T.U.C.Q. Release 5 Is Now Available.

[Boingo the Clown]

After a nauseatingly long time (7 years!) a new version of T.U.C.Q. is finally here!

There is not a lot that is new in this version.  It is pretty much a straight up conversion of T.U.C.Q. from DooM Legacy over to GZDooM. 

This version requires GZDooM in order to run.  It will not run in Legacy, and will probably not run in ZDooM either.  Use GZDooM!

http://www.doomlegends.com/chexquest/frames.html

A while back I was working on a new version of the Cinema level, but the only thing in the current version of the level is one theatre interior.  Since there is no complete level, this version of T.U.C.Q. simply skips it and goes to the museum. 

The third and fourth episodes do not exist yet, but are still in the start menu, albeit dimmed to grey.  Choosing either of these episodes will just run a message saying they do not exist.

T.U.C.Q. Release 5 seems to run okay with the DooM IWAD, the Chex Quest 3 IWAD or the DooM II IWAD.  There are a few inconsistancies with the DooM II IWAD, but it still runs okay.

There are a few things that are new in this version:

• I have changed the Commonus and Bipedicus.  They are tougher on the higher difficulty levels as in phase II beta 3, but now the higher difficulty versions shoot flem balls at the player instead of using pistol and shotgun shots.  (The low level versions still attack only at close range.)  E1M1 is now extremely challenging with these new versions of the flemoids.  I have found that there is not enough ammo to take down all of the flemoids, but that the level is still playable if I simply grab the keys and run for the exit.  Some adjustment to E1M1 may have to be made to decrease the difficulty in the future.
• The flem balls launched by the flemoids now leave splatters when they hit the walls.  It makes for a disgusting mess.
• The mini zorcher, large zorcher, and rapid zorcher now produce flashes when they hit the walls.  All of the weapons now cast dynamic light.

I am certain I did one or two other new things, but I will be darned if I can remember what they were.

Please be sure to try it out and tell me what you think.  While praise is best for my fragile ego, criticism is also welcome in order to improve any future versions.

[Replica]

Alright, so here's what I liked:

-The Flemoids shooting slimeballs. The Bipedicus' three slime balls was amazing as well. Very nice job on that.
-The lighting; that one spiral lamp thing's blue light that moved up as the sprite's blue did, was awesome.
-The teleporters are amazing in GZDoom, too.
-I love the zorcher puffs. I love the slimeballs on the walls, too.
-Basically everything else converted over. The lights on the walls, dynamic lights, 3D Floor, transparent glass, and every other detail.

Problems I noticed:

-Several areas that should have been secrets, aren't secrets. Such as the credits room with the photos of Digital Cafe, and the redkey are in E1M3, where there is a maze-ish room with one side having a wall you can walk through to get an armor upgrade.

-The end switch at the end of E1M3 has a black line above it, which comes from the brown wall texture, but it doesn't line with the other walls. (This is right above it, so in the middle of the wall.)

-A hall of mirrors in E1M5. It's in the yellow key door, which leads to the blue key.
-The tables in E2M1 are missing their support, so they look like they're floating. That is of course unless they're attached from the wall or something.

Some suggestions:

-Some ceiling textures in E1M3 are lights, which doesn't make any sense. I'm not sure if you had a plan for this, but I thought I'd bring it to your attention.
-A lot of episode two's textures are just grey. I think you were gonna do something about that though.

-Zdoom has some special sector light that can for light only on the ceiling or the floor. This could be really nice looking for light panels on the ceiling, so you can lower the lighting around the sector without having the ceiling light up. (As in, perhaps you'd like for a light on the ceiling to light up an area, but have a more intense lighting directly under it, and slowly fade the light outward until it becomes room light. However, since the light is on the ceiling, it wouldn't make sense to also light the ceiling.) This can also make windows like a lot better, so that light comes in through the window, without touching the ceiling.

This was really nice though. I'll admit it's been a while since I played both TUCQ and Chex Quest, so it was nice to play again. You've been doing a fantastic job! Keep up the good work! 

[Boingo the Clown]

-Several areas that should have been secrets, aren't secrets. Such as the credits room with the photos of Digital Cafe, and the redkey are in E1M3, where there is a maze-ish room with one side having a wall you can walk through to get an armor upgrade.

Agreed.  I will fix them right away.

-The end switch at the end of E1M3 has a black line above it, which comes from the brown wall texture, but it doesn't line with the other walls. (This is right above it, so in the middle of the wall.)

I hope to replace the switch with something else that will transition to the arboretum better, like a teleport pad or a door or an elevator, in the near future.

-A hall of mirrors in E1M5. It's in the yellow key door, which leads to the blue key.

I tried to fix it, but it remains HOM.  It was fine in Legacy, but it is HOM in the new version.  It just sits there mocking me.  I hate it.

-The tables in E2M1 are missing their support, so they look like they're floating. That is of course unless they're attached from the wall or something.

There was supposed to be supports, but Legacy couldn't handle the nodes.  They may work in GZDooM, so I will try again.

-A lot of episode two's textures are just grey. I think you were gonna do something about that though.

You are right.  Chukker made new textures to eliminate the problem in CQ3, but I am still stuck with the grey walls.  I do have plans on eliminating them as well.

This was really nice though. I'll admit it's been a while since I played both TUCQ and Chex Quest, so it was nice to play again. You've been doing a fantastic job! Keep up the good work! 

Aye aye sir!

[MajorSlime]

Looks good to me too. I did notice various visual bugs though. Also, one of the teleporters in E1M2, I don't know which one, seemed like it might not have had the repeatable flag on? IDK... i remember walking into it once from the front, and it didn't work (I had already done it once), but the back worked just fine.


Also, there doesn't appear to be quite enough ammo on the last mission of episode 2. Especially with the horde of flemoids at the end (I played on Normal, and had no problem any where else).


And on E2M1, you can jump up the ledge where the red key is






Other than that, EPIC. It took me until E1M3 to notice the  various 3D-floor decorations, and then I was in a stupor for the rest of it. Really nice work.

[Replica]

-A hall of mirrors in E1M5. It's in the yellow key door, which leads to the blue key.

I tried to fix it, but it remains HOM.  It was fine in Legacy, but it is HOM in the new version.  It just sits there mocking me.  I hate it.

I looked at it in DB2, and it appears there are two linedefs in that spot. One of which has no texture and is double sided. That may be causing the problem.

[MajorSlime]

Sorry, have to point out quote fail Rep

[Nomekop]

When I ran it with CQ3, I had problems switching pickup weapons. Might wanna get that fixed.

[MajorSlime]

Oh, that too. Forgot about that nomekop.

[Boingo the Clown]

Found the two sided line causing the HOM on E1M5 and deleted it.  That's a relief.

Marked the secret areas on E1M2 and E1M3 as secret.

Also, one of the teleporters in E1M2, I don't know which one, seemed like it might not have had the repeatable flag on? IDK... i remember walking into it once from the front, and it didn't work (I had already done it once), but the back worked just fine.

Play through again and tell me if you can find the offending teleporter.

Also, there doesn't appear to be quite enough ammo on the last mission of episode 2. Especially with the horde of flemoids at the end (I played on Normal, and had no problem any where else).

I will check it out.  I have generally gone into the level from E2M5, so I always have ammo, but I think I have played it directly and had no problem with it.  I will have to look at it again.

And on E2M1, you can jump up the ledge where the red key is

Egads!  You're right!  It appears GZDooM has a higher jump than Legacy does.
That kind of ruins the flow of the level.  I will have to fix that. So does that silly lift you can find through the secret wall.  I will try to come up with a solution to that problem before the next release.

I had wanted to keep the open window and remove the secret passage, so that the player jumps out of the window when he gets the key.  This plan may not work if the player can jump up to the window.

I just played the same level in CQ3.  Chukker's solution was to make the window impassable and to change the lift so that it can not be activated from the secret passage side.

When I ran it with CQ3, I had problems switching pickup weapons. Might wanna get that fixed.

That will require replacing the weapons, but I am sure that can be done.  I did it in DeiMWolf (with 75's help) and I am sure I can do it in T.U.C.Q..

[MajorSlime]

Why not simply raise the window? Also, perhaps something where the window becomes non-impassable when you walk into the room from the correct direction?

[TrueDude]

I'm curious to see what you'll do with detailing now that you have the ability to use slopes.

[Replica]

Perhaps using slopes, you can slightly slope up to the window to the red key. Saving you the pain of invisible walls.

[noob1234]

Something odd happened to the teleporters when I ran it... (I used chex3 as the iwad)
[spoiler]
Oh and about that 60% health... you weren't kidding when you said E1M1 is hard on higher difficulty levels -_-[/spoiler]
Also, this is just me, but I sort of miss Legacy's almost-too-glare-y lights...
Otherwise, no awesomeness was lost in the conversion

EDIT: Oh, and don't know if you intended this but the phasing zorch makes sort of a flem-sounding noise when it hits the wall.

[Boingo the Clown]

Were you using GZDooM or ZDooM?  Was it in software mode or opengl mode?

I may have to add a note that the game must only be run in opengl mode.

[TheUnbeholden]

TUCQR5 download off the website is corrupt archive
http://www.doomlegends.com/chexquest/download.html

Luckily I've uploaded a working version up on modDB and here in the downloads section.