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Alter

Soulcrusher 1.3 (Now a cacowards runner-up!)

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http://www.doomworld.com/20years/best3.php < Runner-up mention.

Warning: You'll need your latest gzdoom svn to get this thing running, get it from http://svn.drdteam.org/gzdoom/ Or try to use latest official gzdoom which has necessary features.

http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e88/Kaiseroo/SC1c.png

Hello dear lads, this is Soulcrusher, a mod that is somewhat between a partial and total conversion for gzdoom. Final version is officially out! Get it now, don't wait, just play it when you have time, I need your feedback for the bugfixes in the future. Link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/cfrt0x6l5pobh2v/SCMain.zip

1.3 Update: https://www.dropbox.com/s/iu0kpbdhng9rq30/SCMain.wad

Changelog:
- Final boss dialogue works
- Final boss was made more fair, and the secret gun ACTUALLY works on him now.
- Final boss's area was redesigned to prevent some stupid bugs.
- STADMIN's gameplay flow has been improved a bit
- Sonic Gun no longer flashes when firing
- Last two levels now contain regenerating ammo.
- Fixed a bunch of visual bugs.
- Sniper Rifle's been partially buffed.

Content:
- It has 9 levels, 6 bosses, should keep you busy for a bit.
- There's a font bug you will notice but i have yet to find a fix for it.
- It's playable from start to the end.
- It's fairly balanced.

This mod won't be up on /idgames because while I can connect to it, I can't upload anything for some reason.

Maps, gameplay and various stuff was designed by me
Weapon graphics/some enemy graphics/music were done by Nmn while we still worked together, actually it was his work that inspired me to start something overwhelmingly big like this.

Below's the final trailer.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7MGG9ndva8

http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e88/Kaiseroo/Screenshot_Doom_20120627_151023.png
http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e88/Kaiseroo/Screenshot_Doom_20120627_151044.png
http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e88/Kaiseroo/Screenshot_Doom_20120627_151107.png
http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e88/Kaiseroo/Screenshot_Doom_20120627_151153.png
http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e88/Kaiseroo/Screenshot_Doom_20120627_151206.png
http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e88/Kaiseroo/Screenshot_Doom_20120627_151225.png
http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e88/Kaiseroo/Screenshot_Doom_20120627_151245.png
http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e88/Kaiseroo/Screenshot_Doom_20120627_151306.png
http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e88/Kaiseroo/Screenshot_Doom_20120627_151342.png

Enjoy!

Here's a bonus little FAQ if you are curious about the details of this mod (It's spoilered because it's lengthy)Q: How long has it been in works?
A: If we are talking about super-early stuff then I would say the idea came to my head back in late 2007 when I was still a relative newcomer with a bunch of crap maps on /idgames however I haven't begun working on prototypes back in mid of 2008. The prototypes were how to put it... largely different from what I released here, it was just originally meant to be an average zdoom mod with Nmncorp textures and realm667 stuff all over it, simply nothing noteworthy.

The second level here, STGATE was the level in the prototypes, eventually it was made playable thus a proper prototype, the major difference is that the underground bit in STGATE was originally... fully underwater, it seemed cool at first but later on it became annoying both for me and the testers so I sorta removed that element of gameplay to keep constant flow.

It wasn't until 2009/2010 that I started working properly on this mod with Nmn while he still had time, the mod was intended to be a 7-act epic (technically this covers only 3 acts from the old concept) that would play like Strife but expand on that, make it so you can beat every level in 3 ways outside boss levels, as we know, nothing came of this concept as I wasn't able to do something this complex at the time. Still Nmn made a bunch of textures (including giving me the nmncorp3 leftovers!), the entire soundtrack, guns and some enemies but due certain life circumstances, I was forced to quit the total conversion concept.

The mod was constantly going through concept changes until mid-2011 when I more or less settled for the final concept, although there was one thing i'll mention in the next question.

Q: There's a big plothole when you leave STADMIN and begin STCITY, why is that?
A: You see, originally in the final concept there were meant to be 13 levels but because Nmn could'nt maintain working on so much stuff, I had to remove half the characters from the story and unfortunately drop 4 levels that were between STADMIN and STCITY (originally known as STCITY2), that also meant removing 2 planned boss fights.

BUT! There's a chance I might take a stab at adding back the missing content starting March 2013, which may take somewhere between 6 months and 9 months depending how I will be busy at college, unfortunately I can't promise anything because I dislike failing people. Plus... having worked on this for a long time, i'm worn out entirely temporarily.

Q: Since you mentioned there were meant to be 7 acts of the entire story. Who was the real villain?
A: As far as I remember it was called something like Izariat, a computer virus that was so intelligent that it was capable of manifesting itself in real life, the final fight was originally meant to be against him, he was meant to be sort of a godzilla-sized piece of junk but as we know, because of time and life constraints, this will not happen also because there are no fitting sprites for something like him anywhere.

Q: Do you plan to make a sequel filling the last 4 acts of the intended story?
A: Unlikely at this point because there are lots of factors preventing me from doing this:
- I am a college student, meaning starting 5th semester and ownards I will be extremely busy trying to get my IT engineer certificate.
- I'm not sure if people would be able to handle a sequel that is not much different from the original due resource limitations.
- I would need to use music from newgrounds because as we know, Nmn's out for good from Doom meaning chances of him composing a new soundtrack are zero.
- Right now I am very tired of doom modding in general and I need a decent break before doing anything new. The only new work you can look forward to are Map15, map17, map27 and parts of Map30 on TNT2 which is bound to come out sometime.

I'm not saying no but I need time, lots of time to do anything at this point.

Thank you for reading this and watching this thread since it was invented (and thanks to those who tested it and watched me progress with it).

Resource credits:
- Lameduke
- Freedoom
- Nmn
- Redneck Rampage
- System Shock
- Blood
- Gopher
- Doom 2.5
- All others which I forgot about.

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Pottus said:

The mountains look really weird the detail looks close up yet they are supposed to be far away which kinda messes up the perspective.

That is by all means true, one of things I need to rework eventually because compared to other outdoor areas later on, it looks pretty inconsistent. But right, i'm focusing on getting the gameplay done and out.

The final refinements will come afterwards and will be heavily based on the critics from people, that's the point of releasing the mod earlier really, so I can refine it then once it's refined, put out a definitive version for /idgames.

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Pottus said:

Where can we download it?

In a week to 3 weeks i'll upload public beta 2, public beta 1 links were removed because it offers 100% less than what you will have in PB2. So be patient sir.

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Pottus said:

I quit smoking two weeks ago now you want me to wait for this? ;)

I still have a bit to do before I could even send you a private testing build, otherwise I would have done it already.

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alterworldruler said:

Since wadsinprogress died out, might as well transfer the progress on this mod on here.


Another reason to get my ass working on doomhub. You'll be more than welcome there with this stuff.

I played some eraly alpha/beta versions of this and I really had very little to nitpick on. Gameplay feels fresh, weapons interesting and the entire thing is veeery atmospheric.

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It's out ladies and gentlemen and imps. The public beta 2 aka final version beta, enjoy it as it's basically the final version without some bugfixes needed for the final thing.

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Well, i'm slowly awaiting your feedback people, I can't find every bug on my own because I am the worst critic for myself. So yup the bugs aren't gonna be fixed by themselves and that's why I need your feedback.

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Guest

Alter, I've PM'd you some thoughts on this mod.

Awesome stuff btw. Reminds me of harmony actually.

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These screenshots look great and i like the textures used here, kinda reminds me of doom64. Downloading now, will give feedback later.

Played map01 so far and i must say these maps look fucking amazing!! Really good use of all of the gzdoom features. This is how gzdoom should be used!! The texturing is excellent and brings about a nice dark and gloomy atmosphere. Map01 has great gameplay, balance and looks refreshing and interesting.

Now for the complaints.

The guns projectiles shoot below the gun rather than from the barrel, you should fix that because its a bitch to aim when your always shooting below were you intend to shoot. It also just looks plain lazy and ugly.

The demons attack leaves them stuck in walls and they cannot get out, leaving them easy targets. They never even got a chance to hit me because right as they started their attack they did a fail leap attack that got them stuck in a wall.

Towards the end of map01 the reflective floor shows the sky when you move back out of the room. Idk if this is your fault or the fault of gzdoom.

Overall this wad looks amazing and has great gameplay. Anyone who doesnt try this out is a fool imo!! This wad really should be getting more attention because its truly awesome.

Ill be sure to review the other maps once i play em.

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Alwaysdoomed said:

Now for the complaints.

The guns projectiles shoot below the gun rather than from the barrel, you should fix that because its a bitch to aim when your always shooting below were you intend to shoot. It also just looks plain lazy and ugly.

The demons attack leaves them stuck in walls and they cannot get out, leaving them easy targets. They never even got a chance to hit me because right as they started their attack they did a fail leap attack that got them stuck in a wall.

Towards the end of map01 the reflective floor shows the sky when you move back out of the room. Idk if this is your fault or the fault of gzdoom.

Overall this wad looks amazing and has great gameplay. Anyone who doesnt try this out is a fool imo!! This wad really should be getting more attention because its truly awesome.

Ill be sure to review the other maps once i play em.

Gonna focus on the complaints.

Gun projectiles being too low? I haven't paid attention but that you now mention it, it's off on Assault rifle and fire shotgun (and probably some other guns).

The demon attack bug... that's a strange one, I'll tinker with it although I have no idea how i'll fix that right now.

The reflective floor bug is a probably something to do with the way gzdoom renders things. I should just remove those since they are unnecessary OGL power wasters.

Anywho thanks for playing and i'm looking further to your feedback (especially after you beat the final boss). I don't plan to hop out with a "1.0" version until March 2013 because there's still a lot of work to do, primarly adjusting/tweaking/bugfixing/balancing.

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I think it was a mod worthy of a great, great deal of acknowledgement, but I thought the gameplay was only so and so. I think it steered too far away from the original DOOM gameplay - perhaps Heretic fans will find themselves more at home, but I have never even set a "Use item" key, and let alone did I know I was supposed to do that, as I just thought health items were scarce.*

I made it to map02 and I intend to play more, but I thought the fun factor was a little undernourished.

It's one hell of a package you have here, and I totally understand how tricky it is to pull EVERYTHING together. Personally I think it's easy to lose focus and just try to get things finished and overwith.

I think the layouts are great, but I didn't find the texturing particularly pleasant. The light effects etc were great, on the other hand. But the texturing works against the cool layouts, IMO..

all in all it was great and I hope you also will improve it for the final release.

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gemini09 said:

Concerns

About it not playing like doom... well you realise that's the point of it right? Now about the texturing being bad, could you elaborate on it? Is it because I don't use any doom textures or something... or is it clashing?

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Im on map02 and i cannot get out of the shop. I think i pressed every key and I cant get out of it. Also how do you navigate through the dialog? because i have yet to figure that out.

Did you make the graphics for these weapons? If so im very impressed because i like em =]

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Alwaysdoomed said:

Im on map02 and i cannot get out of the shop. I think i pressed every key and I cant get out of it. Also how do you navigate through the dialog? because i have yet to figure that out.

Did you make the graphics for these weapons? If so im very impressed because i like em =]

I'm investigating the shop (try using arrows to navigate it, the ones on your keyboard. I need to add the strafe key support) bug in map02, i'll upload a quick hotfix addressing it tomorrow probably unless something will get in my way. Nmn did all the textures/weapons/music aaand some enemies (replacement for lost souls, the plasma/shotgun troops and cyborg hunter).

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alterworldruler said:

I'm investigating the shop (try using arrows to navigate it, the ones on your keyboard. I need to add the strafe key support) bug in map02, i'll upload a quick hotfix addressing it tomorrow probably unless something will get in my way. Nmn did all the textures/weapons/music aaand some enemies (replacement for lost souls, the plasma/shotgun troops and cyborg hunter).


I tried that and the only category I could navigate is the health one. Please fix the offset of the weapons projectiles because its annoying that they shoot below the gun rather than its nozzle. Also the texture for the laser traps needs to be thinner and brighter because atm it doesnt even look like a laser but rather some railing texture.

On a side note, the elevators on map02 are hard to figure out how to use. Most of the time i find myself just spamming spacebar on all of the walls.

Theres alot of areas in map02 that autosave. Infact theres one room where i can run in and out and it autosaves twice each time.

Im sorry about all the complaints, but hey atleast it helps you make your awesome project even more awesome =]

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Are you planning on making this be it's own IWAD and not need Doom to run? Just sort of wondering since besides the enemies it looks like most of the things in the mod have custom graphics. (I could be wrong though)

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tester adding mad props

Death Egg said:

Are you planning on making this be it's own IWAD and not need Doom to run? Just sort of wondering since besides the enemies it looks like most of the things in the mod have custom graphics. (I could be wrong though)


The final version will likely be stand-alone. The only reason it isn't now is because I haven't found where the IWAD detection code was moved to in the latest Gzdoom branch yet.

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Okay Public beta 2a is out:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/tefspvbk4qo2v6l/X3Main.wad

Changelog:
- I fixed the alignment of projectiles from the guns, be aware that it will take a bit before you get used to it.

- Added autosaves before all boss fights, removed redundant ones from STGATE (map02)

- I added in strafe key support for cutscenes/shops meaning that everyone who plays on WASD configs or whatever should have it running properly
Added a protip at start of the mod mentioning that on skill 3 (hard) and above you have to heal yourself manually via inventory and how you can use the spare armor to repair yourself.

- There's a confirmation sound when you make a purchase in a shop.

And other minor bugfixes that other people mentioned.

Sorry no fix for eaters yet, have no idea how to fix their "getting stuck in the wall" bug atm.

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Xaser said:

Why can't you get the DECORATE code from the wad he just posted?


Because id rather ask for his permission first, also maybe he wants to fix it himself. I just dont wanna go searching through his wad like that unannounced and then pm him a fix code out of the blue.

Idk just trying to show some respect is all.

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