[MrFlibble]

MrFlibble, on 08 January 2020 - 02:59 AM, said:

Oh, I also noticed that the animations like pickups (mana orb, keys etc.) and the health/mana meter on the HUD play much faster compared to the DOS original.

Today I messed around with various DOSBox settings and can confirm that the animation speed for the health/mana meters on the HUD is CPU dependent, as are the mana orb and other pickups' animations. It is slow-ish on 26800 cycles which is roughly a 486 66 MHz, but rather fast on 77000 cycles (~Pentium 100). I guess the behaviour would be similar on real machines.

[jkas789]

MrFlibble, on 17 December 2020 - 05:01 AM, said:

Today I messed around with various DOSBox settings and can confirm that the animation speed for the health/mana meters on the HUD is CPU dependent, as are the mana orb and other pickups' animations. It is slow-ish on 26800 cycles which is roughly a 486 66 MHz, but rather fast on 77000 cycles (~Pentium 100). I guess the behaviour would be similar on real machines.

Huh. So the animations are longer than? Is there a reason they tied the HUD animations to the CPU speed?

[jimbob]

Lobo4, on 03 June 2020 - 03:37 AM, said:

Here are the soundtracks (ogg), to be put directly in the same folder as the exe.

The credit for this musical success goes to the composer Scott Branston, I wonder how he worked to conceive them.

that site seems to redirect me to pron constantly.

[Lobo4]

With pcexhumed_win64_20201221-12108 : I lost some of the custom keyboard controls, this does not happen if I go back to pcexhumed_win64_20201218-12096.

Anomaly or reconfiguration recommended ?

[jkas789]

Lobo4, on 23 December 2020 - 11:06 AM, said:

With pcexhumed_win64_20201221-12108 : I lost some of the custom keyboard controls, this does not happen if I go back to pcexhumed_win64_20201218-12096.

Anomaly or reconfiguration recommended ?

From the revision logs:

Quote

NBlood / Rednukem / PCExhumed - r12107
---
8826e7f1c | [sirlemonhead] PCExhumed: Use pcexhumed.cfg and pcexhumed_cvars.cfg for config saving. Retired psa.ini.

and

Quote

NBlood / Rednukem / PCExhumed - r12108
---
cda98d283 | [sirlemonhead] PCExhumed: Change some config types from short to int32_t, remove some unnecessary casts.

So in short just reconfigure your custom keybinds and everything will be fine.

[Lobo4]

jkas789, on 23 December 2020 - 11:23 AM, said:

From the revision logs: [...]

So in short just reconfigure your custom keybinds and everything will be fine.

Yes indeed :

The file settings.cfg is substituted by pcexhumed_cvars.cfg and setup.cfg by pcexhumed.cfg.

With pcexhumed_win64_20201221-12108 the FPS are at maximum by default and the dynamic shadows are well present, it's really nice

[Lobo4]

Small remark about the title screen: you know where this skull laughs, but, randomly it says something...

...that I'm not sure I can hear well to translate what it says...

Can someone write down what he's saying ?

Any idea on how the game chosen for the title screen is done by laughing and talking ? Or is there a way to listen to the voices and sfx ?

If anyone can answer thanks

[MrFlibble]

I had the impression that this is random but at the same time that it does not happen on the first run of the game. Since the game does not seem to count the number of runs (I'm looking at you here Duke3D), this might be done by checking if there is a saved game. But that's entire guesswork on my part.

As for what it says, it seems like some pseudo-language, like what the mummies say. Somehow I don't think there was any research into actual Ancient Egyptian by the dev team (not to mention that Ancient Egyptian changed pretty drastically over the course of its development).

[dwtietz]

This question came up in the discord last February. Apparently this is John Yuill saying "Why is Jeff a feeb?". John Yuill being one of the two programmers for the PC version, and Jeff being Jeff Blazier whom was responsible for the PS version, and was known for often saying "Why is Yuill a feeb?"

Source: https://discord.com/...839627367907481

[MrFlibble]

Hah, this is both cool and better than expected

[Aydan]

Hi folks, new member and first time poster here. Being a life-long fan of the Exhumed games (played the Saturn version first back in 1997 at the age of 8 - then the PSX version in 98!) I just wanted to thank the creator of this source port from the bottom of my heart. This is THE way to play the PC version of the game. While there are other ports such as GDX, they change the original vision and elements of the game too much for me. I just wanted to play the original PC port with a few minor tweaks for movement and so on which PCExhumed provides!

I've been an absolute pleasure to play through the PC version with a decent sourceport. I played through a bit of it with Dosbox but it just doesn't feel too good in this day and age.

The only minor bug I have come across is the lack of ambient sound effects working properly, so for example you'd be in an area with water, or moving water, and no sound for it plays when it should.
Other than that kind of thing, it's been a god send.

I also LOVE how you can add mod support by literally creating a folder and putting your custom files with the same name the game uses inside STUFF.DAT and it over-writes the original for you, no other special tools or programs needed!

I actually swapped out the annoying Wasp flying sound effect for the one used on the consoles which is much quieter and fits so much better and it makes the game so much more enjoyable. Such a simple tweak but a very much needed one.

Sorry to ramble, I just wanted to say thank you for the hard work of the developers of this port and just share my absolute joy and passion for this series.

Please keep up the amazing work, just a few minor bug fixes to go and it's perfect If many elements or adjustments to menus and systems get implemented I'll keep a copy of the older versions o the sake of preserving the authenticity of the original game

[Lobo4]

Lobo4, on 02 December 2020 - 07:59 AM, said:

Hello,

With pcexhumed_win64_20201130-11988, I observe that the pattern of the "Guardians of bast" (They look like statues) is inactive, so that these opponents are visible but blocked (from the Kalabsh - Level 03).

Hello,

Idem with El Kab (level 8) 2 statues inactives at the beginning just after the stairs (pcexhumed_win64_20210103-12112).

[jkas789]

I sent a message to sirlemonhead on the Discord and he was kind enough to answer it:

Quote

i don't know the game well enough to know what (if anything) triggers those but they don't wake up on the DOS version either when you run down the stairs

I checked in the map editor - they're not tagged as having AI, so they're just decorations

So case closed I suppose

They could be like the small gorilla enemies in Shadow Warrior: Wanton Destruction that are used as statues at the entrance of the hotel in E2L1. I think they are also static in that level as way unless I have contracted early onset Alzheimer.

[Lobo4]

jkas789, on 10 January 2021 - 03:32 PM, said:

So case closed I suppose

Yes, in fact the level 8 how by a bluff with the statues...it's also the level where the Rah gauntlet is recovered.

[Lobo4]

PCExhumed - r12145 - Built: Sun Feb 14 23:35:01 UTC 2021 "PCExhumed: Exhumed Demo support"

Does that mean we can record one of the sequences of the game ? But how to try ?

[jkas789]

Lobo4, on 19 February 2021 - 05:06 AM, said:

PCExhumed - r12145 - Built: Sun Feb 14 23:35:01 UTC 2021 "PCExhumed: Exhumed Demo support"

Does that mean we can record one of the sequences of the game ? But how to try ?

I asked sirlemonhead on the discord and apparently it is not ready not yet.

[OpenMaw]

How stable is this? Can I play the redbook music with it as well?

[jkas789]

OpenMaw, on 15 May 2021 - 05:32 PM, said:

How stable is this? Can I play the redbook music with it as well?

It's pretty stable yeah. It lacks the QOL features of BuildGDX but in exchange the gameplay feels a hell of a lot smoother. If to the redbook music you refer to this:



Then yes it does play.

[OpenMaw]

I think I'm enjoying this more than Blood or Shadow Warrior.

I know!


This is really well done.

I played the demo back in the day and it did nothing for me back then. This is a genuine treat.

[oasiz]

It's a well themed shooter with some unique ideas for it's time and a rather pretty setting.
What I like the most are the environmental hazards and the ideas they had.

Unlike enemies, hazards are not something you can take for granted with FPS games.
This is something I always found appealing in ROTT despite it's many shortcomings.

It's a shame the devs didn't know about late engine improvements like slopes, I think it could've made for more some cool set pieces.

[Aristotle Gumball]

OpenMaw, on 16 May 2021 - 12:14 PM, said:

I think I'm enjoying this more than Blood or Shadow Warrior.

It dethrones SW for me in terms of the holy trinity of Blood, SW and DN3D. The lack of difficulty modes isn't a problem either as difficulty increases naturally as you advance through the levels. The last few are a bitch. I still can't beat the final map, lol. Too lazy to look at a walkthrough.

[Phredreeke]

PC Powerslave gets put in the awkward position where it gets overshadowed not just be contemporary PC shooters but also its console counterpart

[OpenMaw]

I'm honestly enjoying it more than the PS1 version. The levels don't feel nearly so claustrophobic. Granted the PS1 and Saturn version have that charming harsh quake-like lighting thanks to Slavedriver. This just plays really nicely.

[Aristotle Gumball]

I actually came to this forum initially to look for a PC Powerslave port and found the Kaiser PS1 port instead. I signed up specifically to thank the person because it was blowing my mind that there were two games and both were good. I actually think I prefer the PS1 version now, or rather Kaiser's ported version.

[Phredreeke]

OpenMaw, on 16 May 2021 - 02:11 PM, said:

Granted the PS1 and Saturn version have that charming harsh quake-like lighting thanks to Slavedriver.

1. Slavedriver is the name of the Saturn engine, the engine that powered the PS1 version is unnamed AFAIK
2. There's a big difference in lighting between the Saturn and PS1 versions, with the latter being more washed out

[OpenMaw]

Phredreeke, on 16 May 2021 - 02:52 PM, said:

1. Slavedriver is the name of the Saturn engine, the engine that powered the PS1 version is unnamed AFAIK
2. There's a big difference in lighting between the Saturn and PS1 versions, with the latter being more washed out

I swear I remember them saying they had ported the SD engine to PS1 and were planning to do a Quake 1 port to PS1 as well, but Sony didn't want it.

[Micky C]

oasiz, on 16 May 2021 - 12:39 PM, said:

It's a well themed shooter with some unique ideas for it's time and a rather pretty setting.
What I like the most are the environmental hazards and the ideas they had.

Unlike enemies, hazards are not something you can take for granted with FPS games.
This is something I always found appealing in ROTT despite it's many shortcomings.

It's a shame the devs didn't know about late engine improvements like slopes, I think it could've made for more some cool set pieces.

How do you know they weren’t aware of it near the end but didn’t have the time to go back and add it everywhere and didn’t want the inconsistency of only occasional slopes?

[MrFlibble]

Micky C, on 17 May 2021 - 03:24 AM, said:

How do you know they weren’t aware of it near the end but didn’t have the time to go back and add it everywhere and didn’t want the inconsistency of only occasional slopes?

It's a good question. IIRC the game was already at some advanced stages of development as Ruins: Return of the Gods when Apogee transferred it to Lobotomy. Quite possibly, many levels were already fleshed out. Some of the preview shots show recognizable parts of early levels.

What's more is that apparently there are sloped surfaces seen in the background on the left on this screenshot dating back to July 1994! Is it possible?

[jkas789]

Quote

How do you know they weren’t aware of it near the end but didn’t have the time to go back and add it everywhere and didn’t want the inconsistency of only occasional slopes?

 0050XFBF_jpg.png (756.12K)
Number of downloads: 0

Jokes aside, I'm really trying but I ain't seeing no slopes on yer picture Mista Flibble!

[oasiz]

Micky C, on 17 May 2021 - 03:24 AM, said:

How do you know they weren’t aware of it near the end but didn’t have the time to go back and add it everywhere and didn’t want the inconsistency of only occasional slopes?

While it's hard to fully confirm this... but I think I should share this, As we were working on the map pack, upon discovering slopes and wondering about stuff related to shade tables I contacted Ken as he had some old tool he used.
What I heard was pretty much along the lines of: As Ruins was no longer an in-house title, they would not share all new features of the engine to the developers, such as slopes.

And why I believe this:
I wouldn't be surprised if they received just engine updates to get improved MP coding in due to contractual obligations and have no mentions of other engine changes.
MP code was heavily worked on around these times, plus early v6 map slopes simply replaced groudraw values. If the editor doesn't support this then you will not really be able to see it as you'd likely use older header files and editor keys (could even have been disabled!) as the map format was kept the same at first before moving to v7 (which actually implements slopes natively).
Remember, 3DR had full control over what they shared with the licensees after all, build engine was shared as a bundle of precompiled OBJ files and headers told you what worked against it (which they also had full control of). Bottom line is that it would've been very easy to sneak in new things that are hidden for the rest of the guys.
Let's not forget the most likely reason: Competition against Duke3D which would be able to debut this technology.

Remember that Duke3D was still developed at the same time and would receive slopes around late 95 as well. Most of the maps weren't even done and a ton of areas got retrofitted with them. While amazing vistas would require building from scratch, you can still achieve really nice results with a week or two worth of passes (A single slope vs. stair steps can be useful for perf too).

Adding slopes to some key areas like having visual pyramids would've been a great feature and not something I think they would've ignored had they known.
Slopes can add a ton of visual identity that helps engines stand above just doom clones.