Bullet-Eye (SNES/Retro Style Mod) v0.10 - 1-Up!

[Linz]

Hey,it's the guy with no icon yet again,lul


Jokes aside,I'm on the lookout for mapsets to play and such,and I was wondering if you know any good mapset you'd reccomend I'd play with Bullet Eye?

Oh and I should probably ask this,are you going to remove the Damage sliders for the next update? Noticed it was absent in the development version

[Mor'Ladim]

Hey,it's the guy with no icon yet again,lul


Jokes aside,I'm on the lookout for mapsets to play and such,and I was wondering if you know any good mapset you'd reccomend I'd play with Bullet Eye?

Oh and I should probably ask this,are you going to remove the Damage sliders for the next update? Noticed it was absent in the development version

Sorry it took ages to get back to you. As for mapsets, I posted a few recommendations earlier in the thread, but the list is:

Scythe 1 & 2 are always good choices. If you're looking for short bursts of gameplay, Congestion 1024 and the like are fun! I heard Super MAYhem 17 is also fitting, but haven't really tried it myself yet. There are not many mapsets out there that exactly fit the theme, so anything works. I do love running it with "TVR! Revolution" the most, however,

Also, yes, the damage and defense sliders are going to be removed in the next stable update. They were removed for at least two reasons: it was from a time where I used bad practices picked up from another developer, as if you have to use sliders to balance the game, then I didn't balance it properly in the first place. Second, some people didn't read the warning next to the download link to set the slider values to their liking (or the default 1.0 setting) before playing, as evidenced by some Youtube videos of players rarely taking damage. This was due to how the sliders worked, in that they were be set at their highest value upon running the mod for the first time.

Also, we are keeping durability on equipment items, but scrapping the idea for having them on weapons. Instead, we will repurpose the durability bar to be an experience bar. This will essentially be used to level weapons now. You earn XP for kills, gain a chunk from using Weapon Enhancers, and from picking up duplicates of the current weapon. The original L4 under the durability system would make a weapon indestructible. Instead, we will cause L4 to grant a weapon infinite ammo, so that way people who enjoyed the infinite ammo option will still have a way to utilize it, but they must work for it!


Seen above is the new weapon crafting window. As you can see, since I've only found the Winged Reaver, only that weapon is available to craft, but the list will fill out as you find other weapons. This will compliment the equipment bonus system well, or just allows the player to switch to another weapon when a situation calls for it. Score items now grant materials for crafting, so be sure to pick them up! Also, yes, that text bleeding out of the window will be fixed!


Here we can see changes to the Weapon Panel. To the right is a counter of how many Weapon Enhancers the player has, and the controls to utilize them. As noted, they no longer directly level up a weapon, but grant a chunk of experience instead. The weapon pros and cons list was instead replaced with attributes, which should better serve to compare weapons between others.


As you can see, Sub-Weapons were also removed, but not lost. They will all be converted to a primary weapon for the most relevant weapon family. The Mag Shurikens above and the Scatter Bombs seen here are just some examples of the changes. Hopefully they are still fun to use!

We are getting much closer to an update. I would like to add at least one new Melee weapon, and at least one more Support (as there is currently only one). The rest of the changes should be fairly minor and quick to do, so I should be able to get an update out sooner rather than later. Besides, it's already been almost one year with no updates to the stable release!

To those of you who have stayed with us for this long, thank you for playing! We appreciate it!

[Linz]

Ah,this all looks pretty cool!

How about the health system though,have you decided to keep it,add an option to enable the old one,what?

And another question,will there be a slider that'll allow us to tweak the XP gain?

[Accensus]

How about the health system though,have you decided to keep it,add an option to enable the old one,what?

It's way too complicated to add an option for that without losing my sanity. We're keeping the new one but it has been vastly improved and trusted sources say it's marginally more playable now.

And another question,will there be a slider that'll allow us to tweak the XP gain?

Could add one if Mor isn't against it. It'd be a simple multiplier.

[Linz]

Ok so after playing with the dev build again,I think I've grown acustomed to the new health system after all thanks to the changes made

Also one thing i would like to see is an indicator or something that shows up when you've leveled up a weapon

Also I've noticed that weapons that were orginally Seek are now Rapid instead.I'm guessing you removed the Seek category all together?

(Unimportant Side Note: That feel when you got so many weapon chest keys but no weapon chests spawn ;n;)

OH another thing: I noticed the Bullet-Eye meter is now divided into sections.What's up with that?

[Mor'Ladim]

Ok so after playing with the dev build again,I think I've grown acustomed to the new health system after all thanks to the changes made

Also one thing i would like to see is an indicator or something that shows up when you've leveled up a weapon

Also I've noticed that weapons that were orginally Seek are now Rapid instead.I'm guessing you removed the Seek category all together?

(Unimportant Side Note: That feel when you got so many weapon chest keys but no weapon chests spawn ;n;)

OH another thing: I noticed the Bullet-Eye meter is now divided into sections.What's up with that?

Yes, all the health system really needed was a boost in the number of health units. Before it was just 6, and that is definitely too small for how hectic things can be. I may need to adjust some damage values of a few enemies still, but I definitely won't do anything too over the top.

For weapon leveling, I was going to see about adding a sound that plays when a weapon levels up. Though I believe adding a visual indicator somewhere would also be helpful.

I am glad you were able to figure out that those boxes are weapon chests. I was worried players wouldn't know what they were and not sure what to do with them. I think the key 'bubble' helped with that, as suggested by another player. I'll see about adjusting the spawn rate of the chests, and possibly even make stronger enemies drop some. There will also be a counter for how many keys the player has, so we didn't forget about that!

The Bullet-Eye meter has 2 lines. The first solid line on the left indicates when an ultimate can be activated, as the player no longer needs a full bar to use it. The dotted line represents the point when the meter stops decaying. This means that any energy amount over 50 will slowly be lost until it reaches that line, so it's better to use it than to lose it! Kills with an ultimate weapon also grant some crafting materials now.

Thanks for testing the dev build and I greatly appreciate your feedback!

[Linz]

OH! Btw,what will you do with the health ups bosses drop when killed?

OH another suggestion: I think it would be cool if you could change wha sound plays when a weapon levels up

About the BE meter,ah I see,guess I'll have to get into the habit of using it a bit more often

Also you're welcome :3

[Mor'Ladim]

OH! Btw,what will you do with the health ups bosses drop when killed?

OH another suggestion: I think it would be cool if you could change wha sound plays when a weapon levels up

About the BE meter,ah I see,guess I'll have to get into the habit of using it a bit more often

Also you're welcome :3

The Max Health powerups still exist, but they currently only appear where Megaspheres do. I'll most likely place them back on boss drop lists once I replace the bosses, as they are too easy at the moment to drop such a reward. Perhaps rescuing a number of Survivors (let's say 10) could reward a max health upgrade as well.

[Linz]

Also can I say


I find it hilarious how different the current and development person's title screens are

The current is all serious and stuff and then the development on is basically happy cheery winter themed music

[Bochulain]

I loved the current build, it was this arcadey, actiony, cartoony shoot'em up. Powerup armours all over the place with neat trade offs for each one, weapons that were all flashy and quirky. Game felt just like the old Spy Hunter or 1943 cabinets, but FPS instead of Top Down. Straight forward, to the point, simple execution, everything. Hardly used the Bullet Eye function because it was OP, but it was a load of fun to open up on huge crowds in map sets with ridiculous numbers of monsters.
Whoa. What is going on with this dev build though? Don't get me wrong, it's great as a Doom mod, but this ain't an arcade game anymore. Playing it with Doom 1 E2 (because Shores of Hell is a great set of maps for checking out a wad's weapon load out) the first two levels start me with a boss spawned literally adjacent to me. Seriously, map 2 has me stuck in the starting closet with a Baron blocking my exit, and no choice but to keep firing and hope he runs out of HP before I do.
Those neat armour powerups appear to be gone, dumping literally 20 weapon enhancers into a weapon appeared to do nothing, those flashy quirky weapons now have an ammo pool so that their quirks are now annoyances that waste ammo, and yeah, sub weapons were OP, but they were a neat way to expand your move set.
Again, the dev build is still an awesome twist on Doom mechanics and something worth spending time on. You have to make the game you want to make, so I won't tell you to go back to making an arcade game, but if arcade was the goal, you're veering way off course. Too much micromanagement for a quarter muncher, and I have no idea why every level (or the first two in E2 anyway) need to have a battle of attrition in the opening (or after every teleport in map 1).
I do love the monster set though. I get nostalgic for the voice-in-a-coffee-can sound of really old games, and the bloodless flying-off-the-screen deaths of mooks in those days. If you update the mod with just the monsters that'd be pretty sweet. And I'm *really* glad to see you changed Doomguy's sprite in this version. Even the dev version feels like it needs Ice Ninja to capture the whole effect.

[Mor'Ladim]

Thank you for the much needed feedback. It's true that the mod is a lot different from its original concept, but these days, I mainly refer to the mod as a "mix of retro and modern". I probably did get carried away with some of the systems, such as the crafting, but there definitely won't be anymore major changes like that.

the first two levels start me with a boss spawned literally adjacent to me. Seriously, map 2 has me stuck in the starting closet with a Baron blocking my exit, and no choice but to keep firing and hope he runs out of HP before I do.

This part, I am unsure of. It may be related to the DM Spawner that causes higher tier enemies to spawn in spots where Deathmatch spawns are placed. However, they should only start appearing after map 03. I will adjust it so they only appear on map 05 onward. Also, don't forget about the quick melee and Flash Guard, as they work wonders when dealing with single targets - especially vanilla enemies. Of course, all vanilla enemies will be replaced with custom counterparts eventually.

Those neat armour powerups appear to be gone

Equipment items? They are still in the game. One reliable source of equipment comes from finding them in secret areas. Otherwise, enemies can still drop them. You can use the arrow keys while the Status Panel is open to navigate to the equipment item page. There are also 4 more slots added, which brings the total amount of pieces you can wear up to 8, as opposed to the stable release which only allows a total of 4.

dumping literally 20 weapon enhancers into a weapon appeared to do nothing

Weapon leveling will work a bit differently now. The bar under the weapon graphic in the Status Panel displays your weapon's current XP. XP can be earned either by using Weapon Enhancers while the weapon is equipped, or by killing enemies. This may not sound appealing, as I am sure it seems like weapons will level much slower. However, weapon levels will now be permanent. As an example, once you build a Volley Shot to level 2, you can drop it and swap to another weapon - find the Volley Shot again on another map and it will still be level 2.

those flashy quirky weapons now have an ammo pool so that their quirks are now annoyances that waste ammo

Ammo and reloading were implemented as some weapons would be insanely overpowered without the need to reload alone. The Spitfire L3 comes to mind, which causes it to gain a very high rate of fire as firing continues. Without reloading or ammo usage, the fire button could just be held to demolish everything with little challenge. I did toss the idea of making weapons only have 1 level, but as you can see by the poll, that wasn't a popular idea.

Again, I thank you for the feedback and hope I covered everything. Some issues you may have encountered seem to be due to balance or other changes that I still need to fine tune. I acknowledge the mod has strayed pretty far from its arcade-style roots, but I hope you will still enjoy the release when it comes.

Speaking of the release, one of the main hurdles related to an XP bug was passed, so I pretty much just need to work on some other minor changes and make the new help screens. After that, we should be ready for a release some time this month. Sorry for the wait, everyone!

[Gourry]

Not sure if this was mentioned but the Wolfenstein enemies are invisible and not active in Doom 2 unless you use target spy on them. Also when playing other game mods sometimes the sub mod shows the wrong icon and level. This happened when I was playing with the uplink map. On the github version, is there a way to turn off bullet time from autofiring?

[Mor'Ladim]

Not sure if this was mentioned but the Wolfenstein enemies are invisible and not active in Doom 2 unless you use target spy on them. Also when playing other game mods sometimes the sub mod shows the wrong icon and level. This happened when I was playing with the uplink map. On the github version, is there a way to turn off bullet time from autofiring?

Yes, you were the one who actually mentioned the issue with the Wolfenstein enemies last time, which is another reason why I want to get the update out ASAP. The Sub-Weapon issue, I can't recall the exact issue, but it won't be a problem in the upcoming release, since Sub-Weapons are no longer a thing. I am not sure if it had to do with the use of voodoo dolls in maps, however, which is still a problem we need to solve in the dev build as maps that utilize them will cause issues with primary weapons.

As for turning off autofiring for Bullet-Eye Mode, the intent was to make it sort of like a quick burst attack, similar to an ultimate in more recent games. Though, I did think about bringing back the ability to cancel it at any time, instead of having to use it all in one go with no way to stop it. I could return it to the manual firing mode if the demand is high, but seeing as how it uses up energy a lot faster in the dev build, I don't think I will have special music play as it used to. That music was moved to the standard map music pool, so it isn't gone completely.

[Bochulain]

there definitely won't be anymore major changes like that.

Oh, hey, no, seriously, change anything you want. I'm being honest when I say my opinion doesn't count. I'm just making really opinionated suggestions. If you wanted to do some sort of 3 stage Alchemy system with dialogue tree elements in order to get ammunition or something crazy like that, rock on. I'd suggest *not* doing that and why I wouldn't, then hope you'd agree, but this isn't about me. You do you, and people like you will be your fans.

the first two levels start me with a boss spawned literally adjacent to me. Seriously, map 2 has me stuck in the starting closet with a Baron blocking my exit, and no choice but to keep firing and hope he runs out of HP before I do.

This part, I am unsure of. It may be related to the DM Spawner that causes higher tier enemies to spawn in spots where Deathmatch spawns are placed. However, they should only start appearing after map 03. I will adjust it so they only appear on map 05 onward. Also, don't forget about the quick melee and Flash Guard, as they work wonders when dealing with single targets - especially vanilla enemies. Of course, all vanilla enemies will be replaced with custom counterparts eventually.

I'm sure it is the "Enemies Spawn at Deathmatch spawns" setting. If you want to see what I saw, just load up Doom 1, Episode 2, Map 2. Map 1 also has a boss waiting on the other end of every single teleport spot, but those I could run away from or fight in close quarters. Honestly though, maybe an option *not* to have them spawn at all would be nice, since there's already an option to have them *maybe* spawn.

Those neat armour powerups appear to be gone

You can use the arrow keys while the Status Panel is open to navigate to the equipment item page. There are also 4 more slots added, which brings the total amount of pieces you can wear up to 8, as opposed to the stable release which only allows a total of 4.

Ah, see, I didn't know I could navigate the status panel with the arrow keys. Last time it was just pressing the status panel key over and over, so I did that and gave up 'cause I'm lazy. And MORE SLOTS MEANS MORE STUFF. So, thanks =)

Weapon leveling will work a bit differently now. The bar under the weapon graphic in the Status Panel displays your weapon's current XP. XP can be earned either by using Weapon Enhancers while the weapon is equipped, or by killing enemies. This may not sound appealing, as I am sure it seems like weapons will level much slower. However, weapon levels will now be permanent. As an example, once you build a Volley Shot to level 2, you can drop it and swap to another weapon - find the Volley Shot again on another map and it will still be level 2.

I totally agree you need the weapon levels to keep the feel of the game. And again, you gotta do you; if you're moving away from the arcade feel, that's fine. If not, just note that that's too slow paced for small arcade style map sets. Megawads and slaughtermaps, that'll be fine, but maps like Scythe and Moonblood, the monster count and level sizes are pretty small, and making weapon leveling take that long will basically prevent you from getting anywhere until halfway through the set. Also I'm only so-so at Doom so I can't survive without at least one reliable weapon =)

those flashy quirky weapons now have an ammo pool so that their quirks are now annoyances that waste ammo

Ammo and reloading were implemented as some weapons would be insanely overpowered without the need to reload alone. The Spitfire L3 comes to mind, which causes it to gain a very high rate of fire as firing continues. Without reloading or ammo usage, the fire button could just be held to demolish everything with little challenge.

It's all a matter of where the challenge is supposed to be, and quirky weapons with infinite ammo are a fast paced challenge, whereas good weapons with limited ammo are a slow, methodical challenge. Like, Spitfire and that poison-based-seeker-thingy were pretty much "I win" buttons, but stuff like that pistol-that-fires-every-direction-but-where-you-aim, and that grenade-launcher-you-have-to-charge-and-when-it's-fully-charged-it-autofires, stuff like that needs infinite ammo because the challenge (and the fun) is in surviving until the weapon stops sucking. Ammo usage is about making every hit count, and you can't make every hit count if it's not up to you whether it's going to hit anything, or if you have to give your AOE 10 seconds of build up and hope no one moves in the meantime.

Again, I thank you for the feedback and hope I covered everything... ...I hope you will still enjoy the release when it comes.

Hey, it's just nice to talk to people who share my interests. Maybe I'll give the dev version another run to see if I still like it on a really long map, but even if I don't, so long as you're proud of it, you did a good job. Doom isn't supposed to look and sound like this, and you made it look and sound like this =) I wish I had the patience to even build a map, but y'know, ADD, effort, not a genius like you and the other cool modders out there, etc.

[Gourry]

Questions on weapons and equips for the git ver.:

For the equip enhancement bonuses, does it randomize the bonus perk on the item? Was using a bunch on equip enhance orbs and misclicked on a good perk going to the next bonus.
How far does the weapon level enhancement go?