Bad Luck Bootsy: Board James Weapons Pack (Available Now)

[Domestic-Weirdo]

                                   

What is Bad Luck Bootsy?

Bad Luck Bootsy is a vanilla Doom II weapons mod based upon the Board James series. For those who are unfamiliar, Board James is a comedy webseries from Cinemassacre, most well known for creating The Angry Video Game Nerd. The show initially focused on casual reviews of board games before gradually adopting a horror tone and, eventually, a serialized storyline. I highly recommend watching it as, naturally, this project makes plenty of references to the show. Plus, it also happens to be pretty entertaining. Players take control of the titular Bootsy as he comes face-to-face with the wicked denizens of Hell. Luckily, for once, he has access to a variety of weapons to thin out the herd of demonic creatures, both conventional and unconventional.

 

Spoilers Note: The aforementioned storyline is going to be referenced heavily here so proceed at your own risk.

Spoiler

After the events of the Nightmare episode, Bad Luck Bootsy and Motherfucker Mike carried on with their new (after)lives and were seemingly relieved of Board James' demented wrath. However, Board James had foreseen that his friends would turn on him before they left the Ouija world, so he secretly used the board to summon demons to carry out his vengeful spite. Not only are the demons successful in killing the hapless duo, but they also drag their souls to the world that James ended up residing in, the DOOM board game.

 

In the darkest and most twisted world yet, Mike is immediately taken away by James to "play" Operation for orchestrating the plot against him while Bootsy is left to rot in a cell. After spending many nights listening to Mike's incomprehensible agony, Bootsy resolves to stop the madness James has plagued them with throughout all of their lives. He manages to escape and find an armory full of military supplies... and board games. He arms himself with anything that can prove useful in his fight against his former friend.

 

Bootsy knows the odds are stacked against him now that James has become the Game Master of Doom while simultaneously being aided by the sinister influence of the Ouija board. However, without any other choices, he makes a bet that his streak of bad luck may finally put an end to James' sadistic games before venturing on to the perilous battlefield ahead.

 

                            

^{Board James: The evil powers of the Ouija and Doom boards has transformed the maniac into a colossal abomination that can spawn demons at will. He patiently awaits Bootsy's final confrontation while imagining new games to play with him for all of eternity.}

 

Spoiler

Mr. Bucket: The perverted, ball obsessed toy takes over the role of the Cyberdemon, blasting colored balls at the player without the explosive properties of a standard missile. His character radius has been slightly increased from 40 to 50.

 

      

Dream Phone: This homicidal "admirer" of Board James replaces the Spider Mastermind, utilizing the gun seen in the Ouija/Domino Rally episode with the kitchen knife serving as his melee attack. His character radius has been greatly reduced from 128 to 35. 

 

Spoiler

Bad Lucky Bootsy's loadout consists of weaponized versions of the board games he has played with in the past. One of the main features of this mod, other than the new weapons, is the option for complete customization of Bootsy's loadout. Players can choose to mix-and-match the old arsenal with the new through the use of various DeHackEd files. The ability to swap out the shotgun for a mechanical shark is something that I bet players will get great pleasure from doing. Most of the new weapons also have alternate modes that change their behavior in several ways. Including both classic and new loadouts along with the variants, there's 31 total weapons to choose from!

 

Splat!

The Splatter Hand functions much like the fist but with twice the strength and increased speed.

 

Splat!+Grape Escape 

     

A pair of garden shears that supplement the Splatter Hand, allowing Bootsy to unleash a barrage of strikes onto opponents.

 

Shark Attack!

   

One of several weapons that comes with extra files to alternate playstyles. The ravenous predator can be used as a rapid-biting melee attack, a deadly projectile, and even as a companion that follows the player around.

 

Wacky Blasters

     

Filling in for the pistol slot is Squeaky, a creature with a twisted proboscis. Its elongated nose shoots out a weak puff of air with the benefit of less recoil.

 

Candy Land 

     

 

These cards harness the magic of Candy Land to produce a burst of energy much like the shotgun blast. Its alt mode lets Bootsy throw them around like a ninja star.

 

Tornado Rex (F0)

     

Drawing a Tornado Rex card from this deck summons a miniature twister that hurls debris towards enemies while covering a wide range. Its alt mode is identical Candy Land's.

 

Tornado Rex (F5)

   

In place of the rocket launcher is a spinner containing the Tasmanian Devil himself. The impact from this top has twice the power of a standard rocket, at the cost of a longer reload time. Tornado Rex's alt mode lets it be used like the SSG with a faster firing rate.

 

Dream Phone

     

Don't let its hot-pink exterior deceive you. It's a potent long-range weapon capable of generating lethal lasers at a continuous pace. The alt mode is a hitscanning attack rather than a projectile.

 

Donut Disaster

The Board James equivalent of the BFG. By pulling the orange lever, the donut machine turns into a time bomb and is thrown several feet away from the player as a result. While its effects aren't instantaneous, the eventual explosion is devastatingly powerful. The blasts are twice as strong as the impact of a BFG ball and its deadliness is complemented by explosive splash damage.

 

Bonus Weapons

There also a few extra weapons included as a tribute to AVGN. One of them is so absurdly overpowered that it even makes Nightmare! difficulty a breeze.

                    

 

Spoiler

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Spoiler

 

Graphics:

Player sprites and additional artwork by MegaSystem88

Artistic basis and assistance for status bar faces provided by great_bowser

 

Resources:

Wind sprites - REKKR

Plasma and flashing sprites - Chex Quest

Plasma sprites - Doom Alpha

 

Source ports:

Tested with Crispy Doom 5.10.1

 

 

Spoiler

I'm currently looking for map makers and MIDI composers to contribute to this mod. It is not my intention to make this into a full-blown community project; it's just that I'm not confident enough to carry out these tasks personally. In addition, I've gotten slightly fatigued from working on this mod, so I would appreciate any help to finish it.

 

There are 3 available entries for map submissions. However, that limit may change depending upon community interest. The only suggestions I would have for them are feature one of the new enemies in some way or design the maps with board game elements. Elements such as using toxic waste to recreate players landing on bad spaces or placing elaborate set-pieces in the center of the map.

 

As for MIDIs, the Board James series was noted for having great original music to go along with the games they played. The board games with dedicated music tracks are Crossfire, Tornado Rex, Donut Disaster, Grape Escape, Splat!, Shark Attack, Dream Phone, Wacky Blasters, and Candy Land. All of these songs are about 1 minute long, aside from Crossfire which was 2 and a half minutes. The main song I would like to have transcribed into MIDI format is Tornado Rex with Dream Phone and Donut Disaster close behind. Anybody that wants to compose music for the mod can sign up here.

 

Map Entries:

• Slot 1: Claimed (Finished)
• Slot 2: Claimed
• Slot 3: Available 

 

MIDI Entries:

• Crossfire: Available
• Tornado Rex: Claimed (Finished)
• Donut Disaster: Claimed (Finished)
• Grape Escape: Claimed (Finished)
• Splat!: Claimed (Finished)
• Shark Attack!: Claimed (Finished)
• Dream Phone: Claimed (Finished)
• Wacky Blasters: Claimed (Finished)
• Candy Land: Claimed (Finished)

 

The deadline for map & MIDI submissions is November 14th at 3 p.m. Eastern Time. Although, there is a chance that it could re-open depending upon how smoothly development goes.

 

My final notes are that I plan on having this mod out sometime within the next month or two and there's most likely going to be a few updates after its release. These updates will range from things such as sprite edits, bug fixes, and possibly some new weapons. I've also gotten several requests to have this mod brought over to more advanced source ports, so I'll probably make some sort of follow-up that does just that. I hope both Cinemassacre and Doom fans can get a kick out of this admittedly bizarre project.

 

EDIT: This project has now been officially released to the public. I have been experiencing issues getting the mod to run in Chocolate Doom and GZDoom at them moment. Until this is fixed, I recommend using Crispy-Doom for Bad Luck Bootsy for the time being.

 

Anyway, here is the download link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1a-_WmqBfCm0Px8ZYuj95cZ46-fz8oI_o/view?usp=sharing

Edited February 17, 2023 by Domestic-Weirdo : Changed deadline date, grammar, added entries list, bonus weapon graphics, gameplay video

[Walter confetti]

Looks pretty fun!

[Domestic-Weirdo]

2 hours ago, Walter confetti said:

Looks pretty fun!

Thanks. I'll have a few other things to share later this week. I'm working on giving polishing it up and there will be a trailer out fairly soon.

[Lippeth]

Looks pretty cool, that Icon of Sin James looks great!

 

5 hours ago, Domestic-Weirdo said:

Anybody that wants to compose music for the mod can sign up here.

 

The deadline for map & MIDI submissions is October 23rd at 3 p.m. Eastern Time.

I remember reading the thread asking for MIDI help, and had I known what it was for I would've offered my time months ago because I think it's a neat concept. It's now unlikely that I would meet your deadline, but MIDIfying one or two of these songs sounds fun so I'll just offer to post them here when I finish, if I finish, and if you're still interested by then. I've also opted to post in this thread rather than the requested one, because this response would seem out of context in the other thread.

[Domestic-Weirdo]

1 hour ago, Lippeth said:

Looks pretty cool, that Icon of Sin James looks great!

 

I remember reading the thread asking for MIDI help, and had I known what it was for I would've offered my time months ago because I think it's a neat concept. It's now unlikely that I would meet your deadline, but MIDIfying one or two of these songs sounds fun so I'll just offer to post them here when I finish, if I finish, and if you're still interested by then. I've also opted to post in this thread rather than the requested one, because this response would seem out of context in the other thread.

That's great! I really appreciate the help. Sorry for being secretive about the project initially. My original idea was to announce the mod after it was finished. If you would like, I can extend the deadline to accommodate for your contributions. To be honest, I just put up a date that I thought sounded like a reasonable timeframe to work under. While I do want this mod to be released as soon as possible, I'm willing to wait if it means the final product will be better for it.

 

Edit: By the way, what songs will you be transcribing?

Edited September 19, 2022 by Domestic-Weirdo : Grammar, additional question

[Lippeth]

I may start with Tornado Rex, and then try out Dream Phone, those seem like they could be finished fairly quickly. Crossfire will take quite a bit of effort with the guitar bends alone so I don't want to start with something that will burn me out so quickly.

 

Thanks for the leniency, and I hope others join in because I don't really want to do every song, but I'll do what I can because I like Board James well enough, though I haven't watched it since before their fallout with Bootsy.

[Domestic-Weirdo]

Alright, sounds good. I just got messaged a few minutes ago from someone who wants to assist with the MIDIs so it appears you won't have to worry about that. 

 

Yeah, I know what you mean. They had great chemistry together and it sucks that they split up on bad terms. This mod is, in a way, partially a tribute to him for what he brought to Board James and Cinemassacre in general.

[MIDIchlorine]

4 hours ago, Domestic-Weirdo said:

Alright, sounds good. I just got messaged a few minutes ago from someone who wants to assist with the MIDIs so it appears you won't have to worry about that. 

Yeah, that was me. Sup, everybody.

[El Jeff]

I love board James, Probably one of my favourite web series in general. I don’t mind making a map for this

[Lippeth]

So I just finished a MIDI version of Tornado Rex, can I post it here for public feedback or should I message it to you, @Domestic-Weirdo? I prefer keeping it open and public but will respect your wishes if you want something different.

 

@MIDIchlorine Hey! We should probably coordinate so we don't end up doing the same songs. The next song I plan to do is Dream Phone and then perhaps Crossfire. If you want either of those then let me know and I'll pick something else!

[DoomedFox]

Have you shown this to James Rolfe yet? This is such a fun mod that's pretty faithful to the show! 

[Domestic-Weirdo]

2 hours ago, DoomedFox said:

Have you shown this to James Rolfe yet? This is such a fun mod that's pretty faithful to the show! 

I haven't shown him this yet. I suppose I'm too bashful to ask but I would love to hear what James, Mike, and Bootsy think of it, especially since they're big fans of Doom. You know, apparently there was a user on the ZDoom forums that was making a AVGN Doom mod with Mike's blessing but I don't know what ever came of it.

@Lippeth It's fine, you can post it here.

[Lippeth]

Tornado Rex_Lippeth_02.zip

 

I think I was crying about the deadline for no reason, because I'm halfway done with Dream Phone as well.

Edited September 19, 2022 by Lippeth

[Domestic-Weirdo]

Amazing work dude. I'm looking forward to listening to Dream Phone next.

[Lippeth]

Dream Phone_Lippeth_01.zip

This was a little less straight forward but still fun.

[Lippeth]

Lippeth_Board James_01.zip

 

I finished Wacky Blasters and revised a few things with Dream Phone and Tornado Rex. I'll likely get started on Candy Land Tomorrow.

[Domestic-Weirdo]

Thanks for including the revisions. Really liked the Dream Phone MIDI and Wacky Blasters also turned out great.

[Domestic-Weirdo]

I redesigned the Status Bar to take after the Board James logo. Are the colors too bold or obnoxious?

 

 

[Domestic-Weirdo]

I've decided to push back the trailer for now. However, I feel like there should be some video showing Bad Lucky Bootsy in action. So here's a clip of Bootsy battling with Mr. Bucket in E2M8.

 

[Lex1nat0r]

On 9/21/2022 at 8:29 AM, Domestic-Weirdo said:

I redesigned the Status Bar to take after the Board James logo. Are the colors too bold or obnoxious?

 

 

The colors look a little garish, but it's tough to say without seeing them in action. Also depends on the colors of the numbers that are going to be on the UI, I'm guessing you're going to change those too?

 

Anyway this is not a mod that I would have expected, but it looks like fun. I'll be keeping my eye on this one.

[Domestic-Weirdo]

MegaSystem88 just drew this new title screen for the mod.

 

[Domestic-Weirdo]

On 9/28/2022 at 12:28 PM, Lex1nat0r said:

The colors look a little garish, but it's tough to say without seeing them in action. Also depends on the colors of the numbers that are going to be on the UI, I'm guessing you're going to change those too?

 

Anyway this is not a mod that I would have expected, but it looks like fun. I'll be keeping my eye on this one.

I remade the HUD graphics to use slightly darker yellows and a pinkish red for the Armor portion. I also removed the black outline surrounding the status bar and filled it in with the logo elements. I haven't decided what color the numbers should be yet but I was thinking about green like the rest of status labels.

 

 

 

This video compares the two HUDs while being used during gameplay.

Edited October 8, 2022 by Domestic-Weirdo

[Domestic-Weirdo]

As a follow-up to the Mr. Bucket demonstration, here's another video showcasing Dream Phone and the new Tornado Rex weapon.

 

 

[Domestic-Weirdo]

On 9/21/2022 at 2:57 AM, Lippeth said:

Lippeth_Board James_01.zip

 

I finished Wacky Blasters and revised a few things with Dream Phone and Tornado Rex. I'll likely get started on Candy Land Tomorrow.

Sorry to bother you but I have been wondering about the status of the Candy Land MIDI. I'm thankful for all the help you and MIDIchlorine have contributed, especially since the main 3 songs I wanted were transcribed. So if you were to decide to not cover the song, it's nothing to worry about.

 

On 9/19/2022 at 3:11 AM, Thatonespymain said:

I love board James, Probably one of my favourite web series in general. I don’t mind making a map for this

Hey, I realized that I didn't formally ask you about creating a map for this project. I would be glad to collaborate. If you were simply just expressing some passing interest, then my apologies for bringing this up.

[Lippeth]

On 10/21/2022 at 11:06 AM, Domestic-Weirdo said:

Sorry to bother you but I have been wondering about the status of the Candy Land MIDI. I'm thankful for all the help you and MIDIchlorine have contributed, especially since the main 3 songs I wanted were transcribed. So if you were to decide to not cover the song, it's nothing to worry about.

Ah my apologies! I sort of took a break to avoid burnout and then life just kept going. I can get started on it tonight and hopefully complete in a day week or so.

Edited October 24, 2022 by Lippeth

[Domestic-Weirdo]

I have taken a "few" screenshots of the new weapons. Feel free to tell me what you guys think.

 

 

 

 

Edited November 27, 2022 by Domestic-Weirdo

[Domestic-Weirdo]

I put together this set of pick-up sprites. The first 7 entries show all of the new weapons with the last 2 consisting of item replacements.

 

Splat!+Grape Escape

 

 

Shark Attack!

          

 

Candy Land

  

 

Tornado Rex

  

 

Rex Top projectile

    

 

Dream Phone

  

 

Donut Disaster

  

 

Donuts (Health Potion replacement)

      

 

Urkel Glasses (Invisibility Visor replacement)

[Domestic-Weirdo]

With the deadline for submissions being slightly over 2 weeks from now, it starting to seem unlikely that anyone will claim any of the available map slots at this point. That's why I'm going to be attempting to create a map of my own. For the record, I'm honestly not too experienced of a map maker and I have pretty bad tendency to hit figurative brick walls during the process of designing them.

 

Regardless, I will share my progress every other day for feedback. Have a good Halloween.

[LazyMouse]

I got a fun map idea, I was thinking of making a map where you "build the exit by completing challenges within a tower like structure" I can possibly roll something out in a week or two. Since I am relatively inexperienced to mapping, I can dish out the basic map by Wednesday.

[Domestic-Weirdo]

Oh, thanks. I accept your offer. As for recommendations or tips, I would advise for the map to be designed somewhat labyrinth-like with either a medium or large scale. If it's okay with you, would you mind if I were to personally make edits to your prototype maps? I think a iterative process where we build upon our ideas might help its development.