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Incline Ion Fury (formerly Ion Maiden) - Build Engine powered FPS by Duke Nukem 3D mappers - now with Aftershock DLC
- Thread starter tormund
- Start date
Thought Overhypeload does look interesting, thx Blaine. If I come talk about, will you be able to sit better?
There's literally zero hype for Overload, but that does make for a decent pun, so I'll allow it.
What Overload offers is full 6doF, very tight controls, challenging ACKSHUN with a relatively high skill ceiling on proper difficulties, termite mound-tier level design and environmental challenge, and plenty of secrets. The one downside is that it uses the Unity engine, but of all the Unity engine games I've played, Overload has given me the fewest problems (that is, none). This is very likely because it's simple and sweet and relies mostly on cramped rooms and tight corridors, rather than trying to load in an entire fucking vista populated with a bunch of animals as far as the eye can see.
Anyone who didn't like Descent in the 1990s should be humanely euthanized, just saying. Descent also essentially gave birth to Freespace 2, which was and to this day remains the overall best space fighter sim of all time.
Blood and Shadow Warrior were garbage though so it should be pretty easy for Ion Maiden to outdo 'em.
I thought you would like Blood since you can kill monks as quickly as they can Caleb.
unfairlight
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Calling that a downside is retarded. Unity is an engine like any other. What developers do with said engine is entirely up to them. It's really easy to shit out asset flip garbage in 2 weeks but that's barely any different from other game engines like Unreal Engine 4, it's just that Unreal Engine 4 isn't as well known for that.
No, it actually isn't.
http://www.rpgcodex.net/forums/index.php?threads/fuck-unity.119423/
There are many aspects of Unity that set it apart from other engines, for example the fact that it was cobbled together to be a one-size-fits-all solution with a lowest-bidder approach to its component parts.
Yes, competent, experienced, skilled coders can bash the engine into shape to fit their needs.
Problem is, modern game developers are severely lacking in competent, experienced, and skilled coders. That's a huge factor (if not the primary factor) behind every indie developer relying on Unity in the first place.
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Make sure to play the Descent games with DXX-Rebirth for proper modern functionality.Never played it, though mother of all coincidence I just bought it last night and today you barge in praising to high heaven. Guess I found what to play when I'm done with Blood.
OK, decent sales pitch.
also insane cold start full rescuing no mid-level saving every level is the true way to play them
unfairlight
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I think I've seen the thread you posted but I no longer have access to it. Most of the arguments against it that I saw had little backing for themselves.
Modern game developers lacking in competent, experienced and skilled coders isn't really a fault of the game engine. I wouldn't really say that The Forest and Rust are games that bashed the engine into shape, considering Unity isn't really the type of engine that you have to heavily modify to get your things done. With what efficiency it gets those things done is up to debate but it generally gets them done well enough.
God damn, why the fuck would you remind of the disaster TToN was. I had to grab a bottle, get some ice, pour some whiskey into the glass and slowly sip it while I cry.
EDIT: fixed image hosting fuckery
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Ash
Arcane
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^Storyfag tears taste good.
Regarding Descent: it isn't bad, it just has nothing on something like Doom or Duke 3D.
6 degrees of freedom means elevation of level design isn't as important: advantageous high ground for you or the enemy, danger of falling to your death, tactical depth in movement around the game world e.g jumping over something hazardous daringly as means of faster escape, crouching behind cover and so on. Additionally, platforming is entirely eliminated.
Further still, you're in a spaceship. As a result interactivity with the environment is very limited.
However, through 6dof there is new gameplay nuances created, such as combat where enemies are attacking from any potential angle, and having to take into account ship roll rather than just pitch and yaw, but ultimately too much of value is lost, especially in the relation of level design with game mechanics and systems.
Again, not a bad game, but far from my first choice of FPS either.
Anyhow, stop hijacking this thread while simultaneously shitting on the game it is dedicated to with little basis. Plug the other game, sure, it's of the same genre and probably deserves more exposure, but coming in here attacking this game based on fuck all and plugging something else that will probably be inferior...get out.
Regarding Descent: it isn't bad, it just has nothing on something like Doom or Duke 3D.
6 degrees of freedom means elevation of level design isn't as important: advantageous high ground for you or the enemy, danger of falling to your death, tactical depth in movement around the game world e.g jumping over something hazardous daringly as means of faster escape, crouching behind cover and so on. Additionally, platforming is entirely eliminated.
Further still, you're in a spaceship. As a result interactivity with the environment is very limited.
However, through 6dof there is new gameplay nuances created, such as combat where enemies are attacking from any potential angle, and having to take into account ship roll rather than just pitch and yaw, but ultimately too much of value is lost, especially in the relation of level design with game mechanics and systems.
Again, not a bad game, but far from my first choice of FPS either.
Anyhow, stop hijacking this thread while simultaneously shitting on the game it is dedicated to with little basis. Plug the other game, sure, it's of the same genre and probably deserves more exposure, but coming in here attacking this game based on fuck all and plugging something else that will probably be inferior...get out.
You can't seriously try to paint the lack of 'elevation' and platforming in a 6DoF game as an inherent flaw when it just plain wouldn't work (enjoyably) within the context.
The relation between level design, exploration and combat in Descent is no different at its core than its peers. The only thing that Descent can do and does which it peers can't is to have even larger open spaces with little obstructions be engaging to fight in because the AI in Descent is actually capable of dodging and leading shots, as opposed to the simple-as-shit AI in any FPS released before Unreal. Moreover the AI adds a layer of consistent unpredictability to Descent which Doom and Duke just couldn't realize because the enemies in those games moved too slow and were too basic to execute any brilliant flanking maneuvers, but enemies in Descent are wholly capable of taking you by surprise in ways you cannot fully anticipate. The level design in the aforementioned games needed to compensate for basic AI with level geometry and placement, whereas Descent can do and does both tricky termite mound mazes and slightly more open fields with tricky to hit/dodge enemies. In Descent your ability to move and dodge is constantly impeded by the claustrophobic level design. Spatial awareness is required to not to backthrust into a wall when you're facing enemies who are trying to claw you but also retaliate with homing projectiles if you hit them with a laser. If you believe that there's no such thing as a 'high ground' between you and enemies in Descent, then I implore you to play any level involving grates.
Descent 2 would go on to turn level interactivity to 11 with the addition of destructible switches which could trigger a plethora of things and would be used in ways and secrets which blows any other FPS out of the water. The resource economy of Descent allowed secrets to be small and consist of sparse but useful rewards hidden behind hidden doors, since there's only one type of 'health' pick-up whose yields scale down with difficulty and there's tons of missile types which can be rather rare but useful. It's not uncommon for there to be around 20+ secrets per Descent level, depending on its size.
So as far as weapons go we have the following:
Badass revolver
SMG
Bigass shotgun
Bombs
And finally a mega gatling cannon.
That's only the tip of the iceberg. Anything else?
Badass revolver
SMG
Bigass shotgun
Bombs
And finally a mega gatling cannon.
That's only the tip of the iceberg. Anything else?
I'm not a storyfag. However, atmosphere and tone are very important to me, and C&C and writing quality are important to me in games that have a lot of writing.
Backseat moderators telling people what to do are my favorite. I do what I want, 2015. Listen: If we were required to obtain the permission of hypebeasts before shitting on their beloved games, this forum would basically be RPG Watch with a blue theme. Anyway, you can rest easy, my tasteful dude who played FarCry 5 "at a friend's house."
There's not much left to say until the game game develops further.You want a basis? Remember what I just said about atmosphere and tone? DN3D and Quake had it; Ion Maiden looks, sounds, and feels like your typical long-forgotten third-rater from the 1990s, which is appropriate, since it's store-brand affirmative action DN3D. Furthermore, from what I've seen of the gameplay thus far, it looks 1.) fucking generic 2.) slow and 3.) not terribly challenging.
Oh boy, I'm on the edge of my seat! https://youtu.be/ouATcQfSEww?t=126
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Caring about join date politics when everyone who joined the codex post-Oblivion's release is a flagrant newfag.
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I'm not sure if its actually going to be in it as its blatantly from another build game Redneck Rampage.
#Edit - Nevermind, I got confused with the extracted placeholder sprite I saw.
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I dunno, maybe Blaine has some idea:
Ash
Arcane
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"Oblivion was a sand box with half the toys missing while the other half were all broken."
Oooh that's good.
Is that shit auto-reloading? That's gay. I hated that about Duke's pistol.
Edit: never mind, seems manual actually.
Oooh that's good.
Is that shit auto-reloading? That's gay. I hated that about Duke's pistol.
Edit: never mind, seems manual actually.
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shoulda been "defend your other honour"
No honour. Like a woman.
New update with retarded horde mode and some optimization:
Changelog:
+Added Queen of the Hill arcade mode. Note: Your possible score will increase on higher difficulty settings!
+Fixed OpenGL renderer performance hiccups by optimizing and eliminating mid-game texture streaming and generation
+Implemented precaching of sound files to further eliminate hitching
+Improved OpenGL renderer performance
+Improved save performance and space efficiency
+Temporarily disable texture filtering options. These will return in the next patch alongside more optimization work
+Tweaked enemy behavior to improve balance, and increased challenge on Ultra Viscera
+Added a pulsing sound effect to attract you to the minigun after the Warmech dies
+Increased visibility of keycard pickups
+Fixed issues with reaching some secrets in Bombardier mode
Boleskine
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- Sep 12, 2013
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https://www.pcgamer.com/the-joy-of-returning-to-the-early-days-of-the-fps-in-ion-maiden/
The joy of returning to the early days of the FPS in Ion Maiden
By Alex Wiltshire
Made with the same engine as Duke Nukem 3D, this old school shooter understands what was great about the 90s.
Is it the run speed? The clarity of its blocky, too-big architecture? Is it the immediacy of the guns, which go BANG without ceremony and send bodies flying? Is it the anything-could-happen sensation every time you turn a corner? The spent shells, bloody footprints and debris you leave behind after every encounter?
For those of a certain generation, playing Ion Maiden is like coming home. I spent the first half of the 1990s experiencing the flowering of the first-person shooter, from Wolfenstein 3D to Doom and then, my god, to Duke Nukem 3D. I progressed from "I'm seeing what it's like to shoot Nazis through my own eyes!" to "It's like being there and I'm terrified!" to "I'm playing the dumbest movie in the world and I get to flush the toilets!"
While Doom definitely did it best, I still have a place in my heart for Duke 3D's eye for mundane detail and the dynamic nature of its levels. Playing Ion Maiden takes me right back. Now in Early Access, it features a short demo campaign which will be joined by a full campaign and multiplayer in the final release, and it's the first commercial game to use Duke Nukem's Build engine—by way of enhanced source port EDuke32—in 19 long years. Since World War II GI, in fact. It's fascinating to see its best elements adapted and enhanced for the modern age.
The best Build levels were all about realism, offices and theaters and city streets, and they were also about smashing them up, sending buildings crashing to the ground and blowing up walls. That's exactly what Ion Maiden does too, maintaining Build's classic crude geometry but featuring more of it than Duke 3D ever could. The first large area of the game is a wide Washington DC street, with crashed cars and side streets blocked by collapsed high rises. At the end is a subway entrance, and along one side are shops which blow open when you venture near, disgorging gun-wielding terrorists.
It's a pleasure to play a game that changes its space so much as you run through it, a reminder of how static level design is today. When your world is made of massive flat planes rather than intricately modeled 3D detail, it's a lot more simple to rip a hole through a wall and tell you that's where you're going next, and that means that every time you press a big button or simply enter a new hallway you can expect things to go wild.
But while the levels are simple in form, they're filled with stuff. Secrets for a start, accessed through air vents and under water, and also material details. Offices feature rows of desks with screens you can turn off and on. The light switches work, and you can push office chairs around. Lots of things are destructible, like glass and fire extinguishers, and you can kick the heads of gibbed enemies around.
Duke 3D was pretty much built on the principle that if something exists you should be able to mess with it, and that's the same for Ion Maiden. The result is a far cry from the non-interactive nature of most modern shooter level design, which might have a handful of physics-enabled objects but few crafted details to play around with. You feel a flash of connection with a game's designers when you realize they foresaw that you'd want to hit an office chair with a nightstick to push it across the room, and that they thought to make it visibly damaged before being completely destroyed.
And then there's the size of the levels. Ion Maiden's scale is ridiculous, with everything too wide and too tall, but that's totally fine because of your equally ridiculous run speed and jump height. You don't need special abilities to traverse the world, not even a sprint meter, because you can just run everywhere. Ion Maiden has the old school's vital kineticism, a sense of speed that more earthbound modern shooters has forgotten. I'm not saying that making everything fast is ideal in all cases, but when environments are this enormous zooming through them feels great.
But the key pleasure for me is its weapons' sense of connection. In conceptual terms, they're nothing special: a six-shooter, a shotgun, an SMG and the Bowling Bomb, a grenade that rolls along the ground. But in the hands they're tools for the classic FPS power fantasy. It's the way they enact instantaneous cause and effect, with the shot hitting the enemy and sending blood flying without a pause. Enemies in early FPSes tended to have only two states, alive and dead. In contrast, today's rich animation and ragdoll physics allow a third state to exist in between as enemies clutch their wounds, flinch and fall. It enhances the realism but it also makes you constantly second-guess your shots.
In Ion Maiden there's refreshing certainty to your actions, born of a simpler and less nuanced age. To underline that your character, Shelly 'Bombshell' Harrison, occasionally shouts catchphrases like, "Clean up on aisle your ass!"
Ion Maiden has a strange background. It's a prequel to developer Interceptor Entertainment's little-loved 2016 top-down shooter Bombshell, which featured the same star, its roots in a 'Digital Retro' extra promised for the Digital Deluxe release of Bombshell. Then Interceptor went bankrupt, or restructured, or something (it's hard to tell, but they were re-established as Slipgate Studios), and Ion Maiden was born, with greater ambitions and a name designed to distance itself from its origin.
And, like Duke Nukem 3D, it's published by 3D Realms, who published Bombshell, too. But it's only 3D Realms by name, logo and IP: after a decade or so of the doldrums followed by legal battles with Take-Two and Gearbox around Duke Nukem Forever, 3D Realms was bought by a Danish holding company called SDN Invest, owned by one of the backers of, as it happens, Interceptor Entertainment. Uh, yeah. Anyway, the point is, all this weird wrangling has in Ion Maiden's case allowed a bunch of Build modders to release a commercial game. And that is good.
Today, the Doom scene continues to flourish with new engine features, maps and conversions, from The Adventures of Square to Brutal Doom, so it's only fair the spirit of Duke Nukem 3D should be raised as well. I'll always love Doom more for its tighter and more elegant nature, but it's a trip to experience Build's dumb, dynamic, flashy and clever charms once again.
Ion Maiden is available on Steam.
Ash
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Get out. Each and every level had extensive abstract design and creative gameyness. The ones with the least of that and more realism focus (i.e most maps in the fourth Duke 3D episode 'The Birth') were the worst. Shadow Warrior and Blood were even less realism-oriented across the board. Yes, for 1996 they still were top-notch in creating a believable playspace, but they were still very appropriately gameplay-oriented designs with plenty abstract or unrealistic elements. Don't forget it.
So, if this is as good as as it looks, I'll definitely get it.
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