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...

-----------------------------------------------
Download:
The False Spear SDL
Map-patch

doomjedi wrote:What feature?

Well, we have more "modern" statusbar in fullscreen-view.
If this feature is turned of, the statusbar is similar to
the one in original ToS / TFS.

Looks great Toni, love the new status bar, keep up the good work, can't wait for this one!

Second level is now done... Like with the origal TFS, I will post demo once the
third stage is done.

Aren't all the levels (stages) already done (thus first two are updated and demo will be when third is updated)?

Either way I'm definitely looking forward to getting a sneak peak at this thing , and if I recall the third level did have a boss!

WolfForever wrote:Aren't all the levels (stages) already done (thus first two are updated and demo will be when third is updated)?

Either way I'm definitely looking forward to getting a sneak peak at this thing , and if I recall the third level did have a boss!

Yeah... I think that I should use word updated, but...
TFS had only 21 levels, TFS SDL has 25 levels and
all the boss levels are mostly new (maybe I use
a part of the original map)

@WLHack I'd like to ask one OT question please:

What is your, in hindsight, opinion of the four levels (E4L6, E5L8, E6L4/9), that you contributed to the Super Haven Mapset?

WolfForever wrote:@WLHack I'd like to ask one OT question please:

What is your, in hindsight, opinion of the four levels (E4L6, E5L8, E6L4/9), that you contributed to the Super Haven Mapset?

They are quite large levels and personally I think the cooler (E6L4) and return (E4L6) were the best ones.
Overall they are also quite hard, especially the showdown (E6L9) - but still beatable in every difficulty setting.
Path finding (E5L8) is bit special because it is quite mazy and I usually I try to avoid 2 block wide corridors.

Anyway I think they are quite typical level for me.

Pretty good with the stat bar, Hack.

WLHack wrote:

doomjedi wrote:What feature?

Well, we have more "modern" statusbar in fullscreen-view.
If this feature is turned of, the statusbar is similar to
the one in original ToS / TFS.

Ah, yes... Sorry for not noticing ....for coders the change is far more obvious than for spriters...
I did notice the cool HUD bar, liked it, even suspected that that's what you refer to, but wasn't sure.
Looks cool indeed

Better than EoD SDL beta's HUD for fullscreen for sure.

Updated the status again... Items are now done and bosses are nearly finished
(only few frames missing from the last boss). Also while I tested the first two
levels, I ran in to several interesting bugs that are now fixed:
- Ambush guards were completely frozen (I had forgotten to update the ambushtile
 so basically the code was handling the enemies like they were stuck inside a door).
- Saving game didn't preserve special states (e.g. player carrying a corpse) or
 some of the items (e.g. binoculars)... This was caused by the fact that
 I had lot's of gamestate specific variables that I had defined outside
 the gamestate-stuct, so naturally when player loaded the game, those variables
 reset to their default values.

Also I added CodeTech84's code for splitting floor/ceiling textures, but I
modified it a bit to split the textures when there is certain directional sprites
at the same spot...

interesting to say the least

Time for another status update... All bosses are now done - also I fixed more
bugs that I found while I was coding the final bosses AI (some of them might
explain why ToS-demo randomly crashed).

And then there is this:


Once again I was playing around with doom-like death effect (this time for crouching)
and I managed to cause this bug.

Holy crap! You may have came upon an accidental discovery that will further change Wolf3d!

If you can pinpoint the code where that bug is occuring and with a little manipulation, it might be possible to create trapped rooms with crushing ceilings that will kill you!

WolferCooker wrote:Holy crap! You may have came upon an accidental discovery that will further change Wolf3d!

If you can pinpoint the code where that bug is occuring and with a little manipulation, it might be possible to create trapped rooms with crushing ceilings that will kill you!

Actually I know exactly what part of the code is causing it...
In wl_floorceiling.cpp change this:

Code:


    // draw horizontal lines
    for(int y = y0, bot_offset = bot_offset0, top_offset = top_offset0;
        y < halfheight; y++, bot_offset += vbufPitch, top_offset -= vbufPitch)
    {
        dist = (heightnumerator/(y+1)) << 5;


To this:

Code:


    // draw horizontal lines
    for(int y = y0, bot_offset = bot_offset0, top_offset = top_offset0;
        y < halfheight; y++, bot_offset += vbufPitch, top_offset -= vbufPitch)
    {  if(heightnumerator > 10) heightnumerator -= deathoffset;
        dist = (heightnumerator/(y+1)) << 5;


Rest of the code needed you can found from here...

Sweet!

I'm not sure how it can manipulated to make the "bug" occur to specific tiles rather than the entire map. Now seeing as you plucked some of the code from Doom, is it the same code that deals with rising/falling platforms?

WolferCooker wrote:Sweet!

I'm not sure how it can manipulated to make the "bug" occur to specific tiles rather than the entire map. Now seeing as you plucked some of the code from Doom, is it the same code that deals with rising/falling platforms?

That code from doom was from players dying event...

Heh. Now that's interesting.

Cool!

That is one interesting and wonky bug.

Okay... Time for this weeks update:

Well, this was another week deep in the code fixing some rather nasty bugs
(e.g. dead mutants were counted as blocking objects) and improving the old code.

Also I came up with few ways to improve/speed up mapping...
Now I don't need to place certain floor/ceiling textures under doors because the code
does it for me. Also peeking pixels aren't a problem anymore:
When the floor and ceiling textures are drawn, if there is a wall, the the texture is replaced
with a solid black color (color is shaded, also pushwalls still have floor/ceiling texture)...

INTART and HELPART-files were updated as well... Hopefully now there is not that much engrish.

Anyway... If things go well, next weeks update will be the demo.

I have been thinking some features for ToS...
What do you think about level select?

Idea would be something like this:

In options menu we would have special submenu for unlocked levels
and each time you complete level in the main game it will be unlocked
(then again the level could be unlocked when you reach it, so if you
find it a level too hard, you can go and practice)...

If you start a new game, levels will progress normally but if you start
playing a level from the level selection - you can only play the levels
that are open and if you finish the last level from the level selection -
instead of saving hiscores, etc... You just return to the level selection.

Of course we could add level specific hiscores for the level selection...
Now there would be more purpose for the level selection than giving player
a change to replay a certain level 'x'...

if it's possible, go for it.

Time for this week update (I am bit early this time): TFS SDL - demo...
So here you have it.

As this is just the demo, there might still be bugs and mapping errors, but
I have tried to get rid all of them. Also the first level is quite hard but
not impossible.
Oh, and I forgot to mention this in the readme, but you can reload weapons by
pressing 'R'...

Anyway, thats it for this week... This demo has been my top priority this week
so not much else was done.

Hack, when you continue to work on TFS, I have a request for you to make the shotty stronger. It's a lot weaker than both the pistol and the Mp40. Also, I think you didn't change the firing behavior of the shotty because it is reminiscent of the chaingun.

Other than that, Bravo. Reminds me of the Trail of Schabbs Demo.

WolferCooker wrote:Hack, when you continue to work on TFS, I have a request for you to make the shotty stronger. It's a lot weaker than both the pistol and the Mp40. Also, I think you didn't change the firing behavior of the shotty because it is reminiscent of the chaingun.

Other than that, Bravo. Reminds me of the Trail of Schabbs Demo.

Thanks.

Must check that and adjust it a bit...
Anyway shotguns does have different behavior than chaingun ->
shoot and immediately reload, but about the strenght...

Currently the shotgun shoots multiple shots (let's call them that)
that are indeed weaker than one shot from pistol & mp40, but theorically
if all the shots would hit one target, it should be far powerfull than
those two other weapons. But yeah, maybe I should make its much stronger.

Edited the weapon strenght and made the reloading slower...
Also I checked the behavior of shotgun. It uses the same attack
type as pistol but calls it twice also the STG-prototype (chaingun
replacement) has it own attack type...

WLHack wrote:Time for this week update (I am bit early this time): TFS SDL - demo...
So here you have it.

Started playing level 2...

Meantime some feedbacks.
I won't just chat about how great this mod is, you probably know. Heh, it looks like a whole new mod, you could just call it by any other name It's closer to TOS than TFS.
I especially love the music, the slow reloading that makes everything more challenging and punishment for being not-loaded - very harsh, even on easiest difficulty. Didn't find reload button yet, and I'm not sure how to check how many bullets are left, so it suprises me every time.
Love the bullet and blood puffs, love the realistic shooting and different weapon accuracy...makes it to have much more "real" WWII feel, while not hurting the gameplay, just making it more challengable...

....Ok, tons of good things, now for some "to improve" feedbacks as Spriter to Spriter (you're amazing Spriter, you know I respect you tons and tons...you're top spriter)

1. 1 Tree variant is too bright on it's outer layer, like it's lit by a projector...really stands our weirdly.

2. You have bad habbit of making some sprites too bright....water pool, light-grey column, light-grey barrel....you should really tone those down, they really stand out.

3. Fancy stone column seems outplaced at the start of mines level. You need some other simpler wooden one for mines.

4. Perspective on many sprites is not one I use of find realistic...the well, the bed... Tables with chairs seem really tall, like pub stools, make them shorter.

5. Perspective on one gold variant could be better, it's a round pile you know.

6. Too many "brutally-broken" wooden barrels, it's rare to break a barrel like that...corrosed ones is ok, but those....

7. I'd prefer reloading animations to be more noticable...he needs to lift (or even push forward) the gun for easy clip inserting...currently his hands are unmobile, I barely notice visually when reloading starts...you should put more artistic effort on that.

Oh, man, so many credits, feels like a community mod...I don't even remember what I contributed to this....

doomjedi wrote:
1. 1 Tree variant is too bright on it's outer layer, like it's lit by a projector...really stands our weirdly.

2. You have bad habbit of making some sprites too bright....water pool, light-grey column, light-grey barrel....you should really tone those down, they really stand out.

Yeah, have to work on that...

doomjedi wrote:
3. Fancy stone column seems outplaced at the start of mines level. You need some other simpler wooden one for mines.

4. Perspective on many sprites is not one I use of find realistic...the well, the bed... Tables with chairs seem really tall, like pub stools, make them shorter.

Must check those out...

doomjedi wrote:
5. Perspective on one gold variant could be better, it's a round pile you know.

Gold bars or the pile of gold?
EDIT: Yeah, the pile of gold looks strange.

doomjedi wrote:
6. Too many "brutally-broken" wooden barrels, it's rare to break a barrel like that...corrosed ones is ok, but those....

Well, I just need to add more variation.

doomjedi wrote:
7. I'd prefer reloading animations to be more noticable...he needs to lift (or even push forward) the gun for easy clip inserting...currently his hands are unmobile, I barely notice visually when reloading starts...you should put more artistic effort on that.

Okay. Got to work on that.

doomjedi wrote:
Oh, man, so many credits, feels like a community mod...I don't even remember what I contributed to this....

I think I borrowed some of your graphics (at least I did in original TFS), but you also deserve to be credited
for your continuing support.

Thanks for the feedback, this kind of info is really appreciated...

3. Fancy stone column seems outplaced at the start of mines level. You need some other simpler wooden one for mines.

I don't mind contributing you a simple wooden column from scrapped "Secret of Eridu" (I use it in one of my in-work mods as well). I'm credited anyway, heh I have it's variant with blood and with moss as well.

But I think "Eisenfaust"-style wooden ceiling support would fit even more (you can use it if you like). Mines are usually cheap on scenery. No scarse - but cheap - with "simple but do the work" designs and scenery. Whole concept of a column might not fit mines at all. Simple wooden bar to support ceiling.

5. Perspective on one gold variant could be better, it's a round pile you know.

I meant - don't make them flat of the bottom...give piles some volume....they are piles. You make some of them too flat-looking. Give them perspective. You did a good such job on the firewood pile.

In general - great ideas from scenery - loved the mailbag.

Water is...you know...flat....your water pool has too much volume to it, "height". Darker bottom should not be more than 1 pixel at most.

Well, I just need to add more variation.

Yeah...try blood or moss...or leak....or sitting bird....Or just horizonally fallen to the ground...

For reloading - just see my animations from "Eisenfaust"....something of that sort.

doomjedi wrote:
I don't mind contributing you a simple wooden column from scrapped "Secret of Eridu" (I use it in one of my in-work mods as well). I'm credited anyway, heh I have it's variant with blood and with moss as well.

Thanks for the offer, but I prefer to do my own.

doomjedi wrote:
But I think "Eisenfaust"-style wooden ceiling support would fit even more (you can use it if you like). Mines are usually cheap on scenery. No scarse - but cheap - with "simple but do the work" designs and scenery. Whole concept of a column might not fit mines at all. Simple wooden bar to support ceiling.

Well, I already have an Idea what it could look like. A wooden pillar with some sort
of 'y'-type of top... Hard to explain, I post the sprite here when done.

doomjedi wrote:
I meant - don't make them flat of the bottom...give piles some volume....they are piles. You make some of them too flat-looking. Give them perspective. You did a good such job on the firewood pile.

Already fixed that...

doomjedi wrote:
Water is...you know...flat....your water pool has too much volume to it, "height". Darker bottom should not be more than 1 pixel at most.

Okay, thanks for the tip.

doomjedi wrote:
Yeah...try blood or moss...or leak....or sitting bird....Or just horizonally fallen to the ground...

Those are great ideas.

doomjedi wrote:
For reloading - just see my animations from "Eisenfaust"....something of that sort.

Well, I need to take a look.

---

Also I have decided to release mapping kit for False Spear with
the full release (ChaosEdit definitions)... Source I might release later
after I have cleaned it from all the TOS-stuff.

WLHack wrote:
Well, I already have an Idea what it could look like. A wooden pillar with some sort
of 'y'-type of top... Hard to explain, I post the sprite here when done.

Well, exactly what I was referring to - the Y-shaped bar I used in "Eisenfaust". So yes - I know EXACTLY what you mean

doomjedi wrote:
Yeah...try blood or moss...or leak....or sitting bird....Or just horizonally fallen to the ground...

Those are great ideas.

Yeah, the "bird" idea is from one of our in-dev mods. Looks great in-game. Birds....sit on stuff sometimes, you know...underused idea in Wolf3D modding.

Also I have decided to release mapping kit for False Spear with
the full release (ChaosEdit definitions)...

Yes, great idea. I wanted to release such for "Eisenfaust", but guys were against. I'd probably need to revisit it anyway, if you know what I mean

Vines/moss things are again - too flat...like curtains...you could place them at different depths, perspective... I used the same effect on icicles in "Eisenfaust", looks great. Makes farther ones thinner...overall I think they are too thick anyway.

For the table - I think it's too thin, it's main pole...I'd be scared to sit near such, it will hold nothing... There is a nice thick table variant I made for WSJ's batman mod a while ago, I think such might fit...

doomjedi wrote:Vines/moss things are again - too flat...like curtains...you could place them at different depths, perspective... I used the same effect on icicles in "Eisenfaust", looks great. Makes farther ones thinner...overall I think they are too thick anyway.

Must take a look...

doomjedi wrote:
For the table - I think it's too thin, it's main pole...I'd be scared to sit near such, it will hold nothing... There is a nice thick table variant I made for WSJ's batman mod a while ago, I think such might fit...

Already fixed that when I edited the tables height...

WLHack wrote:

doomjedi wrote:Vines/moss things are again - too flat...like curtains...you could place them at different depths, perspective... I used the same effect on icicles in "Eisenfaust", looks great. Makes farther ones thinner...overall I think they are too thick anyway.

Must take a look...

At first I wanted to convert the vines for you - but your files had different palette....

What are those full-bright vines I meet on level 3?


Also, guard came from locked rusty door...

doomjedi wrote:What are those full-bright vines I meet on level 3?


Also, guard came from locked rusty door...

That is strange... Hmm, it must have something to do with the code
that lights up the enemies when they are walking under lamp.
I must check that out.

Thanks for the report.

EDIT: This is really interesting bug... I found the vines and replaced them with
other objects -> no matter the object, in those two spot items are always lighted...

You're welcome Gotta earn my credit, lol

doomjedi wrote:You're welcome Gotta earn my credit, lol

Okay... That was a really stupid bug. I forgot to clear the lightmap between
levels so the tiles that had lights in previous levels were lighted.
Well, this is fixed now so thanks once again.

For me, that shotty fires 2 rounds even if I tap on the fire button. Perhaps autofire for that weapon is on?

And I have noticed that once you pick up the backpack, you still pick up ammunition even if you're at the max limit. That shouldn't happen.

WolferCooker wrote:For me, that shotty fires 2 rounds even if I tap on the fire button. Perhaps autofire for that weapon is on?

It should fire two shot...

WolferCooker wrote:
And I have noticed that once you pick up the backpack, you still pick up ammunition even if you're at the max limit. That shouldn't happen.

Okay, that is a clear bug that I need to fix.

[quote="WLHack"]

WolferCooker wrote:For me, that shotty fires 2 rounds even if I tap on the fire button. Perhaps autofire for that weapon is on?

It should fire two shot...
EDIT: Okay, due the current design of the shotgun that is bit illogical - changing it.

Well yeah if it was a double shotgun then yeah 2 shots is understandable, but it's a single shotgun.

Is it okay if I can have the pistol sprites? It's the black gloves that intrigue as they look more realistic.

WolferCooker wrote:Well yeah if it was a double shotgun then yeah 2 shots is understandabl, but it's a single shotgun.

Well, originally it was double barreled shotgun...
Also fixed the backpack bug... Except the bug was not the backpack
(backpack allows you to carry more ammo) - actually some of the ammotypes
were in wrong order in the struct so the ammo limits were wrong as well...

EDIT: I mistook the code, so the problem with clipsizes doesn't exists.

WolferCooker wrote:Is it okay if I can have the pistol sprites? It's the black gloves that intrigue as they look more realistic.

Well, I'll send you the sprites, but you need to alter the palette a bit.

Thanks for the sprites and the palette. I don't know how to convert it all to the Wolf3d palette without screwing up all the colors. Unless all your sprites are intended to use that palette only.

WolferCooker wrote:Thanks for the sprites and the palette. I don't know how to convert it all to the Wolf3d palette without screwing up all the colors. Unless all your sprites are intended to use that palette only.

Well, easiest way to convert the colors would be making a color chart of the
Wol3d palette (dome has ceiling color chart you can use) and then opening it in the
paint. Now you just paste the sprite you want to convert and then replace the
colors to match the color chart.

Of course you need to save the color chart as 24bit bmp or otherwise the colors will
be messed...

Changed the palette a bit and also fixed a bug with the boss levels:
Completing the boss level didn't bring up the "boss name here" DEFEATED-text,
because in the code ToS mapons were still in use.

I've just had a chance to play the Demo and I really like it. It is fresh but still reminds me of TFS, which is a good thing as I think it's important to keep some of the mods roots.
- The music is great, really clear.
- I find the reloading a bit slow and find myself getting frustrated waiting for it.
- The new status bar is taking some getting use to, especially not having a number for my health rather just the bar, but it does like quite good.
- For me, the secret pushwall sounds a bit weird as it sounds like the same noise repeating.

Can't wait for the full version!

Thanks for the feedback...

Dean wrote:
- I find the reloading a bit slow and find myself getting frustrated waiting for it.

There is always room for adjustments... Did anyone else find it too frustrating?

Dean wrote:
- The new status bar is taking some getting use to, especially not having a number for my health rather just the bar, but it does like quite good.

Well, you can always select classic statusbar from the options...

Dean wrote:
- For me, the secret pushwall sounds a bit weird as it sounds like the same noise repeating.

Must check that, though it is from original game.

EDIT: I will include a HTML-manual for the game with the fullversion. In the manual I will give detailed explanation for gameplay,
items, enemies (not bosses) etc... Also "Read this" is changed to "Story" and as the name suggest, will contain only that.