Posted on September 7, 2016 September 7, 2016

MiniDoom 2

minidoom-2-cuadrado

I’ve been changing the game quite a bit since its release; trying to improve on its many flaws. MiniDoom was a project that was made in just a few weeks. We had to rush to release it, because we wanted to launch it alongside Doom 4 (Doom 2016). So the game was not tested enough, and is very barebones compared to what we had in mind.

I’m happy to see that MiniDoom has picked up some notoriety lately. So I’m gathering all these improvements and instead of just adding them to the old game or releasing a pack, we are making it a whole new standalone game, the way it was meant to be played from the beginning.

So we are giving this little project a final boost: MiniDOOM 2!!

What to expect:

Of course it will be a completely new game with new levels and a new boss.

A new overworld map will allow you to select levels and revisit completed areas.

Since the game will be longer, it will save your data.

What is a new game without new weapons? Each weapon will now have a counterpart for a total of 12 guns!

There will be a much wider variety of enemies to test your new guns on!

Not only the previously shown grenades but other new moves, powerups and mechanics too!

I believe this will be a better way to play the game.

What NOT to expect:

No mobile version – Sorry guys. I’m trying to export a Mac version though!

No multiplayer – It doesn’t seem viable for a small project like this one.

Some differences:

The original MiniDOOM was based on DOOM 1. This one will not be limited to any Doom version in specific. We decided to just have fun with it so it will mix elements from all the Doom games!

knight arch

You will be able to fight classical Arch-Viles alongside with new Hell Knights.

reven

Really dig the new revenant design. (sorry no diagonal shooting yet :p)

wep-select

To deal with the new amount of weapons a quick select mechanic is already added. Like the one in Doom4. (also a peek to 2 of the new weapons)

These and many, many more features will come to MiniDoom 2!

The release date for now looks to be late november 2016. Will keep on posting till then.

archbye

Posted on September 5, 2016

A necessary evil: Flinch

Back when I was first making MiniDoom I was planning on putting up a flinch mechanic like in many other platform games.

First on my mind was super Metroid, enemies knock you back there, so why not here? As I continued continued with the development the game took form on what it is now (something very different from super Metroid). You have plenty of health and enemies hit you a lot, you have a short invulnerability period to even the odds against many enemies. Its fast, it’s cool enough.

Adding a flinch I thought would slow down the combat too much; I thought that it would be suitable for a game where you get hit less, not this one.

This was a mistake however, now you can easily go through enemies without even fighting them, it’s no problem since you have so much health. In the classic Doom enemies block you and you have to defeat them or find yourself trapped.

Well I’ve reached a compromise. Some attacks will knock the player back, and some more than others.

A regular shot will just trigger your invulnerability frames, but running into an enemy will knock you back, explosions too. This might have some other cool applications (rocket jumping???)

So MiniDoom is getting this new necessary evil, the dreaded flinch mechanic. But don’t despair, the marine will get some new movement options to fend off the hordes of hell.

See you next time.

Also: PALLET SWAP

Posted on August 17, 2016 August 18, 2016

Improving on MiniDoom: Diagonals

Lately I’ve been busy trying to improve MiniDoom to release a new improved version, but after so many changes it is becoming more of a sequel than a new version.

One of the challenges of MiniDoom’s gameplay is simply to hit enemies that are not directly in front of you. You can only shoot in four directions and you have to find ways to position yourself so that you can hit the enemies. This is most easily done by jumping to hit enemies above but becomes really tricky for enemies bellow you.

wat

This obvious problem is a staple of the platform game, Mega Man NES games were all about this. But even in these games, you were usually given some options to deal with tough situations. In Mega Man you had special weapons; other games like Contra just gave you the ability to shoot in eight directions.

contrm

I identified this as a problem early on, and decided to adapt one of the game’s weapons to fill this gap. I really liked Mega Man 3 Magnet Rocket’s design. It moves horizontally then vertically, but it just wasn’t useful enough to make it a core weapon.

mega

Since the plasma rifle and chaingun were so similar I made the plasma a homing weapon. The bullets would be able to go up or down depending if there was an enemy near. This made the weapon kind of homing but not too much as to not make it too easy. It was a good gun, I like it a lot. But it has a flaw: you get it too late in the game.

plasma

I realized a new option is needed earlier in the game. And Doom 3 gave me the answer: GRENADES. Another classic game that has almost the same mechanics and uses grenades really well to allow you to hit enemies above and bellow you is obviously Metal Slug.

metalgran

So then grenades will be coming to MiniDoom in the shape of Doom3’s ugly yellow grenades. They will deal medium damage and the blast will deal low damage, and they will consume your rocket ammo. Due to this change, the rocket launcher will get a buff!

grenade