I would like to know about the thought process behind the change to the shotguns. I'd like to know exactly what kind of experience this change was intended to provide.

When I think of Quake and what makes it different to modern games, I always come back to projectile combat. The ability to move fast and dodge enemy fire instead of the usual take lots of damage and then hide / heal mechanics. I can understand in the old days of Quake, having a gun fire so many projectiles at once would have been bad, so this is probably why old games have hitscan, its technically better for the engine!

So I started a new mod called 'Repent' that would be all projectiles! I started with the shotguns and the first thing I noticed was that when I could see the projectiles the gun felt more powerful to me. The fact I could see what I was firing, where it was going and there was a slight pause before impact made the game experience better IMHO.

I then converted all shotguns in my mod to projectiles including the soldiers and fighting them became much more satisfying. It was no longer cheap hitscan weapon fire from enemies that I could hardly see, I actually had a fighting chance to dodge their attacks!

Sadly the original mod was lost in a hard disk crash, so I started again and wrote a second version which is now the mod AD. Later on in the development of the mod the plasma gun was added as a way to change the LG to projectile and that completed all the player weapons being projectile fire.

The projectile shotgun went through a lot of changes and I do mean a lot. It was constantly tweaked over and over during the course of the mod, with different speeds, particles, damage and spread patterns. One thing I did notice is that everyone on the MOD did not like the projectile shotgun at first (because its different) and then after a while loved it! I think this is partly because everyone has to re-learn what they are doing with the shotgun and I think this can be frustrating. Once the initial aiming issue is dealt with most people will like the change, its just not an easy path to follow.

For a long time the projectile shotgun was not the default, I had it setup as an option and no one used it, except Scampie! I realized that if I don't make it default no one is going to use it because they want things the same, so I decided its got to be default! I have to accept that everyone is going to be frustrated at first, but hopefully they will like it after lot of use and see the fun it can be. 

I fucking love the shotgun. Didn't like the sound at first but it grew. I just wish the bullets would trace through enemies. :> 

It took a little getting used to but it quickly became a lot of fun...only thing I didnt like though was that I have trouble seeing which dots are actual projectiles, and which are the particle effect. 

1. Position the monster in front of the gun.
2. Adjust aim for movement.
3. Fire.

:) 

Could someone please update the header of this thread?

Offical Patch 2
New readme file - Patch 2

Thanks 

DOWNLOADING NOW 

Just in case you miss the note in the readme, there are two new FRIGGIN AWESOME maps in this - remakes of doom e1m1 and quake e2m2 

 

woot woot 

 

http://www.twitch.tv/ionous

Starts in about an hour. 

added patch 2 to the top.

Not sure if this makes patch 1 obsolete so i left the link for that. 

It does make patch1 obsolete.

The correct installation of AD is to download the base mod, and then apply the files from patch2 on top of it. 

Why aren't the patches called v1.43 and v1.44? Or even 1.5 and 1.6 since apparently there are major changes? 

also, the Quakespasm dev build linked in the top post is obsolete now that the stable version is out.

Maybe replace the second paragraph with "The MOD is designed to work with QuakeSpasm 0.91.0 (Must use this version or higher). Download here: http://quakespasm.sourceforge.net/download.htm " 

updated the news item again, with that info 

So has anyone considered supporting some animation states for gibs? entrails come to mind... I would love to see them coiling in the air and land in a pile when hitting the ground. Right now its all static. Heck a simple squishy impact for most flesh chunks would be a nice addition. So you would have a in air and end landing animation sequence..

So Midair "idle"
Impact "transitions from Idle pose to rest state"
And then an end pose which could also support a few frames. Beating hearts anyone? :)

Sorry I love making the gibs for games. Did that for a few over my career. Messy but fun. I do like that AD added per monster versions though. Step in the right direction. 

Actually a nice idea, but also maybe overkill if it were applied to everything. 

"Why aren't the patches called v1.43 and v1.44? Or even 1.5 and 1.6 since apparently there are major changes? "

That's a good idea, actually. Just make it a complete download each time with a new version number. Nobody likes cumulative updates. 

Cool maps!

Missed a few secrets on e1m1 but managed to find them all (somehow) on e2m2. Had a rather hilarious moment in e2m2 where I had no ammo to shoot a raised button in order to escape from a pit :D

The ammo situation seemed very tight unless you keep finding areas off the beaten track. I just didn't find any for a while I suppose.

Demos https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/33279452/e1m1_e2m2_daz.7z 

You should record all of Arcane Dimension with Perfect secret and monster kills. I would love to see you tackle the monster that is AD_Swampy in one perfect run.. haha 

i'd like to see more rmx maps

request to mr.Sock, could you adjust your e1m1/m2 rmx maps to an AD mod 

Tried to watch Daz's demos but I get an error on his E2M2 demo, model 191 not found? 

When I first setup gib models I had everything exploding into fleshy flying bundles of goo! The sight of the gib showers made me laugh because it looked like some crazy 80's B movie with Ketchup everywhere. As more people joined the mod eventually I toned it down because the surprise and horror of gibs is lost if you see it all the time.

So has anyone considered supporting some animation states for gibs?
The problem with gibs is that when models fall they bounce based on a square bounding box. There is no roll, tilt or ragdoll physics, its just cubes arbitrarily spinning on their three axes! It could be cool to have animated gibs but it is a lot of extra work and I will be surprised if anyone adding monsters to AD will even think about standard gibs.

@Spy, There is a lot to consider when convert existing maps to AD, breakables, fog, new monsters, a couple of extra areas and more testing. I think my time would be better spent remixing new maps, maybe more from the E2 series. They have such lovely flow about them and I really like non linear designs more nowadays.

@Fifth, sounds like you are running an old version of the patch! ;) Download the latest and make sure you install it over a clean version of the original Mod directory! 

First play(skill 2):
http://quaketastic.com/files/demos/ad_e1m1_paru.zip

100% on skill 2: http://quaketastic.com/files/demos/ad_e1m1_hard100_paru.zip