[v0.5] A Boy And His Barrel - It's slime time

[CaptainManiac]

Your map cannot even load,LOL.Chesk your scripts,man

[Jimmy]

'Scuse the hell outta me?

Maybe try loading it with a more up-to-date version of ZDoom. It certainly works on my end.

(Also don't say "check your scripts". Actually giving the error you're getting would be just swell.)

[CaptainManiac]

I tried to load it on Zandronum and on GZDoom,i think the decorate class that is inherited does problems.I will update my gzdoom and if the error appears again you really need to test it and make hotfix in the next version

[an_mutt]

CaptainManiac said:

I will update my gzdoom and if the error appears again you really need to test it and make hotfix in the next version

You really need to respect the fact that if there's a problem then Jimmy will get around to fixing it, without need of your shitty attitude and unhelpful posting.

You also really need to actually try out the fix suggested to you, instead of replying with a vague suggestion of what your problem might be, and a snotty instruction to Jimmy of what he should do - as if he wouldn't do everything he could do to improve the quality of this mod in the first place.

[Gutawer]

Had a quick go at creating a springboard flat to accompany my code, I'm not a texture-maker by any means but this is what I ended up making:

Obviously based off the Aerial Faith Plates from Portal 2, which look like this:

There's multiple improvements that could be made, I imagine (art style isn't very Doom-y, mostly), but it's in the modified ABAHB palette, and doesn't look half bad in action, I've updated my demo map to reflect this:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/lxu4bsccdpd24e7/ABAHB%20GutaStuff%20Demo%20Map.wad?dl=0

[Fonze]

Jimmy, I just want to say you've done a great job making this so far; between the concept, the demo map, and the possibilities, I'm stoked about this project. Big kudos to all who have contributed resources to this so far; all the customs are well-done and look great. Major props on using the Major versions of the Doom songs, heh; Violet and I felt like everything was right with the world.

Speaking of which, while I might destroy it at any point during its creation, pencil me in for a map here :) I'll see if I can't make some interesting puzzles.

I also gave this the front page section of this past week's article, once it's posted.



There were two small things that, if you could oblige, would really float my boat:
1) note somewhere in text, such as in this thread or the eventual text file that comes out, that jumping is definitely needed. Granted, I was inebriated last night, but it took me a bit to figure out I was supposed to be jumping. Perhaps just because it's so engrained in my head not to jump in Doom, but just the sign from Cage apparently wasn't enough for me to put 2 and 2 together. Though of course jumping is the first thing you think of when you see the sign, the sign is clear as day, Doom's "jumping" is so typically "run really fast over this hole." Granted also you might have mentioned it in the "Read This!" menu option... Idr; I didn't realize you made something for that until I was done with the map anyway, and by that point I had drank more. Note also that jumping negates the purpose of the jump pad for Violet at the RK, as the player can easily jump that gap. Now, some of that might have just been my problem, but I do think as a general rule of thumb zDoom map sets should note jumping and crouching somewhere in text; either yes or no.
2) Put in something to "pull" Violet. I messed up fairly bad after the YK grab (also didn't grab the armor because yes) and once more at the RK grab. The RK I jumped and grabbed it, at which point I went down and Violet stayed up. Needless to say the enemies didn't understand our love and we both nearly died. Upon pushing Violet into the drink to grab the health, I quickly had the problem of not teleporting while also not knocking her into the actual drink.
I will say, I didn't have any problems with her getting stuck in a corner, which was nice, but I also still fear that possibility, or that of a corner right next to a drop-off as you squeeze her between the wall and yourself to move her. Even if just as a convenience thing, a "puller" for Violet would be really nice. Especially given that puzzle games/wads can typically involve a lot of repetitive, tedious motions.
Might I recommend wildweasel's "Barrel Sucker" out of his newest Mix Tape Vol 3? Assuming he gave permission for it, that would be a fairly comedic thing to switch to in order to pull her along.

There was one other thing, actually, now that I'm thinking more about it: Violet's height. I understand the rationale for having her 32 pixels tall, but it makes a lot of frantic problems when she just barely went over the edge into the drink, and other tedious problems when you are pushing her and suddenly run over her.

If those (three, apparently) things were changed, my boat would float so well even an iceberg would be worried, but either way, I'll take a look at what I can make for this project; no guarantees that it'll ever be shown to the public though, heh.

Great job to all involved, once again!

[Jimmy]

Gutawer: These have been added as I believe you know. :)

Hey, thanks Fonze! :) Please feel free to make a map. A proper list of slots will be going up onto the OP soonishly.

Re: jumping - yes it is very much required since there'll be lots of focus on verticality and platforming elements in a gameplay setup like this. I'm not sure what else I can do to suggest such without adding random gameplay hints into the new map which nobody really likes or wants to pay attention to. I think the signs and the help screen are so far enough of a hint.

Re: pulling - yeah I need to work out something. I'll check out that WW wad and maybe add something into the next version. I just wish that carrying mechanic that worked first frickin' time I implemented it hadn't just up and broke on me. :( So bloody frustrating.

Re: Violet's height - yeah, this is still a problem for me too, apparently. I'm not entirely sure how to fix it because the problem comes from when she goes down steps or in nukage pools which are 16 units below the player's position - she then becomes liable to be stepped upon by the player due to the lowered height difference. I guess I could bump her height up, but this might make her unrealistically "tall", and make designing levels that can't be broken just but hopping onto her a bit more cumbersome, because something like 36 or 40 is just a harder number to work with than 32. I'll see what can be done, though.

[Jimmy]

It's finally here! Good Lord, sorry about the wait. I just hope folks are still kind of interested in this? There's a maplist over on the OP now, as I've decided on how this mod should work in terms of levels.

Please claim your maps now! Especially if you have something in the works already. I know a few folks do (Gutawer definitely - TMD? Pinchy?) and wouldn't want their stuff to go to waste.

Here's the next big update - v0.2.0!

Changes:
- Project moved to PK3 format.
- Now calling the PK3 the "resource wad", and specifying the version number in the filename, which I really should've been doing from the start, HEH.
- Added a build version warning to the main menu. A change was made in ZDoom very recently that means this project now requires at least ZDoom devbuild '2.9pre-1265' or GZDoom 2.2.0 to run.
- Rearranged MAPINFO a bit. Cluster 1 is "The Testing Grounds" (working title) which will be a set of Portal-esque test chambers to slowly introduce the player to the concepts at play in this mod. Cluster 2 is "A Barrellel Universe" (not a title that's going to change) and will feature full-length maps in the style of the MAP01 included.
- Redefined the skills to use (obnoxiously punny) text strings.
- Level name now gets printed to the screen on map start. This is accompanied by a custom string that the mapper can specify, or leave blank. The default is blank, except for the first level in a cluster, in which it will remind the
player to hit F1 for help.
- More changes to MAP01. Should be more dynamic and mostly cheese-free now.
- Added a bunch of "new" textures based on all the ones from the four main Doom IWADs. (doom, doom2, plutonia, tnt) Thanks to JPL for his WADSmoosh utility, the new texture definitions from which I used here.
- Added some new springboard textures courtesy of Gutawer.
- Added a few updates to Gutawer's springboard and air control scripts.
- Added yqco's very elegant all-DECORATE scripts for the rescue spheres. These use anonymous functions! Make sure you have a dev build of ZDoom to run this now.
- Rescue spheres now make the *grunt sound if they fail to teleport Violet.
- Simplified the clunky floor-damage script. It's a little more forgiving now as well. Warning system slightly simplified too.
- CHANGED VIOLET'S HEIGHT TO 40. HOPE THIS DOESN'T BREAK ANYTHING LOL.
- Violet now has +FULLVOLDEATH.
- Changed the sprites for the player-only health packs.
- Violet's medikits now make a little visual healing effect when she picks them up.
- Replaced the armor vest sprites with armor orbs (sprites by Blue Shadow and Captain Toenail), the radsuit with the bio sphere from R667 (sprites by Captain Toenail), and the berserk with the brutality sphere (sprites by Eriance).
- Picking up a bio sphere will now protect both you AND Violet from all harmful floors except shock floors. A bio-hazard symbol will flash onscreen while the protection is active. Violet is still healed by blueberry slime under this protection.
- Changed the player's fists' damage to a fixed 10 for non-berserk and 100 for berserk. Violet will only take 40 damage from a berserk fist, though. A fist symbol will flash onscreen while the powerup is active (it is now timed!).
- The new powerups now have new sounds.
- Violet now has a pain sound.
- There is now a 5 second delay between Violet's nag messages when you harm her.
- Added colors for GZDB to the newly defined placeable actors.
- Added a new bigfont (a version of the standard bigfont with more characters and lowercase glyphs).
- New M_SKULL graphics. Sprited by me, and a bit horribly. :P
- Rearranged the main menu a bit.
- Credit pic now features just the names of the people who made stuff FOR this project. The rest of the credits are in FULLCREDITS.txt in the pk3. Thanks to all of you!
- Probably some other stuff I forgot good God my memory.
- Added changelog to PK3.

[Gutawer]

Ah, come on Jimmy - your forgot the most important change to the mod -

The Plasma Rifle now runs on the Power Source of Blueberry Sauce.

[Jimmy]

[Suitepee]

This project is getting crude....

[Kurashiki]

Costume play Violet <3 <3

[Jimmy]

Kurashiki said:

Costume play Violet <3 <3

This was all your idea! :3c

[Jimmy]

Upgrade complete. Have 0.2.1 - it runs on ZScript now!

It will need either QZDoom 1.2.1+ (or GZDoom 2.3.0+), which include ZScript.

Changes:
- All DECORATE converted to ZScript. Thanks, Gutawer!
- Added Gutawer's pulling scripts! These allow you to carry Violet anywhere by holding down the altfire button when you're next to her. The maps can hence be played much quicker and nothing, from what I can tell, is fundamentally changed about how the game is played. Violet still takes damage if you carry her over damaging floors.
- Added costumes! Customize Violet's look in the Options menu (F4). Current options are bow (default), bikini, skirt, tutu, swimsuit, corset, tiara, neko, bunny, armored, winter, Christmas and dakimakura (body pillow). Plus NUDE! option (no costume) and HARD MODE option (Violet appears as a standard barrel).
- Added five guest costumes submitted through the ZDoom forums. These are Captain J's Apron and Maid, HorrorMovieGuy's Devil and Anime, and Skelegant's Shirt.
- Detonating Violet now doesn't kill you, and instead actually restarts the current map via script.
- Added extra frame of animation for Violet's Spawn state and gave her a visible Pain state. As far as I know this hasn't screwed anything up (yet).
- Improved Violet's sprites. More of the new purple range is used, and better.
- Violet is no longer perpetually fullbright.
- Fixed up the translations applied to Violet when she obtains armor. Now the whole pink range (16:47) gets covered.
- Changed build version warning in light of recent ZDoom discontinuation.
- Changed the first test map's music to D_VICTOR.
- Added MAPINFO slots for the planned 5 maps, plus Gutawer's planned secret map.
- Difficulty 2 (HNTR) now reduces enemy damage by 75%. Additionally "Nightmare!" difficulty has been slightly modified - enemies take more time to respawn due to how slow the maps tend to be played.
- Slightly changed the difficulty names.
- Slightly changed the game name in GAMEINFO.

Sorry, no new maps yet. I'll have them done in the fullness of time, probably as soon as I've decided the game's features are all in place.

[Gutawer]

Jimmy said:

- All DECORATE converted to ZScript. Thanks, Gutawer!

Welcome ;)
Cool changes all around. The costumes are great.

[Jimmy]

I am working on a new map for this! This will be MAP03 - Condo of Agony, a tribute to Ultimate Doom E3, in pretty much the same way that MAP01 was largely E1-themed. There are more deliberate (/blatant) homages to the original material here though.

 

 

There's an album of more images along with some brief captions on the creative process right here:

 

 

I hope to start on MAP02 soon and release the next update with two brand new maps for all'a'y'all.

[Fletcher`]

If you don't exit through the anus I'll be dissapointed.

[Jimmy]

You go into it at one point to extract a key that's bafflingly lodged in there.

[Jimmy]

0.3 is here! Finally. Some big changes this time around - make sure you get a gander at the new maps! :O

Make sure you get QZDoom 1.3.0+ (or GZDoom 2.4.0+), which include ZScript.

Changes:

• Added MAP02 - 'The Biosphere', and MAP03 - 'Condo of Agony'!
• Added Boom Sphere, Ghost Sphere, Heal Sphere and Battle Sphere. Sprites by me and the very talented Fuzzball! These are portable powerups like the Rescue sphere.
  • The Boom Sphere faux-detonates Violet, causing a heap of damage to nearby things. Monsters not killed by the blast will be "stunned" for a while before she respawns.
  • The Ghost Sphere acts like the old Blur Sphere, but also forbids monsters from targeting Violet until it wears off.
  • The Heal Sphere will heal Violet to max (200), or the player to max if Violet is already maxed. It can't be used if both are maxed.
  • The Battle Sphere is plain invulnerability that jointly affects Violet.
• Fixed bio spheres (radsuit replacements) not stacking.
• Bio spheres and Berserk spheres are now portables.
• Change the Berserk sphere's use sound. (Q3TA's Kamikaze spawn sound)
• New set of sprites for the Rescue Sphere. The old sprites are now used for the Heal Sphere.
• Added more secrets and player-only health kits to MAP01.
• New title music. Thanks to MarketAnarchy for sharing the track with me. 
• Updated the CREDIT and HELP screens.
• Update to the pulling script by Gutawer that makes teleporting with Violet (in ABAHB MAP01) much less awkward.
• Update to Violet by Gutawer that ZScript-ifies the costume system and make it less like code spaghettios. Thanks, dude!
• Changed the Thing_Hate type that attracts enemies to Violet from 1 to 2. I think this method is a little bit more foolproof but I'm not entirely certain.
• Added recolored health bonus and armor bonus sprites. Hopefully signifies that Violet can pick them up and use them now. Adjusted their GLDEFS accordingly.
• Added GLDEFS for the new spheres and recolored bonus sprites.
• Violet can now heal above 100 with health bonuses (not sure how I missed this :X). These bonuses can't be picked up by either the player or Violet if their health is maxed at 200.
• You can now drink from Violet while in a healing pool. Finally convinced myself to undo that restriction.
• Added a distance meter on the HUD so you can tell how close to/far from Violet you are. This is off by default.
• Added more success lines.
• Tweaked the colors of the Detonator countdown, and some of Violet's pickup lines. (heh)
• Violet's nag messages now make a sound.
• Fixed Violet appearing fullbright during healing and "love" animations.
• Rearranged the menu again. So as not to touch the default options menu, the ABAHB-specific cvars are now controllable in their own menu accessible from the main menu. "Read This!" is now "How to Play!" and strategically positioned below "New Game".
• Added cvars that control the font used on Violet's status readout, whether the player's health and inventory get reset on level completion, and whether Violet's health gets reset on level completion. Also all onscreen messages can now be toggled. The cvars are adjustable in the new menu and the full list is as follows:
  • abahb_violetcostume -- default: 0
  • abahb_violetstatusfont -- default: "SmallFont"
  • abahb_resetinventory -- default: true
  • abahb_resetplayerhealth -- default: true
  • abahb_resetbarrelhealth -- default: true
  • abahb_showlevelnames -- default: true
  • abahb_showwarnings -- default: true
  • abahb_showvioletmessages -- default: true
  • abahb_showflashingicons -- default: true
  • abahb_showdistancemeter -- default: false
• Changed the handling of the Violet costume cvar to be more straightforward with newly acquired knowledge on how floats actually work. (Thanks, Kate!)
• Fixed up HorrorMovieGuy's costumes to properly palettise the pink on them.
• Did away with the blueberry M_SKULL since I kinda hate it.
• Removed the excess "CARRA0" sprite. The proper one should display now when carrying Violet.
• Gave the carrying weapon a tag that warns the player about not being able to switch weapons when carrying Violet.

 

And here is a gallery of shots from the second map, The Biosphere.

 

[Fuzzball]

Many new things! Aaa...and I'm sorry about not coming up with those sprites for some of the other spheres I said I would work on...things and things :(

[Jimmy]

That's okay! Let me know if you do want to do more - I was personally a little bit unsure of what powerups I would definitely be including so wasn't sure which ones I should chase you up about. No worries though, I'd be happy to have some better ones if you're keen, still. :)

[Gez]

On lundi 20 mars 2017 at 7:23 AM, Jimmy said:

 

I hope to start on MAP02 soon and release the next update with two brand new maps for all'a'y'all.

A Boy And His Barrel as an allegory of the human body

[Fonze]

I got the chance to play the second and third maps for this; good stuff Jimmy!

 

I had already played map01, but I replayed it to see the changes since my first time. Here is a collection of videos from my play through:

 

 

 

GzDoom crashed at the end of this video when I went to save the game. I recorded using a demo which I played back and recorded as videos afterwards to help with performance while playing, though I'm not sure the effect is noticeable enough to warrant using GzDoom's lacking demo system. Regardless, the end of that FDA was lost, so I reran it after doing map03.

 

 

 

And a huge wall of text for funsies:

Let me start by saying again how much I love this mod; it's just so damned adorable. Last time I played, you had 3 costumes for violet; this time there were quite a few more. My plan for my play through originally was to have Violet start 'nude' and get some clothes in the second level and change one last time for the last level, however problems on map02 got me all flustered and I forgot to change her outfit for map03. A ruined 3rd date aside, this thing is just too cute. Everybody involved has done such an excellent job putting this thing together thus far; from the signs, textures and Violet, to the scripting, execution, happy music, and the idea in general, this mod is just fantastic and showcases the meeting of both good ideas and skilled, hard work. A true labor of love... for barrels. <3 the happy music.

 

I'll cover the maps in more detail below, but first I'd like to mention a few general things from my time here: (some of these may be criticisms, but please don't take then negatively; they're minor, tiny things amongst a very fun and well-executed bigger picture)

 - First and foremost: enemies targeting Violet as their primary target. Is this ultimately due to an engine limitation or something that makes a better system infeasible? It's not so bad since she can get armor, but she doesn't move and all projectiles thrown at her have basically a 100% chance of hitting her unless something or someone (like the player) jumps in front of the shot. "I took a lot of fireballs for her, the least she can do is take this... key," I said as I berserk punched her to the BK in map02. Jokes aside, something about this scenario has to change as it leads to, at least for me, wanting to just leave Violet in a safe spot somewhere and taking out the monsters solo. It's helpful that there are plenty of Violet-only switches/barriers to keep her necessary and present, but the behavior of mobs around her, plus the weapons given and monsters used, time it takes to dispatch them, etc, is enough to make taking her into the fray a bad move and how many times do you get burned before you stop touching the stove? Lotta fights, like the fight after the BK door in map02, that were trivialized through simply leaving her behind and praying no monsters ported in back there. Not saying every encounter should have a Violet-only switch to start it, but something does need to be done with that whole thing. I might have some workable, if half-baked, ideas if you want to talk about it later on irc/discord.

 - This brings me to a secondary point that has more relevance given Violet's status as the primary target: monsters get really buggy when then begin an attack and are hit before firing by the player (possibly other mobs too if they pull aggro): they don't fire (but a melee attack will still register if the attacker is in range). I assume you are aware of this from the HK+chainsaw in the beginning of map02, but it would be far less noticeable without most monsters targeting Violet, even after the player shoots them multiple times and they fight the player for 10+ seconds. Soon as they see Violet it's on and they want that purple stuff; maybe the monsters of Doom just didn't like Sunny D when growing up. But this leads to monsters being somewhat cheesable around Violet, which is both helpful given both her disinclination to move and the weapon set and sad given that it feels like cheating. But this again points to AI problems, so some work needs to be done there. I wonder if taking away her primary target status would cause the mobs to behave as they normally do in Doom when switching targets: actually firing when it's time to fire regardless of who had/has aggro and when, but then that begs the question of 'what other way is there to make them want to kill her?' so I understand that it's likely not an easy fix.

 - I like that Violet is easily pushable even down stairs, though I noted difficulty jumping onto her without pushing her around a lot; rob Peter to pay Paul. Still, I'd rather be able to push her down stairs and have to time jumping on her fairly well than to be able to jump on her quickly but accidentally run over her often at floor height changes.

 - I'll cover this more in-depth below, but much of the combat of this wad felt tacked on and tedious to go through, especially given multiple deaths and repeating the same parts multiple times, with even clean-up feeling like a slog to go through while cutting down cacos and HKs with a single shotty, the weapon which much of these maps revolved around since the power weapons were given later. I understand that there is an autosave system, but the second level just wasn't kind to me hehe. On the quick note of weapon progression: with forced pistol starts actual weapon progression across the broad range of maps is only as important as you want it to be; what should progress is the difficulty and complexity of puzzles and encounters. Raise the stakes as the set goes on. One way could be through early levels like these using a single shotty as the primary, CG as secondary, but perhaps it'd be better to just give the player a power weapon early to allow for quick clean-up of encounters, like you did for map02 with the PG. The nature of the traps makes defending Violet a priority, but some traps occur when the player and Violet are separated at which times Violet can take a fair bit of damage before the player returns; even for the ones that take place with player and Violet together, it becomes a high priority to move Violet into the closest safe spot you can find and then take out the monsters without having to worry about them directly shooting her from their current position. If the gameplay is meant to necessitate constant moving of Violet while chipping away at mobs, then it should reflect that to some degree a bit better by demanding Violet's presence a bit more and introducing mobs more frequently, while giving the player a quick way to dispatch them. Perhaps look into making all traps Violet-only, so if the player runs through before bringing Violet they won't trivialize everything. Early levels could still be very easy while still providing the player a quick way to get to the puzzles, which is one of the main charms of this set. Of course being Doom and a protection-based puzzle wad, the combat should about equalize with the puzzles, but it definitely shouldn't drag on and should be more engaging. That's not to say it was all bad; much of it was still a lot of fun. I think a lot of this ultimately boils back down to Violet being the primary target, the more I think of it.

 - Not a big issue at all, but I also noted that some floor switches for Violet had trouble activating at times. Intermittent though...

 - I'm a huge fan of the new 'grabbing' system for Violet. Great job! Sometimes it gets a bit buggy but there's not much that can be done about that. It's extremely convenient.

 

Map01:
So moving on to the maps, Map01 was fun the first time I played it and just as good on the second go-around. The need to protect Violet and puzzle-y atmosphere of the mod is set in quickly with the first room of the nearby building.

 - The opening shot looked very nice and begged to be explored. Walking into the room and seeing Violet for the first time is pretty cool; just makes you feel all heroic to set her free from her cage up there, then to fight off the demons afterwards while protecting her. Gotta lol at that. But afterwards the player and Violet advance towards their first obstacle that they need each other for: the infamous raised ledge. Ironically, my first attempt this time around at this map ended embarrassingly when Violet made it onto the lift, but I didn't. I opted to rerecord at that point, heh.

Afterwards, the forcefield introduction was intuitive and this whole little path to the BK kinda serves as a good example of how this map introduced each concept in a rational and easily understandable way, so big kudos on that! Of course Cage's signs help too :)

 - I like the fight atop the stairs and lift on approach to the YK, but I think this was the beginning point of where the combat began to pale. This fight was fun the first time I played the map, when I had Violet with me as the mobs appeared, the door closed, and the autosave occurred since I had to protect Violet using weapons appropriate for the opposition, but this time since I knew they were there I left her by the lift in the previous room and cleared them before bringing her out. Now, this tiny encounter was fun even without Violet, but it's a totally different feeling on your own as compared to being with her, which could sound a bit too meaningful if taken out of context. This is the point where I think some Violet-only triggers would do well to make the wad play better. Let the player explore that little area scot-free, then bring in the mobs when he brings Violet up while thinking it's safe. Do that a few times randomly and people will stop leaving her behind; variable ratio schedule ;D 'ABaHB has the loosest slots and biggest payouts; wooo!' Unfortunately these payouts would be in pain, but payouts nonetheless.

 - The little room after the YK door confuses me though; on one hand it's cool to have the slight trap and 'oh crap' moment of the chaingunners at the doorway, followed by the imps, but on the other hand it would seem to encourage leaving Violet in a safe spot and ignoring her pleas for attention. So bit of a mixed bag there.

 - Moving onto something random: the sign for the player switch I feel should be different than the sign for Violet's switch. 

 - I forgot about the trap in this room; it killed me (or more-so: Violet, which I assume results in an offscreen player-suicide) since I forgot the function of the green orb there. Of course there's teleport glitter in its center, but I'm not always the brightest rabbit in the shed. Misnomered phrases aside, without using the teleport orb this HK proves to be quite deadly, given his tendency to 2-3-shot Violet and target her exclusively. If I were smarter, I would've pulled out the CG and beat him handily through the aforementioned cheesing by attacking him as he winds up attacks, but I didn't know about that at the time. In all honesty though, unless the point of this is to demand usage of items from the player, (to teach the habit after all) an SSG/RL wouldn't have negatively impacted this encounter. A RL would've been fun against the 4 shotgunners there too, heh, plus the coming bulls now that I think about it. These bulls were kind of a let down since by this point I'm like cramming Violet into corners and behind lamp 'things,' so it was basically just me and single shotty vs 4 of them, which is basically no threat whatsoever. On the other side of the forcefield, though, is an SSG. I think that could be moved over to the health pool room, possibly by Violet's switch, so the player would get it just in time for the HK; it would also make that next crowd of bulls better to dispatch if/with Violet sitting in attacking distance of them.

 - Following that is a decent little fight on the ledge, but I'm just not a fan of its execution. On one hand, it would be perfect as-is if Violet were with the player when (where) it triggers, but on the other hand, if it is to remain a player-activated linedef, the monsters should change. Count on folk leaving Violet at the door as they clear the imps and grab the freshly dropped CG; put in like 2 revs (or a PE) instead of the HK to really distract the player and give the bulls time to find Violet and threaten her. As-is I basically turned tail and killed the bulls between Violet and I, since the HK is low-threat here, plus he had a nearby bull to accidentally hit if I got lucky. Now, I really liked the RK encounter, but I will mention that my first time playing this (a couple months ago maybe) I jumped to the RK and triggered the trap. I didn't try hard to make it this time and chose instead to go in the 'right' way since I was recording, and good thing too; I tried it just now: it killed me and called me a 'cheater!' Loool. Violet's status is 'mourning' while she 'drums a beat out of boredom.' Gee, thanks. Maybe she's just upset I killed her by accident on my FDA of map02 a couple days ago... and a few times on purpose.

 - This map finishes off with a nice lite lift puzzle that requires remembering about the jump button, heh, and for some questionable reason, a baron on the other side of a narrow exit door. Like why a baron here; why not anything else? Logical stats progression perhaps, but illogical gameplay progression. Not saying it should be a highly threatening mob, but a moving door with health might not have been the best call to end the map. I found 0/4 secrets because Violet didn't want to sight-see her prison for these 23 years since the invasion began, but I did kill all the guards.

Map02:
Map02 was a highly mixed bag for me. The very beginning set the tone wrong with the HK, I felt, given that while yes, a shotgun and CG were in the next hallway, it was also totally plausible to just dispatch him with the chainsaw as he wound up shots for Violet. This is where I learned about that highly unfortunate bug. I assume I was supposed to come back for him later on after getting ammo but before entering the acid area. Then there was the other HK, the one in the center of the next room; why? No threat, but tedium killing with a single shotty, given it wouldn't be advisable to waste CG bullets at that point. At this point the player can leave Violet behind and begin clearing this entire area, or at least everywhere the player can reach without her, which is quite a bit of ground. Why bring her along when she not only complicates things, but also slows you down? I will say though, that I like the areas as-is if Violet were tethered to the player; lotta fun traps and setups here if she were present. One example is the health pool trap atop the lift (and btw, can you increase the wait time on the lifts? [never thought I'd say that] They often take Violet before I have a chance to grab her and get us both on them); that trap was really cool when I first reached it and pushed Violet in only to see that group of baddies, but without her it would just be nothing. I didn't get the chance to experience that alone, however, as the trap never worked again for me (for the FDA; it actually did work again on my completed run. Both times it worked I pushed Violet through, the time it didn't I dragged her through, but I may have crossed the triggering line solo first). You definitely will need to look into this; possibly a W1 trigger -type of problem.

 - I also liked the other health pool trap with the bulls; once again with Violet it was tense (I accidentally shot and killed her, heh) but without her it was just killing 4 bulls with either shotty or chainsaw and plenty of time/room to escape the sandwich situation.

 - I liked the puzzle by the HK turret before both health pools where you gotta shoot Violet into the doorway to hold open the door.

 - Questionable baron by the BK.

 - The BA room felt like it should have demanded Violet's presence, given all the health for her inside and 2 health pools not that far away, especially in terms of encounters. (I love that the color of the heart on her 'I <3 DoomGuy' shirt changes with her armor) The mobs used were totally incedental-combat-oriented, which is cool, but kinda pointless on something like this, perhaps. Also, the imps can't fire through those green pillars XD Perhaps a callback from Doom lolz while playing E2 in zDoom, but this is zDoom-based and those imps are nothing more than amusing ammo-deposit sites.

 - After that I liked the lite puzzle with the gap and 2 uncomfortably fast lifts. I was happy to see a PG given at this part, but the baron there was kind of nothing more than an ammo sponge. Perhaps to ensure usage of the PG on him to limit 'actual' starting ammo, but I just don't know about him... I wasn't a fan. The setup of the puzzle was cool though, as with most of these. The following encounter was good, with Violet on the switch by the door and the bulls coming in while the player is maybe 10 feet away, turning around. If the player is ready for them, he can stand in the doorway and chainsaw to victory as they can't pass each other through that threshold, but an unexpecting player can have a fun little situation on their hands there. I never had that chaingunner fire a shot at me, btw, through many deaths and a crash trying to figure the next puzzle set out.

 - I really liked this next set of puzzles though; on one hand in retrospect I realize it's as simple as SR-40-bumping her over the edges while close to max speed, but the first thing I could put together after seemingly failing at just that (poor attempt and nervousness, I suppose) was the berserk orb's extra punching distance, which was (in retrospect) comically balanced to accommodate berserk-punching her over 4 ledges in a row. Now, I'd have to go back and test it, but I'm not sure that it's possible to bump Violet over the long, 3rd gap right before the BK; I think the berserk orb is needed for that. The jump to the RK had me feeling stumped for a bit when I thought I had bumped her at close-enough to max speed for her to at least be close to making it, but she wasn't close, much as I failed at the jumps before the BK... which I believe by that point I hadn't put together were completable without the berserk pack for all of them. After that I got mad that the berserk didn't last the total level like it normally does, but my only real thought on that in hindsight is that it would be kind of messed up if that large gap before the BK does require the berserk orb to pass since it's given way beforehand and in an optional area, but it's not an inherently bad thing to have them timed.

 - The encounter after the BK lift was another Violet '... should've been there' -type of encounters. 1 baron and 2 turreted imps, plus a couple bulls after grabbing an invul of all things and 2 measly HK's after killing the baron. This fight was all wrong. Following that fight is an SS which has little purpose aside from protecting Violet from an upcoming caco shot at the YK grab, but my completed run I chose to grab it myself and give Violet the BA; that way I could still use her and the vast quantities of her medikits to heal myself if needed. I liked the YK room but once again not much point to bringing Violet along until things are clear; thankfully that was rectified at the YK grab, but in what could easily be a dickish way. One run I had bad timing going in for the key and got stuck in the key room for a full raise/lowering; Violet got it bad.

 - I liked the E2M6 area after the YK door; that area was done well and the SSG there was a welcome sight. 

 - The final area had a major bug: the inside linedef of the door to the health pool is a D1 trigger; I got trapped in there one run. While the collection of monsters wasn't too threatening, I liked them and it was one of the few good points where leaving Violet behind felt like the 'right' (intended) thing to do. Good use of skulls there to keep Violet in danger. The HK kinda just made me want to hide Violet until killing him due to his dmg potential; he might be better as an imp. The manc was well-placed. Not sure about the unmarked-secret Boom sphere, though; didn't seem to be much use for it at that point, though I suppose it could have helped with a rogue skull. I really liked this puzzle; perhaps one of the best of the wad, though I found it obvious after noticing that it was a berserk sphere that I had picked up by the manc and after my experiences with the BK earlier, since one run I had to reset after using the berserk for the first jump, then running out of time (from nervousness of noticing 15 secs in that the icon was flashing) upon reaching the 3rd jump, failing, and running back (in the lost portion of the FDA). So my time there made this last puzzle fairly tame, but I still thought it was one of the cooler ones I saw.

 - As with the previous map, I enjoyed the aesthetics and atmosphere of this one, too. Simple architecture and efficient texturing led to a feeling of roaming a medley of the iWads, which was sweet. Same goes for map03. The layout and design of this map, as with both other maps, however, is what really shines the most from a map-design standpoint. I loved the layouts, puzzles, structuring and presentation of everything; the way the areas naturally flowed into and connected with one-another is a staple of your work which I enjoy. You always do a good job with height-variation as well and giving the player the feeling like they are going somewhere, which is both enjoyable and immersing.

 - I found another bug in this final section:  I foolishly used the invul sphere after using the berserk sphere for the final punch-off to unnecessarily protect Violet and as it turns out she cannot be punched around when invulnerable. Luckily the berserk lasts longer and that didn't cause my run to fail, but I'm sure that behavior wasn't intended.

Map03:
Map03 was another mixed bag; bit of a rough beginning to start without noticing the shotty nearby; much worse if the caco advances through the door rather than retreats. Of course my first life the hitscanners didn't throw me a bone amd shoot the caco, lol. A repeat of the door-jam puzzle, but easier this time; still, I like the idea. This next area was pretty cool, with 2 ways to go to get 2 needed keys. The combat here would have actually been quite tricky if I hadn't left Violet back in the hallway I entered from, but even without her it was still fun. I liked the teleporting enemies (maybe just skulls?) there by the start of it. I also like that the player can acquire a RL en route to the RK which can then be used to quickly deal with the cacos in the windows on the way to the YK. I didn't know that, though, so as luck would have it I took the YK path first. I'll start by saying some of those jumps were tough! I failed the first jump and accidentally left Violet in the lava by the teleporter, lol. She barely lived with 2%; lucky gal. I liked the little HK+bull sandwich after that, though I left Violet on the ledge on the other side of the door. The baron by the BA was kinda meh.

 - Going towards the RK area, I like how this area felt much like its iWad inspiration; many of the same general shapes, at least from the way it seemed. Guiding Violet through this little maze was a hectic run, heh. I enjoyed the jump back to the main area after grabbing the key. Totally expected a trap on the key grab, though.

 - I really enjoyed the room after the R+YK door; that's the way most of these encounters should have been. Power weapon and imminent threats to both Violet and myself. Progression after that was kind of cool, using the two teleport spheres to get Violet in the hallway/lava area and then out of the lava (on the correct side preferably, hehe). This little area was kind of tough though, as the lava's imposed time-limit upon Violet only made jumping on her without bumping her around that much more difficult. With as much as I knocked her around while fumbling in the lava, I'm lucky I didn't fail then and there. Still, more preferable this way than to be running over her all the time unintentionally.

 - Violet gets some sick wallruns.

 - I liked the following puzzle, with the spawning bulls+shells. I didn't actually even realize it was a puzzle until noting that the same bulls and ammo had spawned after entering a couple different cubby holes, and even the same one again, save for one which only activated every other time. Then I thought of the Angler's Cave/Dungeon from Link's Awakening and the puzzle in there which I always do before getting the flippers; pegasus boots+roc's feather ftw. After that I noticed the ceilings and finally the door sides and it clicked. Cool, easy little puzzle. 

 - The final area was another 'leave Violet behind' spots, but not in a bad way; felt like the intended thing to do. I liked the little ending puzzle too, btw. But that brings me to a point: that with a lot of these fights it comes down to whether-or-not the player has brought Violet or stuffed her away in a corner. I like the idea of 'us time' and 'me time,' but the line between when the two should be happening is blurry and obscure; I feel like my experience would have been better if she were basically tethered to me, holding my hand, though obviously that wouldn't be the best/smartest/most fun approach.

 - As with the others, fantastic layout! I loved the human physiology lesson; I never knew cacos had a particular love for setting up homes and forming relationships inside the lungs before. Do smokers get PE's instead?

 

All-in-all, this was a fun thing to play through and I had an absolute blast with it. I think a few things could be tweaked a bit and made better, but a Porsche is still a Porsche, wax on or wax off. I highly anticipate more progress on this mod as time goes on. From maps to resources and ideas, it's gonna be awesome to see where this goes; it has a ton of potential.

Sorry for the massive wall of text >.<

Edited March 29, 2017 by Fonze

[HyperLuke]

What other projects have you worked on? This is really great in terms of gameplay.

[Jimmy]

Thanks for the huge heap of feedback @Fonze! You're very right about many things there. The new maps are indeed a bit imbalanced at the moment and I'm going over them with a fine-toothed comb now. Still need to watch the videos, though, and I'm sure I'll pick up on more stuff that needs addressing. Thanks again man, some invaluable feedback there.

 

@HyperLuke: I'm mainly a mapper now, so while I dabble in crazy ZDoom gimmicks now and then (such as with The Floor Is Lava! and Mercury Rain), I haven't really done anything significantly different since Jimmy's Jukebox and TurboCharged Arcade 2 (in which half the maps are mine).

 

---

 

Big announcement time, and great news for H-fans. Mike12 (HDoomguy) and I have been chattering, and it looks like A Boy And His Barrel will be getting full integration with HDoom!

 

 

 

Teaser screenshot:

NSFW Warning: Beware, in yonder spoiler lie ye pixel tiddies.

 

Spoiler

 

While this is very much an in-progress development still, the two mods are technically compatible with one another to some extent already - so really, the aesthetic additions like Violet's new look here are simply to make the experience in ABAHB a bit more special. :) Let's face it, there's only so much emotional attachment one can achieve towards an inanimate industrial container. I think altering the titular character into an actual sapient being makes it a far more personable relationship, don't you? Yes? ...No? Come on guys, you can't tell me I'm the weird one here. :x

 

We hope you like the idea! Mike and I have been bashing away hard and fast at the new sprites, so we hope it pleases one and all once fully exposed to the world. :^)

 

Bonus jiggle:

 

[Devalaous]

Drinking from Violet just got a lot more....interesting

[Jaws In Space]

You guys won't be the only ones bashing away at the new sprites soon. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

[Dragonfly]

Heh.

[Breezeep]

incredible

[Gez]

5 hours ago, Devalaous said:

Drinking from Violet just got a lot more....interesting

Her boobs shrink as you deplete her health, though.