Last Flag - Beta Feedback

I've been playing the beta for Last Flag; a PVP, MOBA-esce, third person shooter, with the main gamemode being CTF where players hide the flag at the start of the round. I think the overall concept is interesting, but the gameplay feels bad.

Currently the biggest issue is combat and movement feeling very stiff. This gameplay clip presents a lot of the issues I'm having.

In the clip I'm fighting a player 1v1, the enemy is able to instantly strafe left and right making his movement so unpredictable that tracking him is very difficult. Players having less control while in the air would make it feel way better.

Another issue is shown towards the end of the clip, I try to jump up onto a ramp and end up falling because I hit the corner of the upper platform. I technically completely missed the jump, but I missed it by such a small margin that it feels bad. Theres a disconnect here between player action and expectation. Having players be able to mantle ledges fixes edge cases like this and makes the game feel more fluid.

Deadlock is a pretty good example of really fluid and satisfying movement, and while I think a lot of it is a bit too vertical for something like Last Flag, there are aspects that could be taken that'd make the game feel more fun.

Also, this is super subjective, but I hate Last Flag being set in a wacky violent gameshow. It gives some justification for there being an announcer commentating game actions, but the idea is just so overdone. It feels very 2015 and I really think it's a trend that needs to die off.

Ye Olde Conteste

Recently I helped judge some maps in a Team Fortress 2 Medieval Mode mapping contest, a byproduct of this being that I was exposed to hours of TF2 melee only gameplay. As a result of this exposure, it helped me to better identify which type of layout/gamemode combination does and doesn't work for this style of play. This post is mainly going to highlight maps from the contest that I thought did well at accommodating the medieval handicap.

Fopdoodle / Pithaul

I'm pairing these maps together because they both use a game element introduced in Scream Fortress 2024 with the map Freaky Fair, that being a MOBA-esce style shop system allowing players to buy upgrades for their weapons and stats.

The main issue with medieval mode is that strips most of the complexity from the game, melee as a system in TF2 is not a focus and forcing all classes to only melee equalizes them in a way that is very unfun. The shop system that these maps introduce add enough depth that is otherwise absent.

Between the two I enjoy Fopdoodle more, it rebalances the money gain amount in a way which allows becoming OP to happen faster. It also introduces some custom upgrades that enable some classes. Pithaul is fun but it's also arena, doesn't give you as much time to feel strong.

Drunkard

I think asymmetrical modes in general work well with medieval, and A/D CTF is a very interesting mode. It creates VIP-like gameplay that deviates enough from standard A/D to make for pretty interesting gameplay. 

The layout features some pretty tight chokes which I think enables it to play well. Medieval tends to cater to a more mosh pit style of gameplay, so players funneling into these chokes create a natural defense. It feels good as an attacker to manage to push through and cap, and it feels chaotic as a defender trying to push out of the base, it's fun.

The flag also acts a pretty eloquent barrier to how many players can actively capture the objective. Without engineer's area of denial, a normal attack/defense map would get ran through pretty quickly by players just managing to sneak through. 

Joust

Compared to the other maps in the contest Joust is standard, it's simply a medieval arena map. I really enjoyed the pathing through the map, the underground route leading to the other base was fun to contest and felt pretty good when used effectively

I think one of reasons I enjoyed this map more Jarl, another standard arena map, is the lack of height in it's layout. I feel like medieval plays badly with varying height, it's just not fun to be able to see someone standing on a tall ledge and have no way to actually fight them. Also, Medics and Snipers can abuse height and be generally pretty annoying.

Tour

Tour does a lot of heavy lifting with its implementation of CTF. I think CTF works well in a medieval context but there's a lot of minor adjustments it needs to actually have it play well. The main issue is Scouts and Demos can steal and capture the flag reliably due to their movement options. The control points in Tour completely fix this issue, forcing players to capture it first lets nerfs Scouts and allows other classes to defend effectively.

Duke Nukem MTG Cards

Here are a few Duke Nukem custom cards I made for EDH. Here's a deck list that I made that kinda works with them. I'm not really great at building decks so I might be a little unoptimized but it does have synergy with his effect.

Equipment Cards

Equipment cards are a new card type for my F.E.A.R TCG, they're one-use modifiers that provide special effects for unit cards when equipped. Still working on some of the balancing stuff on these, I'm thinking they'll create a few broken synergies, but that'll get fixed with time.

Size comparison to a unit card.

F.E.A.R TCG

 Recently I've released an alpha version of a card game based on the F.E.A.R games. Currently I'm still working on card balancing and how the game actually plays, the gameplay is based on Super Autopets but there's a lot of stuff I still have to do to translate that gameplay style to a card game.

It's up for download right now on the Steam workshop for Tabletop Simulator, check it out here. Rules for the game can be found in the description. 

Below are a few screenshots of the cards and board.

Monkey Trouble

 I kinda forgot about this, but for Realm's Deep 2021 I created a Super Noah's Ark 3D level pack called Monkey Trouble. It totals 6 levels in all with 2 being secret levels and a custom soundtrack from the game Prodeus. I also created a download page for it which can be found here.

Here are also a few screenshots from it. 

Creating this was pretty fun and I'd like to go back and create something more extensive. Maybe a Christmas mod where you plays as Santa? Not sure yet.

Prodeus

I've found this still fairly recent revival of fast paced, arena styled fps games (aka boomer shooters) to all feel a bit same-y. Nothing has really managed to grab my full attention since Dusk came out, that is, until I played Prodeus. I put off trying it for awhile as I thought it looked too much like other games coming out to warrant the price. But, being very bored one day I decided to give it a try and found it to be one of the most promising and fun indie fps games currently being made.

Prodeus is what I would describe as being a Doom 2016 clone wearing and OG Doom costume. Enemies and weapons and sprite based with the world bein crafted out of simple BSP. Levels consist of you fighting through hordes of enemies, grabbing keys, and finding the level exit. Pretty simple sounding, however the way that levels intertwine on themselves creates a flow that feels amazing to play through. It's all crafted in a way that the player never feels lost or is left wondering what to do. The campaign is masterfully created and is one of the best out of the boomer shooter revival, all while not even being done yet.

The weapons all feel and sound punchy and powerful, every weapon feels like it has a context in which it excels. Enemies explode into a dazzling array of pixelated viscera and leave behind trails of red splat when shot. The amount of blood particles can feel a little overwhelming at times but it never becomes an issue, enemies are still pretty definable behind all the red mist.

There's also a level editor and built in level sharing system all very similar to Mario maker. A lot of the user levels are really good and they regular pluck out the best under a search category called staff picks. I'm not sure how I feel about having the levels be in such an enclosed system considering a minor server issue could result in not being able to play levels, but I'm glad there is an editor and a possible near limitless amount of content to play. 

VERY fun, worth the money.

Crouch Jumping Sucks

I think crouch jumping may be one of the most antiquated and hostile mechanics to still exist in modern Source Engine games. While it's not necessary hard to perform when you understand how to do it, it poses a huge hurdle for anyone new to Source's movement. It's artificial difficulty at it's core. 

If your creating a level for some game where this is a mechanic I'd really recommend not designing routes that REQUIRE a crouch jump to be accessible. Always try and view the spaces you create through the lenses of someone who has little to no experience with the game; and I'm not saying design everything with them in mind, just be sure that there are options available so someone doesn't get stuck in a slightly too deep pit.

Here's a video that shows the issues with designing levels with crouch jumping in mind.

Diggles: The Myth of Fenris on STEAM

Diggles is a classic game from my childhood. Sadly for the longest time it was near impossible to play on modern hardware and with each fix there was some trade off. Some fixes would make the game run but you'd lose audio, others would fix the audio but you'd have to play in German, there really was no way to get it perfectly stable.

My copy in all it's jewel case glory.

To my surprise it seems like a team has gone back and patched the old game to run perfectly on Windows 10, and it does run perfectly. Have been playing for a solid 3 hours as of typing this and have had 0 issues what so ever. It's really great. It even supports 4k resolutions!

Has the actual game aged well though? I've been having with it. Despite the game being old the graphics feel stylized in a way that makes them super charming, the art direction on this was on point.

The only issue I have with the gameplay is that it can feel a bit slow paced. When all your little dwarfs are working there not a whole lot to do during average downtime besides watch your guys work. There is a speedup time option but your camera is locked in place while using it. It's a bit similar to Oxygen Not Included but more story focused.

If you're partial to slower paced rts type games you'd probably LOVE this game.

Here's the steam page if you want to check it out.

Travelogue - Comps-R-Us

Hello everyone, and welcome to my very first travelogue post! In these post's I hope to try and chronicle some of my outings. I'll try and make it a monthly thing, so be sure to check back regularly to see more of my travels!


Since this is my first post, I decided to start off with somewhere that wasn't too far away, Comps-R-Us! It's a lovely little electronics store down the street from me.

Looks way bigger than it is on the outside

Stepping in, I took huge whiff of that plastic-y computer-tech smell that these stores tend to have. My eyes twitched a bit after and I lost all feeling on my left side for a second, but it was worth it. The store wasn't too busy today, which made it way easier for me to snap some pictures.

I saw a big group of employees talking and I noticed something a bit off about them. I guess I never really looked too closely at them before, but it kinda looks like they may be employing clones here. I'm not really read up on clone labor laws, so I'm not entirely sure of the legality of this.

Maybe they're all related...?

Around this point I'd been there for about 30 minutes or so, and really needed to make a pit stop. Opening the door to the restroom, I realized I wouldn't be able to make any business calls here any time soon.

Yeah no...

I went back to look for some possible upgrades to my computer, when suddenly I was approached by clone security. I guess I was tracking too much bathroom water through the store, or maybe they saw me taking pictures and thought I was some kind of federal investigator. Whatever it was, they did NOT look happy.

They escorted me out and told me that if I ever came back things would have to get 'ugly'. I guess I'll have to shop for computer parts somewhere else now...

Postal 3 Unreal

If you didn't know, a demo map for Postal 3 Unreal was released a few days ago on the steam workshop. I think it's one of the most impressive Postal 2 projects I've ever seen, you should seriously go check it out.

In fact, it kind of makes me want to start making Postal 2 maps again. Anyway, here are a couple screenshots I took of it.

Levels of Dusk

Here are just a few locations from Dusk that I thought were cool. If you haven't played it yet you really should, it's a really good game.

E1M3: Old Time Religion

The level starts off in a serene area in front of a church. It's probably one of the more peaceful and relaxing locations in the game. It's also a pretty good use of backtracking, as the whole level loops back on itself that you'll visit some places multiple times. It's also houses the first boss in the game.

E1M5: Sawdust

This level does a great job of making you feel like you're out in some back-woods boonies place. Also the aesthetic of old abandoned sawmills is super cool and strangely kinda comfy in a way.

E2M5: The Escher Labs

The Escher Labs starts off as a kind of generic, cramped, laboratory level; before opening up and becoming this weird, escheresque (hence the name) labyrinth. It also has two genuinely scary moments that legit got me a bit unnerved the first time that I played. David Szymanski  also did a dev post about this level, it can be read here.

E3M5: Blasphemy 

Most of the levels from the third episode are super impressive visually; though this one stuck with me simply because of the giant tornado that rips through the cathedral.

E3M7: Homecoming

One of the last levels in the game, it's a bit more story focused than the rest. With combat taking a backseat to the scenery. There's also some cool platforming and anti gravity stuff that happens. 

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