Hey y'all.
Got an update for ya concerning ZX v8.0's development. It's coming along nicely, though I have discovered one thing that honestly took me by surprise, though I doubt it'll affect anybody who actually plays the mod.
First: what'll be changed
I'm nicknaming ZX's 8.0 release "Spring Cleaning, Half a Year Late" because most of what I've done this release is cleanup. In terms of new content, there honestly won't be too much outside of a few new monsters in the mix. One weapon has a new spriteset, and the camera-tilting system has been upgraded from the old (and kinda hack-y) QTilt system to the newer, better Tilt++ system, thus bringing in the mod's first-ever use of the new ZScript programming language, something which I've been trying to avoid because its documentation is bloody awful compared to the existing ActionCode Script (ACS) and DECORATE languages, what the mod's used since day one.
The heads-up displays will all bring improvements-- the "Modern" HUD option will have more elements that can be independently toggled if you like the arrangement but don't want such dense information. Plus, the non-fullscreen "Modern" HUD has been rearranged to much more closely match its fullscreen brother, thus greatly decluttering the screen (and enabling the HUD's use in non-widescreen aspect rations without having to resort to forcing anything in the engine menus). Plus, there's now an air meter common to all the HUDs that appears if you're in deep enough water.
The "ZX Options" mod menu has been GREATLY improved, being cleanly seperated into multiple submenus. Should you have the Bolognese Gore or Weapon Wheel addons loaded, their configuration menus have been scooted to their own submenu in the ZX Options for consistency and ease-of-use.There's also been some spring cleaning in the scripting department. The scripting related to the flashlight has been streamlined, with multiple unneeded scripts being completely culled-- this might confer an infantesimal performance increase. Also, the double-jump script has been fixed to work correctly in deep water-- when it comes to standard Doom water, which is little more than an animated floor texture, your movement is unaffected.
Next: what'll be new
A few new zombies, including the mod's first female zombies (an overdue inclusion, I know), which I haven't coded or implemented at the time of writing. I would have started work on them earlier, if it weren't for my computer being stupid and being in the technological equivalent of an ICU for most of a day, eventually needing a re-imaging of the main drive. It's (mostly) fine now though, just a couple of little issues here and there that are part of normal operation.
Lastly: what's been...removed.
Sadly, for anyone who plays deathmatch, team DM or AltDeath modes in ZX, I'm sad to say that, retroactive to v7.3, ZX no longer supports deathmatch mode, and, accordingly, frag counters will no longer appear in the HUD in that mode as of v8.0. The mod really was never well-balanced for DM in the first place, and I left it in mostly to keep the mod's horizons as broad as possible. The sticking point is the double-tap dodge scripts going absolutely bonkers in DM, though not in co-op, so, there still IS a multiplayer option in ZX. The mod is primarily still singleplayer, of course.
To my recollection, this is the first time *ever* that something's been outright removed from ZX. Over its entire development, I've done nothing but add and modify elements of the mod. It...kinda feels alien to straight-up take something out.
Bah, I've rambled enough. Y'all get the idea.
I hope that everyone who's downloaded v7.3 thus far has enjoyed it-- I'd appreciate feedback and ratings so I know how well I'm doing, everybody.
V8.0 is coming out fairly soon, though there's no definite release date-- it's coming out When It's Done™.
See y'all later!
-Xterra
