Hacx 2.0 -- Hacxmas Alpha!

[Hellstorm Archon]

Good to know that HacX will finally be finished.

I can probably do the final boss, and the missing enemies, I just need to get some ideas; and if I have the time, I can rework some of the enemies completely, although I need to know what appearances of which monsters need improvement.

For the moment though, I did think of two completely new enemies; here is a quick summary of them:

Necrophyte- a small, spider-like, albeit vicious mutant, has an evil-looking pincer on the top of its head.
(Note: The Necrophyte's appearance is similar to that of Doom 3's Tick.)

Cyberiax- an elite guardian of the G.E.N.I.E. mainframe and a bodyguard of G.E.N.I.E. itself, it packs two-nasty looking plasma cannons, as well as a quartet of machineguns. With such heavy ordinance, the Cyberiax is truly a force to be reckoned with.

So basically, I will do the concept art of all these monsters, and see what you think.

[Xaser]

If you can help out in that regard, that'd certainly be awesome. Do you think you can post up or send me a quick sample of your work? If you've got the stuff and are interested, I can go into further detail regarding enemy descriptions if you'd like.

Necrophyte- a small, spider-like, albeit vicious mutant, has an evil-looking pincer on the top of its head.

Hmm, that desciption reminds me of...

...which is a potential Hacx enemy once Neoworm gets around to finishing it. Seems that it's got a name now.


For all eyes:

I've done a bit of reworking of the Hacx weapons that I'm looking for feedback on. Feel free to grab 'em from here and see the thread for more information on what's changed and what's unfinished. Let me know what you think of 'em.

[SamVision]

Here is what I have to say about the weapons:

-Kick is not that fun to use (too slow)
-The pistol fires two bullets? What?!
-Tazer is perfect
-CryoGun should actually freeze enemies (that would be f***ing awesome!) but otherwise good
-Uzi needs a clip counter, but otherwise its great
-The Photon Zooka is still screwed up and unfun to use
-The rod thing is still a plasma rifle clone
-Nuker needs some serious work (think Shadow Warrior)

[phi108]

Good luck with Hacx 2.0, I'm looking forward to it!

I like the weapon tweaks (especially the tazer!), though I tweaked the photon and cryo projectiles to fire from the left or right for visual consistency, if you think it's important:

PHZF B 4 bright A_FireCustomMissile ("HacxPhoton", 0, 0, 5, 0)
CRYG AAAAA 0 A_FireCustomMissile("CryoShot",0.1*random(-80,80),0,-6,3,0,0.1*random(-20,20))

This can be a problem if you don't consider it while firing the photon launcher while peeking beyond a wall on your right. (though you could remedy that by offseting the sprite and not the actual actor, but then the sprite could clash with actor position)

And the pistol's two bullets could be hacked to hit the same spot with some FBF_EXPLICITANGLE and jumps to multiple varieties of a_firebullets with different angles, though it would be nice if it was possible with the one a_firebullets call.
Or you could just say that line down the middle shows that the pistol has two barrels, I like that idea.

EDIT: Oh, it does use 2 ammo. Maybe I just forgot the Hacx pistol has always been double. Well, I already did it, so here is a pistol with each barrel a bit wider, though the original pistol is beleivable enough, probably:

[Dynamo]

EDIT: Oh, it does use 2 ammo. Maybe I just forgot the Hacx pistol has always been double. Well, I already did it, so here is a pistol with each barrel a bit wider, though the original pistol is beleivable enough, probably:

Looks nice Although I have no problems with the original pistol, this is indeed good.

[Xaser]

The Hacx pistol is, indeed, intended to fire two separate shots. I think I'll stick with the original graphics, but thanks for the new sprite anyway.

Regarding the projectile offsets: This is a tricky issue no matter how you look at it. You wind up with three different scenarios: The projectiles are offset phyiscally and have a tendency to explode inside walls, the projectiles are offset visually and don't reflect the actual actor position, or the projectiles are not offset at all which might look odd to some. I've actually started to prefer the latter approach, personally, because it's the least gameplay obtrusive of the three (that and I've gotten used to it in Painkiller and Psychic, in which the latest unreleased build removes the grenade/needle offsets).

Also, the Cryogun won't freeze, under the reason that frozen corpses are tricky to work with and the justification that the gun fires frozen pellets, not freezing ones. -- I am thinking of (for fun) making an add-on mod with alternate fires, and a close-range freeze gas would be neat for that. Such a behavior won't be canon, though, so don't count on it too much.

@Sam: Regarding the 'Zooka, could you define "Screwed up and unfun to use"? I can't do much without knowing any specifics.

[Ethril]

Also, the Cryogun won't freeze, under the reason that frozen corpses are tricky to work with and the justification that the gun fires frozen pellets, not freezing ones. -- I am thinking of (for fun) making an add-on mod with alternate fires, and a close-range freeze gas would be neat for that. Such a behavior won't be canon, though, so don't count on it too much.

Indeed; If someone stabs you in the face with an icicle, or bludgeons you to death with an ice cube, your whole body doesn't instantly freeze over like that. It'd have to be some sort of freezing wind or something.

[neoworm]

I am going to apologise. I cant finish the sprites for the monster I promised now since I have broken bone in my right hand.

[SamVision]

The Hacx pistol is, indeed, intended to fire two separate shots.

Also, the Cryogun won't freeze, under the reason that frozen corpses are tricky to work with and the justification that the gun fires frozen pellets, not freezing ones. -- I am thinking of (for fun) making an add-on mod with alternate fires, and a close-range freeze gas would be neat for that. Such a behavior won't be canon, though, so don't count on it too much.

Oh so its like Crysis' MOAC (condenses air moisture to ice shards), well I guess that is fine.

Regarding the 'Zooka, could you define "Screwed up and unfun to use"? I can't do much without knowing any specifics.

Try to change the offset for the Photon 'Zooka projectile, make the projectile visually smaller, and make the firing speed faster. The 'Zooka is just a little slow to fire . That should about do it.

[Jimmy]

I am going to apologise. I cant finish the sprites for the monster I promised now since I have broken bone in my right hand.

Nothing permanently broken, I hope?

[JustinC]

I know how you feel. I messed up my left hand so its kinda hard to play guitar sometimes. If I fucked up my right hand and couldn't draw, I would be quite devastated.
edit: was screwing around looking at the Haxc site and I got an idea....

[Per-Scan]

^
I like it. He looks like he means business rather than just looking like an English football hooligan in Ibiza...

[Snarboo]

I'm really liking the new weapon changes and enhancements so far. There's nothing there I would change, and the new behavior freshens up the game.

[Alice Jameson]

I know how you feel. I messed up my left hand so its kinda hard to play guitar sometimes. If I flanged up my right hand and couldn't draw, I would be quite devastated.
edit: was screwing around looking at the Haxc site and I got an idea....

That looks really good. You planning on finishing the set?

[Xaser]

Hmm, not a bad concept, really. I've always kinda liked the mutant-like look of the Thugs though (although a slight bit of cleanup on the sprites could always help), but that just might work for an enhanced thug or a Replicant-type enemy.

Might work better at the original resolution of the enemy, though. Trying to high-res all the monsters would be difficult.