Hideous Destructor 4.10.0b

[TheDarkArchon]

Mis-spelling in hd_manual.txt
*snip*

The words "defence" and "rumours" are British/Canadian English spellings

[Matt]

"Heckler & Mok" I think is obvious enough... certainly no less distinct overall than any of these (warning: tvtropes). (EDIT: Incidentally, I suspect 99% of them would be completely indefensible (the remaining 1% being hilariously insulting parodies) if they were ever actually used for those products instead of being merely placeholders in fiction - just looking at the list you'd think the whole point is to make the fictitious mark confusingly similar but not identical, the only defensive value being to prevent anyone from thinking your depiction is in any way actually endorsed by one of the businesses that own the real brands. EDIT2: To clarify, yes that is my own motivation, plus foreclosing on the "but a REAL ___ can('t) do ___ I don't care about game balance or engine limitations fix it now!!!!" protests I'd get if I started using real-world names (cf, ironically: barely-averted Bolter fiasco).)

Noted re: loathsome and actual typo'd particularly (removed because that phrasing was awful anyway)

[Big C]

Boner balls are ridiculous to hit, I emptied a full shotgun on it (in freeze) and nothing happened, shot off enough pistol rounds to drop the entire spartan army, and in the end the ball was 35/40, barely scratched. Is it a luck thing? Sometimes a single shot hits it out of the blue and gets rid of it, but at others it seems to defy everything. And you can't extinguish yourself when your on fire, right? I've tried crouching but it just looks like doom guy is boogieing. Kind of sucks since whenever a mage hits me it's pretty much over even with armor on. If I do survive I pretty much become a rotisserie chicken and the others monsters just finish me off. Oh, and like Big C said, nice job with the anims.

Keep in mind that bullet-type weapons shoot invisible fast-projectiles in Hideous Destructor, not hitscans. If freezemode freezes projectiles, the bullets will perpetually be frozen an inch from your gun's barrel and could miss the Revenant ball narrowly due to discrepancy between where you think you're aiming and where the bullets/pellets actually hit. Have you tried the particle rifle? It's laser-accurate and AFAIK it *is* a hitscan.

If freezemode does NOT freeze projectiles, on the other hand, then I dunno what to tell you, and apologize. \o/

[Matt]

I can shoot them out of the air just fine with the particle beam, but usually it's because the revenant just happened to be shooting them while I was shooting it and they got caught in the blast. :V

Yes, freeze mode does freeze all projectiles. It also freezes the particle beam buildup process, so if you've been hitting a small target for an unduly long time trying to destroy it while frozen you might want to take off the earbuds before unfreezing.

I still can't think of any decent way to implement a way to extinguish yourself, as crouch+strafe was specifically designed around it being a sidestep, and thrashing back and forth in oldskool "wiggle the joystick around until the baddie lets go" interface seems counterproductive as the resulting movement ingame is basically fanning the flames.

[TheDarkArchon]

Yes, freeze mode does freeze all projectiles. It also freezes the particle beam buildup process, so if you've been hitting a small target for an unduly long time trying to destroy it while frozen you might want to take off the earbuds before unfreezing.

The frame rate will die before your ears, trust me on that.

(One frame every 35 seconds after dumping 3 cells worth, anyone)

[Abba Zabba]

Thanks for the particle beam tip, I never really get to use it though since I always pick the pistol loadout. It would be cool if zdoom had a mode where hitboxes/collisionboxes were visible on every actor like doom builder so I could get a feel on where exactly the ball is.

About extinguishing...why not enhance the rad suit and make it flame retardant? Then doom guy could be one of those nuclear plant guys who swap out those uranium cores or whatever. Wouldn't put out existing flames but would certainly prevent future ones. Think of it as an imp armor. Fire damage would be about half with it on (taking into account whatever other armor your wearing.) That way those inevitable fights wont straight up murder you. Suit would also restrict movement a bit (black armor taken into account as well.)

[Matt]

The radsuit already is somewhat flame retardant. I'll consider beefing up the effect (and the duration of the powerup generally to make up for the reduced speed).

The way damage resistance is implemented black armour can prevent a lot of damage, possibly even resulting in a net HP gain in rare instances for being set on fire. (I may consider doing something to prevent that gain, but it's pretty low priority.)

[DaFker666]

Is it possible to use the default HUD while playing HD? The current HUD in HD is just simply ugly, and I got used to the simple HUD from original.
If it is possible, then how do I do that. And if not, will you re-make the HUD so it looks less eye-hurting?

[Matt]

The original what? If we're talking about the Doom status bar, that's going to be rock-bottom priority because it involves drawing new graphics that can't be used elsewhere for a purely aesthetic difference. If we're talking about something from an earlier version of HD, I haven't really touched anything from the HUD in months besides a bugfix in early June.

The HUD is designed around the following principles:
1. Use a minimum of numbers and words.
2. Keep the relative positions of indicators roughly where they were in the vanilla Doom status bar.
3. Stay as close to the middle of the screen as possible to minimize turning your eyes.
4. Otherwise be minimalistic.

Now principle 3 is not respected when you scale the HUD, as it then takes up the entire bottom 1/4 of the screen. Now that I think about it I do intend to change that if I can, assuming it is possible to change the sbarinfo so the scaling assumes a resolution other than 320x200.

I'm also tempted to remove the mugshot, as the implied protag in HD is not necessarily Corporal Flynn Taggart, but it is such a convenient way to show health without relying on a counter or forcing the player to pay close attention to the rhythm of the red flicker that I'm going to keep it for now.

If you mean the crosshair, though, HD will honour your force-crosshair settings so you can turn that on (I think it's called cl_crosshairforce or crosshairforce or something like that).

EDIT:
http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/x11.png Replace "xorg.conf" with "sbarinfo.txt"

EDIT2: Meanwhile, it occurs to me that the medical station is a camper's dream in deathmatch if you've got the ammo. *_*

[Marrub]

I'm also tempted to remove the mugshot, as the implied protag in HD is not necessarily Corporal Flynn Taggart, but it is such a convenient way to show health without relying on a counter or forcing the player to pay close attention to the rhythm of the red flicker that I'm going to keep it for now.

well I could make some shitty mugshot edits
i-if you want

[Matt]

I'd actually rather get rid of mugshots entirely and just let the player assume it's themselves behind that grey, curiously anatiform mask.

Basically I've just overhauled the "small" HUD and made that the "normal" HUD whereas the current "normal" HUD is the "fullscreen" HUD.

[Matt]

Do you hear the NEW UPDATE? Updating a song of angry men!

Changes:

• Bugfix: Doomguy un-cheat did not remove the Brontornis.
• Bugfix: Infinite ammo server setting now works correctly.
• Bugfix: Hand should not have been visible while deselecting frag grenades while empty.
• The Thunder Buster is now the scary freakish experimental lightning gun monstrosity it ought to be. The actual overall damage potential has been significantly reduced, but more of what's left is effective against any target. Try it. You'll like it. Use the same technique as watering the meadows of France.
• The Thunder Buster's altfire now toggles the sight zoom, which is now completely opaque. The sight picture has also been changed to something a bit more sane.
• Added a new attack to the fist. Hit reload for a quick one-two strike with both hands. Note that the first strike is a very tiny opening jab with your already-raised right hand, so you have to be up close to use this.
• Changed the shotgun loading sound to the SSG shell loading sound in Doom 2.
• Added a new set of screenshots.
• Increased base Brontornis projectile damage. Still does a bit less damage than even the new Thunder Buster, but can mostly one-shot anything short of a baron. It is now also impossible to kill yourself with the recoil.
• The Brontornis shell now has a special ability: if the first monster it hits is gibbed on impact, or if it's hit on a glancing shot, the shell keeps going! Theoretically this can make it a point-blank weapon if you pick your targets right.
• Overhauled the BFG seeker rails to take advantage of many things that did not exist in ZDoom when I first designed them.
• Replaced the revenant trails with a simple +rockettrail. It now looks like a more refined version of the vanilla bulletpuff effect. Screenshot updated accordingly.
• Zombies, imps and demons' corpses now use earlier falling frames when they are not touching the ground, so they don't look as flat and buggy when thrown about by explosions and whatnot.
• Increased revenant rockets to 6x6 from 4x4. They are still only meant to be theoretically shootable.
• Rad suit now lasts 5 minutes and is much more effective against fire.
• Changed the HUDs around. The "big" HUD is now the fullscreen HUD, while the "minimized" HUD has been completely redone and is the "normal" HUD.
• Got rid of the BFG tracers entirely in deathmatch. Now it's just a big exploding projectile.
• Changed the rocket behaviour a bit. It now lobs in a slow arc, then arms and ignites outside the launcher. This was my original intention way back in 2007 and was abandoned as unfeasible and needlessly complicated; in fact, the self-propelled straight shooting missile and less energy directed back into the gun both work quite nicely with the overheat concerns if this weapon were used in a vacuum.
• Added the Brontornis to the HUD, and the Brontornis and its ammo now randomly spawn in place of cell ammo. You can't deliberately spawn with the Brontornis but it does randomly appear for Insurgents. I now consider this weapon to be a full part of the mod.

[Marrub]

• Changed the shotgun loading sound to the SSG shell loading sound in Doom 2.

This kills the Ultimate Doom compatability.

[Big C]

Hot damn, Vaecrius, do you ever sleep?

This plus the new Project MSX beta = a very good day.

Downloading with gusto now. (And wondering when you'll add the option for the player's avatar to take a 'battle crap' before heading into the thick of it.)

EDIT:

Just tried out the new Thunder Buster.

HOLY FUCK.

[Abba Zabba]

I never feel like HD devolves. It only gets better. The thunder buster is like concentrated Thor in my hands. Congrats on making a weapon I can't put down!

One problem though; when I aimed at the ground and killed myself with it, my deathcam showed my gibs on the ground but also a standing marine on fire (the latter of which was followed by the cam). I was still quite dead though. Thanks for fixing your crosshairs; even though the tcam texture is still messed up when I use alt-fire, it's totally optional.

A less obtrusive mugshot (imo): 5, 2, 2