The False Spear SDL

First topic message reminder :

Hello everyone, WLHack here... It has been a really long time since I last posted here.
Anyway, let's get straight to the business.

After years of idling, I have started to work on Wolf3D mods on again and my goal
is to finally release ToS. But before that I will remake False Spear in SDL...

Here is what I have planned to do:

- Add new levels and fix the old ones:
Let's face it... The last levels of TFS were extremely bad (especially the final boss) so
I am going to alter the existing levels a bit.

- Add more walls, doors and items:
The problem with the DOS version was memory limitations. Because of that, there were not much
variation between scenery (I bet you can count all different wall types, excluding the wall decoration,
without even using all of your fingers). Also doors only had three different textures (compare to the ToS SDL-demo).

- Add some more guards (and maybe minibosses):
Nice little thing that gives the game more atmosphere...

- Replace the projectile shooting mutants with regular ones:
The rocket mutants didn't work that well, because most of the time they killed themselves due the splash damage.
So I decided that I am going with mutants more similar to the original ones (behavioral changes though)...

- Update the graphics:
TFS was a mess of "realistic" graphics and cartoony ones, so I have decided to update them a bit (and
recycle ToS ones). Also I will be using ToS-palette as I think it has the perfect colors for this mod.

- Explore the themes more:
Okay. We had the mines, dungeons, abandoned research facility etc... But due the 21 level limit each
different theme only had about 1-3 levels. This time I am going to add more than 21 levels and maybe add alternative routes.
In case of alternative routes I will remove total-playtime from the end of the game.

- Change the music to midi and replace the original Wolf3D sounds...

And much more...

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Download:
The False Spear SDL
Map-patch

Can I play this mod on Linux/Ubuntu? Please compile it for i686 or provide source.

linuxwolf wrote:Can I play this mod on Linux/Ubuntu? Please compile it for i686 or provide source.

Well.. I try to compile it for the Linux. If I don't manage to do that - I will post you the source so you can compile it.

I'm partway through level 2 at this point and I'm loving this. The classic statusbar is too busy for me, so I'm glad there is a modern one to use. I'm honored to be included in the credits, but for what I don't know. I can't wait for this to be finished.

lilmanjs wrote:I'm partway through level 2 at this point and I'm loving this. The classic statusbar is too busy for me, so I'm glad there is a modern one to use. I'm honored to be included in the credits, but for what I don't know. I can't wait for this to be finished.

That is good to hear.

Anyway, everyone seems to be wondering why they were credited...
So here are the main reasons why you were credited 2006 and why you still deserve to be credited:

- I either borrowed your sprites, textures, sounds or music in my mod...
- I implemented your coding change or applied your idea for feature.
- You have been supporting the making of this mod.
- You have beta-tested the game or
- you have helped to improve this game either by feedback or in some other way.

So if you see your name in the credits, no matter the reason, you deserve it.

After playing this demo all the way through, I found that I can't shoot guards when a door is opening or closing, but as I found out the hard way many times, the guards can shoot you when doors are opening or closing, causing you to die. Is there any way to fix that?

lilmanjs wrote:After playing this demo all the way through, I found that I can't shoot guards when a door is opening or closing, but as I found out the hard way many times, the guards can shoot you when doors are opening or closing, causing you to die. Is there any way to fix that?

I need check that out... So, how does this occur?
Does the door block your bullets or does the shoot button stop
working till the door is fully open?

EDIT: Okay I got it... Need to fix that.

I've finished the demo and was glad to see there was only some minor changes to some levels and that you felt not all needed to be changed or updated. I always really liked Level 2 and was very happy to see that you hadn't tried to improve it. Can't wait for the rest of the mod, it really is great having you back working on Wolf mods again Toni!

Okay... Now you can shoot through the door if it is more than halfway open.
Also shooting the bushes causes no bullet puff.

Time for update.
I have now finished ten out of twentyfive levels... That means 40% of levels are done.
Also aside from mapping, I have been fixing bugs that you have reported.

I am hoping to release this mod in August just like the original TFS, so let's
hope that there won't be any major drawbacks. Oh, and I won't be releasing
a bugfixed EXE for the demo as there is no reason to do that.

Any chance to see an extended "WinterSturm" version? That was great mod that had too little maps for it's content and potential.

Another ToS thing... I am thinking of including two kinds of armor.
Type 1: Player only receives 3rd of the damage, armor receives half of the damage.
Type 2: Player only receives 4th of the damage, armor receives third of the damage.

Also upgrade able weapons would be nice.

doomjedi wrote:Any chance to see an extended "WinterSturm" version? That was great mod that had too little maps for it's content and potential.

Well... We shall see after TFS and ToS.
Maybe I should try to combine Wintersturm and ToS so
the game contains two parts: storming the secret facility in Norway
only to find out it is too late and then the actual hunt for the Schabbs.

Anyway - we shall see what the future holds.

Small improvement I am going to add to the game: Enemies reloading weapons...
Actually this means a small, maybe four frame animation that plays with
a low probability of 5-10%.

Why I am going to add this? Well, it adds realism - BUT it also gives player
a better change to survive because enemies have to reload their weapons too.

Very interesting and revolutionarty idea...let's see how it works out. If you can't pull it off - who can?

doomjedi wrote:Very interesting and revolutionarty idea...let's see how it works out. If you can't pull it off - who can?

I was thinking another way to execute this, that makes it more predictable:
In the objtype -struct let's define new variable "int reload" and when the
guard spawn we will set a default value to it (e.g. 8 for guards with pistol,
32 to guards with machineguns).

Now in T_Shoot() we will decrease the reload value, and when it reaches zero
we call T_Reload() that will set the object state to the reloading state and
return the reload value back to default...

Okay... Guards reloading weapons works now. I think this will give game bit more balance as the player is not the only one who needs to reload.

Anyway the feature works like this: Guard tries to shoot... If no ammo reload and try shooting again. Also I tried to avoid randomization so each guard has their own clipsize.

Only thing I fear is that in most cases you might not see guards reloading weapons as you most likely manage to kill them before that.

Mapping has reached the halfway-point, currently I am remapping
the laboratory levels. Slowly but steadily we are moving towards our goal.

Awesome news to hear! I can't wait to see the guards reloading in action.

Has there been a wolf3d mod with reloading guards before?

Dark_wizzie wrote:Has there been a wolf3d mod with reloading guards before?

Might have been, but personally I don't remember even one.
Also the mods that I played, even if they had guards reloading weapons, at least those
mods didn't have specific sprites for that.

Okay... This is a feature my friend came up with and I would like
to have your opinion (I might include this in ToS):

Melee attacks for weapons.
In other words, if enemy is on knifes range and player is currently
holding a gun - instead of shooting with that gun, player
automatically performs melee attack.

The damage made depends on the size of the weapon, distance to target
and pure luck. Also there is a change to throw the enemy backwards or
knock him down to stun the enemy for longer time than the normal pain state.

My friend also suggested that when weapon run out of ammo, you could use it
as a melee weapon, but personally I think it would make knife useless
after you have found another weapon, so that is something I am not going to use.

But anyway... What do you think about the player automatically performing
a melee attack with a gun if enemy is close enough?

This sounds interesting and realistic...but donnow about automatic...it's like the game itself tries to conserve player ammo...takes tactic thinking from the player himself....Donnow what I think about that.
Alt-attacks for weapons are not a new thing, but they never were automatic.

Depends on what weapons you have in your arsenal, WLHack. Pistol, Mp40, Shotgun, and Rifle should do regarding weapon melee attacks. I'd leave the heavy weapons out of it.

WolferCooker wrote:Depends on what weapons you have in your arsenal, WLHack. Pistol, Mp40, Shotgun, and Rifle should do regarding weapon melee attacks. I'd leave the heavy weapons out of it.

Well, I was actually thinking exactly those weapons you mentioned,
because I think it would be a bit silly to try to hit an enemy with panzershrek
or a flamethrower... Also chaingun would be highly unrealistic. How do you even
use it as a melee weapon? Charge towards enemy and try to hit with the guards
chest with the barrel (like with a lance)?

doomjedi wrote:This sounds interesting and realistic...but donnow about automatic...it's like the game itself tries to conserve player ammo...takes tactic thinking from the player himself....Donnow what I think about that.
Alt-attacks for weapons are not a new thing, but they never were automatic.

Well, that is a good point. But then again, if there was a melee attack for the
gun and it is behind a separate button, would you press it? Even though it would
make more damage than shooting at the point blank range, I think most people
wouldn't use melee at all.

Secondary fire (e.g. grenades) is something that should have its own button,
but personally I think melee doesn't need to have it, because if we would have
weapon with two different fire modes and a melee attack all with their own buttons -
we suddenly have binded 3 buttons for attacking... I like to keep things simple so
I think that is a bit too much for player to remember.

Anyway, as I said, you have a good point there... I think this feature needs a lot
of though.

Oh, by the way... I was thinking of the stunning animation: enemy falls
down to its but and then tries to get up.

WLHack wrote:Well, that is a good point. But then again, if there was a melee attack for the
gun and it is behind a separate button, would you press it?

If it's the only alt-fire and ammo is placed scarsly - why not? That's the fun in the game - you manage your own tactics and supplies...not to mention you can add special power and benefit for such melee attack (not only damage levels but I can think of many additional creative ideas like AI "scare" effect of such brutality on surrounding nazis (to cause them retreat or stop shooting and change to melee attack as well), or boosting player's "agression/andrenaline/self esteem meter" that can add player adrenaline and speed (but make him less accurate shooting-wise when heart is pumping - to promote even more melee attack use etc...), silent attack, higher pain chance for enemies in this case...etc etc...making enemy fly back from the hit bringing even more nazis to the floor knocked off temporary....etc etc...andrenaline boost making next melee hit even stronger etc...)
People playing Wolf3D even change each time to knife to kill dogs...how is that different? Change to knife is 2 buttons - 1 for changeand 1 for attack. Alt-fire is only one button.

I think melee doesn't need to have it, because if we would have
weapon with two different fire modes and a melee attack all with their own buttons -
we suddenly have binded 3 buttons for attacking...

I meant it as the only secondary fire - or somehow to make game recognize "melee state" and auto-change to melee attack for alt-fire mode. Still, it's only half-automatic, as you still need to manually choose to alt-fire.

I meant it as the only secondary fire - or somehow to make game recognize "melee state" and auto-change to melee attack for alt-fire mode. Still, it's only half-automatic, as you still need to manually choose to alt-fire.

Kind of like the shotgun in Eisenfaust Origins?

doomjedi wrote:

WLHack wrote:Well, that is a good point. But then again, if there was a melee attack for the
gun and it is behind a separate button, would you press it?

If it's the only alt-fire and ammo is placed scarsly - why not? That's the fun in the game - you manage your own tactics and supplies...not to mention you can add special power and benefit for such melee attack (not only damage levels but I can think of many additional creative ideas like AI "scare" effect of such brutality on surrounding nazis (to cause them retreat or stop shooting and change to melee attack as well), or boosting player's "agression/andrenaline/self esteem meter" that can add player adrenaline and speed (but make him less accurate shooting-wise when heart is pumping - to promote even more melee attack use etc...), silent attack, higher pain chance for enemies in this case...etc etc...making enemy fly back from the hit bringing even more nazis to the floor knocked off temporary....etc etc...andrenaline boost making next melee hit even stronger etc...)
People playing Wolf3D even change each time to knife to kill dogs...how is that different? Change to knife is 2 buttons - 1 for change and 1 for attack. Alt-fire is only one button.

I think melee doesn't need to have it, because if we would have
weapon with two different fire modes and a melee attack all with their own buttons -
we suddenly have binded 3 buttons for attacking...

I meant it as the only secondary fire - or somehow to make game recognize "melee state" and auto-change to melee attack for alt-fire mode. Still, it's only half-automatic, as you still need to manually choose to alt-fire.

You have give me a lot to think about. Thanks...
Hehe... I think this will lead to an interesting feature.

If you're going to bother coding all that, try to make it less gimmicky and serve a serious tactical purpose. I've played too many mods where extra weapons were useless or were not needed.

WolferCooker wrote:

I meant it as the only secondary fire - or somehow to make game recognize "melee state" and auto-change to melee attack for alt-fire mode. Still, it's only half-automatic, as you still need to manually choose to alt-fire.

Kind of like the shotgun in Eisenfaust Origins?

Well, it indeed had secondary fire mode. So it can be a general example of secondary fire.

WLHack wrote:
You have give me a lot to think about. Thanks...

I indeed seem to do that at times, heh. You're welcome.
I stopped my auto-brainstorming abrupt - who knows what I'd come up with if I kept that line of thought...but it's just a direction you know.

Yeah once in a while I come up with some ideas. I used to be in a groove with that a couple years back.

Updated the status... Not much changes in the mapping, currently selecting music for existing levels.

Hope you find a good selection that suits the levels.

Updated with the latest status... Again rather slow week with the mapping as
I noticed that I had completely forgotten something really important: the ending screens...

It is quite interesting how I managed to forgot to make/add them as I have made so many
changes to the vgagraph... Anyway, now that the ending screens are done, I don't think
there is anything else missing some of the maps and music.

Another week... Another update.
Total of 16/25 levels are now done... Okay, that doesn't sound much but basically only
maps that are missing are boss levels, one secret level and three regular levels, so
hopefully I get this done this month.

Oh, and the remaining maps will be completely new so I think you will be pleasantly
suprized to see what I have in store for you.

Sounds great, as always looking forward to this one!

Such quick progress on this mod. Before we know it, you'll be asking for testers!

Yep, bring it on!

Finally played this demo and was impressiv, I very much enjoyed gameplay and atmosphere was great. The music fits perfectly.
Looking forward to this one!

Valts wrote:Finally played this demo and was impressiv, I very much enjoyed gameplay and atmosphere was great. The music fits perfectly.
Looking forward to this one!

Thanks...

I'm surprised you took out the axe and the pitchfork from Blood in the original False Spear, Hack. I would imagine one melee weapon is good enough I guess.

WolferCooker wrote:I'm surprised you took out the axe and the pitchfork from Blood in the original False Spear, Hack. I would imagine one melee weapon is good enough I guess.

Yeah, so do I. When the original TFS was nearly finished I had two extra weapons
in the code that was not used anywhere, so I decided to use them as an easter egg...
Then again, I don't think there was much difference between the pitchfork and the axe:
both basically killed the target with one attack.

Okay... No change for the percentages this week, but that doesn't mean there has been no progress.
That missing secret level, and 2/3 of the missing regular levels as well, has been designed on pen and paper so I only need to import them to my mod. Also I have started planning the boss levels so thinks are going smoothly.

With the way things are going i'd expect testing to take place in about a month or so.

WLHack wrote:

WolferCooker wrote:I'm surprised you took out the axe and the pitchfork from Blood in the original False Spear, Hack. I would imagine one melee weapon is good enough I guess.

Yeah, so do I. When the original TFS was nearly finished I had two extra weapons
in the code that was not used anywhere, so I decided to use them as an easter egg...
Then again, I don't think there was much difference between the pitchfork and the axe:
both basically killed the target with one attack.

I remember the pitchfork from playing on a secret level, but I had no idea it was from Blood.

stathmk wrote:I remember the pitchfork from playing on a secret level, but I had no idea it was from Blood.

There was a pitchfork in Blood, but the sprites used in TFS was made by me.

WolferCooker wrote:With the way things are going i'd expect testing to take place in about a month or so.

I plan to get this ready for testing within this month...

Wow that's fast

WolferCooker wrote:Wow that's fast

Not really... There is about 16 days left till the month ends and there is 5 levels left
to do so theoretically I have 3.2 days a map to use (of course one day means max. 2 hours
of time to work if we do not count weekends)...