OCEAN Demo

OCEAN: No Time WIP demo title card.

Overview

OCEAN Demo 1.0 was released on June 8, 2014, to coincide with the World Oceans Day.

OCEAN Demo 1.1 was released on June 13, 2014 and contained a lot of improvements, bugfixes and compatibility resolution.

OCEAN Demo 1.2 was released on June 29, 2014.

Releases and Notes

The Demo comes in two flavours - an 'all-in-one' package that already contains all the necessary files, and a standalone .pk3 file that can be used with your favorite IWAD and source port (DOOM 2 + GZDoom are strongly recommended).

OCEAN Demo 1.2 (current release)

• All-In-One Package

ModDB: http://www.moddb.com/games/sergei-savenkos-ocean/downloads/ocean-demo-12-all-in-one-package

IndieDB: http://www.indiedb.com/games/sergei-savenkos-ocean/downloads/ocean-demo-12-all-in-one-package

Dropbox: https://www.dropbox.com/s/awm6vodcbbgrk26/OceanDemo12-AllInOne.zip

Google Drive: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1nnqhNVrWFtOXU4dlFFT1JXVWs/edit?usp=sharing

• Standalone PK3

ModDB: http://www.moddb.com/games/sergei-savenkos-ocean/downloads/ocean-demo-12-pk3-only

IndieDB: http://www.indiedb.com/games/sergei-savenkos-ocean/downloads/ocean-demo-12-pk3-only

Dropbox: https://www.dropbox.com/s/3mm2xj2mfw5d55u/OceanDemo12-pk3.zip

Google Drive: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1nnqhNVrWFtZWo2ZFVDZzk0VzQ/edit?usp=sharing

• NEW FEATURES AND FIXED BUGS:

• Voxel models for weapons and pickups;
• Mouse cursor in menu;
• Fixed the sequence breaker on MAP03;
• Fixed the glitching script on MAP06;
• Removed Line_Horizons on MAP01, made it darker;
• Switched around Sean's 'oof' and 'grunt' sounds;
• Split Natasha's dialogue on MAP03 into two pages;
• Removed hi-res switches textures, altered the lo-res ones slightly;
• Moved the 'use' hint to MAP01; (done in 1.1, forgot to explain there)
• Added the Andrew Sega credit to MAP02; (done in 1.1, forgot to explain there)
• Minor changes to GAMEINFO lump and Launch_OceanDemo.bat file;
• Fixed the sky texture glitch in MAP03;
• Fixed the lighting imbalance in MAP03;
• Added a hint regarding switches to MAP03;
• Reduced the drone sprites size;
• MAP04 cutscene is now skippable;
• New pistol sprite;
• Added a healing terminal to MAP06;
• Fixed the grass texture glitch on MAP05;
• Fixed the texture stretch at the top of the pool;
• Added a new water layer on MAP02;

• REPORTED ISSUES I COULDN'T REPRODUCE:

• Screen and ceiling texture broken;
• You can be shot through a wall;
• At a random point in MAP03, Sean stops taking damage - the reporter was unable to reproduce it again, but he kept the savegame: http://rghost.ru/56588484
• Weird, weird lack of coloring;
• Another uncolored example;
• 'The blue screen fade you might usually use has only been used in one sector so far.';

• THANKEES:

• Da Werecat from DoomWorld Forums;
• Eon-Sonny from DeviantArt;
• Sinael from ZDOOM Forums;
• Jimmy from ZDOOM Forums

Windows Installation

(this concerns the All-In-One package)

• Unzip the archive to whatever folder you like (D:\Games\OCEAN_Demo would be good enough);
• Launch the Launch_OceanDemo.bat file;
• Set up the keys and all necessary goodies (screen resolution, sound, etc.);
• Enjoy!

Linux Installation

(this concerns the Standalone package)

Please note this applies mostly to Debian/Ubuntu, so for other distributions, please consider using their respective utilities (packet managers, installation from source, etc.)

• Download and install libsdl-dev:

    sudo apt-get install libsdl-dev

• Download and install GZDOOM:

    sudo apt-get install gzdoom

• Also, you can download the pre-compiled DEB package here: http://debian.drdteam.org/pool/multiverse/g/gzdoom/
• Download and unpack the OCEAN Demo;
• Place the ocean24.pk3 file as well as your IWAD (doom2.wad, tnt.wad, plutonia.wad, freedoom.wad, freedm.wad, etc.) to the GZDoom folder: (/usr/games/gzdoom or ~/.config/gzdoom by default);
• Open the terminal and type:

    gzdoom -iwad doom2 -file ocean24.pk3

• Have fun!

Known Bugs

• The number of monsters is the same on all difficulties; however the other standard DOOM schema is supposed to be in effect (double ammo on DEFCON 1 and 5, respawning enemies on DEFCON 1, etc.);
• Sean's crouching sprites are GZDOOM defaults;
• The number of enemies on MAP06 can be pretty unfair - please report if the map is TOO difficult;
• MAP06 is very poorly decorated... for now;
• DOOM cheats still work; - impossible to fix, prevented via hardcoding in (G)ZDoom;
• GZDOOM interface is mostly default;
• Sometimes, Sean gains permanent invulnerability on MAP02;

FAQ & More Protips

Thanks to Eon-Sonny and czmAvery for questions and feedback!

Q: How can I disable Sean's head bobbing?

A: Go to the console ('~' key), type movebob 0 and hit Enter. There won't be success messages, but it should be reduced. To restore it, open the console, type movebob .25 and press Enter.

Q: How do I interact with items/people/Kristina on the first map?

A: Please make sure to bind and use the Use/Open key (Spacebar by default, but it's recommended to rebind it to E).

Q: Once the demo loads, I have to wait an hour before the texture-related messages stop!

A: You must be using Demo 1.0. This is fixed in Demo 1.1.

Q: I am not an official tester, but I'd like to provide feedback. Can I?

A: Of course! It's a community project, and it doesn't have dedicated QA resources. So please go ahead and voice your opinion! Thank you.

Q: I have some concerns about the controls. Can you please help me out?

A: Here is the preferred control scheme that I personally use. It's not necessarily the best, but the most comfortable in my opinion. All these can be set up in Options > Customize Controls menu:

• W - walk forward;
• S - walk backwards;
• A - strafe (step) left;
• D - strafe (step) right;
• LMB - fire;
• E - use/open;
• LCtrl - crouch;
• R - swim up;
• F - swim down;

Q: The enemies damage an awful lot - I normally play DOOM and its mods on the fourth difficulty level, Ultra-Violence, but it was impossible to beat the demo that way because if even one enemy managed to ambush me it meant almost certain death.

A: Yes, I admit the enemies are very unfair - I've tried way too hard to pursue the 'stealth vs. brute force' gameplay. In the working builds, they were actually worse; I had to weaken them a lot before the release. And, like I said in the release notes, I still feel they're way too overpowered, so I'll definitely rebalance everything.

Q: The robot ladies are specially difficult since their attack is continuous and once they touch you it's highly probable they drain a good 20~25 of your health before you can escape, I suggest a decrease in the damage they do.

A: Alright, I'll definitely consider that and see what I can do!

Q: The second stage 'Hypotermia' is a cluster of commands, swimming though damaging points, crouching and even one jump. Since that's the first stage with some real action in the game maybe you should spare the player some difficulties for later.

A: The feeling of disorientation and 'what's going on?' for the player is actually what I was pretty much going for - it's supposed to be sort of like a training area that makes you familiar with all the gameplay quirks and twists (dialogue, swimming, environmental hazards, Diving Mode, points of interest, one enemy type). However, if you have concrete ideas on how to rebalance it, I'm all open!

Q: The maps are a little small but that's okay.

A: Those are actually my first 'serious' DOOM mapping attempts! Interesting fact: maps 'Licence To Kill', 'Exposition' and 'Marina' are VERY enhanced remakes of three maps from my old unfinished and abandoned WAD, Project Savior; and 'Fear Of The Dark' is a polished version of three test maps I've built specifically for OCEAN, stitched together. Pretty much, only 'Semper Fidelis' and 'Hypothermia' were done completely from scratch and intended to be 100% OCEAN maps from the very start.

Q: Stealth vs brute force emphasis? It helps the immersion in the gameplay, still a bit of balancing would be great.

A: I know that DOOM and old-school shooters in general are about anything but stealth, but I was more thinking games like Deus Ex, which can be beaten 'traditionally', but sneaky tactics are way more rewarding. Speaking in movie terms, I've tried to make the action less like Rambo 2-3 and more like Die Hard - after all, Sean himself is not a bodybuilder, so it would just shatter the suspension of disbelief if he would go out in the open with M60s in both hands!

Q: Talking abouth stealth, 'Fear Of The Dark' is pretty overwhelming during the first battle, it doesn't give the chance to finish the enemies quietly.

A: It actually has a not-really-hidden switch at the very beginning which activates a trap and makes things dramatically easier! And there're 3 such switches on 'Licence To Kill', too.

Q: I understood just fine your intentions and as a fact I think it's a good idea to introduce the player with the commands, I just feel many people might get frustrated, let's hope I'm wrong.

A: Well, I take all the negative feedback into consideration just as much as the positive; probably I should add in more hints and points of interest, just so the player would be 100% comfortable. I'll rebalance it in any case, don't worry!

Q: I noticed a detail about 'Licence To kill' - the whole map is designed to look for three switches across the stage, but if you crouch in the second room you can reach the back side of the console and interact with it, thus breaking the sequence and being able to continue to map 4. Maybe you designed it on purpose but maybe it wasn't intended.

A: If rebooting all three relays is not mandatory in this case, I'll look into it. Thank you for finding this bug! (NOTE: The bug had been investigared, and will be fixed in the full version. - EZW.)