Hell Denizen (Early Access on Steam)

[TwinBeast]

That could be done, another suggestion for the hair/horns would be that they grow during the game, which I've already been wondering if I'd do that. Dead Space like ammo counters for weapons could be done too. Another thing for the head I've thought has been some easter egg hats. If I'd split the character into lower, upper, head parts, I might make multiple clothing sets that can be mixed. And then there's the thing that how much can I do until my planned/thought release date.

 

Thought that there could be a hud, but it's only visible when some action happens? Take damage, aim, attack, then show the hud.

[TwinBeast]

Ok, so no idea how to blend 2 animations with the skeleton and don't think I want to split the player model into upper/lower halves (other characters models are not split like that either), so it seems I'll revert back to first person shooter. Also tried making some fantasy weapons with spikes and stuff, but those looked weird with the player model not having fingers modelled, so maybe better just do guns instead. Probably also not a good idea to have the hands from the whole character model used in first person view, they're so low res compared to the weapon textures, maybe make some higher res hands for the 1st person view later (with fingers?)?

 

Here's a shotgun. This really shows how low res the hands are compared to the weapons. All weapon textures are unfinished, just wanted to see the models ingame.

 

Flamethrower, this one got some detail on a display, that displays something so important, that it's just a static texture.

 

New rocket launcher vs the old rocket launcher. Have decided to discard the spike stuff in the guns and make them more realistic sized and looking. Seems the rocket launcher is pretty big compared to the other weapons (but is that how they're in real life too?).

 

Some multi blade dagger and a sword. Melee weapons definitely need the hand models.

 

I'd really like to make levels already. A bit annoyed how long I have been/was at this dumb player/weapon design limbo.

[Teo Slayer]

It kinda reminds me of Quake but still, amazing job

[FireballCaco]

Looking pretty good. 

[Skeletonpatch]

It sucks to hear that progress was stagnating like that, hopefully you can move forward at a better pace now.

[TwinBeast]

Finished modeling all the weapons, now they might just need some little tweaks in the modeling before I'll finish the textures. But maybe before that, some gameplay stuff and some level design.

 

Sub machine gun or assault rifle.

 

Minigun, salvaged this from earlier weapon designs.

 

Sniper Rifle, another salvage, might remove the laser sights, also forgot to make them additive.

 

Grenade launcher, yet another salvage.

 

And something new, Laser cannon.

[TwinBeast]

Did a video, and finally installed Sound Forge on my not-so-new-laptop-anymore, so the video got sounds. Should make more sounds for the monsters. Not all of them have sounds or share the same sounds with another. But maybe I want to make some full level first, maybe not 100% polished with detail, but have all the gameplay from start to end. Should also think some level/episode themes.

 

 

[Redneckerz]

I hope this gets a Steam release, Twinbeast. You have made so many amazing things that never came to full fruition. This should go reach new grounds.

[Noiser]

30 minutes ago, TwinBeast said:

(video)

Love the fast-paced combat here, and it looks great as well!

Edited September 19, 2021 by Noiser

[Rudolph]

There is definitely some potential there!

 

However, I hope you change the protagonist's voice, because her pain sounds are not very convincing and they get annoying fast.

[TwinBeast]

@Redneckerz I hope so too. Well, the good thing about all my previous projects is that I might be able to reuse some content from them. Current worries about finishing this is that the unemployment office has finally started pressuring me to find a job or education. I have to at least apply to places, if I'd get in, then I'd have less time for this. I'd kinda rather find a job after finishing this.

 

@Noiser Thanks :)

 

@Rudolph I may try something different, but the player character is based on me and that's how I sound like when I get hurt. Next time I'm making some lines for her, I'll try making another set of pain and death sounds.

[Rudolph]

1 hour ago, TwinBeast said:

I may try something different, but the player character is based on me and that's how I sound like when I get hurt. Next time I'm making some lines for her, I'll try making another set of pain and death sounds.

Well, the death sound is alright, but the pain ones seem to lack... emotion? Like the character is bored out of her skull and pretending to be hurt. Then again, I reckon it can be hard to make out the sounds in all the cacophony.

Edited September 20, 2021 by Rudolph

[Skeletonpatch]

I am thoroughly impressed with the sound design. Even as an early test I'd say you've nailed the atmosphere. I don't think there's any issues with the pain sounds, they seem fine to me. Though it felt a little out of place when she said "meow". I assume that's a holdover from when this was still a more sci-fi based shooter starring a cat burglar.

 

The player character is meant to be an archdevil or something like that, right? Assuming you haven't changed her character again, I think it'd be rather fitting for her pain sounds to be mostly devoid of emotion. Kinda like, she acknowledges the pain but doesn't really feel it.

[TwinBeast]

@Skeletonpatch the meow is uhh.. an easter egg.

 

Here's some health items:

 

And explosive objects:

[Coopersville]

I am now monitoring this project...

[sittinkittin]

@TwinBeast Those bouncy little ones look so heckin' cute! They're just bursting with excitement! Sooo eager to explode!

[TwinBeast]

Here comes another video from a level called Vengeful Entry, which could be some first level (of an episode). This is a short trailer like video. Full playthrough hidden in the spoiler.

 

Spoiler

 

Here's the full playthrough. Don't watch if you don't want to have all the secrets etc spoiled.

 

 

 

And some screenshots...

 

Do you hit the blue button or the red button?

 

You can throw some bombs if you have "Rockets" (still just 4 collectable ammo types). The lighter can also be used to illuminate areas and has a little attack on its own.

 

The bloody metal thing spins around.

 

Also wondering about the item pickup messages. With all of them having numbers, it looks a little confusing. Should they rather be just the item names, and should they just be the item names without the "Picked up" part? The HUD should have some improvements too, now it's missing powerup indicators, keys and weapons owned. Player can see level stats and ammo counters for all ammo types when pressing tab. Intermission level stats were missing from the video, but added them just after.

[magicsofa]

4 hours ago, TwinBeast said:

Also wondering about the item pickup messages. With all of them having numbers, it looks a little confusing. Should they rather be just the item names, and should they just be the item names without the "Picked up" part?

 

I like complete (ish) sentences, so I'd personally vote to keep the "picked up" or some other phrase besides just "SHELLS....." As for the numbers, I don't think they are necessary: Anyone who feels like paying close attention to the amounts will have them all memorized within a short time. Most will probably gloss over the specific numbers, and just be satisfied knowing they got more of something.

[Skeletonpatch]

The molotovs and the zippo lighter feel like a bit of an odd choice. Is the main character still a high-ranking devil or have you changed her to something else again?

 

4 hours ago, TwinBeast said:

The HUD should have some improvements too, now it's missing powerup indicators, keys and weapons owned. Player can see level stats and ammo counters for all ammo types when pressing tab. Intermission level stats were missing from the video, but added them just after.

 

I'm still fond of the idea of having the hair tendrils function as a hud. Since it's in first person maybe the front two could be visible at the edges of the screen? I just think that would feel cool and unique. Perhaps one side could be health while the other could be a timer or energy meter for powerups? This suggestion of course assumes that the playermodel has gone largely unchanged since the last time we saw it.

[TwinBeast]

Alright, I'll change the messages be like: "Picked up a box of shells." etc.. Powerups might be just the powerup name without the "Picked up" part. "Rockets" might become "Explosives", since they can be throwable bombs, grenades for the grenade launcher and rockets for the rocket launcher.

 

About the weapons, they're my favourites from games, or weapons I would have liked to have in games, so not necessarily fitting with the game theme or character. Initially thought I don't want to make enemy characters that would use the same weapons as player, but maybe I do that anyway, though the enemy characters would use simpler weapon models. Oh and is the molotov obstructing the view a little too much?

 

Current hud is just the bare minimum, plus an oxygen counter alternating in the armor counter when underwater. Powerup timers would be nice too. Overall I like the big red numbers in the hud (could make them initially greyscale and control their color with a cvar, like what can already be done with the crosshair?). I had hair falling into the view when looking down earlier when this was still going with the "Whatever" name. It was just as annoying feature as it can be in real life :D Some hud stuff could also appear at the top, though there's the text there too, which by default appears top left, but can also be centered like in the newest video. Any major hud redesign later, current high priority is level design.

[TwinBeast]

Powerups, from left to right: 100 health, invulnerability, invisibility, hazard suit, lightning shield and 200 health & armor. Invulnerability is 30 seconds, immediately used. Invisibility is 45 seconds, immediately used, doesn't function when touching liquids (timer halted). Hazard Suit is 60 seconds, functions when completely submerged in water (is like extra oxygen) or touching slime or lava, slime and lava use it a bit faster than 60 seconds. Lightning Shield protects 50% damage and fires a lightning bolt at the attacker, has 10 shots, no timer, doesn't work when touching liquids unless also have the invulnerability.

 

Then some thunder and lightning. Maybe there should be some indication where the lightning strikes, so player can have a skill based chance to avoid getting hit.

 

[TwinBeast]

Testing some glsl post processing shaders.

 

320x200 and 256 colors. This might be used default (at least the colors?). Has some little issues with fullbright stuff that use dark colors as there's also an effect that makes darkness bluish gray, so any dark color gets that effect even if it was something fullbright. And another thing is that all the purples/violets are toward the red, none toward the blue, but it could display pretty much any other color with colored lighting. Maybe it would be enough to just adjust the pink/purple to become blue/violet with the darker shades?

 

Should probably also figure out a better way to do the palette effect, at least years ago this way used to make the framerate crawl in my old computer. Would feel pretty strange to need a powerful computer to run a game in 256 colors.

 

Pico 8 palette, 320x200, 16 colors per scanline, total 31 colors used from all the colors available in it (black needed to be in both scanlines). If I understood correctly how to use more than 16 colors in Pico 8, then this would be possible (but yea, don't know for sure, have only played Poom with it, never developed anything with it).

 

Gameboy 4 color palette in 320x288 resolution, kinda unplayble. Monochrome palette could be ok if it had more shades.

 

And another Pico 8, this one with all 32 colors, but in 128x128 resolution, can you even see there's zombies and bigger monsters coming your way? Also very unplayble.

[TwinBeast]

The game has splitscreen from 2 to 4 players. So far 2 player splitscreen coop has been fun. Survival was sort of fun too, but enemies kinda spawned too fast and as players respawned, there wasn't a similar survive as long as possible feeling as when playing it solo. Need to think something for that. Deathmatch was kinda empty with just 2 players, so it should be possible to have some AI players in too.

 

Have also added muzzleflashes for the weapons. HUD could be without the background, though maybe then the bottom hud icons should have some background boxes (no boxes for the numbers)?

 

 

[TwinBeast]

Changed the style simpler in anticipation to getting a full time job, and thinking I wouldn't have the energy to continue in the earlier style, but could possibly continue in a simpler style. Though didn't get the job. Then thinking that unemployment office is still pressuring me to get a job, and eventually I might get a job and not have time/energy to continue in "a more complex" style.

 

Also thought that the weapons needed some changes, due to all but one having orange flashes and effects. Thought it would be better to have some blue, green, violet effects too. So far there's a new plasma gun with blue effects. Maybe also doing every weapon have its own ammo type, now it's quicker to make models.

 

Well, here's a video:

 

And a picture from the level in an earlier state firing the minigun:

 

[TwinBeast]

Some more screenshots. I had realtime lighting off, so the models are a little flat shaded, and the fake shadows seems to go through level geometry. Realtime lighting kinda lacks blood stains (which apparently are a lightmap hack). Also realtime dynamic lights "don't" cast a light to a surface they're too near, which makes explosion lights not appear enough on the impacted surface and timed grenades that have stopped moving don't illuminate the ground around them.

 

At the bottom of this bridge area. The hexagon texture has double resolution to make it smooth, but don't know if I want to double the texture resolution (hud gfx would be doubled then too)?

 

At the top. Seems kinda fun to make all these bridges.

 

Dimensional Shamblers. Just dodged the charge attack. Their missile attack might need some adjustment. Rescued the character from some older project. This shot had the hexagons and the diamond shapes in the same resolution as the rectangle textures.

 

The ever-growing army of the undead. The dimensional shamblers can also spawn zombies. This was the result of the monsters infighting, everyone else is dead except the zombies.

[Redneckerz]

This looks way, way too good.

[TwinBeast]

Noticed the simple textures have all these jagged saw tooth color bands when using the palette shader, while without the palette shader, it's a little less interesting to look at. If the textures have some noise / material, then the jagged color bands are not noticeable. Have also added a scale4x shader, so hexagons etc look smooth without needing to increase the texture resolution (currently not used with the hud gfx, had some problems with the transparent areas in them).

 

Models textures could still be done quickly with the simple uv maps and solid color blocks, just add a material in them. Colors don't blend together, no shading in some areas, if the model needs some changes, there's no need to redo the texture. The smaller demon is done like this. Player and the bigger demon have regular uv maps, ambient occlusion, color, material/patterns added in, this is still pretty quick, although if the model needs some changes, the uv map and texture probably needs updates too.

 

Some tudor style textures, normal maps are a little wrong with the middle parts "bumping up", fixing it later maybe.

 

Where have I seen this before... Maybe when mixed with other textures and not replicating a certain area, they wouldn't look so much like from Doom. Suppose the shotgun also looks very much like the shotgun Half-Life. I'll do something to the weapons later gradually, but now focus on level textures and levels. Grate textures are a bit wonky, so it would seem grates are better done with in 3d with brushes or not have any see through parts.

 

[TwinBeast]

Put a new video (full playthrough in the spoiler), has Finnish messages and subtitles. Language choices are English and Finnish, player may speak both. And yea, my new voice recordings sound so different than the older ones. Should maybe do some more voice practice. The new "dodge/eat" this voices could have some minimum delay between, so they don't trigger so often (now it's just a random chance on a close enough "final" hit on the enemy)?

 

Due to some uhh... "font problems", the ÄÖ are displayed as AO. If using TTF fonts, the ÄÖ would work, but the only font that works with the hq/scale4x glsl shader is the FTE engine default font if conchars isn't present and TTF cvar gl_font is "". Well, the default font seems to fit well with the other HUD graphics.

 

Tested locked doors that need some amount of keys, then player can choose which order to go through the areas. There's some indecisiveness with the ammo types, do I just have 4 ammo types, and if yes, is the 4th ammo type Fuel or Cells? It would be used with both Plasmagun and Flamethrower.

 

 

Spoiler

 

And the full playthrough with spoilers:

 

 

Some rotating thing in the water...

 

Rocket Launcher:

[Rudolph]

The game looks and sounds great for the most part, but honestly, and I hate to say this, I just cannot stand the voice-acting. :(

 

I am sorry, I really do not mean to be disrespectful here and I do not know how else to put it without sounding so harsh, but the first thing that comes to my mind when I hear the lines is Tommy Wiseau's performance in The Room. Could you not get someone else to voice the character for you? If not, will there be at least an option to disable the voice lines?

 

Again, everything else looks and sounds pretty great!

Edited February 22, 2022 by Rudolph

[Skeletonpatch]

On 2/22/2022 at 6:58 AM, Rudolph said:

The game looks and sounds great for the most part, but honestly, and I hate to say this, I just cannot stand the voice-acting. :(

 

I am sorry, I really do not mean to be disrespectful here and I do not know how else to put it without sounding so harsh, but the first thing that comes to my mind when I hear the lines is Tommy Wiseau's performance in The Room. Could you not get someone else to voice the character for you? If not, will there be at least an option to disable the voice lines?

 

Again, everything else looks and sounds pretty great!

 

I would be disappointed if she changed the voice acting. It lends itself to creating an odd atmosphere that I feel gives the few gameplay segments we've seen so far a lot of their personality.

 

The fourth ammo type could be cans of compressed hydrogen, which is highly flammable and a key component in cold fusion.