Venturous 1.7 Episode 7 Release

[Chastokol]

Please bring back "Hutsul Havoc" on the 2nd level of the 1st episode. This track slaps, yet it somewhy was lost after recent update.

[PixelFox]

Please bring back "Hutsul Havoc"

I love that track so much, but it's one of the ones that had to be replaced due to license issues. It's supposed to be free to use according to the Pixabay license, I've been careful about usage permissions. But either someone on Youtube is Content ID claiming tracks they shouldn't be, or Youtube is being over aggressive and mistakenly flagging tracks that used to be okay.

Which has caused problems for some people posting Venturous longplays. I think all it really means is that their video can't be monetized. These videos typically get well below 100 views, so we're talking fractions of cents. But more importantly, their video sometimes has to be muted, and gets a description that says things like "music muted because it was copyrighted", which it isn't, and which reflects poorly on me. And I'd prefer to not cause issues for their channels long term.

So even though I'm having to cater to the 1% who are posting videos over the 99% who aren't, I don't really see any other way to handle this. The videos are good for word-of-mouth. Plus I really like watching the longplays, it's a useful tool to help me identify things that need improving. I don't want to discourage that with Content ID nonsense.

So yeah, I've been replacing music if and when it becomes problematic. Luckily a couple of guys have donated some original music for the mod. And for the rest going forward I avoid sourcing from sites like Pixabay that might later become problematic.

[brick]

So even though I'm having to cater to the 1% who are posting videos over the 99% who aren't, I don't really see any other way to handle this.

I've seen other authors release a "companion" wad specifically when having this issue, which would contain the non-copyright/problematic music for streamers, while preserving the originally intended tracks for those not streaming. You could even do it the other way around for safety - the main package is streamer-friendly so there's no risk someone will accidentally stream with a problematic track., but the addon is there so the rest of us can hear it exactly as you originally envisioned.

Personally I always like to play with whatever the author considers is their choice of best music, so if you found a safer track that you also consider a(n even) better fit I'm happy to stay with it, but if you feel you had to make a compromise then there's a way to have our cake and eat it too!

[Zhs2]

Or put a CVar switch into the wad, call it "streamer mode" let's say, and conditionally set music on some map or another depending on whether it's true or false. Of course, this adds the burden of an options menu to check for, whether or not it should be on by default (probably best to make it opt-out for those who care to check...)

[Enjay]

Several commercial games have a "streamer mode" just like you describe. When active, any music where copyright is an issue when streaming is replaced with a problem-free track. I'm pretty sure Cyberpunk 2077 is an example.

[PixelFox]

Or put a CVar switch into the wad, call it "streamer mode"

A Streamer CVar is probably going to be the solution, yes. I'm considering a future companion wad where the maps are more coop friendly, so having even more alternate wads for streaming might be too much.

I always like to play with whatever the author considers is their choice of best music

I'm pretty happy with all of the tracks tbh. Aside from Hutsul Havoc and maybe one more, there isn't much I'd want to change. There's only been about 3 or 4 of the 25-ish tracks that have become problematic, and for 2 of them I prefer the replacements anyway. So this is mostly the selection I consider canonical.

[Drachenfels]

Jesus Christ this looks awesome! Are all the sprites custom made by you?

[PixelFox]

Jesus Christ this looks awesome! Are all the sprites custom made by you?

Yes, all of the sprites in this was made specifically for this. The only way to keep a consistent visual style is to do everything myself.

Some of the 3d models used in the process wasn't made by me, either bought or Creative Commons free, especially things like the guns. There's a credits.txt in the pk3 that points to where everything came from that I didn't make myself. But I almost always modify those models and textures anyway. And I did all the rigging, animation, rendering and post-processing to then turn those models into sprites.

[PixelFox]

Episode 7 is now out, available here.

Apart from the new episode, there's also lots of small improvements to things like the muzzle flashes, an auto-quickswitch system which skips weapon switch animations when enemies are nearby, flow improvements on maps where I saw players getting confused, water and mud now have friction and sounds, and helmeted enemies are temporarily immune to headshots.

[june gloom]

How many episodes are you planning on doing? This is quite the project.

[PixelFox]

How many episodes are you planning on doing? This is quite the project.

I have one more episode planned to finish off the storyline. But I can see myself continuing to fiddle with the mod after that.

[Enjay]

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Venturous is a fantastic mod. It's really, really well done.

Thank you very much for the game and for the new episode. I'm intrigued to see how you round things off with the final episode.

To anyone reading this who hasn't played Venturous, you need to address that ASAP.

[lucom22]

Unfortunately i had not much time to test the whole mod, but what I saw during the short test was awesome.
One thing that I've noticed: The water splash sound is too high. I think it could be pitched down an octave.

[Muleke_Trairao]

Been having a ton of fun with Venturous! Can't wait for the next episode (no rush)!

On MAP09, I found a way to skip the red gate by jumping on top of a pillar on the right and then over the wall. Here are some screenshots to demonstrate:

https://imgur.com/a/DrJZ43b

[Grey Rook]

I want to say that Venturous is a very impressive piece of work, with a great deal more variety in environments, enemies, and weapons than one would usually expect in Doom, which has clearly been made with a large amount of love and care. Very impressive, and well done.

Changing the machete jump so it only works while you're in the air makes it much harder to use effectively IMO, which is a bit unfortunate. Also removing some Permanent Healing Sprites feels a bit unfortunate - I enjoyed having the ability to pump my base health to nearly two hundred assuming 100% secrets, but I can see why you wouldn't want the player to have that much without overcharging with health bonuses or Soul Spheres.

That aside, I'm quite enjoying this and am looking forwards to seeing where you take it from here.

edit: oh, and speaking of torches and water, killing an enemy who is standing in water with a torch causes them to simply vapourize instead of combusting. I don't think that's intended behaviour.