Hearts of Demons - BARON [0.9.5] 1/22/20

[Brohnesorge]

That and many other things have been fixed in this new update! Going forward, I'm breaking down all the work needed for 1.0 into 4 parts, or "phases" and fixing current bugs and weirdness was Phase 1. I'm hoping that with this update, that'll be the end of Phase 1 (fat chance I just remembered some other things I need to fix) and I can move into Phase 2 : Improvements!

---

Gameplay
-Nothing here!

Weapons
-Claw and Punch sprites resized. Prevents hangups on swinging.
-Baron Claw Enchanted Groundslam now uses Mana.
-Baron Claw punching is now much faster.
-Baron Claw missing sprites added.
-Immolation Spell Strike no longer hurts you.
-Immolation Spell Strike casting time reduced when claws are empowered.
-Immolation VFX updated.
-Slot 3 Belial Flak Cannon Enchanted Alt fire reworked. The rock is now faster, explodes for a damage radius, sends out shards in all directs, has many more shards and shards do much less damage.
-Slot 3 Belial Flak Cannon Enchanted Main Fire rate of fire increased.
-Slot 3 Belial Flak Cannon Enchanted Main Fire shot behavior updated. Outer beams are no longer explosive.
-Slot 3 Belial Flak Cannon Enchanted Alt fire VFX updated.
-Slot 4 Type 99 Autocannon missing sprites added.
-Slot 4 Type 99 Autocannon Enchanted fire behavior is now consistent with unenchanted behavior.
-Slot 4 Type 99 Autocannon no longer alerts enemies when deploying Siege Mode.
-Slot 6 Azazel Magic Autocannon tracer removed.
-Slot 6 Azazel Magic Autocannon quaking tweaked. Increased overall.
-Slot 6 Azazel Magic Autocannon Bullet Mode accuracy increased.
-Slot 6 Azazel Magic Autocannon Bullet Mode explosion VFX updated.
-Slot 6 Azazel Magic Autocannon Baron Ball firing sprites updated.

Sounds
-New weapon pickup, spell cast, Soul Gem, Belial sounds. Big thank you to a1337spy!
-New Azazel Bullet Auto Mode fire sound.
-Belial sounds getting cut off fixed.

Misc
-Various unused sprites removed.
-Various puff behavior made more consistent across puffs.
-Fixed Necromancy pentagrams getting stuck in the air.
-Spark VFX tweaked to be more noticeable.

I'm still on the look-out for erroneous behavior, and I am always interesting in any and all comments, concerns, praises, gripes, etc. Feedback in general.

[Goregrinder]

I've missed a whole bunch of versions of this but i've taken the new version for a spin. First off, great job on everything, I'm really impressed by how far the mod has come in terms of polish and stuff, it's really cool.

in terms of feedback I've only got a few things, some of which are just bizarre gripes and some of which you might already be aware of.

- There is a LOT of functionality with the guns and spells and abilities in general, which its fun to experiment with, but also might be overwhelming to some people. It would be cool to have either an F1 screen to explain some of the stuff, or a button you can hold down for a tooltip explaining your currently equipped gun like Final Doomer has. I think it would make the mod more accessible to a wider audience, which imo it deserves.

- The azazel seems to be kind of a workhorse gun that you get early (at least in the wads i've been playing), but it's all the way on button 6. Feels strange to have something you use a lot be further down the line than more specialized guns. this is probably one of the weird gripes.

- The new gun sprites are awesome, but the rocket launcher first person sprite looks totally different to the rocket launcher pickup sprite. Im guessing you're well aware of that, but I figured i'd mention it.

- The new claw sprites are good, and its great you can see your spells at a glance, but they are much higher res looking than the gun sprites. For a more unified style I think you could pixelate them a bit more and it would mesh better.

- I know this is something you've been nagged about before, but the 'bang for buck' of some of the weapons could use tuning. At times it feels like I can get a lot more use out of some ammo types by putting them in the azazel and setting it to rapid fire (particularly the flak shells vs the belial) than I can using it in another weapon. I think definitely the balance is better now than it was in previous versions, but you might be better off moving some of the rapid fire options over to the weapon the ammo type originates from? I know the configurability is the azazel's thing, but it already brings using multiple ammo types in unique ways to the table, and now that you can fire spells out of it I really think it has more than its fair share of options.

Fantastic mod though, I love anything where you get to play as a monster, and all the lore and stuff you've invented to flesh out the baron and the other demons is really cool. This mod really has enough content in it that someone else might have split it into two mods, a more barebones spellcasting focused playable baron mod, and a total gun replacement mod. I like that it's all one thing, it reminds me of guncaster in that sense.

It would be very cool to in the future see a monster replacement mod that sees you facing off against like your lore versions of all the monsters that would work with this mod and the revenant mod and whatever else you come up with. Fighting against tougher, cybernetic minions of the spider mastermind. This isn't a request (it'd be a ton of work and you're busy enough already) so much as me saying how much i like the lore you've added with this mod, its good enough that it would make for an engaging total conversion basically.

[Brohnesorge]

Thanks for the enthusiasm and feedback! I say it a lot, but it always makes me happy to hear when people are enjoying the mod. Now address specifics...

Help screen is incoming, I just need to sit down and make it. The only reason there isn't one already is just pure laziness on my part.
Rocket Launcher pickup sprite thing is getting worked on, slowly.
Aaaaand damage balances are going to get tweaked, re-examined and almost totally redone over the coming updates. Cause, yeah, I've noticed an issue with it too in my own play. As noted, the Flak on rapid fire seems to be especially guilty of this. You aren't the first person to point that out either.

As for the enemies, I am designing an enemy mod to go with my mods, but it's development is very slow, even by my standards, so I don't want to say too much about it other than it is a thing in the works but it's barely off the ground and I haven't even looked at it in damn near a year. But it will be coming. Eventually.

[Goregrinder]

I figured you knew about that stuff and were probably working on it, but it's really cool to hear that there is a monster mod in the pipeline, regardless of how far away it might be.

Another issue I've found is that for some reason if I load the mod with a custom wad (i've tried back to saturn, jenesis, sunlust so far), I can't use the baron jump or crouch. I'm using ZDL to load stuff, and the latest version of GZDoom. I don't know if I'm fucking something up, so sorry if its something on my end, but I figured i'd mention it.

edit: i should add it doesnt seem to be affected by load order

[CanisLaticanis]

Another issue I've found is that for some reason if I load the mod with a custom wad (i've tried back to saturn, jenesis, sunlust so far), I can't use the baron jump or crouch. I'm using ZDL to load stuff, and the latest version of GZDoom. I don't know if I'm fucking something up, so sorry if its something on my end, but I figured i'd mention it.

edit: i should add it doesnt seem to be affected by load order

Go into Options -> Gameplay Options and change 'Allow Jump' and 'Allow Crouch' from 'default' to 'yes'. This isn't a mod thing, it's actually a compat option set by the WAD's MAPINFO lump.

[Goregrinder]

Thank you friend, i thought it might be me fucking up somewhere

[Goregrinder]

One compatibility thing i've noticed is that I think the mod replaces a sprite that other stuff that adds fire effects also calls on, so when using some monster replacement mods you can get disproportionately huge glows:

https://i.imgur.com/9DqFvJA.png
this was an imp's fireball fading out with brutal doom monsters

https://i.imgur.com/kOq3Il4.png
and this was a barrel burning, again with brutal doom monsters.

I think i've seen it happen with another monster replacer mod (i'm trying to nail down which one, i was trying a bunch to find out which I liked best with your mod), but its most noticeable with brutal doom monsters, as the teleport-in effects and cacodemon fireballs that mod uses all use that giant sprite, which can make caco-intensive zones pretty confusing to navigate.

like i said its less of a problem with your mod, and more just a weird compatibility thing, it's not a huge problem by any means, just looks strange.

also, back on the subject of weird far-future modding ideas, are you thinking of any other Hearts of Demons mods after the Revenant?

HoD Mancubus, where you have to figure out how to eat cheeseburgers with two guns for hands, and your biggest enemy is narrow doors?

HoD Archvile, where you have to kill and revive your fellow demon friends to free them from cybernetic control, like a demonic sonic the hedgehog?

[Brohnesorge]

hmmmmmMMM. Sounds like I named the flares too generically, and there might be a sprite conflict on top of it somewhere. Easy enough to fix, just have to sit down and do it. At some point.

As for future HoDs...Planned right now are Archvile and Archanotron. I don't want to say too much about the plot or gameplay of either, as both are just concepts right now, but that's about all I have planned for HoDs. None of the other monsters are interesting enough to me to expand upon, or I don't think I could make them fun to play. Archvile will focus on being an absolute Arcane terror, enough to make The Baron look like a hedge mage with reviving being one of your main spells, and Arachnotron will focus on using psionic powers and your robot chassis to dominate foes from afar.

[JadedLexi]

[Brohnesorge]

I know I said final beta.

I lied. There is still a shit load of work to be done so I'm breaking them into smaller updates so that the mod doesn't sit silent and seemingly dead for a year.

---

Gameplay
-Added new option to turn on vanilla barrels.
-Toggling Enchantments is now much faster, turns off without interupting fire, and has a new animation.
-Type 99 changed to the M2HB.
-Bullet pickup amount reduced to 20.
-Missile pickup amount increased to 5.
-Missile box pickup amount increased to 15.
-Missile max capacity increased to 75/150.

Weapons
-Updated all gun muzzle flashes. Now have brightmaps.
-Incineration fireball now scales in size with charge level.
-Incineration max charged explosion has additional visual effects.
-Incineration can now be quick casted by tapping the button.
-Apex Incineration damage greatly increased.
-Apex Incineration no longer shoots Apex Flare.
-Apex Incineration speed greatly increased, and speeds up as it flies.
-Meteor casting time greatly increased.
-Meteor direct hit damage increased by a huge amount.
-Meteor explosive damage greatly increased.
-Meteor explosion visual effects updated.
-Slot 3 Belial Flak Cannon flak shard damage reduced.
-Slot 3 Belial Flak Cannon no longer auto fires.
-Slot 3 Belial Flak Cannon rate of fire increased.
-Slot 3 Belial Flak cannon enchanted shot is no longer fully automatic.
-Slot 3 Belial Flak Cannon enchanted shot damage reduced.
-Slot 3 Belial Flak Cannon enchatned shot VFX tweaked. Should be less laggy.
-Slot 3 Belial Flak Cannon flak bomb VFX updated.
-Slot 3 Belial Flak Cannon flak bomb flak shard deployment pitch altered. Should be more reliable.
-Slot 4 M2HB added! Replaces Type 99 Autocannon. Slightly less damage and lower RoF, but more common and less recoil.
-Slot 4 M2HB no longer reduces movement speed when used.
-Slot 2 M2HB Seige Mode now has an actual ADS sprite.
-Slot 4 M2HB Enchanted Shot changed. Now shots explode into pain forcing tracers.
-Slot 5 Moloch Multi Rocket Cannon overhauled! Main fire rapid fires explosive missiles, Alt Fire fuses 5 missiles into a napalm cluster bomb!
-Slot 5 Moloch Multi Rocket Cannon naplam damage reduced.
-Slot 5 Moloch Multi Rocket Cannon Enchanted napalm damage reduced.
-Slot 6 Azazel Magic Autocannon sub flak and sub missile amounts reduced. It is now much less efficent with missiles and flak canisters.
-Slot 6 Azazel Magic Autocannon firing animations tweaked.

Sounds
-Updated firing sound of rapid Azazel bullet.
-Fixed earrapey nature of Soul Gem pick up sound.

Misc.
-Boost Rune and Boosted Spells now known as Apex Rune and Apex Spells.
-Baron Ball is now known as Flare.
-Fireball is now known as Incineration.
-Updated pickup sprites on bullets, flak canisters, berserk, health bonues and rocket boxes.
-Removed some unused sprites and sounds.
-Updated almost all flame VFX.
-Fixed typo in Doom 1 intermission text.

Real quick because I'm sneaking in this update before I go to work but highlights of this update are T99 is now a M2HB, muzzle flashes have brightmaps, Meteor buff, Belial nerf, Moloch was remade, flame effects were improved and some terminology changed. Boosted is now Apex, Fireball is now Incineration and Baron Ball is now Flare. Oh also you can quick cast a weak Incineration by tapping the button.

As always keep me posted and have fun!

[Brohnesorge]

Hey hey. So work has slowed a bit as my motivation peeters out, but one thing I am hung up on is the style of throw in the new animation for Incinerate. That's Fireball for the old timers.

So, I'm polling it! I am fully neutral between the three, and all have their advantages and disadvantages when it comes to animating them. So I'd like to see and hear from ya'll what you think. This poll is also running on the Discord server, and I ask that if you've voted in one refrain from voting in the other.

E: Now that I'm at a keyboard, I can go into more depth. With how I animate spell casting (Pose in Blender, render image, repeat for all frames, align in Slade, mirror and align in Slade for other hand, add VFX with GIMP) each poses different challenges. I'll kinda give a brief overview of the options and why I am consider them all equally good.

Thrust: Kinda like it was before the hand remake. Pull hand back, palm forward, charge up and thrust forward. Kinda like Ki blasts in Dragon Ball, specifically Vegeta shooting the flurry at Frieza. Easiest to animate to be honest, and can justify speeding up the casting time, too. Is also the most disconnected from other Barons, showing The Baron's mastery of Destruction magic.

Overhead: Pull hand back and high, palm up, charge up and toss kinda like a baseball. Like classic Barons do! Hardest to animate and have it look right, but most connection to Barons. May also be the slower in terms of casting time. Shows the species connection between The Baron and normal Barons, even if The Baron is using it to cast a much more powerful spell then them.

Swipe throw: Pull hand back to the side, palm slightly inward, charge, then reel back and toss by drawing hand in front of the body, swiping. Think like a Deathclaw in FO3/FO:NV attacks. Also in the style of Doom 4 Barons, who alternate between this kind of throw and an overhead toss. Possibly the most "powerful" looking animation, showing The Baron's great strength and physique, even compared to other Barons. Also connects The Baron more to Doom 4 Barons, who are the primary inspiration for the spell. Moderately difficult to animate, but also potentially has the slowest casting time.

[Spazlord 5000]

Hello. I just wanted to say that I really, really dig this mod. Super fun stuff. But the M2HB’s look just doesn’t really fit somehow. Other than that, It’s pretty much perfect.

[PinkerZ]

Where did you get the new sprite for The Baron? Did you make it or did you just find it? It looks cool.

[Brohnesorge]

It was made by Phobos867 for his D4D submod. I just asked for permission to use it.

E: Also might as well take this opportunity to mention I'm back to actively working on BARON, and you can check out the WIP branch of the repo to see coming changes.

---

-New animations on spell casting
-Lots of performance enhancements
-Melee overhauled again
-GAU-19/A
-Old HUD Barons
-Gun spawn toggles
-Countless tweaks

[PinkerZ]

With the Old HUD barons, is that optional or are you just switching back?