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1
General Discussion / Re: Design Rant : Inventory
« on: March 10, 2014, 12:17 »
List inventory all the way. Maybe have large items like unworn armor and heavy weapons take additional spots to somewhat simulate how unwieldy they are, but grid inventories are just that much more prone to clusterfuck the interface to be worth it in my opinion. Don't see why ammo boxes would be mandatory - couldn't the HUD just take stock of how many rounds of whatever weapon the PC is using is currently in the inventory and display that?

2
General Discussion / Re: Teaser: Remember Doll #1
« on: November 21, 2013, 07:13 »
So, mutations and is that a cybernetic arm? Nice. So are the antirads only for diminishing enviromental hazards or your take on the food clock? Should get interesting.

3
Wishlist? Aight.

*Better map generator. Current DoomRL maps tend to look very artificial, would like to see more organic dungeon layout (not every level being a perfect rectangle consisting of square rooms with 1-tile walls etc). I'm a big fan of how Brogue does this (randomized enviroments together with heavily scripted key vaults/traps scattered about) - having, say, premade alcoves opening up to reveal monsters as the player approaches would be very doomish and neat. As would implementing keycards and switches changing the dungeon layout that the player would need to find in order to proceed.

*Cover system, eg standing behind a piece of furniture or at a corner would give bonus armor versus ballistic attacks from the obvious directions. Clear visual cues showing the player which monsters he's currently in cover from.

*Mutual LOS. Yeah, not that big a fan of cornershooting. Also functionally infinite LOS range but for blocking terrain and terrain features. If the LOS range is artificially reduced, there needs to be a proper explanation for this, eg smokescreens or local light conditions.

*Slow projectile weapons to compensate for the lack of cornershooting, meaning plasmaballs behave as charging lost souls do currently. Obviously the map generator would need to take this into account in order to spawn enough enemies and wide enough spaces in order to make dodging everything difficult to impossible. Also would require enemies utilizing these kind of weapons to downright refuse to charge the player single file down corridors. To compensate, projectile weapons would ignore (and sometimes destroy) cover. This would mean the player has the dual compunctions of seeking cover to shield himself from ballistic weapons and staying mobile to dodge projectiles. Add keeping distance from melee enemies and that's quite a lot of priorities for the player to juggle right there.

*Better AI. I mean it doesn't need to be at Smart Kobolds level but even little things like staying in cover relative the player, (sometimes) sidestepping projectiles and avoiding bottlenecks would at least require us to find new exploits.

*Renaming damage cathegories. I mean Plasma contains more thermal energy than fire by definition, and it isn't like missiles destroys stuff by setting them aflame. One could probably also collapse the current fire (or concussive/explosive/whateveryoucallit), melee and ballistic damage into one type since they all boil down to kinetic force. Corrosive damage still work as a unique type I suppose, as do radiation sources and electricity (granted they eventually boil down to thermal energy as well, but the mode of delivery is still unique).

*Player progression and later enemies being defined by new abilities rather than bigger numbers.

*Non-directional audio cues. being able to deduce direction of sound on the X-axis is weird and immersion-breaking to me, and knowing that something is close by but not where is scarier anyhow.

EDIT: Oh yeah, and just so that I don't only rehash my gripes with DoomRL, what about replacing any potential food system with the main character being addicted to combat drugs? The player has to keep him above a minimum threshold or face lower performance out of his hellguy, and eventually go into abstinence (not killing the character outright, but crippling his stats across the board and inducing hallucinations and epileptic fits). Willfully overdosing the drugs would also be an option, temporarily raising stats at the cost of washing the excess drugs out of the system faster.

4
Requests For Features / Re: Automatic medpack use.
« on: September 04, 2013, 17:32 »
Using items from your inventory costs energy however; automating their use is liable to get you killed more rather than less once you start encountering 1/2-shot situations.

5
Requests For Features / Wandering Monsters?
« on: May 27, 2013, 08:32 »
How come? The original game doesn't have them. Other Roguelikes do, but mainly as mechanic to disturb resting and keeping the player from recovering resources between every other step - which DoomRL doesn't feature. As is, the only gameplay element that encourages players to rest for any extended amount of time is to wait for aforementioned monsters to blunder into sight, which is.. an interesting subversion.

Not really proposing that this should be changed now (because cornershooting, radarshooting, closet monsters requiring the map code to be built from scratch etc) but I'm interested in hearing some thoughts about it.

6
Let me be one of many people to congratulate you on even getting that far. That's insane. Also, since no one else stepped up to it allow me to be the first to remind you that OH MY GOD YOU TELEPORTED BLINDLY IN A ROGUELIKE WHYYYYYYYY???

7
I've only really played it extensively asa scout, but isn't there like 2 doors in the acid lake area to use and abuse for this? With no armor and tactical Boots, any class should be able to outrun the demons and shut the door on them. Armor up, equip shotgun, open door, blast, close door. Seems legit.

8
Post Mortem / Re: [M|AoB|YAAM/YAFW] Berserk Conqueror
« on: May 07, 2013, 13:22 »
I was going to ask how many Envirosuits you needed for lavapits without hellrunner until I saw the Angel Arm activation. Also:

Quote
You see : John Carmack (unhurt) | pool of blood | [ m ]ore
 You see : John Carmack (lightly wounded) | pool of blood | [ m ]ore
 You hit John Carmack. John Carmack reloads his rocket launcher. You need to
 You see : John Carmack (heavily wounded) | pool of blood | [ m ]ore
 You see : John Carmack (mortally wounded) | pool of blood | [ m ]ore
 You hit John Carmack. John Carmack dies. Congratulations! You defeated John
 Carmack! Press <Enter>...

That's some mighty fine ripping/tearing if I ever saw some.

9
Post Mortem / Re: [UV|YAAM|YAFV] a conqueror is I
« on: May 07, 2013, 09:24 »
Wait...  what?  You cleared the Mortuary on your first try?  At Ultra-Violence?  :o  And how did you clear Unholy Cathedral without Berserker trait?  Sounds like you have some pretty impressive skills there!  :)

Thanks! Dunno about skills. I've played enough roguelikes to know to abuse whatever spoilers and funky AI behaviour I can get, and the RNG didn't pitch anything -too- horrible this run so the rest was basically the same routine throughout (get LOS, get corner, get things killed). I still wouldn't have the patience to do this thing damageless however..

The mortuary involved two blood skulls, grautitious amounts of rocket radarshooting and a bulkmodded BFG (which I in my inscrutable wisdom promptly used to wipe out the only cover on the map along with at least one supercharge - go me). I ran out of means to dispose of corpses about halfway through, but by then only one or two viles remained as well (the rest having fought and died valiantly outside of my line of sight).  After that I almost ran out of shells sweeping the remaining enemies toward the right wall using shotgun blasts until i wore down the remaining viles, picking up ammo as I went and having to return to the far left once when I ran out of health. Beginners luck?

The cathedral involved cheating - basically I'd found out beforehand that Finesse 2 and enough movement speed to outpace the angel means that you can put 2 squares between you and wait - if the angel takes a double step to close the distance (emptying its energy pool in the process) this leaves enough time to strike once and backpedal before it can retaliate. I was hurt once in the entire ordeal, but that was from accidentally stepping in lava. Someone ought to nerf that really.

Quote
Well, if that's what you want to do, suit yourself, but the next version probably won't come out for a while, and I would've thought you'd like to try for a Diamond badge or two before then.  With this mortem as an example of your playing ability, I'm sure you could do it.  :)

I'm not really fond of chasing achivements, and whilst there's an impressive number of viable builds they all seem to play simularily, so there's not a lot of replay value for me atm. I'd be happy to take suggestions for other roguelikes should I feel the need to procrastinate my way to another re-exam though - I'll probably check out Berserk next.

@scotherns: Thanks!

10
Post Mortem / [U|YAAM|YAFV] a conqueror is I
« on: May 07, 2013, 07:22 »
My second victory overall, first UV victory and first conqueror victory.

Since my last succesful run was Ammochain I knew I wanted something different and eventually ended up with Shotgun Scout. Build was Ok, I feel that Intuition isn't really needed what with all the waiting and radarshooting you need to do anyway, albeit there was a few times in hell where open door -> Mancubus almost killed me. Mortuary kind of sucked, it was the first time I entered it so I "only" packed about four stacks of missiles. In the end, I used up all of my ammo, my meager healthkit stockpile and my fireproofed red armor. I did get a combat shotgun for the trouble though, to go along with several hundred shells dropped by former sergeants, which lasted the rest of the game. The Lava Pits -Really- sucked, since I only bothered to bring one envirosuit. After camping the spawn for several irl minutes to draw out the pain elementals I finally advanced, killed the first swarm of revenants and.. ran out. Cue island hopping, 4 or 5 small medpacks, lots of radarshooting and a nasty set of blisters. The lava elemental was a pushover though, my power modded combat shotty pushed him out of my LOS and I had found a Lasrifle to capitalize on juggler and my speed at that point. The last level was kind, with an early motion tracking map for leuisurely Nuclear BFG Sniping of the resident Barons. To top it off it dropped an invulnerability right by the entrance to dis. Nuke. Putting a point in Brawler only to settle on Jackhammer over Azrael's Scythe for the final battle anyway. Used everything but the kitchen sink. Flawless victory.

And now Imma take a break from this game until the next version comes along, 'twas fun whilst it lasted.

--------------------------------------------------------------
 DoomRL (0.9.9.7) roguelike post-mortem character dump
--------------------------------------------------------------

 Igor Savin, level 16 Imp Sergeant Scout,
 nuked the Mastermind at the Hell Fortress.
 He survived 167001 turns and scored 401187 points.
 He played for 4 hours, 43 minutes and 10 seconds.
 He was a man of Ultra-Violence!

 He killed 1486 out of 1486 hellspawn. (100%)
 This ass-kicking marine killed all of them!

 He saved himself once.

-- Special levels --------------------------------------------

  Levels generated : 11
  Levels visited   : 11
  Levels completed : 11

-- Awards ----------------------------------------------------

  Medal of Prejudice
  UAC Star (gold cluster)
  Aurora Medallion
  Explorer Badge
  Conqueror Badge
  Grim Reaper's Badge
  Hell Armorer Badge
  Hell Champion Medal
  Armorer Silver Badge
  Heroic Bronze Badge
  UAC Gold Badge
  Veteran Bronze Badge
  Veteran Silver Badge
  Veteran Gold Badge
  Veteran Platinum Badge
  Elite Platinum Badge
  Longinus Gold Badge

-- Graveyard -------------------------------------------------

  ###########################################################
  ..........................................................#
  ..........................................................#
  ..........................................................#
  ..........................................................#
  ..........................................................#
  ..........................................................#
  ..........................................................#
  ..............................................||..........#
  ...................................................|......#
  .....................................................%..%.#
  ..........................................................#
  ....................................................|.....#
  ...............................................%%.||||....#
  ................................................%|..}.....#
  ............................................%......|.|....#
  .....................................................X....#
  ..........................................................#
  .................................................%.%......#
  ###########################################################

-- Statistics ------------------------------------------------

  Health 60/60   Experience 120623/16
  ToHit Ranged +0  ToHit Melee +2  ToDmg Ranged +0  ToDmg Melee +3

-- Traits ----------------------------------------------------

  Class : Scout

    Ironman          (Level 1)
    Finesse          (Level 3)
    Hellrunner       (Level 3)
    Reloader         (Level 2)
    Brute            (Level 1)
    Juggler          (Level 1)
    Dodgemaster      (Level 1)
    Whizkid          (Level 2)
    Shottyman        (Level 1)
    Shottyhead       (Level 1)

  HR->HR->Rel->Rel->Fin->Fin->SM->DM->Jug->MSh->WK->WK->HR->Fin->Iro->Bru->

-- Equipment -------------------------------------------------

    [a] [ Armor      ]   Angelic Armor [3/7] (45%)
    [b] [ Weapon     ]   Jackhammer (8d3)x3 [3/9]
    [c] [ Boots      ]   tactical boots [0/0] (100%)
    [d] [ Prepared   ]   BFG 9000 (10d6) [9/220] (B3T1)

-- Inventory -------------------------------------------------

    [a] assault shotgun (9d3) [6/6] (P2)
    [b] laser rifle (1d7)x5 [15/40] (T1)
    [c] nuclear BFG 9000 (8d6) [40/40]
    [d] duelist armor [4/4] (100%) (P)
    [e] Shielded Armor [2]
    [f] Azrael's Scythe (9d9)
    [g] shotgun shell (x20)
    [h] rocket (x3)
    [i] homing phase device
    [j] envirosuit pack

-- Resistances -----------------------------------------------

    Bullet     - internal 0%    torso 25%   feet 0%   
    Melee      - internal 0%    torso 25%   feet 0%   
    Shrapnel   - internal 0%    torso 25%   feet 0%   

-- Kills -----------------------------------------------------

    102 former humans
    122 former sergeants
    66 former captains
    171 imps
    111 demons
    481 lost souls
    70 cacodemons
    53 hell knights
    88 barons of hell
    37 arachnotrons
    20 former commandos
    45 pain elementals
    41 revenants
    29 mancubi
    28 arch-viles
    12 nightmare demons
    2 bruiser brothers
    1 shambler
    1 lava elemental
    1 agony elemental
    1 Angel of Death
    1 Cyberdemon
    1 Spider Mastermind
    1 John Carmack
    1 Arena Master

-- History ---------------------------------------------------

  He started his journey on the surface of Phobos.
  On level 2 he entered Hell's Arena.
  He left the Arena as a champion!
  On level 5 he stormed the Chained Court.
  On level 5 he found the Arena Master's Staff!
  He defeated the Hell Arena Master!
  On level 7 he sneaked into the Phobos Lab.
  On level 7 he assembled a tactical shotgun!
  He broke through the lab.
  On level 8 he encountered the Phobos Anomaly.
  On level 8 he assembled a fireproof armor!
  On level 9 he assembled a tactical boots!
  On level 9 he entered Hell's Armory.
  On level 9 he found the Mega Buster!
  On level 9 he assembled a tactical armor!
  He destroyed the evil within and reaped the rewards!
  On level 10 he found the Shielded Armor!
  On level 11 he arrived at the Containment Area.
  He emerged from the Containment Area victorious!
  On level 12 he found the City of Skulls.
  He wiped out the City of Skulls.
  On level 14 he assembled a double chainsaw!
  On level 14 he ventured into the Halls of Carnage.
  Level 15 was a hard nut to crack!
  On level 16 he found the Tower of Babel!
  On level 17 he stumbled into a complex full of mancubi!
  On level 17 he invaded the Unholy Cathedral!
  On level 17 he found the Azrael's Scythe!
  He then destroyed the Unholy Cathedral!
  On level 19 he entered the Vaults.
  On level 19 he found the Jackhammer!
  He cracked the Vaults and cleared them out!
  On level 20 he was foolish enough to enter the Mortuary!
  On level 20 he found the Angelic Armor!
  He managed to clear the Mortuary from evil!
  On level 22 he entered the Lava Pits.
  He managed to clear the Lava Pits completely!
  Then at last he found Dis!
  He nuked level 24!
  He defeated the Mastermind and found the TRUE EVIL!
  Then finally in Hell itself, he killed the final EVIL.

-- Messages --------------------------------------------------

 You dodge! Boom!
 You dodge! Boom!
 You swap your weapons instantly!
 The baron of hell dies. The hell knight dies. The hell knight dies. The baron
 of hell dies. You hear the scream of a freed soul! The hell knight dies. The
 baron of hell dies. The baron of hell dies. You are hit!
 You dodge! Boom!
 You feel vulnerable again.
 You swap your weapons instantly!
 Carmack raises his hands and summons hellspawn!
 The revenant dies.
 You hear the scream of a freed soul!
 The revenant dies. You hear the scream of a freed soul!
 John Carmack dies. Congratulations! You defeated John Carmack! Press
 <Enter>...
 You feel relatively safe now.

-- General ---------------------------------------------------

 83 brave souls have ventured into Phobos:
 72 of those were killed.
 And 9 couldn't handle the stress and committed a stupid suicide.

 2 souls destroyed the Mastermind...
 2 showed that it can outsmart Hell itself.

--------------------------------------------------------------

11
Only if you straight up implemented them without designing around that fact. Sure, dodging a single Imp indefinetly would be trivial (as it should be imo), but a mob of them? Whilst simultaneously finding the time to off former humans and demons charging at you? There's still challenge to be had in that (albeit not anything much like what the game throws atm, but I'd consider it an improvement).

12
1) Not really crazy about cornershooting the way it is either. I'm currently trying to move on to UV and cornershooting with knockback being the only viable early game tactic gets old quickly. This is especially since the game actively punishes the player for exploring non-cleared areas and generally moving around in combat. Radarshooting isn't as bad in comparison since it allows the player some mobility when leaving that precious cover, albeit being able to shoot farther than your sight range is still unintuitive from a gameplay/design standpoint.

2) I like the way ambient sound plays an active role in gameplay, however as other have noted being able to track enemies only on the x-axle is.. weird. To me it'd be perfect if players could only tell how close a mob was by listening without giving clues as to directions - we wouldn't want to spoil those brownnote moments when you realize that Baron is right beside you now would we?

So what would I like to see if I could redesign gameplay from the ground up? WYSIWYG. Functionally infinite sightrange along with a strictly symmetrical formula for determining LOS past corners. Standing beside a corner would still give the player some amount of protection from ballistic weaponry. In order to encourage the player to move tactically in combat, I would also go with non-ballistic projectiles being rendered on the screen and moving at their target at set speeds, exactly the way charging lost souls currently functions. The net result would (hopefully) be that the DoomGuy would be forced into a gamestyle more akin to the original game, constantly weaving in between fireball barrages whilst simultaneously trying to put walls between himself and opposing Zombies/Archviles.

Granted, that would also require getting rid of current core gameplay features, redoing the level generator from the ground up to prevent every single level from degenerating into an arena free for all as well as the complete rebalancing of everything but the spritesheet. Also, the end product would probably play closer to a puzzle game than a contemporary roguelike. Then again, being able to run circles around 20+ imps and their mother again? Without going from 100 to 0 in less time that it took to type that? Hell yeah.

13
Post Mortem / Re: [H|99%|YAFW] A winner is I
« on: April 26, 2013, 17:32 »
Wait, you use another acronym for killing him whom shall not be named? Huh. Changed title to accomodate that.

14
Post Mortem / Re: [H|99%|YAVP] A winner is I
« on: April 26, 2013, 16:45 »
Thanks! The stairs thing never crossed my mind tbh, and even if it had I wouldn't have been to keen to experiment (this being a good run and all). There's always a next time I suppose..

15
1) Cross river

2) raise bridge

3) Wait for enemies attempting to follow

4) flip switch

5) profit.

Also, I don't see how ready-made map sections containing alcoves for enemies or loot to be released once certain criteria are met (player walking nearby, switches placed in front of or scattered around the level etc) isn't doable. The map generator already has a number of set pieces it chooses from - adding a few more with some scripted behaviour surely cannot be -that- hard, especially considering vaults in this and other roguelikes often sport similar mechanisms?

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