Realms Deep Update:
Paradox Vector's latest trailer will be premiering at the upcoming Realm's Deep 2020 event hosted by 3D Realms on September 5th-6th. I hope you will all be able to attend! Here is the promo for that event:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7S71Gib5Hdo
There are a lot of new features here. These include features from both the 0.9.9.5 and the 0.9.9.6 updates which went into testing but are only now coming to the default version.
New A.I.
The robot guards have new A.I. that makes them react to the player's position. They will now hide behind walls and emerge to shoot as needed.
In this gif you can see two of the new features. Right at the beginning you can see the red damage circle when the player gets hit. Then, watch the behavior of the guard as it peeks out and takes a shot at our protagonist before retreating behind the wall...
Aim Issue
The crosshair for weapons was a bit off in previous versions. Actually, it was the trajectory of the projectiles that was off, but these have been addressed and should now aim straight for the center of the screen where the crosshair resides.
Damage Effect
The protagonist, when taking damage, will now show a growing red circle that starts from the direction in which the damage was taken. This should help identify the source of harm. Also, she will express her discomfort by saying "ouch."
Antialias Mode
Antialias mode has been added. Don't get too excited! You will find this option in the preferences menu, and you'll need to restart the game for it to take effect. It does indeed smooth out all the vector lines, but unfortunately, it also prevents my shaders from working properly. The result is that it is not as bright as the standard game.
Still, it has a nice, crisp look, and it improves the detail and clarity with which you can see objects. Here's a sneak preview:
As you can see it's pretty dark, however, when viewed in the full game window, it is still quite playable. Also, someone who was getting a bit of motion sickness from the game has said that this mode makes it much more playable than the brighter, default mode.
Improved Vents
I was able to address a few issues with the crawling vents. There were a couple places where you could get stuck in a vent entrance, and occasionally you could see "outside" of the level geometry from certain areas in the vents. This has been addressed, and should no longer cause issues.
Barrier Step
I added a small invisible ramp to those purple/green barriers, so when you step through them, the camera should not jump up and down abruptly.
Urchins
The outdoor "urchin" creatures can climb a bit better now, and have an improved attack sound effect.
Outdoor Performance
The frame-rate in the outdoor areas has been improved since the last default version.
Health and Ammo Drops
Previously, health and ammo that an enemy dropped had a good chance of falling through a floor or wall, making it unreachable. Now they should bounce off of the walls and should not pass through floors. With these drops, they are given out randomly, not every enemy will drop something, and it will not always be the same type or amount.