Earth Under Lucifer Mk. II: PSAs

Showing posts with label PSAs. Show all posts

Sunday, June 22, 2014

OCEAN Goes Wiki!

That's right folks; that's what I've been working on the whole day today. Of course it's far from being finished, but even right now, there's a lot of interesting stuff to be found. So, after trying to distribute the OCEAN news via the dA Journals and blog posts, I've decided to catch the zeitgeist and keep everything in a single, open location. Easy access. Unlimited information. Invaluable data.

So if now, someone asks you what the hell this OCEAN is and why is it spelt in uppercase, you can explain everything by giving that person just one link:

http://oceanhub.wikia.com/

Welcome to the OCEAN Wikia.

Thursday, June 19, 2014

Quick Projects Rundown

Yeah, a very brief and non-detailed list of my gamedev projects:

Sergei Savenko's OCEAN;

Sergei Savenko's OCEAN: Mercenaries (multiplayer add-on for Zandronum);

Dune: House Ordos (remake);

Endangered Species (beat'em up for OpenBOR);

Endangered Species RTS (engine pending).

Tuesday, June 10, 2014

How To Launch The OCEAN Demo Under Linux

Wanted to write this manual anyway, so here goes! Please note this applies mostly to Debian/Ubuntu, so for other distributions, please consider using their respective utilities (packet managers, installation from source, etc.)

Download and install libsdl-dev:
sudo apt-get install libsdl-dev
Download and install GZDOOM:
sudo apt-get install gzdoom
Also, you can download the pre-compiled DEB package here: http://debian.drdteam.org/pool/multiverse/g/gzdoom/
Download and unpack the OCEAN Demo
Place the files ocean24.pk3, doom2.wad and system.wad (or, generally, all the WAD and PK3 files except brightmaps.pk3 and gzdoom.pk3)...
...to the GZDOOM folder: /usr/games/gzdoom
Open the terminal and type: gzdoom -file doom2.wad -file ocean24.pk3 -file system.wad
Be aggressive!

Additional links:

Universal GZDOOM compilation instructions

Monday, June 9, 2014

OCEAN Demo - Mega-FAQ

Q: How can I disable Sean's head bobbing?
A: Go to the console ('~' key), type movebob 0 and hit Enter. There won't be success messages, but it should be reduced. To restore it, open the console, type movebob .25 and press Enter.

Q: How do I interact with items/people/Kristina on the first map?
A: Please make sure to bind and use the Use/Open key (Spacebar by default, but it's recommended to rebind it to E).

Q: Once the demo loads, I have to wait an hour before the texture-related messages stop!
A: I know what causes this issue, and it will be addressed in the 1.1 Demo.

Q: I am not an official tester, but I'd like to provide feedback. Can I?
A: Of course! It's a community project, and it doesn't have dedicated QA resources. So please go ahead and voice your opinion! Thank you.

Q: I have some concerns about the controls. Can you please help me out?

A: Here is the preferred control scheme that I personally use. It's not necessarily the best, but the most comfortable in my opinion. All these can be set up in Options > Customize Controls menu:

W - walk forward;
S - walk backwards;
A - strafe (step) left;
D - strafe (step) right;
LMB - fire;
E - use/open;
LCtrl - crouch;
R - swim up;
F - swim down;

Q: The enemies damage an awful lot - I normally play DOOM and its mods on the fourth difficulty level, Ultra-Violence, but it was impossible to beat the demo that way because if even one enemy managed to ambush me it meant almost certain death.

A: Yes, I admit the enemies are very unfair - I've tried way too hard to pursue the 'stealth vs. brute force' gameplay. In the working builds, they were actually worse; I had to weaken them a lot before the release. And, like I said in the release notes, I still feel they're way too overpowered, so I'll definitely rebalance everything.

Q: The robot ladies are specially difficult since their attack is continuous and once they touch you it's highly probable they drain a good 20~25 of your health before you can escape, I suggest a decrease in the damage they do.

A: Alright, I'll definitely consider that and see what I can do!

Q: The second stage 'Hypotermia' is a cluster of commands, swimming though damaging points, crouching and even one jump. Since that's the first stage with some real action in the game maybe you should spare the player some difficulties for later.

A: The feeling of disorientation and 'what's going on?' for the player is actually what I was pretty much going for - it's supposed to be sort of like a training area that makes you familiar with all the gameplay quirks and twists (dialogue, swimming, environmental hazards, Diving Mode, points of interest, one enemy type). However, if you have concrete ideas on how to rebalance it, I'm all open!

Q: The maps are a little small but that's okay.

A: Those are actually my first 'serious' DOOM mapping attempts! Interesting fact: maps 'Licence To Kill', 'Exposition' and 'Marina' are VERY enhanced remakes of three maps from my old unfinished and abandoned WAD, Project Savior; and 'Fear Of The Dark' is a polished version of three test maps I've built specifically for OCEAN, stitched together. Pretty much, only 'Semper Fidelis' and 'Hypothermia' were done completely from scratch and intended to be 100% OCEAN maps from the very start.

Q: Stealth vs brute force emphasis? It helps the immersion in the gameplay, still a bit of balancing would be great.

A: I know that DOOM and old-school shooters in general are about anything but stealth, but I was more thinking games like Deus Ex, which can be beaten 'traditionally', but sneaky tactics are way more rewarding. Speaking in movie terms, I've tried to make the action less like Rambo 2-3 and more like Die Hard - after all, Sean himself is not a bodybuilder, so it would just shatter the suspension of disbelief if he would go out in the open with M60s in both hands!

Q: Talking abouth stealth, 'Fear Of The Dark' is pretty overwhelming during the first battle, it doesn't give the chance to finish the enemies quietly.

A: It actually has a not-really-hidden switch at the very beginning which activates a trap and makes things dramatically easier! And there're 3 such switches on 'Licence To Kill', too.

Q: I understood just fine your intentions and as a fact I think it's a good idea to introduce the player with the commands, I just feel many people might get frustrated, let's hope I'm wrong.

A: Well, I take all the negative feedback into consideration just as much as the positive; probably I should add in more hints and points of interest, just so the player would be 100% comfortable. I'll rebalance it in any case, don't worry!

Q: I noticed a detail about 'Licence To kill' - the whole map is designed to look for three switches across the stage, but if you crouch in the second room you can reach the back side of the console and interact with it, thus breaking the sequence and being able to continue to map 4. Maybe you designed it on purpose but maybe it wasn't intended.

A: If rebooting all three relays is not mandatory in this case, I'll look into it. Thank you for finding this bug!

Thanks to Eon-Sonny for the questions!

Sunday, June 8, 2014

OCEAN DEMO 1.0 RELEASED

The Improved Title Screen by EinhanderZwei on deviantART

Well well... 'This is a nice, interesting scene' (c) MADstarter

First of all, HAPPY WORLD OCEAN DAY!!!

And what's the best way to celebrate it rather than to check out the first 4 (technically, 7) maps of the project you've heard about but I'm sure wanted to try out yourself?

That's right my beloved cuties and patooties, Sergei Savenko's OCEAN Demo 1.0 is now live. You can download and play it, like... right now.

INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS:

Unzip OCEAN_Demo.zip to whatever folder you like (D:\Games\OCEAN_Demo would be good enough);
Launch the Launch_OceanDemo file;
Set up the keys and all necessary goodies (screen resolution, sound, yadda yadda);
KICK ASS!

DOWNLOAD LINKS:

DropBox | Google Drive | MediaFire

SOME PROTIPS:

MAP02: Hypothermia

Make sure to explore everything. All there's to find will aid you later;

MAP03: Licence To Kill

The best route is not the straightforward one;
Look for hidden switches - there's two of them that will help you dramatically;

MAP05: Fear Of The Dark

This is a rather hard level - don't hesitate to save your game from time to time;
Memorize the location of health recharge terminals;
Machete is good against the zombie nurses;
Always be on your guard;
Crouch often - that will compromise the enemies' accuracy;
Do not waste ammo;

MAP06: Marina

This map has a puzzle, as well as a lot of enemies, as well as a big environmental hazard;
Don't waste Slayer ammo;
Take cover whenever possible;
Don't hesitate to save the game often;
It IS possible to jump over to the pool, just look better at the surroundings;

KNOWN BUGS/ISSUES:

The number of monsters is the same on all difficulties; however the other standard DOOM schema is supposed to be in effect (double ammo on DEFCON 1 and 5, respawning enemies on DEFCON 1, etc.);
Sean's crouching sprites are his standing sprites squeezed vertically;
The number of enemies on MAP06 can be pretty unfair - please report if the map is TOO difficult;
Help screens are not redesigned;
MAP06 is very poorly decorated... for now;
Chainsaw puffs in diving mode;
DOOM cheats still work :P
The engine returns lots of warning messages regarding the textures - ignore them; the game is playable and glitch-free;
GZDOOM interface is mostly default;

COMING SOON:

Standalone Mod (convenient for Linux users);
ModDB page;
DoomWorld thread;

THANKEES:

All the current (see below) and potential members of the official DA group! You guys ROCK!

John Romero, Andrew Sega and Jason Jones;
GZDOOM Team;
:iconvoreq: for the legendary one-liner: 'have fun with your naked furries and fish, freak';
:iconheellawait: for Svetlana chibis, stabbing me in the ass for teh l00lz, and thus giving me enough fuel for hatred that kept me on when I was feeling burnt out;
Svetlana Tikhovliz for unknowingly giving the first and last name to one of the game's most memorable characters;

OTHER USEFUL INFO:

Where else!

Friday, May 30, 2014

Happy Birthday(s)!!!

Well, over here in Ukraine, it's May, 31st. On this day, even if in different years, two baddest motherf%ckers in the world happened to be born. The main differences between them are:

One is famous, and the other is not;
One is 84, and the other is 26.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO CLINT AND ME!!!

Mr Eastwood... You're my all-time favorite actor, and I can't imagine my life without your movies. Each time I see you onscreen, I regret being a man. 'Nuff said! :D

And as for me... YOU decide what kind of significance do me and my blog have for you ;)

Saturday, May 24, 2014

MY FAVORITE VIDEO GAMES OF ALL TIME

You heard it right. It's the list you ALL've been waiting for!

The final, ultimate, balls-to-the-wall, down-to-business, no-bullcrap-about it. I'm a gamer since 4 yrs old, and therefore during the last 21 years I've played a TON of games. Some good, some bad, but these... these are the cream of the butter. Legends. Epic Wins, if you will.

Best Videogames I Have Ever Played.

Instead of doing a simple Top N and/or splitting them between genres, I've decided to be original and split them between themes. And then, I've sorted the themes in a descending order. Also, there are some duplicates among the lists, but that's understandable since many of them encompass more than one stylistic genre. Also, I haven't included casual games, but I'd like to honor them beforehand - Tetris, Kyodai Mahjong and Minesweeper are my favorite timekillers for as long as I know myself.

As for the rest...

Science Fiction: Marathon 2: Durandal
Unsorted runners-up: Marathon, Marathon Infinity, Cyber Org, DOOM, Turrican 3, Einhander, Star Control 1-2, Phantasy Star Universe series, Dune 1-2, X-COM 1-3, Elite 1-2, Quake 2, Quazatron, Academy, Unreal, Flashback: Quest For Identity

Cyberpunk: Deus Ex
Unsorted runners-up: Crusader: No Remorse, Marathon, Metal Gear Solid, Cyberlords: Arcology, Contra: Hard Corps

Sci-Fi Action: Gunstar Heroes
Unsorted runners-up: Contra, Gunstar Super Heroes, GunForce 2, Commander Keen 6, Tyrian, Oni, Soldier Blade, Exolon, Trantor: The Last Stormtrooper, Rogue Trooper (1986), Disruptor

Post-Apocalypse: Fallout 2
Unsorted runners-up: Fallout, Necrodome, Quarantine

'Die Hard On An X': Half-Life
Unsorted runners-up: System Shock 2, Metal Gear Solid, Saboteur 2, The Great Escape (1986)

Dystopia: Crusader: No Remorse
Unsorted runners-up: Deus Ex, Freedom Fighters, Unreal Tournament

War: Call Of Duty
Unsorted runners-up: Gears Of War 2, Operation Flashpoint, Command & Conquer, Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun, Command & Conquer: Generals, Harrier Attack, Shock Troopers

Political Thriller: Metal Gear Solid
Unsorted runners-up: Crusader: No Remorse

Comedy: Duke Nukem 3D
Unsorted runners-up: MDK 1-2, Earthworm Jim 1-2, Battletoads, Battletoads And Double Dragon, Scorched Earth, Commander Keen 6, Kyatto Ninden Teyandee, Metal Slug 3, Off-World Interceptor Extreme

Body Horror: System Shock 2
Unsorted runners-up: Dead Space, Super C, Parasite Eve, Resident Evil 4, Venom

Zombie Horror: Resident Evil 2
Unsorted runners-up: Resident Evil 1/3/5, Left 4 Dead, System Shock 2, Half-Life

Supernatural Horror: DOOM
Unsorted runners-up: Silent Hill, Maken Shao: Demon Sword

Vampire Horror: Castlevania: Symphony Of The Night
Unsorted runners-up: Castlevania: Rondo Of Blood, Castlevania Bloodlines, BloodRayne

Romance: Ys I&II Chronicles
Unsorted runners-up: Metal Gear Solid 3

Police Action: Pursuit Force
Unsorted runners-up: True Crime: Streets Of L.A., Max Payne, Turbo Esprit

Crime: Max Payne
Unsorted runners-up: GTA, GTA 3, Streets Of Rage 2

Martial Arts: Mortal Kombat 3
Unsorted runners-up: Ninja Gaiden 1-3, Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2, Double Dragon 2, Street Fighter 2, Saboteur 2

Fantasy: Hexen 2
Unsorted runners-up: Hexen, Ys I&II Chronicles, The Dark Heart Of Uukrul, Quake, The Legend Of Kyrandia 1-2, Super Mario Bros., Fairlight, Rapscallion, Savage (1988)