Okay fine, here's a big document I wrote that is still mostly up-to-date.
WolfRL design document:
WolfRL is a total conversion of the roguelike title DoomRL. It has been in development since before the existence of the modding sandbox and has been a driving force behind DoomRL modding ever since.
History:
DoomRL modding was an intended feature long before the sandbox came into existence as the Modding subforum can attest, and WolfRL was always intended to be the first TC available when full modding would be available to the public. The mod itself has two different origins. Conceptually Kornel intended to have a simple TC with ten floors and a fight against a boss (Hans Grosse) that would demonstrate the basics of DoomRL modding and serve as a base for future mods. In a parallel development add1 had begun developing his own DoomRL TC based on a custom WAD decrypter/encrypter and decompiled LUA scripts. This TC was based on Wolfenstein as well. Acting without any guidance or approval from Kornel the intent was to release a compiled WAD along with sources that could be plugged in to a DoomRL install and kick off modding, which by that point was viewed as an unlikely future feature by the community. Eventually add1 and Kornel compared notes, the existence of the sandbox in 0991 made modding a reality, and pressure to release a near-contraband kickoff mod subsided. Add1's WolfRL module superceded the original conceptual plan but adopted its intended role as a demonstration and springboard.
Content Description:
WolfRL is an extension of DoomRL and will apply the same principles that made DoomRL great to the WolfRL source materials. Many of the elements port in the same manner though with different sources the end products will often be different. Fight through six episodes of guts and glory, then top it off with the 25 episode Spear of Destiny campaign. Most of the content and themes will be based on the regular and SoD sources. The mac ports, which do not have any unique content but DO have different resources, have also been used, as have the Lost Levels (which DO have new content). Occasional influence from RtCW, Wolf2009, and WolfensteinRPG are also present, though in much smaller quantities.
Target Analysis:
We have two audiences: the players and the developers. Players will obviously be roguelike fans who are familiar with DoomRL's basic mechanics; a tutorial will not be necessary. With the introduction of the mod portal technical sophistication is not required either. Developers on the other hand will want well documented, clean code that if possible mimics the DoomRL scripts in style, although I make a point of omitting certain shorthands that can be very confusing for a person new to Lua. Keeping the code clean and compartmentalized means that egregious hacks are to be discouraged and reusable modules are to be encouraged.
Feature Comparison:
WolfRL may be similar to DoomRL but there are some very key differences in design that will give it a distinctive feel. Here I will go over every major component to DoomRL and compare them.
* General:
WolfRL favors realism. That may seem odd given the source material but it is a deliberate design decision that has been part of its development from the beginning. Realism often conflicts with balance and enjoyment making this a tricky balancing issue; sometimes realism is fudged for gameplay reasons but far less so than most games.
* Menu:
The menu for WolfRL differs from DoomRL in the expected manner (different name and text) but I'd also like to expand on it as a mod should. The player has already played DoomRL and knows what that menu is like. My menu is more dynamic; different music in certain circumstances, more assertive text, etc.
* Player Setup:
The player is largely unchanged aside from flavor texts and the like. Same klasses, same traits. This is too critical to balance to really alter. Difficulty has been condensed from five to four and all difficulties are now permitted in challenges. I hope to reduce instakills too; running around half-cocked is half the fun of both Doom and Wolf afterall.
* Unlockables:
In the classic twist between basic and hardcore gamer, DoomRL unlocks things easily in order to let you have your fun. WolfRL will make you EARN your fun--access to the main campaign will be restricted (if possible--currently it isn't) until you've placed well in the episodes. It's like old school DoomRL where you had to learn AoB before you could move on to the fun modes. Interestingly enough I intend to have all badges be possible and I wish to encourage creative use of the challenges by allowing badges in double challenge modes (and by not having double challenge badges). The difference is you'll NEED to earn them, whereas in DoomRL badges are largely unnecessary and several badges are considered downright impossible.
* Campaigns:
One of the biggest changes is that DoomRL has one campaign while I have seven. Each episode gets a mini-ten level campaign with one secret and one boss. Each campaign is designed to be distinct and the size is meant to be coffeebreak speeds. The seventh campaign is a proper 25 level campaign that mimics SoD.
* Challenges:
I do NOT like standard weapon challenges; that's something you can do on your own without anything there to enforce it. But I do like special weapon challenges. This ties into unlockables as well. Brute gives you extra resistances; Marksman gives you early access to an exotic weapon and ammo; shotgun gives you access to shotguns which do not exist in the main campaign! In addition to the rebranded DoomRL challenges that were still appropriate I included Explosions, Oracle, and reactivated D&D. There's also an infinite levels archangel for people that like that sort of thing; no other archangel is planned.
* Level Generation:
Although the campaigns will have different level generation preferences the guts of level design is largely unchanged, and the changes that do exist are largely inconsequential preference issues (such as my love for multicolored barrels). Visually however level design has been altered with the addition of flair as well as the inclusion of multiple wall types (and multiple sprite sets to go along with them). Flair tiles have no practical purpose (though they can give away room designs); they just look nice.
* Events:
Events were adapted from DoomRL when possible and were not altered much beyond that.
* Mods:
Mods have been kept unaltered. I cannot think of a way to 'port' them conceptually--they just can't be made realistic even for very loose definitons of the word. But they are way too fun to throw out completely.
* Mod Arrays:
Arrays were adapted from DoomRL when possible though I kept the old style design of the mod order affecting the end product (because I really liked that about old assemblies). Unfortunately a lot of assemblies simply cannot be ported, even with very loose guidelines for 'realistic'. Ideas for new assemblies are desired.
* Affects:
In additon to the DoomRL standard effects I've added three new ones that are given to the player through crystals. They are based on Wolf2009 and grant VERY large boosts to speed, power, or defense for a very short period of time. The intent is to make them essentially a 'get out of trouble free' card that can be used to bypass the occasional tricky boss when in a tight spot. They don't work on the final level though and they should be rare--one or two per game.
* Beings:
Beings is obviously a major change from DoomRL for several reasons--almost every enemy has a firearm and almost every enemy is flesh and bone. The weapon issue means that players can expect steady weapon progression as newer enemies are encountered--discussed elsewhere--while the human issue means that we either bend our realism rule or make everyone have 10hp. Obviously we went with the former; beings get more HP as their danger increases.
Beings are more varied in WolfRL than in other games, both in terms of type (each standard Wolf category has two variants while the expanded enemy types can have three) and in stats (enemies can get small health or equipment boosts/detriments to give them some random flavor).
Every regular enemy has a nightmare variant that has more health, a red aura / color scheme, and a damage bonus. Nightmare enemies should never appear in the main campaign.
* Items:
Many items are adopted from DoomRL but healing items do not go above 100% except in very special circumstances (this probably necessitates a revisit of the badass and survivalist traits. Phase devices are no longer random drops; they are reward items. Treasure has been added. It serves no practical value since there is no longer a lives system, but players will probably collect it anyway with greed as the only motivating factor. The only new items that exist for non-effect reasons are the crystals discussed in Affects.
* Weapons:
A major difference. Weapons are portrayed relatively realistically. This means the pistols have eight rounds, the rifles punch holes through armor, and as you encounter new enemies old weapons lose their effectiveness. This favors a system of temporary usefulness--hanging on to your 9mm pistol by end game and slapping a few mods on it isn't nearly as effective as in DoomRL; instead you must upgrade your weapon as enemies drop them. Another major difference--no shotguns. This greatly changes the early and mid-game scouting/knockback strategies.
Exotics are derived from British and American weapons. They are more powerful because, well, they are rarer; we handwave that by saying BJ is more 'experienced' with them. Since most use custom ammunition we must supply the player with plenty on pickup and they are largely useless when they run out (though having a custom weapon makes an ammo basin more likely to drop that ammo type). This slides them into our 'weapon upgrade, temporary usefulness' model nicely enough--by the time you run out of 45s for your Thompson you'll be using rifles anyway. Having and using the exotic weapon in the meantime makes for an easier floor or two until you run out, then you discard it.
Uniques are where all the funky energy weapons of later Wolfenstein lore can be placed. Again though, they have limited ammo.
Lastly, as a special note, since the chaingun is guaranteed in the main campaign by floor 6, it is NOT actually very good--long reload, long fire time, rare ammo for that area, and the STG looks better by comparison. That is all intentional.
* Special Levels:
Special levels and bosses are where I pull out the stops AND where I'm much more willing to use egregious hacks. Each level is meant to be unique and most of the bosses are also meant to be distinct as well. They should make the episodes more memorable and should chain into three narratives in the SoD campaign--5 special levels, 4 specials with TLL influences / bosses, and 5 inline levels with the SoD bosses. They are also intertwined--completing one special level may impact future levels down the line, similar to the Arena, Unchained Court, and Vaults. These sorts of level adjustments should serve to make the future level HARDER--if the player beat an earlier special they're probably in a better spot than if they bypassed it completely.
Experimental Features:
A lives system was considered a desirable feature up until the midway point. KK is adamantly opposed to it and balancing the system would be difficult so it has been removed. I would like to integrate it in some limited manner but how I do not know.
Schedule:
WolfRL needs to be in a releasable state by the time full TC comes around. Currently that is scheduled for March 2013; if you believe that though I have some beachfront property in Nevada to sell you. Realistically the goal is to have a sustained TC beta period before properly releasing both DoomRL TC support and WolfRL; in order to not coincide with a regular beta period it would be ideal to have a special TC beta build immediately after DoomRL 0997 is released. During this beta period the final cleanup, balance, and refinement can be made.
Proper G-mode support is hoped for but may not be practical. The same holds true for ascii art enemies. Both would require an additional resource or a prolonged delay as both are very time consuming and very dull activities; burning out is a real risk.
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Topic: WolfRL (Read 35910 times)