[u227i] Unreal: Resurgence

[radios]

The download is on ModDB, which is linked on the first page.

But here's a direct link anyway:


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SZ
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ok, thank you. new maps are scarce, I want to try any new decent maps I can..

[Tarydax]

Just an update - the project isn't dead yet. Progress has been tortuously slow, mainly because my new job leaves me exhausted and with little motivation to do much of anything, but I have been working on it.

AlCapowned has also been updating the core packages every few months. He made some changes to some of the weapons and his latest update added a replacement for the flak cannon (the lava gun).

This isn't going to be released in full any time soon, but progress is ongoing.

[GamesHarder]

Good to hear that!

[UberPwnr]

ayy, nice to hear that this is still being worked on, been eyeballing the development of this project since its first release.

[AlCapowned]

I know it's been a very long time since we've posted anything, but the project is still being developed.

Anyway, here are a bunch of the gameplay changes so far:

The inventory has been overhauled to the point where I'm finally confident that it won't bring down the rest of the pack. Some weapons have been changed, others have been replaced entirely.

► Show Spoiler

1. The raziks are now genuinely useful. Equipping the raziks increases your mass, which makes you harder to knock around. Melee attacks are now performed in a set pattern now - a single swipe, followed by two swipes or a heavy swipe, and lastly the spin attack. Successful melee attacks heal you based on the damage you deal. Lastly, the raziks have a new rage system - damaging enemies in melee increases your rage level (which increases your damage resistance and firing speed), while using the projectiles decreases you rage level. Upon reaching maximum rage, your bonuses are increased and aren't affected by your rage level, and you also move 40% faster. This feature has a cooldown, so it's wise to weave in projectile use with your melee attacks so you don't end up wasting your rage. The skin has also been changed, and the spin attack's camera spin effect has been removed.

2. Switching from the stunner to another weapon is now very fast, and the stunner's fully charged shots knock down skaarj, dragons, and hawks (and will eventually work on the kraal).

3. The stinger now behaves similarly to how it does in the books. Shooting an enemy charges them with poisonous tarydium, and overcharging their tarydium or hitting them with an explosive makes them release a powerful shockwave that damages them and other nearby enemies. Other charged enemies that are near an exploding enemy with explode as well, making the stinger great against groups.

4. The impaler has been redone. Primary fire shoots a crystal that shatters into chunks, secondary fire shoots the beam. The impaler loads a crystal before firing, and each crystal has a limited charge. Using the third firing mode, up to 6 crystals may be loaded at a time, which allows you to shoot a rapid volley of crystals or use the beam for extended periods of time.

5. The brutemag replaces the eightball. It's basically an automag that shoots rockets. It's actually pretty fun!

6. The lavagun/canister gun is a new weapon that replaces the flak cannon. Primary fire crushes a tarydium barrel, spraying globs of lava at your enemies. Secondary fire launches the barrel, which may bounce a few times before exploding.

7. The hunting razorjack has been redone. Primary fire shoots a blade that bounces once before sticking into surfaces, secondary fire recalls all of your blades within a certain distance, which is great for getting a lucky kill or just conserving ammo.

8. The warlord gun has a new secondary fire. Now it can lock on to up to 4 targets, and when it fires, its rocket shoots out 4 seeking mini-missiles.

9. The skaarj rifle now has a melee attack when using the secondary in close range. It poisons enemies, slowing their movement speed for a few seconds.

10. The minicannon is now a beast of a weapon with a modified model. The primary fire shoots very fast bullet projectiles, but it needs time to get started. The secondary fire rotates the barrel so you can more easily use the primary.

The pawns have had their fair share of changes.

► Show Spoiler

1. The izarians have been nerfed into the ground and are much less annoying as a result.

2. The bigman now shoots grenades when in close range.

3. The dragon now performs a new lunging animation to get close to the player.

4. The slithling spits an acid spray when in close range.

5. The kraal have had their original vertex mesh replaced with skeletal meshes. They can now be equipped with different staff types and can dual wield staves. Most of them will drop their staves when killed. Dropped staves can be picked up by other kraal, but I haven't figured out how to make the AI actively seek them yet. The standard kraal have a new rage mechanic in which they start running and shooting instead of taking those leisurely steps like they usually do.

6. There are now more skaarj hunter variations, including a fairly challenging type that protects himself with a tarydium shield and launches his shield at your face if you don't shatter it in time.

7. Kraal, skaarj, and bigmen have a new melee frustration mechanic. If they miss a certain number of melee attacks, they will switch to using ranged attacks even at close range.

Other general changes:

► Show Spoiler

1. The player character is now a skaarj warrior instead of a trooper. Currently he uses the regular warrior model rigged to use the Unreal 2 skaarj's animations, but this may change.

2. Health pickups (excluding the superhealth) you touch while at full health will be stored in your inventory for later use.

3. The combat shield can now be activated by quickly crouching twice. This only works if you successfully crouch twice, so be careful around enemies that knock you into the air.

4. The extra-large HUD has been removed. The regular and large options remain.

5. The HUD now has a charge bar for the combat shield, as well as a bar for your current weapon. The weapon charge bar displays things like your rage level when you have the raziks equipped or your target's tarydium level when using the stinger.

The maps have also had some optimizations and fixes, and the pack will be a bit more stable as a result. The player gets the full arsenal by map 4. A few of the maps had some changes to make the sky island setting more apparent.
Map 2b has had some big changes and map 5 is nearing completion. The other maps have had some stability improvements here and there. With how long it's taken us to get this far, in all likelihood, Part 2 is never happening. That said, if Part 1 ends the way we hope it does, it will be on a high note.

[UB_]

Goddamn these are amazing changes, glad to see that Unreal 2 Skaarj stuff put to use!

[AlCapowned]

Here's a clip of the new kraal and raziks in action. Sorry for the poor quality.

The kraal are now going to be the main enemies you fight early on in maps 2 and 2b, tending to the various installations of their masters while the skaarj hunters mostly stick to temples and caverns. They drop their staves when killed and actively search for nearby staves while in combat, which should make them a bit different to fight compared to the regular krall. There are also a bunch of new variations in progress that should stop them from getting stale.

The raziks can now block melee attacks. A successful block will make you automatically counter attack, which in turn will knock your foe to the ground. This currently works on skaarj, kraal, hawks, and dragons; eventually I'll update it to work on slith and mercenaries. I'm hoping I'll be able to make it so some enemies will have the ability to block and counter as well.

[ividyon]

Oh wow! That's incredibly flavorful, and seriously cool that it's possible. You're right that it makes them quite the different enemy from the regular Krall!

However, in a post-Doom Eternal world, where gameplay balance and tAcTiCaL gAmEpLaY are at the front of people's minds, it does make me wonder: Do you see this making them a significantly different challenge, and an exciting mix-up of gameplay? Or is it more of an "oh cool!" effect that adds to the atmosphere and the perception of an "intelligent enemy"?

Also: Is it safe to assume these 'kraal' are a different entity/perhaps a sub-species of the retail Unreal Krall, given the different spelling and Beta-ish look?

[AlCapowned]

Right now it's more flavor than a real challenge, but I'm hoping that will change when I tie new abilities exclusively to dual-wielding. A kraal might decide to throw one of their spare staves at you like a javelin, or if you get close enough, they might choose to plant their staves into the ground and do a swift kick that sends you flying. Alternatively, they might decide to give a staff to one of their unarmed allies (I'm not entirely sure if I'll be able to get this one to work, but it wouldn't be the hardest thing I've done).

The staff system still makes for a few interesting scenarios even though it's not finished yet. A kraal's projectiles are determined by their current staff, so if you have a bunch unarmed kraal gathered in a room with the weaker staves to the left and a single lord's staff to the right, you have some different choices to make. You can try heading off the kraal lord, but then you'll have to avoid the weaker kraals' projectiles. If you go left, you might be able to damage most of the regular kraal before they arm themselves, but then the lord might be able to take out big chunks of your health with his more powerful attacks. I haven't played Doom Eternal yet so I can't say how this sort of thing compares (I can't imagine it does), but it's at least a bit different from standard Unreal.

And yes, the kraal are related to the regular krall. The name is a callback to some of the alphas/betas, and lorewise it's supposed to show that they are held in higher esteem than their relatives. The kraal are more technologically-inclined, providing valuable services to the more primal skaarj hunters. Some of them will be seen fiddling with panels while others will use gadgets like power shields and laser swords.

[AlCapowned]

The translator has been remade to be fully mesh-based. They aren't shown in the video, but there are a few different animations to choose from, and they can also be turned off entirely if you want (same with the sounds).

[AlCapowned]

The skaarj minicannon has been redone and is now more like a traditional minigun with the need to wind up before firing.

[Mister_Prophet]

I looove the startup sound fx. Great stuff

[AlCapowned]

For those of you who don't use Discord, here's the walk cycle of the new kraal dragoon. Both the rider and mount have their own health pools, and they play the krall or predator sounds depending on which one you hit. If you kill one of them, the other will continue their attack alone.

[AlCapowned]

Just a few updates to the weapons. The stunner has been redesigned to be more like the ASMD and has its own version of the shock combo, the stinger has a new alt, and the raziks have a slam attack best for knocking enemies out of the air.

[AlCapowned]

As usual, progress has been pretty slow. Tarydax has been updating the maps here and there, and I'm continuing to change the weapons (see the second post for their current incarnations, I still need to add pictures).

I did manage to get us out of a corner we wrote ourselves into, and the pack will now be 8-9 maps total and not split into two parts (we'll still tell the same story we wanted to, but with less filler). Also, the skaarj hunters as a faction have been renamed to The Exiled.

As always, a release is a long way away.