Into Cerberon 0.0.3 \"Quartz\" Released!

HeXetic · Post by **HeXetic** » Sat Nov 18, 2006 6:08 pm

(Cross-posted from the IC website)

Far and away a large improvement on IC 002, Into Cerberon 003, code-named \"Quartz\", brings a stable of improvements sure to please Descent fans, including:

Tri-Chording
\"Catch-free\" movement model
Collision damage & noises, plus ship scraping noises
Reworked HUD
Fixed main menus
New pseudo-HDR bloom
New weapons: Plasma Cannon and Autocannon
New pickups: Shield orb & Energy box
New maps: Jaspos' all-new \"Tumbler\" and vertigo-one's \"Minerva\" remake

Hit up any of the following fine downloading establishments to get your hands on the 42MB download. The IC 003 package includes binaries for Windows, Mac, and Linux. Doom 3 1.3 is required.

Download IC 003 from Moddb
Download IC 003 from 3D Downloads.com

If you have a mirror, e-mail me at hexetic@hotmail.com and I'll add it to the list here.

CDN_Merlin · Post by **CDN_Merlin** » Sat Nov 18, 2006 8:16 pm

Really nice. But I think you seriously need joystick support.

Duper · Post by **Duper** » Sun Nov 19, 2006 6:22 pm

wow! That's a lot better.

The level sizes are perfect. (ship to corridor size)

I noticed that there are energy powerups where the energy centers are. Will energy centers be able to be modded into the game as they are in Descent? Am imagining that this will have to be a special script added to every level?

The movement of the ship got to me a little. This is kinda hard to describe: In Ds1 and Ds2 the ship \"Drags\" a bit when turning side to side. it doesn't snap and top.

The plasma was very satisfying. ^_^ Nice job. oh, they leave a light blue \"burn spot\" instead green. The trichording was nice. You really scoot.
Oh, thanks for the \"coming soon\" in the options area for some of the missing features. It answered a couple questions for me as I was playing!

These are first impressions and I'm between loads of laundry.

Thx IC crew! You guys are doing a great job!

Grendel · Post by **Grendel** » Sun Nov 19, 2006 7:28 pm

Duper wrote:The movement of the ship got to me a little. This is kinda hard to describe: In Ds1 and Ds2 the ship "Drags" a bit when turning side to side. it doesn't snap and top.

On my machine I get a "jerky" ship -- hard to describe, sort of stuttering, irritating as hell

Duper wrote:Thx IC crew! You guys are doing a great job!

x2 !

HeXetic · Post by **HeXetic** » Sun Nov 19, 2006 7:44 pm

Yeah, I apologize for the turning controls right now. They're heavily tied in to framerate, unfortunately, and that's why it's so uneven. If you crank down graphics detail a bit it should improve slightly.

As for the feeling of \"dragging\" the ship, don't worry: Narfig has already been bitterly complaining about the lack of \"weight\" (i.e., inertia) when you rotate your ship, so that's definitely on my plate for the next release.

I'll advise iceheart about the Plasma impact effect.

We are planning to do recharge centres. Given that Doom 3 can do pain areas just fine, it's no great stretch of coding to do recharge centres. It's really more a question of how to get the little sparkly effects right and having the necessary wall decals and textures and such.

Duper · Post by **Duper** » Sun Nov 19, 2006 8:17 pm

Oh. btw. I think I like the autocannon. heh. Merely for discussion here; I'm sure you've had the same talks with your crew.

..both barrels at the same time vs. alternating barrel fire. i.e. left-right-left-right....

Go that way with that and extend the rounds fired by oh.. 4? You get less rounds fired (I think) but the time you get to fire before reload might \"feel\" better. the firing time for the autocannon feels a bit short. I can live with it, was just wanting your opinion. I have only played alone and shot walls only so I don't know what kinda damage it does. I'm thinking that it's a good deal heavier than the mini-gun; and thus balance is needed.

The port on Minerva is great. Nearly perfect in fact. Much MUCH better than any version done for Descent 3. Tumbler is a great level too. .. big.. really big.

The energy centers: Oh! that's right. I remember you mentioning some time ago about using the pain function in reverse for energy.(or something to that effect) Thanks!

ps. \"mearly\" isn't in the FF dictionary..doh, n/m (thx Hex)

HeXetic · Post by **HeXetic** » Sun Nov 19, 2006 8:59 pm

The reason it isn't in the dictionary is because it's spelled \"merely\".

Narfig_Agar · Post by **Narfig_Agar** » Sun Nov 19, 2006 9:13 pm

I think I like the autocannon. heh. Merely for discussion here; I'm sure you've had the same talks with your crew.

..both barrels at the same time vs. alternating barrel fire. i.e. left-right-left-right....

My suggestion was that it fire from the center point like the minigun. I think Hex designed it thinking it would be more of a shotgun, but in application i see it as more of a bridge between the Gauss and the MD. I'd like it to become more of the sniper weapon with a longer zoom and leave the close up spray and pray to the spreadfire (hopefully coming for 004)

HeXetic · Post by **HeXetic** » Sun Nov 19, 2006 9:33 pm

Actually I picture it as more of a \"gun that is too big for you\" type of weapon. BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! goes one clip out the business end, but meanwhile your ship is flying backwards at a weird angle, the impact of the recoil overloading the gyros and the engines. Imagine a Bradley machine cannon but with the gun barrel about ten sizes larger.

Right now it's more of a buddabuddabuddabudda, like a burst from a submachinegun.

Duper · Post by **Duper** » Sun Nov 19, 2006 11:05 pm

ah, OK, that's what I thought you might be going for. Recoil and such to worked out later.

Doh, thanks on the spelling. I wasn't sure. The Fusion in Descent 1 was the same way. It was THE \"Big Gun\" It was a dump directly from your engines.

Jeff250 · Post by **Jeff250** » Mon Nov 20, 2006 1:43 am

Nice, I'm going to give this a shot over Thanksgiving break.