I realize that this is a pretty long entry, but it`s because I have a lot to say, not
because I`m writing verbosely. Despite its length, please read it and take my ideas seriously. It probably won`t take more than a minute to read it all.
1. I understand you don`t like to change the gameplay. Then why in the world did you replace a Quadrumpus with a Larva in e2m3? In the secret hole where you find the LAZ Device (behind the painting), you have done just that. There`s two Quadrumpuses instead of a Quadrumpus and a Larva. I hope you will go back and fix it.
2. In E1M4 when I take a bot into the grapevine maze the game slows down too bad to play. Can you fix that, or is that a bug that deserves to reach the Legacy team?
3. Commonuses and Larvae should not be able to open doors, because they have no arms (all other flemoids should, though)!
4. Mini Zorchers and Large Zorchers should make a dual bulletholes, shouldn`t they?
5. I thought you might want to know that what you call a Corn Pop is really a Kix, the colored ones are Trix, and I think the brown-gray ones are cocoa-puffs.
5. You should add more multiplayer support. I suggest adding some more skins into the WADfile. Firstly, make multicolor variations of the Chex warrior. Then, maybe you can add extra skins for Cheerio warriors, Kix warriors, and maybe Trix warriors based on the running animation of the Chex warrior, the static guy in e2m1, and the pictures from the intro/end movies.
NOTE: I realize that those other guys don`t wear Chex Armor, but still...it`d add a lot to the game.
6. I got a great idea for the `floating skull` guys. They could be Cycloptises without armor! Just semi-shapeless gobs of ick floating around, ready to wrap themselves around you kamikaze-style! Once you find how to deactivate the ``charging`` ability, give them 100% attack strength, and make them die when they hit you, it`ll be perfect! Oh, and by the way, don`t make them close to perfectly round: they were round because of their armor, not because of their natural shape.
So now we get to see some of those nasty slime-plasterers in `helpless` mode...but they`re still just as mean!
Since the armor is what makes them float, it`d be neat if you could also generate the illusion of them inching/slithering on the ground and then jumping up at you when the attack, instead of always be floating.
7. It`d be neat if those green cannisters blew up like barrels when you zorched `em.
7. The standard, `original` style switches have funny textures behind them that need fixing. It`s especially awful-looking in, for instance, e2m4, in the place past the yellow door.
8. In some places, such as e2m4 and e2m5, there is some deadly water. Now that doesn`t make much sense: it`s slime that hurts, not water! Well, my idea is this: make the water that`s deadly be water that goes over your head! (you drown). I highly recommend you revert the right-past-the-blue-door area in e2m4 to its original state, utilizing my `drowning water` concept instead of some unrealistic walls and floors of slime.
8. Also in e2m4 is, beyond the yellow door and up the elevator, a `secret` door. This door should be opened by the switch at the end of the hallway, but instead, anybody who wants to can open it by hand. You should change it so that it can only be opened by the switch.
9. Oh yes, just a reminder to the level-makers: don`t forget to add swimming into your levels! I didn`t know you could until I played Since5`s levels, which utilizes the swimming attribute. Also, level-makers, try to add jumping into the game as a necessity; for instance, you must jump over something in order to reach the exit.
10. I just got a really good idea to replace Cycloptis Tenacious. Make no mistake:
Cycloptis Tenacious is a great idea, but in my opinion, this is even better! Instead of a super-cycloptis, make a swimming Armored Bipedicus to put in underwater scenes! I say armored Bipedicus because cycloptis arms aren`t long enough to swim, and unarmored flemoids would dissolve underwater. And, of course, it`d be good if this new guy only had the strength of a standard armored Bipedicus rather than 300 HP.
11. I really don`t like the way you made flemoids drop ammo in easier difficulties and shoot across the room in harder ones. If possible, get rid of that ``feature``. If you can`t do that, then at least make Gobs of Goo to be the old-fashioned way (Commons and Bipeds never drop ammo & only shoot close-up).
Personally, I would also find it a lot more fun if each individual flemoid was still just as tough, because that way I can always know, for instance, that one tap of the Rapid Zorcher button will kill a Commonus. Then if you change that back, you could add extra flemoids in strategically irritating positions to make the game tough.
11. Since when did Chex Warriors bleed slime? When you get injured by flemoids, green `blood` flies off of you. Now, that would be fine if you were a flemoid, or if you had eaten so much slime repellent that the slime didn`t stick. Anyway, my point: make it so that `blood` flies out of flemoids but not players.
12. More multiplayer support would be appreciated. I can`t play Deathmatch with my friends or with bots in many of the levels because there`s no deathmatch start-place! Also, do you think you could add some deathmatch-ORIENTED maps into the game?
13. The Flemoidus Maximus isn`t quite right. I really like the way he now walks, but two errors exist: #1, the slimeballs they shoot are regular Quadrumpus balls, not the super-big Flembrane/Maximus balls. #2, the slimeballs have funny-looking tails.
14. Why don`t you put a batch file up for download along with the readme and the PWAD? It needs only say something like, ``legacy -iwad chex.wad -file cquestp2b3.wad -opengl``. It was really a hassle to have to learn all the params before being able to play TUCQ. Plus, Legacy`s LAUNCHER doesn`t let you do a total `addfile` action, so you HAVE to use the params, whether you choose MS-DOS or RUN.
15. That `original Chex Quest` download has really attracted my attention. Why was it 80 MB? Out of curiosity, I compressed the original CD version and it was 27.1 MB. Do you have the original CQ2 movies in that download or something? If so, could you email the movies to Loremaster (http://cqalliance.tripod.com/) or Timothy Williams (http://chexcentral.net/) so that they can post them on their websites?
17. In E2M5, there`s a secret elevator with fruit in it. The texture of both entrances is misaligned. Only the one coming from below should be misaligned, because you`re obviously not supposed to take that secret-area backwards!
18. You can shoot through the transparent glass, which doesn`t seem very logical to me.
18. The screen flashes red when you get hit, rather than green.
19. In many areas, there are things that you should be able to jump over, but can`t. (i.e. it`s not real 3d, but something that goes to the ceiling but projects an illusion of being shorter)
20. The secret in the last room of E2M1 is now too easy to see. It`s supposed to be a super-duper-secret hole, not an `Oh I wonder what that misaligned texture means` hole.
21. In the room beyond the blue door in E2M1, there should be 2 Bipedici, rather than the 1 that I see in every difficulty level of TUCQ.
23. The `splash` sound is way too quiet. You should make it louder so that it`s audible!
24. I assume you recall adding energy-like thingies to dorment transporters? Well, in the final room of e2m5, that new feature really ruins everything. The floating energy-things go all the way to the ceiling, making the end-transporter seem a lot more...unrealistic, defying the appearance it had in the actual Chex2.
26. Larvae have many times more `shock` factor than they did in the original Chex 2: if you want them to sit still, just use the Rapid Zorcher on them. That should not be. It ought to be fixed.
Also, the larvae are next-to unaffected by FASTMONSTERS (Super Slimey). That was a great disappointment, and I think it should be fixed too.
27. The Quadrumpuses have about one hitpoint more than they should. I`d be fine with that, except that I`m a Large Zorcher maniac, and I don`t like the fact that that one hit point now makes the Quadrumpus take TWO shots rather than one! If possible, set the HP to be the same as the original, or, if you can`t do that, set it to be one less rather than one extra.
28. The 3D switches don`t turn green when you activate them. That is very irritating, because you don`t know if you`ve pressed it or not. Also, those same new-fangled switches don`t beep.
29. You should make 3D minecarts for e1m5. The 2D picture shows you two sides, so it shouldn`t be hard to extrapolate a symmetrical 3D minecart.
30. In E2M5, the doors that pop open when you walk by pop open even if you`re not on the narrow walkway. That was not so in the original Chex 2, and it ruins the gameplay.
31. Don`t get rid of any doors in e2m5...doors in a sewer may be unrealistic, but it`s great for when you`re in Super Slimey and the monsters are not far from you, chasing you, and you need something to slow them down.
32. In e1m4, the vent with the Super Armor is lit up, while in the original Chex it is pitch black. Also, the flemoid next to it, and several others in the game, is facing slightly the wrong direction, and sees you when you come in (i.e. you can`t sneak up behind him like you used to be able to).
34. The Quadrumpuses in E2M1 that are ontop of the secret elevator should not come down on their own. They should shoot at you from up there, and only come down when the elevator self-activates (when you pick up the blue key).
35. You also changed the gameplay in e1m5 where you eliminated the LAZ Device that should be hidden behind the slimefalls. I really hope you`ll put it back.
36. I must say, you kind of messed up the storyline. In E1, the Chex Warrior`s mission is to rescue the citizens of the Bazoik Nutritional Development Center, not to eliminate the Flembrane. Actually, Bazoik was given up as lost. The Flembrane`s only significance was that it stood between you and the cereal citizens. I kind of doubt you`ll actually do this, but I would appreciate it if you put the Flembrane back in e1m5. It may seem like replacing it with a wall of slime made no difference, but it was a huge difference. In Super Slimey, the Flembrane shoots very fast and can really be a heartstopper when you combine him with
the fact that armored Bipedicuses are shooting at you from all directions. Also, once you finally master the game, it`s neat to trick the Flembrane into `zorching` the armored Bipedicuses. I really will want to play e1m5 with your new wall synchronizations and any 3D minecarts or anything else you add, but to eliminate the Flembrane...it ruins it!
37. I have one final thing to say. It`s about E1 and E2. In my opinion, you should not add to the ends of E1 and E2. As previously said, the game was made to finish after the citizens were first rescued, and in E2, I`m pretty sure that once the heart of the Flemoid nest was destroyed (in the Sewer), that episode was meant to be over. And I got a great idea for what to do with those extra levels at the end of E1 and E2! Would it be possible to write your own bots - bots which follow an instructions script rather than an AI script? And then, maybe add sounds to the game that activate at a certain time, or when the bot does something? My point is, could you use some of those levels for a cinematic sequence, like the cinematics in the newer games? Get the concept and sounds out of the end movies, then paste `em into TUCQ! For instance, here`s how it would go as I hope it: The player finishes all the levels, and finally zorches the Flembrane and rescues the citizens. Then, it says `Level finished, you got 84% flemoids 47% secrets` and all that that it says. Then, after you click/wait through that, you`re back in the last cavern. This time, though, you`re viewing third person. The camera is standing about where the flembrane was, hovering a few feet in the air, pointing towards our group: a bunch of climed cereal guys and the Chex warrior. You hear `Please, help us, we`re stuck!` And then, as the Chex Warrior walks up and spoons them loose, you hear `Don`t worry - just relax; I`ll get you out of this gunk.` Since it`s a back view, you don`t need to bother changing the mini-zorcher animation to a spoon one. Then, the cereal people are free. Chex guy walks back to where he
started, says `OK, let`s make a break for it,` and then breaks into a run, with the rescuees following him. The group goes offscreen, and the next level now comes (if possible, without the between-levels screen popping up). In the next level (next cinematic level) it shows the group opening the door to get to the start of e1m1. You should make the door-opening-panel 3D for the cinematic effect, but not for the game. The group runs to the Fighter, and then, like in the movie, some Commonuses show up and the Chex Warrior shoot at `em as the rescuees clamber into the fighter, and then he climbs in too. It`d be neat if you could have a cinematic-style in-fighter view at that point. Then the fighter stretches,
pops free, and the game`s over. The text screen shows the `Congratulations Warrior`, etc. conversation. You would need to have more animations for the Fighter in order for the cereals to climb in and in order for it to stretch, then pop loose, but still, I think the whole thing`s a great concept! Then, depending what the Chex 2 end movie was like, you could make a similar cinematic for Chex 2. This way, the original gameplay and everything is still there, just like it was in `96 and `97, except there are two new bonus episodes added to the end with a whole nine levels each and special features like swimming, rescuing warriors, etc.. Maybe the extra levels of E1 and E2 could be used as Deathmatch slots.(when you finish L5, cinematic levels go, then game ends, skipping deathmatch levels)
38. One more thing: the top of the box of rice chex in e2m1 has an inappropriate texture.
39. One more thing. I just read a note on the Chex Quest Fan Forums by you talking about your new Flembrane. I must say, I don`t think you ever played the original Chex Quest. Why do I say that? You have the strangest notion that the Flembrane ought to be moving around. Let me get one thing straight: the Flembrane can`t move! It`s a slimey, living slimewall with a nose on it. He was not made to `walk` around; he`s not supposed to move at all. I`m sure it won`t be hard to make a hack patch to get him to sit still. (Granted, the original files
don`t let the Maximus walk either, but that`s just because they were basing it on their original EXE in which the Boss couldn`t walk, and the makers of CQ2 didn`t know much about WADs)
Now, after all that, don`t get me wrong: TUCQ is a great accomplishment, and when I found your site and downloaded p2b3, I was ecstatic with joy. I hardly ever play the old Chex these days, because TUCQ is so much better!
Now, after about 45 notes, I`ve expressed my opinion on TUCQ, and I hope you'll take me seriously.
1.) It may have been a change made in the Scifience Studios version of Chex Quest. I started T.U.C.Q. as a reaction to the SS version, but, since I did not have the orignal in my possesion at the time, I began the project using it as a base. It is possible then that some changes not by me have crept in.
2.) Bots are not my problem. Sorry.
3.) In DooM (and therefore DooM Legacy), when a monster gets within 64 units of a standard door, the door opens automatically, regardless of whether the sprite dipicts the monster with arms or not. I can't do anything about that.
4.) Nope.
5.) We don't have Kix here in Canada. We do have Corn Pops. Just going with what I know. Ironically, we don't have Chex in Canada either. ;)
5a.) (the second 5) Eventually perhaps. I am working on a zorchmatch specific wad, which is intended to have those things at some point.
6.) It is running long in development, but I do have a replacement for the lost soul, called Flemoidus Gyro. F. Gyro is a flemoid with a miniature helecopter on its back. Some test sprites for it are in the Phase 2 beta 3 wad, but they are not used in the game.
7.) Exploding versions were used in the original, but only appear in the DooM levels, which are intentionally absent from T.U.C.Q..
7a.) The switch you speak of was replaced with a 3D switch in Phase 2 beta 3.
8.) The deadly water on E2M5 was removed in phase 2 beta 1. The deadly water on E2M4 was replaced with slime in phase 2 beta 3.
8a.) Never noticed that. In so far as I know, it can only be opened by the switch.
9.) I will keep that in mind.
10.) Please keep in mind that I am limited by code pointers and attributes available for monsters in DooM plus those for Heretic.
11.) I explained in the FAQ. In DooM, the trooper and the sergeant drop ammo. These are the monsters that CQ, and therefore T.U.C.Q. use for the Commonus and Bipedicus. The ammo dropping code was removed from the CQ executable, but exists in Legacy, and all other DooM source ports. It can not be rid of. I did make copies of the Commonus and Bipedicus for the harder skill levels that DO NOT drop ammo. If you don't like the ammo dropping, try moving up to a harder skill level.
11a.) I wish you would stop repeating numbers. It is really starting to bug me.
BTW: It's not blood. It's splattered snot.
12.) There WILL NOT be any deathmatch maps in T.U.C.Q.. I plan to keep T.U.C.Q. for single player and coop play. I AM working on a zorchmatch wad. BTW: Since nobody gets killed in Chex Quest, the term "deathmatch" is not appropriate. We use the term "zorchmatch" instead.
13.) That's actually from my experimenting with new sprites. It's a work in progress.
14.) One of these days perhaps.
15.) The original CD version is no longer availble on my web site. Outside linking caused my account to go over its bandwidth limit, resulting in the web site being shut down for a time. I removed the file to prevent it happening again.
17.) Where the heck did 16 go?
The textures are intentionally missaligned. It is an old DooM rule of thumb to hint at secrets in some fashion. Intentional texture missalignment is the most common method.
Don't complain about misaligned textures. I've spent a goodly portion of the work on this project fixing textures from the original, which had virtually no texture alignment at all.
18.) DooM engine problem. I'm working on it.
18 a.) (Yet another double number) Limitation from Legacy. I was able to change it to green in software mode, but opengl mode uses a different method, which I can not control.
19.) Wo ist das?
20.) See 17.
21.) See 1.
23.) (22 took a vacation) It's a DooM Legacy sound.
24.) I DEFY THEE!!!!
26.) (25 is in Cancun with 22) The larva has the exact same characteristics as the Cycloptis. I made sure of that, because I had to copy the characteristic of the Cycloptis to a new thing in order to create the larva (The larva in CQ2 is a graphically altered Cycloptis, so I had to create a new monster to allow both Cycloptis and larva to appear together in T.U.C.Q.). I do not know why, but new monsters created from scenery objects, as in this case, do not speed up in super sticky (Nightmare) mode. This is something that is hard coded in the game. I can not change it.
27.) Yes. I made them slightly tougher. Yours is the first complaint about it.
28.) There are three 3D switches in T.U.C.Q. at present. Two of them change colour. Due to the way it is set up, the one on the lift on E2M1 can not change--a fact that I can not change. As already mentioned, the other two do change. At least they do when I test the levels.
29.) Already thought of long ago. They will be coming one of these days.
30.) Just my way of introducing you to a half dozen friendly bipedici.
31.) All the doors are there. Not a single one is missing.
32.) When I implemented skill levels, I intentionally switched some of the flemoids to face towards the player on higher skill levels, specifically the ones that allow the player to shoot them in the back on the easy skills. It is easy to shoot an enemy in the back, but not honourable. Besides, the higher skill levels are SUPPOSED to be harder. Are they not?
34.) I suppose I can change that. See 1.
35.) There was a LAZ device there? If it is there on the easy levels, then you can be sure that I removed it intentionally on the harder levels TO MAKE THEM HARDER. That, after all, is the entire point of implementing difficulty levels.
36.) I came up with an alternate ending for ep1 that allows for a better transition into ep2. Having to carry the entire population of a planet home in a one man space ship does not make sense, even if that population is represented as only three people in the end animation. T.U.C.Q. has an arc storyline set up for it, and the emancipation of Bazoik makes it work a lot more smoothly. Trust me on this one. When the game is done, it will make much more sense.
The flembrane has been removed from E1M5 for a simple reason. I am using DooM Legacy, which uses the DooM episode structure. This episode structure has 8 levels per episode, not 5. Killing the boss monster 3 levels before the end makes for a boring game. The flembrane will be returning as the boss monster on E1M8. It will also be bigger, meaner, and scarier.
37.) See above.
38.) I thought you said 37 was the last ...
I never noticed.
39.) I guess 37 isn't the last. See 36. (I am aware of the flembrane originally being a wall.)
I am glad you like T.U.C.Q..
Believe me. If I took anything seriously, I would have committed sucide years ago. ;)
Trust me. I know what I am doing.
Some more thoughts about this subject...
| QUOTE |
| The flembrane will be returning as the boss monster on E1M8. It will also be bigger, meaner, and scarier. |
Bigger... sweet. :) Imagine the Flembrane, but twice as big and twice as strong! If this super-sized Flembrane is put into the game, will the original, smaller Flembrane become a regular enemy in the later episodes?
| QUOTE |
| 5. I thought you might want to know that what you call a Corn Pop is really a Kix, the colored ones are Trix, and I think the brown-gray ones are cocoa-puffs. |
We should probably keep in mind that Chex is a General Mills cereal, and as such, all other "races" in the Chex Quest universe should be of General Mills brand. Kellogs WISHES they could zorch Flemoids. :P
| QUOTE |
| 7. It`d be neat if those green cannisters blew up like barrels when you zorched `em. |
That would be pretty neat, but technically, the only thing that should be allowed to hurt the player is slime. Remember, when the Chex Warrior "dies", he isn't really dead; he's just covered in so much slime that he can't move a muscle. Soooo, if exploding barrels were to be created, they should be filled to the rim with gooey, yummy slime. ^_^
| QUOTE |
10. I just got a really good idea to replace Cycloptis Tenacious. Make no mistake:
Cycloptis Tenacious is a great idea, but in my opinion, this is even better! Instead of a super-cycloptis, make a swimming Armored Bipedicus to put in underwater scenes! I say armored Bipedicus because cycloptis arms aren`t long enough to swim, and unarmored flemoids would dissolve underwater. And, of course, it`d be good if this new guy only had the strength of a standard armored Bipedicus rather than 300 HP. |
Imagine an armored Bipedicus... with a jetpack! He could be slightly bigger and more "muscular" than the standard Bipedici.
| QUOTE |
| 11. I really don`t like the way you made flemoids drop ammo in easier difficulties and shoot across the room in harder ones. If possible, get rid of that ``feature``. If you can`t do that, then at least make Gobs of Goo to be the old-fashioned way (Commons and Bipeds never drop ammo & only shoot close-up). |
I sortof agree with this. A Commonus dropping zorch charges doesn't bother me; what DOES bother me is how the Bipedicus drops a Large Zorcher. What on Bazoik would a Flemoid be doing with a zorcher? If possible, perhaps the Bipedicus could drop large zorch charges instead, or drop nothing at all on any difficulty level.
