Snap the Sentinel (v2.4) ~ EPISODE 1

[Captain J]

Just beat Episode 1 again and yeah, those are decent and fair changes! Nice to see that Terajolts got nerfed and now i have to kick stuff to interact, obtain weapons. Which is fine because now i can reserve weapon without having to dodge.

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Battle with Conrad was kinda the same in Very Rude difficulty, but there's one thing. It just got somewhat hectic because you have to kick the can to pick up weapons, making more task. Considering the weapons disappear as soon as they're out and Conrad is able to attack within only few seconds, yeah. It just got extra hectic-ker. It's supposed to be hard, sure. But at least the first boss was lenient with giving you weapons.

[gennoveus]

Just wanted to pop by and say I just finished episode 1 and was blown away. That was insanely fun. Thanks! I'll def. be paying handsomely for future releases as it's clear a huge amount of time and love was poured into this.

[TehRealSalt]

Didn't plan on making this patch, but I see lots of blind playthroughs guilty of running the IWAD as a Doom PWAD (which causes lots of minor subtle issues that make the game look much more unpolished). Since I had to make a patch anyway, I went ahead and threw a bunch of quality of life tweaks already made for Episode 2.

Episode 2 development is still going well, but what has been done isn't really showable -- lots of concept art, and prototypes of the new enemy cast. Not really polished enough yet for me to be really confident in showing off yet, hoping to get some level design work done soon. (Hopefully I'm done with patches so I can fully focus on it, lol.)


(gif of new knockback VFX)

v2.3 changelog:

• You can no longer run Snap as a Doom PWAD. (It's a standalone IWAD!!)
• Updated Directional Influence mechanics. This should hopefully make it clearer how to escape hitlag combos, especially in Versus.
  • Added the following visual effects:
    • Shift DI gives you colored afterimages, to show other players how you're moving.
    • Velocity DI has a ring explosion, which spews dust in the direction of the original knockback. (When using VDI, you'll be sent away from the dust.)
  • Velocity DI's effect was made significantly stronger.
  • Shift DI was totally reworked to be fully automatic, instead of only semi-automatic. This will make Shift DI really easy for pretty much anyone to use effectively, instead of being an incredibly obscure mechanic. The following changes were made:
    • Mash shifting was removed entirely.
    • Automatic shifting was made to be as strong as mashing used to be.
    • You now get automatic shifts every single time hitlag is added to you, instead of only after hitlag.
  • Knockback was made even stronger, to allow DI to be used to escape more scenarios.
• Replaced the Powerup Copter sprites with a 3D model.
• Added relative skybox viewpoint objects. These are used in VS1 to make the death plane more seamless.
• Improved directioning for the various connecting points in E1M4's central room.
• Improved directioning for the red key door in E1M6.
• Improved directioning for the bank area in E1M8 Normal.
• Slight length & directioning changes for E1M9.
• Optimized event handler usage. Poorer machines may feel a slight performance increase.
• Player corpses now utilize Hexen's corpse queue; by default, only 64 corpses will be allowed to pile up in multiplayer.
• Made the invincibility period after using Septacrash far shorter, to make it less cheesy in Versus.
• Versus Random Weapon roulette starting position gets offset by one each time you use the roulette. Intended to reduce the feeling of "this weapon again?"
• "Spawn farthest" is now default in Versus.
• Adjusted default multiplayer connection settings. After some experimentation, these settings play significantly more smoothly with poorer connections.
• Fixed cacti being solid for a short time after they've already exploded.
• Fixed player sorting on the multiplayer HUD with more than 2 players.
• Fixed the 7th bullet's center afterimage being misaligned.

https://tehrealsalt.itch.io/snap-the-se ... 23-release

[JohnnyTheWolf]

I might have said it before, but this game is so incredibly cool, I cannot believe it was made in seven days for a game jam.

I know the Sega Genesis would have never been capable of running it and yet it feels like it was tailor-made for the console!

[gennoveus]

Will you consider a Steam release? Would be convenient to have it in my library and I'm sure it will help bring in new players pay the way for further development.

[TehRealSalt]

Yes, I have already been planning to put it on Steam! Dunno when exactly though, keep arguing with myself over that

[DarkkOne]

Just a quick heads up, it looks like a recent version of GzDoom broke compatibility with Snap.

Code: Select all

Script error, "snapgame.ipk3:zscript/snap/base/actor.zs" line 570:
Incompatible operands for != comparison
Script error, "snapgame.ipk3:zscript/snap/base/actor.zs" line 570:
Incompatible operands for != comparison

[SanyaWaffles]

Try 4.8.1. If it persists with that, sounds like a bug report for GZDoom might be required.

[DarkkOne]

That was 4.8.1, actually. If it broke anything else, I might think that, but if a single third-party IWAD breaks, it seems to me like I should report it to the IWAD's author, and then they should decide if it's something to fix in their IWAD, or to upstream to the engine itself.

[SanyaWaffles]

That's fair. Still, GZDoom shouldn't break that easily for something like that.

I reckon it might have to do with the FVector changes to the scale property. Could be wrong though.

[TehRealSalt]

Just a quick release since GZDoom v4.8.0 broke Snap really, really badly. As a bonus I backported Episode 2's cool player animator system, so hopefully that makes it worth it


(gif of looking into mirrors with the new animators)

v2.4 changelog:

• Updated GZDoom version to 4.8.2.
• Fixed intermissions unable to progress since GZDoom v4.8.0. (You can no longer ready up in multiplayer due to under-the-hood changes, unfortunately. A more intricate fix will be made for Episode 2.)
• Implemented automatic character animations, which shows your aiming, strafing, shooting, crouching, etc. This makes mirrors & multiplayer look much better! See the attached gif.
• Added a "damage reduced" sound while Super Shell is active.
• Added the option for thicker automap lines in the menu.
• Subtitles no longer go off the edges of the screen at 800x600 resolution.
• Improved the automap view. There is now a dark transparent BG, the player arrow was made more visible, and key fobs are shown. This requires a config reset.
• Cleaned up automaps for several levels.
• Improved directioning on the ending lift in E1M2.
• Fixed being able to stand on the edge of the cutscene pit in E1M1 by using strafe-running.
• Fixed a bug in E1M4 where a monster closet would not open in multiplayer.
• Fixed one specific menu sound being very loud.
• Custom maps now default to using the generic ending if a next level isn't set.

https://tehrealsalt.itch.io/snap-the-se ... 4-release

[TehRealSalt]

A Large Snap Episode 2 Preview, since it's been a hot minute.

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Episode 2



Episode 2 will start off with Snap heading into his job as a security guard for the Big Bark Root Beer factory. Normally it's a pretty boring job... but today, there's robots invading! Clearly this is more of Ocean's work... ...right? But Snap doesn't have his blaster on him! He'll have to kick his way out of this one...


(gif of kicking a Riot Robo that jumps through a glass window)

This is the opening stage of Episode 2. One of my biggest focuses for Episode 2, especially for the opening, is to leave a lasting impression. One thing you might notice is that there isn't a single Episode 1 enemy in these screenshots! Episode 2 is going to have an entirely unique enemy roster. There's currently 5 new enemies programmed fully (although they all have some visual placeholders at the moment), with lots more planned.



It's also why this is a kick-only level, although I also wanted to force the player to learn how kicking enemies works. Going through Episode 1 without it is fine by me, but as the game gets harder, it's going to be an important tool to learn!



The Episode 2 stages are taking a lot longer to produce this time around due to more outside obligations getting in the way of development (been working on getting an actual job in game development, so that's been eating a lot of my time), on top of me being a lot more perfectionist and wanting to make all of the stages prettier & more interesting than most of Episode 1. All I can say is sorry for the longer wait for this release! I hope that the end result will be worth the wait, anyway.



I'm probably going to scale back my ambition a tiny bit for the future episodes for the sake of more timely development. (For instance, I'm probably not gonna make a whole new enemy roster again!) But I really want to make Episode 2 really good since it's going to be the first one that will require paying for the game. Even if it's cheap, I really want that price of admission to be worth it.

Lighting

You might've noticed it in the E2M1 screenshots, but Episode 2 will receive new lighting, to make the game have even more of its own stylish cartoon identity from Doom. Lots of dynamic lights have been added all over the game, with a cel-shaded look to them. Additionally, colors stay saturated when darkened in the distance, and glowing floors have a much more vibrant color to them.



Here in E1M4, the torches give off light that reflect on the world, the colors stay vibrant in the distance (purple stays purple/blue instead of becoming a yucky brown!), and the lava has a much more distinct orange glow to it.



In E1M8, the street lamps are able to give off a spot light effect now, illuminating the angry Guard Robo in this screenshot. The distant buildings also become deep blue instead of a dull grey.

Menus

I've also been making even more menu enhancements than what I showed off on Twitter a while back. Here's a back up of those, if you missed them: Imgur gallery


(gif of the difficulty options)

Say hello to the new difficulty menu! I had fun coming up with fun animations to demonstrate the changes between difficulties, instead of only relying on text to describe them.


(gif of challenges being finished)

A new feature coming to Episode 2, the "Challenge" menu! (If you've played any Sakurai games within the last 20 years, you should already know what's up.) The challenge board will be completely darkened on first start-up. When you inevitably finish a challenge though, then you'll reveal hints for the tiles surrounding it, giving you more to do.


(gif of using a "free space" on a challenge)

I'm excited about this feature to give people a lot more replay value, and it compliments well with the new Record menu. A handful of challenges are going to be focused on teaching the player advanced techniques to improve their play. For example, there's a challenge for juggling enemies, so players hopefully will be more inclined to learn how to keep enemies in their stun state for longer.



Doing certain challenges can also unlock bonus content! The first bonus feature I will reveal that you can unlock via the Challenge board is "Infinite Weapon". This is a mode where you can pick any weapon in the game, and play a stage with infinite ammo. Play only with your favorite weapon, do a challenge run forced to just the basic gun, or even bring Episode 2 weapons into Episode 1 levels!

https://tehrealsalt.itch.io/snap-the-se ... -2-preview

[Void Warrior]

Wow! One happy news after another! Is it a straight News Day of Announcements, or what?

The Second Episode will be sharpened only for Close Combat? Interesting idea! I remember when I was playing since the release of the First Episode that I rarely used my Leg. Now I'm doubly interested to see what it's like to fight Robots without a Blaster.

For me, your game is one of the coolest and most dynamic projects I've ever played! I've been following him for a long time and even devoted a whole post to your project (In Russian: https://doomguy.ru/community/topic/snap ... d-school-4). True, I haven't edited it for a long time, but I write news about your game to attract attention.

[gennoveus]

So glad to see work is still being done on this masterpiece. You should really consider a commercial release; a developer of your calibre making games this good should be receiving payment so you can do it full time. I'd buy it at full price in an instant.

EDIT: Oops! Sorry! I already said this before and you did mention a Steam release. So exciting! But this is a bit embarrassing - sorry for repeating myself. At least you can measure my enthusiasm for the idea Thanks again

[Void Warrior]

So glad to see work is still being done on this masterpiece. You should really consider a commercial release; a developer of your calibre making games this good should be receiving payment so you can do it full time. I'd buy it at full price in an instant.

EDIT: Oops! Sorry! I already said this before and you did mention a Steam release. So exciting! But this is a bit embarrassing - sorry for repeating myself. At least you can measure my enthusiasm for the idea Thanks again

Will There Be A Steam Release? If yes, then good! And then I thought that only on "itch.io " it will only be possible to purchase.