Hell Denizen (Early Access on Steam)

[TwinBeast]

The player character is based on me, and well, not going to ask someone else to voice me. I'll probably redo some of the newest voices when my throat isn't so hoarse. Disabling the voice lines feels a bit like asking someone to not talk because you don't like their voice. But ok, there's a "voicevolume" cvar now. Note that if there's going to be some neutral NPC or an enemy (possibly a boss monster) that talks, these talking voices would be silenced too if voicevolume is set to 0. Player pain, death, etc and monster moans and screams are unaffected by the voicevolume. Though zombies are still allowed to say "Kill" and "Brains".

 

I wonder if the current fuel canister model would fit as that hydrogen. It looks kinda nice, although a blue colored ammo pickup would be nice too. Might also increase the bullet and fuel/cells/hydrogen max counts, double both or alternative would be to halve the shells and rockets/explosives max counts if player should have a more limited carrying capacity (or max counts depend on skill level?).

 

Anyway, I don't mind adding more ammo types, although if it's just 4, it's easier to keep track of them. The level stats display (currently also used in intermission too) can be made bigger to fit more ammo/stuff, though if there's more than 4, then maybe should replace the text with little ammo icons (would still like to keep the max counts visible).

[hybridial]

Hi @TwinBeast, your project is looking really nice. I feel I'd like to play it but the option for me is only really with controller support. I was wondering if there was any plans for that eventually. 

[TwinBeast]

@hybridial Well, I've got these two, 8BitDo SN30 pro+. They work somewhat ok. Have tried splitscreen coop earlier with my girlfriend. Back then the thumbsticks worked like buttons, so aiming was like aiming with keyboard, we had sv_aim at less than 1, so we had vertical autoaim. Now I got the thumbsticks to work in joystick mode. The aiming is still not smooth like with mouse and need autoaim and should implement my own autoaim that has both vertical and horizontal. Probably should add an option to allow player to respawn in singleplayer too.

 

Should also think how player changes weapons with the controller if there's a lot of them. Is it enough that player has Next and Previous Weapon and a Quick Switch to previously selected weapon (doesn't scroll through the entire arsenal). Weapon change doesn't need to go all the way down&up to be able to continue changing to another weapon. The weapons are also divided into groups, currently each with 1 or 2 weapons. The Dpad and some of the ABXY buttons could be used for selecting the groups/weapons in them? The shoulder and trigger buttons not visible in the photo can be attack and jump. Select shows the level stats and Start opens the menu.

 

Edit: just added some initial new autoaim with both horizontal/vertical aim. In open areas it's pretty good, makes playing the game with the controller feel much better. Then in areas with more obstacles, it may see the enemies a bit too much through the walls/etc. Don't know, maybe the hitbox is visible to the code, while the model isn't visible to the player?

Edited February 25, 2022 by TwinBeast

[Rudolph]

@TwinBeast Fair enough. Thank you for your understanding; again, while I do not like the character's voice, I was not trying to be mean to you or anything.

[TwinBeast]

I've managed to continue. Combined some earlier test level areas together, got some more test level areas that could be combined into a proper level, into this or another semi complete level.

 

Tweaked the palette a bit. Also there's a 64 color palette, which is sort of cool, but maybe better would be to expand that palette into 256 colors, or some other fewer colors / more shades kind of palette. Used a square particle set, I think there can be options for square particles or any shape particles. I wonder if the square particles should have the random rotation or transparency effects (that seem to be on by default).

 

[Daytime Waitress]

5 hours ago, TwinBeast said:

Used a square particle set, I think there can be options for square particles or any shape particles. I wonder if the square particles should have the random rotation or transparency effects (that seem to be on by default).

 

In the videos I've seen so far, all the explosions and projectiles whizzing about with the star particles have got the biggest pop from me. I find it really hard to articulate, but it just seems to give the whole thing a unique, magical feel.

[TwinBeast]

Made the "software square particle" set, though it does have additive effect, but doesn't have transparency fades. Models (can) have both effects and probably not doing options for them in quakec. Particle sets can be changed with a cvar, so it can be an option in the menu (when I've done a menu). The pistol got a Magnum powerup, the bullets do 4x damage and can go through targets.

 

[Rudolph]

Not going to lie, it feels so weird to see a realistically-sized pistol in a Quake clone! :P

 

(The model is fine, just so we are clear; I just cannot help but notice how games like Quake have conditioned us to expect big fucking guns!)

[TwinBeast]

Hmm.. I've tried to make the guns mostly realistic sized, although the weapon pickups are scaled 2.5x to make it easier to notice them (just like ammo/etc boxes are big). The pistol is based on Automag III, I have a broken airsoft one. Though I made the ingame pistol a little shorter / blockier.

 

Here's the minigun in her hands vs pickup, also ignore holding the minigun from the wrong place. I was lazy and used the same few animations for all weapon holding animations, I'll do proper animations later.

[TwinBeast]

Here's some explosions with the softer looking particle set. Also had realtime dynamic lights on, so they enable the use of normal & gloss maps in the level textures (even when none are present) and in models if a model happens to be in the light radius. Blood stains etc work too, and framerate isn't crawling, like it might be in bigger areas with lots of monsters if every light is realtime.

 

Also did a Doom like light diminishing feature with glsl, which makes it kinda dark, and well, uhh, while it's cool, pretty sure someone would just delete the glsl folder and have everything brighter. So no idea if I'll use it or just make some areas dark & need player to turn on the lighter (it's no longer a selectable item/weapon).

 

 

And here's a still from the explosion effects. You may also notice this is the same level and enemy character that was in the first post. Thought I'd use them, so they don't go wasted.

[TwinBeast]

Tested grenade launcher having some incendiary explosion, maybe needs some little tweaks on the fire effects. Now the game has 4 complete levels and 1 nearly complete level and 2 areas that could be merged together to make a level. Thinking that when I've made some 10 levels with themes that fit together (one chapter/episode), then the game could be released as early access in Steam.

 

Suppose the game could have some better story, I have some better story in mind, but don't know how exactly any story would fit into levels that are just about shooting a lot of monsters. Like where would player talk with some another character that isn't meant to be shot at? Or if player had some ghost companion following her around? Though after player has cleared some area, then there might be a "quiet" time and player could have a conversation?

 

Here's some monster gallery. Player can view the monsters here and some information about them. They animate and make noises when player is close enough.

Top left: Nihti, Nihti Kapteeni, Panssarityyppi
Top right: Hiisi, Piikkisuu, Zombi, Raakalais Teurastaja
Bottom left: Demoni Hirviö, Varjo Hirviö, Demoni Ritari
Bottom right: Lentävä Toukka, Ulottuvuus Laahustaja

These are their finnish names, which sound funnier than their english names.

 

Some other screenshots:

 

[TwinBeast]

More videos, testing some alternate firing modes, additive lavafalls and grate textures:

 

Have also added a score counter, was for the Survival mode, but it's also visible in the Story mode, because, why not. There's now shock grenades, guided rockets and smart plasma. Third person mode worked pretty ok here.

[TwinBeast]

Made a circling effect for a flame bomb. May make it use more ammo as it seems rather effective. Already made all the other powerful alternate fire modes use more ammo than earlier. So they're good if suddenly overwhelmed, but not a good idea to use them in every monster encounter.

 

[Daytime Waitress]

That looks fun as all get out. Always appreciate an "oh shit" button.

[TwinBeast]

Made some new monsters and put them into new level. The level is called Pit of Decay.

 

In the code added a feature that allows making a monster entity into a spawner that teleports multiple monsters into the level or makes them crawl up. Also made platforms that first move down, wait 3s, return up, if the player or a monster is still on it, wait 3s before activating again. Movement order can be reversed.

 

Here's Hunters. They can slice player with their upper arms and shoot rockets with their lower arms. They're quick and some of them may have partial invisibility. Was fun to make their sounds. Originally made the Hunter model back in 2013, and finished texturing and animating it now :D

 

These are Dimensional Floaters. They shoot plasma and float around. Firing smart plasma at them is pretty effective.

 

[Skeletonpatch]

Those new enemies look great! I haven't been super active on Doomworld but seeing these little updates has been a nice highlight of my visits.

 

Meow.

[BGreener]

I’m going to echo @Skeletonpatch’s statement, those are absolutely awesome looking enemies. Glad to see great progress is coming through!

[Rudolph]

I like those floating enemies. They look like a cross between the Cacodemon and its current FreeDoom counterpart (Troglodyte?). However, I kept expecting them to explode when killed by the Minigun. I take it they are only gibbable by explosive weapons and the Plasma Rifle?

 

Also, any ETA on a release?

[Wyrmwood]

Wow, checked this thread a while back and thought it looked pretty good but now it looks freaking amazing, the monster designs are awesome, weapons look great as does the main character. Looks way more action packed than vanilla Quake.

 

Is this going to be a free mod or are you planning an eventual Steam release, this actually looks considerably better than some of the "boomer shooters" available on there. Don't know how licensing works but there are other titles for sale using the Quake engine so it must be possible.

[TwinBeast]

@Skeletonpatch and @BGrieber thanks and meow :D

 

@Rudolph All enemies can be gibbed if their health goes negative enough, and some weapons do some random extra damage if a monster gets killed. Then some weapons like shotgun also need player to be close enough for the gib possibility to happen. Might do something more to the Floater enemy death animation, maybe flatten it a bit. Don't know if I'd do stuff like damage types and certain monsters (and maybe player armor) would have some better or worse resistance to some damage types.

 

However there's some simple slime and lava resistances for monsters and a powerup for player. Most monsters get damage if they get pushed into slime/lava, so some monsters should have resistances to these liquids to have some combat in such places. Flamethrower still works against the lava resistant monsters.

 

@Wyrmwood Well, this is a standalone indie game and releasing it in Steam. And for licenses, apparently I can just release it when I want to do that. Though I've made Hell Denizen in a way that any level that would work in vanilla Quake (anything not needing a progs.dat), also works in Hell Denizen. So then there's immediately lots of levels to play. Levels made specifically for Hell Denizen are not going to work right if loaded in Quake.

 

And the when / ETA part: plan is to release it in early access next year. Was thinking that I want at least 10 levels for the story mode and maybe some 4 levels for deathmatch/survival modes.

 

Current progress is some 7ish story mode levels (6 and 7 are nearly complete, like 75%) and sort of 3 for the deathmatch/survival (1 of the 3 only work in deathmatch). Got some level starts too that I should continue (thinking they're less than 50% complete). Should also improve the survival mode a bit.

 

Pricing would something similar to other similar games.

[HorseJockey]

Just wanted to say, reading through this post has been inspiring. Watching the progress and evolution of the enemies and game mechanics as I read through was and is a fantastic example of what can be accomplished if you stick with something and push through. I can't wait to check this out when you release it in early access, do you have plans to post a page for it before hand so people can wishlist it? Keep up the great work!!!

[DuckReconMajor]

not to dig up a year old discussion, but I do like the voice lines, they remind me of the ones in Forsaken

Anyway, always great to see more being done for this, just keeps looking better!

[taufan99]

Those enemy models remind me of Unreal for some reason. Nice job!

[TwinBeast]

Another video. Did new empty bullet case sounds from dropping a ring into a small pile of coins. There's muzzle flashes, 2 new ammo items, foot steps, weapon bobbing and intermission stats. I like how the video got super blurry when there were a lot of explosions :D

 

I'm thinking I want to do new sounds for the fireball throwing Fiends and the leaping Demon Spawn. They both use the same sounds with different pitch, and the pain/death sounds kinda hurt my ears. They should also have more difference than just pitch anyway.

 

This is now the new first level, there are also tutorial messages, that can be disabled and were disabled in the video. There's a secret in the beginning that adds more monsters into the level, which is intended for experienced players. Earlier "attempts" at making a first level will fill other level slots with changes in the monster/item placement.

 

Added more roundness to the shotgun barrels (did the same with the triple barreled machinegun, not calling it minigun, except in the code :D). There's now armor types and the little number in the armor icon tells the protection level. If you pick up armor bonuses only, you get 25% protection. Light armor gives 33%, Combat armor gives 50% and Mega armor gives 66%. Lightning Shield upgrades the armor type and allows having 250 points of armor for the level. Magnum Power does the same with health, can have 250 health for the level.

 

Here's a lava room with grates. You should get the green hazard suit before swimming in the lava. Note that lava consumes the hazard suit faster than slime.

 

The 2 new ammo types: Power Cells and Magnum Bullets. The Power Cells are used by the Lightning Ripper (alt fire) and the Plasmagun. The Magnum Bullets are used by the Pistol (alt fire) and the Sniper Rifle. The Pistol continues to have the unlimited weaker bullets too and the Lightning Ripper melee attack does not need ammo.

 

On 12/22/2022 at 1:55 AM, HorseJockey said:

I can't wait to check this out when you release it in early access, do you have plans to post a page for it before hand so people can wishlist it? Keep up the great work!!!

Thanks, and yea, suppose I should put the Steam page up for wishlisting a bit sooner than the early access release. Maybe I'll try to get the Steam page in February and early access in March, but this may also be too optimistic, depends on how much time goes to doing school stuff.

[Skeletonpatch]

Love it! Watching this game take shape as you've worked on it has been quite an experience.

 

I like the sounds you've used so far, though yeah, it'd be better to have wholly unique sounds for each enemy type to ensure that all audio cues are distinct and readable.

 

Enemy designs are all fantastic and I'm looking forward to getting to fight them. Wasn't expecting to see enemies get thrown around by knockback, looks like a fun mechanic.

 

The weapon designs are great, though the sounds could use a little more "oomph". That or there's a slight delay in the sound of that last video that neuters the impact. The lightning gun with the circular saw on the end is rad as hell.

[TwinBeast]

Was making some trailers for the Hell Denizen Steam profile, only to find out I can't make that profile until I have a US Taxpayer Identification Number, and it might take a month to get that, uaah! Don't know why I thought Finnish tax information would have worked.

 

Haven't had ideas for new sounds for the Fiend and Demon Spawn to make them sound more different from each other, so they still sound the same as before.

 

Well, here's singleplayer trailer with stuff from various levels. Wanted to make it just 90 seconds, but got tired tweaking it shorter, so it's 1m 53s. The Lightning Ripper got a bit more to it, some chain lightning bolts, can be seen in around the middle of the video.

 

And here's a two player splitscreen trailer in Level 08: Blood Processing. Was fun playing it together with my friend. May sound and look a little confusing with the two views and sounds heard from both of them. Splitscreen can be played up to 4 players.

 

Both videos had realtime lighting on, so there's no blood stains from the particles on the floors/walls.

 

Should make some more city textures. This is becoming Level 02, and has no name yet.

 

Colorful sewers in Level 03: Canal Gantlet.

 

Above the sewers. This level used to be in TigerCake (might have mentioned this earlier), now it has evolved to have more details and stuff.

[TwinBeast]

Hell Denizen is now wishlistable on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2347390/Hell_Denizen/

 

Turns out the tax stuff was simpler than what it initially seemed. It took me a longer time to do the store page :D Though still kinda unsure if I'm going to be paying taxes to US, Finland or both...

 

The story line changed a bit too. Now Earth has been invaded by transphobic demons and they found out the player character is transgender. Player has to fight them and start a rebellion against the evil demon rulers. The earlier story line just didn't feel like the enemies had any motivation to try kill player character. Also wondering if some levels would include allies for player.

 

According to my Early Access plan, it's about 60-70% complete. My plan listed 10 story mode levels, and I have 7 that are mostly finished and 2 half complete. The plan had 4 dm/survival levels, and I have 2, plus the earlier Start level, but I'm no longer using a Start level, just need to extend it a bit to be better suited for dm/survival. And the story line changes made think the levels could have some wanted posters that have the player character in them (and maybe some other random posters).

 

Well, here's some more screenshots:

 

 

 

I'll update the first post to have the link, about the story and these 3 screenshots, though I'll keep the old screenshots in it too, so it's possible to see how the game development progressed.

Edited March 24, 2023 by TwinBeast : changed in to on

[Garlichead]

This looks great. I just added it to my steam wishlist. Are you planning to release a demo?

 

 

[TwinBeast]

@Garlichead Thanks :D About a demo, if I make one, it could be similar how Quake has a shareware pak and a registered pak. The demo would probably contain some levels from the middle of the first episode. Suppose I'd need to code something to check which version players are playing.

 

Well, for now I'll concentrate on getting the Early Access ready.

[Daytime Waitress]

A demo would be lovely, but get done what you gotta get done first.

Wonderful to see it at this stage already, sister - keep at it!