Nightshift v2.1 (01/12/20) Stable changes

[Jarewill]

The original ACS is from TerminusEst13 's Harder Event (which he authorized me to use), and i am basically babystepping into ACS. Given that the ChangeSky has a CVAR, the only thing i probably will know how to do is to turn the sky off =p

As far as I could see, changing line 9 of the SnowOnly ACS into this:

Code: Select all

If (GetCvar("NSMusic") == 0) { ChangeSky("skypic1","skypic1"); }

Worked.... Sort of.

The TEXTURES.skies lump had definitions for skies 1-4 for BTSX, so it caused normal Doom skies to be broken.
However, when I commented out those lines, both Doom and BTSX ran fine.
BTSX both had it's own sky with NSMusic CVar enabled, and had the snow sky when the music was disabled.

Well, i will try but again, my ACS skills suck...

I wouldn't say your ACS skills are poor.
I find them quite impressive more than anything!

But I could help with the fog, as I have made a working script to test it, if you'd want.

[Dr_Cosmobyte]

But I could help with the fog, as I have made a working script to test it, if you'd want.

Sure i do! Sorry for the late response.

About the ACS skills, i mean it hahaha, look at Harder Event by TerminusEst13, it's the same code =p

I just loved that mod so much i wanted to give my spin on it, and he knows it because god knows how many times i pestered him about it.

And thankfully he authorized!

[Ferretmanjcdenton]

Hi there ...your mod is amazing ...
I postet a short video on my channel ...
If you are interested..

https://youtu.be/FNp5gqlDti8

[Dr_Cosmobyte]

Hi there ...your mod is amazing ...
I postet a short video on my channel ...
If you are interested..

https://youtu.be/FNp5gqlDti8

Hey! Thanks! Gonna post it on the first page! =)

[TootsyBowl]

This is definitely a breath of fresh air. A great change of pace compared to typical Doom and most mods, while still being easy to understand and pick up and play. It's one of those mods that I don't regret loading a massive list of universal mods behind, and I enjoyed it greatly and would have enjoyed it more if it were not for some self-imposed headaches. More on that later.

A few criticisms:

-If I remember correctly, it is possible to have a weapon never gib enemies. If I'm not wrong, then that would be a good thing to have on the weapons here, as it is kind of immersion breaking to shoot a zombie with a pistol and have gibs go flying.

-Snow doesn't play well with swimmable water. It basically hangs in the water and never despawns, and eventually the amount of snow grows to the point where it begins to severely impact the framerate.

Now about that self-imposed headache: I struggled for a decent while to find an enemy pack that worked well with this mod, and eventually Beautiful Doom (with some commenting out of stuff) seemed to do the trick. However something inside it overrides the script(?) that hides the inventory HUD element. This isn't game-breaking, but it's enough to be distracting and I'd love to fix it myself, but I have no clue how to.

[Dr_Cosmobyte]

Thank you! I appreciate it a lot, because i really felt doom needed more survival-like experiences. On the two first topics you mentioned, expect that fixed on the next update.

About Beautiful Doom, this comes from the fact i learned a lot of coding with LedIris and Jekyll Grin Payne/Agent Ash, so that translates into a older me naming stuff the same way as them because i didn't knew jackstuff about ACS then.

And i really thought i got rid of those conflicts, guess i will revise the script then.

If you are looking for some cool monster packs, the addons section has a thread with loads of options.

EDIT: Okay, uh... My BulletPuffs already have the +NOEXTREMEDEATH flag, which means it SHOULDN'T gib enemies. Maybe it's a blood mod you're loading with? I know for sure Bolognese/Ketchup mods have a "health for gibbing" option. If it isn't any mod related, i think i can solve this.

[TootsyBowl]

EDIT: Okay, uh... My BulletPuffs already have the +NOEXTREMEDEATH flag, which means it SHOULDN'T gib enemies. Maybe it's a blood mod you're loading with? I know for sure Bolognese/Ketchup mods have a "health for gibbing" option. If it isn't any mod related, i think i can solve this.

I'm using NashGore with the Default gib type, as well as Beautiful Doom's inbuilt enhanced gibs. (Not the blood though.) Since you're recommending the former, maybe it's a thing with the latter?

A few more thoughts:

-Thomas has a really crummy throwing arm for someone who is such a good shot. Looking straight forwards while throwing the grenade seems to only get the grenade to a distance where you're just out of the blast radius, and you have to look up if you want any range out of your throw. The throw also seems to be really low, since you can be looking over a chest high wall and the grenade will bounce right off it, and throwing grenades up stairs and over obstacles in general is quite a hassle. Given how easily available grenades are, this might be an intentional design choice so you can't just look at groups of imps and instadelete them, as well as having to put more thought into a throw, but I'm really not a fan of it. But hey, they're still good for throwing around corners and laying traps for enemies that you're fleeing from.

-The pistol's mechanics don't make a lot of sense. It makes sense that decocking the hammer would decrease the accuracy due to the heavier trigger pull, but why does it increase the damage done? Is it a reference to a game I haven't played? Alternative fire modes based on whether the hammer is cocked or not would make more sense on a single/double action revolver.

[Dr_Cosmobyte]

Either BDoom or Nashgore (though i use it quite often, so i don't know), but about the grenades, i can take a look at it.

About the pistol: yes, cocking the hammer wouldn't help in anything other than accuracy, but if you look to the power fantasy side, i need to give the player a reason to use the double action, otherwise all you would need to do is cock the hammer once finished reloading. So, since you have the option to fire it decocked, why not take a risk and deal a extra amount of damage for less accuracy? If it appears in other games, i swear i am not aware of it, just thought it would equilibrate things =)

[EnriksD8]

Alright, so I just downloaded the mod and started playing around with it in vanilla Doom 2. I noticed something that was rather weird in that the player starts the game with the Doom 2 pistol and not the SIG Sauer P220 pistol meant for the mod.

EDIT: Never mind, it might've been one of the addons I played alongside Nightshift.

[EnriksD8]

Maybe a quick knife melee option can be implemented somewhere down the line, if you plan on adding an actual knife weapon into the mod.

[TootsyBowl]

Alright, so I just downloaded the mod and started playing around with it in vanilla Doom 2. I noticed something that was rather weird in that the player starts the game with the Doom 2 pistol and not the SIG Sauer P220 pistol meant for the mod.

EDIT: Never mind, it might've been one of the addons I played alongside Nightshift.

That'll be ZMovement's doing. I'm not sure why it was recommended, it's not universal and there isn't a patch for Nightshift.

I've completed the entirety of Doom's first episode with this mod. A few more thoughts stemming from experience there:

-This mod doesn't have much in the way of long range options. The L85 seems to be accurate enough for sniping, but it seems to really be only a practical option against weak enemies and if you have a way to highlight faraway enemies (eg. crosshair mods).

-You sometimes seem to slow down while reloading. Emphasis on sometimes, it's quite inconsistent.

-This mod has no chaingun replacement. Where there's usually a chaingun there's just nothing. I thought that was jarring.

-I don't know if it's because KDiTD is easy, but I ended up sitting on a ton of flamethrower ammo that hardly ever got used. I only used it on a pinky horde in E1M9 and the barons at the end.

I haven't played with the shotgun very much, and I should probably put all my comments in one post to avoid spamming this topic, but eh.

[EnriksD8]

Alternative weapons could work.

For example, Slot 1 has a knife for quicker (but obviously weaker) melee attacks, Slot 2 has a magnum revolver (something practical like a .357 Magnum) for more damaging shots for use against tougher enemies or a machine pistol (either something like a Glock 18 (since the cover art or the start-up art features a Glock pistol) or a MAC-10) meant to stagger enemies instead of outright killing them, Slot 3 has a double-barreled shotgun which has more accuracy, damage, and reload speed over the Franchi PA3 to compensate for its limited two shots, Slot 4 might need a precision based sniper rifle (like a classic wooden furniture Remington Model 700 or a more modern looking PGM Hecate II) as an alternative for long range fighting, and Slot 5 could have another heavy weapon also meant for bosses like a grenade launcher (such as the reliable single-shot M79 design or a multi-shot design like the Milkor MGL).

These are just suggestions of mine.

[Captain J]

Again, this mod is likely perfect and retrospective when it comes to survival horror genre. However, honestly, we need some kind of BFG weapon to use in some overwhelming situation, like the boss fight.

Flamethrower is very powerful and effective against the lesser enemy horde, but it's an ensured death sentence if you're fighting against the cyberdemon. Sorry for being RE enthusiast, but having something like Grenade Launcher might be less time consuming to deal with cybies and icon of sin. Hand Grenades are quite finicky to use.

And yes, i know that you used a lot of M79 for your several projects. But how about using different variants? Such as M320 or Shorty 40 Pistol. Or maybe Flare Gun would do.

[TootsyBowl]

I'd say a 12 gauge flare gun is the best way to go. It can function both as a close-range single shot shotgun in the early game, and perform as a splash/long range fire weapon later on when you get proper flares.

If a sniping weapon were to be added, a few pages could be taken from Cry Of Fear's book in how it operates. Accurate and powerful, but slow firing, has a shaky scope (breath system optional), and has to reload one round at a time. Alternatively you could have a little .22 carbine that takes the same ammo as the pistol, but that runs the risk of making the pistol obsolete.

[EnriksD8]

I'd say a 12 gauge flare gun is the best way to go. It can function both as a close-range single shot shotgun in the early game, and perform as a splash/long range fire weapon later on when you get proper flares.

That could work. Plus, it also functions like a tool as well in illuminating dark areas when paired with Dark Doom or when playing in maps that generally have some rather dark environments. Plus, with how flares are, they can set enemies on fire and deal some damage over time, saving ammo of other weapons and not placing the player at too much risk.

If a sniping weapon were to be added, a few pages could be taken from Cry Of Fear's book in how it operates. Accurate and powerful, but slow firing, has a shaky scope (breath system optional), and has to reload one round at a time. Alternatively you could have a little .22 carbine that takes the same ammo as the pistol, but that runs the risk of making the pistol obsolete.

So probably something like a scoped Lee-Enfield (as Cry of Fear had that weapon in the game). 10 shots of .303 British, long ranged scope, high damage and penetration (if coded right in either Decorate or ZScript), and something that is best reserved against tough enemies such as Hell Barons, Archviles, Cyberdemons, and Spider Masterminds (including any monster that replaces them respectively in custom weapon mods). Having another .22-cal weapon might render the SIG Sauer obsolete so perhaps having a .30-cal weapon might give the player something else to use.