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Incline Dusk, by New Blood Interactive: a frenetic FPS inspired by olDoom and Quake (2017)

DraQ

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I wonder what's the big, immediately noticeable difference between this and 99.9% of mods? I have a hunch it involves number 20 and weird symbol which looks like a crossed S.

Well, yeah.

It's one thing when you're making a free mod (or free almost anything) and another when you're expecting to profit from it.

In the latter case not even making pretense to put in any effort or deliver any sort of quality, while simultaneously ripping off other people's work IS a problem. Doubly so when there is high likelihood of hipstards declaring it to be "TEH BEST GAEM EVER", because "POSTIRONIC REFERENCES" or whatever, further polluting the market for years to come.
:decline:
Don't we have enough shit mainstream games AND shit indie games to deal with already?
 

JarlFrank

I like Thief THIS much
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Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag.
The big difference between this and many, many excellent Quake and Doom mods is apparent in one single glance at a screenshot: the fucking level architecture and overall level design.

This:
Dusk-2017-FPS-rifle-church-red-sky.jpg

Dusk-Level.png


vs this:

dm7rmx.jpg

tumblr_nthddsPTLf1u34e3ko1_1280.png



If you don't see the difference, you're blind.
 

Mynon

Dumbfuck!
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Except those maps would be running on silky-smooth 1fps on PCs from the era whose visuals this games is trying to emulate. They are striving for authenticity.
Also, I thought that those detailed maps take ages to produce... This, on the other hand, will have (at least) 3-episode campaign, and all of it is made by one guy.

If you had any knowledge of Quake you'd know this.
And you're an expert (TM).
 

skacky

3D Realms
Developer
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I don't claim to be an expert but it doesn't take a genius to see that DUSK and Quake are nothing alike. If anything DUSK has more to do with Build games and especially Redneck Rampage in overall design philosophy than it does with Quake. Just because it has big pixels, looks brown and is an FPS doesn't mean it's Quake.

EDIT: Being the author of the map in the last screenshot, it took me about 3 days to make, tops.
 

JarlFrank

I like Thief THIS much
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Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag.
Except those maps would be running on silky-smooth 1fps on PCs from the era whose visuals this games is trying to emulate. They are striving for authenticity.
Also, I thought that those detailed maps take ages to produce... This, on the other hand, will have (at least) 3-episode campaign, and all of it is made by one guy.

More complex maps would have been impossible back in the day? Well okay, I'll just leave this here then:

This is from the official expansion pack released back in the day.
 

skacky

3D Realms
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Being the author of the map in the last screenshot, it took me about 3 days to make, tops.
I rate this post "Citation needed"...

Happy to oblige.

https://www.quaddicted.com/reviews/retrojam3dlc.html

07/26/2015
=========================================================================
Title: Oblivionaut
Filename: retrojam3dlc_skacky.bsp
Author: skacky
Email Address: *snip*
Void and Ziggurats.

Originally built as an interpretation of Kell's Runic scraps, this map incorporates
inspiration from Ziggurat Vertigo, Kell's Void Runner and Kell's He Falls Like Lucifer.

=========================================================================

* Construction *

Editor: TrenchBroom
Compilers: Rebb's tools, Tyr-Utils + ericw's AO light.exe
Build time: a week

Brushes: 7178 (4035 detail)
Entities: 1891

txqbsp_xt: 8 seconds
wvis_xt (-level 4): 4 mins 30 seconds
light (-dirty -dirtscale 1 -gate 10 -soft -extra 4): 48 seconds

So more than three days it seems, but a week is still very short (the point of these is to make a map in a very short time anyway).

EDIT: and before you say something stupid, my entry for this was made in three days for real.
 
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Latro

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im not sure why all these indies are even making "classic FPS" games when you can just download many, many mods + maps for Doom and etc and get superior content for free
 

JarlFrank

I like Thief THIS much
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Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag.
If an indie dev released a new FPS with level design quality of the Quake mod "Arcane Dimensions", I'd day one purchase it at full price, no questions asked.

But they don't.

They release shit.

Dusk has mediocre level design that reminds of first-time mappers who haven't made a map before and still make tons of mistakes.
Strafe has randomly generated levels which is, like, LOL. Fuck off.

If someone were to make an actually good FPS on par with the top-rated fan-made levels, the FPS player community would jump on it like ants on honey.
But that actually takes talent to create.
 

skacky

3D Realms
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Ion Maiden definitely looks the part, being developed on Build and being made by veterans of the Build mapping community, but it's being overlooked because it doesn't have flashy trailers like DUSK and STRAFE.
 

Mynon

Dumbfuck!
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Ion Maiden definitely looks the part, being developed on Build and being made by veterans of the Build mapping community, but it's being overlooked because it doesn't have flashy trailers like DUSK and STRAFE.
To be fair, it received NO marketing whatsoever so far. Their "marketing" so far consisted of tweeting a couple of screenshots every now and then.
 

Boleskine

Arcane
Joined
Sep 12, 2013
Messages
4,045
The "Team Satan" gamer bro's overall poser demeanor and the gamer gurl's fake, forced laughter every 10 seconds made me close the video in a mix of rage and despair.

(on customization options at 4:55) "It's like Instagram." :argh:
 

udm

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Make the Codex Great Again!
Gameplay mechanics don't look bad, actually. I can imagine using the wall-climbing ability to complement the kickback from the crossbow. Too bad it's wasted on non-existent level design (at least from the PAX Aus video).
 

Ash

Arcane
Joined
Oct 16, 2015
Messages
6,226
Levels are lacking design.
Art style is a little off.
Wall scaling looks like it will dampen good old challenging platforming (an often overlooked core component of the 90s FPS). Yet is also the only thing that really differentiates itself in a meaningful way. Could still turn out as a decent addition, though.
Couple other minor nagging issues.

Pass, sadly. Does seem quite amateur design-wise. Like someone played a couple FPS' back in the day, said "hey they were fun lets try to do that", not understanding the nuances and prestigious core design of the classic FPS and just jumping straight in like an amateur. But still, this is pre-release gameplay and only impressions based on what I've seen, so apologies to the dev if we all turn out to be wrong (we won't).
 
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Boleskine

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Sep 12, 2013
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4,045
http://steamcommunity.com/games/519860/announcements/detail/1587947907202018531

2018
b4ee4784c7f1515546ed3c069abdb173a5986505.jpg

T'was the night before DUSKmas
And as you might know – DUSK isn't coming this year anymore.
Alas we are sorry - an actual delay - since at one point we did say it would be that way!


Anyway, enough of the rhymes - we're sorry but not TOO sorry. Because we bring good news...

DUSK: Episode 2 is DONE and DUSKWorld Multiplayer (as you should know) is currently in a very stable and fun closed beta. And we want to give them both to you. ALL of you. ASAP

But SOON™ isn't soon enough anymore. In fact, Valve called me a couple of weeks ago (yeah they do that) and asked what all this SOON™ nonsense was about. It was only kinda awkward.

So, after explaining to them where we were at in development and our plans for releasing the rest of the game, they suggested the best course of action was to put DUSK in Early Access.

Now, after discussing it with the team and our community, we're going to be doing just that.

DUSK will be entering Early Access on January 11th, 2018.

ab41a54020da9211a4582487c38778e17d3ff8e4.jpg


Now here are some things you might be asking yourself...

Oh God, Early Access - does this mean the game is never coming out?

Hah, no – DUSK is definitely coming out SOON. Literally. Within the next few months.

What will be included in the game on January 11th?

Episode 1, Episode 2, Endless Arena 1, Endless Arena 2, DuskWorld Multiplayer Open Beta

I already own DUSK, do I need to buy anything else?

No.

Is the price going to change?

Nope. $20 then, $20 now, $20 forever.

Are you guys out of money?

Nah, but if you want to give us some that's cool...

So why didn't you put the game in Early Access originally?

Good question! In hindsight we probably should have. But back in August we naively thought we would have the game finished a few months after pre-orders went live and also that we didn't need Early Access to test the game.

We were very wrong. Well, not very wrong - but pretty wrong.

We also didn't anticipate just how many people would want and love the game.

There are currently about 7,500 people who have DUSK and 30,000 more wishing for it.

And while we've been doing a good job of testing the game internally and with our community (sup), if even 1/3 of those people jump into DUSK & DuskWorld on Day 1 and we're not prepared?

It could be catastrophic.

DUSK deserves better than a bad launch. And we know better than to let that happen.

8b3c9a44f753cd662c8e3017b3ac85b4fe0793e2.jpg


Ok, so why Early Access NOW?

Well, by opening the game up to more people in Early Access – we'll be able to get all the DUSKWorld testing we need on a larger scale, give you Episode 2 sooner than later (why not) and also finally allow DUSK to start being seen on the Steam store as a purchasable game with user reviews plus possibly get promotion from Valve – all of which is super important for an indie game.

We'll also finally get to merge all the separate DUSK apps into one which will make our lives and yours so much simpler, don't ya think?

Also - when we weighed the pros and cons of putting DUSK into Early Access? There really was no downside. We get more players, more testers, more sales, more of a presence on the Steam store, and more love from you (we hope) for giving you more content sooner than later.

The only downside to Early Access is that it has somewhat of a soiled reputation because of games that have abused the model, languished in it for eternity, or never lived up to promises.

c6eee365f326a8974521acce1c12c97118b02e5c.jpg


Plus admittedly – we really liked the idea of the game being done “When It's Done” - but we've learned that's really just not how things work these days. Not if you want to continually grow your player base and build trust with them (hi guys).

Yet for every Early Access horror story, there are great triumphs.
Don't Starve, Darkest Dungeon, Grim Dawn and Divinity: OS 2 come to mind.

We also think it's safe to say that given the amount of content we've already put out, plus the amount of communication and transparency we've given to you during development (sup) – DUSK is certainly going to be an Early Access game done right. And it won't be in EA for long. We promise.

Plus it's not like the game would come out any sooner if we didn't put it in Early Access. You'd just be waiting. Which seems silly at this point. You DO want Episode 2 and Multiplayer... right?!

9f1c19d103a50a17788d31bee9e82926dff50f2d.jpg


Gotcha, so did DuskWorld slow down DUSK single player development?

Nope. DUSKWorld is being developed by other members of the New Blood family (Hi Scott & Cam!)

Did AMID EVIL slow development down?

No. completely different devs (Ayo Leon!)

DID anything slow DUSK development down?

Not really – but we don't rush. Oh and David and his wife had a baby (Hi Lavender!) Plus, after the release of Episode 1 the expectations for DUSK were raised SIGNIFICANTLY. The hype became real. It was pretty scary, but in a good way.

In fact, at one point David asked if I wanted to bring in more people to help him build the single player campaign and I said HELL NO.

This is HIS game and Episode 3 is being built just like Episode 1 and 2 were. This is his baby.

Well... his second baby. And I won't rush him or stress him (any more than I have to)

94b00a0e8da4777663b115771379da7f0bdbb182.jpg


Ok - so what's left to finish after Early Access for the full launch?

Episode 3, Endless Arena 3, DUSKWorld Multiplayer v1.0, achievements/trading cards, etc

And what's planned for AFTER the full launch?

The DAWN SDK, Steam Workshop, Co-op?, Mac, Linux and who knows what else!

It's gonna be a long year.

Fair enough... But I pre-ordered the game in 2017? ...What do I get?!

Good point. We love those of you who were already willing to give us your hard earned money the most - so to thank you for being there for us on DAY ZERO...

We will be upgrading everyone who pre-ordered the game before Christmas to the Digital Collector's Edition of DUSK for FREE.

Yes, that means you will be getting the DUSK 40 page Digital Comic & Original Soundtrack by Andrew Hulshult (The $30 version of the game) completely FREE.

We think that's a pretty good way of saying thank you.

But don't thank us for being so generous. Thank Andrew for agreeing to literally give away thousands of copies of his OST for free. He really is that dude. May he be praised.

Whatever, I'm tired of waiting for this game and I want my money back!

That's cool, too – you can still refund DUSK at any time since it's still a pre-order – but we hope you'll be back when the full game launches.

a207c7a6216568539d086f4a391346ed794dd7e9.jpg


Anything else?

I mean, we could just continue on as-is and not put the game in Early Access and just keep you all waiting until the full release - but at this point we think it would be not only detrimental to the game, but unfair to all of you who've been waiting for more DUSK.

So! We hope you're as excited to get your hands on Episode 2 & DUSKWorld as we are to get it to you.

Here's a TL:DR

DUSK goes into Early Access on January 11th, 2018 and it includes:
  • Episode 1
  • Episode 2
  • Endless Arena 1
  • Endless Arena 2
  • DuskWorld Multiplayer Open Beta
If you already own DUSK?! You'll be getting the Collector's Edition for free.

If you don't yet own DUSK?! This will all cost you $20, same as always.

If you just want to wait for the full game to be out? That's cool, we love you anyway.

Merry DUSKmas, We'll see you all in 2018!

Ya know... SOON™

Chur \m/

The DuskDudes

be3048864d0bffa96aea6ddd285d23e18d80516c.png


P.S – You know maybe if you pray real hard, wish on a shooting star, and leave some bacon and soap out for Santa... they'll be a surprise in your stocking in the morning...
 

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