Foreverhood sanity stories

Skadoomer · Post by **Skadoomer** » Wed Jul 13, 2005 10:04

The web-page will be updated soon, but for those that take an interest, i figure i can log my more personal information on the day to day workings of foreverhood here. At least now i have an outlet for the complex noise that plages my head as the mod makes its babysteps foward.

Things have come quite a ways since i handed out the mod to my beta testers almost a month ago. A lot of bugs have been fixed with the gameplay code, which has been almost completely re-structured to fill in the gaps with problems i was having with the characters behavior. I've discovered the joys of modulair programming and the joys of having the code do the grunt work, especially when it comes to distributing enemies and other characters amoung the sections of the world. However, i'm still having a few incredibly bizzarre problems with arryas. Origionally i thought it would be a good idea to seperate all of foreverhoods array blocks into one file to keep them from clogging the libraries. While it worked at first, i'm finding more and more that arrays don't like to be kept in a seperate include file. Its been screwing things up: characters won't spawn, things aren't getting drawn and i'm just plain pissed. I have no idea how daedalus got it wo work, for as far as i can tell i'm doing the exact same thing. Nevertheless, the aproach that is taken is the one that works, putting things togather in an orginised fashion will just have to be a job for the readers of the files.

Now i'm at a stalepoint in the mod. Since a good chunk of the code has been overhauled, the maps that where done are now broken. Infact, in the time it would take to fix this, i could build an entirely new section of the map. Since i'm busy designing areas of the badlesds right now (and various new prefabs), i'm not too enthusiastic about cleaning up the mess it caused in other maps. Drawing and coding are two different sides of the brain for me. While i would love to see at least one map completely finished, the idea of gutting code just isn't going to get done. Best put it off until i'm done building this map section so i can sweep through both of the maps simutaniously and plug the new code into both maps instead of flip flopping. So what am i getting at? There will be no follow-up build to the beta test version, so my current beta testers will have to wait a few months before they get a chance to try anything new. Hopefully by then, i'll have the last section of the game figured out.

Speaking of programming, there isn't a hell of a lot left to do thats critical at this stage. The last of what needs to get done is writing the code ofr the ammo bar, which will work the same way the healthbar does. (as in, draws in pixels the amount of amunition you have leaft for your power weapons) Here is a shot.

More to follow.

Post by **Paul** » Wed Jul 13, 2005 14:50

Nice to see You around Ska. Keep us informed

Chronoteeth · Post by **Chronoteeth** » Wed Jul 13, 2005 18:50

Wait a second...

This is supposed to be part of the doomarmory developement journals, not just normal developement journals.

You better show some weapons ska, or move this into another section.

Post by **wildweasel** » Wed Jul 13, 2005 20:13

Nah, it's alright for now.

Chronoteeth · Post by **Chronoteeth** » Wed Jul 13, 2005 20:41

Oh great. Now it's not even about weapon mods.

Another FINE choice.

Post by **wildweasel** » Thu Jul 14, 2005 5:08

Moved. I'd prune Chrono's flame off but for some reason PHP only lets me do one before disallowing me from using any moderation functions.

...edit: Oh yeah, that's because I don't moderate the Off-Topic forum (only the Armory sections).

Post by **grubber** » Thu Jul 14, 2005 7:57

Moved again. Off-topic area doesn't fit this topic

.

Skadoomer · Post by **Skadoomer** » Thu Jul 14, 2005 8:46

Finally, a home.

Update:
We'll, it seems i was a moron when putting togather resources many months back and underutilised the pnames/texture1 lump files. Several large textures have now been re-made into smaller tialable versions and assembled using patches insead of one large file. This in combination with the new titlemap soundtrack has shaved a good 8 megs off of the total project size. Every little bit counts at this point.

Speaking of guns, I began to setup the logic for a weapon i've been hellbent on making since the mods start. Its a teleport gun that, in its idle animation, spawns a grapich on the map about 128 units away from the player. Upon firing the weapon, the player is teleported where the icon is. It could make for a very different style of gameplay if the initial framework for it works out, but i'm currently trying to figure out how to spawn a destination estimator when looking at a wall, or aiming upwards. The thought that the object cound spawn at the ceiling seems like an acceptable solution, but when your ceiling is 1280 and your resting on a -680 ground, it might defeat the purpose.

Finished detailing section 2 of the badlands. Framerates varied from 31-50 on my PIII, so it looks to be a sucess. Now i pray the last round of detailing (the tree branch midlines) don't take away too much performance wise.

I really should make these updates shorter too.

Snarboo · Post by **Snarboo** » Fri Jul 15, 2005 3:29

Skadoomer wrote:I really should make these updates shorter too.

Heh, you can make them as long as you like! That's what these forums are for. ;)

As for the progress with Forever Hood, it all sounds good. I'm really looking forward to this project with baited breath. This could possibly be the largest, most interesting and professionally made mod since Action Doom, although I think Forever Hood has already passed Action Doom in sheer size and scope. I just love how people, even years after Doom's prime, are still pushing the game and the engine behind it to the limits. It's even more surprising that people are willing and able to push themselves and this game well beyond the scope of a commercial project, for free no less! It saddens me that a mod or project like the Forever Hood might not have seen the light of day if it had been a commercial product, but I'm very glad there are people willing to take the time to make something like this for free.

It's people like those in the Doom Community that really redefine games and gameplay, not big game companies. And for that, I am proud to be a Doomer and a gamer! :D

Skadoomer · Post by **Skadoomer** » Fri Jul 15, 2005 9:40

Snarboo wrote:It's people like those in the Doom Community that really redefine games and gameplay, not big game companies.

Speaking of which, I've decided to persue my gaming ambitions and make foreverhood a life prioroty in hopes of competing here. Most peoiple seem to submit to the foreverhood phnomenon upon hearing its name, so why hide a good thing?

Applications aren't due until october (thankgod) for the 2006 event, so this buys me some time. Fuck grad school, this is a chance to do something much more rewarding (or at least find a grouping of people who i can network with) toward a career thatr i'd always dreamed or having.

So now in the wee hours of 4:30 am (pst), i can start to re-think my aproach to building this mod. I've already revised the concept once (making it 1/3rd of what it origionally was), but there are still many loose ends to tie down. Firstly is the games weapons, which have been a bit of guesswork as i wait for zdoom to officially incorporate the programming so i know what limits i'm working with. Currently all the cool stuff is hard-coded into the engine (aka, hexen). Then again, maybe i'll pull a zanzan and rework hitscan weapon types in a more unconventional mannor. My other real BIG option is wether or not to incorporate the inventory system into the game. I like the idea of using it with my current enemy karma system, but am a little weary of adding such a big change in this late in its development. perhaps it will fall into place once the levels are built and the scripting is "finished".

I really wish i was a robot and didn't need to sleep. It would make this building process go so much faster.

DoomRater · Post by **DoomRater** » Tue Jul 19, 2005 4:23

Just a question- are you planning to use DECORATE weaponry for this? From what I saw you were using the Hexen weaponry, which although it might do some of what you want, it doesn't offer much in the flexibility of getting those weapons to work based on the karma.

I realize that recoding the stuff to make it work using DECORATE might be something of a pain in the ass, but then again if I wouldn't be so lazy I could build some sample weapons with a working money concept and NO SCRIPTS OTHER THAN SPAWNING MONSTERS AND THE SHOP. I'd actually have a working concept map of what I'd like to do myself, and I'm sure the concepts could help out others who are hard at work with intensive projects like your own.

Skadoomer · Post by **Skadoomer** » Sat Jul 23, 2005 9:17

Just a question- are you planning to use DECORATE weaponry for this? From what I saw you were using the Hexen weaponry, which although it might do some of what you want, it doesn't offer much in the flexibility of getting those weapons to work based on the karma.

I always found hexens weapons to be more interesting than any of the others i've seen in other games , and they are the ones that pertain the closest to "magic" so I basted the weapons in the "proto-type" build on them.

You've got the wrong idea with the karma system though. It makes no sense to have a single weapon try and do two different attacks with two different idle frames. (if such a thing as two different idle frames can even be done) Its a lot cleaner for me if i make two different weapons and use the code i wrote for the faked auto-switcher to do the rest. All i have to do is keep adding in checks (which is going to get uglier and uglier) to see which conditions perscribe different weapons. If you have a better solution, i'm all ears.

I realize that recoding the stuff to make it work using DECORATE might be something of a pain in the ass, but then again if I wouldn't be so lazy I could build some sample weapons with a working money concept and NO SCRIPTS OTHER THAN SPAWNING MONSTERS AND THE SHOP.

The inventory i'm told is one of those things that is incredibly powerful, especially when it comes to programing weapons. However, i'm unaware of what the limits are (beleave me, i have a few ideas of some bizzarre weapons) Maybe in the not-so-distant-future i'll get some time to play with the code. Until then, i'll wait and see what weapon modders come up with so i know where the lines are drawn.

Skadoomer · Post by **Skadoomer** » Tue Jul 26, 2005 7:11

Another day, another time to battle my biggest foe in this modding adventure: the framerate.

I've been working on this section for hours. Its sopposed to rework this area.

Now this area contains a lot of verticies with that swily thing on the floor. So origionally i setup the area to be really small. It was meant to offer an intorduction to some basic characters before the player got a chance to actually attack anything.

So now i am forced to re-work this world into a larger artea to cram in more explinations of foreverhoods bizzarre gameplay before the player gets to the proceeding section (where he will jump right into the action) Its not a lot of time to bring many things up to speed.

And here i sit, pissedd because it seems that my frame-rate is suffering well into the teens (i'd liem it to be between 28-35) because of how the world is laid out. I don't get it, i've put several tall structures in the way of detailed areas, but to no avail.

Sigh, its going to be a long night. I'll post a shot when something finally works out.

BioHazard · Post by **BioHazard** » Tue Jul 26, 2005 7:30

This wad is so gonna rock

Post by **Paul** » Tue Jul 26, 2005 11:15

I support the above poster