[Sanek]

Jblade, on 20 February 2019 - 11:15 AM, said:

just a small heads up, Forge has beta-tested the mod and I'm just waiting for word on the release candidate from other testers - barring any terrible fuckups, early march is looking good for release

So Forge is the only tester for such a huge project until now?
Episodes 1-2 had like a whole team.

[Forge]

Sanek, on 21 February 2019 - 10:59 AM, said:

So Forge is the only tester for such a huge project until now?
Episodes 1-2 had like a whole team.

I started the primary battery of tests is all; before it was even put into episode format. (others may have been going through it the same time, for all I know - we were just communicating through different means)
And then I went through it a couple-three more times after it was all spliced together.

It's in RC1 and there are other testers going through it.

There is way too much material to rely on only one person to be able to process and catch everything.

[Sanek]

I see. But the more the merrier IMO. Besides, what kind of tests James expect? Idk about others, but after playing maps that people send to me for a test, I also check it with mapster just to make sure I don't miss anything.

Come to think of it, James IS the ultimate tester, since he plays all the maps anyway.

[Sangman]

Don't worry about it It's in good hands

[Micky C]

March now. Are people getting hyped?

[Ninety-Six]

I am. I've never played this before so this will be my chance to see what all the hype's about.



I only know surface-level features. Selectable characters, ongoing plot of some sort, set some time after Duke is gone, etc.

So I'm not even entirely sure what to expect. I've been good at staying mostly blind when it comes to all aspects surrounding the game itself.

I think I remember JBlade at one point said NS was sort of a testbed for AMC features. Maybe I'm misremembering, but if that's true, maybe that's a good sign since I absolutely adore that mod.

[Micky C]

I recall him saying that NS was a big learning experience prior to starting the AMC TC.

One of the greatest strengths of the TC is also one of its greatest weaknesses: there is an enormous variety in the level design. This keeps things interesting and fresh. However, given the sheer number of levels, people are likely to eventually run into one that isn’t their cup of tea. In this scenario, I’d just encourage you to push through to the next one.

Something notable you didn’t mention is the TC’s light RPG elements. There’s research and upgrades you can get to unlock new equipment, player abilities etc. However this is optional. Without doing any RPG stuff, and particularly on the easier difficulties, it plays a lot like regular Duke (or more accurately, NS). However on expert difficulty and above, you’re going to want some of that to make your life more comfortable
I personally feel the game is more interesting with deeper gameplay if you do unlock a big chunk of the research.

[John Brown]

^I'll agree with that. Half the fun is replaying old levels with new unlockable/buyable weapons, and the research upgrades definitely make a tangible improvement to the player's killing power.

[Ninety-Six]

Micky C, on 28 February 2019 - 04:00 PM, said:

Something notable you didn’t mention is the TC’s light RPG elements. There’s research and upgrades you can get to unlock new equipment, player abilities etc. However this is optional. Without doing any RPG stuff, and particularly on the easier difficulties, it plays a lot like regular Duke (or more accurately, NS). However on expert difficulty and above, you’re going to want some of that to make your life more comfortable
I personally feel the game is more interesting with deeper gameplay if you do unlock a big chunk of the research.

I didn't mention it because I wasn't aware of it. This is news to me. The fact you name a difficulty "expert" is also sorta new.


I suppose I can get with it. Though I guess this sort of presents a necessary question: Are there any important things a new player should know? Apparently there are different difficulties, now. Are those explained in-game or should I be given a basic rundown?

[Micky C]

There are 5 difficulty levels. The names are original. No more "Let's rock" or "Piece of cake".

There's a training course which takes you through the main new features in the mod, which should bring you up to speed. There are notable differences between the difficulties. For example, the easiest one gives you double ammo and enemies do reduced damage. On the hardest difficulties, enemies do a lot more damage, have smarter behaviour, and there's no crosshair.

I'm not sure we have found a convenient place to explain the difficulty levels yet.

[Ninety-Six]

All the more reason to have it explained here, I suppose.


Does difficulty affect enemy numbers + placement like in Duke 3D/Doom, or is it pure stat and AI tweaks?

[Doom64hunter]

Ninety-Six, on 28 February 2019 - 09:57 PM, said:

All the more reason to have it explained here, I suppose.


Does difficulty affect enemy numbers + placement like in Duke 3D/Doom, or is it pure stat and AI tweaks?

Yes it does affect enemy numbers. There's a particular type of enemy that won't appear on Dis Base on lower difficulties, if I remember correctly. Also, on professional difficulty and above, the armor some of the enemies have (e.g. Picops) will be a lot more potent, and thus will require you to use specific ammo, or to hit the enemy's weakspot to kill them.
Completing each episode on these difficulties also gives you a special reward, in the form of unlockables + a little extra.

More things:

The 4th episode of Imagination World TC acts as a tie-in to the AMC TC. It's recommended to complete it, as it introduces some of the characters and concepts you'll re-encounter later.
When completed, copy the iw_complete.amctc file over to your AMC TC directory. This file unlocks a weapon and stores your decision from the end of Imagination World.

It's also important to understand how level selection works. There is an X-com-esque map screen located inside the base that acts as a level select interface. Levels are mostly located on Earth, but you can also view other planets, locations in our solar system, and even those of other solar systems in the Milky Way* (thanks for the correction Micky ) using the buttons on the interface.

[Micky C]

Not quite other galaxies. Currently, you can visit other solar systems in the local star cluster in the Milky Way.

[Ninety-Six]

If I can run IW (probably on an older version of Eduke since polymost is broken for me on recent revisions, but even that isn't a guarantee such as the case of WGR2) I will definitely do that.


How many difficulties are there, anyway, and which would be recommended as a good starting point for someone who considers themselves pretty good at older shooters, but aren't as experienced with RPG mechanics?

[Doom64hunter]

Even more things:
Many of the classes have special abilities. James' for instance allows him to use time portals, Geoffrey and Mikko can hack terminals, Sang can destroy pentagram seals, and Rusty can talk to spirits.

Some of the maps require you to play as a specific character, others allow you to choose. Usually, when selecting a map, the game will show you what character you will play as, so you can plan ahead by selecting the desired equipment for that character.

In those missions where you are allowed to choose a character, there may be several opportunities for the different abilities to be used. Not all of them are plainly visible, but they can be detected using your scanner.(which is usually time-consuming -- however, it's a viable way for completionists to find hidden secrets)

Edit:
As of 2.0 there are 5 difficulties, with Armageddon being the hardest, and Professional being the second hardest. I recommend starting with Expert (3rd hardest) if you have no experience with the TC yet, but are still quite good at FPS.

The RPG mechanics (I wouldn't even call them that really) are collectibles and unlockable abilities you can find and equip. They are really not that complicated -- it's got no XP system or anything like that.

Second Edit:
Getting IW to run has been a hassle for me too, (at least this was the case last year). Dropping the latest eduke32 revision on it miraculously worked for me, apart from some minor visual glitches however.

And on another note -- what actually are the differences between Professional and Armageddon difficulty? I never quite found out.

[Ninety-Six]

So does that mean it's possible to go back to completed levels with other characters to find their secrets?

[Doom64hunter]

Ninety-Six, on 28 February 2019 - 10:35 PM, said:

So does that mean it's possible to go back to completed levels with other characters to find their secrets?

You can replay any completed level at any time, even those of other episodes.

It might also be good to mention how the types of levels are displayed on the map screen:

• Mandatory campaign levels are shown as red squares on the map. These need to be completed in order to progress in the story, and completing them may unlock additional levels (both mandatory and optional ones). Some of them may be completed in different orders.
  
• Optional campaign missions are maps specifically created for the TC, and will make heavy use of the features of the TC, but they are not required for completing the game. They are shown as red diamonds on the map.
  
• Base levels are non-combat areas that, much like the main hub allow you to walk around and interact with NPCs and other objects. (They may also allow you to unlock certain things) They can be entered and exited at any time, and are shown as blue squares on the map.
  
• EDF missions are shown as blue diamonds. These are userlevels created for Duke3D that primarily use the default Duke 3D aliens as enemies (there may be exceptions). One or the other EDF mission may however still make use of some of the features of the TC, and may contain collectibles.
  
• Completed missions are shown in green (diamond or square) and may be replayed at any time.

[Jblade]

Micky and Doom64Hunter are way better at describing the gameplay than I only thing I disagree with here is I'd recommend playing the game on Normal rather than Expert first for a new playthrough; mainly to get a feel for the enemies who have special protection since on Expert and above you can only hurt them with the right weapons (for instance The Sorcerer enemies can only be hurt with silver weapons or energy/magic, and power armour enemies are guys you're gonna want to use armour piercing stuff) Ep1 is a lot gentler with this than the later episodes though.

Quote

And on another note -- what actually are the differences between Professional and Armageddon difficulty? I never quite found out.

Armageddon has even more enemies, and they do x2 more damage to the player (though this has been changed to x1.5 in the next release) It's mainly for bragging rights and stuff, since beating episodes on Professional is what nets you the extened outro sequences

There's also a new fatigue system in place for the harder levels in this new release - keep using the same character over and over and their performance will degrade, encouraging you to swap agents around. This is not on Normal or Easy mode though, since in my mind Expert and above is for the enthusiasts who know the mod well and these mechanic would just irritate newer/casual players.

[Ninety-Six]

I always appreciate a reason to swap characters. Will there be an indication of such?

[Jblade]

Ninety-Six, on 28 February 2019 - 11:35 PM, said:

I always appreciate a reason to swap characters. Will there be an indication of such?

Yeah, the character select will show it as well as what stage they're at (there's 2, 'Fatigued' and 'Exhausted' with the last one being even worse)

[Ninety-Six]

Awesome. This was all great info. Thanks everyone.



Now I'm even a bit more hyped.

[Micky C]

The good news is that Micky C doesn't get fatigued because of his SMART suit

There is sort of an XP system in that research costs money, which you get by killing enemies or collecting treasure.

[Ninety-Six]

Good thing I'm no pacifist, then.

[Jblade]

Micky C, on 01 March 2019 - 12:47 AM, said:

The good news is that Micky C doesn't get fatigued because of his SMART suit

too bad the engineering nerd instead still gets battle fatigue

[Micky C]

Jblade, on 01 March 2019 - 01:58 AM, said:

too bad the engineering nerd instead still gets battle fatigue

Aww

In reality, I'm always tired these days. Not enough sleep. Better put me down as permanently fatigued in the TC

[Danukem]

Jblade, on 08 September 2018 - 09:39 PM, said:

Down the line, if Dan/Sebabduke/Batsuey are cool with it I might replace him with AA's Bombshell and maybe even have her as a cameo character (although my AI NPC code is pretty crappy compared to Dan's so we'll just pretend she's feeling kinda lazy when you fight with her)

I didn't even notice this until now. Yeah, that would be fine, as far as I'm concerned. And you could use whatever you want of my code but, her code file hooks into a bunch of stuff elsewhere in my files and ...yeah it would be a real pain to integrate it into a different mod.

Is there a definite release date for AMC 3? I think someone mentioned it might be next week.

[Jblade]

you're a gentleman, fantastic

Next week look is looking good - There's still sporadic crashes from the odd cut scene or security camera, but updating to the latest snapshot is on the cards after this release. I will definitely have to emphasise that not using the included exe is a bad idea though, since we both know people will still do that and cause problems heh heh.

[TheDragonLiner]

Jblade, on 01 March 2019 - 02:24 AM, said:

you're a gentleman, fantastic

Next week look is looking good - There's still sporadic crashes from the odd cut scene or security camera, but updating to the latest snapshot is on the cards after this release. I will definitely have to emphasise that not using the included exe is a bad idea though, since we both know people will still do that and cause problems heh heh.

I can relate to that ! I remember trying to update the Ep2 included exe to a newer version and I got some glitches that weren't there before ... Namely the Zilla Missile Launcher being unable to launch Atomic Bombs and an odd screen flickering effect during slow-motion O_o

[Ninety-Six]

Just thought of another question. Those optional and especially the extra (user map) missions... do those change episode to episode (as in, to complete them it must be done before the episode is done)?

[Jblade]

Ninety-Six, on 02 March 2019 - 01:12 PM, said:

Just thought of another question. Those optional and especially the extra (user map) missions... do those change episode to episode (as in, to complete them it must be done before the episode is done)?

No, you can play them at any time as well as any main mission once you've beaten it (but some of them are scripted to take you to a specific base map for story purposes so you may lose your place in the episode you're in; but there's filters for each episode so you won't ever do this by accident)