[Wolfenstein: Blade of Agony] v3.1 released (p204)

[HexaDoken]

* The "infrared sensor" thing used to describe Doom autoaim is ahistorical nonsense that needs to be cut. Don't replace it with anything, just cut it. Nobody needs an explanation for Doom autoaim. It's just there.

The real explanation should be "your player avatar understands the woeful limitedness of your control interface and is considerate enough to correct the vertical aim of the gun as the situation calls for it."

[Woolie Wool]

@Captain J - Thanks, now I got it. For the Automap thing, I know how to toggle that But I have no idea how to remove hud stuff specifically in the automap mode?!

You define an additional status bar as "statusbar automap".

As for your "being careful when moving around corners" thing, the original Wolfenstein does this with hitscans while allowing B.J. to retain a fast running speed. The whole point of ww-nazis' mechanics is to allow you to mix it up with the enemies Doom-style, if you're going to get rid of that, why use ww-nazis at all?

[wildweasel]

In WW-Nazis, the player needs to be able to run fast. The enemies' bullet tracer effects were designed not as a visual change, but as a way for the player to be able to avoid taking needless damage when running sideways between cover.

Another thing is your adamant refusal to let the enemies drop their weapons. The mod's entire balance centers around the player getting weapons; the Luger and/or Walther are just not enough to deal with more than the basic pistol and MP40 guards, and the player is probably going to have trouble with riflemen or the SS. If the player wastes a bunch of pistol ammo on an SS, and they get nothing beyond 4 more bullets from him, they're going to feel ripped off. A core tenet of my game design in mods is that, if an enemy is going to drop something, they should always drop SOMETHING. Even if the weapon they carry is designated to be "rare," they will always at least drop ammo for it, but the player should be able to get their weapon somewhat easily.

Games like Medal of Honor: Allied Assault always bothered me when my enemies would never drop guns. At the beginning of the game, even, when you start with just a Garand, enemies carry MP40s but don't drop them through the entire first map. Being forced to rely on only one weapon makes combat monotonous and boring. The player needs to be thrown a new weapon once in a while to keep up the variety. Look at Doom itself. You aren't stuck with the basic pistol for long, especially if you're on Ultra-Violence and the first enemies you meet drop shotguns. Then it becomes less about needing to find a new weapon as it is about keeping that weapon supplied with ammo.

[Jeimuzu73]

Couple of pro-tips:

• What ketchup bottle said, have the enemy almost always drop their weapons, but to promote weapon switching, ammo conservation and accuracy, don't give so much ammo per pickup (around 8-12 bullets is enough for a dropped MP-40).
• The Wehrmacht IRL had riflemen and MP40 soldiers at around an 8:1 ratio (make it 4:1 or 3:2). You can make a grunt rifleman whose rifle does less damage and a marskman with a scoped variant that does greater damage.

BTW is there anything else that you need a hand with? The recent release of The Old Blood has rekindled my interest in Wolfenstein and I've set my Cold War mod aside for now.

[Captain J]

well, weasel put the important things all-about id's games and balances right. and i gotta admit, if you still don't want give us any kind of weapons, just drop some useful rapid MP40 or spreadable trenchgun at the beginning for goering's sake.

because, almost of gamers loves to overwhelm the enemies, not being underwhelmed by them.

[Crudux Cruo]

Reminds me a bit of stronghold (still waiting for a revamp/remake). I like this but... comon now, only a pistol for the starting level? by the end its swarming with people. also there should be some sprint allowed, to dodge bullets. i've got to play this more but so far so good, but i'd like some weapon drops please.

[Tormentor667]

You define an additional status bar as "statusbar automap".

Thanks, got it solved.

As for your "being careful when moving around corners" thing, the original Wolfenstein does this with hitscans while allowing B.J. to retain a fast running speed. The whole point of ww-nazis' mechanics is to allow you to mix it up with the enemies Doom-style, if you're going to get rid of that, why use ww-nazis at all?

I interpreted ww-nazis in BoA a bit different. The projectile attacks feel dodgeable (and actually are, even with the lower player-speed), and furthermore, you see where the enemies are shooting from. Both isn't possible with hitscan attacks and that is actually the main reason why I want to retain the mechanics of ww-nazis. Though, what about Crudux Cruo's suggestion adding the ability to sprint for a short amount of time/distance?

The enemies' bullet tracer effects were designed not as a visual change, but as a way for the player to be able to avoid taking needless damage when running sideways between cover.

That's what I thought as well, though until now I had the feeling that this works well. So, what would you suggest now when keeping in mind that speeding up the player is no option?

Another thing is your adamant refusal to let the enemies drop their weapons. The mod's entire balance centers around the player getting weapons;

I understand that now, thanks for the explanation, especially the Medal of Honor thing, which is definitely true . I will change this for future versions and give the basic soldiers chances that they drop their weapons, and then rebalance the whole maps. As of now they always drop ammo but a little chance of dropping weapons as well might really make sense (25%-30%). What I fear though is the floor of weapons. I mean, imagine having a rifleman, a mp40 soldier and a flame-soldier at the same spot and all drop their weapons at once. Isn't that too much for the moment?

The Wehrmacht IRL had riflemen and MP40 soldiers at around an 8:1 ratio (make it 4:1 or 3:2). You can make a grunt rifleman whose rifle does less damage and a marskman with a scoped variant that does greater damage.

I don't think that I need to be close to the RL in this mod, I try to improve the gameplay in that department though.

[Clownman]

Personally I'd have weapon drops be based on how powerful they are. The more powerful (IE Flamer, Rocket Launcher), the more rarer they are to drop compared to MP-40's and Rifles. The MP40 probably being the more common to drop IMO.

[RUNSABER]

Updating my drivers before I play this, because GZDoom won't let me do otherwise without Shader buffs >_> I will give you a proper review on the beta material, and I will keep in mind that it is a Work-in-progress, so I won't be too hard on ya. I'm looking forward to a 00 Agent difficulty feel

As for weapons, from what I've seen in the gameplay vids, a pistol for the duration of MAP01 doesn't seem to foreign. I definitely understand this is not intended to be Doom by any means, and I won't play it as such. If I have to be cautious, critical with my aim and tactical, I will do so! Hideous Destructor has prepared me for this, and I thoroughly enjoy mods that give me a break from arcade buckshot jousting. I'm not anal about how specific things have to be. Drops could occur at an even smaller ratio, maybe 15%? This gives us an incentive to kill for the chance of being rewarded a new toy for our efforts. Complex Doom has a good balance this way, out of the chance of killing Assault Shotgunners, I get an Assault Shotgun. Not always, but when I do, I really get excited and use that 16-shell clip to my advantage. If you need more weapons to survive, perhaps ww2-nazis or Russian Overkill may suit your preferences.

[RUNSABER]

@Clownman Yes. MP40. MP40 for DAYS.

[RUNSABER]

I'm having a noob moment here, but I am experiencing issues with the things in BoA. The models, textures and whatnot look fine, but the sprites and things are very glitchy, sometimes hanging near the left and right sides of my view, or appearing infinite height. I've tried recent SVN builds but I'm not quite sure which one will axe the issue. Which build is currently recommended? If it's the "latest" on Github, I can't compile it. Thank you.

EDIT: Downgraded the SVNs back to 2.0.0.5, everything works fine. For anyone having future problems, use the latest GZ release, not subversion.

[armymen12002003]

EDIT: Downgraded the SVNs back to 2.0.0.5, everything works fine. For anyone having future problems, use the latest GZ release, not subversion.

Just tried this "suggestion" and it's not working.

[RUNSABER]

Sorry bout that, even with the latest release, I'm still getting problems. While the things weren't acting up, none of the models were showing up, so I'm done downloading, deleting and fiddling with files. I assume since this project was posted in February, an SVN from that month might be more suitable to your needs.

[Tormentor667]

I am using the latest SVN and everything works fine, are you sure it's not your graphics driver?

[armymen12002003]

Im pretty convinced now its my graphics driver as i have crappy amd but that'll soon change as im gonna get nvidia and my whole laptop redone and updated with windows 8