Castle Totenschloss released!

I've released my third Wolf3D fangame just before Christmas. Based on WSJ's Castle Totenkopf mod. Enjoy!

http://sandbox.yoyogames.com/games/209980-anvilstein-3d-castle-totenschloss

What engine did you use for this? This looks unique!

Music is from ROTT (BTW I'm playing "Return of the Triad" recently every day, the best mod ever!)
Engine looks like "Game Maker"?

Hmmmm... Interesting! The only things I don't like are the movements and the fact you can't configure the controls to your liking.

Also, it seems the game can't save progress as I keep getting code error messages regarding collision with an object. And when you die, it won't let you start over from that level. You have start all the way back to level 1.

This game has some kinks to work out.

What engine did you use for this? This looks unique!

Mark Overmars' Game Maker 8.0. It's been 2 years since I started trying this software to design a few games.

Hmmmm... Interesting! The only things I don't like are the movements and the fact you can't configure the controls to your liking.

I edited the game now to make the player a little faster. The controls were based on Mark Overmars' FPS tutorial, but I made it so that you could play with WASD keys and mouse or arrow keys. Basically you can choose which control setup to use, so there's a lil' configuration.

Also, it seems the game can't save progress as I keep getting code error messages regarding collision with an object. And when you die, it won't let you start over from that level. You have start all the way back to level 1.

I've just fixed the saving code. The new exe should save just fine.

BTW thanks for the feedback, it helps a lot to improve my games.

Ah good, that's better. I'll check it out ASAP.

You'll get better after each mod you make. Granted I'm no modder, though I attempted to learn how to code in the past, but I have neither the patience nor the skill to make mods.

Yeah, if you check my previous games, you can get a glimpse of the learning curve I had while making them. Doors, keys, different weapons and items-they're part of the progress.

Man that first boss was a doozy to kill even in the easiest mode. I would assume all the other bosses are harder each time.

But man I love that Level 5 music where you kill the first group of scientists. I never heard it before. Do you have copies of the music you used for the mod?

Man that first boss was a doozy to kill even in the easiest mode. I would assume all the other bosses are harder each time.

The bosses aren't designed like classic Wolf3D bosses, where they fire a series of bursts at you. These guys are harder because they will mow you down continuously, making cover essential and toe-2-toe combat suicide. If you can beat level 18's ginormous army of soldiers , you deserve a Wolf3D award just for that. Even I die a lot, that shows how hard it is. But yes, the later bosses are hard. Level 18, I must warn you is piss-merciless. Trust me!

But man I love that Level 5 music where you kill the first group of scientists. I never heard it before. Do you have copies of the music you used for the mod?

That's Prison Lane from Sonic Adventure 2, an old game I used to play. The music is very fitting for a jailbreak-style game, like Wolfenstein. WSJ should probably try this and see what it's like. And I wonder if someone's going to do an LP of this game anytime soon.

Very catchy version of Prison Lane you have. I like this one better than the original.

Anyway, I notice you left the rate of fire for the STG44 the same as the Mp40. It fires pretty slow for an assault rifle which it makes it tougher to take out groups of enemies without taking so much damage. With no chaingun ammo, you're sure to be screwed. Could you speed up the STG44 a bit? Maybe to around how fast WSJ configures his STG44s in Coming of the Storm and/or Totenkopf SDL.

Anyway, I notice you left the rate of fire for the STG44 the same as the Mp40. It fires pretty slow for an assault rifle which it makes it tougher to take out groups of enemies without taking so much damage. With no chaingun ammo, you're sure to be screwed. Could you speed up the STG44 a bit? Maybe to around how fast WSJ configures his STG44s in Coming of the Storm and/or Totenkopf SDL.

I based the guns' rates of fire like this:
The weakest gun, the pistol, deals 1 damage at 180 rpm, hence it deals 180 damage per minute.
The MP-40 deals the same damage as the pistol at twice the rate, thus making the damage 360 per minute.

The chaingun also deals the same damage, but four times as fast as the pistol, therefore dealing 720 dpm.
All bullet weapons draw from a pool of 200 bullets, so that's a maximum value of 200 damage sans reloading.
For the rifles, the sniper deals 6 damage at 60 rpm, giving it the same dpm as the MP-40.
The STG-44 deals 1.5 damage at 360 rpm, giving an overall dpm which is 3 times that of the pistol.
Both rifles draw from a pool of 100 rounds, so the damage overall ranges from 150(only STG) to 600(only sniper) sans reloading!
I'm trying to make a pattern here where the STG kinda has 150% firepower of the MP-40. It seems underpowered, but I don't want to make it overpowered. If the STG doesn't go so well, I might have to break this pattern and make it a supergun like the FG-42. But the best way to control the firepower is to keep a pattern, so I don't know what to do. Maybe if you want to get more bang for your bullets, then switch to the sniper. It's slow, but you can dish out 600 damage from 100 rounds eventually.

Indeed, but I found another problem. The Error code messages show again when I enter a secret level. I discovered the first secret level the 2nd time around. I didn't beat the last level, but I started over to see what I missed. And that bug appeared again for the secret levels.

Also, since you sped up the player going forwards, can you do the same for backwards and strafing? It's hard to get away from enemies going backwards and also turning around to go forwards.

Alright, I've reuploaded yet a new version, this time with faster movement when holding shift. But I don't really play with a lot of running, preferring to creep up slowly and shoot them.

Man you definitely went overkill with the last level. There are so many of them that ones far off in the distance disappear and you can't get a clear shot at them without taking so much damage.

Try as I might using the "extra lives" wisely and even saving some dropped health items from earlier guards for such an occasion to go back and get them once I'm out of lives to get back to full health, it still isn't enough.

The guards that disappear and reappear on both ends of the arena do not move past their spawned space. They just stay there so you can't lure them and there's no telling how many are left.

The only way I could possibly get farther into the arena once I can't lure anymore guards to the door is to run through picking up every single health item from the never-ending corpses while getting shot at the same time taking cover from another angle. But I'm afraid it isn't enough as there maybe still too many guards especially a few of them carrying chainguns, flamethrowers, and rocket launchers.

If no one else can beat this level, you may need to remove 1/4 of the guards you placed in that arena. Either that or create a few extra secret areas full of more full health lives.

Hell I'm not sure if you yourself can beat it, unless you have a clear strategy of what to do.

I've reuploaded the newest version, and I've edited level 18 by partitioning the rooms so that you can now defeat the massive army (didn't remove any soldiers) more easily. And after a few test runs, I finally beat the level in 25 painstaking minutes. The strategy was so complex that I made a map that I'll use to describe it later on. But yeah, it is overkill. Cos it's the final level, man! I would love to see someone on Youtube record themselves beating this level. It'd be epic.

Alright I'll take a look at as soon as I can.

Yikes! This one is even tougher yet. Running in there only to be greeted by so much gunfire I barely have the time to take cover and take an extra life. It's fine you want to make it tough, but man at least a 30-second godmode artifact or two would be great for a headstart.

The farthest I got was clearing one room and onto the second. This was before I realized the cross had a pushwall in the very middle to get a hold of all the extra lives. Jeez if I ever clear all the rooms before the boss, then I might not have any of those lives left and I'll be screwed against the boss. In fact, i wouldn't have been able to get very far anyway seeing as how I used at least 8 extra lives to clear one room.

That's funny-I found it actually easier to beat with the help of an improvised strategy. But if you want to know how to beat it, then have a look at my attached diagram and I'll explain a few steps.

Alternating between taking cover and opening doors guns-a-blazing isn't enough? Well, It's not often I catch someone's strategy in a tough game and being able to beat it because of the strategy.

You're the first to make me use my brain on a Wolf3d game since Mario Maniac and Mega Luigi's Lost Relic mod.

Really? Wow. I heard that AreyeP(the guy behind the Spear series of mods, which I plan to make future projects based on) made some levels which required a little puzzle-solving in his games. But if you read the in-game manual of Totenschloss, I wrote that you might have to 'hug the right walls' to gain the advantage. So in that case, you'll have to do more than just alternate between cover and blazing through open doors as it is in most of the game. But if you need help, would you like me to post a guide on how I beat the level?

Wait a sec, hugging the right (not sure which "right" you're talking about) walls... It negates the the bullet damage you receive while still having the opportunity to gun down enemies?

Interesting, but my problem is I don't have the time to hug the walls before I'm dead.

I meant taking cover at the best positions, like hiding behind the best walls for maximum survivability. In other words, those walls that don't leave you open to a lot of damage. For graphical clarity, I might have to record myself trying to beat the level again and upload it on YouTube. Looks like I'll need to post the strategy then.

Well I approach the doors at an angle so I don't try to get too much damage, but it doesn't work all the time. There's no telling where the enemies are as they apparently don't stay stationary even when you're far away. Each time you approach the same room(s), you see varying amounts of enemies in front of you.

I'm sure you can beat the level.

I think I'm starting to figure out the strategy. I started off at the wrong end of the room the entire time. I've always started at the northeast end of the 4 rooms, but it looks like you start at the southeast end. I've had more success clearing the southeast room, but still can't clear the southwest room yet.

At the same time, it's too much of a pain to just go back and regather ammo. I still try to save the Flamethrower and Rocket Launcher for the boss.

Is it okay for you to add a backpack to the game so the ammo counts can double? Better way to use the Flamethrower and Rocket Launcher a little more often.


BTW, I never accessed the 3rd secret level. The 2nd last level (the one with all the mutants that killed off the Nazis) had a hint that the final secret level could be accessed through the blue door, but I never found the blue key in that level. Unless I think it was meant to be fake.

@#$% it I quit. There's no way in hell i'll beat this level. You made it WAAAAYY too tough. I'm gonna sit back and wait to see if anyone else other than you can beat this.

I think I know the strategy to beat it but I just cannot execute it right. If no one else can beat it, you're gonna have to make it EASIER to beat or else no one is gonna play this mod. Just warning you right now, unless you want to hear a lot of ragequitters in this community. You certainly made me the first.

Aight, looks like you need the guide. Here goes:

Follow the numbered directions and you'll have weakened the boss' guard at the west. Don't open both doors yet when there's tons of guys at the front. You instead flank them through the secret cross (Hence the name 'Crucial Cross'. Don't use your 1-ups if your health isn't under 26. Maybe you were a little hasty with the sniping, and hence you got overrun by the foes. If you still need more help, I'll post a YouTube playthrough on it and you can see how it goes. It is NOT impossible, if I have beaten it, you can beat it too, with time and perseverance.

I did it! And I never looked at your guide until now!

I thought about flanking them through the cross and did it all myself before I looked at your post. That was a last resort because I wanted to conserve the lives. After a few tries that way, I somehow got the boss to come after me. And I managed to lure him into the cross. With all the health and rifle ammo from the killed guards southeast room, I used all the weapons to take him down.

I sure as hell didn't want to eliminate the other half of the guards after how I far I was.

My apologies for my ragequit comments.

It's alright. About time, eh? I can imagine the relief on your face after beating the level. I told you it's not impossible. Now I need someone to do a Youtube video playthrough or review on this game.

WolfForever will take care of the review if he plays it and beats it. Even if he uses this thread as advice to beat it faster than me, it's still gonna take some time.

I've never said this, but I actually like some of the selections of music and they seem to be in MIDI format. Megajim, if you're around do you have the MIDIs?