Snap the Sentinel (v2.4) ~ EPISODE 1

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lizardcommando
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Re: Snap the Sentinel (v1.2) - Short new IWAD for 7DFPS

Post by lizardcommando »

I can't believe I just discovered this project but I am really liking it. The overall gameplay feels super fast paced and the weapons are fun to use. I love the art style for the environment and the character designs and the animations are really nice and smooth. I cannot wait to see what else is in store for the story.
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TehRealSalt
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Re: Snap the Sentinel (v2.0) ~ EPISODE 1

Post by TehRealSalt »

The Episode 1 update (v2.0) has been released!! The length of the game has been doubled, and lots of polish to every other aspect of the game.
Changelog: https://tehrealsalt.itch.io/snap-the-se ... 20-release

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Captain Ventris
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Re: Snap the Sentinel (v2.0) ~ EPISODE 1

Post by Captain Ventris »

Super excited for this, and so glad it’s getting expanded.
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ShockwaveS08
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Re: Snap the Sentinel (v2.0) ~ EPISODE 1

Post by ShockwaveS08 »

Got a bug to report, regarding Level 2: After progressing through the Red Key Door, there is a pretty severe performance drop, dragging down the framerate so much that the game becomes literally unplayable.

Sourceport Used: GZDoom v4.7.1 (through Delta Touch v4.5.2, on Android)
Rendering Backend: GLES v3.2
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Captain J
 
 
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Re: Snap the Sentinel (v2.0) ~ EPISODE 1

Post by Captain J »

Played the updated version right now and holy smokes this is some GOOD retro shooter TC. I mean it was already good when it came out but it just got good-er with extra levels that are so merciful with the navigation. They're straight forward as they should be and i like every single part.
Spoiler: And got some feedback to talk about
Thanks to every single attack being a Projectile, No Damage clear is possible... I guess. I managed to beat E1M1 without getting hit but it gets harder afterwards. Kudos for your cool work guys 8-)
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doomduck
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Re: Snap the Sentinel (v2.0) ~ EPISODE 1

Post by doomduck »

Just came here to say: this game is AWESOME!

I played the original gamejam version a while ago and while I liked the style of the game, the gameplay just didn't feel very fun to me.

But this? This is SOO good. The little gameplay tweaks makes the game feel a lot better to play, the new levels are great and I love the cheesy dialogue.

I only things I'd like to see added are:

1- Some way to switch powerups. Sometimes I'll end up getting a powerup which isn't really useful for the current situation, like getting a medium-range weapon when there's a lot of enemies shooting me from a distance. Maybe add a feature like in Castlevania SOTN, where you'd drop you current subweapon when getting a new one, so that we have a chance of getting our previous powerup back. Or maybe just add a secondary powerup slot, like in Contra.

2- Getting more use out of the energy bar. The Septacrash is a lot of fun to use, but you only rarely get to use it. Maybe let the player do a less powerful special attack at the cost of a star or two.

3- Probably not the direction you guys wanna go with this game, but the ability to jump would be nice too. Not only platforming would give a lil bit more variety to the game, but jumping would also give us another option for dodging enemy projectiles (which can be very hard sometimes with the current moveset)

But yeah, that's about it. I think this game is nearly perfect and it honestly took Adventures of Square's spot as the best standalone GZDoom game for me.
I'm really excited for the future episodes and I wish the team the best of luck with this project!
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Re: Snap the Sentinel (v1.2) - Short new IWAD for 7DFPS

Post by JohnnyTheWolf »

lizardcommando wrote:I can't believe I just discovered this project but I am really liking it. The overall gameplay feels super fast paced and the weapons are fun to use. I love the art style for the environment and the character designs and the animations are really nice and smooth. I cannot wait to see what else is in store for the story.
Same here. This is amazing! :shock:

I was already a fan of your alternative take on invisibility, but I did not know you were this much of an accomplished game developer yourself.
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Captain J
 
 
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Re: Snap the Sentinel (v2.0) ~ EPISODE 1

Post by Captain J »

So i beat the game again with Very Rude difficulty and holy hot damn this is no joke. Hard to believe that it changes the behavior of every single enemy! It makes whole a lot of difference, especially in boss battle.
Spoiler: Extra feedback. Literally Spoilers
EDIT: Fan art time woo woo
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TehRealSalt
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Re: Snap the Sentinel (v2.0) ~ EPISODE 1

Post by TehRealSalt »

v2.1 has been released. Main reason for the patch is to fix a pretty nasty thinker leak that was happening on a few levels, please try it out if you were having performance issues before. Other highlights include alternate E1M7 generators, and Homing Beam buffs, as well as lots of minor polish in lots of little areas of the game.

Read the changelog here: https://tehrealsalt.itch.io/snap-the-se ... 21-release

--------

(Not quoting directly but thank you Captain J for the extensive feedback, I've fixed a few things in the patch :D )
doomduck wrote:1- Some way to switch powerups. Sometimes I'll end up getting a powerup which isn't really useful for the current situation, like getting a medium-range weapon when there's a lot of enemies shooting me from a distance. Maybe add a feature like in Castlevania SOTN, where you'd drop you current subweapon when getting a new one, so that we have a chance of getting our previous powerup back. Or maybe just add a secondary powerup slot, like in Contra.
I definitely agree with the problem and want to solve it, but both of those games' solutions wouldn't work unfortunately. I did code CV-style drop your item behind you, but it was problematic for different reasons (lots of accidentally running over dropped weapons in fire fights). With both solutions, a big part of how some Snap levels are designed are that you can trade in your existing weapon for ammo ... if kept as is, the "optimal" way to max out ammo is to intentionally get a new weapon you don't want, then backpedal into your old one, which is just a dumb chore I don't wanna encourage. If the ammo is stored in the weapon powerup itself, then it'd mean doing another big pass over all the levels again to make sure nothing's too stingy, which is just me being sick of polishing Ep. 1 levels for months now and I wanna just get to making new stuff already :P

I already started on a different solution, dunno if it'll be a patch or just saved for Episode 2. I take the opposite approach of requiring more player input to pick up weapons at all so it's simply harder to do accidentally, by making you have to break open item cans by kicking them. Has its own set of challenges (making sure the player knows how to do it, and making sure its not too disruptive), but they feel easier to solve to me.
doomduck wrote:2- Getting more use out of the energy bar. The Septacrash is a lot of fun to use, but you only rarely get to use it. Maybe let the player do a less powerful special attack at the cost of a star or two.
I wouldn't rule it out, never know if I get a really cool idea for it ... but if I did one I would want something that can compete with the usefulness of Septacrash, which I'm not sure if I can lol.
doomduck wrote:3- Probably not the direction you guys wanna go with this game, but the ability to jump would be nice too. Not only platforming would give a lil bit more variety to the game, but jumping would also give us another option for dodging enemy projectiles (which can be very hard sometimes with the current moveset)
Yeah, jumping's just not something we're interested in. I made that decision day 1 just 'cuz I don't like designing levels & enemy patterns around it ... just lots of little annoying easy to miss exploits. Someone finding last minute dumb exploits with just being able to crouch is already enough hassle for me! Lots of other Doom mods do jumping & platforming enough anyway, and probably way better than I could, so I just wanted to stick with more classical design. Plus I've actually received compliments for sticking to shooting, since shoe-horning in platforming is a really easy idea for a game with this art style, so I'mma stickin' to my chops on this one :p
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lizardcommando
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Re: Snap the Sentinel (v2.1) ~ EPISODE 1

Post by lizardcommando »

Just got finished playing through the update. That was really fun and the new weapons were a ton of fun to play with, especially that charge shot weapon. Such devastating destruction! Also, I don't think this gets mentioned enough, but the music is really good. Are there plans on releasing the soundtrack some time in the future?
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Captain J
 
 
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Re: Snap the Sentinel (v2.1) ~ EPISODE 1

Post by Captain J »

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doomduck
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Re: Snap the Sentinel (v2.1) ~ EPISODE 1

Post by doomduck »

Hey, I'm like to report what I think is a bug:

In E1M9 on Hard mode, there's a huuge performance drop and it makes it impossible for me to finish the level. I'm 90% sure it's a bug, considering the rest of the game ran pretty smoothly up until that point
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SeventhSentinel
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Re: Snap the Sentinel (v2.1) ~ EPISODE 1

Post by SeventhSentinel »

Did you update to the v2.1 patch? E1M9 was one of the problem maps before the patch.
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doomduck
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Re: Snap the Sentinel (v2.1) ~ EPISODE 1

Post by doomduck »

Yeah, I did. The patch actually did fix performance issues on some of the maps, like E1M2, but for some reason E1M9 still has them.
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TehRealSalt
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Re: Snap the Sentinel (v2.1) ~ EPISODE 1

Post by TehRealSalt »

v2.2 has been released. This was meant to be just a really simple 5-line changelog patch to address lag & a few bugs, but it ballooned really fast! Most notable change is a new weapon can system -- weapons need to be kicked open to be picked up, to prevent accidental weapon pickups.

GIF of weapon cans in action: https://imgur.com/vayVWJO

Download + changelog: https://tehrealsalt.itch.io/snap-the-se ... 22-release

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