Blood2 extra-crispy, new mod

Discuss and hash out the Blood universe here.

Moderator: General Discussion Moderators

Post Reply
User avatar
zZaRDoZz
Acolyte
Posts: 413
Joined: Tue Apr 29, 2008 03:13 pm
Location: USA
Contact:

Blood2 extra-crispy, new mod

Post by zZaRDoZz »

It seems we have a new b2 mod in the works by Vgames. Most of the changes stem from the FXenhancer but the high res texture pack is nice.



http://www.moddb.com/mods/blood-2-the-c ... tra-crispy
User avatar
Tchernobog
Tchernobog's Love Child
Posts: 1404
Joined: Tue May 27, 2008 07:30 am
Location: Rural Alberta, Canada
Contact:

Re: Blood2 extra-crispy, new mod

Post by Tchernobog »

Sorry about not responding to this sooner zZaRDoZz, but for the past few weeks I have been living in dental hell. And until I am through my antibiotic treatment I am going to be a little off colour still. Sometimes I hate this life. :banghead:

Anyway, I have the mod working on my copy of Blood II, but unfortunately the high resolution textures do not work that well with the software renderer, coming out splotchy with grey bits stuck on them. Unfortunately that is the best I can do at the moment, as until I get my issues resolved with the defective Terabyte drive SeaGate sent me I am stuck on my old Fedora 13 system with its version of WINE. On Fedora 15 the Direct3D renderer does work through WINE. In fact, it was even better than my experiences that I noted in a separate thread from my old Fedora 14 system (which also happend to be on a defective Maxtor/SeaGate drive). :roll:

And the only Windows system I have available for it has had a complete driver meltdown. So I have just been playing around with it from my WINE copy even with the uglier textures (I am sure they do look nicer with acceleration though), and while I do not agree with all the sound changes (some are nice, though with many I preferred the originals) I am actually quite enjoying the mod. I like some of the gameplay tweaks, though again with the misplaced Akimbo weapons (DarkAct has the stupid machine guns, this has the Tesla cannons), and for the most part it does actually feel a bit more polished than vanilla Blood II. Still, I do not know how much of the credit goes to Vgames or to FX Enhancer, as I never got that to work previously since it was released in chunks.

Still, I should really get around to adding it to the List of Mods article on the Wiki. :)

EDIT: Here we are...
http://www.blood-wiki.org/index.php/Lis ... tra_Crispy
User avatar
zZaRDoZz
Acolyte
Posts: 413
Joined: Tue Apr 29, 2008 03:13 pm
Location: USA
Contact:

Re: Blood2 extra-crispy, new mod

Post by zZaRDoZz »

There is a belief among some that more firepower for player equals better gameplay. I've always felt the opposite was true for b2. Later in several b2 mods the baddies start showing up with more high powered weaponry in the second and third episodes. For all it's issues, voodoo14 got it right to my way of thinking. Replace all the enemy pistols with sawed offs. As for extra crispy, it's the reskinned static models that really shine. Check out the glass beakers in the labs or the decorative plants in some of the hallways.

Hope your dental issues get better soon tcherny. :skull:
User avatar
Tchernobog
Tchernobog's Love Child
Posts: 1404
Joined: Tue May 27, 2008 07:30 am
Location: Rural Alberta, Canada
Contact:

Re: Blood2 extra-crispy, new mod

Post by Tchernobog »

I have never heard of this voodoo14 modification, can you direct me to it? :)

And with regards to the dental issues, the good news is that most of the problems with my teeth are behind me; the issue was that there was some complications with the removal of my wisdom teeth. Thankfully the final surgery was completed successfully about a week ago (had to do it under full general anaesthetic, which was not at all pleasant), and my only real current gripe is against the antibiotics I have been prescribed. Still, I had to spend about a week after the original botched operation with one side of my mouth swollen as a orange (but paradoxically bruised yellow). But as I said, I can put that behind me now. :?
User avatar
zZaRDoZz
Acolyte
Posts: 413
Joined: Tue Apr 29, 2008 03:13 pm
Location: USA
Contact:

Re: Blood2 extra-crispy, new mod

Post by zZaRDoZz »

It is the least regarded for some odd reason. Player starts with a voodoo doll that heals damage and a flayer with slightly more range. Needless to say the mod requires the nightmare addon be activated.


I'm sure Gamefront doesn't appreciate me linking to a personal download page so get it while it's hot. Hey, this is what they get for hiding all the Blood related material on their search engine.

http://www.gamefront.com/files/20638822/VOODOO14_REZ
User avatar
Tchernobog
Tchernobog's Love Child
Posts: 1404
Joined: Tue May 27, 2008 07:30 am
Location: Rural Alberta, Canada
Contact:

Re: Blood2 extra-crispy, new mod

Post by Tchernobog »

All right, I grabbed it and am enjoying it now zZaRDoZz. I will give Extra Crispy some credit - after seeing the mess of things the new textures did with the software renderer, how it looks normally looks brilliant in comparison. :roll:

As for Voodo14, it is certainly a lot more subtle. I was unable to play the first level as you described as when using this mod it would cause WINE to spit out an error and close, though this is not a fault of the mod as it does the same thing if you do certain things on certain levels, such as the Museum level or the Sorority house in Nightmares. These and the occasional Direct3D issues are my main complaints when it comes to Blood II and WINE, as most of the long-standing mouse issues has been resolved thanks to some of their recent input work, though there is still that glitch that happens on highly DirectX dependant games (which unfortunately Blood II is).

So instead I was forced to load up an old save game, which did work fine, although I did get one crash at one point but again I think that had more to do with WINE. So I played for a bit through the Horlock Street Station levels until I reached the Crypt. From this admittedly limited perspective, the modification does not seem to do all that much. I did notice the Fanatics wielding shotguns instead of Assault Rifles, but when they died they often still dropped the rifles instead of shotguns. So, unless they were keeping them down their pant legs or something, that is not entirely right.

The AI seems a little different; the enemies seem to move around more, and I had one encounter with a Drudge Lord where I was able to move into the next room without him even noticing me. Usually of course they will start reacting as soon as you get within a certain radius of them. The Soul Drudges seem to have a clearer sense of pathfinding, though this results in them seeming to glide towards me instead of their usual slow walk. Other than that, as I said it is mostly characterised by them moving about a bit more.

Voodo14 does also seem to crank up the difficulty a bit, as I seemed to be taking on more damage than normal. Thankfully, unlike in Extra Crispy where the changes make the usefulness of the Shotgun minimized as you need a faster reacting weapon to keep up, in this game both the Shotgun and Assault Rifles are still just effective, you just have to more careful how you are using them. Other than that, the only change I noticed was that the Knife now has an active ammo reading, but it does not make much of a difference when you run out. Still, it is a little interesting, especially if I can play through it properly later on.

EDIT: And by the way, I am off the antibiotics now. I was having a toxicity reaction.
User avatar
I Live...AGAIN
Cabal member
Posts: 810
Joined: Fri Aug 13, 2004 05:33 am
Location: Detroit
Contact:

Re: Blood2 extra-crispy, new mod

Post by I Live...AGAIN »

You guys are making me want to try this....

**heads to GOG to re-download B2**
User avatar
zZaRDoZz
Acolyte
Posts: 413
Joined: Tue Apr 29, 2008 03:13 pm
Location: USA
Contact:

Re: Blood2 extra-crispy, new mod

Post by zZaRDoZz »

All quotes are by Tchernobog.
As for Voodo14, it is certainly a lot more subtle. I was unable to play the first level as you described as when using this mod it would cause WINE to spit out an error and close, though this is not a fault of the mod as it does the same thing if you do certain things on certain levels, such as the Museum level or the Sorority house in Nightmares. These and the occasional Direct3D issues are my main complaints when it comes to Blood II and WINE, as most of the long-standing mouse issues has been resolved thanks to some of their recent input work, though there is still that glitch that happens on highly DirectX dependant games (which unfortunately Blood II is).
I know you were involved with WINEX or whatever the wine driver is called. If your still involved, may I suggest focusing largely on shogo compatibility as strictly a PR thing? Shogo is better known by linux gamers and other gamers as a whole. Besides, if it works for shogo it will work for blood2.
So instead I was forced to load up an old save game, which did work fine, although I did get one crash at one point but again I think that had more to do with WINE. So I played for a bit through the Horlock Street Station levels until I reached the Crypt. From this admittedly limited perspective, the modification does not seem to do all that much. I did notice the Fanatics wielding shotguns instead of Assault Rifles, but when they died they often still dropped the rifles instead of shotguns. So, unless they were keeping them down their pant legs or something, that is not entirely right.
I'll run through some of my saved games to verify your experience. Remember the overall goal of the modder was "to make blood2 harder". Suicide mode is nearly unplayable for me. I hate the voodoo doll for health/shield thing but I like the mods goals overall. The extra damage I pile up makes me a cautious croucher while playing, I even have to fall back on the voodoo health deal to keep going. If you really want to loose yourself in a wild goose chase on the web, try to find voodoo1.6. I've searched for it off and on for 3 years now with no luck.
The AI seems a little different; the enemies seem to move around more, and I had one encounter with a Drudge Lord where I was able to move into the next room without him even noticing me. Usually of course they will start reacting as soon as you get within a certain radius of them. The Soul Drudges seem to have a clearer sense of pathfinding, though this results in them seeming to glide towards me instead of their usual slow walk. Other than that, as I said it is mostly characterised by them moving about a bit more.
Wow, what a difference a renderer makes! On the windows end of things the drudge lord slides around most of the time. I've only seen that slow gushy walk twice in regular play. Mostly the modder just sped up the animation to improve pathfinding. In my own mod I've cranked up the frame rate even higher so a SD can chase player all the way up the first stair case in steam tunnels, he can even jump out of that pool at the start point instead of getting stuck. Needless to say the animation looks like sh*t. I think that that model freeze gets worse the more you change the animation but I'm not sure.

@ Joe:
Once I damaged my nightmare disk there was no question. Time to get use to GoG. Hey, at least it's not like steam!
User avatar
zZaRDoZz
Acolyte
Posts: 413
Joined: Tue Apr 29, 2008 03:13 pm
Location: USA
Contact:

Re: Blood2 extra-crispy, new mod

Post by zZaRDoZz »

I think I just derailed my own thread.
User avatar
Tchernobog
Tchernobog's Love Child
Posts: 1404
Joined: Tue May 27, 2008 07:30 am
Location: Rural Alberta, Canada
Contact:

Re: Blood2 extra-crispy, new mod

Post by Tchernobog »

zZaRDoZz wrote:I know you were involved with WINEX or whatever the wine driver is called. If your still involved, may I suggest focusing largely on shogo compatibility as strictly a PR thing? Shogo is better known by linux gamers and other gamers as a whole. Besides, if it works for shogo it will work for blood2.
I am sorry, what? I have not involvement with the WINE project other than being an end user. And I have no idea how well Shogo works in WINE, I always just used the native port of it. I got it because it was a native game. I have heard second hand from someone who runs OpenSUSE and Shogo deathmatches online and needs the anti-cheat mod (which was made for the windows version and requires a dll) that Shogo actually WINE's pretty well though.
zZaRDoZz wrote:If you really want to loose yourself in a wild goose chase on the web, try to find voodoo1.6. I've searched for it off and on for 3 years now with no luck.
I may have a look; both me and Gideon have found hard to get things before. Unfortunately, when it comes to files it is almost impossible. :(
zZaRDoZz wrote:Wow, what a difference a renderer makes! On the windows end of things the drudge lord slides around most of the time. I've only seen that slow gushy walk twice in regular play. Mostly the modder just sped up the animation to improve pathfinding. In my own mod I've cranked up the frame rate even higher so a SD can chase player all the way up the first stair case in steam tunnels, he can even jump out of that pool at the start point instead of getting stuck. Needless to say the animation looks like sh*t. I think that that model freeze gets worse the more you change the animation but I'm not sure.
I am just posting my experience, and in my experience I have seen them walk quite a few times. It just seemed jerkier after Voodo, which as you said is the result of the better pathfinding.

Still, what is this you say about having your own mod? :)
User avatar
I Live...AGAIN
Cabal member
Posts: 810
Joined: Fri Aug 13, 2004 05:33 am
Location: Detroit
Contact:

Re: Blood2 extra-crispy, new mod

Post by I Live...AGAIN »

Tried this mod out today, pretty neat. Does make everything look much cleaner. I tried it with B2K5 to see how it looked also. It's been awhile, I forgot which zombie I gave the key to for the 4th door LOL.
User avatar
zZaRDoZz
Acolyte
Posts: 413
Joined: Tue Apr 29, 2008 03:13 pm
Location: USA
Contact:

Re: Blood2 extra-crispy, new mod

Post by zZaRDoZz »

Thanks for getting things back on track. :D

I've noticed on my system at least that it's your gfx card's d3d that works best with extra crispy. The generic b2 renderer and software mode don't benefit much at all.

@tcherny I've just realized that you shouldn't mix various saved games from different mods in b2. Saving a game in DarkAct for exmple, then running it wth FxEnhancer is asking for trouble. Voodoo14 and by extension other mods should start from the beginning, perhaps having the mod's rez name somewhere in the saved games title.

As for my experiment, it was called BludphreeK. You can read about it at posty although the pics are all gone. I may throw out several changes I made as a learning exercise and put it up for download.
http://www.the-postmortem.com/forum/vie ... f=3&t=1061
User avatar
VENOM
Axe Zombie
Posts: 47
Joined: Wed Mar 05, 2008 09:13 am

Re: Blood2 extra-crispy, new mod

Post by VENOM »

Voodo14 mod. Client.exe CRASH. only when playin in multiplayer and taking the bombs
User avatar
zZaRDoZz
Acolyte
Posts: 413
Joined: Tue Apr 29, 2008 03:13 pm
Location: USA
Contact:

Re: Blood2 extra-crispy, new mod

Post by zZaRDoZz »

Hmmm, came across a similar bug several weeks ago in single player. For me the crash occurred after the weapon (proxy) was thrown and stuck to a wall. The proxies in question had red brightmaps instead of the traditional green. It wasn't a time bomb I'm certain.
User avatar
Tchernobog
Tchernobog's Love Child
Posts: 1404
Joined: Tue May 27, 2008 07:30 am
Location: Rural Alberta, Canada
Contact:

Re: Blood2 extra-crispy, new mod

Post by Tchernobog »

Speaking about bugs, VGames released a patch for Extra Crispy yesterday, found out by visiting the ModDB main page and seeing Caleb look back at me:
Image

So I have downloaded it and used it to play a bit of Horlock's Station, but so far have not been able to discern any real difference. Granted, I did not give it a proper play-through and mod itself was fairly stable for me to begin with. Here is what VGames has to say about it:
This patch will fix a weapon animation glitch, add some better explosion effects for the bombs, and add better stability when using this mod. This is only a patch for my Extra Crispy mod. You must have version 1 of the Extra Crispy Enhancer Pack to see any differences in the skins and textures. This patch is for the coding features of the mod only. You do not need anything from version 1 of this mod except for the Enhancer Pack.
You can grab a copy for yourselves from here:
http://www.moddb.com/mods/blood-2-the-c ... -v20-patch
Post Reply