Releases: lethal-guitar/RigelEngine
v0.9.1 (stable)
🍎 For Mac OS, consider using the 3rd party build from macsourceports.com. Unlike the build attached here, it's a universal build for both Intel and Apple Silicon (ARM64) Macs, and it's also signed and notarized.
ℹ️ Also see Steam Deck guide, Flatpak version, Raspberry Pi/Odroid Go guide
Overview
This is a small bugfix release, addressing a serious issue (crash during gameplay) found in the previous release. See v0.9.0.
Release notes
Bug fixes
- Fixed a crash that could occur in level 1 of episode 2, in theory also in other levels but it was so far only observed in E2L1.
- Fixed being able to shoot destructible walls through 4-tile wide walls using the regular shot.
v0.9.0 (stable)
A crash bug was found in this release, which is fixed in v0.9.1 - I recommend downloading that one instead.
🍎 (Not updated yet) For Mac OS, consider using the 3rd party build from macsourceports.com. Unlike the build attached here, it's a universal build for both Intel and Apple Silicon (ARM64) Macs, and it's also signed and notarized.
ℹ️ Also see Steam Deck guide, Flatpak version, Raspberry Pi/Odroid Go guide
Overview
This release adds the gameplay demo and a few visual effects that were still missing in RigelEngine. Parity with the original is also improved in terms of gameplay, with various smaller inconsistencies now fixed and a newly added "Classic" mode which replicates every single quirk, glitch and bug found in the original (game-breaking bugs excluded).
In terms of bug fixes, several issues related to handling of file paths with Unicode characters on Windows have been addressed, alongside some other smaller problems.
Known issues
- There is a crash in level 1 of episode 2 (fixed in v0.9.1)
- On Windows, Unicode characters in mod directories are displayed as
?in the mod manager. This is only a visual issue, the mods in these directories can still be loaded. Workaround: Give ASCII-only names to mod directories. - In enhanced mode, the player position is slightly off after dismounting ladders while facing left. This doesn't cause any noticeable problems, it's just an inconsistency with the original. This does not occur in Classic mode.
Release notes
New features
- Added a "Classic" gameplay style/mode. It doesn't support widescreen mode or smooth motion, but is 100% accurate to the original. Quick-saving and high-resolution mods are still supported. See Classic Mode vs. Enhanced Mode for more details.
- Implemented the gameplay demo (plays during the attract mode loop at the beginning of the game or after waiting for 30 seconds in the main menu).
- Implemented the original game's cloak effect, replacing the previously used alpha transparency.
- Implemented the original game's slide-in animation when showing message boxes.
- Added an option to disable the radar overlay when using the "Remixed 1" HUD style.
- Added an option to disable aspect ratio correction when using pixel-perfect upscaling (aka integer scaling). This is to allow running RigelEngine on a 4:3 CRT at original (or close to) resolution.
- It's now possible to confirm quitting by pressing enter instead of
Y(but the latter also still works). - Pressing ESC while in-game now brings up the in-game menu (this was previously only accessible by using a gamepad). Pressing Q now does what ESC used to do, i.e. bringing up the "Quit" dialog without going through the menu.
Parity improvements
- Fixed (very) minor discrepancies in the color palette.
- Added missing horizontal parallax for vertically autoscrolling backdrops.
- Fixed oversight in player movement: In the original, Duke cannot move left/right when hanging from a pipe as long as the fire button is held down.
- It was possible for an enemy to get hit by multiple player shots per frame, but this isn't possible in the original. Now Rigel doesn't allow that anymore either.
- Hint machine messages cannot be interrupted by other messages in the original game, but this was possible in Rigel - now fixed.
- Handling of shootable walls now matches the original.
- The watchbot (jumpy robot with a big eye) was jumping too frequently, it now matches the original.
- Fixed discrepancies in behavior for the wall walker enemy.
- Fixed discrepancies in behavior for the green cat/dog creature.
- Fixed discrepancies in behavior for the spiked dragon/lizard creature.
- Fixed discrepancy in the cooldown period for manual scrolling after firing a shot.
- Fixed player starting location being off by one in levels where the player starts out facing left.
- Fixed incorrect animation speeds for Rigelatin space ship engine fire, shallow water, and rotating floor spikes.
- After being released from their box, certain items have a brief period during which they can't be picked up yet. This was missing in RigelEngine.
Bug fixes
- On Windows, RigelEngine couldn't store saved games, options, or the location of the game files if the Windows username contained Unicode characters. This is now fixed.
- Fixed loading mods from paths with Unicode characters on Windows.
- Fixed saving screenshots to paths with Unicode characters on Windows.
- Fixed graphical glitches (bright lines appearing next to certain sprites) that could occur on some systems when high-res graphic replacements were used.
- Fixed being able to walk through walls under specific circumstances.
- In widescreen mode, when using one of the remixed HUD options, the classic HUD will be shown as fallback in case the current screen resolution's aspect ratio is not wide enough for the selected HUD style. In that case, it was possible to walk behind the right side of the HUD (i.e., the gameplay area extended beyond the HUD). This is now fixed.
- Framerate drops could cause the game to advance a few frames into the future without respecting player input. This is now improved.
v0.8.5 (stable)
Overview
🍎 For Mac OS, consider using the 3rd party build from macsourceports.com. Unlike the build attached here, it's a universal build for both Intel and Apple Silicon (ARM64) Macs, and it's also signed and notarized.
ℹ️ Also see Steam Deck guide, Flatpak version, Raspberry Pi/Odroid Go guide
This release adds a built-in mod manager and further improves the HUD in widescreen mode, along with some smaller additions. With the mod manager, it's now possible to organize mods into directories, and select mods to use from within the game. Regarding the HUD, additional styles are now available, which increase the size of the gameplay area. Finally, there are also a few bug fixes, including a critical one.
Known issues
The following issues will be fixed in the next release (most are already fixed in the source code):
- On Windows, if your username contains non-ASCII characters, the game won't be able to save any options, saved games, or other settings.
- On Windows, mods must be in directories with ASCII-only names.
- When one of the remixed HUD styles is selected, but the classic HUD is used as fallback (because the screen/window isn't wide enough for the chosen HUD style), the gameplay area incorrectly extends beyond the right side of the HUD - i.e. you/enemies can walk behind the HUD. This does not happen when the classic HUD is selected.
- Under certain circumstances, it's possible to walk through walls. This doesn't happen in any of the original levels, but it can happen in custom levels.
Release notes
New features
- Implemented a mod manager. Mods can now be organized into directories, and each mod can be enabled/disabled in the options menu. See Modding Support for more details.
- Added additional "remixed" HUD styles in widescreen mode. Thanks to @OpenRift412 and Roobar for creating the art assets.
- Added additional upscaling filters: Sharp bilinear, pixel perfect (integer scaling). Note that using mods with high-res replacement graphics currently forces nearest neighbor filtering.
- The game now writes a log file into the user directory.
- Gamepad controls are now explained in the options menu.
- The top-level in-game menu (reachable via gamepad) now shows the current episode, level and difficulty in the title.
Improvements
- Improved the look of the classic HUD in widescreen mode, by extending the left side to cover the length of the screen.
- Reworked quick saving/loading gamepad controls, to make loading quick saves possible without needing to open the menu. The select/back button now acts as a modifier. When pressed together with shoot, a quick save is made. Pressing the button together with jump loads the last quick save.
Bug fixes
- Fixed destructible level geometry remaining visible after being destroyed in certain cases
- Fixed game not starting if the game data was in a path with certain special characters (Windows only)
- Fixed brief camera movement after turning wide-screen mode on/off or changing the window size
- Fixed slime blob containers sometimes not animating (Linux only)
- Fixed sprites flickering in and out of existence in certain circumstances
- The episode 2 boss would keep flying when killed in mid-flight. This is now fixed.
Contributors
Assets 6
Beta v0.8.4
Overview
This release improves the smooth movement and motion mode by making dynamic level geometry smooth, and fixing some issues. Modding support is enhanced as well, and there are a few other improvements and bug fixes. Finally, the HUD in widescreen mode has changed: The area to the left of the HUD is not used for showing parts of the level anymore, since this would often show out-of-bounds parts of the map. The previous release (v0.8.3) attempted to minimize that by keeping the camera higher up than normal when near the bottom of the map, but that caused other issues. So ultimately, I decided to roll back the camera changes and block off the area to the left of the HUD to avoid the out-of-bounds issue completely.
Known issues
- There's an issue in E2L5 and E3L5: Parts of destructible/burnable walls stay visible even after they have been destroyed. This is purely visual, the walls do not have collision. Fixed in v0.8.5.
- On Windows, RigelEngine can't load game data from paths with certain special characters/symbols. Fixed in v0.8.5.
Release notes
Smooth motion mode improvements
- Moving parts of the level (falling rocks, doors, ...) are now moving smoothly as well.
- Fixed glitches (jittering top part) with the smash hammer and grabber claw.
Modding support improvements
- It's now possible to replace
STATUS.MNIwith a PNG image that can be original or higher resolution. This allows changing various fonts and UI elements, including parts of the HUD. - Replacements for actors used by the HUD can now be high resolution.
Other improvements
- Improved performance on Raspberry Pi, especially when under water areas are visible.
- Blocked off the area to the left of the HUD in widescreen mode to avoid potentially showing out-of-bounds parts of the map
- Further improved digitized sound effect quality by replacing the ADPCM decoding code with the exact same algorithm as implemented in the SoundBlaster firmware, based on disassembly of the latter
- Improved the sound test UI
Bug fixes
- Fixed camera moving too far down when falling into a bottomless pit in widescreen mode
- Fixed important parts at the bottom of the level being hidden in certain cases in widescreen mode (e.g. platforms between lava pools in E3L1)
- Fixed visual glitches on GL ES devices like Raspberry Pi and Odroid Go (overly pixelated backdrop during scrolling, white lines visible next to certain enemies during the damage flash effect)
- Fixed missing fade-in effect when using the teleporter
- Fixed incorrect rendering of high-res replacement backdrops when vertical auto-scrolling is used
- Fixed position of dialog boxes (quit confirm, game paused etc.) in widescreen mode
- Fixed visual glitch when entering a menu while smooth motion is enabled
Beta v0.8.3
Overview
This is another release primarily focused on bug fixes. In addition, some smaller improvements are made, mainly in the area of sound and music playback quality.
Release notes
New features
- Added the Nuked OPL3 AdLib emulator as an alternative to DBOPL (selectable in the Sound options). Nuked OPL3 is more accurate but also uses more CPU. The difference in CPU load has little impact on most systems, but it does matter on low-end devices like Raspberry Pi Zero.
- Added a "sound test" button to the Sound options (play a chosen sound effect)
Improvements
- Improved sound effect quality for certain digital sounds (
SB_nn.MNIfiles in VOC format) by using a more accurate ADPCM decoding algorithm (same as DosBox's SoundBlaster emulation). - Slightly improved sound effect quality for AdLib sounds by running the emulator at the native OPL2 frequency (49716 Hz).
- In widescreen mode, the camera now tries to avoid showing out-of-bounds parts of the map if possible, by restricting downward scrolling unless it's necessary to keep the player on screen.
- Added 75 to the list of pre-defined FPS limits for the FPS limiter.
Bug fixes
- Fixed a soft-lock that could occur when killing a ceiling sucker at exactly the same time as it sucked up Duke.
- When dying due to shooting an airlock and then respawning at a checkpoint, Duke would remain in the spinning animation. This is now fixed.
- Fixed a small visual glitch appearing during the fade-out of the intro movie.
- The credits screen shown during the attract mode loop didn't react to any key press aside from ESC, this is now fixed.
- Under certain circumstances, the main menu would respond to a keypress that happened during the intro or another menu. This is now fixed.
- Fixed visual glitches (bright lines between tiles) that could occur at certain resolutions/window sizes when using high-res replacement graphics.
- Fixed an issue that made high-resolution backdrop replacements appear as low resolution under certain circumstances.
- Fixed right side of the HUD being partially cut off at certain window sizes/resolutions.
Beta v0.8.2
Overview
The biggest change in this release is the addition of a smooth scrolling & movement option (aka 60 FPS mode). This feature is still in development, but already adds a lot to the game, which is why I decided to include it in this minor release. In addition, some bugs were fixed and a few small features/improvement were added.
Release notes
New features
- Added a smooth scrolling and movement mode. When this is enabled, the game is taking full advantage of the display framerate (60 FPS or higher) by interpolating object and camera movement during rendering (internal game logic is still running at 15 FPS). This is currently still work in progress, see known issues.
- The engine has a built-in screenshot function now. Press F12 to take a screenshot. It will be saved as PNG in either your Duke Nukem II game files directory, or in the user profile directory if the former is not writable.
- It's now possible to skip the bonus screen after finishing a level by pressing Enter or Esc (or controller button A or B).
- Added an option to the Enhancements tab to skip the intro when RigelEngine starts (same as the
-scommand line option). - Added information about currently active gamepads to the options menu
Improvements
- In widescreen mode, out of bounds areas are now drawn in black instead of showing the background.
- Replacement backgrounds (mods) can now be wider than the original art they are replacing, and will be displayed correctly (without distortion)
- For auto-scrolling backgrounds, the scroll position is now saved/restored when quick saving/loading.
- The game will now run even if the intro movie files (
NUKEM2.F1,.F2etc.) are missing. The movies will be skipped instead of exiting the game. - Game physics are more correct now w.r.t. the original code when it comes to items falling down.
Bug fixes
- Fixed the "wall dance" glitch. This glitch allows Duke to move through walls using a specific sequence of moves.
- Fixed spiders sometimes not latching on to Duke when touching him
- Fixed items getting stuck in the ceiling when the box was shot while hidden behind a rock that would later fall down (e.g. in N2).
- Fixed missing animation for the Computer merchandise pickup.
- Fixed a glitch when starting a level while having high resolution mods enabled, where the graphics would briefly show as low resolution.
- Fixed in-game messages not being affected by screen shake when in widescreen mode
Beta v0.8.1
Overview
This is a small bug fix follow-up to v0.8.0, fixing a bug that was introduced shortly before releasing. See 0.8.0 for full release notes.
Release notes
Bug fixes
- Fixed laser turrets beings destructible with Duke's regular weapon after loading a quick save
Beta v0.8.0
Overview
There are many new features, bug fixes, and improvements in this release. Some of the highlights are extended modding support (swap in high fidelity replacements for graphics and sound) and more sound options (AdLib only, combined AdLib/SoundBlaster).
What's more, this is also the first release to include pre-built binaries for Mac OS and Linux! And there is now an icon for RigelEngine thanks to @LunarLoony.
Many thanks to everyone who tested the game, reported bugs and made suggestions!
Known issues (fixed in 0.8.1)
Laser turrets destructible with regular weapon after quickloading (#736)
Release notes
New features
- Extended modding support: It's now possible for sprites, tilesets, backdrops, sound effects, and music to be replaced with higher fidelity assets in modern formats. See modding support for more info.
- More sound options: In addition to SoundBlaster sound effects, AdLib and combined AdLib + SB effects can now be chosen, like in the original game
- Added a "About" tab to the options menu with version information and credits
- Added an option to disable screen flash effects
- Added an optional bilinear filtering up-scaling mode (only works if no high-res replacement graphics are used)
Gamepad support and usability improvements
- More types of gamepads are supported out of the box in the Windows and Mac versions (on Linux, it depends on the SDL version installed in the system)
- Added support for multiple gamepads/controllers: When multiple gamepads are connected at the same time, the game will react to inputs from all of them.
- Added a "Quick Save" entry to the gamepad in-game menu as an alternative to using the "select"/"back" button
- The Mac build now supports high DPI displays (e.g. Retina). Previously, the game would appear slightly blurry on these kinds of displays.
- The Windows build now ships with a much newer version of SDL (2.0.14 instead of 2.0.4).
- The Windows build doesn't pop up a console window in the background anymore.
- Errors during initialization (e.g. because of missing OpenGL support) are now popping up a message box with the error message
- Improved boss health bar in episode 3: In the original game, the health bar is too big to fit on screen, causing it to not move for most of the boss battle. In RigelEngine, the health bar now shows this particular boss' health as a percentage instead of showing one pixel per unit of health, making the health bar always fit on screen.
- It's now possible to switch between windowed and fullscreen modes in the OpenGL ES version, when running in a Desktop environment (e.g. X11/Wayland).
- Improved layout of the options menu (the game path selection is now bottom-aligned, and thus doesn't move around anymore when switching between tabs)
- The numpad arrow keys can now be used for menu navigation.
Bug fixes
- Fixed alt-tabbing on Linux (the game would freeze after alt-tabbing away and back)
- Fixed broken backdrop flash effect when destroying the reactors in L5
- Fixed sound/music toggles in options menu not fitting on screen at very small resolutions (e.g. on OGA)
- Fixed a problem in wide-screen mode where some sprites in the lower left part of the screen (to the left of the HUD) would sometimes not be rendered
- Fixed incorrect background after quick loading in L1, when the quick save was made before using the teleporter but the loading was triggered after using it (i.e. from outside the prison environment back into the prison environment)
- Fixed sound effect that kept playing after exiting the intro movie at the right moment
- When switching to windowed mode for the first time, the window was stuck in the top-left corner with the title bar off screen, making it hard to move the window. This is now fixed.
- Fixed crash in wide-screen mode when the screen was too wide (wider than the level)
- Fixed an issue where switching wide-screen on while in windowed mode and then resizing the window afterwards would sometimes result in parts of the window not being drawn (remaining black)
- Fixed spiders incorrectly animating while waiting in ambush (e.g. in L8)
- Fixed Duke briefly hovering in the air when unlocking a key/force field while in the air
- Small bombs (e.g. dropped by 1st episode boss) were incorrectly damaging the player on touch (only the explosion is meant to be damaging). This is now fixed.
- Fixed incorrect death animation for final boss (episode 4)
- Fire bombs (from red boxes) didn't destroy laser turrets, only stunning them like Duke's regular shot. This is now fixed.
- Fixed a soft-lock related to the snake enemy that eats Duke: Killing a snake at the exact moment that it started swallowing Duke would result in Duke disappearing and the level not being playable anymore
Beta v0.7.1
Overview
This release is primarily focused on bug fixes and better Raspberry Pi support. Additionally, the original game's cheat codes have been implemented.
Known issues (fixed in 0.8)
There are a few known issues in this release:
- The window cannot be moved after switching to windowed mode. Workaround: Press Windows key and a direction key to snap the window to one side of the screen, this brings the window title bar into view and the window can now be resized. Alternatively, edit the config file.
- In level 1 of episode 1, the wrong background is sometimes shown after quick loading
- In wide-screen mode, sprites in the lower left part of the screen are sometimes not shown
- The game will abort with an error if wide-screen mode is on and the window is wider than the width of the current level (this happens in tall but narrow levels, like N3, and at extremely wide aspect ratios on regular levels.)
Release notes
New features
- Implemented the original game's cheat codes found in the registered version
- Added a loading screen during application startup. Mainly meant for slower devices like Raspberry Pi and Odroid Go Advance, where startup can take a few seconds.
Raspberry Pi improvements
- Vastly improved performance: At 1080p, a Pi Zero or Pi 3 model B now manages a steady 60 FPS (previously only 18). Pi 1 and 2 are still stuck at 50 FPS for now due to their lower GPU clock, but run fine at 720p or when overclocked.
- Fixed visual artifacts with the "under water" effect
- Fixed mouse interaction (the options menu didn't respond to mouse clicks)
Bug fixes
- It was possible to freeze the game (no reaction to user input, only quitting via Alt+F4 working) by pressing space bar instead of enter in the save game menu. This is now fixed.
- Picking up rapid fire or cloak while already having the corresponding item didn't reset the item timer like in the original, but instead added a 2nd instance to the inventory. This is now fixed.
- The in-game message/boss health bar was positioned incorrectly when not in wide-screen mode
- The in-game message/boss health bar was not affected by screen shake
- It was not possible to select a different game path if the path stored in the profile became invalid, was moved etc. Now, the path selection dialog is shown again in case of an invalid path in the profile.
- Fixed visual glitch where a black rectangle was sometimes visible in the menus
- Fixed visual glitch where a previously shown menu screen was briefly visible during the transition from bonus screen to high score entry upon finishing the game
Beta v0.7.0
Overview
This release adds keyboard control rebinding, a new quick save feature, and a few other missing features. Plus, some minor discrepancies with the original game have been fixed.
Also worth noting is that game options are now stored in a human-readable text file, next to the user profile file.
Release notes
New features
- Added a "Keyboard controls" tab to the options menu, to allow customizing key bindings for in-game controls. On first launch, key bindings from the original game are imported (if present).
- Added the Duke Nukem 3D teaser screen that appears after beating episode 4
- Added the "hype" message shown when launching the game for the first time
- Added switch to intro/demo sequence after sitting on the main menu without any input for a while
Enhancements
- Temporary quick saving: Press F5 to quick save, F7 to load. On a gamepad, press "back" (small button left of Xbox button/Dualshock touchpad/...) to quick save, and load via the in-game menu. For now, quick saves are not stored on disk, meaning quitting or finishing the current level will delete the last quick save. Permanently storing quick saves is planned for a future update. Quick saving is an optional enhancement that needs to be enabled in the options menu first.
- Improved menu navigation: Pressing ESC (or button B on a gamepad) while on the saved game name entry goes back to the save slot selection, instead of leaving the menu entirely like in the original
Bug fixes
- Duke's ship was incorrectly drawn behind other objects like item boxes
- Fixed sporadic time skips that could occur on some platforms (e.g. Odroid Go Advance)
- Fixed incorrect starting position for rockets fired downwards by the player while hanging on a pipe
- Fixed incorrect rocket smoke position for downwards-facing rockets fired by Duke
- Fixed a discrepancy in behavior for the Blue Guard
- Fixed a player control discrepancy: It was possible to fire a shot during the first frame of a jump and during landing, which is not possible in the original
- Player movement now more accurately matches the original with regards to changing direction while looking up/crouching/aiming down from a pipe