[3DGE] Duke it Out in DOOM (v2.2)

Version 1.5 uploaded!

List of changes:

Great job! :D

I am going to test it out right now.

Just released 3DGE 2.0.3 earlier this morning, which is much improved over 2.0.2 IMO. Would advise anyone playing Duke it Out in DOOM to use the new EXE. :-)

Did you alter the player's movements in patch 1.6? The controls feel slippery now and I get the impression that Duke is walking on ice.

The player movement has been the same since version 1.4. Haven't noticed any difference myself when playing.

The player movement in 3DGE is a little slippery and I have tried to fix it somewhat but it is mostly hard-coded into the engine.

Hmmm, I guess you are right. Still weird, though...

I mean, I know I have been playing a ZDoom mod a lot lately, but I have not been away from Hyper3DGE for that long. :(

I did try to further "experiment" but with no luck. There appears to be no way around it.

Noticed the other day that the pipebombs ability to teleport got broken between versions (yes, they teleport), so there'll be at least one more update.

When you say "slippery", do you mean the friction of movement? Try adjusting RIDE_FRICTION in the player entry (it is a float, so 0.0 would be none, 1 would be full).

I did tweak the movement keys (especially normal turning), so that should be noticeable between releases. Less jittery movement, but headbob and step ups are still bad.

Getting some help with interpolating the player, so that should be complete here really soon :-)

I supposed so. If you tap forward or backwards player continues to slide a bit after you let go of the button. I'm so used to it myself but I can understand how this can be a problem for people using the mouse for movement. Could be wrong, but I believe this is inherited from the original game (as it was back in '93), 'twas a time when people mostly used keyboard only setup since the computer mice of that era weren't exactly reliable or precise.

RIDE_FRICTION didn't seem to do a thing.

Okay, it will be easy for me to implement.
Do other source ports stop the player movement immediately when coming to a full stop? I also think that was inherited from Vanilla..

I really don't notice much if any difference between 3DGE and other ports in terms of player slipperyness -- as long as vsync is off. With vsync on everything lags a bit, including player stopping. But I get that in other games too, so I dunno.

You definitely slide a bit in vanilla when you let go of the movement keys. You might slide a bit more in 3DGE, but I don't think that's what the problem is.

3DGE doesn't support demos at all, does it? Trying to think of a good way to compare the two.

Not at the moment, I was working for awhile to restore the internal demo format the port had developed awhile ago (but was never used, .edm) but, no demo support as of now.

Could always record a video -> webm for comparison, but I cant tell if 3DGE does this differently, at least visually.

What I want is some way of having a consistent input between ports. With a demo I could build one to e.g. press forward for 50 frames, and compare results across different ports. Even if I had to make multiple demos, 50 frames of holding forward should produce comparable results.

I'm going to try something with autohotkey tomorrow, hopefully 3DGE and some other ports will actually take input from it.

@ plums

Eureka! Vsync was indeed on. I am not sure if I accidentally turned it back on or if it got reset when I installed the latest version, but at least I have found the problem. Thanks a lot! :D

Welcome!

Chu: I don't think it's worth releasing a new version for, but you may want to consider disabling vsync by default in the next 3DGE release? It seems like it might cause problems for a few people. Unless SDL2 somehow magically fixes that, who knows.

Woa, did my project thread just turn into a tech discussion. *lol*

I think I agree with stopping on a dime isn't the solution. I can do that by adding a STOP codepointer to the players idle/chase states, but it makes it clunky and looks "twitchy". I am not up date when it comes to FPSes, so I don't know how they handle it. Another thing inherited from DOOM that would be worth updating is the autoaiming, since we have mlook today. A NOAUTOAIM flag for things and attacks in the process would be ideal too. The autoaim as it is now is a little glitchy, faster projectiles (anything faster than DOOMs) tend to go anywhere but towards the monster that's a few steps away from you.

It seems vsync keeps getting turned back on whenever I leave 3DGE.

Yeah I was having the same problem. I managed to get it to stick, somehow. I think by bringing up the console and typing r_vsync 0, then quitting.

I wonder what is causing this. My first instinct would be to suspect 3DGE 2.0.3, but then again, I installed it alongside the mod's 1.5 release and I do not recall experiencing the issue at the time.

R_vsync is not recorded properly in the config file through the main menu - it was a rather dumb oversight while implementing it. I will make sure they are written properly with the next release.

So while I was using the Devastator power-up, I ended up being cornered by demons and instinctively switched to the shotgun. However, once I got out of the situation, the countdown still was not over, yet I could not find a way to revert back to the Devastator.

Devastator is located at slot 0 (same as freezethrower) so you may have to toggle through the same slot to get to it. It should not disappear until the countdown is over.

This is why I made it into a power-up, the weapon/ammo roster was getting too "crowded".

EDIT: Not quite. 3DGE 2.0.4. no longer resets my vsync setting, but I keep having to type vsync_2 in the console in order to get a smooth framerate.

Anyway, have you considered making a music addon for the other official wads?

Also, I am having mixed feelings about the Devastator. On one hand, I like it as a temporary power-up, but on the other hand, its placement is less than optimal, as it does not make you invulnerable. I am not really sure of a way to improve it, aside from perhaps turning it into a consumable.

Music WAD? You mean for (Ultimate) DOOM. I've been meaning to edit the PSX soundtrack to support DOOM 1 maps, just haven't gotten around to it yet.

The devastator is the way it is, I feel no need to change it. In vanilla DOOM maps the item is usually located within close proximity of bosses, big guys or hordes of monsters so it seems fitting.

I tried to play your mod with music wads, but 3DGE does not seem to recognize them. :(

You need to define the track(s) with the DDFPLAY (PLAYLIST.DDF) lump.

Example 1:

[64] MUSICINFO=OGG:LUMP:"D_DUKINT";
Track nr (called by LEVELS.DDF), Format (OGG or MUS), lump or file, name

Example 2:
[01] MUSICINFO=OGG:FILE:"Wolf3D data/Music/3DO/3DOMUS1.OGG";

Out of curiosity, why did you decide to replace the BFG with the Plasma Cannon and not the Devastator? I read the former is the replacement for the Freezethrower in Duke Nukem 64. Since your mod does feature the Freezethrower, don't you think the Plasma Cannon is a bit redundant?

Also, I am not sure it is good idea to give such a powerful weapon unlimited ammo. Maybe it could share ammo with the Railgun?

JohnnyTheWolf said:

Out of curiosity, why did you decide to replace the BFG with the Plasma Cannon and not the Devastator? I read the former is the replacement for the Freezethrower in Duke Nukem 64. Since your mod does feature the Freezethrower, don't you think the Plasma Cannon is a bit redundant?

Also, I am not sure it is good idea to give such a powerful weapon unlimited ammo. Maybe it could share ammo with the Railgun?

'cos the Plasma Cannon is most like the BFG (the projectile behaves almost identically), the freeze thrower is the counterpart of the Plasma Rifle while the devastator is unique and quite OP dust I made it into a time-limited powerup. It is a design choice. None of the weapons are straight-out redundant or useless in my opinion, they all have unique quirks and uses. Next version will feature dual rail guns on top of it.

The Plasma Cannon has rechargeable ammo, not unlimited. The BFG is rare in maps and it takes quite a while for it to charge up. I think it is fine the way it is.

I admit I barely use the Railgun at all. When dealing with crowds of smaller enemies, I much prefer the Chaingun.

Speaking of which, I noticed Chaingunners now have a different firing sound, which does not sound like the Chaingun at all.

JohnnyTheWolf said:

I admit I barely use the Railgun at all. When dealing with crowds of smaller enemies, I much prefer the Chaingun.

Which is why the rail gun will see an "expansion". The rail gun will go through multiple targets (without decreasing damage) making it ideal in tight(ish) corridors crammed with lesser enemies and its accuracy is spot-on unlike the Chaingun which sprays all over the place. DOOM 1 has quite a few of those types of areas.

JohnnyTheWolf said:

Speaking of which, I noticed Chaingunners now have a different firing sound, which does not sound like the Chaingun at all.

Yeah, but they also carry an entirely different weapon. This was also an issue in Duke3D with the lizard enforcers.