[Danukem]

DanM, on Jun 26 2009, 05:51 PM, said:

btw that new jetpack feature in those cons is great

Ah shit I forgot that was in there. It was an experimental feature for WGR2 that we ended up not using, and I wanted to preserve the code so I just pasted into DP for safe keeping. I probably should have commented it out, but glad to hear you like it.

For those wondering, it's a little hack that causes the jetpack to thrust if you hold down the jump key. But it doesn't turn on in the normal way, it's more like that ancient Lunar Lander game.

[Sobek]

A bit like Tribes' jetpack I take it? That's really cool.

So now that you remember it's there, do you plan to remove it for good, or keep it as an option?

[Stabs]

should def keep it there as an option

[XenoMatriX]

I was wondering if you could add dynamically placed enemies and pickups to dukeplus.

For example, if you place 5 pigcops or healthkits e.t.c, and gave them all the same number in the "extra" or "yvel" slot or something like that, upon the launch of the map the game would randomly choose one of the sprites and place it, the other 4 would remain invisible. This would be similar to how the difficulty settings work, displaying only the enimies for that particular setting.

I hope that makes sense.

A feature like this would make the re-play value alot higher, would it possible to do?

[Gambini]

That´s a good idea, i second it but with keycards

[Usurper]

I agree. That's a pretty clever idea. Especially if it can be leveraged for deathmatch item spawn points as well.

[Danukem]

XenoMatriX, on Jun 27 2009, 08:35 AM, said:

I was wondering if you could add dynamically placed enemies and pickups to dukeplus.

For example, if you place 5 pigcops or healthkits e.t.c, and gave them all the same number in the "extra" or "yvel" slot or something like that, upon the launch of the map the game would randomly choose one of the sprites and place it, the other 4 would remain invisible. This would be similar to how the difficulty settings work, displaying only the enimies for that particular setting.

I hope that makes sense.

A feature like this would make the re-play value alot higher, would it possible to do?

I'm not sure if there are any slots left on sprites that could be used for setting that, but I'll look into it. WG and I are trying to finish the first installment of WGR2, so I won't be working on DP very much (if at all) until then.

[Flacken.WS]

With Dukeplus, Duke3D turned to The Great Duke Nukem Forever!!!
Adrenaline never end. The more I play, most I want to continue playing it. :D

[Spiker]

I need a few people to beta-test my new map for DP, please PM me. Polmer runs poor on my machine (don't know about the recent builds) so I've put only a few spotlights (not worth running polymer really, and I couldn't even test them much!). You don't have to use HRP for this map as it should look fine in all modes. The map isn't long and the only advice I can give is "Never fall down" Unless you're sure it won't kill you

[Fantinaikos]

I suggest a little extension for special kicks. Maybe many original duke fans can remeber the famous double two foot "kick" not really-bug, or "bicycle kick" (press both at the same time the kicks buttons, left and right). For some reason with the eduke32 port this Non-bug is no longer avaible, i was thinking if you could "recycle" that for DP and make more realistic features, for es. duke cant move for many seconds when he do it and consume all (or half) kick energy. This double kick should make goes the enemy veeery far.

P.S. I suggest also to update the fire effects, the fire By "gt1750" in the latest 4.1 update is better than the fire of the actual version of DP.

[Jimmy]

This kick was fixed in the 1.4/1.5 releases.

[Danukem]

Spiker, on Jun 29 2009, 12:54 PM, said:

I need a few people to beta-test my new map for DP, please PM me. Polmer runs poor on my machine (don't know about the recent builds) so I've put only a few spotlights (not worth running polymer really, and I couldn't even test them much!). You don't have to use HRP for this map as it should look fine in all modes. The map isn't long and the only advice I can give is "Never fall down" Unless you're sure it won't kill you

I have played the map! *SPOILERS COMING*

First a bug report. Due to a bug with the optional feature that turns models off on characters, the respawned skycar in your map was a black box for me. I have fixed this and will upload the corrected CONs shortly.

This map was medium length, not as short as you made it sound -- it just seems short compared with your last map! Construction is good, difficulty was about right (but see below), DP effects were used well, and the flow was pretty good. Nice detailing, especially on the indoor areas. In your maps, light switches actually work, doors actually open, which helps them feel like real locations. Now I have a few criticisms...

The map goes from hard to easy. Hard in the beginning because you have nothing to fight with, then easier as you get more equipment. This is a common "problem" with Duke maps so I won't make too much of it. There were a lot of grabbable boxes lying around on the rooftops that I could see no use for. I guess they were just for decoration (which is fine because I don't really like to stack them anyway), but some people will be confused by that and think they are supposed to do something with them. This brings me to what was disappointing: Not enough rooftop jumping and exploring! The best part of the map is near the beginning, when you have to use the rotating sign to jump to the next roof. I wish the map had a lot more stuff like that. For a Duke map that is pretty innovative. Why not take advantage of the mantling system and have Duke sliding along an edge with his hands? Or at least have an area with a bunch of those signs where you have to jump from one to another. Once you get inside a building, which happens pretty early in the level, it becomes a very normal Duke experience. You get to go outside a few more times, but you never feel any risk of falling off after that. I liked the Skycar part , and I'm glad you made the area large enough to fly around in comfortably. Maybe I should code a bomb view so you can see the target area before you drop the bomb, because that was the one thing that frustrated me a bit.

I have updated the CONs again to fix the bug I mentioned (same location as always).

[Danukem]

Fantinaikos, on Jun 29 2009, 01:08 PM, said:

P.S. I suggest also to update the fire effects, the fire By "gt1750" in the latest 4.1 update is better than the fire of the actual version of DP.

Yes, and it's about time! I didn't like having a different fire in DP.

[Danukem]

I have updated the main DP download so that it includes the latest CONs, and the DP fire is removed (so the new HRP fire will show). I did not mention this on the web site or in the documentation.

[NightFright]

I have added DP 2.02 to HRP site downloads section. This time, I have created zipfile but have NOT TOUCHED CONTENTS *AT ALL*. It is just zipfile instead of .rar.

[Hawkeye]

The new jetpack functionality startled me when I first loaded it up. My first thought was: "Jump boots?"

Is there a way to modify them so that they don't activate the second someone hits the jump key? Say, a second's delay or so, to allow the player to reach the peak of the jump?

They did something similar in the old Starship Troopers TC (god I loved that), where you had to hold down the jump key mid jump, and then snap the 'jetpack' on to get any use out of it.

[Danukem]

Hawkeye, on Jul 1 2009, 04:01 PM, said:

The new jetpack functionality startled me when I first loaded it up. My first thought was: "Jump boots?"

Is there a way to modify them so that they don't activate the second someone hits the jump key? Say, a second's delay or so, to allow the player to reach the peak of the jump?

They did something similar in the old Starship Troopers TC (god I loved that), where you had to hold down the jump key mid jump, and then snap the 'jetpack' on to get any use out of it.

I keep forgetting to either disable that feature or finish coding it.

[Danukem]

There's a bug in the current svn version of Polymer which can cause EVENT_GAME to not work properly. This probably explains the strange behavior that some people reported a while back.

I will henceforth disregard all Polymer bug reports until further notice UNLESS the bug is known to happen using the older renderer (polymost).

[Hawkeye]

DeeperThought, on Jul 1 2009, 08:13 PM, said:

I keep forgetting to either disable that feature or finish coding it.

I vote finish.

[Danukem]

Hawkeye, on Jul 2 2009, 12:14 AM, said:

I vote finish.

I will finish coding it...soonish. And by the way, it does not activate the instant you start a jump, it only activates if you are still pressing the key when you start to descend from the jump.

[Hawkeye]

DeeperThought, on Jul 2 2009, 03:25 AM, said:

I will finish coding it...soonish. And by the way, it does not activate the instant you start a jump, it only activates if you are still pressing the key when you start to descend from the jump.

I would swear I hear the jetpack sounds even when I just tap the jump key...

[Danukem]

Duke Plus 2.03 Released

* Removed the replacement fire (the new HRP fire is better)
* Jetpack can now be activated in jump-jet mode by double tapping and then holding jump.
* A few bug fixes
* Tweaked the F7 view to make it more playable (camera is more aggressive about swiveling behind the player)
* Disabled the experimental code for Polymer dynamic light support (will add it back when Polymer is released)


Some of the changes had been made before this, but now it's official.

[Hawkeye]

DeeperThought, on Jul 2 2009, 03:32 PM, said:

Duke Plus 2.03 Released

* Removed the replacement fire (the new HRP fire is better)
* Jetpack can now be activated in jump-jet mode by double tapping and then holding jump.
* A few bug fixes
* Tweaked the F7 view to make it more playable (camera is more aggressive about swiveling behind the player)
* Disabled the experimental code for Polymer dynamic light support (will add it back when Polymer is released)


Some of the changes had been made before this, but now it's official.

I was gonna suggest the double-jump-jetpack thing, but you beat me to it. Sweet

EDIT Found a minor issue with the new jetpack mechanic: When the map transitions to another 'upper level,' if you're using the new jetpack functionality, it'll stick at the transition; it won't allow you to proceed upward; it'll just bounce you off the ceiling. (Try it on the E2L1, in, say the forcefield column; you'll see what I mean.)

[aherin]

Hi there,
I've just been playing around with the new DNF skin pack for the HRP, and I've noticed just how much better the duke plus shottie fits in with the other weapon models now.

BUT, something that has always bugged me is the muzzle flash. To me it's always seemed too big, to the point of being a distraction. I think that it also needs a better sense of perspective, so that it comes out from the end of the barrel in more of a cone shape.

Just to give peeps an example I've found a few (free, I think) muzzleflashes on the net from here,

http://aenhancers.co....php?f=4&t=1100

and I manipulated the number 4 muzzleflash perspective and size a little using GIMP. This is what i came up with:


I am by no means trying to say this particular image should be a replacement because I didn't create it- I just altered another image.

What I am asking is if:
a- anyone else agrees with me that a muzzle flash like this could be an improvement and
b-anyone with sufficient skills could recreate it so we could use it

Sorry for the long post, just thought I'd explain myself fully before the inevitable "ZOMG plagiarist" responses I did try this one out in game though and it seems to be on the right track.

Anyway, just a thought

[Danukem]

If you can come up with something better, then I'm all for it. The current display code rotates the muzzleflash at random angles (and even draws two of them overlapping), so if you replace it with something that has a definite direction, it will look bad. I'm happy to change the display code to work with a better flash, though.

[aherin]

Ahh ok that does explain why the original muzzle flash seems to change shape, even though there's only one muzzle flash png

Did you make it that way to make up for the fact that the model and the muzzle flash aren't "attached" to each other?
i.e. if a more static, cone shape was used, would it consantly be out of place due to the weapon sway animation?

[Danukem]

aherin, on Jul 4 2009, 06:22 PM, said:

Ahh ok that does explain why the original muzzle flash seems to change shape, even though there's only one muzzle flash png

Did you make it that way to make up for the fact that the model and the muzzle flash aren't "attached" to each other?
i.e. if a more static, cone shape was used, would it consantly be out of place due to the weapon sway animation?

No, weapon sway is not a problem -- the code already compensates for that.

[aherin]

Ok well that's good news.
The problem is that my photoshop skills pretty much end at the simple cutting and pasting I did for the image in the original post!
Hopefully someone with skills will heed my call

[Stabs]

just playing around in my paint proggy and got this new dukeplus ingame logo

looks pretty good, suits duke nicely, here it is if you want to use it

[TerminX]

Would be cooler if it used that Daidoh Remix font that 3DR used for the XBLA version of Duke and on the Duke Nukem Trilogy site.