Cataclysm: Metal Gear Solid

[LazyCat]

Cataclysm: Metal Gear Solid
- tactical survival espionage action


DOWNLOAD (01. July): MGSmod rev.71b
http://www.mediafire.com/?xj0x8t6flgqcf2a



It's like "Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead", only better.


Highlights/differences:


real-time targeting
- makes ranged combat a bit harder, but more tactical, much more interesting

new push/kick action
- when surrounded push some monsters away instead of fighting them all at once
- slam monsters against the wall, or push them out of the way if they are blocking a door
- push them over fences, bushes, into a fire, or through the windows to slow them down
- you can also push while aiming, if they come close kick them back right in your aim
- you can even kick them back by pushing furniture over them:


Kicked bench, which kicked zombie, who then flew through the window.

new jump/charge actions
- jump through windows, over fences, fire, charge on monsters or through the doors

above ground z-levels (demo)
- church bell tower and shelter rooftop, with secret rooms
- jumping puzzles, see if you can find hidden pathways

driving auto-shift view
- this and driving smoothness makes vehicles much more enjoyable to drive

have a bear for a pet
- tame even wild animals, pets can ride in vehicles on seats and trunks
- pets increase theirs skill with their kills, feed them to recover their HP

performance and stability:
- no bugs, crashes or glitches, faster, smoother, tested, balanced & polished
- support for background music and sound effects with over hundred files library

and more
- sniper scope view, fire arrows, NPC hints, slot machines, chain combo kills...

[Vanguard]

Sounds sick, testing it now.

[getter77]

Ah, thanks for posting this here---I'd gotten lost in the flow of what all was happening with this and that as far as Cataclysm goes outright between the thread(s) on Bay12 and SA.

Certainly looks to be various sorts of impressive and ambitious---keep at it!   

[Vanguard]

Alright, so I gave this a try.

Real time targeting is an interesting idea.  I like it.

The MGS music surprisingly makes the game better.

I'm still getting messages about how "moving past this thing is slow" when using the jump command.

Snake seems pretty weak.  Low stats, weak traits, I'd have expected him to be a tougher dude than this.

How do I take items off of shelves and such?  If I remember correctly, in the original Cataclysm you could just push the "get" button and then select the shelf.

My biggest problem with this is that it handles zombie spawns - they appear in high numbers and with specialized types on day one instead of things gradually getting worse.  I assume that this is how DDA does it, but it's really just a worse system than the original Cataclysm's in every way.

Speaking of the original, is there a bugfixed version of that floating around anywhere?  I think most of DDA's changes are for the worse, and I'd really like to see someone implement its technical improvements in an otherwise unmodified version of the original.

I like the new actions and features you've implemented.  I'd rather play this than DDA.

Edit:

Kicks are insanely powerful.

[LazyCat]

Alright, so I gave this a try.

Real time targeting is an interesting idea.  I like it.

The MGS music surprisingly makes the game better.

I'm glad you like it. Thank you for the feedback.

I'm still getting messages about how "moving past this thing is slow" when using the jump command.

Yeah, it's on my list.

Snake seems pretty weak.  Low stats, weak traits, I'd have expected him to be a tougher dude than this.

It's "Old Snake", in the future. You can edit the profile and create your own character, then just save it as template for the next time.

How do I take items off of shelves and such?  If I remember correctly, in the original Cataclysm you could just push the "get" button and then select the shelf.

Examine with 'e' key. It's also how you activate card readers, consoles, gas pumps, jump over chain fences, get items from a trunk, repair vehicles...

My biggest problem with this is that it handles zombie spawns - they appear in high numbers and with specialized types on day one instead of things gradually getting worse.  I assume that this is how DDA does it, but it's really just a worse system than the original Cataclysm's in every way.

It's "static spawn", relatively recent change from DDA, few months ago. Lots of people hated it at first, but most came around to like it afterwards. Once you figure it out and adjust your strategies it actually makes the game easier as once you clear some area it stays clear. Anyway, in options menu you can change it to "dynamic spawn", that is set "static spawn" to FALSE , and that should work then how it used to be.

Speaking of the original, is there a bugfixed version of that floating around anywhere?  I think most of DDA's changes are for the worse, and I'd really like to see someone implement its technical improvements in an otherwise unmodified version of the original.

That was my opinion too and the goal of this mod is to create something that looks like finished, polished game. It's my priority to get rid of all the bugs, rather than add new items and such, so as far as I know this mod is by far most bug-free Cataclysm game around.

I like the new actions and features you've implemented.  I'd rather play this than DDA.

Kicks are insanely powerful.

Cool. Kick/push power depends on melee skill level, current strength and monster size. You can push away wolves easier than a bear. It shouldn't be too powerful or with much chance for success until at least melee skill level 4. With high enough skill pushing monsters away can also stun them.


For annoying Y/N pop ups you can use short-cuts: ENTER or '.' for yes, and SPACE for no.

[Vanguard]

It's "Old Snake", in the future. You can edit the profile and create your own character, then just save it as template for the next time.

The game is letting me modify Old Snake to be however I want, but when I press "!" to save the new profile, it doesn't do anything.  I have to set up my traits every time if I don't to use the defaults.

I also don't seem to be able to toggle safe travel mode, which iirc is also activated by pressing the "!" key.  I don't know if it's connected, but I thought I'd mention it.

Lots of people hated it at first, but most came around to like it afterwards. Once you figure it out and adjust your strategies it actually makes the game easier as once you clear some area it stays clear.

Yeah but my problem isn't that it's too easy or hard, my problem is that it's less fun than the original.  In the original Cataclysm, things started out bad, and you'd die, but then you'd learn the rules and last a bit longer.  After a while things start to seem like they're not so bad after all, and right when you think that, the game spawns some terrible new thing and the cycle repeats itself.  It's the perfect example of a world descending into hell in the most spectacular way, and DDA threw it all out because they wanted a "realistic" zombie apocalypse.

Static spawns doesn't seem to function quite like the original did.  It did give me a quiet period in the beginning so I could stock up on food and equipment, but it still started spawning shockers and brutes on day 1.

Do you consider this more or less complete, or do you intend to add more to it in the future?

[LazyCat]

It's "Old Snake", in the future. You can edit the profile and create your own character, then just save it as template for the next time.

The game is letting me modify Old Snake to be however I want, but when I press "!" to save the new profile, it doesn't do anything.  I have to set up my traits every time if I don't to use the defaults.

Oops. Sorry about that, I see now that I commented it out few builds ago by mistake. Thanks for letting me know. I'll fix this and that other jumping thing you reported and upload new build by tomorrow.

I also don't seem to be able to toggle safe travel mode, which iirc is also activated by pressing the "!" key.  I don't know if it's connected, but I thought I'd mention it.

"!" key doesn't have any function in this build. Safe mode switches off and on automatically. I don't think there is need to freeze the whole game like it used to be because there is that alert sound effect to make you aware of the trouble instead. So when you get into alert mode the game freezes for only two turns and you can press any key (twice) to continue.

Yeah but my problem isn't that it's too easy or hard, my problem is that it's less fun than the original.  In the original Cataclysm, things started out bad, and you'd die, but then you'd learn the rules and last a bit longer.  After a while things start to seem like they're not so bad after all, and right when you think that, the game spawns some terrible new thing and the cycle repeats itself.  It's the perfect example of a world descending into hell in the most spectacular way, and DDA threw it all out because they wanted a "realistic" zombie apocalypse.

Static spawns doesn't seem to function quite like the original did.  It did give me a quiet period in the beginning so I could stock up on food and equipment, but it still started spawning shockers and brutes on day 1.

It's a matter of taste I guess, I don't mind either. Set in options whichever you prefer, but you also might need to create "New World" from the start menu, or delete save folder, for the change to take effect.

Do you consider this more or less complete, or do you intend to add more to it in the future?

It's complete enough for me. There are surely more things to be balanced and polished out, some things that I know of but don't bother me and other things I missed and are not aware of, but considering three months I spent rigorously testing it I don't think there are many of those or that there is anything major.

I'm not sure I'll be adding more stuff to it, I'm quite sick of play-testing it at the moment. I'm still keen to fix bugs other people find though. If I do anything more it would be additional NPC missions and above ground z-levels for all the other buildings beside church tower and shelter rooftop, but there is already so much stuff in the game and things to do that I think any further additions would bring less value than polishing and balancing of what is already in.

[LazyCat]

DOWNLOAD (01. July): MGSmod rev.71b
http://www.mediafire.com/?xj0x8t6flgqcf2a

- enable save char. template
- no "slow move" when jumping
- balanced monsters grouping AI

[Vanguard]

Cool, I'll give this a shot.

Edit:

Kicking doesn't seem to train the melee or unarmed skills.  It probably should.

[LazyCat]

MGSmod rev.78-tiles


DOWNLOAD (17. July):
http://www.mediafire.com/?xf606bbhrxdu0f3

[LazyCat]

Updates (02. August) MGSmod rev.83b-tiles



Homepage & download:
http://catmgs.freesmfhosting.com/

[LazyCat]

Tileset complete...