Is a proton pack possible?

[Scuba Steve]

So what kind of help are you seeking?

Mapping/coding

I haven't opened a Doom editor in five years and vaguely remember how they work. At best I can illustrate but I'm a bit rusty in that department, too...

[ReX]

Mapping/coding

Mapping, I can do.
Coding: ACS, I can do. DECORATE, I have some very fundamental familiarity with. ZScript, no experience whatsoever.

I haven't opened a Doom editor in five years and vaguely remember how they work. At best I can illustrate but I'm a bit rusty in that department, too...

I have limited talents with illustrating using a computer. I'm reasonably good with pencil sketches.

From what I understand of your proposal, the project will require:
1. New textures (probably cityscape-type)
2. New weapon & enemy sprites
3. New weapon & enemy behavior
4. New sounds
5. New music
6. New maps

People with appropriate talent:
Weapon & enemy sprites: DBT, Major Cooke, and others
Weapon & enemy behavior: DBT, Major Cooke, and others
Music: Jeff 'Davitch' Ligda
Maps: Nigel 'Enjay' Rowand, Dan "T667" Gimmer, many others
Zscript: Kappes Buur, Rachael "Eruanna" Alexanderson, many others

[Reactor]

So! It looks like the zigzagging electrical jolts from a gun - "The Lightning Gun Effect" is finally doable in GZDoom! That's awesome, I would make these jolts a tad bigger though, they look um...a little bit too thin...I guess.

[AFADoomer]

OK, here's a work-in-progress for critique...

Captured an enemy...

Moving around...

And the beam from the side...


A few significant issues to be resolved:
- If you play this with framerate capping enabled ('cl_capfps true'), the beam appears 'attached' to the weapons sprite, and looks pretty good... There are problems when moving around and firing with uncapped framerate, though.
- High and low view pitches (80 degrees or more) look off
- The overall beam effect (particularly the 'capture' effect) isn't as fluid as I would like

I pulled the sprites and some sounds from GvH, and edited some sounds myself from various sources.

Get it here. Give/summon 'protonpack' - it'll add to weapon slot 6. Only tested in the latest GZDoom dev build, but there's nothing that should break in the last few stable releases.

Thanks to Major Cooke for letting me build on the D4D Lightning Gun - go and download his mod to see the original effect that this was derived from!

[Nash]

Holy fuck dude that is so cool. :D

Bug? There appears to be lots of invisible left-over actors, probably something you forgot to Destroy()? Can be seen with IDDT.

EDIT: If you want an alternative to flat sprites, here's a more detailed planar model (see pic) you can use. Should help with the " + " look on the beam from first person.

Be sure to add DontCullBackfaces to the MODELDEF to make it draw from both sides.

[AFADoomer]

Holy fuck dude that is so cool.

Bug? There appears to be lots of invisible left-over actors, probably something you forgot to Destroy()? Can be seen with IDDT.

Thanks!

And, yep, forgot a Destroy() that I needed to add. (EDIT2: Actually, forgot a Super.Tick() call on a puff).

EDIT: Yeah, the flat sprites are what D4D was using... I have models in my Star Trek mod doing essentially what you are suggesting - I may port them over, since that'll reduce the number of thinkers per beam by roughly half.

EDIT 3: Re-uploaded with minor fixes.

[Scuba Steve]

This is incredible.

Now it just needs a practical project as an application...

[Reactor]

You know what this means, don't you...now we can crank out guns which fire electric discharges on the enemy! damn I waited for this!



Commencing SHOCK therapy!!!

[ReX]

Now it just needs a practical project as an application...

I've contemplated a short 3/4 map project that uses the women from the Ghostbusters remake, but rewriting everything about them to fit in canon with the original films. Some short narrative levels, a first bust level, and maybe an introduction to the big baddie... and that's it.

[Scuba Steve]

School started so I'm back at work, but I'm writing out some dialog and story for how it should play out. I really want a short episode that shows how the Ghostbusters remake could have started if they had written a competent story.

[ReX]

I'm writing out some dialog and story for how it should play out. I really want a short episode that shows how the Ghostbusters remake could have started if they had written a competent story.

Having done ground-breaking projects, you probably understand the amount of "overhead" work that goes into a project of the scope you are contemplating. All that work for 3-4 maps seems, if you'll pardon the expression, "wasteful". With the ideas that you'll undoubtedly generate, you'll likely create sufficient interest in this community to develop a bigger mod. But I'll defer to your opinion in this regard.

[AFADoomer]

I pushed an updated version of the proton pack out to my github repository.



Not 100% happy with it still, but much closer to a complete product.

Major changes in this version:
- Replaced the sprite-based beam segments with model-based segments (halves the number of actors for each segment so performance doesn't take as big of a hit)
- Added the ability for the 'lightning' to split along multiple paths - this has a few kinks to work out, though
- Added small explosion/fire effects and particles that spawn where the beam hits if there's not 'captured' enemy
- The beam 'drags' across surfaces instead of immediately moving when you are firing

Bonus: Summon ElectricalPillar for a early-2000s-style 'column of lightning' effect.

[Scuba Steve]

My man!

[Scuba Steve]

I had made this years ago for GvH but I don't think it got used. It was supposed to be the overheating GUI art.

[Scuba Steve]

I knew I had seen them around...

http://www.mediafire.com/file/vv9lle8k2 ... Sounds.zip

Every sound file from the 2009 game, including high quality proton pack sounds.