Latest Reviews Vicious Circles Review HAR Review Saydm1 Review NARR Review      Latest Previews Rage DM 1.1      Interviews Darkfang-SmashDM      Map of The Month Oct./Nov.: Wildpack 2 September: Boo August: Hazard July: FlashDM1

Darkfang-Smash Doom DM Interview Welcome to the Doom DM Resource's first exclusive interview! In our spotlight is the elusive Darkfang, well known in the community for his current ongoing project THRUST. Today we discuss his newest endeavor; entitled Smash Doom DM, this mod promises a deathmatch experience modeled after the popular Nintendo 64 game Super Smash Bros. Needless to say the project sounded intriguing, and so we had to know more... dmDoom: Ok, just to start off, could you tell us a little bit about yourself and the kinds of projects that you're currently involved in? DarkFang: Well, my real name is Sean White. I'm 16 years old and soon to be a junior in Havre de Grace high school. I'm currently working on the Thrust, SmashDM, Skulltag, and Ninja Doom projects as of right now. dmDoom: Now, what exactly *is* SmashDM? DarkFang: SmashDM is short for Smash Doom DM, and its a ZDoom side project I'm working on. It takes after the Nintendo 64 game Super Smash Bros., with the exception being that this version is made for the Doom environment. dmDoom: What made you decide to do this project in the first place? DarkFang: Basically my love for Super Smash Bros.; if I'm not on the computer, I'm glued to the TV screen playing that game. I once started thinking about it and thought it would be cool if the famous people from the Doom community could duke it out in the same style, and thus SmashDM was born. A view of the character selection screen. dmDoom: Do you think you can elaborate a little bit on the rules for all our readers? In other words, will it follow the original game's scoring system or a modified set of those rules? DarkFang: Everything that was true in Super Smash Bros. is true in SmashDM. Health (aka hit points), scoring, single player, multi-player, screen layout, jumping, and even little details like gravity were all modified in the Doom engine to make it feel more like Super Smash Bros. The only difference is when you perform a special move; I've implemented an "energy" system that allows for [the execution of] these moves. dmDoom: That's an interesting point - the special moves. In general, how would players execute these moves? DarkFang: Well, it all depends. There are three special moves each character can have. Each special move is expected to be a little stronger than the previous and thus requires more energy. Just by pressing one of the buttons that the player has setup in the "Customize Controls" menu in Zdoom, the player can execute that special move...that is of course if he has enough energy. dmDoom: So instead of having to input a series of button presses to do moves (a la street fighter etc.), this energy system is what will keep the special moves in check? I'm assuming then that special moves are pretty powerful in the game... DarkFang: Yes, the energy system keeps the game in balance and ensures that players don't keep using the same powerful move over and over to rack up points. Energy automatically goes up by itself in the game, say about 5-7 points a second. Each special moves requires a certain amount of energy and depending on how strong the special move is determines how much of your energy it will expend. A normal special move that does "above normal" damage would need about 25-30 energy, as opposed to a massive blow that would require about 75-90 energy to perform. Chase cam perspective of the Astreal character. dmDoom: Now about the arenas; when you say that the screen layout has been preserved, does that mean that players will not be fighting from a first person perspective but from a 2-D side view just like the original? DarkFang: Oh, they will be playing first person. When I said the screen layout, I meant that the status bar and heads-up display (HUD) has been modified to appear like Super Smash Bros. dmDoom: Will these arenas also have the features that were present in the original game like conveyer belts etc.? DarkFang: Well, yes and no. The layout of the arenas themselves will most likely be way different since Doom does not support floors over floors. Most of the arenas will, I hope, be based off the major Doom partial conversions and total conversions. When it comes to overall rules for arenas though, i.e. how you can knock a player out is done the same way you'd do it from Super Smash Bros. dmdoom: Ah, I see...that makes it much clearer. DarkFang: That's good! :) dmDoom: How does game balance fit into all this? Assuming that you've got a big variety of player characers, are you going to just hand-tune the balance yourself or are you planning to put some limits as to what people's characters can and cannot do? DarkFang: Yes, in both ways actually. People who make characters can totally make up some freaky special move, but there are limits as to how much damage it can do. Moves should not have damage that ranges over 50-60 percent, and even then those numbers are a bit high. For example, one person suggested that the [Astreal's] fireclub should do 80 points of damage. That's way too much, especially for the first special move which is supposed to be the weakest. So, I took it upon myself to reduce that down to 30 hit points. One of SmashDM's many arenas. dmDoom: Some people don't find melee attacks in first-person shooters very appealing. They believe that it slows down the game's pace and is just annoying to use overall. What do you think SmashDM can offer to this particular crowd? Will it convince these kinds of players to at least come and give the mod a shot? DarkFang: Well, I know exactly why people like this find melee attacks frustrating, its because Doom has such a short MELEERANGE variable. SmashDM will fix that by increasing the MELEERANGE variable, making it much easier to smack your target. dmDoom: Ok, so at least that's been taken care of. The SmashDM page mentions also that it's possible to throw different types of melee attacks. Will these attacks also have varying ranges as well? DarkFang: Yes, punching and kicking have different melee ranges to them. To make SmashDM more realistic and balanced, punching will have the standard "extended" melee range while being very quick and fast. Kicking has twice the range of a punch, is a bit slower in speed and will also cause slightly more damage. dmDoom: If it's not too much trouble, can you give us a run-down of contributors to the project so far? DarkFang: Sure, as of right now, Rick Clark has contributed 2 arenas so far. He also plans to send in four more SmashDM arenas as well. Kirby Sutton has given SmashDM the Astreal skin along with two arenas, and the Caverns of Darkness team is planning to send a map within the next couple days. dmDoom: Don't worry, we're almost to the end! =) We've got a random question, and then last of all the dreaded "finish the sentence"! BAHAHA! Er...um, ok, are you ready? DarkFang: Yep. dmDoom: Ok, who's hotter, Jennifer Love Hewitt or Katie Holmes? DarkFang: Haha...well, that's asking me to pick between night and day, but I am a little fond of the night so I'd say Jennifer Love Hewitt!! Mmm...yeah, that's right *umph* JLH rocks our world!!! DarkFang: :) dmDoom: LOL dmDoom: Good thing, if you had picked Katie Holmes I would have been forced to hurt you :) DarkFang: Hehehe dmDoom: If you could go back in time and make a game, that game would have been... (Doom doesn't count!) DarkFang: Arrghh...that's a tough one! I would have to say I would go back and make Starcraft by Blizzard Entertainment. Unreal would follow at a close second though! Heh, Starcraft had a great story and it was so damn fun! dmDoom: Alright, that about wraps things up. Thank you very much for the interview, and good luck on the project! What do you think of SmashDM? Post your ideas on our forum! If you want to know more, make sure to stop by Smash Doom DM's official homepage, or send DarkFang some feedback at darkfang@doomnation.com. Questions or comments about this interview? Send Razorback your thoughts.

Main | News | Intro to DM | DM Help | Players List | Exclusives | Skins | Forum | Links | Contacts