Xenome Patch

[UB_]

A patch which solves those bug/BSP holes would be enough for now.

[Buff Skeleton]

Finally got around to this as I've finished playing and replaying all of the Half Life games. I gotta say, I really like the patched version a lot better; gameplay is significantly improved across the board. I find myself high on ammo often but still wind up using lots of it in even small encounters due to the high volume of Skaarj, which I like. I don't mind having plenty of ammo if I have plenty of need for it.

I got to Subtle Planning last night and will resume today after work. And now I know where half of the custom textures and sounds came from Are the higher-res ones from Unreal II?

[Buff Skeleton]

And finished on Hard. That was good fun. The last fight was still very very difficult, mostly due to lack of cover and locations of doors and the stupid, buggy machine gun turrets and near-useless allies, but otherwise wasn't as bad as before. Only other place I had a lot of trouble was one of the big outdoor areas near the middle of the game where a ton of Skaarj Lords show up along with Skaarj Infantry and Gunners further back. It was near an open water trench and a lot of spillage waterfalls and the fight began with a couple of marine allies who died pretty quickly.

This pack really reminds me of how terrible UT weapons are for SP. I should make a balance mutator that adjusts damage and fire rate values for UT weapons to make them align with Unreal's, which are vastly more effective.

Overall, though, now that the balance is better (especially in the first few maps), I was able to enjoy everything much more, and the switch hunting felt less tedious. Some of the maps suffer from room-corridor-room syndrome, but the design is otherwise really good, especially due to the well-picked textures. Music choice could have been a bit better, but sound was nice for the most part otherwise, and I really felt like I was inside some massive, sprawling industrial complex.

[redeye]

Ditto that.

I must say this is really good, first you had me thinking.
"hmm pretty cool, all modern UT new things , then what I call the half life area, then the DOOM3 area, some caves, water, scenery areas, textures and masked textures" (around a lift) ALL very cool. !!!.Then you toss out a gear or brick mesh to remind us it's still UT.

The only thing I could think of adding is, remove the door codes, like a sign that pops with the number on it up for coop online play.Or put something around each door area too find for the codes.

You made quite an awesome thing here in my opinion, and all the WORK.

At least a good 9 ~ 9.5 if I scored it.

[salsaSkaarj]

Real life can cause extended lack of time. Since my last post here I haven't played a single byte (or bit) of Xenome or any other map.
And one thing = 100% sure. I won't have any time until February at the earliest.
I'm not to happy about that cause I still have to complete Xenome and just miss the fun of playing some Unreal maps in general. (and I had promised to playtest some of Waff's EXU - I have to pull out of that one, apologies offered if Waff was still expecting/waiting/hoping).
But I still read here now and then and am glad a mappack like Xenome is getting the attention it deserves.

[UB_]

Aww and I was hoping you were going to play G59 too D: Maybe I'll finish the four new maps right in time

[salsaSkaarj]

Aww and I was hoping you were going to play G59 too D: Maybe I'll finish the four new maps right in time

In February: 1) Xenome, 2) EXU and if I can handle 2 then 3) G59 but ... it's been so long ago, I'll probably need a week of training to get into shape to beat Xenome

[Buff Skeleton]

Don't apologize - your time is yours alone! I would be happy to hear your feedback if/when you are able to give it. I think you'll be able to handle it on Medium, Easy for sure. EXU2 on Easy is probably easier than Unreal 1 on Medium, if that. Don't be fooled by the numbers. You face hordes, but have weapons designed to obliterate them.

Back on topic, I think you'll like the new Xenome - it's got a lot more action and feels a lot better balanced. I still wish it had used Unreal 1 weapons, though, for their better damage output. UT's guns are just piss-weak, especially the Eightball. Holy shit, I must have died like 10 times to a single Skaarj Trooper with a Ripper because I was low on health and kept trying to hit it with six rockets, which would either miss or hit but send it flying because they didn't do enough damage to kill it (yet grenades do fine... the fuck?). UT Eightball is just shit in SP.

[TheIronKnuckle]

Funny that, because in ONP i recall feeling godlike because UT guns seemed OVERpowered. Weird

[UB_]

You'd feel more godlike in ONP if you had Unreal weapons.

[redeye]

There is one thing, not sure if it's some setting, but I lose the upgrades to the default weapon when the level switches.I read about that around here someplace, not sure if it's a map thing or oldskool thing.

ADD
Just finished it, and you won't let us kill the green shiny dude, aaaarg

Excellent job man.I actually was kinda adicted as well, it now NEEDS the concluding chapters.

[jazz]

I'm trying to get the second pack finished as soon as possible. I've completed eight maps to date with roughly twelve penciled in. The green Skaarj has a far bigger role to play with it's role becoming more evident as the player progresses.
I don't think I included a power up for the DP weapon as it was'nt really necessary in the ONP gametype, it would be way over-powered for sure.

The small glitches UB pointed out have been fixed and will be included when all the levels are composed into one.

[redeye]

I am probably then getting my map-pack-playing confused, for DP power ups.

[integration]

In First Day you only reused 1 or 2 maps of the original mega pack. Will the 2nd pack be completely new, too? If so, what happens with the (pretty much) unreleased content?

[jazz]

In First Day you only reused 1 or 2 maps of the original mega pack. Will the 2nd pack be completely new, too? If so, what happens with the (pretty much) unreleased content?

'First Day' actually used most of the original maps, but with extra content. The 2nd is almost entirely new build with one or two exeptions. I'm using the original mega-pack as nothing more than a reference at this point.