Compileable version of Alien Breed 3D II - The Killing Grounds

[Karlos]

I'm no speedrunner, but I am happy with this:

The engine code so far is pushed to the feature/player-stats branch on my branch and the misc/redesign branch of my mod contains the latest working version complete with these features and supporting achivements definitions.

[Karlos]

I just realised, with the glaring obviousness of hindsight, that the "specific zone found" class of achievement doesn't work well when you have low and high spec versions of a level. Fortunately, I also think the easy fix for this, is to just have two versions of the game.props, in the same way there are two versions of the test.lnk file.

Legitimately got my time for level A (in my mod) down to 2m 1.25 seconds now.

[Karlos]

[ Show youtube player ]

[AlphaAmiga]

That's awesome! Brilliant work

[Dunny]

Will be nice to have a menu item that lists current achievements - and some way to determine what's been missed

And I understand that you've worked a lot on the text display but is there any chance that we might be able to have the text displaying in the blank area at the bottom of the screen? It's getting pretty busy with text overlaying quite a lot of the gameplay for quite a lot of the level. A single line of text might help with that?

[abu_the_monkey]

@Karlos

good job!

the text (for me) does not interfere with the game when playing, only really notice it when watching someone else's videos back. maybe it could flush out slightly quicker but, eh.

[Karlos]

The original game used to do that. However it used the native chipset's ability to change resolution partway down the display. The text area was 640 pixels wide. We can't do this for RTG and depending on the mode (e.g 320*240), the strip isn't even there in the first place.

I think the best option is to allow the messages to be filterable by class. The plan for small screen mode is to present the messages in the otherwise unused area but that has some additional complications that I've not tackled yet.

[abu_the_monkey]

maybe the text clear 'speed/buffer length' could be user definable as an option when the menu system gets an overhaul?

[Karlos]

Originally Posted by abu_the_monkey

maybe the text clear 'speed/buffer length' could be user definable as an option when the menu system gets an overhaul?

That, plus which types of messages, I think.

[Karlos]

Most importantly thought, who can speed run the original levels now? The timing granularity should be good to about 1/50th of a second.

[abu_the_monkey]

agree.

maybe the last few messages could be displayed if you pause the game? a bit like the console in quake, or is that a bit OTT?

[abu_the_monkey]

Originally Posted by Karlos

Most importantly thought, who can speed run the original levels now? The timing granularity should be good to about 1/50th of a second.

off to give it a go

[Karlos]

Originally Posted by abu_the_monkey

off to give it a go

Original level A should be faster as you don't have the whole find a key to reach the command deck teleporter thing.

Also, there won't be any achievements for beating previous times on the original game but the best time for a level so far should still be reported when replaying a level.

[Karlos]

The main motivation for achievements was a way to encourage replay of levels but also, by reaching certain achievements, improving your chances in later levels by raising level caps. As the original game doesn't have any there's hopefully no issue there, but I'm thinking that my mod needs to start off with you weaker and you build up. For example, the Pest Control, when achieved, permanently raises your health limit by 200HP.

I never liked the way the original game relied on stockpiling, it just felt like something unfinished. However it's increasingly unrealistic to play the later levels with a low HP limit, so there has to be a way to improve it.

[Karlos]

There are some other ideas for reward functions. For example, increasing a the effectiveness of a player weapon. This would mean recording into the game.stats some additional data that begins as a copy of the player bullet definition in the test.lnk file but can be modified by an achievement, e.g. adjusting the maximum speed, damage inflicted, time of flight etc.

This way, guns could actually start off a bit weaker and build up too.

[abu_the_monkey]

yep, the original is quick if you just run, the longest bit is waiting on the lift on the bridge

[Karlos]

Originally Posted by abu_the_monkey

yep, the original is quick if you just run, the longest bit is waiting on the lift on the bridge

That's a gauntlet.

[abu_the_monkey]

took me 5 minutes + on your mod they were all out to get me on that run

[abu_the_monkey]

I was just thinking about the original alien breed.
and it struck me that on some levels you had to make it to the exit before a timer ran out.
after destroying a reactor/generator or what not. would this be doable or would it be a breaking change to the engine?
just food for thought

[Karlos]

Originally Posted by abu_the_monkey

took me 5 minutes + on your mod they were all out to get me on that run

Protip run through them sidestepping a bit like quake bunny hops. The robots totally overcompensate for the apparent sideways velocity and aim too far ahead of your predicted motion. That way you can avoid most of their fire.