ividyon wrote:I finally got around to
playing Xeops! It was a worthwhile experience and a fun 1h40 to spend.
I played on Medium difficulty. I was a big fan of the architecture and massive scale of the level; very well one of the largest Unreal spaces I know! The mobility boost from "quadshot-jumping" with the Quadshot's altfire came in handy when traversing the large areas, though apparently it was not intended.
Aww yeah. For everyone, the playthrough misses two secrets (one of these involving a miniboss in the opposite courtyard of the Predators) and an optional Fighter spawning in the Horus pool area as you get back.
I was completely unaware of the Quadshot's secondary fire's momentum push. Blockplayers were all around the place for pure precaution but yeah you can skip some stuff like the battle before the big pyramid. The one time you touched the coop teleport was an ultra lucky accident.
I will probably ask Feralidragon for some help, he understands weapon code MUUUUUUCH MORE than me because I can't figure out the oldskool Quadshot code (it's written horribly - but I can at least set to recharge three ammo per time instead of one).
ividyon wrote:The gameplay was rather curious; in my opinion, the Minigun was a bit too "perfect" with its pinpoint accuracy and ability to laserbeam enemies across the map, as well as the massive amounts of ammo and strong damage. I barely found myself using weapons such as the Freezer or Ripper; anytime I did, I put myself at a huge disadvantage.
The Ripper IS strong - but you need to aim for the head, or whatever is the head's collision value. The damage is 225 and at that ROF you can tear down enemies in no time (especially Brutes and the huge Krall). I will not buff the damage but I may increase the target box height for headshots.
The Freezer is more of a bonus tool that you use when you just feel like it. The damage is generally high but there are enemies that resist it including the final boss (only one optional mini-boss, which you didn't face, is weak to it).
The Minigun is fine I guess. Most of the gameplay was designed with this weapon in the mind, and it's probably a good thing that after 20 years in Unreal the Minigun becomes a star weapon in a map instead of being completely useless. It was something that I really wanted to achieve.
ividyon wrote:I found the difficulty to show a jarring jump from "super easy" to "nail-bitingly hard". Also, not being aware that I'll have to backtrack the entire way, I used a bit too many resources and health packs on my first round through the level, only to find myself missing health for the return trip. This is mostly mitigated by health fruit in the gardens, but it felt odd that I would be led to use up all the "super health" (UT health packs going beyond 100 HP) first, and then be forced to feed off Unreal medpacks and fruit later to sustain myself.
The UT health packs going beyond 100 is only specified in the OP post's story info. No idea how to hint it in-game without some forced exposition (which I personally think there's a lot of).
Generally once you learn where are the items and what they give you it becomes very easy.
ividyon wrote:There were also other gameplay choices I disagreed with, such as the SK6 Brutes at the bottom of the stairs to the main pyramid, and the several enemy types with undodgeable seeking missiles which represent "unavoidable damage".
The homing stuff ain't going away because I wanted some NOTICE-ME enemies that require priority over all, as well as promoting aggressive/reactionary game styles. Killing things asap is a better strategy because no matter what you do, you'll eventually get hit by bolts. Getting overwhelmed in a corner is the worst thing that can happen.
The SK6 Brutes though are something I have to rectify. I never liked that portion and every time I patch this map I forget about it. Simply put I don't have a legit replacement, otherwise I can force the Brutes to never move or to make their mortars non-instakill.
ividyon wrote:Keep it up UB! But in 227 next time!
Heh. If I had to do a sequel to Xeops (just one) the only option is to stay with the same framework (the gameplay part is too essential) and there's one bizzarre concept I'd like to do. I've yet to decide anything. Proph also is nowhere atm so I'm not expecting any review soon, which means I can work on another patch for this at least.
Thanks again!