[WIP] The Trooper - 0.3.4 [INFINITE HIATUS]

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TheRailgunner
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Re: [WIP] The Trooper - 0.3.1 [AIM YOUR MINIGUN]

Post by TheRailgunner »

Captain J wrote:This mod has dozens of weapons and i love it. Each weapons feel way too powerful and the sound effects are satisfying as well. Reminds me of Russian Overkill but more extra-tactical.
Spoiler: And if you don't mind, i've got some gripes to talk about
This mod is overall, totally powerful. Excellent job!
Ammo being rare is fairly intentional - every enemy drops it, and most weapons spend less ammo to kill most enemies than the enemies drop, so I felt the rarity provides a counterbalance (the bullet-sponginess of higher-level elites and champions being a smaller secondary counterbalance). Stockpiling ammo becomes much easier once you get a backpack and more weapons.

A lot of weapons need improvements in the effects department - the ones I'm using are too resource-intensive. As far as the K-JACK is concerned, it has three differently colored projectiles - I should make some proper muzzleflashes for the other two firing states, but it should at least match the default (orange) projectile. I might add a projectile type selector or something.

What's the problem with the weapon offsets? I know why the HMG is like that, but I don't see how the Pulsar or the Surfeit Torment have poor angles.

I need to set reloading sounds to a different channel for a lot of weapons. As far as casings not having sound effects...I'm not sure. Maybe I left them out on purpose? I'll look into this one.

Anyway, a slight update - the Machiavellian Disciple now has three extra firing modes, shamelessly ripped right out of the Pulsar-D. I doubt I'll keep all of them since they seem redundant, but I may keep Radioactive rounds. Speaking of, a few effects have been trimmed slightly to improve performance, though right now it more or less is the difference between 10-15 FPS while emptying some SFX-heavy weapon and 0.

EDIT II: I've made some more adjustments - the Machiavellian Disciple's new alt modes should be more FPS-friendly. In addition, the Radsuit now protects somewhat against radiation damage from your weapons; while it does leak somewhat, it isn't as lethal once you pick up the suit. You can even sort of fly by using the radiation clouds (just don't fire while stuck in a corner with a low ceiling).
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TheRailgunner
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Re: [WIP] The Trooper - 0.3.1 [MELEE DAMAGE SCALING!]

Post by TheRailgunner »

Minor update:

Melee damage now scales with level! I may have to increase the damage levels for the sword (or decrease the damage levels for everything else), but it does help melee continue to be viable later on. Unfortunately, the damage gets pretty ridiculous at the upper levels, so I may have to scale health and damage. Also, the sword now properly gives shieldsteal after picking up a Might Focus.
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lwks
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Re: [WIP] The Trooper - 0.3.1 [MELEE DAMAGE SCALING!]

Post by lwks »

This mod looks really cool but I just can't get into it personally cause I didn't like the mandatory Monster Set (which is weird since I had old files for this mod and the Monster Set was a separate WAD) and I don't really like crosshairs, specially custom ones, they look waaaaaaaaaaaay bigger than a crosshair should be on my screen for some weird reason, I suppose they're "hardcoded" into the sprites right? Any plans on changing these?
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TheRailgunner
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Re: [WIP] The Trooper - 0.3.1 [WEAPONS ONLY VERSION]

Post by TheRailgunner »

lwks wrote:This mod looks really cool but I just can't get into it personally cause I didn't like the mandatory Monster Set (which is weird since I had old files for this mod and the Monster Set was a separate WAD) and I don't really like crosshairs, specially custom ones, they look waaaaaaaaaaaay bigger than a crosshair should be on my screen for some weird reason, I suppose they're "hardcoded" into the sprites right? Any plans on changing these?
There is a setting under Options to scale the crosshair - I go with 0.25. If there's a way to set the crosshair scale from the get-go (i.e., out of the box), I'll be sure to implement it. Also, I should probably update the FAQ with this one.

Since you didn't like the monster set, I decided to update The Trooper Arsenal (weapons only). The damage values are halved across the board to make up for the lack of enemy leveling or headshot hitboxes.
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lwks
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Re: [WIP] The Trooper - 0.3.1 [WEAPONS ONLY VERSION]

Post by lwks »

Oh thanks for that. Also figured I could use the "Force Crosshair" option and scale it to 0, worked like a charm. I'm finding strange the ammount of weapoanry on the same weapon slot, should be even more crowded with full arsenal.
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TheRailgunner
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Re: [WIP] The Trooper - 0.3.1 [WEAPONS ONLY VERSION]

Post by TheRailgunner »

lwks wrote:Oh thanks for that. Also figured I could use the "Force Crosshair" option and scale it to 0, worked like a charm. I'm finding strange the ammount of weapoanry on the same weapon slot, should be even more crowded with full arsenal.
When I make a new version of the HUD, I'll see if I can split the slots up again.

Image
Image

Almost done with the Ma'Tok Staff Weapon - the sprites themselves need some work, but the animations and functionality are nearly final. The Staff Weapon is from Stargate and Stargate SG-1, and is the principal front-line weapon of the Jaffa, the slave warriors of the alien Goa'uld. It deals modestly high explosive damage and has a low rate of fire with relatively high hipfire accuracy; its main advantage is that it has no ammo expenditure and higher headshot damage, which translates to higher damage to Demons, Cacos, Arachnotrons, and Lost Souls. As a little bonus functionality, you can fire three somewhat weaker blasts (similar to how Bra'tac does in the first episode he is shown in, though I can assume that just three semi-automatic blasts in quick succession) with Altfire. The downsides to the Staff Weapon are its relatively low rate of fire, slow selection/melee speed, imperfect accuracy, relatively slow/non-instant projectile speed, and a total lack of upgrades, making it less effective at higher levels, although an upgrade does exist in the code, it mainly exists for effects testing.

A few other changes:

*The Cyborg Baron and Assimilated Hell Knight will now fire Photon Torpedos instead of standard Hell Noble projectiles.
*Arachnotrons will have double health and fire Staff Weapon blasts instead of plasma.
*Zombies will occasionally use the alternate fire modes on the weapons they carry (Slugs and Explosive Shells for shotgunners, grenades for most of the rifle zombies).
*More zombies in general (hopefully, one for almost every weapon the player can get; I may have zombies drop their specific weapons again).

EDIT 3: I'm gonna add a small section with tips and strategies!
Spoiler:
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TheRailgunner
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Re: [WIP] The Trooper - 0.3.2 ALPHA [ALL SORTS OF STUFF]

Post by TheRailgunner »

So, this is a development build of 0.3.2. It has the Ma'Tok Staff Weapon, along with new sprites for a number of zombies, to make them easier to distinguish (and EXtinguish). Mancubi now ignore the level system for the time being, so Dead Simple and other levels with Tag 667 specials will work. Cybernobles now fire Photon Torpedoes as their principal armament, and Arachnotrons fire Goa'uld Staff Cannons instead of plasma (they also possess energy shields, as do Fallen Legionnaires).

The Staff Weapon has two upgrades - the Bra'tac Burst (three weaker blasts fired in quick succession) and the Classic Staff Upgrade (brings the Staff Weapon from "SG-1 damage" to "Stargate Film Damage" - while the weapon is shown to be fairly limited in damage output in SG-1, the version that appears in the original Stargate film sent targets flying upon impact and could reduce stone walls to rubble).

Other things: The XP curve for levels has been changed - levels now take muuuuuch longer to get, and weapons require much more XP to upgrade (common: 2500 XP per upgrade, uncommon: 3000 XP, rare: 4000 XP, legendary, 5000 XP, exotic/mythic: 10000 XP). Zero Legionnaires now occasionally spawn as mini-boss-level Chaingunner replacements; spawning in groups of four, with one Captain (long range), one Skirmisher (close range), and two non-specialized Legionnaires (mid-range and fire support), their AT Fields are much more resilient than normal energy shields, though they are nerfed compared to their source material (an AT Field makes "conventional weapons useless against the Angels", but most of the Trooper's weapons ARE conventional, so compromises had to be made). Still, Zero Legionnaires are both tough and merciless - do not let them keep a direct line of sight on you unless you can swiftly break their shields, and take cover if you see them. Also, I haven't fixed all of the visual bugs yet, so don't be surprised by hovering gibs and the like. They are guaranteed to drop the N7 Battle Rifle and N8 Sniper Rifle, however, so persistence pays off (these weapons also make it easier to deal with them in the future). One last tip: Do NOT melee them - their shields are immune to it, and they Crossplode(tm) upon death, dealing lethal damage to anything close enough - namely, the unlucky SOB who punched them to death.

0.3.2 is NOT complete, but I also want to get it out there before the world ends or something. I intend to make more changes, adjustments, fixes, and improvements in the coming days.

EDIT: Zero Legionnaires now have +DROPOFF, +JUMPDOWN, and a MaxStepHeight of 256, giving them far superior pursuit capabilities. Owing to each Legionnaire's range preferences, they tend to surround the player by blocking entryways and flanking before closing in. I should probably considering preventing them from spawning when the player is below a certain level, though - they CAN be defeated with starting weapons, just not easily. Would also make their weapon drops harder to get until then.
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TheRailgunner
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Re: [WIP] The Trooper - 0.3.2 [NEW GODDAMN SHOTGUN]

Post by TheRailgunner »

Well, thanks to SoniK.O.Fan, I was able to add a new weapon - the Nishimura Ten Shotgun:

ImageImage

The only thing that really needs work is the reload animation and associated sprites - it's technically usable, but could look better.

Pump-action (though holding down the fire key allows you to continue firing before pumping), the N10 deals a fuckload of damage from a modest range (base damage 320, before headshot multipliers) - less accurate than the VSK7, but more accurate than the other two shotguns. Its magazine capacity allows 10 shots before reloading, 15 after the Burst Fire upgrade, and like the other Nishimura weapons, has an antimatter altfire. Like other Legendary weapons, the N10 has four upgrades - the first, Field Choke, allows you to change the pellet spread between narrow and wide, the second, Burst Fire, gives a three-round burst option. Upgrade three, Ripper Shells, tears through enemies like toilet paper - the final upgrade, Hyperspace Magazine, removes the ammo expenditure from the weapon entirely, making the N10's magazine bottomless.

Also included are Zero Legionnaires, N4 Legionnaires, and the Ma'Tok Staff Weapon. I'm thinking of returning to the 1-10 weapon slot system (could put 3 to 4 weapons in each) - would cut down the number of BFGs I have to make from 7 to roughly 1 or 2.

Shotguns found here!
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TiberiumSoul
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Re: [WIP] The Trooper - 0.3.2 [NEW GODDAMN SHOTGUN]

Post by TiberiumSoul »

Shotguns? Shotguns.
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Re: [WIP] The Trooper - 0.3.2 [NEW GODDAMN SHOTGUN]

Post by Captain J »

Very impressive shotgun. Feels really powerful to use. However, i can fire this weapon without pumping each time, it happens the same to its Alt-Fire. I guess that makes it full-auto, not pump-action?

But still, it's a nice shotgun.
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Re: [WIP] The Trooper - 0.3.2 [NEW GODDAMN SHOTGUN]

Post by CanisLaticanis »

I like the new shotgun with one exception: how the infinite ammo final upgrade works, namely that it can fire forever without reloading. If you still had to reload that'd make it a little less ludicrous, but as it stands due to the infinite ammo + ripper mode + variable choke there ends up being zero reason to ever use any other weapon.

EDIT: Also, could you add an option to tone down the dynamic lights/explosion effects? They get really laggy on some weapons.
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TheRailgunner
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Re: [WIP] The Trooper - 0.3.2 [NEW GODDAMN SHOTGUN]

Post by TheRailgunner »

I updated the mod again - the Nishimura Ten's refire frames have been moved to after the pump sequence, lowering the firing rate and giving the burst-fire option a little more value. In addition, the weapon's damage increases with each upgrade starting with Burst Fire. I've also removed the extra player spawns now that the weapon is more or less complete, barring future nerfs.
CanisLaticanis wrote:I like the new shotgun with one exception: how the infinite ammo final upgrade works, namely that it can fire forever without reloading. If you still had to reload that'd make it a little less ludicrous, but as it stands due to the infinite ammo + ripper mode + variable choke there ends up being zero reason to ever use any other weapon.

EDIT: Also, could you add an option to tone down the dynamic lights/explosion effects? They get really laggy on some weapons.
I'll see what I can do to lower the resource usage on the effects - it's been a problem for a few years. As far as Hyperspace Magazine is concerned, I'm hoping the lowered rate of fire will compensate for the bottomless magazine.
Captain J wrote:Very impressive shotgun. Feels really powerful to use. However, i can fire this weapon without pumping each time, it happens the same to its Alt-Fire. I guess that makes it full-auto, not pump-action?

But still, it's a nice shotgun.
It's supposed to be, but I wanted to increase the ROF, so I gave it that weird auto-fire ability. The version I just uploaded removes this, though you can still continue firing the weapon while holding the fire key - just note that it now will always pump.
TiberiumSoul wrote:Shotguns? Shotguns.
SHOTGUNS!

Gonna see how the damage curve works out - I may have to nerf it later, but for now, enjoy the sensation of pure, unadulterated power the Nishimura Ten offers, basking in the fear of the cowering demon hordes before you.
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Re: [WIP] The Trooper - 0.3.2 [NEW GODDAMN SHOTGUN]

Post by CanisLaticanis »

TheRailgunner wrote:As far as Hyperspace Magazine is concerned, I'm hoping the lowered rate of fire will compensate for the bottomless magazine.
I'll try it out, but I don't feel it'd really do it because it's still a steady shot-after-shot thing with completely infinite ammo. My suggestion is to make it reload using a box magazine instead as the final upgrade (mostly because box-fed pump shotguns are not a common thing in games), or give it infinite ammo but require reloading (maybe faster than it is currently). EDIT: Also, enable burst mode and the ROF issue basically vanishes so long as you can handle the recoil.

To be clear: my problem isn't DPS, it's the fact that once you have a gun that does effective damage with completely limitless ammo why use any other weapon, ever? Infinite ammo weapons are usually peashooters or have some other substantial downside for a reason!

Also speaking of the resource use, it might be a good idea to put a cap on the number of antimatter bullets fired by the N7's L.E.A.D. module, or at least apply some optimization. I got in a situation where I used it to fire two hundred rounds, and it basically brought my game to a standstill for about five seconds.
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TheRailgunner
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Re: [WIP] The Trooper - 0.3.2 [NEW GODDAMN SHOTGUN]

Post by TheRailgunner »

CanisLaticanis wrote:
TheRailgunner wrote:As far as Hyperspace Magazine is concerned, I'm hoping the lowered rate of fire will compensate for the bottomless magazine.
I'll try it out, but I don't feel it'd really do it because it's still a steady shot-after-shot thing with completely infinite ammo. My suggestion is to make it reload using a box magazine instead as the final upgrade (mostly because box-fed pump shotguns are not a common thing in games), or give it infinite ammo but require reloading (maybe faster than it is currently). EDIT: Also, enable burst mode and the ROF issue basically vanishes so long as you can handle the recoil.

To be clear: my problem isn't DPS, it's the fact that once you have a gun that does effective damage with completely limitless ammo why use any other weapon, ever? Infinite ammo weapons are usually peashooters or have some other substantial downside for a reason!

Also speaking of the resource use, it might be a good idea to put a cap on the number of antimatter bullets fired by the N7's L.E.A.D. module, or at least apply some optimization. I got in a situation where I used it to fire two hundred rounds, and it basically brought my game to a standstill for about five seconds.
OK - I decided to just straight-up replace Hyperspace Magazine with Firefly, which causes enemies to explode when they die via headshot. It may make the N10 slightly more broken, but it's once again limited by reloads. If you load a save where you've already gotten max XP on this weapon before today's update, you'll end up with both Hyperspace Mag AND Firefly, so starting over is advised.

I've also altered the Nishimura Seven's L.E.A.D Module - it now fires five antimatter rounds at once rather than ALL of them.
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TheRailgunner
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Re: [WIP] The Trooper - 0.3.3 [1-10 SLOTS ARE BACK]

Post by TheRailgunner »

So, I reverted the mod to a normal, 1-10 weapon slot system and updated the HUD accordingly - very soon, I'll add ammo HUD sprites to better identify the ammo used, among other things.

Slot 1 - Pistols: XM27, Surfeit Torment, Nishimura Four
Slot 2 - Light Shotguns: VSK7, VSK9
Slot 3 - Heavy Shotguns: M97, Nishimura Ten
Slot 4 - Assault Rifles: Sokova 46, MARS B
Slot 5 - Explosives: Last Salvo, DM6, K-JACK
Slot 6 - Plasma Weapons: DGA-3, Staff Weapon
Slot 7 - Heavy Rifles: Pulsar-D, M41A Pulse Rifle, Nishimura Seven
Slot 8 - Heavy Automatics: Luxor HMG, Mk. 48 GPMG
Slot 9 - Sniper Rifles: Aries Sharpshooter Prosthesis, Nishimura Eight
Slot 10 - BFGs: Machiavellian Disciple, Crimson Spectre

This also has the effect of lowering the number of weapons I need to add from 14 to 6 - once the weapon roster is finally complete, I can start properly rebalancing things, adding more enemies, and maybe starting on, say, hands, voices, or levels...?

EDIT: Addendum to the above, I've also altered the enemy and weapon spawning chances. Mainly, the rarity of weapon spawns now scales with player level and more obnoxious enemies won't spawn at starting levels, with most elite enemies appearing when the player hits level 4 and the rest at level 7. Elite enemies and rarer weapons are basically impossible to find at level 1; full weapon drop rarity kicks from all monsters kicks in around level 17. Hopefully, this gets more use out of each tier of weaponry and help create a real feeling of reward and progression.

Right now, I'm simplifying the explosions and trying to find ways to lower the resource burden The Trooper puts on everyone's computers - removing headshot actors and using Mikk-'s Criticals for headshots (with backstabs and criticals disabled) really helped improve performance as well. Using Vulkan or SoftPoly also helps with FPS drops, but I suspect the biggest offender is the overuse of SFX.
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