Print

Please login or register.

1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever

Login with username, password and session length

[Gargulec]

It is that time again! After few long months of deathly stillness, Chaosforge lunges back to life: and its life is epitomised by newest marvel from our beloved Majesty hands: Doom The Roguelike 0.9.9.4 BETA 1. This version will bring a number of new features, never seen before, and it will shake the foundation of earth and sky, and when it is released, doom will rain from heavens upon the heathen...

So convert quickly, make a donation and observe the cool new features as they are added.

And if you can't: here is the run-down on what is new so far.

Sidenote: interestingly, this is one of the stablest betas ever seen by the betatesters, and almost entirely free of bugs.

Bugfixes
Let us see: two bugs that were visible and prominent (Armory level being destroyable, and Armory being completed without Shambler biting the dust) -  squashed.
One very little known, yet ancient bug (armor and player name colors at extreme value starting to turn into weirdest of colors) - squashed.
Number of bugs so insanely obscure that nobody ever knew of them - squashed.
Yes, bug-cleansing of the game is proceeding as planned. 

New Features
And again, a number of features you might be interested in:

• Ammo packs, as suggested in RFE forums.
• Three new level events!
• Items on explored squares are now visible - and while this change is still experimental, it was met with wide acclaim among testers.
• Bridges are now (finally, I'd say) guaranteed to spawn on rivers. So fear not their rushing sound. Which is not actually yet implemented.
• A few more cosmetic changes - including higher number of Pain Elemental spawns and Cyberdemon being immune to lava/acid.

So far, the changes has not been that numerous, right? But wait! There is more to come, and this more will be earthshaking! Just wait until His Majesty Kornel, Almighty Forgemaster puts, for example, character classes upon his anvil and adds them!

And if you want to see this changes before anyone else, seriously, appreciate his omnipotence and donate!

[Kornel Kisielewicz]

The Zeal of the Priests of the 'Forge always takes me by surprise D:

[General Patton]

i iz in ur forj givn u tin dahlurs

i can haz baytuh

[Shoop da Whoop]

Yay, now I have contribution in the game!

[Angles of death]

I just have a question, will the Cyberdemon walk through acid and lava, now? On my previous game, the Cyberdemon was rendered immobile by the

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

napalm laucher

and was pretty much a sitting duck.

[tehtmi]

In the current beta, the cyberdemon is immune to acid and lava. As a result, he will happily walk through them.

[Shoop da Whoop]

It's nearly two weeks passed, we want bread and circuses!
*Shoop da Whoop walks around thread nervously*

[Gargulec]

First, huge apologizes from my side from posting this approximately two weeks after the beta was posted, but the thing is, I was away most of that time.

Anyway. Beta 2(B, because first attempt at beta 2 was kind of... well, bugged) is upon us, and thank Kornel for that. I can already assure you that changes in it are BIG. How big? Well, as big as introduction of master traits in .9.9, and that means REALLY big - for DoomRL now has classes. Of course, this is scarcely the only addition in this beta, but I am quite sure that the most important one. So, if you finally want to gain a class... well, you know what: Almighty Kornel appreciates donations.

Bugfixes
None apart from bugs introduced by previous beta, so nothing that would concern wider audience. Well, maybe one thing: BB-colored screenshots will now be more accurately coloured.

New Features
And here, the list is now quite long, so sit back and listen:

• Three character classes - marine, scout and technician!
• Four (!) new master traits - Scavenger that disassembles and Survivalist that is Badass^2 and Sharpshooter and Running Man.
• Much needed nerf of Intuition.
• Slight recolouring of pinky demons to make them... well, pinkier?
• New song by our awesome IRC regular Simon-v - Something Wicked, to be heard in the Mortuary.

Okay. That is a bit, is not it? And if it sounds interesting enough for you, there is little stopping you from seeing and playing with it just now - only a smallest donation. And seriously, Kornel needs them. So, be kind to your devloper, and donate a bit.

[Shoop da Whoop]

Well, better late than never.

[StarStorm]

Nice. I wonder what the differences between the three classes will be?

[General Patton]

Marines can take Badass immediately without needing TaN. Scouts can do the same for Intuition and Technicians can go right for Whizkid.

Each class has different master traits to choose from.
Marines get Vampyre (minimum level 6), Army of the Dead (minimum level 6), Ammochain, Sharpshooter (max damage on all pistol attacks, SoG3 & EE3, blocks TaN SoB & Dualgunner) and Survivalist (armor can reduce attacks to zero damage and medkits can heal you above 100%, Iro3 TaN2 & Badass, blocks Hr SoB & Berserker).
Scouts get Blademaster, Fireangel, Gun Kata, Cateye (minimum level 6) and Running Man (double run duration without aiming penalties, Juggler & Dodgemaster, blocks TaN SoB & Dualgunner).
Technicians get Vampyre, Fireangel, Ammochain, Sharpshooter and Scavenger (can turn some guns into mods [modded or assembled=common mod, exotic or unique=any mod {can produce multiple copies of otherwise unique mods}], Juggler Int1 & Whizkid2, blocks Berserker Dualgunner & Triggerhappy).

Btw, don't try Ao100 as a Technician with Scavenger AND Sharpshooter. You can only take ONE master trait.

[Game Hunter]

Adding on to Patton's post, the ideal product will be that every class will have five UNIQUE master traits from which players can select. We've already started brainstorming ideas for new masters to fit the duplicate spaces (the most likely candidates to replace are MVm/MFa/MAc from Technician and MSs from Marine) and will hopefully leave us with fifteen total masters. In this way, masters can be tailor-fit to the class's requirements, rather than carefully balancing masters across multiple classes (which would be a pain and would still result in everyone picking the best class for that master).

I should also mention that the focus on this version (aside from solidifying classes) will be leaning toward improved game moddability. There will probably still be some AI tweaks to remove the more glaring abuses, but more than likely modders will get the chance to customize the AI easier (which, at the very least, can get them to work toward improving the AI, which can then easily be added in the version after).

[Gargulec]

We are not dead yet! And more, we are being graced by...

DoomRL 0.9.9.4 Beta 3
DoomRL 0.9.9.4 Beta 3b
DoomRL 0.9.9.4 Beta 3c
DoomRL 0.9.9.4 Beta 3d

...okay, that release was troubled, I admit, but that is mostly due to the fact that the game engine itself is undergoing massive reworking, which, while not affecting us, ordinary players that much means that a) there is a whole lotta of bugs in this beta(s), b) modders can do even more now, and if you have seen samples of their work, you will know how good is that - for TCs are not that far ahead of us!

Anyway, new beta is out and is being tested right at the moment, by a dedicated group of people who have shown heart and donated to Kornel Almighty so... I won't linger and just scribe what is new (granted, the changes are few, though kind of big...):

Bugfixes
Barring some beta-exclusive insects and bugs, there is one bug more important squashed by this beta, an amusing one, too. You see, few threads ago, I have mentioned an introduction of single monster level types, but anyone who has played recent version can confirm a lack of such events in actual gameplay... and that was due to a bug, that was, rejoice, squashed by Our Divine Developer in the newest, that is that one, beta.

New Features
And again, a number of features you might be interested in:

• Each character class now has a class-specific special trait: instantaneous item usage for technicians, stair-sense for scouts and extra toughness for marines!
• New challenge mode: claustrophobic Angel Of Darkness (though it is less of a new and more of an "old classic revamped to modern standards!:
• Angel of Light Travel revamp!
• And last but not least, a very classy DoomRL menu sounds!

So, that is all for now, stay tuned for future updates, donate if you want to experience them on your own... and... well... know that the new version of DoomRL will see public release before the first day of the month of September!

[Shoop da Whoop]

Seems like now there is classic trio - The Tough, The Fast and The Smart.
And if in AoDa you cannot see far, then is rather agoraphobic challenge.

[Ander Hammer]

Oooh, classy menu sounds. I hope they are what I think they are.

I can't donate to check until at least next month. :(

[Gargulec]

And another big thing! Yes, faster than we would expect, DoomRL 0.9.9.4 Beta 4 was given to us by his divine majesty Kornel, and as I said, this one is big. Like, really big.

First of all, however, it must be known to the wider world now (wider world being everyone not frequenting our most divine IRC channel, which would be considered blasphemy, if I had anything to say on that subject) that Kornel Almighty is no longer alone at working on the code of DoomRL. A good fellow named tehtmi joined him, and in their joint effort DoomRL is being made even more great than it is now with every day.

But I digress. What new this version brings to us? Well, a big thing: resistances. Yes, now various items will grant you resistances to numerous types of damage, and some enemies will be more hardy against some of your weapons (for example, Lost Souls having 50% resistance to 'bullet' damage type). And that is only the tip of the iceberg.

Also, this time I won't be reminding that you should donate to see those changes before they go public, because, frankly, if you are following this thread, then you should know that already.

Bugfixes
Tehtmi has fixed a number of bugs that were - I believe - present in previous version, but so insanely obscure that only modders could run into a chance of them occurring (like a game crash with >255 items spawned). So, nothing that you are likely to notice, but it is good to know that only such bugs are fixed as of late.

Oh wait. A vision.

I am reeving a vision!

...well, okay. Some of the fixes were in fact big, Almighty Kornel tells me. And I must repeat after him. Like shotgun aiming. I don't know, I don't use shotguns. But he tells me that I have to tell you that. So yes, good tehtmi fixed also some more obvious things.

...please, no more light!

New Features

• Damage resistances!
• New uniques and exotics (8 exotics, 2 uniques)!
• New assemblies - whole ten of them!
• Another wonderful song by our Simon-v - Of Skull And Bone!
• New AIs for boss enemies!
• And, finally, new ASCII arts for some enemies, including Angel of Death and Arch-viles

So, that is all for now. But it is not the end: and the next beta is going to bring something very, very interesting for every DoomRL player, something really worth seeing.

So, stay tuned, and donate if you want to experience the beta!

[Shoop da Whoop]

*Shoop da Whoop runs around slowly losing sanity*

60 specials? 40 assemblies? It's first hundred!
...Cannot remember any other game with such an arsenal.

By the way, will be timeline refreshed? Or everything is now announced on forums?

[MaiZure]

I don't even remember this timeline.
I think that was a picture of DoomRL as seen from v0.9.9.1. Needless to say, we've come a long long way from this.
I think the forums and most of all the IRC channel, are the places to find the most current information.

Still - I WOULD like to see this timeline updated!

EDIT: Gargulec's posts here are the most current *CONFIRMED* details of the latest developments.

[Gargulec]

Listen up, for I won't take long (and I am not going to repeat either)!

Doom The Roguelike zero-nine-nine-four Release Candidate 1 is out for beta testing. I really do not have to say what does it mean for you, right?

So, without much ado.

Bugfixes
Some minor things, one major, though really rare: did you know that overloading nuclear weaponry could overwrite stairs, thus resulting in a level that is impossible to exit? Me neither. And now, no one will be able to see this critical, yet strangely never reported bug.

All hail Tehtmi for this!

New Features
Very few new things, but very big ones. How big?

• New AI for most of the foes!
• Proper and easy to use mod support!

That big. And even bigger.


Okay, there is not much else to tell at that point: RC1 is out, next will follow very soon, before you've noticed, new version will go public. And if you are really desperate to see it RIGHT NOW, consider donating.

[alver]

Oh my, oh my. I wonder if the mod support will extend to the ability to introduce... multiplayer (daydreaming of mangband-style multiplayer, with enemies power scaling up with number of participants and no friendly-fire protection - with central server and stats registered both against players and against npcs. c'mon, if something as simple as Frozen Synapse can gather big audience, just imagine what can DoomRL do in that area...).

[Game Hunter]

Oh my, oh my. I wonder if the mod support will extend to the ability to introduce... multiplayer (daydreaming of mangband-style multiplayer, with enemies power scaling up with number of participants and no friendly-fire protection - with central server and stats registered both against players and against npcs. c'mon, if something as simple as Frozen Synapse can gather big audience, just imagine what can DoomRL do in that area...).

I doubt that multiplayer will come from DRL1. Translating a turn-based game into a real-time environment is a LOT of work. In a game like DRL where projectiles dominate as a means of attack, there would need to be changes to the aiming mechanism, and projectiles themselves may require some changes regarding multiple shots in a burst fire and dodging a given projectile, maybe even to the point of setting up missiles that have their own speed and have to be dodged in order for damage to be done. It's not that it couldn't be implemented given time  but, at least for now, modding support doesn't go quite that far as to radically change the game system. Honestly, MDRL would almost be an entirely different game, much the way M Angband is, at the fundamental level of gameplay, an entirely different machine from its predecessor.

Of course, if you're saying that it should be a turn-based multiplayer DRL, THAT would be far more likely once online support starts to come into existence. I'm not sure it'd be very fun, or at least not over the course of an entire campaign: single-level mods may be small enough such that taking turns not would make a game last forever. (The stats server is quite possible, however, and I believe it's part of eventual plans now that we have a dedicated server for such things.)

[AStranger]

Some minor things, one major, though really rare: did you know that overloading nuclear weaponry could overwrite stairs, thus resulting in a level that is impossible to exit? Me neither. And now, no one will be able to see this critical, yet strangely never reported bug.

Wait, does that mean... I'm actually invisible?!? They all said I was crazy, but now I finally have proof: http://forum.chaosforge.org/index.php/topic,4451.0.html. Or maybe I've just been awake for way too long, it's hard to tell.

[alver]

I doubt that multiplayer will come from DRL1. Translating a turn-based game into a real-time environment is a LOT of work. In a game like DRL where projectiles dominate as a means of attack, there would need to be changes to the aiming mechanism, and projectiles themselves may require some changes regarding multiple shots in a burst fire and dodging a given projectile, maybe even to the point of setting up missiles that have their own speed and have to be dodged in order for damage to be done. It's not that it couldn't be implemented given time  but, at least for now, modding support doesn't go quite that far as to radically change the game system. Honestly, MDRL would almost be an entirely different game, much the way M Angband is, at the fundamental level of gameplay, an entirely different machine from its predecessor.

Of course, if you're saying that it should be a turn-based multiplayer DRL, THAT would be far more likely once online support starts to come into existence. I'm not sure it'd be very fun, or at least not over the course of an entire campaign: single-level mods may be small enough such that taking turns not would make a game last forever. (The stats server is quite possible, however, and I believe it's part of eventual plans now that we have a dedicated server for such things.)

Have you ever tried mangband? They did exactly that - made a multiplayer out of a roguelike game (angband). And imho it works well there for a campaign mode. I played that ages ago, but the experience was a blast. MAngband shares several similarities with DRL - like non persistant levels, ranged weapons (spells), etc. The only real difference is its not possible to go back upstairs in DRL. It's actually still online (http://www.mangband.org/).

Anyway - i think we wont know the worth of the idea until its tried :-D

[tehtmi]

Wait, does that mean... I'm actually invisible?!? They all said I was crazy, but now I finally have proof: http://forum.chaosforge.org/index.php/topic,4451.0.html. Or maybe I've just been awake for way too long, it's hard to tell.

Nope, not invisible. I got that bug from your post. Thanks for all your bug reports!

[Game Hunter]

Have you ever tried mangband? They did exactly that - made a multiplayer out of a roguelike game (angband). And imho it works well there for a campaign mode. I played that ages ago, but the experience was a blast. MAngband shares several similarities with DRL - like non persistant levels, ranged weapons (spells), etc. The only real difference is its not possible to go back upstairs in DRL.

I suppose my main point was that MAngband was quite probably built from scratch, using an entirely different engine in order to produce real-time gameplay. The game's CONTENT may be similar (if not identical) but the game's playstyle is fundamentally different. Not that I've played it (although it definitely says "real-time" on their website) but I assume that a number of functionalities have been adapted for real-time, which would greatly change any traditional roguelike. In short, I think that MDRL would be a lot like making a second game with a completely new engine, then adapting DRL content to it.

"Mod support" simply refers to the capacity for players to interact with the game's source in order to customize it however they choose. Allowing enough support to switch this game from turn-based to real-time MIGHT be a little too ambitious, even for the most hardcore of modders.

[alver]

'k, point understood, thank you for explanation :-D

[Gargulec]

Well... Ladies and gentleman, I'd like to announce that

Doom The Roguelike 0.9.9.4 has gone GOLD!

Release date is now First of September.

[thelaptop]

0.9.9.4 has been released.  Thanks for following this thread.