I.H.N.I. Episode 1 - The Jittery Update v1.04

[Kraja]

 

Alright - it's time to sort this mess out.

 

 

PREAMBLE RAMBLE:

Hello! It's been a while. Hope you're all doing well.

I know it's been a long time since i posted anything - almost a year, in fact. Sorry about that - i was busy working on a chonky update for episode 1.

And it's here! It's out and... i hope it adresses most of the major complaints some of you had.

There's a lot of new stuff here (you can check out the full changelog down below), but to keep it short - here are some cliffnotes:

 

First of all - performance

I actually got some proper help from people who know what tf they're doing - Mechanical Sanity and Dox778.

They helped me with cleaning up this mess of a mod, sorting out the files and much, much more. Thanks guys! 👍

Thanks to their help this new version should run way smoother and load faster (although it takes a bit more space)

 

Second - guns

Looking at the feedback episode 1 got - weapons were one of the weakest aspects (if not the weakest).

So... i just said "screw it", scrapped all of them and remade them from scratch.

So that's 5 guns with all new sprites, sounds, effects and decorate code plus... one new secret weapon - which i won't spoil now 😉

They look better, sound better and feel way better - i tried to make them a bit more responsive and just... more fun to use.

 

Third - bugs, balance and other stuff

There was a lot of them. While i'm pretty sure i didn't get all of them, i tried to fix as much as i could.

On top of that there's a lot of smaller quality of life improvements in this update.

A cleaner main menu, better monster and ammo placement, some new details and a little script that detects your settings which - hopefully - will help with guiding the player towards proper gzdoom settings for optimal experience.

 

And last but not least - a new map

All of this wasn't the only thing i was also working on. I'm also hard at work on episode 2.
And while EP2 still isn't fully finished, i decided to throw in one of its maps into this update as a sort of apology for taking so long.

You can find it hidden under "extras" in main menu. It takes about an hour to beat and... well - i hope you like it 👍

(On top of that - there's another map i was tinkering with lately - a boom format map which i will post in a separate thread in the next few weeks. Stay tuned!)

 

TECHNICAL STUFF:

GZDoom 4.5 or higher required. Default GZDoom compatibility settings. Crouching and jumping are disabled. I recommend turning autoaim off.

This mod could be a bit taxing on lower-end systems. Make sure you visit the "mod settings" tab in the main menu before playing.

 

DOWNLOAD v1.04:

https://mega.nz/file/n7ATFQaR#OxPNnm78fimqcGht9LqCiO1DPbxZ6-pVlZE9ig9Kj_g

 

 

MAP04 SCREENSHOTS:

Spoiler

 

OLD POST:

Spoiler

Hello everyone! First time posting here.

 

Ok, where do I even start with this thing...

Three years ago I released a simple mapset with the same name on the zdoom forum. I was fairly new to mapping back then and the whole thing... didn't turn out all that well. It was buggy, boring, unbalanced an barely anyone played it. But those who did gave me some great feedback on the whole thing. After that i went back into hiding, spent about a year learning UDMF and improving my barely-existing mapping skills, and in late 2018 decided to give those old ideas another shot - this time around realizing them exactly how i envisioned them back when i first started. And here we are now - two years later, i'd say the first episode is pretty much done.

 

"So what is this weirdly named thing even all about?" - i hear you ask. Well...

Spoiler

I.H.N.I. is a 3 maps long mapset that's making some heavy use of GZDoom-specific features. Scripting, dynamic lighting, voxels, models - you name it.

My focus was on making those maps feel like real places, telling it's own simple story (maybe even hinting at something bigger in the future episodes i dunno) while avoiding the usual traps of gzdoom-heavy mapsets. There's a lot of custom stuff here, but i tried for it to not get in the way of your usual demon slaying.

 

"And the story?" - it's just some fanfic-tier plot that takes place mere months after doom2. Here's a little synopsis:

Spoiler

After barely surviving the demonic invasion on earth, UAC was forced to cease all immoral experiments and greatly reduce their scope of operations.

During that incident some of the scientists took note of demons ability to seemingly come back from the dead after being killed countless times.

One of them became obsessed with that phenomenon, and soon after started researching it knowing that if such an event were to occur once again...

we would not stand a chance...

Of course, studying the forbidden knowledge led to predictable consequences - the demonic forces are back once again, set on wiping all of humanity for good.

You know it won't end well. It simply can't. And so - you arrive at the UAC headquarters on earth, and begin your search for the person responsible for this.

Maybe it's not too late to stop him.

 

"What can i expect to see in this .wad and why is the filesize so big?" - well... We've got:

Spoiler

• 5 custom weapons made from scratch with some minor mechanical tweaks (based on guns from some other games)
• Lots of new textures
• About 10 new music tracks, cut into a lot of small chunks (verses and choruses that change depending on a lot of factors)
• A lot of new sound effects - mostly from freesound.org
• A new HUD and weapon crosshairs
• No new monsters (although some demons in some parts might have slightly tweaked properties)
• Maybe a little surprise at the end i dunno
• And some other minor things like new sprites, additional particle effects, slightly changed menu and so on.

Of course - detailed credits about all things i used and who made them are included - right in the main menu.

 

"How long and how hard is this thing?" - don't get your hopes up, this one's neither long nor hard.

Spoiler

It takes about 2 hours to beat on your first time on UV.

In terms of difficulty... It's hard for me to judge. All i can say is that HNTR, HMP and UV are accounted for, with different item and monster counts. Pistol starts are possible, although i recommend playing it continuously.

That said - there's a handfull of cheeky secrets and some easter eggs to hunt for - which might keep you busy for longer.

 

SCREENSHOTS AND TRAILER:

Spoiler

 

 

 

 

 

 

CHANGELOG:

Spoiler

VER. 1.04:

• Fixed an issue that was causing jerky camera movement during certain weapon animations
• Fixed some missing lighting effects
• Adjusted music volume in some parts
• Thinned out that pile of demons on map03
• Added more rockets
• Fixed bullet tracers
• Tweaked some guns (they might still clip a bit on some displays)

 

 

VER. 1.03:

• added a weapon screen shake and recoil toggle
• removed unused script trigger line from map02
• had a beer
• replaced the credits sequence music
• updated credits

 

VER. 1.02:

• fixed issues with low performance when loading models and certain sound effects
• completely changed .pk3 structure which should hopefully make load times faster and future work easier
• improved performance on all maps via scripting (and visual downgrades in some points - oh well)
• additional monster and item placement balance
• completely reworked weapon sprites, animations, sounds, DECORATE code
• fixed numerous audio bugs
• fixed some collision issues
• added brightmaps
• improved lighting in some places, added details
• tweaked the last bossfight a bit
• added a warning message to titlemap that detects if you have correct GZDoom settings turned on
• improved weapon bob
• fixed weapon clipping
• fixed a bug that made the camera on titlemap stuck
• fixed typos in the ending cutscene
• fixed issues with menu scaling
• moved credits, help, patchnotes and other stuff to a new menu tab called "extras"
• and as a little gift for taking so long - added MAP04
  (currently available only through console commands since episode 2 is still not fully finished)
• added a new weapon - the sledgehammer - available only on MAP04

 

 

 

VER. 1.01:

• Added elbows - doomguy is no longer rayman's long lost cousin
• added more ammo to map02
• tweaked the blue room ambush on map03 - facesitting loving demons should no longer try to sit on other demons
• tweaked some weapons to be a bit more responsive
• changed the Rocket Launcher's crosshair to be less intrusive
• fixed the elevator in map03's tower
• fixed missing textures and some janky trigger lines in the same place
• improved the SSG reload animation just a tiny bit (i'm still garbo at making weapon sprites)
• fixed a bug causing the cybie to phase between dimensions after killing the player
• fixed some of console errors (but not all of them)
• fixed a bug preventing easier versions of the cyberdemon from spawning on lower difficulties
• fixed some janky linedefs in Site Theta's waterpark funslide
• and moved the blue keycard just a bit to make it easier to spot

 

And that's it, i suppose.

Have fun!

 

Also - special thanks to TerminusEst13 for even getting me into modding all the way back in 2016, JohnSuitepee, Nevanos, KrazyCommando, Arcterezion, Mechanical Sanity, 

Dox778 and many, many others for giving me feedback and helping me along the way. You guys are awesome!

Edited February 13, 2022 by Kraja
New update

[Suitepee]

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/796506920

 

Here's my playthrough from earlier this month. This wad is great, go out and play it as soon as possible everyone!

[Kraja]

Now - keep in mind that i wasn't able to get rid of all the issues you've had on stream.

I won't be able to work on it for the next week or so, so i decided to fix the most important gameplay-related issues first, and leave aesthetics for later.

So - you know - that clipped pistol sprite is still there. Doom guy still has no elbows.

[Bryan T]

Me likey.

Edited January 2, 2022 by Bryan T

[MattFright]

Oh boy this looks AMAZING for something that seemingly came out of nowhere. Is this your very first Doom project? Released or not

[Murdoch]

14 hours ago, Kraja said:

don't get your hopes up, this one's neither long nor hard

 

... 

...

 

Nah.

[Kraja]

6 hours ago, MattFright said:

Oh boy this looks AMAZING for something that seemingly came out of nowhere. Is this your very first Doom project? Released or not

 

Thanks!

I've been on and off mapping since 2016, but i rarely ever released anything to the public - i usually just gave my maps to some friends or posted them on some discord servers. But this is the first time where i went beyond just mapping and did some other stuff - that's why it took me two years to make.

[Biodegradable]

This is phenomenal. Everything about this is just wonderful. Great fun levels with sweet designs, excellent texture work, fun combat, terrific set pieces, some interesting and challenging progression. Weapon sprites are cool, though some of their animations look a bit rough. I think the sound effects could be a little beefier, but that's more of a personal preference, so take that as you will. It's a terrific start and I'd love to see more. Splendid stuff, truly man. B-e-a-utiful!

 

 

[CornKing]

'bout damn time you've posted this kraja.

[RonnieJamesDiner]

Oh my... that looks incredible. Will definitely check this out (hopefully soon)!

[Murdoch]

Well well, this was a bit good.

 

Played through to the beginning of the third map. The level design, flow, atmosphere, use of atmospheric effects like fog and colored lighting, and traps were all absolutely excellent. Minor complaint, I ran out of ammo after the red key trap in the second map. Couple of extra boxes of either shells or bullets would do it. I was able to scrape through punching the chaingunner in the vents to death so it was not too bad. Certainly encountered far worse. I must give special mention to the traps. They surprised, got the adrenaline pumping, challenged, but you always gave the skilled player enough time and space to react. Really well done.

The weapons are largely good. For the first time I can remember I actually not only did not mind pistol sniping but actually enjoyed it. The pump action shotgun's animation was a bit stiff, and you could see it cropped off in some parts of the animation on the right hand side which was not ideal. The animation should convey just as much punch as the sound and effect do but this one does not quite seem to fit that bill. The super shotgun animation has the same problem but the recoil seems to help convey the punch the animation does not. Chaingun was good. I was a bit dubious about the weapons at first. After nearly 30 years, every aspect of Doom's gameplay is muscle memory to me, and anything that changes an aspect of what is expected can be off putting. However, I adjusted quickly to the changes.

 

So in summation, this kicks pretty much all the ass. I look forward to finishing it. Unreservedly recommended.

Edited November 21, 2020 by Murdoch

[Btyb88]

Just played the first level and very much enjoying it so far. Love the amount of effort that clearly went into this.

 

Also I love how the intermission music is Damask_Rose.it. More mod files like that should be used in Doom.

[Kraja]

Oh Man 

I wasn't expecting feedback like this. 

Keep in mind that I'll try to release a new build on Monday that fixes some of the most glaring bugs. 

But for now - let me just say: be careful when skipping curscenes at the end. The while thing *might* explode and softlock the game now lol 

[Caleb13]

Holy shit, you've made all this by yourself? Damn impressive, particularly for a newcomer! I could live without the new weapons and HUD, but at least they work adequately (which can't be said of most weapon and HUD mods out there).

 

Speaking of bugs, there is one concerning the final boss: if he kills you, his model is sudenly replaced by standard sprite cyberdemon. Also, the intro and outro text intertitles disappear a bit too fast, maybe you could show each of them for 2 or 3 seconds more. From visual standpoint, certain fog textures are very pixelated, this is perhaps most visible in RL secret in MAP02, but also above the city at the very start of MAP01. I played in GZdoom 4.4.2 and it throws these warnings:

 

Unknown patch 'N_SPDR3B' in texture 'SPCDOOR3'
Script warning, "I.H.N.I. build 6.pk3:ihni_maps.wad:DECORATE" line 231:
Tried to define class 'Mug' more than once. Renaming class to 'Mug@I.H.N.I. build 6.pk3@ihni_maps.wad@DECORATE'

 

MAP01 - Site Alpha

Script error, "MAP01" line 1:
Dialog script does not define a namespace.

Line 14841 has no first side.
 

----------------------------------------

MAP02 - Site Theta

Line 16233 has no first side.
Line 16245 has no first side.
 

 

[Kraja]

1 hour ago, Caleb13 said:

Speaking of bugs, there is one concerning the final boss: if he kills you, his model is sudenly replaced by standard sprite cyberdemon. 

 

Wait - I thought I fixed that lol 

Well - I'll just add this to the list - v1.01 should be available on Monday. 

 

While I don't know if I'll be able to get rid of those two warning messages that pop up during startup , I'll try to fix those janky linedefs on maps 01 and 02. 

Cheers 🍺

Edited November 21, 2020 by Kraja

[Turin Turambar]

This was great, I can only complain of the episode being only 3 maps!

[RonnieJamesDiner]

What an absolute labor of love. There's this fantastic "old-school FPS" vibe that hooked me almost instantly (and kept getting better and better). Finely-crafted atmosphere, fun weapons, decent level design with some great visuals, and all of the zdoom-isms and different features are used to phenomenal effect. It was easy to forget I was playing a Doom wad. Loved the music, as well (it gave the entire thing a very fitting and unique ambiance). I had an absolute blast playing through this.

 

I enjoyed using all of the weapons (particularly that pistol), but I have to agree with Murdoch that the SSG animations feel a bit stiff (they really undersell the power of that weapon). Otherwise, the arsenal is tons of fun to use. I also loved how you handled secrets (the "kiss the chef" moment was amazing!)

 

Super minor nit-pick here: The arrow on the menu seems a bit off. It almost seems to point to the option below the actual option I'm highlighting, it's weird. Not sure if I was the only person who experienced that, or not. I also experienced that same visual glitch with the final boss that Caleb mentioned (where the model turns into the classic Cybie sprite if he kills you). I was running gzdoom 4.5.0 if that helps at all.

 

Can't wait to see what you have in store for us with Episode 2!   

[TheMagicMushroomMan]

1 hour ago, RonnieJamesDiner said:

What an absolute labor of love. There's this fantastic "old-school FPS" vibe that hooked me almost instantly (and kept getting better and better). Finely-crafted atmosphere, fun weapons, decent level design with some great visuals, and all of the zdoom-isms and different features are used to phenomenal effect. It was easy to forget I was playing a Doom wad. Loved the music, as well (it gave the entire thing a very fitting and unique ambiance). I had an absolute blast playing through this.

 

I enjoyed using all of the weapons (particularly that pistol), but I have to agree with Murdoch that the SSG animations feel a bit stiff (they really undersell the power of that weapon). Otherwise, the arsenal is tons of fun to use. I also loved how you handled secrets (the "kiss the chef" moment was amazing!)

 

Super minor nit-pick here: The arrow on the menu seems a bit off. It almost seems to point to the option below the actual option I'm highlighting, it's weird. Not sure if I was the only person who experienced that, or not. I also experienced that same visual glitch with the final boss that Caleb mentioned (where the model turns into the classic Cybie sprite if he kills you). I was running gzdoom 4.5.0 if that helps at all.

 

Can't wait to see what you have in store for us with Episode 2!   

Just an idea, but maybe the menu pointer being off has something to do with GzDoom 4.50's new menu scaling option?

[Kraja]

4 hours ago, TheMagicMushroomMan said:

Just an idea, but maybe the menu pointer being off has something to do with GzDoom 4.50's new menu scaling option?

Yup - apparently it's a gzdoom thing. 

That menu arrow works well on anything from 3.7 to 4.4 but gets all wonky in 4.5.  @RonnieJamesDiner

And hey - I'm glad you liked it. 🍺

[Murdoch]

Additional musings.

Misspoke in my original thoughts, it's the pistol with the cut off bit on the right not the shotgun. Oopsie. Anyway again, your use of environmental effects and sound to create atmosphere and layouts to tell story are just <insert chef's kiss noise here>.  I am about 3/4 of the way through map 3 (lousy having to get up and be a productive member of society running my own business, pfft, what was I thinking?) and I particularly enjoyed the initial glimpse around the big central pillar area I am assuming is going to contain the final boss. If so, brilliant visual storytelling. You never say specifically, you just know it's going to open and it is probably not going to be fun when it does. I particularly appreciated that one electrical sparking noise that also kind of sounded like it might be something scurrying around about to bite your face off.

 

The issues I found not already mentioned are teeny tiny and are mostly points of personal taste. The few voxels I have seen are fine as voxels go but... well they kind of stick out like crazy. The rest of everything creates a coherent visual style and then SURPRISE VOXEL! In say Shadow Warrior, you accept it because they are introduced early and fit in with the overall visual style. Here it is just a bit off. And finally, the trap sprung after you past through the glass tube in the third is a bit over the top. The only really viable way to survive it is to kill the Baron first (turning off autoaim) and then run back up to the next level then use in-fighting to thin down the quite massive herd. It's a bit dull, plus there are so many there that I was greeted with the rather comical site of some bad guys somehow standing on the heads of other bad guys. Kind of killed the mood a bit. Definitely need to cut down on the number of bad guys here I think.

Like I said, minor tiny issues. On the whole really, seriously good work.

[Kraja]

2 minutes ago, Murdoch said:

The issues I found not already mentioned are teeny tiny and are mostly points of personal taste. The few voxels I have seen are fine as voxels go but... well they kind of stick out like crazy. The rest of everything creates a coherent visual style and then SURPRISE VOXEL! In say Shadow Warrior, you accept it because they are introduced early and fit in with the overall visual style. Here it is just a bit off. And finally, the trap sprung after you past through the glass tube in the third is a bit over the top. The only really viable way to survive it is to kill the Baron first (turning off autoaim) and then run back up to the next level then use in-fighting to thin down the quite massive herd. It's a bit dull, plus there are so many there that I was greeted with the rather comical site of some bad guys somehow standing on the heads of other bad guys. Kind of killed the mood a bit. Definitely need to cut down on the number of bad guys here I think.

Oh - that fight

Yeah i decided to spawn a baron there to prevent people from cheesing it exactly the way to you did lul

I guess i'll have to tweak it a bit today

(oh and there's way less enemies there on lower difficulties - like 50% on HNTR)

[lakersforce]

Main menu is partly off-screen (using GZDoom 4.5.0 default menu scaling settings and a 1680x1050 resolution).

Edited November 23, 2020 by lakersforce

[Murdoch]

6 hours ago, Kraja said:

Oh - that fight

Yeah i decided to spawn a baron there to prevent people from cheesing it exactly the way to you did lul

 

Then i would rethink that section. Its a very tight area with a lot of enemies,  not enough ammo and basically no cover. Even cheesing it i ran very low on ammo aftwerwards. Survival would be more down to dumb luck than skill.

[Kraja]

@Murdoch

Well... there's a solution to that fight. And it makes it quite easy, actually.

Just stand on that pile of rockets like this:

But i suppose i could make that a bit more obvious and easier to spot.

I'm currently working on a patched version and i already tweaked that fight a bit, giving the player a bit more time to look around before they start pouring out.

But i guess i have to work on it a bit more.

 

EDIT:

Just posted an updated version.
Fixed some bugs, tweaked some things and adressed some of the feedback from here and other places.
Cheers 🍺

Edited November 23, 2020 by Kraja

[lakersforce]

At the second level, after you collect the red keycard and arrive at the grate with two barrels dropping, leading to the room with the blue keycard, you can arrive without the barrels having dropped, leaving you stomped for a while.

 

Also on the second level, the blue keycard is obscurely placed, making it possible to miss it, before being routed back to the blue door. That happened to me on my first playthrough, leaving me stomped again, having to go through the entire level again, before discovering it. I would suggest routing the player counterclockwise, past the key.

Edited November 23, 2020 by lakersforce

[Kraja]

Just now, lakersforce said:

At the second level, after you collect the red keycard and arrive at the grate with two barrels dropping, leading to the room with the blue keycard, you can arrive without the barrels having dropped, leaving you stomped for a while.

Dang it, i forgot about that.

Welp - time to make another build.

Thanks for pointing that out.

[Murdoch]

2 hours ago, Kraja said:

Well... there's a solution to that fight. And it makes it quite easy, actually.

 

Welp... in retrospect that seems blindingly obvious. My first thought when a trap is sprung is always to focus on the biggest threat which is the Barons and Hell Knights. By the time that information was processed, I was already swarmed and rocket spamming would have been deeply fatal. Was that guy playing on UV? Seemed to have less Imps and Pinkies than I remember.

[Kraja]

Just now, Murdoch said:

Welp... in retrospect that seems blindingly obvious. My first thought when a trap is sprung is always to focus on the biggest threat which is the Barons and Hell Knights. By the time that information was processed, I was already swarmed and rocket spamming would have been deeply fatal. Was that guy playing on UV? Seemed to have less Imps and Pinkies than I remember.

Yup - UV.

But don't worry - it's already fixed.

Added another baron to prevent people from cheesing the fight (but if you manage to get both of them then you deserve all the cheese you want), deleted some of the demons there, changed their properties to prevent them from stacking, changed that barrier to give you a bit more time to react and added lights to that spot with rockets to better guide the player.

[klaymeb]

Cool WAD! It really shows that you put a lot of effort and creativity into making it. It gives me a lot of Duke Nukem 3D, Strife and Daikatana* vibes, with some Half-lifey strokes as well. Really cool visual design! I wish that some of your areas had the chance to be more fleshed out; the chemical plant, and final foundry area could easily have been two separate levels. I could have used more of each :) 

 

The gameplay is fine, and mostly fits the atmosphere of the surroundings. The only fight that was really annoying is the Hell Knights, Pinkies and Imps in the rocket arena, but that's been addressed already :)

I did have a bit of an issue with the weapons though. For some reason they feel really sluggish. I defaulted to the SSG and the pistol, since they felt ok, but the others weren't nice to use. Luckily those two can do 90% of the work in the map.

For some reason, the final boss went directly to phase two and then despawned. So, I couldn't finish the WAD, unfortunately. I might have some wonky settings or something in my gzdoom... it's worth mentioning.

 

Very, very good work! Keep it up!

Edited November 24, 2020 by klaymeb

[Kraja]

4 minutes ago, klaymeb said:

For some reason, the final boss went directly to phase two and then despawned. So, that's a thing that can happen. I must have some wonky settings or something in my gzdoom...

Wait, what?

That's one hell of a bug - how did that happen?

I gotta fix that ASAP