The first Release Candidate build of version 2.2 is now available. The plan is to release the final stable 2.2.0 before the end of the year.
To accompany the upcoming release, the demo video on the dengine.net front page has been updated. It shows a few snippets of gameplay with the default settings, without any additional mods. This time with audio and in normal speed!
Version 2.2 is a relatively minor feature update. It comes with a number of bug fixes and a bunch of modding enhancements.
New features
Doomsday Script rising in prominence. The built-in scripting language has been in the works for many years, and slowly it has gained wider integration in the engine internals. The Manual has now been updated with a proper tutorial/feature walkthrough of the language, and a list of the current uses of scripting in Doomsday. This list will continue to grow in the future. Also, don’t forget to check out the VSCode extension for syntax highlighting.
Scripted mobj actions. Newly introduced scripting use cases are mobj state action functions that execute scripts, and (for Heretic) an “On touch” script that gets run when a mobj is touched. The latter could be used for instance to create customized power-up or story items.
Heretic modding. A number of modding related improvements have been done for Heretic. For example: customizable menu labels, enhanced intermission screen, Values for ammo per shot, support for Hexen-like wall-bouncing missiles, and a script binding for starting an enemy’s attack.
Separate FOV for rendering player weapons. The FOV angle for weapon 3D models is now separate from the rest of the view. This alleviates issues with weapon models not being drawn as the author intended, since one is free to alter the renderer’s FOV angle at any time.
Flatpak. Stable releases for Linux will be available in the Flatpak format. This should be easier to use across a wider array of Linux distributions compared to the old DEB and RPM packages.
Freedoom. Doomsday now detects Freedoom v0.12.1, and any future releases will be detected as Freedoom but lacking any specific version numbering. This will allow using the IWADs more conveniently without waiting for a Doomsday update.
Bug fixes
- Compatibility improvements to better support John Romero’s SIGIL.
- Line type 98 had gone missing in Heretic.
- Incorrect alignment for a wall’s lower texture under certain circumstances.
- The Oldest Fixed Bug award goes to #814, submitted 10 years ago: co-op and deathmatch flags in XG. A bunch of other old XG issues were also addressed.
- Doomsday Script parser and interpreter were made more robust, incorrect behavior was fixed, and a couple of minor new features were added.
- Other minor fixes and improvements, e.g., in the renderer.