[Jblade]

Balancing AMC TC is an extremely difficult job for a single person to do, which is why I'm posting this topic. Even though I've played the mod many many times myself there's still things that I feel could be changed or improved upon, either to make the game more difficult or more challenging (or less in certain areas) Here are a few I've thought of so far.

The medical research item that lets you put unused health items straight into your first aid kit is incredibly useful, but I feel it's actually kinda overpowered now. I was considering changing it so that you can only fill up your first-aid kit to 50%, with perhaps a further upgrade later in the series - or maybe make a 100% that's an equipment item, with the 50% being an always activated version.

I was thinking of adding a berserk mode to Merlijn's character - right now even with his shield and high health the higher difficulties are very difficult, since getting close to an enemy is suicide. Forcing him to rely on temp ranged weapons seems a bit of a cop-out. This berserk mode would activate after a certain number of kills if his health falls below a certain level, say 25% of his max health. His screen would tint red and he'd become invincible for a duration of time - maybe killing an enemy would add some health?

A battle-scanner equipment item of some sort that would show you the damage you're doing to an enemy, as well as any protection they have? That would be very useful for newer players; it would become unnneccesary once you're more familiar with what enemies are strong and weak against what attacks.

[Danukem]

I'm finally going to play this game, soon. So I'll probably have some feedback for you.

James, on 24 April 2012 - 12:57 AM, said:

The medical research item that lets you put unused health items straight into your first aid kit is incredibly useful, but I feel it's actually kinda overpowered now. I was considering changing it so that you can only fill up your first-aid kit to 50%, with perhaps a further upgrade later in the series - or maybe make a 100% that's an equipment item, with the 50% being an always activated version.

Yeah I have used that feature in my mods and it is extremely useful. One thing that could balance it would be if the player had the ability to not waste health pickups even without the ability. What I mean is, have partial health items with the leftover amounts, similar to what you did with ammo. What that would do is reduce the gap between having the ability and not having it, in effect making the ability less of a boost. Then perhaps the amount of health items in the maps could be slightly reduced.

[Jblade]

Trooper Dan, on 24 April 2012 - 06:36 AM, said:

I'm finally going to play this game, soon. So I'll probably have some feedback for you.

Cool, hope you enjoy it!

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Yeah I have used that feature in my mods and it is extremely useful. One thing that could balance it would be if the player had the ability to not waste health pickups even without the ability. What I mean is, have partial health items with the leftover amounts, similar to what you did with ammo. What that would do is reduce the gap between having the ability and not having it, in effect making the ability less of a boost. Then perhaps the amount of health items in the maps could be slightly reduced.

I only had that feature in Nuclear showdown; I've thought about something similar in the AMC TC but decided against it simply because of how much more art would be required to do that. Now that the tile limit's been doubled it's worth thinking about but there's still lots more coding workarounds and stuff I'd have to do. The project itself is found right near a keycard in the first level, so you could potentially have the ability by the time you reach the second set of levels.

The only other issue is that I've played the mod so many times I could pretty much sleep-walk through the levels, so I'm not a good arbiter of what's hard/easy in the mod at all

[Danukem]

I didn't realize that partial ammo was not carried over from NS. I understand why you would not want to add it in now.

[Micky C]

I'll give this another playthrough as well. The latest version I have is probably the initial release so it'd be nice to see all the updates done since then. I'll play it on expert even though I normally played it on easy and found it pretty damn hard

I'm downloading v1.11 from imdb right now, is this the absolute latest version?

[Danukem]

I just started playing earlier today, not for very long, and I am in the first level. I'm playing on Expert. For the most part, difficulty seems pretty easy, but every once in a while a pigcop will do an enormous amount of damage. The amount seems way too random. There were a couple of times where I actually died because I had almost full health and was willing to take a shot, but then a pigcop killed me with one shot (I was using the bayonette on Rusty's automatic rifle).

Ninja edit: Oh, and another thing, which may be more important. I did the tutorial and I could not get over the big gap with the sprint jump. I tried it about ten times. Finally I just did a wall kick from the inside of the pit to reach the other side.

[Micky C]

I was able to get over the big pit jump with rusty the first time. I finished the first level with Rusty, and I agree with DT that it was pretty easy, as long as you had some cover between you and the enemies (unless dealing with weaker or melee enemies like troopers in which case you can go in guns blazing). I only died half a dozen times, and most of them were because of stray pig cop shots (or similar to that). Other than that I had a lot of health most of the time. I quicksaved often so the deaths didn't really hinder me.

Still, I'm enjoying the new gameplay that comes with being a lot more tactical quite a bit. I'm finding the second level on the jupiter moon base a lot harder than the first level due to the demonic spawns.

Oh, and here's a suggestion: when doing a sprint jump, if you run out of sprint energy, you seem to stop mid-air and drop. This is both frustrating and unrealistic, can't the player just continue moving forward at normal speed?

[Danukem]

The sprint jump was not working in the way that a reasonable player would expect it to, and it wasn't because I was running out of sprint (although you are right that it should not have an effect in mid-air). I was continuing to hold down sprint and forward whilst jumping, but my jump seemed like a more-or-less normal jump. Perhaps I was doing something wrong, but you can bet that if I am doing it wrong then lots of other players will be. Also frustrating was the fact that it is impossible to strafe-sprint-jump, since holding strafe and sprint causes rolling. I still regard the rolling as a nuisance, though I admit that it is less likely to happen accidentally now that the controls have changed.

[Danukem]

So I was feeling a little disappointed with Rusty's revolver, because it wasn't as useful as Duke's pistol (slow firing rate and less accurate) when I remembered to try altfire. Then it did this weird charging thing where the view got narrower. I held alt-fire a few more seconds and it caused me to explode and die. WTF.

[Jblade]

The Sprint stuff was due a to bug with a fix I introduced, v1.11 fixes that but if you downloaded v1.10 than grab this GAME file:
http://www.mediafire...gg5bokbxg5ey53a
The errors you're experiencing are related to that; but if I attempt to code in realistic momentum being carried over when jumping than that will make a huge majority of other jumps that require pixel perfection to be impossible.

Shotguns will kill you on Expert or above with pretty much one hit since enemy damage is doubled (but their hitpoints don't change) If you can find armour than that helps since shotgun pellets do 1/4 damage to you if you're wearing armour.

Rusty's alt-fire charges the pistol, when the view becomes stable let go to fire a more accurate shot. The exploding thing was Rusty's idea, since his character has an artificial heart

[Danukem]

James, on 24 April 2012 - 11:18 PM, said:

The Sprint stuff was due a to bug with a fix I introduced, v1.11 fixes that but if you downloaded v1.10 than grab this GAME file:
http://www.mediafire...gg5bokbxg5ey53a
The errors you're experiencing are related to that; but if I attempt to code in realistic momentum being carried over when jumping than that will make a huge majority of other jumps that require pixel perfection to be impossible.

Shotguns will kill you on Expert or above with pretty much one hit since enemy damage is doubled (but their hitpoints don't change) If you can find armour than that helps since shotgun pellets do 1/4 damage to you if you're wearing armour.

Rusty's alt-fire charges the pistol, when the view becomes stable let go to fire a more accurate shot. The exploding thing was Rusty's idea, since his character has an artificial heart

OK I have updated the code but that means I will have to start a new game. While I'm doing that, I think I'll pick difficulty 2 instead of 3. I picked Expert because it corresponds to Come Get Some, which is what I normally play at in Duke 3D (and my own mods). But doubling damage is pretty extreme when dealing with a largely unknown game. Also it seemed to me that the increased difficulty was uneven. Hitscan enemies became much more deadly, but I didn't notice any difference with the others. I guess this just could be due to the fact that the shots of nonhitscan enemies were dodged. Although there was one incident involving a newbeast -- I had just finished the radiation area and one of them managed to get into the airlock with me as the door was closing and one-hit killed me.

Here's a couple of other things: in the Octabrain lab, on the evidence note, I noticed one wrong word. IIRC, you used "prohibits" instead of "inhibits".

The temporary sniper rifle seemed rather useless. I got it in that section in the first level, where all those enemies are waiting for you by the gate on the other side of the small canyon. The max zoom was not zoomed enough for my tastes, and the recoil was extreme. Damage seemed poor, too, although that may be because I failed to get headshots (but again, not enough zoom). The irony was that they were hitting me for huge damage with shotguns and chainguns from about 500 meters. It felt like they had the sniper rifle and I did not.

[Jblade]

Trooper Dan, on 24 April 2012 - 11:42 PM, said:

OK I have updated the code but that means I will have to start a new game. While I'm doing that, I think I'll pick difficulty 2 instead of 3. I picked Expert because it corresponds to Come Get Some, which is what I normally play at in Duke 3D (and my own mods). But doubling damage is pretty extreme when dealing with a largely unknown game. Also it seemed to me that the increased difficulty was uneven. Hitscan enemies became much more deadly, but I didn't notice any difference with the others. I guess this just could be due to the fact that the shots of nonhitscan enemies were dodged. Although there was one incident involving a newbeast -- I had just finished the radiation area and one of them managed to get into the airlock with me as the door was closing and one-hit killed me.

Yeah the skill levels are nothing like the ones in Duke3D, Expert and up is definitly intended for 2nd playthroughs when you have more stuff researched or unlocked.

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The temporary sniper rifle seemed rather useless. I got it in that section in the first level, where all those enemies are waiting for you by the gate on the other side of the small canyon. The max zoom was not zoomed enough for my tastes, and the recoil was extreme. Damage seemed poor, too, although that may be because I failed to get headshots (but again, not enough zoom). The irony was that they were hitting me for huge damage with shotguns and chainguns from about 500 meters. It felt like they had the sniper rifle and I did not.

The Sniper rifle deals a huge amount of damage that kills most standard enemies with a single shot (275 damage + up to 25 randomly) so aiming for the head isn't neccesary. The max zoom is the highest amount of zoom I could get unfortunately since I'm still using the sizeat trick with the player sprite.

[Micky C]

I still haven't updated to version 1.3 yet, but if this hasn't been done already, can you remove the twinkle from ammo crates once you've taken out all the contents and it's empty? I don't see why it needs to draw your attention in that situation.

And while I'm posting, how do I get the gold weapons? I got the gold achievement for finishing the game on expert and DeeperThought doesn't offer them, and they're not in that upgrade terminal. I also remember a merchant behind a waterfall but I looked all around the base and couldn't find the pool anywhere.
(Am I correct to assume that if I download the full latest version, and put all the contents of my data folder in there, I'll still have all my achievements and upgrades and things?)

[Jblade]

Micky C, on 08 May 2012 - 02:15 AM, said:

I still haven't updated to version 1.3 yet, but if this hasn't been done already, can you remove the twinkle from ammo crates once you've taken out all the contents and it's empty? I don't see why it needs to draw your attention in that situation.

That's a good idea, I'll do that.

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And while I'm posting, how do I get the gold weapons? I got the gold achievement for finishing the game on expert and DeeperThought doesn't offer them, and they're not in that upgrade terminal. I also remember a merchant behind a waterfall but I looked all around the base and couldn't find the pool anywhere.

Go outside the actual AMC base building, you'll see a waterfall in the outer areas with a small lake underneath it. You can see the tunnel there (It's easier to see during daytime, but the light sticks out more during night) You can also go through the waterall itself. The gold weapons are carried by the shopkeeper

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(Am I correct to assume that if I download the full latest version, and put all the contents of my data folder in there, I'll still have all my achievements and upgrades and things?)

That and your eduke32.cfg file - copy the data folder and the eduke32.cfg and your progress and stuff will be saved.

[Zaxtor]

Another idea/suggestion for the AMC TC.

How about making we discover an ancient pyramid that has a curse in it?

AMC TC had a lot of ancient temples, places etc.

Once we enter it, they must face the deadly pyramid and all sort of traps. Deadly monsters etc?

[Jblade]

Zaxtor, on 11 May 2012 - 02:56 AM, said:

Another idea/suggestion for the AMC TC.

How about making we discover an ancient pyramid that has a curse in it?

AMC TC had a lot of ancient temples, places etc.

Once we enter it, they must face the deadly pyramid and all sort of traps. Deadly monsters etc?

Episode 3 is already going to be set in Egypt and in the pyramids, so yes By the time that's underway maybe you'll have some time to help build it?

[Player Lin]

What? you guys already planned Episode 3? Sounds not bad.

(BTW, will Merliji's level/his own mission(s) appears on Episode 2?)

[Come On And Slam]

It seemed like the difficulty took an EXTREEEME(Best if you read that in Macho Man Randy Savage's voice) leap forward whenever I got to Welcome to Millhaven. The game was challenging up until then, but it seemed like it was just ridiculous on that level. The next level wasn't even quite as hard either.

[The_Sentinel]

I have a question for Episode 2: Are you guys planning some more vehicle sections ? I ask this because I liked the vehicle sections very much (both in AMC TC and Imagination World v2) and it adds more variety to the gameplay as well . How about some flying ? Could we pilot a fighter jet or a space shuttle ? Just an idea, but land-based vehicles would be fine as well.

Also, if it's not a problem, may I suggest some more weapon ideas (in case you can get a model for them somewhere) ? I hope they don't seem too lame...
- DP-28 for Highwire (I always thought that weapon looked cool)
- Sterling SMG (http://en.wikipedia...._submachine_gun) could be a silenced/regular version as well for James or Rusty
- S&W Model 3 Schofield revolver for Rusty (it is also break-open like his default one, but would look even better IMO)
- DeLisle Carbine (http://en.wikipedia....DeLisle_carbine) for Rusty or perhaps as a temp weapon ? Could be hidden in a secret area somewhere...
- The number of futuristic weapons is fine, but I have some more ideas. Did you guys play Daikatana ? Well, I did (and it didn't seem to me like such a bad game as the critics wrote) and in Episode 1 there were some cool futuristic weapons. I don't know if it's possible to port over models from that game, but perhaps you could just take the general working mechanism of the weapon. The C4 Vizatergo was pretty cool, you could place packs of C4 on any surface, which beeped and exploded when someone approached it but could also be detonated at will. Could be another weapon replacement for Mikko or Geoffrey.
- Also, another from Daikatana, a weapon like the Discus of Daedalus would be nice (you could throw the disc and it would return to you after hitting a surface or enemy), for Merlijn or Sang.
- A weapon that shoots highly corrosive acid that does damage to enemies over time (as altfire you could spray it on the ground and enemies who walk over it take damage)

Well, so much for now, if I have more ideas, I'll share them later

[Jblade]

The_Sentinel, on 28 May 2012 - 12:19 PM, said:

I have a question for Episode 2: Are you guys planning some more vehicle sections ? I ask this because I liked the vehicle sections very much (both in AMC TC and Imagination World v2) and it adds more variety to the gameplay as well . How about some flying ? Could we pilot a fighter jet or a space shuttle ? Just an idea, but land-based vehicles would be fine as well.

More vehicles are on the cards, especially with the increased tile limit thanks to helixhorned

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- DP-28 for Highwire (I always thought that weapon looked cool)

Hmm, kinda looks similar to that .22 rifle who's name escapes me right now. I'll probably concentrate on non-Russian LMGs for Episode 2, but if I find a model of this we'll see.

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- Sterling SMG (http://en.wikipedia...._submachine_gun) could be a silenced/regular version as well for James or Rusty

Haha, I was just thinking of adding this a few days ago That pretty much makes it certain I'll find a way to put one of these in; if not the Sterling than a Sten since it's very similar.

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- S&W Model 3 Schofield revolver for Rusty (it is also break-open like his default one, but would look even better IMO)

If I find a decent model, I'll put it in!

EDIT: hah, found a model - I'll find a way to fit this in somewhere.

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- DeLisle Carbine (http://en.wikipedia....DeLisle_carbine) for Rusty or perhaps as a temp weapon ? Could be hidden in a secret area somewhere...

Heh, this is another weapon I was considering Again, this will more likely than not make an appearence now.

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- The number of futuristic weapons is fine, but I have some more ideas. Did you guys play Daikatana ? Well, I did (and it didn't seem to me like such a bad game as the critics wrote) and in Episode 1 there were some cool futuristic weapons. I don't know if it's possible to port over models from that game, but perhaps you could just take the general working mechanism of the weapon. The C4 Vizatergo was pretty cool, you could place packs of C4 on any surface, which beeped and exploded when someone approached it but could also be detonated at will. Could be another weapon replacement for Mikko or Geoffrey.

More futurastic weapons with interesting features is a good request, one I hope to achieve

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- Also, another from Daikatana, a weapon like the Discus of Daedalus would be nice (you could throw the disc and it would return to you after hitting a surface or enemy), for Merlijn or Sang.

I was thinking of a Predator disc for Rusty, but having a few like this wouldn't be bad if I can find the resources.

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- A weapon that shoots highly corrosive acid that does damage to enemies over time (as altfire you could spray it on the ground and enemies who walk over it take damage)

Hmm, sounds like a cool idea

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Well, so much for now, if I have more ideas, I'll share them later

Thanks for these suggestions, keep 'em coming

[t800]

Hi James!
What do you think about this new replacement weapon for your in game character?



Have you ever heard about XM29 OICW? It was US experimental prototype assault rifle from 90s.
It includes optics and attached grenade launcher. I think that it suits your character well.
If you need resources, you can use for example screenshots taken from Soldier of fortune 2.
But please give it adjustable zoom. Real XM29 has 6x zoom optics with laser rangefinder, thermal and night vision.
This rifle can replace sniper rifle if you give it semi automatic fire mode for precise shooting.

[Somagu]

t800, on 29 May 2012 - 07:55 AM, said:

Hi James!
What do you think about this new replacement weapon for your in game character?



Have you ever heard about XM29 OICW? It was US experimental prototype assault rifle from 90s.
It includes optics and attached grenade launcher. I think that it suits your character well.
If you need resources, you can use for example screenshots taken from Soldier of fortune 2.
But please give it adjustable zoom. Real XM29 has 6x zoom optics with laser rangefinder, thermal and night vision.
This rifle can replace sniper rifle if you give it semi automatic fire mode for precise shooting.

I believe he does plan on adding this one in, even though it's not the prettiest of weapons!

[Mikko]

Looks ugly and impractical.

[Jblade]

Haha yeah, I am thinking of adding that weapon in - although if I did I definitly would code in the unique scope and try and make it function as close to the real life counter-part as possible (Airburst grenades, .etc)

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Looks ugly and impractical.

True, but it just does feel like a weapon I would use rather than a more efficient one like an M4A1+M203 or something similar.

[Renegado]

wrong thread, sorry

[The_Sentinel]

Hi guys, I have two more suggestions:

1. How about an old flintlock pistol ? I think it would be cool (perhaps would fit Merlijn best as an alternate weapon to his bow)
2. Is it possible to make crossbow bolts reusable ? So you can pick them up again after you fire them ?

That's all for now, I'll think about some more later

[Jblade]

The_Sentinel, on 14 June 2012 - 02:13 PM, said:

Hi guys, I have two more suggestions:

1. How about an old flintlock pistol ? I think it would be cool (perhaps would fit Merlijn best as an alternate weapon to his bow)
2. Is it possible to make crossbow bolts reusable ? So you can pick them up again after you fire them ?

That's all for now, I'll think about some more later

I like both ideas, although I think the second one should be a pretty rare occurence otherwise you'd have unlimited ammo for it

[Player Lin]

James, on 14 June 2012 - 03:57 PM, said:

I like both ideas, although I think the second one should be a pretty rare occurence otherwise you'd have unlimited ammo for it

How about setting up a % for the bolts won't disappeared and let player pick that up? But I guess it may needed a very low % and likely pointless...

[Jblade]

Player Lin, on 15 June 2012 - 10:23 PM, said:

How about setting up a % for the bolts won't disappeared and let player pick that up? But I guess it may needed a very low % and likely pointless...

A percantage is what I was thinking yeah - it could be improved by one of the good luck amulets or maybe a new specific artifact related to archery!

[Come On And Slam]

Or the points on the bolts could be damaged by the collision, and they would do less damage, influencing you to get new bolts and ammo.