Blasphemer discussion

[Vita93]

This works in PSP Legacy (Doom engine for PSP) if you rename the wad as HERETIC.WAD

 

There were four other source ports of Heretic to PSP all of which unfortunately don't work.

[Shanoa]

Looking at the Github page it seems there's an E6M3 map. Assuming E4 and E5 are planned down the line will they just follow the Heretic trend of having no specific theme attached to them?

Edited September 18, 2022 by Shanoa

[Shino1]

I bring you slow progress! I am slowly figuring out this 3D thing.

Spoiler

 

However I also got first sketch of the Vampire Warrior!

(Yes, it's an edit of the current Dark Soldier since I thought their similar concept as gaunt pointy-eared humanoids can save some work)

 

From bad news: I realized something while looking at Iron Lich sprite sheet. ... They do not have any walking animation. That would make turning them into four-legged creatures tough. Or are we allowed to add frames?

Edited January 20, 2023 by Shino1
expanded thought to avoid double posting

[Cacowad]

Uh, hello. Been a while.

 

@Shanoa Sorry for the exceptionally late response: yes, there a currently no guidelines for episodes 4 & 5.

 

@Shino1 Nice to see a concept of the vampire :). Regarding the lich: if i remember correctly, we can only add rotation frames.

[Shino1]

On 1/22/2023 at 10:44 AM, Cacowad said:

@Shino1 Nice to see a concept of the vampire :). Regarding the lich: if i remember correctly, we can only add rotation frames.

 

Yeah, then any creature with legs is out of the question. Alternate idea: perhaps something like a Beholder from DND? Of course we can't use actual Beholder as that's intellectual property of Wizards of the Coast, but we can use something similar - it seems there's a floating eye monster called "Backbeard" in Japanese culture (https://gegegenokitaro.fandom.com/wiki/Backbeard, https://megamitensei.fandom.com/wiki/Backbeard) that's been used as an enemy in some games. Or we can just make up an original one and call it something like Evil Eye, which is a concept universal to many cultures.

[ax34]

On 1/22/2023 at 12:44 PM, Cacowad said:

Regarding the lich: if i remember correctly, we can only add rotation frames.

Maybe use some kind of slug/snail?

[Shino1]

26 minutes ago, ax34 said:

Maybe use some kind of slug/snail?

I think even sliding creatures like snakes or snails need *some* kind of movement animation to not look weird. Like even two frame cycle of them wobbling slightly. We don't even have a single walking frame, it's literally just one idle frame, attack, and a couple death frames.

 

Which is funny in hindsight when considering that Maulotaur has like 50 different unique frames (all his attacks are well animated and sprite isn't mirrored). Clear where all the budget went :P

 

Additional advantage of the floating monster would be potentially better compatibility. Half of the point of Blasphemer is ability to run Heretic mods in a free environment, so if someone made a mod where Iron Liches actually *do* fly like Cacodemons, then a floating monster will look much better when seen in Blasphemer.

Edited January 26, 2023 by Shino1
no double posting

[Catoptromancy]

Here is an unofficial repo build. Includes darkened automap by 50%, crispy-heretic menu graphic, and last frame of mumm* is also aligned. The extra fixes have been posted to the contributions channel on discord.

https://www.geocities.ws/c/a/catodemos/blasphemer/builds/blasphem-jan2023.zip

 

[Oplexitie]

On 1/20/2023 at 8:40 PM, Shino1 said:

From bad news: I realized something while looking at Iron Lich sprite sheet. ... They do not have any walking animation. That would make turning them into four-legged creatures tough. Or are we allowed to add frames?

 

I've been working on a new model for a while now (a very long while), since the old one got lost during a setup upgrade.

Like you pointed out, there's quite a bit of stuff missing from that old sprite sheet so I'd recommend not using it.

 

I'll see if can get a spritesheet done soon.

 

Update: I've replaced the preview I had with a completed spritesheet for the Iron Lich, it might need some tweaking/cleaning up, but I'm pretty happy with it.

Edited January 30, 2023 by Oplexitie
Updated Spritesheet

[MrFlibble]

Nice! I like the soft colours, and the design sure is unusual. Is it smiling? (I mean the front view in the second row)

[Oplexitie]

Thanks ^^ ! And yeah, I know the design is a bit weird, I tried to make something inspired from my old design, and H.R Giger's work (was especially inspired by the scrapped Alien design from Alien 3).

 

2 hours ago, MrFlibble said:

Is it smiling?

 

I tried to make it look like it was smilling (since I liked the creepy look), but it's not actually smilling, it's just openening its mouth.

[MrFlibble]

1 minute ago, Oplexitie said:

I know the design is a bit weird

I think it's very good and original. I mean, I cannot easily come up with anything interesting for what is essentially a floating head monster that would not be a head, or an orb, or an orb-shaped drone. Maybe a magically floating cage with something inside it, but that's it. Your creature has a unique and recognizable design.

[Oplexitie]

1 hour ago, MrFlibble said:

I mean, I cannot easily come up with anything interesting for what is essentially a floating head monster that would not be a head, or an orb, or an orb-shaped drone.

 

To be fair, when designing something for a project like this, it's hard to not just do a bootleg version of the original design (or something very similiar), since it's supposed to behave the same way has the original, it's also supposed to have about the same proportions, and it's hard to imagine the monsters looking different when you're used to the base Heretic monsters.

 

Anyways, thanks again for the compliments about the design ^^, now if it gets added to the game I just hope it looks good/fits in with the rest.

[HeatedChocolate]

Oh man, I can't put my finger on it but the Iron Lich replacement makes me feel uncomfortable for some reason. I assume that was the intention, good work nonetheless. Reminds me of something out of Hylics.

[Shino1]

On 1/29/2023 at 9:44 PM, Oplexitie said:

 

I've been working on a new model for a while now (a very long while), since the old one got lost during a setup upgrade.

Like you pointed out, there's quite a bit of stuff missing from that old sprite sheet so I'd recommend not using it.

 

I'll see if can get a spritesheet done soon.

 

Update: I've replaced the preview I had with a completed spritesheet for the Iron Lich, it might need some tweaking/cleaning up, but I'm pretty happy with it.

Oh wow, yeah, this is amazing!

[Cacowad]

Blasphemer 0.1.8 is finally here.

Grab the latest release HERE:

https://github.com/Blasphemer/blasphemer/releases/tag/v0.1.8

 

Below you'll find a short version of the changes. For the full version please read the release note.

 

What's new?

 

Levels

• Fixed medusa on E1M1.
• Removed incorrect player 1 start on E1M6.
• E3M2 reworked by the author.

Sprites

• Added Ghoul (Mummy) by Rei, replacing BigProjectAlone's deer demon.
• Added Harpy (Imp) by Rei, replacing Cwolf's lost soul.
• Added Ogre (Maulotaurus) by Rei.
• Added Morphed Eye (Chicken) by Rei.
• Added Unknown (Lich) by Oplexitie, replacing Freedoom's cacodemon.

Textures

• Added archways variations by Kwc

General Changes

• Added optional GL definitions by Jackie. Note: They are not included in the main build, you may find them on the repo page.
• Lot of offset fixes.
• AutoPage darkened.
• Added a script to generate the versioning on the titlepic.

Thank you to @Catoptromancy @HorrorMovieRei @Oplexitie and all other contributors for making this release possible.

[Xerenogan]

Very nice! I love the sprite replacements and greatly appreciate the offset fixes.
Good job guys!

[MrFlibble]

Congrats on the new release!

 

I was even able to run this in Hexetic in DOSBox, it mostly worked fine until I came into the open area in E1M1 where it crashed with a numlumps error. I think it would be nice to have a more functional DOS port for this, just for the sake or retro completeness.

 

The new monsters appear to fit very well with the textures, and give the game a unique look. BTW, are there any plans to reuse the were-elk as another monster type?

[Cacowad]

4 hours ago, MrFlibble said:

Congrats on the new release!

 

I was even able to run this in Hexetic in DOSBox, it mostly worked fine until I came into the open area in E1M1 where it crashed with a numlumps error. I think it would be nice to have a more functional DOS port for this, just for the sake or retro completeness.

 

The new monsters appear to fit very well with the textures, and give the game a unique look. BTW, are there any plans to reuse the were-elk as another monster type?

Well, up to a certain point (i think, late 2019, not so sure anymore) i always tested every map in heretic+, just to assure it ran on the original software. I do not know wich dos ports exist in the wild, but i would like to encourage as any compatibility reports as possible :)

 

About the Elk: i hope it is going to stay, as i personally like it. As of now one of the variants cover the sabreclaw slot, but it could be shuffled around the other placeholders (waredragon or knight) if necessary.

Edited February 13, 2023 by Cacowad

[HorrorMovieRei]

13 hours ago, MrFlibble said:

BTW, are there any plans to reuse the were-elk as another monster type?

 

I for one woulnd't mind if the elk demon remained as the saberclaw replacement indefinitelly. The sprite looks good, and has just the right amount of frames for this monster slot.

[Shino1]

Vampire warrior, frame A1. Is this ok and should I do rest of frames like this?

[ax34]

53 minutes ago, Shino1 said:

Vampire warrior, frame A1. Is this ok and should I do rest of frames like this?

I like original black one (from FreeDoom's Attic) more.

[reaction]

Woah, this is great! I'm loving the Ghoul/mummy sprites. Looks like there's still maps to be filled, I might play around with the resources a bit.

[MrFlibble]

21 hours ago, Shino1 said:

Vampire warrior, frame A1. Is this ok and should I do rest of frames like this?

You did some nice polishing on it compared to the first rough version you've shown a while back. I think it's worth finishing.

[Shino1]

On 2/25/2023 at 6:39 PM, MrFlibble said:

You did some nice polishing on it compared to the first rough version you've shown a while back. I think it's worth finishing.

Thanks!

On 2/24/2023 at 10:03 PM, ax34 said:

I like original black one (from FreeDoom's Attic) more.

If you have any feedback on how I could improve it, I will be happy to listen. Also the black one isn't really from the Attic, this is still the current version of FD Revenant replacement. There's push to replace that sprite with Octaminator, but this still hasn't happened due to some opposition. Which is part of the reason why there's need for a replacement, since it would be confusing to someone playing both Blasphemer and Freedoom why two entirely different monsters look so similar.

EDIT: Okay, I tried polishing it up a bit based on feedback I got in the Freedoom Discord.

Spoiler

Edited February 27, 2023 by Shino1
no double posting

[ax34]

Make it a bit less colorful maybe (but i can be wrong)... maybe use reddish-orange instead of pure red...

Edited February 27, 2023 by ax34

[Shino1]

23 hours ago, ax34 said:

Make it a bit less colorful maybe (but i can be wrong)... maybe use reddish-orange instead of pure red...

Are you referring to the new tweaked version? Because I did make it less colorful.

[Cacowad]

I'm liking the direction. I think the feedback you got from the freedoom discord server was very beneficial.

[Shino1]

4 hours ago, Cacowad said:

I'm liking the direction. I think the feedback you got from the freedoom discord server was very beneficial.

Yeah, I also think it's a big improvement. Final tweak: I improved shading a bit and I like this version.

[HorrorMovieRei]

4 hours ago, Shino1 said:

Yeah, I also think it's a big improvement. Final tweak: I improved shading a bit and I like this version.

 

Neat! Just one thing to keep in mind if you use the Dark Goblin as a base for all frames: I noticed the walk animation seems to be unfinished (or just lazy). It only has 2 frames it alternates between, so you might need to fill in some of the blanks in order to make a propper 4 frame walk animation