It’s been a while since my last post, so I thought it’s time for a quick update/recap of what has happened. Let’s start with the biggest news first: RigelEngine features an optional smooth scrolling and movement mode as of version 0.8.2. In other words, you can play Duke Nukem II in 60 FPS now! See it in action in this video:
Smooth scrolling and movement
This was one of the most requested features for the project, so I’m quite happy to finally have it in. It’s currently still work in progress, not everything is smooth yet and there are some known issues. But it already adds a lot to the game, providing a fresh new experience. Here’s a nice review-ish video by Another Dying:
I’m already working on the known issues and planned improvements, and expect to release an update in the near-ish future. And I’m also working on a longer blog post explaining how this feature was implemented, so stay tuned for that!
Improvements to modding support
Since the introduction of extended modding support, I’ve been slowly working on improving and extending it further. More types of assets are becoming moddable, and high resolution replacements can be used in more places. So far, the HUD and in-game fonts have been made replaceable, and background replacements can now be widescreen. Full-screen images and menu assets are up next.
Another thing I’m working on is a built-in mod manager, for easier switching between mods and/or different combinations of mods. This is still very early in development, so it’s going to change, but just for a first impression, here’s a screenshot:
Currently, only a simple list of mods is shown, with checkboxes to toggle individual items on or off. The plan is to also allow reordering mods (so that it’s possible to control which mods override others), and to show much more information about what type of content each mod is replacing. Further into the future, something like a preview screenshot, description text, author and other metadata would also be nice.
Development live streams and Nuked OPL3
Finally, I’ve started doing development live streams, which was a lot of fun so far and allowed me to make some good progress. Here’s the 2nd one I did, where I got started on implementing the mod manager I just mentioned:
I haven’t had a chance to do another stream since then, but I do plan to start again when time permits. I will announce the next stream on Twitter and in the RigelEngine Discord.
Aside from these bigger news, I’ve also released another version in the meantime, which adds the Nuked OPL3 AdLib emulator as alternative music player, and some other sound improvements and bug fixes.
Lethal Guitar 