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Tested on: GZDoom v3.7.2 (Make sure to update to at least this version! Fixes an aiming problem on certain enemies.)
While Doom is probably my favorite shooter of all time, I've had my gripes with some of its gameplay. The Cyberdemon and Spider Mastermind are too easy to kill, certain weapons aren't as satisfying as they could be, hitscan is annoying, partial invisibility just is, etc. So, instead of sitting around with a bunch of "what ifs" in my head, I decided to implement a lot of the changes I'd like to see. And thus, we have Doom Rebalanced, a mod that aims to tweak some aspects of the game without adding features like new weapons, enemy attacks, etc.
While these are all changes I like, I'd love to get feedback on certain aspects. That includes:
Bugs - I want to make sure I don't leave the game more broken than how I started.
Feedback on current changes - Maybe you feel the BFG is too strong? Or perhaps Revenants are just too annoying now. Let me know so I can make some tweaks. While this is a project I'm mainly doing for myself, I'm ultimately curious in what you guys think.
Future suggestions - Got an idea you'd like to see in the game? Let me know and I'll see what I can do.
There's no images to show here because, well, it's just Doom with some tweaks. You already know what it looks like. However, you do probably want a change log.
Note: A GLDEF lump is also included to make sure all the new projectiles/enemies glow properly. I'll be separating this into its own pk3 at release so that it can be used optionally.
The shotgun is currently not able to use custom sounds due to the way weapon switching can cut it off. However, an option that can be used at your own risk may be added if wanted.
A version without the Wolfenstein SS will be released at launch to allow old WADs that used the dehacked method of replacing enemies to not break.
If you're using GZDoom's althud, make sure to switch back to normal or armor won't display.
Until then, make sure to report any weird issues with either if there are any.
Beta 4 change log:
Spoiler:
/// GENERAL \\\
Added options for level time, total time, kills, secrets, and items in the fullscreen HUD
Added toggle for type of system enemy melee uses (hitscan or projectiles)
/// WEAPONS \\\
Improved weapon handling with infinite ammo cheat or powerup on
Shotgun and Super Shotgun •ID(K)FA and give all/everything/ammo will now remove the need to pump/reload if it was needed when switching back
/// ENEMIES \\\
Enemies will now always wake up when taking damage
Enemies will now fire back (poorly) after being stunned when their target has partial invisibility and is out of range •This excludes the Arch-vile
Fixed an issue with friendly monsters crashing the game
Fixed an issue with projectile pitch for hitscan enemies in GZDoom 3.7.2 •Make sure to update to at least this version!
Fixed missing Pain state on Imp
Revenant •Fixed an issue where it could hit its own extended hitbox •Fixed Revenants being able to hurt each other •Fixed a rare instance where duplicate extended hitboxes could spawn
Arch-vile •Converted damage back to 20 direct and 70 blast (lowered explosion radius back down to 70 units) •Note: You're still guaranteed to take 90 damage if hit with it
Fixed an issue where the Cyberdemon wasn't properly respecting partial invisibility while chasing its target
Beta 3 change log:
Spoiler:
/// GENERAL \\\
Options are finally here! Located at the bottom of the options menu (named Doom Rebalanced Options) you can now adjust some of the features to your liking •Whether to use hitscan or projectiles for hitscan weapons/melee •Whether to use the updated or classic BFG •Note: The classic BFG both uses and gives 40 ammo like the original •Whether to use the reworked armor or the classic style •Note: Armor icon will be based off armor system selected (amount for rework, type for classic) •Whether players and/or enemies use RNG damage •Whether hitscan enemies use hitscan or projectiles •Note: Hitscan will use pre-buffed attacks and enable infighting for enemies it was disabled on •Whether Revenant missiles should always lock on or work like classic •Whether blocking Lost Souls from Pain Elementals should deal damage or not •Note: An option to toggle enemy melee style will be coming in the future. For now I'd like to test and make sure it works •Note: All player options are client-side while enemy options are server-side (or whatever GZDoom's equivalent is)
Fixed an issue where give all cheats were not giving armor
Fixed Berserk packs not updating the fullscreen HUD properly
/// WEAPONS \\\
Weapons can now switch immediately after their gun flash is done playing •This mainly affects the Pistol but does have a minor effect on the Rocket Launcher and BFG9000 •These adjustments also apply to when you run out of ammo for a weapon
Punches can now be cancelled at any time by switching
Adjustments towards Pistol responsiveness
Fixed an issue where the Shotgun and Super Shotgun weren't respecting infinite ammo
The Shotgun and Super Shotgun will no longer show up in the weapon wheel when out of ammo completely
New weapon pickups will no longer cancel Shotgun pumping and Super Shotgun reloading until they're loaded
Shotgun •Updated sound to classic version
/// ENEMIES \\\
Wolfenstein SS •A future version of this mod will be released without this enemy so that old WADs that used the dehacked style of replacing work •Note: This enemy will always appear to face the player when firing because there are no sprites for other angles. This is not a bug but an unfortunate part of the game
Revenant •Heightened hitbox •Note: This won't affect the actual collision detection
Arch-vile •Fire now disappears if Arch-vile channeling it is killed or stunned
Beta 2 change log:
Spoiler:
/// WEAPONS \\\
Readded missing decals
Chainsaw •Adjusted bullet puff when hitting a wall/obstacle
Pistol •Tweaked firing animation to look smoother •Increased damage from 13 to 14 •Slightly increased fire rate when firing in full-auto •Accuracy is now perfect
Both the Shotgun and Super Shotgun now use a pseudo magazine system. Once a shell is pumped/shells are loaded, you'll be able to fire the gun afterwards, even if your ammo is 0 •Note: Currently these weapons won't be skipped in the weapon cycle if they're out of ammo
Shotgun •Pump animation can now be cancelled by switching weapons •You will still need to pump the Shotgun next time you switch back if you have shells •Sound changed •Note: This is mainly because the pumping sound is actually tied to the firing sound and I needed to split them •Now has a pump check after firing similar to the Super Shotgun's reload check
Super Shotgun •Reload animation can now be cancelled by switching weapons •You will still need to reload the Super Shotgun next time you switch back if you have shells •Reload check after firing is now quicker
Chaingun •Reduced damage from 13 to 10 •Note: This changes it back to the original ammo economy it had in vanilla without drastically nerfing its effectiveness
/// ENEMIES \\\
Readded missing decals
Enemy bullets are now twice as fast to match player's •This should help alleviate issues with being too easy to circle strafe since it's now significantly harder at close ranges
Pain Elemental •Reduced damage and radius of Lost Soul explosions to 32 •Note: Explosion no longer has damage fall-off
Cyberdemon •Undocumented change from Beta 1: Projectile speed increased by 25%
/// ITEMS \\\
Partial invisibility •Undocumented change from Beta 1: Lost Souls spawned by Pain Elementals will no longer automatically acquire a target
Beta 1 change log:
Spoiler:
/// WEAPONS \\\
Removed random damage numbers from all player weapons
Damage numbers have been averaged based off the original base damage and the multiplier they roll
Weapons now switch 3x faster
All weapons are now projectile based •Note: this is temporary and there will be an option later to switch between hitscan and projectile. For now, I'd like to make sure this is working properly
Removed small firing delay from any weapon that had it (excluding BFG9000)
Fist and Chainsaw order swapped to compensate for Chainsaw alert changes
Fist •No longer alerts enemies •No longer forcefully turns the camera when punching a target •Changed punch animation speed to accurately reflect actual punch rate •Increased damage to 15 (150 with Berserk)
Chainsaw •No longer automatically swapped to when picked up •Now saws twice as fast (pull effects tweaked to match original Chainsaw) •Increased saw animation speed •Noise now alerts nearby enemies when selecting and idling •Increased damage to 15 (30 total per attack)
Pistol •Increased fire rate slightly •Increased fire rate significantly when firing in semi-auto •Significantly increased accuracy •No longer has perfect accuracy on first shot •Increased damage to 13
Shotgun •Increased accuracy •Increased fire rate •Increased pellets from 7 to 8
Super Shotgun •Changed reload animation speed to accurately reflect actual reload time •Increased accuracy •Increased pellets from 20 to 22
Chaingun •Increased fire rate •Tap fire now only shoots one bullet instead of two •Reduced accuracy •No longer has perfect accuracy on first shot •Increased damage to 13
Rocket Launcher •Increased projectile speed by 25%
Plasma Rifle •End-of-firing delay can now be bypassed by firing or switching weapons •Increased projectile speed by 100% •Increased damage to 28
BFG9000 •End-of-firing delay can now be bypassed by firing or switching weapons •Can now be free aimed without needing to set the flag for it •Now uses 75 cells •Now gives 75 cells •BFG spray reworked •Now an AoE explosion that deals 600 damage to enemies within a 1024 map unit radius (no fall-off) •Guaranteed to stun
/// ENEMIES \\\
Enemy damage is no longer random and has been averaged
Enemies will no longer track players behind walls but will fire at their previous location before hiding
Hitscan attacks have been converted to projectiles but buffed to compensate •Grunts are now significantly more accurate •Sergeants now fire 8 weaker pellets in a tighter spread •Chaingunners now fire twice as fast and are more accurate but deal less damage per bullet •SS now fire significantly faster, are more accurate, and will no longer infight with each other •The Spider Mastermind now fires 6 bullets instead of 3 per shot, is more accurate, and will no longer infight with other Spider Masterminds
Demon and Spectre •Increased melee attack speed •No longer get increased melee speed on Nightmare! difficulty
Spectre •Will now fade out the further away the player is until completely invisible •Note: This was done to give an idea of what the new partial invisibility power up is like for your enemies
Lost Soul •Increased aggression •Lowered health from 100 to 60
Revenant •Missile will now always lock on •Increased melee attack speed
Pain Elemental •Blocked Lost Soul spawns now explode for massive amounts of damage •Pain Elementals and Lost Souls are immune to this explosive damage •Now spits out two Lost Souls instead of one •Spawned Lost Souls no longer charge to prevent infighting •Can no longer be hurt by Lost Souls
Arachnotron •Increased fire rate
Barons and Hellknights can now infight
Arch-Vile •Increased pain chance from 4% to 6% •No longer switches targets rapidly when being shot at •Fire is now transparent •Damage is now entirely done through 90 blast instead of 20 direct and 70 blast. The radius has been increased from 70 units to 90 to compensate •Fire is now moved to the middle of the target when it explodes. This means it's guaranteed to do 90 damage and can't be blocked anymore by small pillars •Fire now accurately updates to target that Arch-vile is attacking •Can no longer harm itself or other Arch-viles with its blast
Cyberdemon and Spider Mastermind •Reduced pain chance significantly •Cyberdemon: 8% -> 2% •Spider Mastermind: 16% -> 4% •No longer affected by thrusting from damage
Cyberdemon •Now fires slightly faster
/// ITEMS \\\
Certain health and armor items are no longer always picked up. This includes: •Health bonuses unless below 200 health •Armor bonuses unless below 200 armor •Beserk packs unless the player hasn't picked one up yet or is below 100 health •Soulspheres unless below 200 health •Megaspheres unless below 200 health or armor •To compensate, none of these items are now counted towards the item score
Armor is now tiered based off amount instead of type picked up •Armor less than or equal to 100: 33% damage reduction •Armor above 100: 50% damage reduction
Health and armor bonuses now give 2 instead of 1
Berserk packs no longer automatically switch your weapon to fists
Reduced screen filter effect for the rad suit, invulnerability sphere, and berserk pack
Patched up some leaks in the radiation suit
Backpacks are no longer picked up when your ammo is full after already doubling your capacity from a previous backpack
Partial invisibility •Sight range modifications •Alert distance is now based off the angle the player has in relation to the enemy •Alert distance shortened significantly at all angles •Enemy accuracy changes •If near melee range, enemies are completely unaffected by partial invisibility •Enemies will no longer sporadically turn during attacks but will face one angle at the start of the attack and fire in that direction unless walking into melee range •Accuracy is based off how far away the player is •At long ranges enemies will cease to fire at the player, even in retaliation •Enemies will no longer turn randomly while meleeing and during the Arch-vile's attack •Homing missiles will no longer lock on •Enemies that fire continuously now do so in bursts •Enemies that fire in bursts will slightly randomize their angle while attacking •The Arch-vile's chance to attack is now based off distance from the player
Credits:
Spoiler:
•ZDoom forums - General problem solving advice and feedback on gameplay •GZDoom - Class information for everything •ZDoom wiki - Where I spend most of my time when trying to solve problems •Beautiful Doom - Tracer model used for bullets/pellets •Dklark - Splitting the shotgun fire and pump sounds •Doomworld - Feedback on gameplay •id Software - Making this awesome game
Enjoy! My final semester just started for me so it's going to be a busy workload for the next 3 months. I'm not sure how often I'll be able to update it, but I'll try and get tweaks out in a somewhat timely manner.
Last edited by Boondorl on Fri Jan 25, 2019 1:55 pm, edited 6 times in total.
For some reasons, the chaingun felt too OP for me, I could easily clear a zombiefied room with only 5-7 seconds without taking damage. Can you please nerf the firerate a bit? Also, will this get Smooth Doom-compatible?
Man, this all sounds highly interesting. Just this one thing makes me wonder:
Certain health and armor items are no longer always picked up. This includes: •Health bonuses unless below 200 health •Armor bonuses unless below 200 armor •Beserk packs unless the player hasn't picked one up yet or is below 100 health •Soulspheres unless below 200 health •Megaspheres unless below 200 health or armor •To compensate, none of these items are now counted towards the item score
If you cannot pickup any more health or armor bonuses once you've reached 199%, then how could it even be possible to get to, or over, 200%?
Great stuff Boondorl. Really enjoying the projectile based weapons instead of hitscan. From a cursory few bits of testing, the first weird issue that jumps out to me is that the pistol firing sprite has become very abnormal and hideous. Missing entire frames. This probably stems from increasing its firing rate. Would really appreciate it if you could get a handle on it or find an alternative way to modify the rate of fire without breaking the animation.
TheNoob_Gamer wrote:For some reasons, the chaingun felt too OP for me, I could easily clear a zombiefied room with only 5-7 seconds without taking damage. Can you please nerf the firerate a bit? Also, will this get Smooth Doom-compatible?
The Chaingun is the one weapon I was most worried. I was hoping the inaccuracy would help balance it out a bit but it's a monster in close quarters when it comes to clearing rooms. I might drop its fire rate to match the Plasma Rifle's and tweak pain chance a little on enemies to dial it back.
I'll likely just port over the Smooth Doom stuff and add it as an option in the future. That's unfortunately the only way to add compatibility like that since this mod pretty much replaces everything.
Get Phobo wrote:If you cannot pickup any more health or armor bonuses once you've reached 199%, then how could it even be possible to get to, or over, 200%?
Keep in mind that Doom has functionality built-in to make sure you don't go over the threshold. If you have 199% armor and pick up an armor bonus, the game will only increase your armor by 1% to reach 200%. The inability to pick it up only occurs when you reach the actual threshold value (200 in this case).
Dklark wrote:From a cursory few bits of testing, the first weird issue that jumps out to me is that the pistol firing sprite has become very abnormal and hideous. Missing entire frames. This probably stems from increasing its firing rate. Would really appreciate it if you could get a handle on it or find an alternative way to modify the rate of fire without breaking the animation.
Ha, that's exactly why the animation is broken at the moment. I'll be experimenting around with it more to make it less hideous since it's a weapon actually worth using now.
Thanks for the reply. I have my own view on the chaingun, TheNoob_Gamer doesn't speak for everyone . I actually quite enjoy the way the chaingun is now. I think the inaccuracy does balance it out nicely as its effectiveness drops off sharply at a distance where the pistol can take up its slack and actually serve a function for once instead of being rendered useless by it. This more nuanced dynamic is much more balanced and enjoyable imo. I also think the current chaingun doubles as some help against slaughter maps where enemies are so numerous you cant help but fire point blank.
TL;DR I like the way the chaingun functions currently, hope you don't nerf it
The chaingun should have the same accuracy as per default, or perhaps even better. Compare this, for a very rough example, to a real-life M134D minigun. It has an accuracy of 87 out of 200 rounds (43.5% accuracy) as shot from 300 meters distance at a 3x6 ft large target, see this video.
In Doom, that distance would be equal to almost 11,000 map units, and the M134D would still manage to hit a target the size of the doom guy with a probability of more than 40%.
In map 01, if you go to the window opposite the exit and take a look into the outside area, the surrounding wall you can see behind the water is almost eight times nearer than that, at around 1,300 map units. I'd say, it should be possible to hit a target the size of an imp with almost perfect accuracy here.
Oh shit, this is a neat little mod! I've always dug rebalance mods like this. I do have a suggestion regarding the plasma rifle that I've always wanted to see in this sort of mod: Slower rate of fire, but stronger projectiles that either have deal a small amount of splash damage, or higher damage in general. I think this could help define the plasma rifle as it's own thing, rather than just a chaingun replacement. I think it would make it feel much more satisfying to use, as well.
Beta 2 is out! A quick update to some of the more problematic aspects so far. Change log in the main post. Some thoughts on some of the changes:
I opted to drop the Chaingun's damage down as opposed to lowering the fire rate since I don't find it as satisfying when it fires slower. My ideal role for it would be for fighting medium enemies in close quarters (to make good use of the stuns) and for clearing rooms of smaller enemies like Grunts and Sergeants. Slowing down the fire rate would make it little more than a crappier Plasma Rifle so I'm trying to give it a defined purpose. Hopefully the hit to the ammo economy and time to kill will balance it out a bit better.
I tweaked the explosion on Pain Elementals by lowering the damage significantly alongside the range (to compensate I removed damage fall-off so it actually deals damage). I did some testing and found it works out pretty well. The only way to take damage from it is by intentionally body-blocking them since the radius isn't big enough to damage anything nearby when walls block it. These changes should hopefully make them far more forgiving to fight in small areas without readding the ability to exploit them.
Boondorl wrote:Beta 2 is out! A quick update to some of the more problematic aspects so far. Change log in the main post. Some thoughts on some of the changes:
I opted to drop the Chaingun's damage down as opposed to lowering the fire rate since I don't find it as satisfying when it fires slower. My ideal role for it would be for fighting medium enemies in close quarters (to make good use of the stuns) and for clearing rooms of smaller enemies like Grunts and Sergeants. Slowing down the fire rate would make it little more than a crappier Plasma Rifle so I'm trying to give it a defined purpose. Hopefully the hit to the ammo economy and time to kill will balance it out a bit better.
I tweaked the explosion on Pain Elementals by lowering the damage significantly alongside the range (to compensate I removed damage fall-off so it actually deals damage). I did some testing and found it works out pretty well. The only way to take damage from it is by intentionally body-blocking them since the radius isn't big enough to damage anything nearby when walls block it. These changes should hopefully make them far more forgiving to fight in small areas without readding the ability to exploit them.
Thanks for the update. One thing though. Not too fond of the sound replacement choices for the shotgun, I read the changelog and understand why you did it. I replaced them with de-coupled vanilla versions.
if you would like to include them in your future updates. Just pm me
Speaking of the changelog, Really loving the 'pseudo magazine' and reload cancel system on the shotties, but don't really like the note that comes with it:
"Note: Currently these weapons won't be skipped in the weapon cycle if they're out of ammo"
This little note kind of breaks the game, for instance, when I run out of ammo with my pistol while already having ran out of shot-shells, It autoswitches to the empty shotgun, Not the fist. Leading to accidental deaths.
Finally, firing the pistol quickly seems really inconsistant, what I mean by that is it doesn't register every click I make. It'll skip between a few and feels really awkward to shoot.
All in all, good update. This little number is really coming together. Look forward to seeing more from ya.
Oh yeah, thanks for not nerfing the chaingun to oblivion.
Last edited by Dklark on Tue Jan 22, 2019 6:32 pm, edited 2 times in total.
The shotgun issue is caused by the fact that AmmoUse is 0 meaning weapon select always views the weapons as available to fire. I'll be implementing my own version of picking a new weapon to account for this. I didn't realize it would be an issue until I awkwardly came across it while playing Scythe 2 and can hopefully have it fixed up here soon.
I find the Pistol can be a bit unresponsive if you tap fire in the awkward middle ground between holding and spamming. I'm actually abusing the Hold state to check if the player held down their shot or not so maybe I can find something a bit better. If there's a way to check if the player is holding the attack button that would solve the issue quickly.
Beta 3 is here! Includes some fixes for weapon swapping (including those pesky shotgun issues), improvements towards the Pistol, and the options menu. Quite a few things to tweak in it, but some highlights are:
Vanilla or rebalanced style armor system and BFG
Enemies and/or player RNG damage toggles
Turning off damage from blocked Lost Soul spawns from Pain Elementals
Hitscan toggles for player melee/weapons and hitscan enemies
Make sure to let me know of any options you'd like to see added.
Really exceptional work here. Can't play without it. Just gets better and better with each update, love that the pistol is nice and responsive. Great work Boondorl.
A few bugs I have yet to mention are due to the Summonfriend command. Summonfriend Archvile for instance would crash the game, along with a bunch of others e.g.summonfriend chaingunguy and summonfriend doomimp.
Not gamebreaking bugs per se, but ones I've noticed nonetheless. Thanks for the steady updates. Really enjoy what you've done so far.
. I actually quite enjoy the way the chaingun is now. I think the inaccuracy does balance it out nicely as its effectiveness drops off sharply at a distance where the pistol can take up its slack and actually serve a function for once instead of being rendered useless by it. This more nuanced dynamic is much more balanced and enjoyable imo. I also think the current chaingun doubles as some help against slaughter maps where enemies are so numerous you cant help but fire point blank. 
