MetaDoom v7.1 "Ghost" - This Mod Has Moved. See OP for details.

[Kinsie]

possibly objective

That's not how objective fact works.

* Make weapons like the holy water pistol and fire extinguisher spawn next to the shotguns instead of outright replacing their pick ups, due to how weapon pick ups impact ammo. (and most likely how mappers see ammo working on their maps)
* Same could go for the BFG and its variants. (And in case the Soul cube or Unmaker aren't near, BFG could give some plasma ammo despite not using it because, again, this is about how mappers made ammo work)

I'll see about having some Shells/Cells spawn near such weapons on non-MetaDoom maps.
(EDIT: Done, with some tweaks to the loot spawning system to handle it more naturally. Not bad, I say!)

* I don't recall Nightmare Spectres in PS1 Doom being faster than regular ones, so i thought them being slower could make up for the health and create some reverse parallel to the dog enemies (who are faster but have less health)

They're slower in that they aren't effected by the Fast Monsters mode enabled in the Nightmare difficulties.

* Ammo issues also come from alt fires, so i wonder if some quantity could be toned down a bit.

I'm cautious about making them cost less ammo (especially the shotgun) because being able to summon full-strength rocket explosions on a whim in the early game is just a teensy bit overpowered without hitting your hip-pocket to balance it out, and reducing their effect to justify matching a lower ammo cost would have a negative effect on gameplay - in the first tech demos, Shotgun Grenades were roughly half a rocket blast, and were kind of pissy and unenjoyable in the eyes of players.

I might reduce the Micro-Rocket cost from 5 bullets to 4, just to have an even number and reduce cases of only having one or two spare bullets after a barrage. I'd be curious to hear what other players think about this.

* Outside of ammo, i still think the BFG and chainsaw should have been the first to show up in their slots while the chainsaw's slot actually has progression based randomization.

The BFG is the first weapon to spawn from BFG spawn points. I'm leaning towards keeping the Chainsaw spawn random or making the Axe the first pickup for it, due to how effective it is in the early game at mulching Zombies.

* Doom 2016 represents power up screen colors as smears on the borders instead of a complete filter in the entire screen, but i guess the blue invulnerability effect can stay since it's a GBA port reference, is better than the vanilla black and white filter and you're still invencible in it.

I'm not changing the powerup screen tint in the next version - I don't know of any mods with substitute effects off-hand to study and/or interrogate the authors of, and the release is close enough that shoving more of my awful hacks in right at the finish line is just a flat-out bad idea.

Not sure what enemies to take from Eternal but

[whatup876]

Yeah, i'm not really good at words and i know about the sign at this point since that post of mine is technically old.

The thing about the axe is that it works with zombies and for health farming, but it's a slower paced weapon while the chainsaw is faster and is a bit better at stunning enemies.
They're mechanically different, not in a way where one is worse than the other but in a way that they definitely change the core gameplay.
At least, that's what i mean.

[Grizzly]

that auto-detection of dehacked enemies does make the mod a *whole lot* cooler then it was before. And it was already very cool.

[Starman the Blaziken]

I just wonder though Kinsie… How long have you been in this testing phase as I see in between the parenthesis of the title?

[Panzermann11]

So I just played the developement build and I noticed something really strange.

E.G. - in Dead Simple, the doors where they're supposed to open when killing all the 4 mancubi doesn't. I didn't see this happen in the stable build though, so looks like there was some problem with the coding that made maps have trouble with keeping track on enemies killed.

[Kinsie]

So I just played the developement build and I noticed something really strange.

E.G. - in Dead Simple, the doors where they're supposed to open when killing all the 4 mancubi doesn't. I didn't see this happen in the stable build though, so looks like there was some problem with the coding that made maps have trouble with keeping track on enemies killed.

Thanks for the heads-up. I've fixed this, but it involved bumping up the ZScript version so I might have introduced bugs squashing all the resulting depreciation warnings. I'll be working further on that come tomorrow, but if you see anything odd, please let me know!

Like, real soon, because I wanna do a stable release next week!

[Panzermann11]

Thanks for the heads-up. I've fixed this, but it involved bumping up the ZScript version so I might have introduced bugs squashing all the resulting depreciation warnings. I'll be working further on that come tomorrow, but if you see anything odd, please let me know!

Like, real soon, because I wanna do a stable release next week!

No problem, glad to help. Also...



The hologram picture shows the vanilla marine. In the stable build, the hologram uses the mod's player sprite instead.
This is supposed to be like that, isn't it?

[Starman the Blaziken]

Well with that little note on the possible release next week I am excited as all get out.

Also I doubt that is supposed to be the vanilla sprite though.

[Kinsie]

Thanks for the heads-up. I've fixed this, but it involved bumping up the ZScript version so I might have introduced bugs squashing all the resulting depreciation warnings. I'll be working further on that come tomorrow, but if you see anything odd, please let me know!

Like, real soon, because I wanna do a stable release next week!

No problem, glad to help. Also...



The hologram picture shows the vanilla marine. In the stable build, the hologram uses the mod's player sprite instead.
This is supposed to be like that, isn't it?

Thanks, I renamed the player sprite in the new version to avoid conflicts with mods that alter/repalletize the player sprites like Ancient Aliens or BTSX, and must've missed a few spots.

[Grizzly]

The "2 second countdown" is fun! I find myself using items a lot more, rather then saving them all up until I suddenly hit a roadblock.

Otoh, some of these items are probably a bit too powerful to have on a 2 second countdown. Especially the healing grenade. Arguably, the cooldowns should be as such that it encourages you to switch items, and 2 seconds is a little bit too short for that.

[Panzermann11]

Hold on, I think I forgot one more thing...

---

---

Yeah. Pics explain it all.

[Grizzly]

How does Doom handle stuff like Eviternity's death exits and starting from various chapters anyway?

[Kinsie]

Download v666 - "Titan"

Monster Changes:

• Added the "Unique Bosses" Cvar! This replaces boss monsters on certain map slots (like E4M8) with new bosses from throughout Doom history!
• Added 3 unique boss monsters!
• The "bleeding" and "scared" status effects have been completely rewritten to be much more uniform (and much less copy-paste-y) across all monsters.
• More monsters are now scared by Holy Water. As they well should be!
• Hell Knights, Barons of Hell, Imp Lords and Fiends now try and avoid flinging themselves into damaging sectors. Not that it'd hurt them, but it stops them from falling out of the map or into places where the player can't reach them.
• Cyberdemons now try and avoid charging if there isn't a flat path for them to charge on, to avoid them slamming into walls, having to pump the breaks to avoid falling off a ledge, or charging while in a small "turret" area...
• Cyberdemon charging attacks are no longer blocked by items and other random junk, and now smoosh anybody stupid enough to be in the way.
• Cyberdemon charging attacks now have a different "tell" from the "walking while shooting" attack, in that he stomps twice on the ground first.
• Speaking of... Cyberdemon melee has been revamped into a new stomp attack.
• Cyberdemons now announce their entrance with the same gusto as other bosses.
• Removed code for Z-Sec to try and actively dodge if projectiles were coming their way, because, well, it was always broken and had never worked.
• Summoners no longer, well, SUMMON if they haven't seen the player recently, and they won't summon if they don't think there's enough room to do so. There are also new precautions in place to prevent Unwilling from spawning inside of each other (fnarr!)
• Hell Razer's beams are made up of less actors, hopefully making them less intense on your 32-bit Acer laptop you got for schoolwork in 2003.
• Revenant rockets will now fire from the shoulder launchers on the sprite IF the ceiling is sufficiently high up enough to allow it. If not, the original behavior of firing from the Revenant's midsection will be used.
• Bull Demons are now marginally (marginally) smarter about charging straight into a wall they're right next to. Marginally.
• Trites no longer spawn in damaging sectors.

Optional Content Changes:

• Toggling of Optional Content is now handled automagically on a per-actor basis, as opposed to being toggled by a CVar, allowing for pain-free mixing of MetaDoom with DEHACKED-addled mapsets such as Ancient Aliens and Going Down! Massive thanks to Boondorl for figuring out how this could be done!
• Also! All the Doom monsters are technically "Optional" now, deferring their seat to DEHACKED monsters like those in Eviternity and Sunlust, allowing for wider and greater mod/mapset compatibility! Hell yes.
• The "Optional Props" CVar is still present, though, listed in the menu as "Allow Breakable Props", for mapsets that reskin these objects without changing their actors' behavior, making them undetectable.
• Updated the sounds for a certain WolfSS variant.

Weapon Changes:

• Collar-bound Zombie Dogs now absorb all damage taken by the player while you have them equipped! Be warned, though, they tend not to last too long.
• The Pistol now triggers "gunfire activated" linedefs like hitscan weapons do, allowing it to trigger the Evil Eyes in SIGIL.
• Corrected the pixel aspect ratio on the Unmaker's HUD sprites and hated every second of it. Please add psprite scaling, Mr. Chicken...
• Added new bindable keys to quickly switch directly to the Holy Water Pistol, Fire Extinguisher and SoulCube without fumbling through the rest of the arsenal.
• Shells now spawn near Holy Water Pistols and Fire Extinguishers, to try and preserve ammo balance. Ditto Cells and the BFG.
• Made the Lightning Gun pickup sprite less of an affront to God.

UI Changes:

• Converted the fonts to the modern, Unicode-friendly standard, for localization support and better compatibility with custom mapsets that replace the original font graphics like Ancient Aliens and Hell Revealed 2.
• The Game Over screen in Ultra-Nightmare mode will now provide a more accurate description of your demise beyond just dying to "something really mean".
• The Game Over screen in Ultra-Nightmare mode now uses the "Nightmare!" menu font.
• Fixed the Spider Mastermind's animation in the Codex (Thanks DrPySpy!)
• Updated various Codex entries for consistency and to accurately reflect the current state of the mod.
• Added proper support for GZDoom's hilariously inflexible Alternate HUD.
• Added a unique background for the Quit confirmation menu.
• Fixed a number of visual issues with the options menu, like Tooltips being cut off by the bottom of the screen and the background just not drawing sometimes.
• Reorganized the MetaDoom Options menu, with rewritten option descriptions and tooltips to make everything clearer and easier to understand.
• Reskinned the sliders in the Options Menus.

Item Changes:

• Inventory items have been completely redesigned! Instead of using the old "shared ammo pool" system, they now have individual cooldown timers (typically two seconds, although some items have a longer cooldown). This will allow for more varied inventory items in the future!
• Inventory pickups and treasure items now use a new spawning method that tries to avoid placing items in damaging sectors, to avoid situations where those much-needed Siphon Grenades are stuck in lava.
• The Hand Grenade's pickup and projectile sprites have been given a scrub-up, and the projectile now has more frames, so as to animate more naturally.
• The Shield Wall is now the colour of the player who threw it, and lets them walk through it freely. (In co-op all players can walk through.)
• The Shield Wall now physically blocks other players in Deathmatch, as well as their projectile attacks. (Hitscans still sneak through, alas. I tried to work around this, but every fix caused its own problems...)
• The Siphon Grenade now has a unique pickup sound instead of reusing the Grenade's.
• The Siphon Grenade's explosion effect has been shifted from a cheesy-looking sprite to a cheesy-looking 3D model, to provide a better visual indicator of its radius.
• The Medikit has a new sprite that looks less out of place, edited from a sprite originally made by Captain J. Much better!
• The rare figurine treasure items have been expanded into a new set of "Lore Items" that have a rare chance of appearing in secret areas. Collect 'em all, and check 'em all out in your Codex when you have a spare moment!

Player Changes:

• Replaced Zombie's ACS footsteps script with vsonnier's ZScript port, with some minor tweaks to fix various issues like footstep sounds playing globally under some non-ideal circumstances. Like multiplayer. Or voodoo dolls on conveyor belts.
• Added a CVar to toggle footstep sounds.
• Fixed electrical shock effects when killed by a Cacodemon not being fullbright.

Mapping Changes:

• Added appropriate metadata etc. to allow level designers to build maps for MetaDoom without having their intended gameplay experience sabotaged by random spawns or item drops. Sure, nobody really makes maps for gameplay mods, but there's always a first time for everything... right?
• Added Extinguishable Flames and Item Boxes!
• See MAPMAKING.TXT inside the PK3 for important notes and info!

Other Changes:

• Fixed a minor bug where not all Doom 64 TC monsters would be replaced.
• Disabled collisions between certain effects actors (gibs, casings etc.) and all other actors, preventing awkward-looking cases of, say, casings getting stuck inside a monster's head when shooting at them point-blank.
• Various sprites and some actors have been renamed to avoid conflicts with other mods causing possible bugs, both visual and otherwise.
• All monsters and other shootable actors now have name tags, for use by other mods such as Target Spy.
• Episodic Spawn Rules will now detect Doom 1 episodes using the "E#M#" naming scheme up to Episode 9. Previously it only went up to Episode 5.
• Blood splats no longer hang over ledges and look weird.
• Debug messages are far less spammy and much more informative. (Not that you're supposed to notice, mind you...)
• Added a formal code license (3-Clause BSD) for the people who care about such things. I doubt it'll be much of a problem since there's very little in the way of compile-able code in MetaDoom, but whatever. It is what it is.
• Various invisible bits of housekeeping and cleaning to keep MetaDoom maintainable and running smoothly well into an Eternal future...!

[Starman the Blaziken]

If their is one thing I was not sure that was covered, just a minor little thing... But the Holy Water Pistol when using the alt when your health is mostly full and the pistol heals you two times when it is necessary at about 89 or below.
Basically when I use the water pistol's alt when like say at about 92 HP, the alt squirts healing water twice instead of once just to fully heal me. It was present in 5.0, unless it is just something to shrug off though still.

[isaacpop23]

So this means that my successful attempt at a Doom II Ultra-Nightmare run after dozens of attempts came literally hours before the update, instantly out-dating itself. Neat. Still feels good finally getting it though!

To all the no one out there that's also insane/bored enough do this, here's my final tally if you wanna compare meaningless score.

---

[imgur]https://i.imgur.com/yVxJLG6[/imgur]

I was going to have a bunch of feedback notes on things, but given the update, I'll hold off until I've poked around with it first. Though it... doesn't seem to be working with the latest LZDoom (3.85 specifically), throwing the below error. Is this something fixable or a case of "just use GZDoom"?

---

Code: Select all

Script error,
"metadoom_v666_titan.pk3:fonts/consolefont/font.inf" line 2:
Expected identifier but got integer constant '8' instead.