Updates: Still alive, rebuilding momentum

[Buff Skeleton]

So this current megapatch has been in production a lot longer than I'd planned, mostly because some time around the end of July, I got hit really hard with a TON of stuff to do at work, which left me devoid of energy for a couple of weeks every night when I got home. That killed the momentum which fueled my over-six-month-long development spree, and as a result, I ended up not getting much of ANYTHING done during July and August. Right now I'm working on rebuilding that momentum so I can get a whole lot more stuff done regularly and rapidly once again.

I've been adding a lot of features, many of which come with new bugs that need to be fixed, and some of which themselves are huge undertakings. One of them is the menu frontend; I'm SO close to getting EXU 100% independent from Oldskool that it wouldn't make sense for me to package up what I've got now and release before that point. I've also got a fully-revitalized Map 12 which has no gameplay design yet, and I've added a metric fuckton of new stuff to Map 3, plus huge coop enhancements to a lot of other maps.

I have more or less established the final standard for level design I want to stick with going forward, so once I bring some of the weaker maps up to that standard for offline and online play, I should be ready to release the megapatch, and from THEN on, work on all the newer maps which haven't been built or released yet. That's still a who-knows-how-long way out, but it's closer than it sounds nowadays.

Anyway, just thought I'd chime in for anyone who might still be following this.

Oh, and Offline Coop Mode: trust me. Totally worth the wait.

[TheIronKnuckle]

Awesome to hear.

No idea how offline coop could exist. Do you mean lan? :S

[Gizzy]

I'm SO close to getting EXU 100% independent from Oldskool

When this happens, I'd be totally up for porting to Unreal 227 (Unless you already have plans for this?)
My previous attempt was scuppered by oldskool and I had to settle with just the weapons

[Buff Skeleton]

No idea how offline coop could exist. Do you mean lan? :S

Oh shit, did I never make a public post about Offline Coop Mode?! Holy christ OCM is hilarious. I have a hard time playing normal SP now because OCM is so much fun, not to mention flexible.

Basically, OCM blends the coop campaign with singleplayer, and cuts out the shitty netcode because it's all run offline - no server/client fuckery whatsoever. This little blurb I wrote in the changelog for the upcoming patch explains it pretty well I think:

Tired of netcode bugs? Don't have friends or hate them all? This is a hilarious way to make the campaign MUCH harder by enabling all the extra coop stuff in singleplayer. By default, weapons will respawn (and so will you when you die), so you at least have a fighting chance to make it through each level. However, the sheer volume of additional resistance means almost guaranteed death and lots of it. If you are particularly insane, you can disable weapon and player respawns for the absolute maximum in ball-crushing difficulty. Luckily for you, saves still work normally.

So you can play coop, offline, by yourself, with saves enabled, and even turn on or off weapon and player respawns! It's AMAZING. Also, the scoreboard shows notifications if weapon/player respawns are disabled, so you can show off how much of a badass and/or coward you are. It also tracks deaths and suicides, which will be plentiful.

When this happens, I'd be totally up for porting to Unreal 227 (Unless you already have plans for this?)
My previous attempt was scuppered by oldskool and I had to settle with just the weapons

My stance on porting remains the same as before: no official ports until the project is entirely complete and I'm done with development of new features (or at least the core features), just to ease the potential headaches. However, once EXU is independent from Oldskool, we can talk more about experimental porting efforts even before development is complete if you're interested in doing some private experimental work in the mean time. Longer-term, I'd like for there to be at least some kind of 227-based EXU2 made available as long as it is clearly indicates it's an unofficial build, etc. But those details can be worked out later

[Jigoku]

I was wondering what happened here with EXU2 since I didn't see stuff for a long time. Glad you're getting back to it. Don't let work bring you down to your knees!

[jaypeezy]

I figured you've been busy but had no idea about getting the mod independent from OldSkool. Awesome job! Looking forward to this patch.

[Buff Skeleton]

lmao

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6MH3fChQXMw

[jaypeezy]

That turret beam cannon looks serious. Do you mean for it to move like that or is it stilll in development?
Also curious to see what that artillery spinner looks like lol

I also seriously like how the player scores display for coop looks. It's all so... blue and green and EXU-ish.

[Buff Skeleton]

The turret is a buggy pile of trash online, and badly needs a full rewrite, but I don't really have the expertise to make it non-crappy myself. Sooner or later I'll try to solicit some help on that front. But offline, it's perfectly smooth.

[jaypeezy]

Maybe take a look at that Infiltration turret that you see pop up in so many UT maps. I have no idea how that thing runs online but as far as I can remember it was kinda smooth.

[Buff Skeleton]

Maybe take a look at that Infiltration turret that you see pop up in so many UT maps. I have no idea how that thing runs online but as far as I can remember it was kinda smooth.

That's exactly what this is based on. It sucks. Hard. :I

[UBerserker]

I miss EXU2, haven't touched it since May or something.

[TheIronKnuckle]

I only ever play it using mutators in standard Unreal Tournament matches because I'm waiting for the final release because I know it's going to be the most awesome thing ever and I want to play it through in one go without spoiling anything for myself

[Buff Skeleton]

I've made a ton of changes to the Piddledoper, making it a far more valuable weapon at all game stages. It has a tertiary fire now: stun blast. It's awesome. Sucks down ammo like crazy, but can actually temporarily immobilize EXUScriptedPawns (doesn't work on players or bots, currently; not sure if I'll be able to get it to). Additionally, the recharge rate is now slower than before for a single 'Doper, but when you grab two, it doubles, and becomes faster than the current rate.

I also finally, FINALLY fixed the "lose your second Piddledoper after switching maps" bug. I gave in and dug up the solution. You're welcome.

Honestly, the Piddledoper is one of my favorite weapons now. It's still not strong enough to outright kill as much as most other weapons, but it does a hell of a lot of useful stuff, especially in maps with joltstones.

[jaypeezy]

tertiary fire? is it something we'd have to bind a key for? (mousewheel?)