Walpurgis 0.98 (For Doom/Heretic/Hexen) [0.98 RELEASE!!]

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neto592
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Re: Walpurgis 0.97 (For Doom/Heretic/Hexen) [Bardiche Preview]

Post by neto592 »

Hi, thanks for the updates. :)

- About the Pilow:
Since it will have 20 seconds of countdown, I believe it should be piercing, be precise (not arc) and having a long range.



- About the Bardiche:

It seems to me a little too short... I hope that it reaches further that Vorpal Axe, Ventus twins swords and Hammer of Retribution melee attacks.




Speaking of the Ventus twins gladius I kind agree with Avventis post. I think the free mana cost upgrade could have more doubles swings triggered too.

On the other hand the mana costly primary attack upgrade could have their mana cost tripled but instead of being just being 4 fast swings after 4 normal ones instead it could be 6 fasting stabs after a stunning kick, so you could use it on stronger enemies and as long it is not a boss (immune to stunning) you should be able able to stunning lock it (each stunning kick followed by 6 fast stabs cycle would cost mana again).


And speaking about the mana costly Vorpal Axe primary attack upgrade, I also agree with what Avventis posted. Since it is slower that the fast swings of the free mana option upgrade, it should have more damage but I would also add that it could have its cost doubled (or even tripled depending of the damage bonus) but only cost if hits something destructible. Also I think it could have a little splash damage and hurt ghosts (more like the WOC Vorpal Axe). I also believe that instead of knock back it should stunning lock on hitting after all it should be bad having that tough spellcaster or ranger enemy getting away.


And the Crusader Spear weapon primary attack mana costly option I believe could receive similar approach: Have its damage and mana cost increased (but only if hits something destructible), small splash damage, hits ghosts and stun instead of knocking back (so not only be good against stronger melee enemies but ranger and spellcasters ones too).

Or... I think it could have a different approach of the Vorpal Axe one: It would remain costing mana (if hits something destructible), giving small splash damage, hurting ghosts and stunning locking but rather it could be inspired on Diablo 2 Amazon Impale Spear Skill. It could have a quite slower but also quite higher damaging (and more mana costly) attack (I also would suggest making the Crusader screams since it should demand a lot of effort from him).



EDIT: About the Hammer of Retribution primary attack alternative and mana cost upgrade I believe that in exchange of costing more that two points of mana I think it could delivery both more core and splash damage in a further area.
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eharper256
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Re: Walpurgis 0.97 (For Doom/Heretic/Hexen) [Bardiche Preview]

Post by eharper256 »

The Vorpal Axe mutation has already actually got a facelift and a damage tweak as well as AoE. Similar for the Hammer. I'll probably post a vid of that at the same time as other stuff coming up; but it looks pretty cool now and is more useful. As for knockback & stun, that's just what lightning damage does in Walpurgis.

As a note, all weapons in Walp hit Heretic ghosts normally (except the ones spawned by Korax which are actually glitched in 0.97, this has been fixed in the upcoming version though).

For whatever reason, mana refund is incredibly finicky when it's controlled by puffs (as created by melee)... as yes, actually I originally intended the melee attacks that use mana to refund it on a miss; but I couldn't figure out any coding for it in the time limits I had back then. I may go back and try again though.

Pilum will indeed by precise, yes. However, it will mimic a real life pilum, in blowing enemies back and causing severe bleeding damage. Since it is already part of an upgrade, I might just not have the cooldown and allow Myrm to magically summon them.
neto592
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Re: Walpurgis 0.97 (For Doom/Heretic/Hexen) [Bardiche Preview]

Post by neto592 »

As a note, all weapons in Walp hit Heretic ghosts normally (except the ones spawned by Korax which are actually glitched in 0.97, this has been fixed in the upcoming version though).

:shock:

That is what happens when you mostly test the weapons using only the test level. :3:



Thanks for answer me. :)



So about what I posted about the Crusader Spear weapon primary attack mana costly upgrade...

Do you intent make it similar for what you will do to the Vorpal Axe primary attack mana costly upgrade?

What do you think about what I posted about making the spear have a strong thrust (with stunning properties and small AOE damage) but with slower attack rate (and costing mana)?
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eharper256
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Re: Walpurgis 0.97 (For Doom/Heretic/Hexen) [Bardiche Preview]

Post by eharper256 »

Yes, the Spear mutation will probably be buffed in the same way as the axe one. Not sure if I'll actually make it into an Impale move, since that would require new code, but I'll consider it.
neto592
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Re: Walpurgis 0.97 (For Doom/Heretic/Hexen) [Bardiche Preview]

Post by neto592 »

Thanks for reply me. :)
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eharper256
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Re: Walpurgis 0.97 (For Doom/Heretic/Hexen) [Bardiche Preview]

Post by eharper256 »

neto592 wrote: Tue Apr 18, 2023 7:20 am Thanks for reply me. :)
No problem, I check here at least every day and always try to say something in reply to any comments. I enjoy and appreciate any feedback and usually consider it, especially where balance changes are concerned, since I obviously have a biased viewpoint as the author. :D
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eharper256
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Re: Walpurgis 0.97 (For Doom/Heretic/Hexen) [Bardiche Preview]

Post by eharper256 »

vv See below for improved Bardiche Video! vv
Last edited by eharper256 on Tue Apr 25, 2023 12:41 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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eharper256
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Re: Walpurgis 0.97 (For Doom/Heretic/Hexen) [Bardiche Video]

Post by eharper256 »


Last time I got a few comments on the discords about a few parts of the Bardiche animation being a bit rough in various places. :shock: Not wrong; I got a bit over excited about getting alot of the sprites and coding done, and probably should have left things in the oven for a bit longer. Which I've now done.

The perspective and feel of the animation has been improved considerably. Also, you get to see the secondary fire, which is... causing corpses to explode! :shock: Finally, the Bardiche was always meant to be a possessed/sentient weapon, with an evil spirit sealed inside. So it now talks a bit! :)
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Re: Walpurgis 0.97 (For Doom/Heretic/Hexen) [Bardiche Video]

Post by Avventis »

Good time of day for everyone. It's me again.
Today i'm starts with some thoughts about Bardiche. Now it looks cool, how this weapon works. But it's primary attack feels slightly weaker, than primary axe attack in all cases. In my opinion, Bardish should deal much more damage at the cost of more attack speed reduction.
Well... Maybe i'm not right, it's just feelings from the video.
The secondary attack has a rather interesting idea, but it looks too situational.
That's all for now.


And... Time for Crusader...

This is the most controversial class in my opinion. Although this does not negate the fact that playing for him is also fun (Especially when it's time to use Black Hole. Hehe...).

OK. Let's start. Crusader. A class focused on melee-combat with a some of ranged capabilities. This class offers much more passive and accurate gameplay than the Myrmidon class.

Mace and shield
Starter weapon focused on close combat and extra survivability. Is it so good? Let's take a look at this.

Primary attack. This attack allows you to hit the enemy with your mace. The distance is slightly longer than Myrmidon's fists, but the damage is somewhat lower. This attack copes with its task, but it's not so interest, as fists...

Upgrade. Every fourth attack becomes stronger. Sounds good. An enhanced attack deals additional damage and pushes enemies in different directions. It can also deal damage through the walls. However, despite the rather obvious advantages, this attack also has a disadvantage. And this disadvantage is the pushing of enemies. If your enemies are shooters, then after each enhanced attack you will have to run after scattered enemies. Theoretically, a tertiary attack could help with this - but unfortunately - it is not fast enough for this.

Secondary attack. Shield swing. Shield Bash deals some damage and knocks enemies back a bit. So for several frames it reflects projectiles. It all sounds better than it really is. The damage is too low to use the shield as a weapon. The knockback is too weak to knock back the enemies that pinned you in the corner. The gap to reflect projectiles requires you to hit with a shield in a fairly small period of time. At the same time, the attack itself is quite long and cannot be interrupted by other attacks. As a result, there is a reason to use it only when you are standing in a narrow corridor against one cyberdemon. However, you still miss some rockets...

Upgrade. The shield starts to push further and the frames of reflection becomes more. Spamming this attack will reflect approximately 70% of all incoming ranged attacks. Sounds good. But while using this attack, it is still impossible to perform other attacks. Thus, despite the rather solid advantages, the attack turns out to be very inconvenient to use, which makes it not very useful.

Terriary attack. Charge and attack. It's a pretty useful attack. The Crusader raises his mace above his head and runs straight until he encounters an enemy, a wall, or a stair... I'm HATE STAIRS!!! When meeting with an obstacle (or a stair), a rather strong attack occurs with a mace and then with a shield. Normally, a blow with a shield does not play a special role, since the enemy pulls away, when the mace blow hits it... But does it matter to anyone if only few enemies have a chance to survive after a mace strike?

Outcome. A mace with a shield works well as a starting weapon. It even makes sense to upgrade this weapon if you don't find another weapon for a long time, or if the WAD is low on ammo.


Holy bringer of light

Primary attack. Relatively expensive, but very accurate attack. A sort of crusader's sniper rifle. The shot is relatively expensive and does not have very high damage, but has a small AOE. Works great for shooting pesky shooters at long range. In other cases, it is used only with an excess of blue mana.

Upgrade 1. Shotgun. It's just a shotgun. This upgrade removes your sniper rifle (and the only convenient way to shoot enemies at long range as well), but provides you with a good one-time damage at close range. In terms of mana cost, this is a very effective upgrade. This upgrade can be taken first of all if you play hexen WADs, where there are a lot of centaurs with shields. In any other case, you should pay attention to upgrade 2.

Upgrage 2. Turns a sniper rifle into a very inaccurate SMG. With this upgrade, the accuracy decreases a lot and the damage becomes a little less (not sure about this). However, DPS coupled with AOE becomes much higher. It is also worth noting that this upgrade is quite economical on mana. Definitely worth taking this upgrade, except for the situation described in upgrade 1.

Secondary attack. The Ray of light. A thin ray of sunlight passed through a magnifying glass. Pretty good flashlight. It will allow you to light up the walls in a dark room and light a cigar... Just kidding. Beam deals damage to all targets along the path. Quite useful at the start, until there is an upgrade for the first attack. Deals fairly significant damage, does not cause protection stance from enemies with shields, and does not cause frames of pain on enemies. Relatively economical on ammunition. But there are one disadvantage. The range of the beam is quite small.

Upgrade 1. Large Ray of light. Now, holding the beam for a few seconds, you turn it into a huge beam of light, incinerating everything in its path! More range, damage, and area of effect. The upgrade looks interesting, but in practice it is inconvenient. The attack has huge recoil and takes too long to prepare for the empowered beam. In practice, most of enemies have already died to the moment the Ray is ready. But what about tenacious enemies? And with tenacious ones, using a beam with such recoil is very unsafe, especially since the damage is not so much more than the second upgrade of the first attack. Is it worth it to upgrade? The weapon does not get worse from the upgrade, and in some situations it can even be useful, but it is definitely not worth taking this upgrade in the first place.

Upgrage 2. Extremely controversial upgrade. Now the staff will emit two beams at a large degree to each other, and the beams will also ricochet off the walls. Most small targets will never be hit by two beams at once. So the damage against them will not increase. You need to get very close to large targets in order to hit with two beams simultaneously, which is extremely dangerous. So when you need to use this upgrade? Everything is simple. It is needed in narrow corridors, where ricochets turn it into a formidable clearing tool for any small threat. Is it really necessary? Most often not. Is this upgrade worth it? If your WAD has a lot of narrow (very narrow) corridors with hordes of enemies, then this upgrade will work well. In other cases, it can be taken, but not in the first place. And be careful - the rays will fry you if you get in their way.

Tertiary attack. Places a prismatic pyramid that does not allow you or enemies to pass through it, and when your staff attacks this prism, it fires an enhanced shot towards the nearest enemy. Works with both the first and second attacks of this weapon. Does not include weapon upgrades. The attack buffs are pretty noticeable, but the prism only lasts a few attacks and costs quite a lot of mana.
Note - the prism can be burned with a secondary attack of a third weapon. It's not a quick process, but the prism takes damage from this attack.

Upgrade 1. It's simple. Prism is cheaper and lasts longer. There is nothing to say. If you like the prism - take this upgrade.

Upgrage 2. Now instead of placing the prism on the floor, you attach it directly to the staff. Attacks will be similar to those obtained by hitting a regular prism, but slightly weaker. Pretty handy variant of the portable prism, but the fact that the attacks of such a prism are weaker and also do not take into account the upgrades of other modes - this upgrade is not very useful. Is it worth taking it? Only if there is nothing else to take, and you do not use a stationary prism.

Outcome. The staff is a good weapon, but very dependent on the first attack upgrade. Unfortunately, due to the fact that the basic version of the first attack cannot be used everywhere, and the improved variants are too good, you will lose your only sniper weapon anyway. Other than that, it's a solid medium-range weapon. With this staff you will spend almost all the time for the crusader ... If you have no spear...


Spear (and the shield?)

Primary attack. The attack does not consume mana, has a fairly high range and good damage and attack speed. Nice and handy melee weapon. However, if the enemy is VERY CLOSE, then instead of a spear hit, a shield bash will be performed. Why? I don't know. Shield bash is weaker and not that useful. Most often enemies survive just because of shield bash instead of spear hit.

Upgrade 1. Upgrade increases attack speed by a porr 15% and damage by an even more poor 8%. What can I say? THIS IS A MANDATORY UPGRADE THAT YOU NEED TO TAKE FIRST!
How is it that an upgrade with such small values is so good? In fact, everything is simple. With this upgrade, the attack starts to feel much faster and more responsive. It would seem that the change is minimal - but the weapon becomes many times more convenient. And it's still mana free!

Upgrage 2. The first attack is no longer mana free. Each attack now drains mana, deals slightly more damage, and has a chance to stun the enemy. Sometimes stuns can happens one after another. Sometimes for the whole level you will not trigger a single one. Thus, the upgrade is very weak. It is not recommended to take without an important reason. Which reason? idk.

Secondary attack. Creates a ghostly spear that aims at the nearest enemy and deals area damage. Good and useful attack with decent damage. Even if it is not very cheap in terms of mana, but the spent mana is definitely worth it.

Upgrade 1. Upgrade allows you to summon two spears at a time. Also, they will not attack anything until the RMB is released. The price of this will be almost doubling the cost of mana (4 + 3).
The upgrade makes the attack useless and expensive against most ordinary opponents. The main purpose of the upgrade is the destruction of durable enemies (cyberdemon, iron liches, heresiarchs, etc.). All in all, not a very useful upgrade.

Upgrage 2. Now the spear will not explode when hitting an enemy, but instead will fly like a crazy canary around the area and deal damage to everyone in its path. This upgrade is interesting, but only for those who love random. The damage of this upgrade is so unstable that it can destroy an iron lich in one use in a huge room, or not even kill one heretical skeleton in a relatively small room. It also sometimes gets stuck in the lamps (decoration) and makes a repeating sound until the end of the level (a similar problem is with the ricochet upgrade to the hammer of the myrmidon). I think the question "is it worth taking this upgrade" - is redundant.

Tertiary attack. Leaves a rune on the floor that explodes after a while. Kind of a time bomb. Deals moderate damage in a good radius. Useful when running through a crowd of enemies (didn't you forget that you are no longer a myrmidon?).

Upgrade 1. Everything is the same but with slightly more damage and in a slightly larger radius. Also, the rune will no longer explodes without enemies in range. With this upgrade, there are slightly more situations to use this attack. Now, knowing that some doors will open when the switch is pressed, you can leave mines there in advance. It might even help you. This upgrade is useful, but you should not take it in the first place.

Upgrage 2. Instead of a mine, a vertical rune is now created, which after a while makes several low-powered lightning strikes. The damage of this upgrade is quite small, the radius is also small, and the charge time before impact is...
The only advantage of this upgrade is the ability to attack enemies through doors. Of course, the second attack can also do this, but in a much less convenient way.
Is it worth taking it? If you're regularly harassed by enemies behind walls, then yes, it's worth it, but not in the first place.

Outcome. The spear perfectly fulfills the role of the main weapon. Weak enemies can be eliminated with a free primary attack, while the secondary will help well at a distance. For crowds of enemies, there is a third one, which, on the whole, also copes with its role, albeit not in the most convenient way. Oh, and don't forget to upgrade 1 to the primary attack as soon as possible.


Firestorm

Primary attack. Flamethrower. Literally, a flamethrower. Pretty strong attack for a short distance. Yes - it's that simple. Very effective against millions of enemies on a short range.

Upgrade 1. Increases damage. Much. The upgrade is useful in the following situations: Always. It is worth taking immediately, after upgrading to one of the "2nd" weapons (spear or staff).

Upgrage 2. Instead of a flamethrower, the arms now shoot small jumping flames. The flames pass through the enemy, but deal SIGNIFICANTLY less damage, but to every enemy in their path. This upgrade feels more like a downgrade than the previous one. Also, with the second upgrade, it becomes inconvenient to burn low-flying enemies. Is this upgrade worth it? In all situations,it loses to the first, therefore - not worth to spend an upgrade on it.

Secondary attack. Fires a projectile that creates an expanding ring of fire at the point of impact. This is the kind of gift you want to throw to annoying shooters on the ledge. The damage is not very high, but the attack is quite convenient, and not very expensive.

Upgrade 1. This is an upgrade where you want to stay at highground, cause the highground is winning position from now ("Obi-Wan tactics"). Shooting this downward, this attack will create two additional orbs at the same cost. The main charge flies along the same trajectory, so the upgrade has no disadvantages and can be useful in many situations. The main thing is to learn how to calculate the flight path of additional charges. The upgrade is useful and worth taking, but not in the first place.

Upgrage 2. Now the attack becomes a fiery shotgun that passes through enemies. The upgrade deals slightly less damage to each target on average, but it becomes more convenient to use. Is this upgrade worth it? Yes, it is worth it if you are interested in the most mobile gameplay to the detriment of the cautious one.

Tertiary attack. An attack that is useful but not useful. The damage is quite high and it is easy to use, but the short range and lack of pain frames make it too painful for the player himself.

Upgrade 1. Increases the range of the attack, which makes this attack quite useful when breaking into the crowd. It's also useful against enemies with shields, as it doesn't make them want to hide behind a shield. This upgrade should be taken first of all in the hexen WADs, where there are a lot of centaurs-shielders.

Upgrage 2 Turns an attack into a slowly crawling wall of fire. In general, the damage becomes less, but the safety of using the attack increases significantly. Can be used quite effectively against dense crowds of opponents (although it will be inferior in effectiveness to the second attack)

Outcome. A good weapon for mass destruction. All attacks are aimed at the extermination of many enemies. Surprisingly handy weapon except for some upgrades (1 attack 2 upgrade for example)...


The Crux (Apocalypse...khm...) Calicus

Primary attack. An attack aimed at destroying what dared to approach at the moment when you wanted to fire a secondary attack. Well... This attack will deal with this without problems.

Upgrade. Attack damage is significantly increased. It is advisable to use together with the Icon of Defender. Not the most nedded upgrade, but still an upgrade.

Secondary attack. Why do we need other attacks when there is this one? One shot allows you to clear the whole room! The only weakness of this attack is the player. The player's location is the main problem with this attack, because the unwary crusader will be crushed to dust by this attack with as much pleasure as the enemies.
Caution: High mana cost, but what's the difference, with such power?

Upgrade. If, after an unimproved attack, some of the enemies has a chance to survive, then now you can forget about it. Just shoot in a bunch of enemies and forget about their existence.

Tertiary attack. Creates a shield that enemy projectiles cannot pass through. The shield could be useful if it could be used without taking out this weapon. When using Crux itself, this shield is usually not needed.

Upgrade. The shield will now surround the player instead of standing still. In return for this convenience, the amount of absorbed damage will be less. The duration of the shield will also decrease.

Outcome. This weapon exists for its secondary attack. At the cost of a lot of mana, it can turn a huge crowd of enemies into a memory. Perhaps this is the strongest and most expensive AOE in the mod. And it costs of every spent mana!!!



Summary. The Crusader is a rather slow and clumsy class. The most armored and focused on combat at close and medium range. Has the most terrifying WMD (weapon of mass destructuin) in the 4th slot.
The spear and Crux Calicus are weapons that really feels good. The primary attack of the staff (2nd) is pretty good. Otherwise, in my personal subjective opinion, the crusader loses in interesting gameplay to all other classes due to not having something special...
Theoretically, the crusader should feel like a heavily armored knight, able to approach the enemy under heavy fire and break into their ranks... In practice (unfortunately) this is not the case. And it is played more like a more passive myrmidon.

What could be improved.
1. Shield. The use of the shield must either be interrupted by the use of a normal attack, or must be a toggle mode. For example, while the crusader is hiding behind a shield, it repels attacks in random directions and receives less damage from attacks from the front, but pays for this with reduced combat speed, movement, and a reduced field of view (the shield covers part of the screen). So the shield would become more reliable and more convenient.
2. Holy bringer of light. Upgrades for the secondary attack. Of course, both of them increases the weapon's damage potential, but... The first one takes too long to charge, the second is too inconvenient to use. As a result - I do not want to use any of the upgrades. But to leave this attack without an upgrade does not allow my internal perfectionist...
3. Holy bringer of light. The tertiary attack and it's upgrade. Ideally, it would be worth teaching the prism to use the rest of the weapon upgrades. It would also be nice to see a prism durability indicator somewhere.
4. Fire hands. Upgrade 2 for the first attack is designed to deal with masses of enemies, but in reality it does not fulfill its role, since there are many much more convenient methods for exterminating the crowd. It's worth doing something about it. Maybe increase the damage... Or maybe change the concept itself... Firestorm is designed for AoE... So maybe it's worth making some kind of beam shot to hit single targets at a long distance? At least something for aimed shooting will appear, at the cost of a rather valuable flamethrower.
5. Spear. Upgrade 2 for the third attack. I, honestly, did not understand the meaning of this attack. It is very difficult to hit enemies, and the damage is not so great.
6. Spear. The spear has a shield that takes up a lot of space on the screen, but is almost never used. Perhaps it would be worthwhile to come up with a purpose for it more serious than hitting an enemy who is too close with the primary attack?
7. Spear. Upgrade 1 and 2 for the secondary attack. Upgrading initially implies an improvement, and not just a change in the way the weapon is used. In this case, you often have to think about - is it worth it to apply an upgrade to a weapon at all, or leave it as it is? Although the weapon gets stronger after upgrading, the mana cost makes these upgrades too situational.
8. Fix a bug with a spear (Upgrade 2 for the secondary attack). The spear sometimes gets stuck in the decorations and hangs in it until the end of the level. This is a nasty bug.
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eharper256
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Re: Walpurgis 0.97 (For Doom/Heretic/Hexen) [Bardiche Video]

Post by eharper256 »

Interesting to read your thoughts as always, though there are some things as usual I think "WHAT?" to, lol.

First of all, Bardiche, since that video, has become slightly faster and smoother. It's interesting that you want to see it slower and stronger, since the opinion over on discord has been the opposite- "more snappy and less sluggish!". It is indeed slightly weaker than the axe or quietus on a single target, but the swing hits a good area in front of you (and can hit about 9 enemies at once if packed close!). The Corpse Explosion can also create infinite chains as the things killed by it can then be used by it. It also prevents Arch-Viles ruining your day as exploded corpses can't be resurrected.

This reminds me of some things I should point out with Myrm from your post a couple weeks back, but which I never got around to.
  • Glad you realise the whirlwinds upgrade is pretty cool on Gladius. It's a quirky mutation but I like that one.
  • With Hammer Throw, remember that you often want to aim above the enemy you want to hit since it arcs.
  • The Hammer Tertiary is, by default, not a line attack, it just leaves a cool decoration in a line behind it. It's actually a ground-hugging rocket in disguise, really. As it comes out fairly fast it's actually meant to be the Myrm's sniper weapon, as it can climb ledges of any size instantly and only ends if hitting a solid wall or enemy (a bit like how the Druid's Dagon Cane Geyser acquires its target). However, I do agree the damage has always been a little low. It's been given a 20% buff for the upcoming version, applying to the upgrade and mutation as well, with -1 to the mana cost.
Anyways, onto the Crusader.
I have to say, this the first time I've ever heard someone call the Crusader "slow and clumsy". :D Oddly enough, I'm glad to hear this, as everyone I've heard before calls them OP.

As it says on the character select screen they are supposed to be methodical and defensive:
Image
By default, this is going to make them feel more passive. They can swap easily between close and medium range so they don't need to constantly go for the aggressive 'in-your-face' gameplay of the Myrmidon, and you're supposed to switch up your arsenal alot more. The Calicus is a mana-whore of a weapon even though it's good (it's 15% of your total max mana for a single Vortex).
So yes, you shouldn't be a "LEEERRROOOYY!" when playing Crusader: Hold back, Hold tough, Hold off is the mantra.
  • With Shield Bashes, they're not meant to get you out of a corner you got stuck in (that would be too strong for a starter weapon!), but you should use them interchangeably with normal strikes in a 1-1-2 pattern. The stun allows you to be more aggressive rather than pulling away from an enemy that might counter you in melee. Stun duration will be increasing in 0.98 due to some tweaks I've made so this will be a bit more lenient in future patches but it's already quite viable.
  • Lightbringer Beam Upgrades: I do kind of agree. I've never been too happy with the mutation here, I might turn it into a split pulse version. The upgrade takes 14 beam cycles to activate it's power mode (that's actually quite quick as a cycle is around 1/10th of a second) but I might reduce that a bit.
  • Spear. Yes, its meant to shield bash if the enemy is very close. To, you know, knock them away to hit them with the spear which you should be using the reach of. Get out my face and all that. :D
  • Spear Primary Mutation: It'll stun whenever an enemy calls a pain state (as it calls a special holyshock pain state in enemies) so enemies with low chance of pain will be less affected. Personally I like it since it makes the spear into also a cattle-prod (lol). But... I'll give it a touch up like the Axe's one.
  • Spear Tertiary Mutation: Yes, I also didn't like how this turned out, but this damn circle was a serious pain with bugs on its code, and I didn't have time to tune it as much as I would have liked for the last patch. I'll give it a buff for 0.98.
  • Firestorm Primary Mutation: I'll buff it a bit. This one was made for people who don't like the sticky flame effect of the normal attack. They do exist! :)
  • Firestorm Secondary: Again, it arcs, so sometimes you want to aim above the enemy; as a result, you can force the upgrade to split early if you like (as it splits at the apex of flight) in exchange for a bit of accuracy. Make sure you remember this for using the Magisters' Plasma Ball, by the way, its alot more effective fired over the heads of enemies than it is right at them!!
  • Crux Secondary: Oddly enough, the Vortex is somewhat less strong if not playing Hexen due to the other games not having a terminal velocity. Alot of its power actually comes from it flinging enemies around and into itself, after all. So Barons in Doom will nearly always survive, for instance.
  • Crux Tertiary: The shield also aggros close-by enemies. Usually.
Now your numbered list:
  1. People have suggested this before, but I don't really want it to be a toggle-able stance.
  2. See above.
  3. Probably not, the Prism is already super great. If it also gets rapid fire and split nonsense, it'll be OP as hell. :D
  4. See above, it's been buffed. I don't really want too much long range power on Firestorm.
  5. See above, will be buffed now.
  6. There is unfortunately not much else it can do without intruding heavily into the design space of the spear. It's mostly for the cool phalanx style (lol).
  7. I'll reduce the mana cost of the upgrade by 1 so you can still use it for mobs if you like now.
  8. I have honestly never seen this occur. But I'll see if I can replicate it.
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eharper256
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Re: Walpurgis 0.97 (For Doom/Heretic/Hexen) [Bardiche Video]

Post by eharper256 »

Image
Thought I'd try to composite a Dark Crucible replacement for Walp in order to try and make Korax more interesting to fight and give design space to give him more abilities and challenge for the Hexen finale.

That said, I kinda suck at mapping though compared to proper mappers; and might see if anyone here fancies a crack at it!

What are your thoughts?
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Irrevenant
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Re: Walpurgis 0.97 (For Doom/Heretic/Hexen) [Bardiche Video]

Post by Irrevenant »

Speaking of the Magister, sort of, would it be at all feasible for a toggle for lower quality visual effects on attacks? Perhaps not just his. My computer isn't great and some of his magic just absolutely murders my framerate. Like Lightning and his ultimate. Some of the other characters' attacks do too, but those are momentary and quickly pass.

Something else I noticed, in GLDefs, all the sparklies that some items give off are spawning lights every time do, and they're spawning constantly. A bunch of those items in close proximity and it lowers frames pretty noticeably if they're in view.
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eharper256
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Re: Walpurgis 0.97 (For Doom/Heretic/Hexen) [Bardiche Video]

Post by eharper256 »

Irrevenant wrote: Sun Apr 30, 2023 12:31 amSpeaking of the Magister, sort of, would it be at all feasible for a toggle for lower quality visual effects on attacks? Perhaps not just his. My computer isn't great and some of his magic just absolutely murders my framerate. Like Lightning and his ultimate. Some of the other characters' attacks do too, but those are momentary and quickly pass.
Something else I noticed, in GLDefs, all the sparklies that some items give off are spawning lights every time do, and they're spawning constantly. A bunch of those items in close proximity and it lowers frames pretty noticeably if they're in view.
Potato mode is indeed planned for a future release. However, one thing I ALWAYS tell people to check though if you have a low-end toaster:

Enable the Full option menus if they're not enabled >> Goto GZDoom's Display Options >> Texture Options >> Make sure ALL the "High Quality Resize" are OFF
Then check Dynamic Lights >> Turn off their effects on sprites, particles, and shadowmaps.
This makes a HUGE difference for those without a strong dedicated graphics card (and its this that will cause your issue about lights in close proximity; each one is calculated seperately due to the above). You'll lose a bit of eye-candy of course but I'm sure you can live without imps going slightly greener or bluer in proximity to mana. :lol:

If you have a pants onboard GFX, also make sure you're not trying to run GL ES or Vulkan renderer, go with standard GL. Only use GL ES if you're on a very strong Mobile phone (though I honestly don't get people wanting to play FPS without a keyboard & mouse!). If you have a mid-range AMD (which is me, actually, I have a now old-ish RX580) Vulkan may work better.

Unfortunately, its actually quite a big undertaking to implement a full 'less-stuff' mode, more than you might imagine. Due to how DECORATE/ZSCRIPT works, I have program an entirely new class for each decoration or attack in question (though part of it can be written as a child class with basic parts inherited from its parent); and then whether the normal parent or low performance child is picked has to be tied to the user's CVAR choice and this has to checked each time its referenced. Its not hard work for sure; but its long and tedious.
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Irrevenant
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Re: Walpurgis 0.97 (For Doom/Heretic/Hexen) [Bardiche Video]

Post by Irrevenant »

Ahh nice. It's low-end, but I also built it myself some few years ago so not everything in it sucks, I just had to skip getting a graphics card and use one we already had. I have a Radeon HD 5450.

Luckily the HQ resize stuff was off.
Dynamic lights in general don't give me too many problems, it's mostly just Walp's and I guess I'd say the density of them. It was 100% the sparkles constantly spawning lights. I actually just went into Walp's GLDefs and commented out those specifically and it was a huge difference.

I get it. I've taken a look in a good number of mods and spot things like that.
yum13241
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Re: Walpurgis 0.97 (For Doom/Heretic/Hexen) [Bardiche Video]

Post by yum13241 »

eharper256 wrote: Sun Apr 30, 2023 1:30 am
Irrevenant wrote: Sun Apr 30, 2023 12:31 amSpeaking of the Magister, sort of, would it be at all feasible for a toggle for lower quality visual effects on attacks? Perhaps not just his. My computer isn't great and some of his magic just absolutely murders my framerate. Like Lightning and his ultimate. Some of the other characters' attacks do too, but those are momentary and quickly pass.
Something else I noticed, in GLDefs, all the sparklies that some items give off are spawning lights every time do, and they're spawning constantly. A bunch of those items in close proximity and it lowers frames pretty noticeably if they're in view.
Potato mode is indeed planned for a future release. However, one thing I ALWAYS tell people to check though if you have a low-end toaster:

Enable the Full option menus if they're not enabled >> Goto GZDoom's Display Options >> Texture Options >> Make sure ALL the "High Quality Resize" are OFF
Then check Dynamic Lights >> Turn off their effects on sprites, particles, and shadowmaps.
This makes a HUGE difference for those without a strong dedicated graphics card (and its this that will cause your issue about lights in close proximity; each one is calculated seperately due to the above). You'll lose a bit of eye-candy of course but I'm sure you can live without imps going slightly greener or bluer in proximity to mana. :lol:

If you have a pants onboard GFX, also make sure you're not trying to run GL ES or Vulkan renderer, go with standard GL. Only use GL ES if you're on a very strong Mobile phone (though I honestly don't get people wanting to play FPS without a keyboard & mouse!). If you have a mid-range AMD (which is me, actually, I have a now old-ish RX580) Vulkan may work better.

Unfortunately, its actually quite a big undertaking to implement a full 'less-stuff' mode, more than you might imagine. Due to how DECORATE/ZSCRIPT works, I have program an entirely new class for each decoration or attack in question (though part of it can be written as a child class with basic parts inherited from its parent); and then whether the normal parent or low performance child is picked has to be tied to the user's CVAR choice and this has to checked each time its referenced. Its not hard work for sure; but its long and tedious.
Regular OpenGL is a last resort. If you're on a potato, use OpenGLES. Graf himself says so. GLES works much better than GL on my system.
Vulkan, GLES, GL.

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