[Zaxx]

 MrFlibble, on 15 March 2018 - 04:17 AM, said:

Got around to playing again, this time on hard difficulty. Indeed gameplay becomes much more fluid, and there's use for all weapons, although I found the shotgun to be much hit-and-miss (sometimes you score a hit in a single shot, but sometimes the same enemy doesn't go down after three when you reload the save game and try again; but that's in the version before the update, haven't tried the updated one yet). I haven't noticed the ammo to be scarce though, it seems quite plentiful.

I may be mistaken because I did not check if actually that's how it works but I got the feeling that the shotgun behaves in a way that is very similar to Unreal Tournament's Flak Cannon: the position of the pellets is a bit random every time you fire so you can score a "bullseye" where you kill the guy in one shot even without aiming for the head but it could also occur that even a basic enemy needs two shots to bite the dust because some of the pellets just did not hit him.

[Zaxx]

 NightFright, on 15 March 2018 - 04:34 AM, said:

Actually in World Tour, his performance sometimes was not far off from that.

Guess I'm alone with that but I liked him in World Tour: yes, his performance was different, it had a less serious and more comical vibe to it but that has its charm too. I love some of the little things in there, from example the voice when Duke suffers fall damage. I don't think that it's worse than what we have in the original game, it's just different.

[MrFlibble]

I'm consistently getting a hall of mirrors effect when in places close to the ceiling (e.g. when standing on top of tall crate stacks) and looking upwards:
 capt0002.png (89.5K)
Number of downloads: 31

[Fox]

Good old Polymost. Hopefully we will have rewritten a good part of the GL code for the full version.

[MetHy]

 gemeaux333, on 14 March 2018 - 02:41 PM, said:

There is another point I wanna make when it comes to translation/dubbing : except if you belong to the country of the game, you might hardly understand the jokes and/or references, for language bareer and cultural reasons...

This is important, this is why the game should get a proper localization IMO.

If only the menus and other texts are translated, and not the lines and dialogue, reviewers (pro & users) will mention it as a bad point. I look at some pro video game reviews and any time an indie game doesn't have a full translation they complain.
Besides, the protagonists' lines are an important aspect of all iconic Build games, these days everyone should be able to understand them.

As for the "understanding the jokes/reference", this takes work. For instance, let's say there is a Terminator reference, a line straight out of the movie. It takes a bit of research to translate that line right, for instance I'd go check the French version of the movie to see how that line was originally translated to make sure I get it right. If you only give 2 days to the translator, he's not going to bother getting all of that right, he'll just translate literally and even outright skip problematic words or entire jokes, I see that all the time in movie subtitles.

The "if you only give 2 days" isn't a barb at 3DRealms btw, it's more of a general thing in the translation industry. Usually you get called, and you're told the job needed to be done 2 days before you even got called; hence quick work with poor quality....
That's not even the worse btw, you should see how Netflix handles its translations... they don't even care if you're a professional or not.

[Forge]

Had a chance to play until the basement lift / yellow lock.

The lag is greatly reduced, but not completely gone.

Think the worst of it was the kitchen in the office building & the hall right outside of it (when enemies were present).
Wasn't monitoring the fps, so I don't know the exact drop, but it was significant.

Running a 2gb 650ti at factory settings.

[Doom64hunter]

 MetHy, on 15 March 2018 - 09:59 AM, said:

This is important, this is why the game should get a proper localization IMO.

If only the menus and other texts are translated, and not the lines and dialogue, reviewers (pro & users) will mention it as a bad point. I look at some pro video game reviews and any time an indie game doesn't have a full translation they complain.
Besides, the protagonists' lines are an important aspect of all iconic Build games, these days everyone should be able to understand them.

As for the "understanding the jokes/reference", this takes work. For instance, let's say there is a Terminator reference, a line straight out of the movie. It takes a bit of research to translate that line right, for instance I'd go check the French version of the movie to see how that line was originally translated to make sure I get it right. If you only give 2 days to the translator, he's not going to bother getting all of that right, he'll just translate literally and even outright skip problematic words or entire jokes, I see that all the time in movie subtitles.

The "if you only give 2 days" isn't a barb at 3DRealms btw, it's more of a general thing in the translation industry. Usually you get called, and you're told the job needed to be done 2 days before you even got called; hence quick work with poor quality....
That's not even the worse btw, you should see how Netflix handles its translations... they don't even care if you're a professional or not.

I find myself agreeing with your points, yet I'd still advise against doing an extensive translation.
The reason is what you mention yourself -- doing proper localization costs time and resources, both of which Voidpoint are currently lacking.

Out of all the things that need to be finished for the release, like artwork, sound design and voice acting, maps, weapons and enemies, as well as engine and renderer improvements, do you really think Voidpoint should invest an extensive amount of time and money on localization in what is already a niche product for retro game enthusiasts? Fans of games which never really had any extensive translations themselves?
I think you vastly overestimate the potential negative impact.

[NightFright]

I think it's remarkable you were able to pull off these kinda maps with Polymost. They also look a lot better than I would have expected with that renderer.

[gemeaux333]

I would personnally be ready to work on the french translation of the game for free if it could make sure the translation is faithfull (especially in the spirit) !

[Zaxx]

Here's something I love and where I have to give huge props to the level designers for being smart as fuck:


Every time you're about to reach a point of no return not only does the game tell you that you missed some secrets but you can also see a nice little graffiti with the game's logo. Meanwhile in the new Wolfenstein games (and to a lesser extent even in Doom 2016) you can constantly worry about accidentally crossing a point of no return before you actually explore the area for secrets. On top of all this it's a nice little reference to the "end of level buttons" of the old Build games.

An "indie" game doing stuff better than AAA titles developed from tens of millions of dollars, how is that not great?

[NightFright]

I also appreciated the missing secrets notification, together with the strong emphasis on exploration in this game in general. It's nothing less than the triumphant return of the "secrets shooter". I have only seen a similarly rewarding implementation in "Hard Reset" where you would find additional nanos to help you upgrade your gear. Here it's more about trying to be a completionist and "see it all", but it's quite a motivational factor and encourages you to play with a higher awareness for clues that may lead to secrets.

If the full version consequently sees this formula through and the maps are as enjoyable as those from the preview, there's no reason to deny Ion Maiden its recognition as the true spiritual successor of Duke Nukem 3D. Which is, by all means, what we have all been waiting for since fuggin' 22 years.

[cybdmn]

 gemeaux333, on 15 March 2018 - 12:42 PM, said:

I would personnally be ready to work on the french translation of the game for free if it could make sure the translation is faithfull (especially in the spirit) !

Yea, we here in europe know how stubborn french people are about their own language. You in france even have laws to enforce the use of the french language.

In fact NOT translating anything in the game would NOT harm the sales, because you can play and finish the game without even understand a single word. We don't talk about a game where understanding is essential to proceed in the game, we talk about a classic first person shooter, no need for localize anything, especially not the One-liners.
The idea alone is just an over-expensive bonus, which is far too much for a small studio like Voidpoint.

[Perro Seco]

The first time I played Duke 3D I was a kid, and enjoyed the game a lot without having idea what was going on or what Duke was saying.

[Micky C]

 Fox, on 15 March 2018 - 09:33 AM, said:

Good old Polymost. Hopefully we will have rewritten a good part of the GL code for the full version.

And you all thought I was crazy for 3DR paying to have the renderer improved Although I assume Fox is referring to Polymost here instead of Polymer.

 NightFright, on 15 March 2018 - 10:35 AM, said:

I think it's remarkable you were able to pull off these kinda maps with Polymost. They also look a lot better than I would have expected with that renderer.

Can you elaborate? Did you think classic would do a better job for example?

The different blending modes, particularly alpha blending, go a long way to making the visuals more colourful and interesting.

[Hendricks266]

 Micky C, on 15 March 2018 - 02:28 PM, said:

And you all thought I was crazy for 3DR paying to have the renderer improved

This is not happening. I almost downvoted you because of the winky face.

[HulkNukem]

 Zaxx, on 15 March 2018 - 12:54 PM, said:

An "indie" game doing stuff better than AAA titles developed from tens of millions of dollars, how is that not great?

Ehhhhhhhhh

While I would agree getting to a point of no return and missing secrets was lame for Doom '16, the game allows you to replay levels with collectibles permanently unlocked so it essentially became a mute point.
I wouldn't say better, just handled differently.
Plus the way levels work in Doom 16 and Wolf are different than Ion Maiden; they have much more scripting and straight forward sections that they would have to be completely redesigned to work to allow you to backtrack the entire thing.
Ion Maiden's levels are designed to be more open ended and circular.

[gemeaux333]

There are many excellent arguments in favor of french translations for sure !

[Zaxx]

 HulkNukem, on 15 March 2018 - 02:50 PM, said:

I wouldn't say better, just handled differently.

Yes... from a certain point of view. Personally I don't like Wolf TNO's system at all because the game has a tendency to just simply close doors behind you after you pass through and that's just not very good for an FPS that has secrets (and TNO was pretty great in the secret department). There is no reason why I shouldn't be able to just go back, there is no scripted event that destroyed the entrance, I did not blow up the room behind me etc. so in those cases I wouldn't say that easy replayability solves the problem. Doom 2016 was okay in this regard because there the maps stay quite open and you get a very good idea of when you're going to cross a point of no return (if you have to jump down a huge chasm you know you won't be able to go back and you can sniff out when you're approaching the end of a map) but I prefer to be absolutely sure and that's what you get from Ion Maiden.

And here's the thing about easy replayability: I don't think it improves things that much if the gameplay is not that replayable. In Wolf TNO you can replay the game one time if you're that curious about how events unfold if you choose to save a different character but if I remember correctly you have to start a new save to do that so it's not good for collecting missing secrets. Apart from that the gameplay is the same and everything plays out the same way. Doom 2016 is a bit better because the arenas are designed for variety and the enemy AI is good enough to change things up but even in that case you're against the same enemies you fought before.

Wolf TNC is the only game from the new id FPS titles that does replayability in a great way. There once you finish a large chunk of the campaign you get a new game mode where you can revisit areas to hunt down nazi commanders. It's the secret hunter's dream: they changed the maps a bit where they had to so you can freely explore every single level, you face new enemy configurations and the commanders themselves are a new enemy type (armored nazi officers with explosive weapons), you even get new soldier chatter and once you kill every commander and solve every enigma code you get a secret level in a nazi bunker that's full of robots and it all ends with a nice little bossfight. That mode is the best part of the game honestly, you blast through all the content the game has to offer again without those lengthy cutscenes, it's all about killing nazis, exploring and navigating levels. MachineGames was like "so you've played through the story campaign, watched all of our cutscenes, now here's that classic shooter from the 90s you wanted".

So TNC is what I'd call "not better, only different". Hope they continue that trend with Doom 5 and the next Wolf game.

[NightFright]

The golden design rule is that you should be able to get back to any place of the map you had previously visited. And if you can't, the game should tell you somehow that you reached a point of no return. Ion Maiden does this admirably.

[NNC]

One thing I hope for the final version are some truly memorable and charismatic locations. Maybe even emphasizing the city you are in (Washington?). You know, Build engine games are all about memorable places you visit, it can be a haunted mansion, a theme park, a hospital, a ship, a space station, a farm or a shinto shrine, let alone real places like Egypt pyramids or Golden Gate, but the memorable place you visit should be there.

[necroslut]

 Nancsi, on 16 March 2018 - 11:43 AM, said:

One thing I hope for the final version are some truly memorable and charismatic locations. Maybe even emphasizing the city you are in (Washington?). You know, Build engine games are all about memorable places you visit, it can be a haunted mansion, a theme park, a hospital, a ship, a space station, a farm or a shinto shrine, let alone real places like Egypt pyramids or Golden Gate, but the memorable place you visit should be there.

The old Build games have distinctly themed levels, but Ion Maiden from what we've seen doesn't really have self-contained levels in that sense but more of a continuous world à la Half-Life.

[Danukem]

 necroslut, on 16 March 2018 - 12:08 PM, said:

The old Build games have distinctly themed levels, but Ion Maiden from what we've seen doesn't really have self-contained levels in that sense but more of a continuous world à la Half-Life.

I wouldn't jump to conclusions. The preview campaign is one big connected area, but the full game might contain entirely different big connected areas in other locations.

[NNC]

 necroslut, on 16 March 2018 - 12:08 PM, said:

The old Build games have distinctly themed levels, but Ion Maiden from what we've seen doesn't really have self-contained levels in that sense but more of a continuous world à la Half-Life.

You can have distinct locations even in a continuous world.

[MusicallyInspired]

Let's reserve our judgment until the full game comes out.

[necroslut]

 Trooper Dan, on 16 March 2018 - 12:40 PM, said:

I wouldn't jump to conclusions. The preview campaign is one big connected area, but the full game might contain entirely different big connected areas in other locations.

Which is why I said "from what we've seen". But the level transition mechanics, as well as what developers have said, do point in that direction.

 Nancsi, on 16 March 2018 - 01:13 PM, said:

You can have distinct locations even in a continuous world.

You can, but distinct locations and self-contained levels aren't the same thing. Half-Life also has distinct locations, but they aren't self-contained and separated from each other in the way that a Duke 3D level is, which makes the exploration and such a bit different.

[Micky C]

By the looks of it, they’re going to have 7 zones, where each zone has a distinct overall theme. Judging by the preview, each zone will have levels, such as how the elevator transitioned to the basement area, and each level could be split into multiple maps for the purpose of getting around the wall limit.

However, even within the first level there was some variety in terms of a GDF base, an outdoor area and an office.

[OpenMaw]

Duke 3D and i'd say to a slightly lesser extent the other BUILD games all have theme-park style design, with each level being it's own "ride." Something like Half-Life models the whole theme park, including paying for your ticket and walking between each ride.

[Danukem]

I'm having a lot of fun playing through the preview levels again with the improvements. However, I have two issues to report.

One: Where the heck are my screenshots going? I press F12 and a screenshot is saved somewhere, but they are not appearing in the game folder like they did in the previous version.

Two: This is a minor issue that existed in the previous version as well. Concrete sprites spawned on extreme slopes will enter a glitched state where they bounce up and down in the air forever. You can see them doing this just to the right of the crosshair in the screenshot (taken with a different program because I could not find the F12 ones!) below. EDIT: Still can't find those screenies taken with F12 -- I'm starting to think they didn't get saved at all.

EDIT2: Found the problem.

Built Mar 11 2018 21:41:58, GCC 7.3.0, 64-bit
Using C:/3DRealms/IonMaiden/ for game data
Using C:/Users/Daniel/AppData/Roaming/Ion Maiden Preview Campaign/ for game data

Definitely not where I would expect to find my screenshots, since EDuke32 has never done that before.

[NNC]

 Micky C, on 16 March 2018 - 11:32 PM, said:

By the looks of it, they’re going to have 7 zones, where each zone has a distinct overall theme. Judging by the preview, each zone will have levels, such as how the elevator transitioned to the basement area, and each level could be split into multiple maps for the purpose of getting around the wall limit.

However, even within the first level there was some variety in terms of a GDF base, an outdoor area and an office.

I hope for a snowy type of level with some artcic base to visit there. This kind of game works well with snow.

[TerminX]

 Trooper Dan, on 17 March 2018 - 02:44 AM, said:

EDIT2: Found the problem.

Built Mar 11 2018 21:41:58, GCC 7.3.0, 64-bit
Using C:/3DRealms/IonMaiden/ for game data
Using C:/Users/Daniel/AppData/Roaming/Ion Maiden Preview Campaign/ for game data

Definitely not where I would expect to find my screenshots, since EDuke32 has never done that before.

Yes, the behavior is flipped from EDuke32 default. EDuke32 requires a special file be created in order to use %APPDATA% and IM requires a special file be created if you need to disable it. The expectation these days is generally that stuff doesn't write everything out to the install dir.