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

[Karlos]

Originally Posted by 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

It's not a breaking change if done in a way that requires some mod setup to work. I was thinking that some sort of time challenge might be good for the plotline in level C and D. C is going to be an engineering section (working in that before the achievements idea) of the orbital station and I plan D to have a reactor system that needs fixing to stabilise the station. You may have seen the warning screens in level B that suggests it's going to deorbit if the power situation isn't fixed.

Timers in D might be useful. I was also thinking about radiation hazards. A bit like floor damage but you get it just for being in a zone, so like how floor damage worked when it was buggy

[Karlos]

Originally Posted by abu_the_monkey

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

Yeah, it's like a Stannah Stairlift, that one.

[grond]

Originally Posted by Karlos

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

Or, more realistically, they could wear off with shots fired. And when you find the same weapon again, the status gets reset. The blaster could be of the no-wear type which could lead to some sort of auto-pistol-start if somebody's aim is too bad and the better weapons have worn off...

[Karlos]

My quake mod had weapon durability, that would eventually lead to 75% chance of jams. It made a good excuse to keep finding the pickups but I dunno if it suits an action game over an RPG style one.

[Karlos]

I have some ideas for specific achievements that I'll post in the other thread.

[grond]

Well, well, well, I'm the guy who would sneak through AB3D getting heart attacks each time one of those red hellhounds chased towards me. All this running takes away all the atmosphere, if you ask me. To me it's more a question of playing style than of whether it's an action game or an RPG.

[Angus]

An achievement for lowest damage suffered?

[Karlos]

Originally Posted by Angus

An achievement for lowest damage suffered?

I will need to add some "current level only" tracking for such things but it shouldn't be rocket science. I also had a thought of a few that are the opposite, like finishing a level with dangerously low health.

[Karlos]

Originally Posted by grond

Well, well, well, I'm the guy who would sneak through AB3D getting heart attacks each time one of those red hellhounds chased towards me. All this running takes away all the atmosphere, if you ask me. To me it's more a question of playing style than of whether it's an action game or an RPG.

Sure, I get that it's all about playing style, but believe me, people will speed run anything that has a timer, so there's no reason not make it a feature. Besides which,speed runners rarely shoot anything unless it's obligatory, so their guns aren't going to wear out.

Weapon durability isn't going to be trivial to add because all the values around it (damage, reload time, etc) are small, so implementing a gradual decay is going to be tricky to do well.

It's also a tricky balance to strike between the rate of damages and the rate at which replacement weapons can be found. At the moment, in my mod, you can find the shotgun in level A immediately and the assault rifle with little exploration. In level B, assuming you missed the shotgun, it's right there in the open to find and the assault rifle is easy to locate. There's a plasma gun for the explorers. By level C, you can just trip over the shotgun and assault rifle and there's a plasma gun that takes almost no effort to locate.

The plan was to make all the weapons findable "a level earlier" for the explorers but increasingly easier to find in later levels.

[Angus]

Originally Posted by Karlos

I will need to add some "current level only" tracking for such things but it shouldn't be rocket science. I also had a thought of a few that are the opposite, like finishing a level with dangerously low health.

Cool. I can strive for one and achieve the other!

[Karlos]

Originally Posted by Angus

Cool. I can strive for one and achieve the other!

Half Life: finish with less than half the health you started with...

Just a flesh wound: finish with 20 or lower health.

[grond]

Originally Posted by Karlos

Just a flesh wound: finish with 20 or lower health.

I think the right sequence is:

"Tis but a scratch", "I have had worse", "It's just a fleshwound" and "I'll do you for that!"

[Karlos]

Originally Posted by grond

I think the right sequence is:

"Tis but a scratch", "I have had worse", "It's just a fleshwound" and "I'll do you for that!"

Yep, that sounds correct. I think this one is best implemented as an on level start check.

[Karlos]

Since this thread is mostly dedicated to the actual engine changes, can any suggestions people have for specific achievement ideas go in here https://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?t=111637 ?

The water's already a bit muddy but to make it clear, other than showing the previous best level time, there are no "achievements" for the original game. They can be created however.

[Karlos]

Achievements based on total amount of X collected (health, fuel, ammo) are now supported.

[Karlos]

To track ammo used or not to track ammo used, that is the question. On the one hand, knowing how many rounds you've fired is neat, but on the other hand, it's never going to be more than your carry limit difference from all the ammo or that kind you found, which we do track.

[Karlos]

The PR for this feature is finally off draft.

[Karlos]

@abu_the_monkey

What happened to your patch that had always run and quake mouse? I'm thinking that we should reintroduce those options.

It was an entirely new sub menu as I recall. Aside from deleting old unreachable code, I've avoided working on it. It maybe the time has come to do so. I want to add something to the menu display, for example, listing things like stats and achievements.

[Karlos]

I have a bug somewhere with jetpack fuel because my frequent flier achievement doesn't appear to double flight time like it's supposed to.

[abu_the_monkey]

Originally Posted by Karlos

@abu_the_monkey

What happened to your patch that had always run and quake mouse? I'm thinking that we should reintroduce those options.

It was an entirely new sub menu as I recall. Aside from deleting old unreachable code, I've avoided working on it. It maybe the time has come to do so. I want to add something to the menu display, for example, listing things like stats and achievements.

these are the only changes and they are very old but I am sure you can make sense of them.
just search for 'mnu_MYCUSTOMOPTSMENU', 'quakeMouse' & 'alwaysRun'