I need your opinion on this vanilla script

[Tangra]

I was bored tonight and wanted to experiment with vanilla voodoo scripts, because i keep reading how unreliable they are, and i really wanted to attempt something that gives consistent results on multiple ports, including Chocolate Doom. I should add that my knowledge of voodoo scripts is very basic, and i know almost nothing on what has been attempted before, so being the ignorant fool that i am, i experimented for at least an hour, trying to make a multi-action, non-damaging script, which now i know is impossible (it is, right?). My idea was to place a monster behind the voodoo doll, and have it take the blast from the exploding barrel, thinking that it will be enough to push the doll down some very steep stairs. Of course, that didn't work.

Then i placed the voodoo doll within a single unit/pixel from falling of the ledge, so that the smallest push from a barrel would be enough to trigger the script. That resulted in a successful (for now at least) script, that costs only 4hp, and can be neglected by placing a stimpack over the doll that makes the health loss unnoticeable, other than the pain sound from the character. The push was enough to make the doll go over 5 action lines, placed way below the ledge, in a distance of one unit from one another. I settled for 4 lines at the end, for insurance. The example wad in the download link performs 10 actions at once. For simplicity purposes, all 10 actions are raising of floors, but they're all individually tagged and separate. It also works with 20 actions, but not in vanilla, where it seems the limit is 10 actions at once? Now... the reason i post this, is because i need an expert opinion, before i waste my time, to try and attempt the same script with 10 or more different actions at once. I tested the current version around 50 times in Chocorenderlimits, Boom and GZDoom, without problems, so i'm fairly confident in the reliability. I'm just not sure if having all lines perform various tasks will make any difference, and by that i mean, breaking the whole thing. Not that i'll ever need this many actions in a vanilla map, but i'm very curious how much it can be done. If this end up being a reliable solution, it will be great for multi-action switches and traps.

 

Please, have a look at it in your editor, and maybe run some tests in a port of your choice. Is it reliable in your opinion? Can it be improved somehow?

Download v1

 

Edit: Actually, you can scratch the above link, i went on and made it with 10 different actions, with the option to be triggered by a switch or a walkover line. Now it only needs a good bit of testing. So far it works as intended in choco, prboom+ and gz:

 

Download v2: https://www.mediafire.com/file/08zqxqun89jrhus/dsript2.wad/file

Edited October 3, 2023 by Tangra

[Tangra]

I kept playtesting this thing yesterday and made some changes. I replaced the stimpack with health bonuses so that the health can be restored if the player already has above 100 health. Another issue was the amount of blast power to push the voodoo doll. The 4% health loss was the minimal i can get, and is enough to consistently trigger every action, without a single failed attempt in around 200 tests (it only takes 2-3 seconds per test) across Chocolate Doom, Crispy, DSDA, Woof, PrBoom+. ZDoom, and GZDoom, with at least half of the testing done on Chocolate Doom. But i made a mistake, because i didn't realize that on the lowest difficulty with the 50% damage reduction, the barrel blast isn't strong enough. So the actual minimum damage that is reliable for this variation is 8%, and with the instant healing from the health bonuses, it is still barely noticeable.

I expected some discussion to come out of this, to help me improve the script, or to point out potential risks if i use it in a vanilla or limit-removing map, but it is what it is. I updated the link with the latest version.

 

[RataUnderground]

If you are going to experiment with vanilla scripting, you might want to take a look at mikoportals.

[Tangra]

26 minutes ago, RataUnderground said:

If you are going to experiment with vanilla scripting, you might want to take a look at mikoportals.

 

Indeed, i'm not very familiar with mikoportals, but it looks like they're not compatible with ZDoom based ports? It's also hard to find information about reliability, which is my main concern. By that i mean, if they tend to cause bugs, even if it's very rare, i can't take the risk. Also, mikoportals open the door for more complex scripts than what i need. I just want something that works 100% of the time in all ports, and allows for multi-action switches and trigger lines, without noticeable health loss. The limit-removing map i'm working on now will have scripts like the example from the link above.

Edited October 3, 2023 by Tangra

[FletcherHonoroma]

Mikoportals are sadly not compatible with ZDoom based ports. For your voodoo script, on lower difficulties place a barrel which is marginally closer - this ought to blast the voodoo further and still do an inconsequential amount of damage.