from any of my other gimmick sets or anything else I got planned.

Hey, I'm not saying you need to change any plans, and I'm not saying that I think the Blastmaster is superior to the others. I'm just saying that as far as my personal playstyle is concerned, the Blastmaster fits me better than the others.

[Salas]

Personally, I've been having a blast with the new two classes, at the same time that I've had a good time revisiting the previous ones with the new changes that they have now.
I've been having some trouble adapting to the Past Linked set, but the idea of having different items for the three weapons is really nice, and Tech Monk's gimmick has made him my favorite of all classes.

There's just something I wanted to ask, didn't the King's Court class had another name before on the Roadmap?
I recall it had to do with tacticool stuff or something like that.
Still, really having fun with the update, and looking forward to the upcoming stuff.

[StraightWhiteMan]

I fricken LOVE this update! Seriously great work. Every one of your mods is in my top 10 favorites, and it blows me away how creative the things you come up with are AND how high quality everything always is. I really enjoyed v1.4 a lot, but this update elevated this mod to a whole new level imo.
I love all the changes made to the Artificer. Even though he was the original class, if he would have stayed the exact same as he was, he would look completely out of place now with the rest of the current classes. His melee weapon looks amazing, the pistol is much more fitting and works great, shotgun looks amazing, everything looks and feels amazing.
BlasterMaster MK2 is awesome as always, but the new effects and weapon changes make him feel more fleshed out and polished.
The Tech Monk is dope af, but a pain in the ass to get good with. He's a lot of fun though, which like a fighting game, makes me want to put in the time to get good with him to see what he's capable of.
The Past Linked class is challenging to use too, but he's probably my favorite class so far. His playstyle is a lot of fun, and really does feel like playing as Link in Doom. You nailed the weapons and sub-weapons imo, and the fact you can shoot deployable ladders is insane to me. It would be nice if you could manually use your shield to cover for the sake of mercy, but I know that isn't how it works in Zelda.
Love the new fonts and title screen as well, but the new class menus w/ better arsenal previews are especially nice. I love the look of them, and they are much easier to read and understand.
Also, for those that may mention "balance", I would disagree with it's importance between the classes. If this was a competitive deathmatch game, yes it's important, but for a single player experience balance isn't needed. Each class offers a different playstyle and way to experience whatever map you play. At least that's how I see it. I would say that if CO-OP is an option in this mod, then synergy between classes would be important and really cool to see.
Again, amazing work CK, and I can't wait to see what you do in the next update to this, or any of your other mods like CAG and GMOTA. You are amazing at what you do, and I am extremely grateful for all your work.

Ideas

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The only suggestion I have that I'm sure you've already considered, is to add a special ability for each class. A couple examples just for ideas, the Artificer could have a shoulder charge similar to the one in Treasure Tech, and Past Linked could blow an ocarina to transport to a random location away from enemies. I don't know what Tech Monk could do, but I know it'd look cool as hell, and maybe BlastMaster could radio an airstrike or ammo crate. IDK

[Combine_Kegan]

There's just something I wanted to ask, didn't the King's Court class had another name before on the Roadmap?
I recall it had to do with tacticool stuff or something like that.

It did! It was originally named "Tactical Sideharms" But that was an old name back when the idea was to have the set themed around small one handed weapons and a pistol on altfire at all times.

Also, for those that may mention "balance", I would disagree with it's importance between the classes. If this was a competitive deathmatch game, yes it's important, but for a single player experience balance isn't needed. Each class offers a different playstyle and way to experience whatever map you play. At least that's how I see it. I would say that if CO-OP is an option in this mod, then synergy between classes would be important and really cool to see.

Co-op IS in mind with the mod, I made it Zandronum 3.0 compatible for a reason, though when playing co-op with buddies I recommend only playing with an extra two or three people as it'll quickly become a mess and far, FAR too easy. There's technically some interactions as of right now, because the Vulture SMG's ammo drops can be picked up by any player, and Past Linked's ladders serve as great defense for other players, and the hearts dropped from the Crissword magic can be picked up by any player!

Also I'm glad you're liking the update, Arti's baton was like one of the most time consuming weapon added in this update, between trying to figure out a good design and then actually drawing and animating it, that single weapon alone held me up for a few months, lol.

Ideas

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The only suggestion I have that I'm sure you've already considered, is to add a special ability for each class. A couple examples just for ideas, the Artificer could have a shoulder charge similar to the one in Treasure Tech, and Past Linked could blow an ocarina to transport to a random location away from enemies. I don't know what Tech Monk could do, but I know it'd look cool as hell, and maybe BlastMaster could radio an airstrike or ammo crate. IDK

Now while I have no plans for adding abilities like that, because I don't want to add more buttons and make the mod more convoluted.

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Equip the hero sword as past linked and try hitting some keys, I made use of another pre-existing key within ZDoom to do something interesting.

[Jarewill]

Now while I have no plans for adding abilities like that, because I don't want to add more buttons and make the mod more convoluted.

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Equip the hero sword as past linked and try hitting some keys, I made use of another pre-existing key within ZDoom to do something interesting.

Oh wow, that's great!

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If said button is pressed with another weapon and then the player switches again to the sword, the thing will still happen.
I assume it gives an inventory item that is checked in the sword's Ready state or something, so maybe make it a powerup that lasts a few tics before being removed?

I'm really enjoying the Tech-Monk, especially with the fact that timing the attacks right rewards the player with stronger attacks, though it is quite hard during a hectic fight.
If there's something I miss, it's the crate weapon reloads though. Reloading that big magazine of the 100% tactical pistol, or feeding the revenant box milk were just incredibly fun, but I can understand balance reasons. (Especially since the revenant box seemed to have gotten a major buff)

[Combine_Kegan]

Now while I have no plans for adding abilities like that, because I don't want to add more buttons and make the mod more convoluted.

---

Equip the hero sword as past linked and try hitting some keys, I made use of another pre-existing key within ZDoom to do something interesting.

Oh wow, that's great!

---

If said button is pressed with another weapon and then the player switches again to the sword, the thing will still happen.
I assume it gives an inventory item that is checked in the sword's Ready state or something, so maybe make it a powerup that lasts a few tics before being removed?

I'm really enjoying the Tech-Monk, especially with the fact that timing the attacks right rewards the player with stronger attacks, though it is quite hard during a hectic fight.
If there's something I miss, it's the crate weapon reloads though. Reloading that big magazine of the 100% tactical pistol, or feeding the revenant box milk were just incredibly fun, but I can understand balance reasons. (Especially since the revenant box seemed to have gotten a major buff)

It actually IS a powerup, though right now it has a lifespan of 60 tics, I'll reduce that later. You can actually trigger the reloads for the crate weapons with that same method, I removed it from the reload key altogether just to make 100% certain people don't get confused as to why the old reloading mechanic isn't working anymore. I certainly didn't want to just toss the reloads out entirely, they're fun.