Taggart Difficulty Mod v1.9.5, Released!

[-Ghost-]

I played a little bit of Doom 2 with this, so far it feels balanced, haven't run into anything too crazy yet. I especially like the variety in the zombies and the added effects.

[Taggart]

Thanks dude. I'm trying to slow down on all the shit I'm pouring into this thing lol trying to get through a playthrough myself so I can get a feel for how it plays in the later levels. Keep me posted on your thoughts about it man

EDIT: I challenge you all to play HR and similar WADs with this mod

[-Ghost-]

I tried out the Brutalized Doom 2 levels and didn't do too bad, but it feels like the super shotgun guys need a little more spread or drop off. On M02 I was back against the far wall and an SSG guy knocked off a good 30 or 40 HP all the way across from me by where the red key is. I also think the imp homing fireballs should track a bit more slowly since they're such a low threat monster usually, but I tend to hate seeking projectiles anyway.

[Taggart]

I've got v1.5 up. I ended up getting rid of Hell difficulty. Not only does it make PWAD menus' graphics look out of place, but it's redundant and pretty much the same as Ultra-Violence.

I finished all the Zombie variants for all the types of zombies. I also increased the base damage of Demons from 4 to 6. They'll chew your ass up in a hurry now. The ZombieMan no longer has volleys, as a continuous fire causes more damage against the player.

As a side note, I'm having trouble finding creative ways for the other monsters to be more difficult opponents. For example, with the Cybderdemon (short of giving him dual rocket launchers) I have no ideas for it. Fell free to give me some ideas, guys

Other than that enjoy the mod. Keep it constructive, but feel free to nit-pick the shit outta the mod. Have fun, gents!

[Morcillete]

Just an idea about cyberdemons or any other projectile based monsters (I really don't know if it even possible):
Add some random dispersion to the projectile initial trajectory (at least horizontal, but tiny vertical dispersion can be interesting, mainly with rockets hitting the floor next to you…) so projectile monsters are no longer perfectly accurate and, therefore, their shooting patterns cannot be predicted so easily. I mean, this way you can no longer run in circles around a cyberdemon without been hit, at least if you are not far enough from it.
Tweaking this dispersion values you could control the comfort distance of engagement with any of these monsters. And if you want to make it more flexible to spice the things up a little, instead of working with a plain distribution, you can add low probability high dispersion trajectories so you always need to be attentive to single projectile even if you are far enough.

I don’t know if I managed to explain myself anyway…

[Taggart]

That's a good idea,sir. And yes it is possible. I've seen it done in Beautiful Doom and Brutal Doom for the projectiles coming out of the chaingun. Albeit my values won't be so extreme as they are lol

Something I might end up doing is giving the cyberdemon is two rocket launchers with a random attack that has like a crossing pattern, thus forcing the player forward rather than around

[MetroidJunkie]

Want a real stroll through hell? Play this mod with TNT level 27 Mount Pain... on Nightmare.

[Taggart]

F that bro lol I like the mod so far though. Don't know how much more I can put into and still keep is fun. Still need some ideas for the Mancubus, chaingun guy, arch vile. If it's prudent to do anything to do anything to them at all

[MetroidJunkie]

How about making Archviles randomly spawn a much more powerful one that can revive Spider Masterminds, Cyberdemons and/or other Archviles?

[Taggart]

What's everybody think of it so far. Be nice to get some feedback Is it fun? Does is suck some serious a**? Keep me posted folks lol

[-Ghost-]

Just played a little bit of Knee Deep in the Dead with it, up to E1M9. I noticed that the super shotgun guys don't seem to have a fire sound. The sound of shells, casings etc hitting the ground is a little too loud as well. The super shotgun zombie himself feels a little better balanced, though I still feel he's making shots that the player wouldn't be able to make from far away distances. In general it feels like he spawns a little too often, you could probably keep him being really dangerous if you make him a bit rarer, as is I generally see one every 2 or 3 zombies. The Demons feel fine, I was able to take them out without too much difficulty and they didn't feel like they soaked up too many shots. Lastly, the imp's fireball tracking still feels a little too fast, since the only way to dodge it seems to be if you're basically already in cover and safe; otherwise I haven't been able to dodge one in the open.

For the chaingun guy, maybe use that sprite with 2 chainguns and up his fire-rate a bit, but make him more inaccurate? For the Mancubus you could probably do something similar to what he said above and just make their shots less predictable. Can you edit their firing to criss-cross and do other random patterns so it's harder to dodge? Arch-Vile, not sure, maybe summoning monsters or something?

[TheMightyHeracross]

A simple but nice mod, cool.

[Taggart]

As far as difficulty goes, is it a noticeable difference? That's the key here, after all

EDIT: Being as the Arachnotron's fire rate is already matching the player's fire rate, what do you guys think of a double plasma gun Arachnotron? I think it might put it over the top, or may even be redundant with the faster speeds to begin with.

And, Ghost, i'll get to implimenting your suggestions after I've fixed all the little sprite quirks in the Zombie variants, especially the helmet variants. Being as it isn't the original head of the zombies there's a bit of jittering and jumping in the animations. That's my main priority right now being as it takes longer to mess with.

[ISomtimePlayGames]

Really good job on this man! Feels pretty balanced and it definitely has a bit more of an edge to it, especially on higher difficulties. Its challenging without taking all the fun out of it. That being said, a couple suggestions:

-SSG zombie - As already stated, feels a bit too accurate and common.

-The sounds for a few monsters, namely the pinkie's footsteps, are a bit to loud. Gets a little annoying.

-Also, not really a bug but an idea I had. The shotgun sergeant with the helmet feels a bit out of place. I just think they would have a diffrent colored helmet than the normal marines. I was thinking you should give them one of those hats they issue soldiers, seems like it would feel like they have a bit more rank. Again, just a personal suggestion. Keep up the great work!

[Taggart]

Here's an update:

-The tracking imp ball is slower than the standard.
-The SSG Zombie is now more rare.
-The Chaingun Guy has a random Double Chaingunner variant, 1 in 4 odds.
-The Mancubus now has randomly selected patterns of attack. No more rehearsed maneuvers to get past his fireballs.
-And a few more that I can't remember. It's all in the new feature list.

Enjoy, ladies and gentlemen!