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Yes, believe it or not, Apothem has ventured out and tried to make something with Zdoom. It subsequently made his head go boom and now here it is.
The Ability Point System - ALPHA RELEASE
In this release the basics of the Ability Point system are shown. In the current release you have the active ability point system with cycle checks etc to ensure anything you add on to it is easy to do. It's just a bar with a number attached, but with this system, you can special abilities as long as you have the required amount of AP.
The Ability Point System - BETA RELEASE
Later features will include:
- updated bar and hud graphics (when it's done)
- more abilities (75% done)
- different levels for each ability (20% done)
- passive abilities (15% done)
- New weapons
- Monster scaling
...and more will be shown later as I get around to it.
Changelog 7/06/08
-more multiplayer compatibility bugs fixed. Only two left is a script reset routine to fix stuff after death and a runaway issue with uneven xp values on monsters.
-Shielding system implemented! One of several passive abilities that you'll be able to acquire as you level your character!
-Removed all the armors, they are now replaced with power ups you can get for your shielding system. Yay overshields!!!
-level up menu is a little more refined. I have graphics in the works for the menus and everything will be streamlined by the end of it all.
-converted the wad into a Pk3 for ease of development and whatnot.
Changelog 6/4/08
Spoiler:
-Multiplayer compatibility implemented! Hudmessage is still broken in ST so it wont work there, but it will work everywhere else. Also, now in coop mode, XP gains are shared. Deathmatch hasn't been implemented yet.
-Level up menu added, you can now level your abilities and as you do they get more effective and stronger. Also at certain levels, your abilities give special bonuses such as increased timers for damageamp, and spillover for first aid. Currently only First Aid and Damage Amp are set to level. Others will be implemented as time goes on. Descriptions for each stage of abilities on the menu will be implemented later.
-XP issues fixed, all your stats are now global and you can now level your guy throughout entire map packs etc.
-Fixed a LOT of bugs, everything from the bar not updating properly, issues with MP compat, and weapon pickups.
-Replaced high jump with speed. Speed doesn't work at the moment, as I haven't decided how I'm gonna scale it yet. However, high jump is now an ability that gets added onto speed at a later level.
Changelog 5/23/08
Spoiler:
- Weapon bugs completely fixed. Should play nice with weapon mods as far as that goes
- XP system added! You can now level your abilities. For right now only default levels are set. However, the basics are in now! For right now it doesn't carry over from level to level
- Most of the monsters drop XP properly. If you find one that isn't dropping XP please post it here.
-Added XP counters and a notification for level ups.
-Added 2 new abilities: Drain and Damage Amplifier. Drain is vampirism and Damage amp is 4x damage.
-Level up menu added! Use the ability cycle buttons to cycle through the level up menu and the use ability button to add stat points to a skill.
-Only skills that have stat points on them will work.
-Guaranteed to work on large maps, even if you kill all the monsters. XP Drops are minimized to be efficient as possible to prevent flooding.
Changelog 5/13/08
Spoiler:
- bug fixed for weapons turning off active abilities
- added additional HUD pieces that display a list of your current abilities and a way to cycle through currently available abilities.
- fixed a useage bug with using abilties too fast and the bar not updating properly.
- added KEYCONF for the ability cycling and usage. Check your configurations to set your keys
By default the keys bind to PgUp, PgDn, and Home.
- works in levels without scripting. I haven't tested it with levels with scripting.
- made it more weapon mod friendly.
And without further ado here is the sample wad:
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Last edited by Apothem on Sun Jul 06, 2008 12:14 am, edited 14 times in total.
This is actually a very neat prototype. I remember Mouse doing something similar to this in A New Hellspawn, what with the collectible batteries and all, but this looks like a different implementation.
Some other ability ideas I have are hyper speed and high jumping, or perhaps even a second attack!
Speed boost was something I wanted to do from the beginning, I just didn't feel like including it right now. As far as doing something like doublejump or 2x attacks, I dunno how that could be achieved. Meh, I would love to give it a shot tho. The real kicker is going to be getting the damn menu system working on a basic level to cycle through abilities... Meh I can't imagine it being too hard.
I have updated this little mod and now it seems to be working at a very desirable level, so I thought I'd update the post. Please give it a shot and lemme know what you think. Any ideas for more abilities are welcome.
I just checked out the system, and I've noticed a few things.
Please note that I using the newest version of skulltag.
The Ability bar is a bit of a nuisance. With the standard doom HUD disabled, the ability meter and the text that goes with it covers up the amount of armor points. With the standard HUD activated, the ability bar moves out of the way, but the text stays in the same place. I would suggest slightly altering the standard HUD to include that ability bar and text in the HUD, and if you can to place it maybe in the bottom center of the screen when the standard HUD is disabled.
Also, there isn't very much gratification yet in the point system. I mean, some more useful abilities, and maybe some that are just for fun could be added. Using stealth didn't seem very effective, and the fact that it immediately stops when a weapon is fired bothered me. Perhaps making it function like Halo's active camo: when a weapon is fired, the camo stops working temporarily, but then reactivates. I guess that means you'd have to make it have a certain duration.
I checked out the wad using DOOM2.wad, so the high jump was not very useful to me. This is another one I think you should set to a certain duration, to make it a little more useful. I mean, I could see where someone might include a point in their level when highjumping is required, and setting a time limit would make it a bit easier to design a kinda platforming level around.
No complaints about the first aid. But maybe make a few different sub categories, like being able to regenerate above 100hp in exchange for ap than standard first aid.
Then again, you may have already implemented these things.
Other ability ideas:
-Mind Control: just taking over the monster you're aiming at. The more powerful the monster, the more ap needed.
-Reflective Shield: Any projectiles bounce off of you, but melee can get through. Maybe just having it cover where ever you're looking would be cool.
-Steal Ability: For a certain duration you will have an ability of a certain monster. This might be difficult to do, but there are plenty of people out there working on mods to give the player the abilities of the monsters.
-Resurrect: Bring a monster back to life as an ally.
Anyway, just suggestions that I'm pretty sure you already thought of. Sorry if I sound like an a$$.
I appreciate the feedback, it is much needed at this point.
To start off with, the high jump is already set to a timer. I think the issue is that I need to expand it a bit because it's very obviously not long enough.
Secondly, I like your idea about the regen, and now that I think about it... I think that's the way it was supposed to be done in the first place. Either way, also fixed.
As far as stealth goes, there will be other things that are gonna be packaged with that. As for right now, you can use the fist and a beserk pack combined with stealth == pwnage on quite a few maps. The goal of the stealth ability was that it was meant to be combined with other abilities and/or powerups. It seems, however, that the way I've implemented it is very buggy. Or there's a nasty bug in zdoom that's not making it play nice with the invisibility powerup.
I'm in the process of implementing an experience system so you can level all these abilities and make them drain slower etc. Chances are, I'm going to be replacing the weapons and powerups with special pickups that will grant you new abilities and boost your stats. I just haven't quite figured out how to do the decorate code yet. (I really don't know shit about decorate at the moment ). Expect more updates later on as far as the wad and abilities go.
I do agree that the abilities I have in right now just plain suck, but I'm kinda out of ideas for adding things that are just simple for the moment. There will be more later as far as the ability listings go. There may be an expansion upon how it is already organized amongst other things.
The issue with the text is a simple bug, and I think I agree with where you think it should be placed. It would probably be better off in the center just so that way it's out of the way of custom huds etc.
just tested it: looks very good
there are very few abilities, but, well, is a beta, doesn't it?
I can't see any good way to do the "mind control" or "steal", as long as you have to get wich EXACT monster you are facing and edit it's flags, but due to logical reasons you can't use TIDs to do that(or maybe yes??). if there were a way to set the TID of the actor you'r facing that could be doable, but I don't know any way to do it. By the other side, resurrecting could be very interesting, and DOABLE (check out my "empathy"archvile).
A thing that is a bit annoying is the low mana regeneration. you could raise the mana regeneration while standing, but to do that you would need to edit the playerpawn in decorate(you aren't skilled with decorate? well, i could do the decorate part for you).
another interesting way to solve this could be a skill "stand and rest for a while", instead of taking giving mana. the more interesting about it(at least for you) is that could be doable in the same way than the other skills...
a couple sugestions for skills: "rage"(temporarily raised shoot speed), "vampirism"(life stealing), and maybe summon a small demon, or plant an automated turret
hope my post helps in some way, seeya
I appreciate the suggestions for abilities, MephistoII. Never thought to do vampirism, and it seems to be a powerup all it's own in the wiki so it should be really easy to implement. The ability to summon a friendly could be handy too, as you level up your buddy could get stronger with each level you add to that ability. Thank you very much for the ideas!
As far as the AP regen goes, there will be more to it. I will have the XP help 'generate' more AP, and some of the powerups will be replaced with items that give you new abilities and bonus stats etc. I wanted it to be slow like that because with the way this is set up, I didn't want the player to be able to spam the abilities too much. There's still a lot of balancing to be done.
The only thing is, there's plenty of time later to balance the AP regen. I think if you tweak it for now, then it'll make it easier to test the abities while you're working on the XP and pickups. Unless you can just make health items raise your AP? There are a million and one ways to do it.
I was also wondering, are you planning on making a whole game or at least a new wad specificly for the Ability system, or is this more of general use project. The reason I ask this is to get a little insight into how you plan to work the XP. I mean, it can be so that the player gains XP and can use it to purchase the next level for an ability. Maybe just have each ability gain it's own XP whenever you use it, so the most used abilities will be the most powerful.
Yeah, so I was just curious as to how you wanted to work the XP portion of the system.
Heh, as far as a map set goes, I had an idea for a set of three maps that would showcase this mod and everything in it. Just wait and see on the xp system, it'll work just fine. I'll be releasing the next version very soon. Just gotta add the level up menu and stat menu.
HUH O_o
XPDROP1 doesn't seem to work right, at least for me.
but, wich way you will exactlly receive XP?? Will the monsters drop a XPDROP1 when dying?? to do that you will need use of decorate, or a specifically designed map.
about the AP regen, I still think that would be nice to have a way to raise it when you are not fighting, but, well, it's up to you...
ok, now a couple skill sugestions: "flaming feet ":summon fire after you when moving (heh, this one will be harder to do without editing the playerpawn)
"heh, I can't find a name now": summon a flock of ravens to confuse and distract your enemies
"creep":a cheaper form of stealth, but with reduced speed.
hope you find these usefull.
As I get closer and closer to putting in the next update... I need to get a map to test this thing to it's fullest extent. If you are interested, or perhaps know of a pre-existing map that'd be good for this mod, please PM me or post here.
That'd actually be really handy. When I start adding passive abilities, I'll need a generalized testing ground to make sure all the features work. Thank you very much XutaWoo for volunteering!