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PowerSlave EX public beta released for PC [update: pulled down again]

G

G-Fex

Member
http://www.doomworld.com/vb/everything-else/72886-powerslave-ex-public-beta-released/


https://powerslaveex.wordpress.com/

So my pal Kaiser has finished enough of his EX masterpiece Powerslave in a fantastic port of the original game.

You can get it here at his site under downloads.

VKv3JCe.gif


Reminder: It's still in beta.

None the less it's a fantastic game every old FPS fan should try, a mixture of a Blood/Duke Build engine game and uh.. 'metroidvania'? ( I don't like that term very much)
 
T

Tain

Member
PSX version? Interesting.

Entire rebuilds like this always make me cautious, but then you have stuff like Sonic CD so.
 
G

G-Fex

Member
I honestly don't know what he based it on, I don't remember if the pc/saturn/psx versions were drastically different.
 
S

Shadow Hog

Member
It's the PS1 version. He's emphasized as much several times over on his blog. He's still working on the Saturn version but hasn't quite figured out the map format.

Personally the Saturn version's a bit better than the PS1 version, being a bit more open (PS1 limitations must've forced more walls to be placed to cut down viewing distances or something, because, well, there are more walls around), not having dropped health/ammo drop to the ground (which is good when you kill a flying enemy over a deadly pit of lava, so the powerups don't drop right into it, although it can be annoying if the item is thus dropped too high for you to reach), having fancier "you got an item" animations in the menu, and letting you grenade jump (something the PS1 version curiously lacks)... but this is still really good.
 
G

G-Fex

Member
Shadow Hog said:
It's the PS1 version. He's emphasized as much several times over on his blog. He's still working on the Saturn version but hasn't quite figured out the map format.

Personally the Saturn version's a bit better than the PS1 version, being a bit more open (PS1 limitations must've forced more walls to be placed to cut down viewing distances or something, because, well, there are more walls around), not having dropped health/ammo drop to the ground (which is good when you kill a flying enemy over a deadly pit of lava, so the powerups don't drop right into it, although it can be annoying if the item is thus dropped too high for you to reach), having fancier "you got an item" animations in the menu, and letting you grenade jump (something the PS1 version curiously lacks)... but this is still really good.
Click to expand...

Ah okay.

Still this is the only version I played and I like it a lot
 
MrCunningham

MrCunningham

Member
I was hoping that this was going to be a port of the Saturn game. But I guess PS1 is alright. I had a chance to play through the Satrurn version of the game not long ago, and to be honest I was thoroughly impressed with it from start to finish. Such a great old school FPS and much better than the version of the game on PC that uses the Build engine.
 
L

Lafazar

Member
Interesting that they do an open beta. It was my understanding that Kaiser now works for Night Dive Studios, who acquired the rights to Exhumed/Powerslave and plan to publish the rerelease of the PC and PSX/Saturn versions on Steam and GOG.
 
C

Cleve

Member
Huh, I only ever played this on PC, where it used BUILD. I had no idea the game was so different on consoles.
 
@

@MUWANdo

Banned
Lafazar said:
Interesting that they do an open beta. It was my understanding that Kaiser now works for Night Dive Studios, who acquired the rights to Exhumed/Powerslave and plan to publish the rerelease of the PC and PSX/Saturn versions on Steam and GOG.
Click to expand...

There are comments on his blog that suggest the Night Dive deal isn't actually finalised and this may not end up being an official re-release.
 
L

Lafazar

Member
@MUWANdo said:
There are comments on his blog that suggest the Night Dive deal isn't actually finalised and this may not end up being an official re-release.
Click to expand...
Yeah, you are right. The FAQ says the following:

Is Powerslave EX free?

Powerslave EX will, and always will be, free. The engine will eventually become open source as well once I feel comfortable with the codebase.

Does Powerslave EX require the original copy of the game?

No, the entire game is included and no requirement of the original game is necessary.

Is this legal? Who owns the rights to Powerslave?

While I know who owns the rights, I am not going to disclose the name of that individual. That said, I have no intention of making any profit from Powerslave EX. The whole purpose of this project is to keep the spirit of the game alive and to introduce it to a whole new generation of gamers and act as a teaching tool to those who want to be a game programmer. This project will, and always will be, free. I will continue developing this project unless I am given a cease and desist letter.
Click to expand...
https://powerslaveex.wordpress.com/faq/

I wonder why that changed...

Edit: Ah here's the specific bit you were talking about:
Axl said:
1. How is this related to the Night Dive Studios project? On wiki one can read “In February 2015 is was announced by CEO Kick that they were working on re-releasing PowerSlave for the digital distribution services with an added bonus of porting the Saturn version into the package.”;

2. Will this be free? Or should one have the original psx-rom? (like Doom 64 EX)
Click to expand...

Kaiser said:
1. As of right now, PowerslaveEX is not related to the Night Dive Studios project. HOWEVER, Night Dive is currently discussing plans with the IP owner. If things works out, PowerslaveEX just may become a Night Dive project. Either ways, PowerslaveEX will still be open source.

2. If PowerslaveEX continues to be a non-Night Dive project, then yes, it will be free. Everything will be included unless I receive a cease and desist letter. Otherwise, it will require the user to have the PSX CD.
Click to expand...
https://powerslaveex.wordpress.com/2015/03/30/faq-time/comment-page-1/#comment-68
 
I

ichtyander

Member
Oh sweet, seeing as I've never played any version of Powerslave, I'd love to try this one out. Unfortunately the game just crashes on startup for me, but it's a beta so it's to be expected.
 
B

BlackLagoon

Member
Cleve said:
Huh, I only ever played this on PC, where it used BUILD. I had no idea the game was so different on consoles.
Click to expand...
As I recall, Lobotomy concluded that the only way to get the game running well on the Saturn was to rebuild it in an new engine customized to its peculiar hardware. They later used the same engine for their Saturn ports of Quake and Duke Nukem 3D.
 
M

Menome

Member
I was so disappointed after buying the PC version to find that it was a completely different game to the one I'd played on the Playstation. Knowing there's a PC-playable version coming one way or another is great news. :)
 
E

ElTopo

Banned
I want to say I'm about 75% through it so far. Haven't really experienced much in the way of bugs. Only thing I've noticed would be the very occasional FPS drop when there's a lot of shit on screen. So far I've beaten the first boss, have the flamethrower, found 2 receivers, and finally have those manacles that increase poison resistance.

Ingenious level design. I love how it loops and the devs rarely rely on light sources to guide you, but use enemies and destructible walls.
 
C

Combichristoffersen

Combovers don't work when there is no hair
Dictator93 said:
I have yet to try it out, but Doom64ex had support for the 360 controller, and therefore support for anything that can emulate that (i.e. DS3 and 4).
Click to expand...

The DS4 should work as a normal PC controller when plugged into a PC without having to use 360 controller emulation like I had to do for the DS3, right?
 
R

RedSwirl

Junior Member
Are there different visual styles you can look at or something? I honestly prefer the "no$PSX" screenshot that's all low-res and aliased. Will it have a mode where you can set different rendering and display resolutions (like Chocolate DOOM for instance)?
 
E

ElTopo

Banned
Thought I'd ask here: once you've gotten the poison resistance, which level are you supposed to go to? I assume I need another artifact in order to get past those electrified/magic/whatever doors.

Edit: figured it out.

How do I get to all the receivers though?

Edit: I figured out what the beep was about.
 
D

dark10x

Digital Foundry pixel pusher
Managed to get it from a friend.

Very very cool thus far. It's so nice having a high-res, high frame-rate version of the game. I still think it looks great too.

Only disappointing thing? The levels appear to be taken from the PSX game. The Saturn version featured more complex level design so it's a shame that wasn't included here. Not a big deal, really, but definitely something of note.
 
Facism

Facism

Member
good stuff, will hang on to see if he can sort the Saturn version out. So many good memories of it.
 
D

Dezzy

Member
Well this is a pleasant surprise. I loved this game on the PS1, and it's awesome to be able to replay this at a nice resolution and frame rate without all the crazy texture warping that the PS1 version had.

For those who never played this game, it's kinda like Doom+Metroid Prime in an Egyptian setting. So basically, it's great.
 
S

Shadow Hog

Member
WraithBringer said:
Hang on a second, i thought it was because games like this used a mixture of 2D and 3D rendering which is where the Saturn played into its strength?
Click to expand...
Hell if I know. I just know the Saturn version's levels are a smidgen more open. Not astonishingly so, just a wall or two here and there, but nevertheless...

They also rely less on platforms that fall when you jump on them, holy crap there are a lot more of those than I remember

Combichristoffersen said:
That's nice, although I wish the original PS1 version would be put up on PSN. Or is this compatible with the DS3 or DS4?
Click to expand...
For the record, you probably don't want to play the PS1 version instead of this port of the PS1 version. This game was before dual-analog FPS controls were standard, so you'd be stuck with a control scheme where you move forward/backward & turn with the D-Pad, strafe with the triggers and look up/down by holding a button and using the D-Pad. It's serviceable, but still pretty clunky.
 
S

SparkTR

Member
Really glad to see its released. Hopefully the Saturn version isn't too far behind, but I'm surprised these aren't going to be on Steam considering NightDive said they were going to rerelease it there.

Also how does it play with the mouse? I always notice that whenever I play an older console focused shooter on PC (like Turok) it's insanely easier than its meant to be.
 
C

Combichristoffersen

Combovers don't work when there is no hair
Shadow Hog said:
For the record, you probably don't want to play the PS1 version instead of this port of the PS1 version. This game was before dual-analog FPS controls were standard, so you'd be stuck with a control scheme where you move forward/backward & turn with the D-Pad, strafe with the triggers and look up/down by holding a button and using the D-Pad. It's serviceable, but still pretty clunky.
Click to expand...

Ugh, true enough. I need to find a mirror for this game and try to make it work with my DS3 or DS4.
 
E

ElTopo

Banned
So, is there a hidden boss or something? I've heard that you can get a bad ending but do I get anything for getting the good ending? I have all but one of the Transmitter pieces.
 
J

jvm

Gamasutra.
Shadow Hog said:
For the record, you probably don't want to play the PS1 version instead of this port of the PS1 version. This game was before dual-analog FPS controls were standard, so you'd be stuck with a control scheme where you move forward/backward & turn with the D-Pad, strafe with the triggers and look up/down by holding a button and using the D-Pad. It's serviceable, but still pretty clunky.
Click to expand...
Just one of the many reasons that the Saturn version was superior. Analog 3D pad for the win. Also perfect for the cousins, Duke 3D and Quake.
 
M

Morrigan Stark

Arrogant Smirk
Super dumb question but... how do I save? I can't find a way to manually save, and according to Wikipedia, auto-save was on PC only and this is the PSX version?

Edit: well, either Wikipedia is wrong or this was added in the EX version because it does auto-save between levels. :)
 
P

PaulloDEC

Member
Just played for about ten minutes, and I'm super impressed. Controls are really smooth, visuals look excellent for a 20 year old game, menus work great. Definitely looking forward to the full release.
 
E

ElTopo

Banned
Just beat it. Took me about 5-6 hours. AMAZING FPS. Got the good ending but found only one of the Developer Dolls (accidentally).

Hopefully this little game gets some new found respect.
 
S

Shadow Hog

Member
ElTopo said:
So, is there a hidden boss or something? I've heard that you can get a bad ending but do I get anything for getting the good ending? I have all but one of the Transmitter pieces.
Click to expand...
No hidden bosses that I know of. To my knowledge, the good ending adds
an additional escape-from-the-tomb sequence
immediately after the final level, but other than that and having different ending cinematics (wherein it's either revealed that
the Kilmat came back after you got buried in Ramses's tomb, take over Earth and put your corpse on display in their museums
in the bad ending or that
Ramses made you immortal and eventually humanity cottons onto this and elects you President of Earth
in the good ending), that's about it.

Still, you might as well go for it, y'know? The game's designed for you to revisit old stages and pick things like that that you'd missed with your newfound powers.

Plus, y'know, if you want a challenge, there's the Team Dolls, which give you
the ability to fly through the stage
in the PS1 version or
Death Tank
in the Saturn version...

jvm said:
Just one of the many reasons that the Saturn version was superior. Analog 3D pad for the win. Also perfect for the cousins, Duke 3D and Quake.
Click to expand...
Well, I mean, the specific control scheme I spelled out there is actually the one I had to play through the Saturn version with. Analog pad only made the D-Pad movements... well, analog, instead of digital. I could control how fast I moved forward/backward or turned left/right, but that's about it, and it wasn't a much of a gain over digital.

AFAIK the only Lobotomy FPS that actually has a vaguely twin-stick analog layout is the cheat-code-enabled control scheme in Quake (and even then, it has permanent lookspring on, permanent inverted Y-axis, and won't let you look directly up/down).
 
D

dark10x

Digital Foundry pixel pusher
Morrigan Stark said:
Super dumb question but... how do I save? I can't find a way to manually save, and according to Wikipedia, auto-save was on PC only and this is the PSX version?

Edit: well, either Wikipedia is wrong or this was added in the EX version because it does auto-save between levels. :)
Click to expand...
It always saved between levels in the original version as well. You could not save mid-level, however.
 
@

@MUWANdo

Banned
dark10x said:
Managed to get it from a friend.

Very very cool thus far. It's so nice having a high-res, high frame-rate version of the game. I still think it looks great too.

Only disappointing thing? The levels appear to be taken from the PSX game. The Saturn version featured more complex level design so it's a shame that wasn't included here. Not a big deal, really, but definitely something of note.
Click to expand...

It's not universally "more complex" in one version or the other--many of the rooms were made smaller in the PSX version but some became bigger, and most of them gained extra geometry even if the physical size of the rooms was reduced. A lot of the overall changes seem to have been made for the sake of it, not due to negligence or hardware issues or whatever.
 
D

dark10x

Digital Foundry pixel pusher
@MUWANdo said:
It's not universally "more complex" in one version or the other--many of the rooms were made smaller in the PSX version but some became bigger, and most of them gained extra geometry even if the physical size of the rooms was reduced. A lot of the overall changes seem to have been made for the sake of it, not due to negligence or hardware issues or whatever.
Click to expand...
Haven't just played a lot of both versions recently I didn't actually spot any instances where PSX rooms were larger or more complex (not to say it doesn't happen since I haven't finished the PSX or EX version yet).

It's still an interesting difference for sure.
 
onken

onken

Member
Ok have been playing this for a bit.

-sound design is amazing
-widescreen/AA/AF settings for the modern PC
-controls great
-no difficulty setting and seems easier than I remember, I guess thanks to mouse controls?
-game speed is linked to framerate so putting max framrate up to say 144 makes the game over double speed :(
-no option to change gamma and the setting in the config.cfg doesn't seem to have any affect

Technical niggles above aside, really enjoying it!
 
C

charlequin

Banned
Huh, tried this out and get immense choppiness instantaneously -- like, pointer being jumpy in menu, hiccups every five seconds or so during gameplay. Anyone else seen that happen?
 
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