Walpurgis 0.99 (For Doom/Heretic/Hexen) [NEW RELEASE!!!]

[SallazarSpellcaster]

Also, whilst I'm here, what would people prefer? That I spend longer on this patch to get all the mutated/alternate upgrades together in one release (but which may be a over a month), or that I get Magister and Crusader out sooner and let Myrmidon and Druid get their upgrades in 0.98?

Take the time to finish it! When such upgrades are doled out in parts, it makes some of the characters feel more complete -and in a way "better"- than the others. One month isn't too long to wait, but waiting for a whole other upgrade may take much longer.

Also, the best feature of the next upgrade is the fix of the Gibbet and Swump bugs with the chaos serpents - bloody annoying thing.

[eharper256]

Take the time to finish it! When such upgrades are doled out in parts, it makes some of the characters feel more complete -and in a way "better"- than the others. One month isn't too long to wait, but waiting for a whole other upgrade may take much longer.

Also, the best feature of the next upgrade is the fix of the Gibbet and Swump bugs with the chaos serpents - bloody annoying thing.

Okie dokie, we'll see how things turn out.

Part of me is always like 'but the people must have their new patches sooner, not later!' This is especially prevalent in this patch, because there are a chunk of afformentioned bug fixes and balance tweaks.

Regardless, its going to be at least a few more weeks at the moment. I have a week off coming up and that will help me blitz some content creation.

[eharper256]

So, this is a weekend that I'll be jumping into Path of Exile's new league. I skipped the last one, but decided to try this one out.

For those who are newer here; I usually put a note up about this as it typically means that's a weekend I'm not doing Walp stuff. However, I do also have the week after off in full, so I do expect to get a least a chunk of stuff done. I've spent awhile tweaking values this last week, and doing more fixes, which doesn't create any fun video content, but hopefully I'll throw something else out soon (TM).

Finally, I'm happy that I have my beige forum skin back!

[eharper256]

New video showing the Lightbringers mutations in action, among other things:

First of all, we see the Prism's rainbow laser got a looks upgrade! It looks pretty swish now if you ask me.

Secondly, the new mutations: mutating the primary changes the lightbringer into a rapid-fire, low accuracy version. Awesome for mowing down packs, but loses its long range capabilities. The Secondary makes the basic laser fork into two, and both beams will bounce (preferring to bounce towards a nearby target if possible). Each is less powerful than the standard lightbringer beam (and especially the now different normal upgrade, which is shown afterwards, that changes into a fatter superpowered laser after a short delay) but again, you get fantastic AoE clearing. The Tertiary mutation isn't fully done yet and is not set in stone (and is clearly overpowered, lol) but right now it changes the prism from a support that enhances your regular shots and laser, to a slow but strong prismatic bomb.

Let me know what you think!

Also, lucky for everyone here, the new Path of Exile patch turned out to nerf loot into the ground and completely remove most of the fun (again!), so I guess I won't be too distracted with it for this week off that I've got.

[eharper256]

SOON

...

For those that don't get the joke with this post; the Axe upgrade currently changes the Vorpal Slash into a purple one; but the axe's own colour stays blue (literally unplayable). So this is rectifying that.

The Myrm is getting a trifecta of sprite updates for 0.97, in fact. You've already seen the new Quietus draw and sheath, and the Hammer's new raise and activation. The Axe is getting a third swing in its combo (a diagonal cleave), and is also getting the left to right horizontal swing re-done as well as the Vorpal Slashes getting a refresh. Should be cool!

[eharper256]

A full playthrough video of "Overboard!", a fantastic little 6-map set by Mouldy:

I've always enjoyed tropical island themed sets, and this one really takes the crown for one of the best of these that I've played. Full of doomcute and well designed levels, and even has a newgame plus mode. Also Cacotoa is a great pun.

You'll also get to see the new and improved Myrmidon weapon animations that are due in 0.97 in their full glory here, including considerably revised axe animations mentioned above, and alterations to the Hammer and Quietus too.

Making good use of my week off to be productive on Walp, so hopefully there will a few posts this week.

[eharper256]

Another short preview video today, showing yesterday's stuff that I completed, the mutated Primary Fire for Aestus and the Hebiko Sceptre:

A few people have told me that Aestus' current upgrade is super great, even though its basically a QoL upgrade (faster fire and faster projectiles on the Flame Darts) so I had to make sure this one was sufficiently different to draw you away from that. So you get, Magma Blasts. They actually fire mildly slower than the base shots, but have this impressive explosion into sprays of magma that I love. Gives you pretty good single target power and a bit of AoE but feels alot different.

Secondly, we have the Acid Spray for the Hebiko Sceptre, removing its long range seeking acid snake function for covering enemies in sprays of liquid death. The standard upgrade doubles down on the homing projectiles, so it's pretty good, and again, the mutation needs to be competitive. It certainly looks the part, and the acid spray is basically guaranteed to stun-lock, making it ideal for pinning down and slaughtering dangerous foes.

[eharper256]

Well that week just dissapeared on me!

Getting back from a week off meant I had a bit of work piled up in my iRL job.

So, I've mostly been working on a chunk of simple quality of life features this week along with a few balance tweaks here and there. There are few mutation modes that are shaping up as well but I'd like to show them off on in their basically completed forms (as I have been so far) rather than create videos of incomplete things. I might get something out tommorow, though.

[eharper256]

Well, I did say I would get something out, here it is:

All of Fulgur's mutation upgrades are at a stage where I'm mostly happy to show them off (though as usual, they are subject to change). After that, you get a quick preview of Turul's AI improvements.

With Fulgur, the Primary mutation changes the usual dual lightning hose into a spray of smaller, wilder shock beams. The range is shorter, and you lose out on the upgrades chain-lightning, but gain a super-strong death cone for up close (which is also safer to use than Algor's similar effect, since it has the innate knockback of lightning damage).

The Secondary mutation is for those that really hate getting trick shots with the Plasma ball; it becomes grounded with much shorter tendrils, but hits its final destination with a serious wallop.

The Tertiary mutation removes the ability to create a powerful static storm; instead, you'll create smaller storm clouds that follow you around and fire at closer targets, like guardians. Rather than having periodic fire, they have a set amount of shots before they dissappear

Finally, we get to see Turul the falcon; who has been given some revision to his AI. Before, he had a very loose leash, and this murder-hobo bird had a habit of flying off and slaughtering half the level whilst you weren't looking so long as he could keep finding new targets (lol). Now, he has a special return swoop animation if he gets too far and also teleports to you if you can't be seen more reliably. Isn't that kind of a nerf? Yes it is... but he was too good for a single upgrade item before!

[eharper256]

Not much to report this week.

Been very busy with work as I've been training some new staff; and that was before the Queen passed away (I'm a UK civil servant, if you've missed me saying so previously), so I don't have any significant progress to show off video wise at the moment (sadly). These things happen; but I think some parts of the administration have just worked under the assumption that Her Majesty was immortal (haha). In any case, I've got a few new ideas preparely that I'd like to pop into Walp soon.

I've been especially focused on Algor this week, so I should have some mutations to show of that soon. Hope you'll continue to stay tuned, or check out the mod if you've not already.

[eharper256]

New video!

It's time to show off more mutations that are now mostly completed. This week, we have four modes from the Axe, Hammer, and Algor to show.

The Secondary Axe mutation makes the vorpal slash happen on a vertical swing. This reduces its AoE potential in exchange for precision culling. However, it remains at a similar power, and is now half-price in mana.

The Tertiary Axe mutation makes the Axe is no longer get thrown. Instead, it produces a spectral copy in the same manner as the hammer. As a result, you are no longer disarmed whilst it is in flight. However, the projectiles are a bit weaker, do not siphon health for you, and explode on impact rather than having boomerang behaviour.

The Secondary Hammer Mutation gives the hammer a special bouncing behaviour that tends towards leapfrog bounces. This bounce also has special effect on hitting enemies. Rather than bouncing off them in the opposite direction, it carries on going in its original direction or sometimes wildly bounces off to the side.

Finally, the Algor Primary mutation removes the ice shards entirely from the attack, instead making it into a cone of cold. This has a vastly longer range for those that hate the near melee range of the default ice shards, but obviously loses out on power in compensation.

[Irrevenant]

Tried this out a day or two ago, just messing around with the characters and this has probably the coolest version of Parias I've seen. He's really fun to play. And I like his voice lines. Most of them are Patrick Seitz and he's one of my favorite VAs. The spear is probably my favorite weapon of his. I like how he readies it when an enemy is near and raises it when out of combat.

Illitheya is pretty fun too. I particularly like ricocheting the baselards into enemies, that's great fun. Though, something about her idle sprite when she's just holding it doesn't look quite right. The angle of her arm is all wrong. The projectile is a bit weird, too. The flat of the blade looks like it's facing you when viewed from every angle. And, I was hoping her flechette would be more useful, like the plant spitting directly at enemies. Maybe I don't know the best way to use it yet. The delay between using it and her actually throwing it is also kinda uncomfortable. Oh and her voice is super loud. Parias is kinda loud too, but not as much. I ended up reducing their volume in SNDINFO.

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$volume DruiTaunts 0.60
$volume CrusTaunts 0.85

I don't know if it'll need more work in the way of sprite renaming since I haven't tested it too much yet, but I made/am making a compatibility patch for Strange Aeons. Seeing as how the Druid has a staff of Dagon I thought that would be fitting. Didn't rewrite the MAPINFO stuff though.

Also I noticed some errors in pickup messages and an obituary.

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Storm Sect Spear - Tis' -> 'Tis
Fulgur obituary - alot -> a lot
Dagon's Cane - bizzare -> bizarre
IchivalPiece3 - its -> it's, nobles'. It's not an error, but I think clothing would flow better.

[eharper256]

Thanks for commenting, I always appreciate it, and glad you like it.

Tried this out a day or two ago, just messing around with the characters and this has probably the coolest version of Parias I've seen. He's really fun to play. And I like his voice lines. Most of them are Patrick Seitz and he's one of my favorite VAs. The spear is probably my favorite weapon of his. I like how he readies it when an enemy is near and raises it when out of combat.

Thanks. I've yet to hear of anyone who dislikes the spear, which is why it became the weapon he's using on his portrait. XD It's nicely Crusader themed as well.

Illitheya is pretty fun too. I particularly like ricocheting the baselards into enemies, that's great fun. Though, something about her idle sprite when she's just holding it doesn't look quite right. The angle of her arm is all wrong. The projectile is a bit weird, too. The flat of the blade looks like it's facing you when viewed from every angle. And, I was hoping her flechette would be more useful, like the plant spitting directly at enemies. Maybe I don't know the best way to use it yet. The delay between using it and her actually throwing it is also kinda uncomfortable. Oh and her voice is super loud. Parias is kinda loud too, but not as much. I ended up reducing their volume in SNDINFO.

Changing the ready sprite for the baselard is one of those things I have on the list that I never get around to. It's supposed to be a reverse grip, but as you say, it's not quite matched up right. Alas, I will eventually revise it. The baselard's when thrown is purposely made to look as good as it can do whilst bouncing, realism be damned though (lol).
Frenzyweed Flechette is best used chucked into a pile of enemies or into the path of oncoming enemies; it's a pitcher plant so it's not exactly a sniper turret; arguably its strongest point is exploding into gas afterwards whilst distracting enemies before that.
Can't say I've noticed Illitheya being especially loud; the voices were all actually normalised to the same peak levels when I processed them in Audacity; and checking them again, that is still the case, they're all within a similar decibel range. I guess you just find her voice louder (lol). I can think about adding a specific volume slider for (non-pain) voices though as a menu option if you like.

I don't know if it'll need more work in the way of sprite renaming since I haven't tested it too much yet, but I made/am making a compatibility patch for Strange Aeons. Seeing as how the Druid has a staff of Dagon I thought that would be fitting. Didn't rewrite the MAPINFO stuff though.

Feel free to make any patches you like, and post it here or on the Discord and I'll link it in the main topic.

Storm Sect Spear - Tis' -> 'Tis
Fulgur obituary - alot -> a lot
Dagon's Cane - bizzare -> bizarre

Bizarre is one z in the british spelling, and 'Tis is olde english and is still technically correct. A lot, however, is just a bad habit of mine to not space them.

[Irrevenant]

The baselard's when thrown is purposely made to look as good as it can do whilst bouncing, realism be damned though (lol).
Frenzyweed Flechette is best used chucked into a pile of enemies or into the path of oncoming enemies; it's a pitcher plant so it's not exactly a sniper turret; arguably its strongest point is exploding into gas afterwards whilst distracting enemies before that.

I see, makes sense.
And I'll have to play around with those a bit.

Can't say I've noticed Illitheya being especially loud; the voices were all actually normalised to the same peak levels when I processed them in Audacity; and checking them again, that is still the case, they're all within a similar decibel range. I guess you just find her voice louder (lol). I can think about adding a specific volume slider for (non-pain) voices though as a menu option if you like.

I guess so. It may also depend on speaker settings and the like. They seemed so much louder than the battle grunts, maybe to hear them over the weapon effects and gib sounds. Things get really loud when played with Nashgore. Not a bad thing, though. I really enjoy how the weapons tend to instagib Doom enemies. I'll turn the volume back up and play some more.

Bizarre is one z in the british spelling, and 'Tis is olde english and is still technically correct. A lot, however, is just a bad habit of mine to not space them.

Ahh, to be more clear, the ones on the left are how they look in the current download.

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Inventory.PickupMessage "\c[white]A bizzare cane \c[red]with a head of coral\c[white]. These things invoke the old gods to \c[sapphire]manipulate and create water\c[white]. [\c[blue]2\c[white]]"
Inventory.PickupMessage "\c[white]A \c[gold]Spear of the \c[sapphire]Storm Sect\c[white]! Tis' a fine weapon! [\c[sapphire]2\c[white]]"

[eharper256]

I guess so. It may also depend on speaker settings and the like. They seemed so much louder than the battle grunts, maybe to hear them over the weapon effects and gib sounds. Things get really loud when played with Nashgore. Not a bad thing, though. I'll turn the volume back up and play some more.

Yeah, you nailed it; the voices need to be made a bit louder and brighter than normal so that you can still hear them in a frenzied fight at all.

Ahh, to be more clear, the ones on the left are how they look in the current download

Oh! Well, it appears I've already fixed them in 0.97 lol (went back to the 0.96A download version to check and you're absolutely correct). A lot was still alot though so I fixed that.