[Doom64hunter]

Managed to come across some pretty serious crashes. One is preventing me from finding all the secrets since it's essentially counting down like a timer -- if I stay in the map too long the game eventually crashes.
I have attached two zip files with saves that showcase the crashes.

The first crash occurs when you use one of the switches next to the soda machines. The associated save file starts you right in front of the faulty light switch.

 switch_crash.zip (4.4MB)
Number of downloads: 0

Crashlog:

Line 821, switch: Gv_GetSpecialVarX(): invalid sprite ID -1
Line 6028, switch: Gv_GetSpecialVarX(): invalid sprite ID -1

89139: -32: 2048
89140: -31:     8 else
89141: -30:   254 else
89142: -29: 161526384
89143: -28: 31337 {
89144: -27:   256 setvarvar
89145: -26: 311
89146: -25:     4 guniqhudid
89147: -24: 253
89148: -23: 3
89149: -22:   257 xorvarvar
89150: -21: 311
89151: -20: 2048
89152: -19:     8 else
89153: -18:   258 setactor
89154: -17: 246
89155: -16: 3
89156: -15: 311
89157: -14: 31337 }
89158: -13:   260 setactor
89159: -12: 246
89160: -11: 6
89161: -10:     4 guniqhudid
89162:  -9: 253
89163:  -8: 6
89164:  -7: 31337 }
89165:  -6:   262 else
89166:  -5: 161526656
89167:  -4: 31337 {
89168:  -3:   264 espawnvar
89169:  -2: 2048
89170:  -1: 6711
89171:   0:   265 setactorvar
89172:   1: 246
89173:   2: 345
89174:   3: 447
89175:   4:   266 setactorvar
89176:   5: 246
89177:   6: 346
89178:   7:     4 guniqhudid
89179:   8: 253
89180:   9: 6
89181:  10:   267 setactor
89182:  11: 246
89183:  12: 9
89184:  13: 2048
89185:  14: 64
89186:  15:   268 setactor
89187:  16: 246
89188:  17: 10
89189:  18: 2048
89190:  19: 64
89191:  20: 31337 }
89192:  21:   270 subvarvar
89193:  22: 309
89194:  23: 2048
89195:  24: 1
89196:  25: 31337 }
89197:  26: 31337 }
89198:  27: 31337 }
89199:  28:   274 setvarvar
89200:  29: 318
89201:  30: 2048
89202:  31: 0

current actor: 4295 (5890)
g_errorLineNum: 6050, g_tw: 124

The second crash is the more serious one. For some reason, after staying in the second map for a while, I eventually start getting random crashes, as if they were on a timer.
To reproduce it, just run around in the map for a while and try shooting. You'll be booted to the desktop eventually.

 eventual_crash.zip (4.55MB)
Number of downloads: 0

Crashlog:

Line 821, switch: Gv_GetSpecialVarX(): invalid sprite ID -1
Line 6028, switch: Gv_GetSpecialVarX(): invalid sprite ID -1
g_errorLineNum: 6050, g_tw: 124

It appears that the source of the crashes seems to be the same in both cases. However, I don't quite understand why in one case it activates automatically, and in one case it doesn't.

Finally, I noticed that turning fullscreen mode off in the startup dialogue doesn't actually do anything. It still starts in fullscreen either way.
Zaxx is correct.

[Zaxx]

Doom64hunter, on 03 March 2018 - 11:18 AM, said:

Finally, I noticed that turning fullscreen mode off in the startup dialogue doesn't actually do anything. It still starts in fullscreen either way.

I think that's borderless windowed mode.

[Bruno Mattei]

Whatever you say. Whatever you want to believe. I don't really care and don't feel like defending my point of view against of bunch of obese neckbeard sycophants.

[necroslut]

HulkNukem, on 03 March 2018 - 07:41 AM, said:

To be fair, neither are physic objects.

The unreleased Fate had them, as did Shadow Warrior to a degree, and of course Half-Life.

Zaxx, on 03 March 2018 - 07:42 AM, said:

So it's useful because the automatic kick is not useful enough... that only proves that the auto kick was not a super polished mechanic in Duke 3D, not that the quick kick was useful. You have a point when it comes to ammo conservation but then again Ion Maiden's stun baton is a lot stronger than Duke's kick so it perfectly fulfills the ammo conservation aspect. The thing is I just don't see the point in including a quick kick when you have an awesome melee weapon that stunlocks enemies and even has a simple 3 hit combo, it's just more fun than a kick would be. And really I don't think anything that I'm saying is new, I'm sure that 3DR chose not to have a "mighty foot" in Shadow Warrior because the katana was just more awesome too (I know, we had karate punches... did anyone ever use those?).


Well Duke 3D did not have ladders either and even in the old school games where ladders were a thing it was never this easy and smooth to climb them... so that means that the devs should remove the ladders or make climbing them suck like in the 90's? Absolutely not. Duke 3D did not have physics so Ion Maiden should get rid of that too? I think you see where I'm going with this...

The thing is that I don't really care if it's super old school or not because the fact is that it would serve Ion Maiden's gameplay a great deal.

The fists were great - they do quite a bit of damage and are super quick. And it's great fun to send ninjas flying through the air - the first thing I do when starting up SW is always to switch to the fists and punch those two jumping ninjas right out through the window they came in from. The only reason they're not classic is because the katana is the single best FPS melee weapon ever.

Duke's kick is also very useful when reloading, maybe getting that final hit in before the enemy can blast you. Or when you have an explosive weapon equipped and someone gets the drop on you.

[CruX]

Bruno Mattei, on 03 March 2018 - 11:56 AM, said:

Whatever you say. Whatever you want to believe. I don't really care and don't feel like defending my point of view against of bunch of obese neckbeard sycophants.

i wouldn't want to defend my point of view either if i were as terrible at it as you are ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[MrFlibble]

necroslut, on 03 March 2018 - 12:03 PM, said:

Duke's kick is also very useful when reloading, maybe getting that final hit in before the enemy can blast you. Or when you have an explosive weapon equipped and someone gets the drop on you.

At some point I found the pistol/quick kick combo (that is, you use both simultaneously at point blank range) to work pretty well against troopers and pig cops during my attempts to speed run E1L1. (I wasn't aiming for the shortest time possible, just for a very quick run though without secrets or exploits, intended for a short video)[/offtopic]

[High Treason]

Realized I never came back to say how things went. Generally well, the game is not perfect, but then what is? It was fun enough, think what it cost should be worth it for the full version.

My experiences with it on video -


There are, however, certain missing features I will be putting in place myself if they're not implemented. Oh, yes, you can be sure I've stripped this game down to see how it works already and it should be very easy to start modding it after years of EDuke32 stuff, so fear not. Wanna drink that bottle of bleach? I'll get that going. Want to use the lavatory? I'll get that done. Want to smash the ATM sprites just like Duke 3D? I can get that to work.Enemies and items need to be more visible? Should be easy to fix.

Basically, a few praises and criticisms;
Positives
> Gameplay is mostly fun because it plays like an FPS instead of a movie, nothing really feels restrictive in terms of where I can go and where I can point my gun.
> Level design is generally good, they were built well and you can tell that effort was put into it.
> The effects are nicely done, such as the explosions and shotsparks, blowing up a wall generally felt satisfying to do and I could also play with light switches, something games have lacked for years.
> The levels do encourage exploration, it doesn't usually force you to go out of your way, but it leaves little hints that there's something around if you can be bothered to look for them.
> Real attention to detail, stuff like boss and air meters or parts of levels that move and do stuff, liked how I accidentally knocked a vase off of a desk at one point, stuff like that.


Negatives
> The music is unfitting for a Build game and the first track is repetitive, if you can call that music, two sixteenth notes per beat on a loop with no real progression does not equal music. Hardly any stereo, but made with an FT2 clone, what do you expect.
> Enemies and items aren't easy to see. My fix would be to get the shade they would be otherwise and just bump it up slightly, or have the items fully bright, it's a game after all and Duke/SW's docs even recommended this. Ended up having to search for health and ammo a few times, to a point which is distracting, not sure if supplies are really sparse or I'm just not seeing them and, only ended up there in the first place because I couldn't see what was shooting me.
> Can't smash some things that probably should be smash-able, I wanted to bust that ATM sprite Duke Nukem 3D style. Also, jumping feels really stiff but you probably can't change that now without significantly changing the levels.
> Praise as much as complaint, some areas of the levels were actually 'over designed' to a point where it looks far too busy, someone really liked that double slope effect in the first map and just went nuts with it.
> No quick kick, really could do with a 'Bombshell Boot' or 'Shelly Stomp' or something being put in.

Anyways, looking forward to the full version.

[Mike Norvak]

High Treason, on 03 March 2018 - 01:18 PM, said:

> Enemies and items aren't easy to see. My fix would be to get the shade they would be otherwise and just bump it up slightly, or have the items fully bright, it's a game after all and Duke/SW's docs even recommended this. Ended up having to search for health and ammo a few times, to a point which is distracting, not sure if supplies are really sparse or I'm just not seeing them and, only ended up there in the first place because I couldn't see what was shooting me.
> Can't smash some things that probably should be smash-able, I wanted to bust that ATM sprite Duke Nukem 3D style.

This and the Fps drops, especially in the boss battle would be my only complains, designing such large levels without taking fps in consideration is a big mistake imho. Having more interactivity and working mirrors would be the cherry on top.

[Danukem]

High Treason, on 03 March 2018 - 01:18 PM, said:

Oh, yes, you can be sure I've stripped this game down to see how it works already and it should be very easy to start modding it after years of EDuke32 stuff, so fear not. Wanna drink that bottle of bleach? I'll get that going. Want to use the lavatory? I'll get that done. Want to smash the ATM sprites just like Duke 3D? I can get that to work.Enemies and items need to be more visible? Should be easy to fix.

You've "stripped this game down to see how it works already". Yeah, it works like a Build game, and the devs provided well organized script files with everything nicely labeled and easy to modify. Good to know we'll be able to drink bleach in the future though, I'm sure that will require some elite hax to pull off

[NightFright]

USS Framerate should always be your favorite spaceship (E2L1 pun here). Anyway, I only had slowdown issues when the game was (auto)saving. Maybe this can still be optimized.

[High Treason]

Trooper Dan, on 03 March 2018 - 01:56 PM, said:

You've "stripped this game down to see how it works already". Yeah, it works like a Build game, and the devs provided well organized script files with everything nicely labeled and easy to modify. Good to know we'll be able to drink bleach in the future though, I'm sure that will require some elite hax to pull off

Yeah, that was my point, so what of it? What are you trying to prove here exactly?
No need to be suck a fucking dick about it.
Asswipe.

[Danukem]

High Treason, on 03 March 2018 - 02:16 PM, said:

Yeah, that was my point, so what of it? What are you trying to prove here exactly?
No need to be suck a fucking dick about it.
Asswipe.

I'm a shady bitch.

I was just making the point that the developers provided those scripts and made them easy to modify. You made it sound like you had hacked the game apart and carefully analyzed it, which I thought was funny.

I did notice something, which maybe you could comment on, if you're not too pissed off. Apparently if you modify a script file then put it back into the maiden.grp, the game won't start. I guess it fails the checksum or something, but the log doesn't make that clear.

[Forge]

High Treason, on 03 March 2018 - 01:18 PM, said:

Wanna drink that bottle of bleach? I'll get that going.

how about the tide-pod challenge instead?

[Zaxx]

Mike Norvak, on 03 March 2018 - 01:41 PM, said:

designing such large levels without taking fps in consideration is a big mistake imho.

Well, let's hope that the guys are not the developers of Black Mesa but actually know what they are doing. The way I see it there is nothing in the game that a more advanced version of EDuke32 couldn't handle. The engine just needs a bit of spit and polish, that's all.

[TerminX]

Bruno Mattei, on 03 March 2018 - 11:56 AM, said:

Whatever you say. Whatever you want to believe. I don't really care and don't feel like defending my point of view against of bunch of obese neckbeard sycophants.

Do you even meet the COPPA requirements to post here?

[Forge]

TerminX, on 03 March 2018 - 03:11 PM, said:

Do you even meet the COPPA requirements to post here?

So you're saying he refunded the game because it lacked 'boob physics"?
It all makes sense now.

[OpenMaw]

Forge, on 03 March 2018 - 04:38 PM, said:

So you're saying he refunded the game because it lacked 'boob physics"?
It all makes sense now.

Well, their absence is Inexcusable.

[TerminX]

Nah, just that it's incredibly immature to respond with "hurrrrrrrrr fat" during nearly any discussion about anything. I guess adult discourse isn't for everyone.

On a brighter note, thanks so much for all the support for the game, guys. I remain blown away by how positive the reaction is!

[MusicallyInspired]

Mark., on 03 March 2018 - 07:00 AM, said:

After watching Musically Inspired's walkthrough video he was really struggling with pushing an object to where he needed it. "Carrying" would have been better.Although, maybe MI is a spaz and nobody else had trouble pushing things.

Hah I was in such a mood to destroy everything that I destroyed the barrel that was already down those stairs/escalators where the toxic sludge was. I didn't have to drag those items all the way down there (which I have deduced is impossible). All the other secrets that required chairs and such were quite easy to get so I forgive that one.

Doom64hunter, on 03 March 2018 - 07:59 AM, said:

Is the portable medkit the only inventory item in the game? I didn't see any "Inventory left/right" buttons in the controls, which is surprising considering every Build game had those.Also, I want to reinforce that the eduke32 control setup needs to be changed so that you can only map a key to a single action. The big issue right now is that the previous keybinds aren't removed whenever you set a key to a new action.For example, when I set e to crouch, the use function isn't unbound from e. This behavior has been a pet peeve of mine for ages, but I decided not to complain about it since eduke was only volunteer work and the issue was admittedly minor. Now with Ion Maiden as a commercial product however, I feel like it's finally time to bring this up.

I agree with the need to unbind old keys when you use the same key on another action, but I'm not against alternate binds. They can be handy.

Bruno Mattei, on 03 March 2018 - 11:56 AM, said:

Whatever you say. Whatever you want to believe. I don't really care and don't feel like defending my point of view against of bunch of obese neckbeard sycophants.

Aww do you need a hug? Our neckbeards are nice and soft, you'll see.

[Zaxx]

Bruno Mattei, on 03 March 2018 - 11:56 AM, said:

neckbeard sycophants.

I don't get the Amish hate on the internet these days... THEY ARE NOT EVEN ON IT!

[Micky C]

Zaxx, on 03 March 2018 - 06:13 AM, said:

And as for a more useful feature the way I see it a lot of the secrets rely on pushing objects like chairs and trash cans around so Shelly should really pick those up with the use button and carry them to make things faster. You know, like in Half-Life 2.

You can actually pull things like chairs but holding 'use' while looking at them. That should fix most of the issues regarding their use in secrets. As others have said, I think picking them up would be a step too far. Pushing/pulling is a natural extension of how their physics behaves with regards to explosives. Not to mention they're on wheels so pushing makes sense. Once you introduce the concept of picking items up, then this introduces a huge contrast in interactivity, and it becomes quite noticeable when you aren't able to pick up other objects that you'd expect to be able to. The key to fun interactivity, and it's clear that IM has had a lot of thought and effort put into this, is being consistently interactive across all objects uniformly across the entire game. You should be able to pick everything up or nothing up, and for several reasons it makes sense to go with the latter.

This is the problem with interactivity in DNF. Sure, it's impressive if you can use a fully-functioning pinball machine and so on, but this led to isolated pockets of interactivity, with the bulk of the main game being quite rigid. They also had the "picking up" problem in that you could pick up barrels, and the occasional item to throw, and yet you couldn't push over a few boxes that were blocking your path.

TerminX, on 03 March 2018 - 05:05 PM, said:

On a brighter note, thanks so much for all the support for the game, guys. I remain blown away by how positive the reaction is!

You and your team have clearly put a lot of heart into the game, so you should be (but don't let it get to your head too much ). As a mapper who has worked for many years on arguably one of the most ambitious Duke TCs, I'm still trying to get my head around some of the effects, even ones as simple as flipping the toilet lid. In several cases I can only assume that you're physically swapping out sectors. I remember reading about a sequence in RR where a gas station explosion is achieved by a similar method. I'd be a very powerful and flexible effect if you've managed to pull it off.

To put a check on your ego, another criticism ; no slower-moving energy projectile weapons (for both the player and enemies), but I assume these will be present in the full version.

[Mr. Tibbs]

PC World really love the game (though in the video they get quite a few things wrong - such as release date estimate, developer, etc...).

Quote

3D Realms is making a new game in the Duke 3D engine the same week Washington D.C. starts complaining about video game violence? It's like 1997 all over again up in here.

The last game 3D Realms put out was Bombshell, and it was terrible. So terrible, that when I first heard 3D Realms was back with another game I was...skeptical, to say the least. And yet I’ve played a bit of Ion Maiden, released into Early Access this week, and it’s surprisingly great.

Maybe that’s because it plays to 3D Realms’s strengths? Despite starring Bombshell heroine Shelly “Bombshell” Harrison again, Ion Maiden ditches the isometric view, the engine—basically everything from the previous game—in favor of a retro-inspired ‘90s shooter that’s (even better) built in the Duke 3D Build Engine. Very cool.

[Zaxx]

Micky C, on 03 March 2018 - 05:49 PM, said:

You can actually pull things like chairs but holding 'use' while looking at them.

Yeah, I know but that sucks now because the game defaults to autorun (as it should) while you can only pull objects effectively if you're walking and sometimes even that doesn't work. For example if you want to pull a chair sideways you have to crouch too so you have to press and hold Ctrl + Shift + E + A (or D) or press Caps Lock then press and hold Ctrl + E + A (or D) and press Caps Lock again after you're finished with your professional chair displacement operation. Even pressing and holding something like E + D at the same time is challenging because of how the buttons are placed.

I realize that picking up and carrying objects could pose a problem because if the feature is implemented without the maps supporting it then people will just carry stuff where they are not supposed to and start jumping off the maps the next day... but the current system is still not good enough. A "picking up objects" feature does not necessary have to be that literally, it can be just locking onto an object and pulling it in a way that the object simply moves next to you while you're walking around. An example: you go to a chair, press the use key, a small icon appears in one corner of the screen indicating that you're in "pull mode", the game automatically slows you down to walking speed and the chair starts moving with you once you start moving.

I really think that the "old school" way is not good enough here since climbing ladders is awesome and I think I even noticed that I made some jumps I should have missed so it seems like the game even has a system implemented that simulates "landing on one foot" when you miss a jump just by an inch. I just don't want the game to end up like ROTT 2013 where the base gameplay was awesome but the game got a lot of criticism for its terrible platforming mechanics: the same can happen with IM if moving objects is a chore.

[TerminX]

That's definitely valid criticism, and something I've noticed myself. I'll see what we can do to make moving objects feel more natural.

[Zaxx]

As for Micky C's concerns regarding moving objects other than the "bigger ones": that already works, it's just hard to do because you're disconnected from the object almost instantly because of your movement speed:

Shelly would be a terrible waitress.

[Player Lin]

I completed the game again for finding secrets on UV difficulty, but sadly not 100% because an enemy on level 1 or 2 never spawns for some reasons(when I noticed this on end of level 2, I try go back to level 1 but found no enemies, I know it's already happens on eduke32 or maybe DOS Duke but just feel frustrated when it happened...).

At least I got 100% secrets!

https://steamuserima...4DF05A1183E1C4/


Thanks Errol for his nice "Dick's Secret Stashes" guide.(Warning : Spoiler inside, of course! )

[NightFright]

Finished the preview last night. Levels 2 and 3 seemed shorter to me than the first one, but that's probably because I cared less about secrets this time.

In total, I love the game, its atmosphere and general art design plus its emphasis on secrets and references to other classic games. Also I need to say shading in some areas was superb - e.g. if you managed to get into the clothing store just before the boss fight.

What can still be done as far as I am concerned (as mentioned before):
- Optimization of autosave slowdowns
- Keypad5 mappable
- SMG and shotgun with a bit more "kick"
- More Shelly speech
- Usable toilets (OK, I won't revolt if it won't happen, but would be a nice gimmick)
- Cutscenes and some kinda story (but it can be assumed there will be some)
- Optional statusbar for retro freaks

[necroslut]

Played through the preview a couple more times and, damn, I love it. Probably the best secret areas in any game ever; though they're lacking a little in in-game rewards due to the limited inventory - you only have use for so much armor.
It feels a lot less like a Duke re-skin than I thought it would, I'd say it feels more like Blood in many ways (gameplay-wise, not mood-wise). It also reminds me a lot of that unreleased Build game "Fate", due to the looks (color palette used, the high-res art, lighting effects) and things like pushable objects to reach vents and a slower, more Half-Life-esque feel, with fewer enemies.
Generally feels more like a what-could-have-been 1998 Build game - if Quake never came out - than a Duke throwback.

The one thing I don't really love is the enemies. Their sprites are high quality and all that, but they're a bit bland both aesthetically and gameplay-wise (compared to the Build classics) and especially the machinegunners blend into the background a bit much. Though the second part is, I guess, also related to the fact that there's a lot of detail in the levels, and I wouldn't want to change that.
The music is also a bit bland, though it fits well enough.

Really, really looking forward to the full game. Truly, even though it's short length, this is the best FPS experience released in years.

Micky C, on 03 March 2018 - 05:49 PM, said:

You can actually pull things like chairs but holding 'use' while looking at them. [. . .]

It could probably be a good idea to put this, as well as the headshots mechanic, in the help screen. I didn't realize pulling objects was possible even though I'd tried it - I guess I was moving too fast. And a lot of people seem to have missed the fact that headshots are possible the first time through.
Some of the pushable objects could probably use a slightly larger clipsize so you don't "slide off" them as easily.

NightFright, on 04 March 2018 - 12:19 AM, said:

- Cutscenes and some kinda story (but it can be assumed there will be some)
- Optional statusbar for retro freaks

There is a background story in the help screen, like in Duke 3D. A "full" status bar would be nice for people like me who still use 4:3 monitors...

An extra-hard difficulty level with more (twice?) the enemies would be great too, for running through it that 10th time...

[MetHy]

Micky C, on 03 March 2018 - 05:49 PM, said:

In several cases I can only assume that you're physically swapping out sectors. I remember reading about a sequence in RR where a gas station explosion is achieved by a similar method. I'd be a very powerful and flexible effect if you've managed to pull it off.

Shadow Warrior has it too but AFAIK it's only used once in the entire game: in Bath House the car explodes revealing submergible water

at approx 24s :



SW is like that. Tons of super cool effects that are barely used and which surface was never scratched by anyone.

[cybdmn]

Insta-bought on 3DR website, but for i had no access to a windows machine, i had to wait for the weekend. Yesterday i installed it on my company laptop, which unfortunately have just an intel graphics card, so i had to stick with the software mode. It is an older Dell Latitude with an i7 and 8 gigs of ram. Aside from the autosave slowdowns, i had no framerate dropdowns, so these seem to be opengl only.

The developers did an incredible job in creating this 96/97 feeling, pure nostalgia. The maps are well crafted, and pull every trick build is capable. the game has so far nice non-linear map designs, without real dead ends, or mazes where you easy lost your orientation. Well done.

There are of course room for improvement, at least in my opinion.

- The music is far to generic and repetive. I hoped for some midi tunes, like in the 90ies. I miss these Bobby Prince/Lee Jackson kind of classics. These kind of tracks, which burns into your head.

- As others stated here, the enemies and items blend too much into the background.

- Many of the sound fx are superb, i really love the sound when the bullets hit metal. But others, like the weapon sounds need to sound punchier, if you ask me.

- To much reloading for my taste. A fact which i dislike in other build engine games too. All these reloading stops the flow, and often you get hit, because your weapon reloads in the wrong moment. This even make crowd control more or less impossible. At least the reload should go faster.

- The enemies need more variation. At least the gun wielding guys seems to be the same, with only more firepower and health.

- The same is applicable for the firearms too. The bombs on the other side are great, with the ability to cook them, these are outstanding, and above every handgrenade like weapons in every build game.