Hocusdoom RELEASED (in /idgames)

[Fletcher`]

2 hours ago, Lingyan203 said:

I noticed that in the original Hocus Pocus that Episode 4, Levels 5 and 6's music is different than the one used here.

 

I downloaded this wad and I must say it's really amazing! I would suspect that based on Episode 4's secret level name has something to do with Diamondus, which I firmly believe is going to be Jazz Jackrabbit Themed.

Oh, hey. you're right. Fixed the music for those two levels. Also you're absolutely correct about the last secret level.

[CDexWard]

On 5/3/2018 at 2:11 AM, rf` said:

I haven't put much thought into making it fully standalone, though it shouldn't take an inordinate amount of work to do? Right now I'm just focusing on finishing the damned thing. Its been nearly 10 years now.

 

10 years, that's pretty crazy. How far along are you with this? Maybe you can exceed Duke Nukem Forever's development time.

[Fletcher`]

Out of 40 levels, I have 4 left to start.

[Fletcher`]

Getting close to being done. Still have one level to do, and other stuff to tidy up.

 

Current playable version for 07-28-18
https://www.dropbox.com/s/yqn8rwghreuechj/hocusdoom-07-28-18.pk3?dl=1
Ogg versions of music (updated)
https://www.dropbox.com/s/h4wlfocvkewtmrj/hocusogg.pk3?dl=1

 

changelog for - 07-28-18

• fixed conflicting sprite names for bombs and smartbombs
• remade mushroom minibosses.
• lowered base damage for bombs from 10 to 5
• increased resistance to bombs for minibosses
• added +DONTSPLASH to various traps that explode like the volcanic vents
• added terrain effects for sand
• added healing oases in egyptian levels
• switched names for 'Shifting Sands' and 'Mirage'
• fixed more portals and hopefully fixed a lot of framerate issues around them
• on a side note, a LOT of fiddling with map16 to ease up on the framerate. Tried to cut a
  bunch of extraneous stuff out, especially sand dunes you can never actually see anyway.
• added a 'particle limit' for heavy effects like rain and snow to try and speed things up a
  bit
• added a particle limit for basic particle effects too--mostly particles that get used the
  most like the basic square particles. the limit scales with particle gen scaling
• added larger, more detailed snowflakes that occasionally spawn on map05. All this work for a
  weather effect that's only used on one map.
• does anyone read these?
• changed music for map35 and map36 to m_meso instead of m_gloom2. Whoops?
• more brightmaps!
• bug that caused thrown bombs to inheret a player's color flashes no longer happens. somehow
  fixed itself?
• more changes to bomb damage
• revamped power wand, hopefully for the last time
• ammo icons for alt hud
• changed projectiles for flamethrower powerup
• added vertical lightning traps for later maps
• reworked some of the skyboxes to make easier to change later on
• updated graphics for powered up ammo bars
• added +NOBLOODDECALS to all enemies and shots, as even though everything has +NOBLOOD,
  sometimes they'd still splatter on walls
• renamed particle options to be less confusing
• bug where ricochet projectiles will get stuck in corners. No idea how to fix this yet.
• finished map36
• finished map37
• finished map38
• finished map39
• gave power wand its own damage type to tweak it for boss use.
  

[elend]

Yes, I actually read the changelog. On that note, kudos to working so hard on this incredible mod. I already played the previous release and it was just one of the most fun moments I had with a Doom TC. Very, very well done.

[Manuel-K]

2 hours ago, rf` said:

does anyone read these?

Yes!

[Grain of Salt]

Your days are numbered Trolodon

[Fletcher`]

Just to let you guys know, I probably won't be working on this a whole lot within the next couple months. My dad had a heart attack last week (he's recovering fine), but we're going to be moving several states away soon. I'm not exactly going on hiatus, but I don't know what's going to happen in the next month or two.

[Lingyan203]

11 hours ago, rf` said:

Just to let you guys know, I probably won't be working on this a whole lot within the next couple months. My dad had a heart attack last week (he's recovering fine), but we're going to be moving several states away soon. I'm not exactly going on hiatus, but I don't know what's going to happen in the next month or two.

Oh no! I'm so sorry to hear that. My condolences to your family. I hope you keep us posted when things get back to normal soon.

 

I'm really looking forward to playing this when it's completely finished! :)

[elend]

My condolences! Take all the time you need.

[Fletcher`]

Current playable version for 9-23-18
https://www.dropbox.com/s/eot6fpp1bffp6yj/hocusdoom-09-23-18.pk3?dl=1
Ogg versions of music (updated)
https://www.dropbox.com/s/h4wlfocvkewtmrj/hocusogg.pk3?dl=1

 

So, after a very very long time, I've finally got 40 maps that are more or less set. Now, before I can release this I need help thoroughly testing everything. I want to make sure that everything runs on the latest stable version of GZdoom without breaking, and that I didn't miss anything.

 

Things to take note while testing:

Texture alignment - Rocks I'm less worried about, but bricks and decorations are important to catch.

Skippable areas and shortcuts - Many of these I've discovered in testing myself that I decided to keep in. If its difficult to do, is not glaringly obvious, doesn't let the player out of the game space (like skybox), and doesn't land the player in an unwinnable state I'd like to leave it in as a bonus for speedrunners. (A notable one is E1M2 where you can skip getting the keys and jump onto a window and SR50 jump onto the crystal platform.)

 

Things that still need done before release:

* menudef highscores table from menu (anyone good with Zscript, is it possible?)
* testing testing testing
* decide how to do difficulty levels
* brightmaps for models? (I heard it was possible but I never got it to work)
* find a better way to pause the game when talking to terrexin (something that doesn't pause music)
* tweak par times (are they too easy? too hard?)
* tweak treasure locations in earlier maps (probably fewer groups with more in them so they're not as difficult to find)
* do sprites for projectile enemy in the secret map (damn turtles)
* still noticing blood decals on occasion even though everything has +NOBLOOD and +NOBLOODDECALS. I may just blank out the decals themselves to get around this
* need to raise the volume on map40's music (I just put in the direct .S3M file rather than a rip so I don't know if I can alter that) (fixed)
* implement default automap settings

 

I'd like to release this sometime before December if possible. If not, there is next year. :P

Edited October 27, 2018 by rf`

[Fletcher`]

Just poking in to see if anyone's got any feedback for me lately. I haven't heard much from anyone in the last month so I figured I'd check.

[SP_FACE1]

Haven't noticed this mod before. Glad to encounter it!

 

Is the menu background supposed to be yellow?

Spoiler

 

Weird texture aligment on map02:

Spoiler

 

I played the first six maps so far with GZDooM 3.6.0. Gotta admire the effort you put into this. I first encountered Hocus Pocus in a disk that came with a PC magazine and I might have even bought the full version after finishing the shareware version. I can't remember now. In any case, this is a truly magnificent mod. 

Is this coop compatible?

[Fletcher`]

I have no idea what's going on with the first screenshot. the background is completely translucent. I fixed the alignment in the second one, thank you for that. And no, its not coop compatible. Singleplayer only.

 

Edit: Fixed. That color was defined for some dumb reason I forget, but translucency had an incorrect value.

Edited November 16, 2018 by rf`

[SP_FACE1]

Played the first three episodes.

 

Few alignment issues:

Spoiler

 

There were a couple of cases where you needed to jump but you could easily hit your head on the ceiling and fail the jump which lead to unnecessary frustration:

Spoiler

 

A corner that you could walk through:

Spoiler

 

Other things:

- It's not easy to see which health potion is the small one and which is the big one

- Hard to see what lightning powerup you're equipped with in the full screen HUD (or was I running the alternative HUD?). I mean more than once I blasted many shots of a valuable powerups because I forgot I still had it. Perhaps you could make the hands a little bit different when you're wearing a powerup?

- I think I missed 80% of the smart bombs because they either got stuck somewhere or I couldn't see them

 

This is such an enjoyable TC/MOD. It keeps getting better the further you play. The style and detailing is really admirable. Every now and then I just had to stop playing and watch the scenery, how the surroundings fit with the skybox, all the fauna, little rocks, sparks etc. I like the thematic variance between the levels. The weird maps are funny, I don't know if they were secret maps cause I don't think I found any secrets but they were a nice refreshment. This is clearly so much more fun than the original. The original feels like a small weekend fan project that was inspired by HocusDooM.

[SP_FACE1]

Finished.

 

More feedback:

 

In MAP38 you could get trapped at the outer ledges. I guess you could say don't go there because you'll die anyway if you fall off the cliff but sometimes there are secrets at the ledges. In other words, it's confusing when exploration is sometimes encouraged in the form of treasure and bonus items and sometimes punished if you get stuck.

Spoiler

You can't get back up from here: Edit: well, just noticed that you actually can get back up from here by either jumping on the waterfall or going to the other end and jumping across the secret ledge.

 

This sector is a dead end pit and in general the cliff side at the beginning is an area where you can't get back up:

 

It took me ages to figure out that the golden key opens a cave nearby in MAP38. That was the biggest moment of being totally lost in the whole WAD for me. Maybe it could help by making the opening more pronounced:

Spoiler

 

The final boss battle was really tough. It didn't help that I used almost all the powerups at once in the potion room. Maybe it could help if they were not offered all at once but after each round.

 

Also I managed to find a blind spot where I could shoot Trolodon at will without him reacting:

Spoiler

 

 

As I praised before, this is a magnificent piece of a WAD! I couldn't find the secrets to map10 and map40 so I played them separately afterwards. However, I did end up in map20 and map30 somehow. I have no idea what games map10 and map30 were about but I did recognize Electro Man and Jazz Jackrabbit!

Edited November 7, 2018 by SP_FACE1 : wrong feedback

[SP_FACE1]

I watched a friend play the first level. He has never played the original Hocus Pocus and he didn't know about the destructible walls and consequently didn't figure out how to finish the first level until I told about the walls. I think a wizard could tip about those bricks or you could make a "tutorial" wall, e.g. a destructible wall that has half the bricks already missing and then you see enemies behind and when you try to shoot the enemies you'll realize the walls can be shot.

 

I actually got into a similar situation in map40 with the laser walls. It took a while until a accidentally realized I can shoot the lasers.

If the "Rabbits stink" signs in the very beginning of the level were replaced with those lasers, I think it would help the player to learn they can be destroyed.

 

Speaking of map40...

Spoiler

...you can jump on this trunk and fall out of the map.

 

Edited November 15, 2018 by SP_FACE1 : add images

[Lingyan203]

On 11/7/2018 at 10:19 AM, SP_FACE1 said:

Finished.

 

More feedback:

 

In MAP38 you could get trapped at the outer ledges. I guess you could say don't go there because you'll die anyway if you fall off the cliff but sometimes there are secrets at the ledges. In other words, it's confusing when exploration is sometimes encouraged in the form of treasure and bonus items and sometimes punished if you get stuck.

  Reveal hidden contents

You can't get back up from here: Edit: well, just noticed that you actually can get back up from here by either jumping on the waterfall or going to the other end and jumping across the secret ledge.

 

This sector is a dead end pit and in general the cliff side at the beginning is an area where you can't get back up:

 

It took me ages to figure out that the golden key opens a cave nearby in MAP38. That was the biggest moment of being totally lost in the whole WAD for me. Maybe it could help by making the opening more pronounced:

  Reveal hidden contents

 

The final boss battle was really tough. It didn't help that I used almost all the powerups at once in the potion room. Maybe it could help if they were not offered all at once but after each round.

 

Also I managed to find a blind spot where I could shoot Trolodon at will without him reacting:

  Hide contents

 

 

As I praised before, this is a magnificent piece of a WAD! I couldn't find the secrets to map10 and map40 so I played them separately afterwards. However, I did end up in map20 and map30 somehow. I have no idea what games map10 and map30 were about but I did recognize Electro Man and Jazz Jackrabbit!

Map10 is Darkwolf and Map30 is Jill of the Jungle.

[Fletcher`]

On 11/4/2018 at 3:21 PM, SP_FACE1 said:

Few alignment issues:

Fixed

 

On 11/4/2018 at 3:21 PM, SP_FACE1 said:

There were a couple of cases where you needed to jump but you could easily hit your head on the ceiling and fail the jump which lead to unnecessary frustration:

Fixed. You can actually just run out into it without needing to jump, but I raised the orb a little higher to make it less ambiguous.

 

On 11/4/2018 at 3:21 PM, SP_FACE1 said:

A corner that you could walk through:

This is a weird GZDoom rendering issue that's only recently started cropping up. This happened in map04 as well, but I finangled that one away. Not sure how to fix this one.

 

On 11/4/2018 at 3:21 PM, SP_FACE1 said:

- It's not easy to see which health potion is the small one and which is the big one

I might make a new sprite for larger health potions? (incidentally also for super healths)

 

On 11/4/2018 at 3:21 PM, SP_FACE1 said:

- Hard to see what lightning powerup you're equipped with in the full screen HUD (or was I running the alternative HUD?). I mean more than once I blasted many shots of a valuable powerups because I forgot I still had it. Perhaps you could make the hands a little bit different when you're wearing a powerup?

The alt hud is only barely supported (as in nothing is really broken with it), as such I haven't done a whole lot with it. Many things are scripted in sbarinfo/acs so don't work well with that hud. If anyone has suggestions maybe we can try something, but for now you might want to use the regular fullscreen hud. As far as hand sprites showing the active powerup, if you have any suggestions for that I'll think about that too.

 

On 11/4/2018 at 3:21 PM, SP_FACE1 said:

- I think I missed 80% of the smart bombs because they either got stuck somewhere or I couldn't see them

Well, they are meant to be semi-secret and quite powerful. Every level is beatable without them. I'm not sure what you mean by them getting stuck. They also flash brightly to stand out a bit too.

 

On 11/7/2018 at 9:19 AM, SP_FACE1 said:

In MAP38 you could get trapped at the outer ledges. I guess you could say don't go there because you'll die anyway if you fall off the cliff but sometimes there are secrets at the ledges. In other words, it's confusing when exploration is sometimes encouraged in the form of treasure and bonus items and sometimes punished if you get stuck.

Maybe an occasional warning sign of some sort, and make the one secret you can jump to more obvious?

 

6 hours ago, Lingyan203 said:

This sector is a dead end pit and in general the cliff side at the beginning is an area where you can't get back up:

Fixed.

 

On 11/7/2018 at 9:19 AM, SP_FACE1 said:

It took me ages to figure out that the golden key opens a cave nearby in MAP38. That was the biggest moment of being totally lost in the whole WAD for me. Maybe it could help by making the opening more pronounced:

Hopefully fixed. Now spawns a text message, and there's a light higher up once its lowered to show that there's a place to go.

 

On 11/7/2018 at 9:19 AM, SP_FACE1 said:

Also I managed to find a blind spot where I could shoot Trolodon at will without him reacting:

That's an issue with how monsters track through portals--aka they don't. He's technically still aiming right at you, but you're in a different location that's shown. Outside of moving the entire arena so that he still shoots in that general direction, not sure what else to do.

 

7 hours ago, SP_FACE1 said:

I watched a friend play the first level. He has never played the original Hocus Pocus and he didn't know about the destructible walls and consequently didn't figure out how to finish the first level until I told about the walls. I think a wizard could tip about those bricks or you could make a "tutorial" wall, e.g. a destructible wall that has half the bricks already missing and then you see enemies behind and when you try to shoot the enemies you'll realize the walls can be shot.

While that is a viable option, I don't want to use too many wizards to hold the player's hands, but I understand how that can be a problem. If it helps, when you first start the game the opening window should point to looking at the help file, as that info is there, just like the original game. Granted, most people don't look at those screens. :P

 

7 hours ago, SP_FACE1 said:

I actually got into a similar situation in map40 with the laser walls. It took a while until a accidentally realized I can shoot the lasers.

If the "Rabbits stink" signs in the very beginning of the level were replaced with those lasers, I think it would help the player to learn they can be destroyed.

Ok, maybe this would warrant a wizard, as the electric barriers wouldn't thematically fit at the beginning of the level.

 

7 hours ago, SP_FACE1 said:

...you can jump on this trunk and fall out of the map.

Fixed.

 

Thank you for the feedback and I'm glad you're enjoying it!

[SP_FACE1]

13 hours ago, rf` said:

I might make a new sprite for larger health potions? (incidentally also for super healths)

 

Yeah, I think that would help.

 

Quote

The alt hud is only barely supported ... As far as hand sprites showing the active powerup, if you have any suggestions for that I'll think about that too.

 

I switched the alternative HUD off when I noticed it's causing issues, so it didn't bother me that much afterwards. But if you want to make it even more explicit I guess a constant glow (same as in the firing animation) could help the player remember the powerup?

 

Quote

Well, they are meant to be semi-secret and quite powerful. Every level is beatable without them. I'm not sure what you mean by them getting stuck. They also flash brightly to stand out a bit too.

 

By getting stuck I meant that in some level I didn't notice the bombs until I had killed the big fight without them and then I saw the bombs following me. I tried to take them with me (read: make them follow me) to another area but they got stuck in a wall somewhere.

 

Quote

Hopefully fixed. Now spawns a text message, and there's a light higher up once its lowered to show that there's a place to go.

 

Those changes sound good. Forgot to suggest that some treasures would also lure the player in for sure :) Is the new version available somewhere?

 

Quote

That's an issue with how monsters track through portals--aka they don't. He's technically still aiming right at you, but you're in a different location that's shown. Outside of moving the entire arena so that he still shoots in that general direction, not sure what else to do.

 

Oh, didn't realize there's a teleporter/portal. I don't know how portals work so my suggestion might suck but is it possible to move it further back the stairs to a point where you can't shoot Trolodon from the other side of the portal?

 

Quote

While that is a viable option, I don't want to use too many wizards to hold the player's hands, but I understand how that can be a problem. If it helps, when you first start the game the opening window should point to looking at the help file, as that info is there, just like the original game. Granted, most people don't look at those screens. :P

 

How about making the brick wall that leads to the golden key floor button a single brick thick wall like this:

Spoiler

 

 

 

Edited November 16, 2018 by SP_FACE1 : better example image

[Fletcher`]

7 hours ago, SP_FACE1 said:

By getting stuck I meant that in some level I didn't notice the bombs until I had killed the big fight without them and then I saw the bombs following me. I tried to take them with me (read: make them follow me) to another area but they got stuck in a wall somewhere.

OH, the smartbombs. Yeah they don't seem very smart.

 

7 hours ago, SP_FACE1 said:

Oh, didn't realize there's a teleporter/portal. I don't know how portals work so my suggestion might suck but is it possible to move it further back the stairs to a point where you can't shoot Trolodon from the other side of the portal?

As there's four arenas, this would make the level very long vertically, which I suppose doesn't really matter. I can try that later.

 

7 hours ago, SP_FACE1 said:

How about making the brick wall that leads to the golden key floor button a single brick thick wall like this:

That could work.

[Fletcher`]

Sorry for the delay. Moved to Arkansas a few months ago. Things are still a little crazy.

 

I still need someone good with zscript that would like to take a shot at the highscores table sometime. That's the last major hurdle before a release (other than further bugtesting!)

 

Current playable version for 01-13-19
https://www.dropbox.com/s/l7gw4xznbok0um5/hocusdoom-01-13-19.pk3?dl=1
Ogg versions of music (updated)
https://www.dropbox.com/s/h4wlfocvkewtmrj/hocusogg.pk3?dl=1

changelog for - 01-13-19

• fixed volume for music in map40
• added a Death.Massacre state for base enemies. No more deafening explosions or slowdowns when using Massacre cheat
• fixed an error with map40 pointing to map30. now points to the correct next map.
• fixed some texture alignments on map02
• fixed a softlock issue on map19
• forced the outer door in map39 requiring the power wand, mostly so you can't miss it. The fight practically requires it anyway.
• lightning upgrades now let you shoot extra shots occasionally, not randomly. more upgrades shoots them more often. ring on the finger will glow when next shot will double. needs testing as it may throw all balancing off?
• fixed background transparency for menu.
• added brightmaps for models, sprites, and textures
• cheaty method of getting read of bloodsplatters permanently. replaced the graphics themselves.
• added AUTOMAP.TXT
• fixed trigger for a lowering floor in map07. Now only triggers once.
• fixed a graphical glitch in map04 with some weird passable walls showing up on a sloped floor.
• fixed several texture alignments
• raised one of the crystals higher in map27 so you can just run into it. was confusing when it was lower?
• fixed several sections of ledges in map38 to be either obvious you can't progress on them, or you can get back in-bounds
• made progression behind the gold door in map38 more obvious
• added message on death to hit the use key to continue.
• Damagefactors for Electro robots changed to 1.0. No more issues with certain shots not doing damage. Not sure why I did that in the first place.
• new sprites for greater health potions and super health potions to differentiate them from small potions
• wizard chat no longer pauses music. Thank you Kinsie!
• wizard chat also no longer has a delay before stopping time.
• made pharoah shots less aggressive
  

[Empyre]

16 hours ago, rf` said:

added a Death.Massacre state for base enemies. No more deafening explosions or slowdowns when using Massacre cheat

Ooh! Thanks for that idea!

[Fletcher`]

Quick bump, just found out that my mod was featured on RPS today! https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2019/01/14/hocus-pocus-doom-turns-apogees-90s-platformer-into-a-fps/

[Manuel-K]

Congratulations.

[Lingyan203]

Congratulations! I hope this is the final version ready! :)

[Fletcher`]

55 minutes ago, Lingyan203 said:

Congratulations! I hope this is the final version ready! :)

Soon! I just need some help with a few things.

[SP_FACE1]

For some reason the destructible bricks don't get destroyed in the new version. Tried several maps.

 

Edit: Nevermind. It seems to have been a bug in GZDooM 3.7, everything works in 3.7.1.

Edited January 16, 2019 by SP_FACE1

[Shadow Hog]

On 1/14/2019 at 6:01 PM, rf` said:

Soon! I just need some help with a few things.

It's so surreal to consider this mod, which feels like it's been ever-present in varying states of completion, is almost at the finish line. Here's to you crossing it soon, and with aplomb!

[pagb]

Does it have autofire yet? Last time I tried this, my finger ached a lot after 10 mins.