Alpha v0.3.1

Release notes

This release implements almost all remaining game mechanics and enemies for the shareware episode, only the episode boss and the flame thrower jetpack are still missing. This means levels L1 to L7 are now fully playable.

Also improves the camera when on ladders/elevator etc.

New effects

• Duke's somersault when jumping

New game mechanics

• Cloaking device
• Super force field (disabled by cloak)
• Conveyor belts
• Blowing fan (propels Duke upwards)
• Flammable tiles (burn away when shot)

New enemies

• Floating laser gun ball robot

Bug fixes

• Jump button presses would sometimes get lost, especially when walking down slopes. This is now fixed.
• Various minor correctness fixes

Alpha v0.2.1

Release notes

This release fixes one show-stopper issue, a couple smaller bugs, and adds a few new mechanics.
Level 5 features all enemies now (but still not all mechanics, yet).

New effects

• Explosion next to Duke's cell in L1

New game mechanics

• Ceiling-mounted smash hammer
• Level-end bonuses

New enemies

• Watch bot carrier (launches a small container, which explodes to release a watch bot)

Bug fixes

• Under certain circumstances, RigelEngine would only show a blank screen, very easy to reproduce on Windows 10 for example. This is now fixed.
• Blue guards won't shoot Duke anymore while he's riding an elevator
• The soda can rocket would get stuck at the top of the screen, until the camera moved up. This is now fixed

Alpha v0.2.0

Release Notes

Note: In order to run the included Windows binary, installing the Visual Studio 2017 Redistributable is required.

This release adds all the game mechanics and enemies required to make levels 2 and 3 fully playable. Levels 4 and 5 are also playable and can be completed, but are still missing a few enemies/mechanics at this point. Levels 6, 7 and 8 cannot be completed yet.

Overall, only 4 more enemies and 7 game mechanics are missing in order to make the shareware episode completely playable.

Aside from adding features, the project saw many small improvements and bug fixes, bringing the experience closer to the original. The player control code saw a complete rewrite, making it easier to add new mechanics and matching the original behavior much more closely. The code base was upgraded to C++ 17, which allowed me to remove dependencies, clean up code, and opened the door to many future improvements.

Detailed overview

Improved player control

• Variable jump heights (low/high)
• Jump arc matches original
• Flame thrower can fire continuously regardless of having rapid fire
• Death animation matches original

New effects

• Water (L2)
• Water dropping from ceiling (L2)
• Wind-blown spiders (L2)
• Slime drop ground impact animation
• Soda can rocket creates debris & plays sound when hitting ceiling
• Proper destruction animation for item boxes and nuclear waste barrels

New game mechanics

• Reactor destruction event (L5)
• Climbing on pipes
• Hint machine/hint globe
• Locked door (opened by blue key)
• Wall-destroying missile
• Dynamic geometry (parts of the level falling down)

New enemies

• Spider
• Ceiling sucker
• Rigelatin soldier
• Bomber plane
• Jumpy watch bot
• Eye ball thrower
• Player eating snake

Bugfixes

• Fire bomb would sometimes not spawn all fires
• Destroying a box with a fire bomb inside didn't give score
• Shootable walls couldn't be destroyed when off-screen
• Destruction effects with a time delay would spawn at the wrong time
• Player projectiles would spawn in slightly incorrect positions
• Particles would have an incorrect offset on the Y axis
• Background wasn't reset on L1 when dieing after using the teleporter when the checkpoint was activated
• Cooked turkey wasn't animating anymore
• Gravity worked incorrectly for non-player objects

Alpha v0.1.0

Changelog:

• Make it possible to override the graphics used for "actors", i.e. enemies, items, Duke etc.
• Implement in-game tutorial and information messages
• Implement enemy radar dishes
• Implement restart beacon
• The atom powerup now correctly gives a higher score when collected while at full health
• FPS display is now off by default. Can be toggled with the F6 key
• Adjusted game speed - now closer to how the original game runs on a 486 DOS machine

Alpha v.0.0.1

First Alpha release of RigelEngine. The first level of the game is fully playable with only very minor differences. For all other levels of the game to be playable, more work is required.

Running the included Windows binary requires installing the Visual Studio 2015 Redistributable - look for the x64 version of the installer.