Guncaster Vindicated 3.2.3

[Beezle]

On point #11 I can confirm its a bug with Hexen or the Source port or whatever cuz I ran into that exact same issue with the throne room and axe key while playing with Hexercise. Thanks for another update Nerd! Really looking forward to seeing how this plays with Hexen:)

[affandede]

Hey Dino, is there any chance for Vindicated monsters to get released as a seperate monster addon, to be used with other gameplay mods? Because they are really dope.

[Frozenwolf150]

Possibly a bug report. I'm almost halfway through the Hell on Earth Starter Pack variant that comes with this mod, so I don't know if this occurs with other map packs. I found the opening stages too easy for my liking, so I changed the monster customization to "Masochist." This worked for the first 10 maps, as I consistently saw high level monsters. After I got to HDAY11 "Return to Earth" though, for some reason all the monsters changed back to low level versions. There were a few dark imps scattered in at random, but all the other monsters were the standard roster.

This glitch only occurred after playing through all of the maps. I could not reproduce it by starting a new game and using the "changemap" command to warp to later maps.

And an update, this glitch can be reproduced after every 10th map transition. It occurred when moving from HDAY10 to HDAY11, and from HDAY20 to HDAY21. It happens both when using the exit normally, and when using the "changemap" command.

[Dinosaur_Nerd]

Hey Dino, is there any chance for Vindicated monsters to get released as a seperate monster addon, to be used with other gameplay mods? Because they are really dope.

Nope.
GC is what inspired and enabled me to do what I'm doing today. I hope you folks will enjoy the content I produce for GC.

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There are many many technical problems involved in this even if I wanted to spend a ton of time designing an export, which I have zero motivation to do.

-The monster particle effects at the time of this post are mostly GC resources, which are not mine to deploy outside GC. The monster attacks and particle effects will continue to be converted to almost exclusively GC resources, with outside sprites numbering in the single digits. This is part of an ongoing effort of mine to reduce file size, make the project easier to maintain, and improve overall game performance further.

-The monster code itself is dependent on GCV scripts/damagetypes/actor checks/etc..., and some projectile code is directly dependent on GC spell code.

-Some monster sounds (especially bosses) directly refer to (and often insult/belittle) the GC protagonist character.

This is absolutely a tailored experience, designed specifically for GC, that's why it looks/behaves the way it does.

My monster code is open source, and the base monster as well as the Cult Soldier and Imp are extensively commented to help anyone interested get an idea of what's going on. These monsters are complex ZScript actors, and as such, you'll already need a basic knowledge of how a monster works in decorate at a minimum, and hopefully have some experience at least running through the tutorial of how to make a ZScript monster.

Anyone is welcome to use this code to learn how to make a monster of your own. If anyone decides to do so, just do like the monster files say at the top and give a shoutout to Guncaster Vindicated and the rest of the GC team in your credits/code.

If you are interested in content from me that is going to be available outside of GC, I am in the process of making a map pack for Guncaster (and GCV) that will be fully compatible with base heretic (and as a result, all heretic mods). There will be lots of special elements and interactions for GC though (can't say what they are without spoiling things).

Possibly a bug report. I'm almost halfway through the Hell on Earth Starter Pack variant that comes with this mod, so I don't know if this occurs with other map packs. I found the opening stages too easy for my liking, so I changed the monster customization to "Masochist." This worked for the first 10 maps, as I consistently saw high level monsters. After I got to HDAY11 "Return to Earth" though, for some reason all the monsters changed back to low level versions. There were a few dark imps scattered in at random, but all the other monsters were the standard roster.

This glitch only occurred after playing through all of the maps. I could not reproduce it by starting a new game and using the "changemap" command to warp to later maps.

And an update, this glitch can be reproduced after every 10th map transition. It occurred when moving from HDAY10 to HDAY11, and from HDAY20 to HDAY21. It happens both when using the exit normally, and when using the "changemap" command.

If things are too easy for you, try the upper difficulties with dynamic monsters. Dragon (skill 5) is very challenging, and Last of your Kind (skill 6) is extremely difficult, I tailored it to be very similar to ProjectMSX maximum difficulty (which was painful). As you progress through the game, monsters will get harder and harder. Only skill 6 has "FastMonsters", so if you decide to give "Dragon" difficulty a go, don't worry, you won't be playing Touhou. My scripting also ensures that all the fancy lightning/fire/kick stun effects will be applied to monsters on any difficulty (and I don't use the NOPAIN flag anyway), so you don't have to worry about being stifled on skill 5.

The reason the glitch is occurring is because I screwed up again.

This is a result of the Dynamic Spawn scripts, they are overriding the CVar switch. I have fixed it.

The changemap command is working as intended, dynamic progression requires you play a map for a minimum of 30 seconds for the level to acutally count as a completed level.
In order for monster difficulty to increase, you play through levels, one after another. As you complete levels, the monsters get harder. In DOOM 2 based maps, warping to a specific level will not get you harder monsters, only through progress can you increase the difficulty without manually changing the monster customization switch.
Thanks for the report, I've fixed it on my end.


The next update is in the works, I wanna finish fine-tuning the story elements of the next part of this, but rest assured I'll have it ready for you folks to play with very very soon.

[affandede]

Thanks for the detailed reply. You were one of the names that made me create that "Why most of the modders are nice guys/gals?" post on General thread.

[Frozenwolf150]

If things are too easy for you, try the upper difficulties with dynamic monsters. Dragon (skill 5) is very challenging, and Last of your Kind (skill 6) is extremely difficult, I tailored it to be very similar to ProjectMSX maximum difficulty (which was painful). As you progress through the game, monsters will get harder and harder. Only skill 6 has "FastMonsters", so if you decide to give "Dragon" difficulty a go, don't worry, you won't be playing Touhou. My scripting also ensures that all the fancy lightning/fire/kick stun effects will be applied to monsters on any difficulty (and I don't use the NOPAIN flag anyway), so you don't have to worry about being stifled on skill 5.

The reason the glitch is occurring is because I screwed up again.

This is a result of the Dynamic Spawn scripts, they are overriding the CVar switch. I have fixed it.

The changemap command is working as intended, dynamic progression requires you play a map for a minimum of 30 seconds for the level to acutally count as a completed level.
In order for monster difficulty to increase, you play through levels, one after another. As you complete levels, the monsters get harder. In DOOM 2 based maps, warping to a specific level will not get you harder monsters, only through progress can you increase the difficulty without manually changing the monster customization switch.
Thanks for the report, I've fixed it on my end.

I was already playing on Skill 6. Generally I favor the max difficulties of games or mods, unless they include fake difficulty features like limiting inventory or setting a stringent time limit. Project MSX was interesting, in that there's a built-in exploit that isn't obvious: If you charge up your super punch or grenade to the second-last level before it consumes your shield, you can still get a room-filling explosion that kills everything. It became a lot easier after I started doing that.

Regardless, I ended up starting a new game and using "changemap" to return to HDAY15 so I could get the tougher monsters. This was probably a mistake. I'll likely keep it on Dynamic Progression next time.

[Frozenwolf150]

I have a couple of Hexen related issues.

I can't figure out how to access Deathwind Chapel, the secret map of Heresiarch's Seminary. In vanilla Hexen, the pillars around the portal and the elevator in front of the portal are supposed to start moving upon the Heresiarch's death. However, since there's a new boss replacing the Heresiarch and he teleports away instead of dying, there's nothing to trigger the elevator. I can teleport myself inside the pillar enclosure with the Darkpath spell, but I can't access the portal without "noclip".

I also found that the ammo check and consumption for the Arbiter Module in Hexen is glitched. It still uses the normal amount of ammo as the regular Old Dreadful shot, 75 blue and 75 green. However, it won't let you fire it unless you have at least 225 of each mana. I was about to mention this under the main GC mod thread, when I searched this one and found that increasing the consumption to 3x was a Vindicated exclusive feature. So it seems the ammo check for whether or not you can fire was implemented, but the increased mana cost was not.

[Valherran]

I can't figure out how to access Deathwind Chapel, the secret map of Heresiarch's Seminary. In vanilla Hexen, the pillars around the portal and the elevator in front of the portal are supposed to start moving upon the Heresiarch's death. However, since there's a new boss replacing the Heresiarch and he teleports away instead of dying, there's nothing to trigger the elevator. I can teleport myself inside the pillar enclosure with the Darkpath spell, but I can't access the portal without "noclip".

I knew I forgot to mention something... Yeah this was bugged for me too, I had to use noclip to get in there as well.

[Frozenwolf150]

I finished Hexen with this mod and have some feedback, though I'll try not to repeat anything Valherran already said.

1. The boss fights are intense and it's always good to see a reinterpretation of boss encounters. However, the challenge feels inconsistent with the progression of the game.
* The showdown with the possessed twins was the most frustrating of all, because there's insufficient cover or concealment, and they can spam massive area-effect attacks that kill you in two hits. It's unlikely the player will have a lot of upgrades at this point. This is not to say it was impossible, since they went down easily after I decided to expend all the items I'd been saving. Yet they shouldn't be harder than Korax himself.
* That said, the earlier encounters with each of the twins were way easier, since there are plenty of places they couldn't follow. This allowed me to stand at a safe distance and snipe them. The biggest criticism I have of these encounters is it's hard to tell what exactly happens, because their lines when teleporting away aren't always audible over the gunfire, and they don't seem to have a teleportation animation. I actually mistook it for a glitch at first when they simply disappeared.
* The fights against the old masters in the fifth hub were mixed. Zedek and Traductus were fair challenges, and having them switch up their attacks is always good for balance. However, Menelkir went down ridiculously easy after just a few shots from the power suit's plasma cannons.
* Korax was a well done fight and didn't feel too hard or too easy. I liked the new arena, the voice acted taunts throughout the battle, his reaction to being taunted by the player (which is actually beneficial) and the scene that followed the fight itself.

2. The Midas Tome would have been useful earlier on, especially in the Dungeons map, but it didn't appear until after I'd already beaten Korax. This might be due to the glitch with the black chests, or the rarity of the wooden chests which are supposed to be more common (I forget which one spawns the tome normally). Having it appear earlier would balance out the apparent stinginess of the mod. Granted, I didn't have as much of an issue with the lack of money, since it does make you weigh your decisions carefully and specialize into a particular build, like a lot of RPGs do. I still felt more than powerful enough by the time I reached Korax.

3. I liked the remade enemies and their new abilities. I actually do not want to see them nerfed. Rather, when it comes to enemies like the dark bishops, additional variants (like in Wrath of Cronos or Scattered Evil) would help balance things more than nerfing them.

4. I never found myself hurting for mana, and by that I mean the weapon ammo type. This is probably because of the abundance of the blue mana potion drops, which left me with more than enough firepower to take down enemies. In later maps, I ended up conserving weapon mana for Old Dreadful, and simply using my blue mana abiliites plus the powersuit punches to kill 90% of enemies.

[Dinosaur_Nerd]

broken secret and bad dreadful behavior

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I have a couple of Hexen related issues.
I can't figure out how to access Deathwind Chapel, the secret map of Heresiarch's Seminary.

It will be fixed in the next update, which should be soon.

I also found that the ammo check and consumption for the Arbiter Module in Hexen is glitched. It still uses the normal amount of ammo as the regular Old Dreadful shot, 75 blue and 75 green. However, it won't let you fire it unless you have at least 225 of each mana.

Thanks for the report, I'll fix it.

twins

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* The showdown with the possessed twins was the most frustrating of all, because there's insufficient cover or concealment, and they can spam massive area-effect attacks that kill you in two hits. It's unlikely the player will have a lot of upgrades at this point. This is not to say it was impossible, since they went down easily after I decided to expend all the items I'd been saving. Yet they shouldn't be harder than Korax himself.

I feel like we're not playing the same game here...

This is at the end of the 4th hub. You should have plenty of upgrades as you're about to enter the 5th and final hub.
In single player I need to manually place the black chests for the largest upgrades because in singleplayer it spawns way too many of them. (you can get like... 9 in the secret level of hub 4)

The arena where you fight the twins has 4 big pillars on platforms around the room, and 2 gigantic columns, as well as a central platform with a column of water pouring down. I am having a difficult time understanding how it's hard to find cover.

* That said, the earlier encounters with each of the twins were way easier, since there are plenty of places they couldn't follow. This allowed me to stand at a safe distance and snipe them. The biggest criticism I have of these encounters is it's hard to tell what exactly happens, because their lines when teleporting away aren't always audible over the gunfire, and they don't seem to have a teleportation animation. I actually mistook it for a glitch at first when they simply disappeared.

They do have a teleport animation. They begin a casting animation, and vanish in big explosion.
I can understand the bit about their voice lines being difficult to hear, working with sounds in ZDoom is very frustrating and difficult.

masters

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* The fights against the old masters in the fifth hub were mixed. Zedek and Traductus were fair challenges, and having them switch up their attacks is always good for balance. However, Menelkir went down ridiculously easy after just a few shots from the power suit's plasma cannons.

Most likely a result of them dying to "falling damage", which will pretty much oneshot even bosses with huge health pools. ZDoom likes to treat enemies being pushed into walls like falling damage and it's pretty irritating. I've fixed this issue on my end and it should be more challenging next time.

korax

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* Korax was a well done fight and didn't feel too hard or too easy. I liked the new arena, the voice acted taunts throughout the battle, his reaction to being taunted by the player (which is actually beneficial) and the scene that followed the fight itself.

glad you liked it, I worked extremely hard on this.

2.

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The Midas Tome would have been useful earlier on, especially in the Dungeons map, but it didn't appear until after I'd already beaten Korax. This might be due to the glitch with the black chests, or the rarity of the wooden chests which are supposed to be more common (I forget which one spawns the tome normally). Having it appear earlier would balance out the apparent stinginess of the mod. Granted, I didn't have as much of an issue with the lack of money, since it does make you weigh your decisions carefully and specialize into a particular build, like a lot of RPGs do. I still felt more than powerful enough by the time I reached Korax.

Midas tome drops from backpacks and bags of holding.
Hexen is very stingy with them.

3.

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I liked the remade enemies and their new abilities. I actually do not want to see them nerfed. Rather, when it comes to enemies like the dark bishops, additional variants (like in Wrath of Cronos or Scattered Evil) would help balance things more than nerfing them.

I have plans to reduce the HP of the bishops because they're annoying me as well as other players. I intended their main challenge to be in elusiveness and seekermissile attacks, not in them being bullet sponges.
I may consider adding variants in the future, but this is unlikely.

4.

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I never found myself hurting for mana, and by that I mean the weapon ammo type. This is probably because of the abundance of the blue mana potion drops, which left me with more than enough firepower to take down enemies. In later maps, I ended up conserving weapon mana for Old Dreadful, and simply using my blue mana abiliites plus the powersuit punches to kill 90% of enemies.

I felt like ammo was fine as well.

Thanks for the feedback, it's always helpful to hear what players think about this/that.
I still need to do a no-deaths playthrough on skill 6 of Hexen and Heretic, I've just been super busy with bugfixes, optimization, and preparation for EDAY lately.
Once I get around to doing that, it will give me a chance to take another closer look at balance and design of all this to try to make it perfect.

[Frozenwolf150]

Regarding the Old Dreadful glitch with the Arbiter Module, I did further testing and the behavior was stranger than I initially reported. The Arbiter mode would not fire at all unless I had full green and blue mana, at which point it allowed me to fire several times in succession until my ammo was drained. So the requirement was not 225 green and blue like I assumed; at the time I think I had a limit of 450 each.

Regarding the Showdown map, in hindsight I was being a cheapskate with the purchased upgrades, as I was trying to save up. I wouldn't want the fight nerfed. Sorry if it sounded that way.


ETA: Forgot to mention, I got a strange glitch when playing this with Doom. I had just purchased the Pulverizer: Automatic Exploderator upgrade, and nothing else. That upgrade worked fine. But when I switched to the Strucker, I found that had also been mysteriously upgraded as well, as it was going full autofire. I checked the shop and it indicated that even though I didn't own the Strucker Autofire upgrade, it was somehow activated nonetheless, with no way to toggle it off. I could not figure out for the life of me how to reproduce this glitch, as starting a new game and using the cheat codes to make the same purchase didn't have the same effect.

[Dinosaur_Nerd]

ETA: Forgot to mention, I got a strange glitch when playing this with Doom. I had just purchased the Pulverizer: Automatic Exploderator upgrade, and nothing else. That upgrade worked fine. But when I switched to the Strucker, I found that had also been mysteriously upgraded as well, as it was going full autofire. I checked the shop and it indicated that even though I didn't own the Strucker Autofire upgrade, it was somehow activated nonetheless, with no way to toggle it off. I could not figure out for the life of me how to reproduce this glitch, as starting a new game and using the cheat codes to make the same purchase didn't have the same effect.

Do you still have the save where this happened?
If you do, I can debug it, otherwise, I may not be able to do much as I've never seen that.
If you have discord and can join the server, that will help much with bugtesting, as I can respond quickly and discuss more easily.

[Frozenwolf150]

ETA: Forgot to mention, I got a strange glitch when playing this with Doom. I had just purchased the Pulverizer: Automatic Exploderator upgrade, and nothing else. That upgrade worked fine. But when I switched to the Strucker, I found that had also been mysteriously upgraded as well, as it was going full autofire. I checked the shop and it indicated that even though I didn't own the Strucker Autofire upgrade, it was somehow activated nonetheless, with no way to toggle it off. I could not figure out for the life of me how to reproduce this glitch, as starting a new game and using the cheat codes to make the same purchase didn't have the same effect.

Do you still have the save where this happened?
If you do, I can debug it, otherwise, I may not be able to do much as I've never seen that.
If you have discord and can join the server, that will help much with bugtesting, as I can respond quickly and discuss more easily.

I think it's this one. Map08 of Memento Mori, in Compendium. Weapon is equipped. The purchase was made in the previous map.

save0.zds

(150.21 KiB) Downloaded 12 times

And I forgot to mention the mods list. Guncaster Vindicated, Compendium, JP HUD. GZDoom version is one of the test versions, gzdoom-x64-g4.2pre-50-gf5d80d0d8.7z
So there's a chance it won't work with other versions.

[Dinosaur_Nerd]

I think it's this one. Map08 of Memento Mori, in Compendium. Weapon is equipped. The purchase was made in the previous map.

save0.zds

I get a very fatal error trying to load it, which doesn't really surprise me. Recently GZDoom seems to be very prone to very fatal errors when dealing with saves rather than the much more readable and helpful VM aborts.

Further troubleshooting should really be done on discord to avoid spamming the forum.
GCV Discord can be found here

EDIT:
Found the bug and fixed it.

[Frozenwolf150]

By the way, one of the features I like about this mod and Project Brutality 3.0 is the replacing of the Icon of Sin with the floating Icon Boss. It feels like an actual final boss battle should. However, I noticed Guncaster Vindicated doesn't do this for most other map sets, like Maps of Chaos Overkill. Are there plans to fully implement this feature? I think it's way too easy to waltz into the boss chamber and just pop John Romero's head through the wall with the Railgun.

To be fair, Project Brutality doesn't do this with very large map sets like Compendium either, likely due to the renaming of MAP30.

Another feature I wanted to ask about is the enemy health readout from the main Guncaster mod. Currently I'm using the JP HUD, which works fine, but are there any plans to include enemy health?