Hey everyone!
Now, back when I said that we’d be posting on a more irregular basis, we didn’t have this kind of time gap in mind… but, oh well, what can ya do?
As you could guess from the title, today we’re going to be digging into the world of DEADBOLT modding! From humble beginnings back in April 2020, it’s come a long way over the course of several months, and I believe now’s the time to showcase what’s been made.
This is entirely community-driven, so all credits go to the contributors of this project. The main shoutout goes to Chris Bloomfield who’s laid out the main framework to expand upon, but of course, other community members’ efforts (such as Nintee’s custom sprites and countless mod ideas in the #modding channel over on our Discord) are not to be forgotten.
DEADBOLT Editor Community Patch
Since custom levels are at the heart of community content, I feel it’s appropriate to start off with the new custom level editor - the DEADBOLT Editor Community Patch, or DECP. Coincidentally, it was the first piece of custom content Chris made before moving onto the game itself.
The features DECP provides on its own are already incredibly useful. Several bugs have been squashed as one may expect, but Chris went above and beyond with features such as missing object support (you may recognise the lich arm and crossbow from previous Map Highlights), quality of life features (such as being able to optionally place Puff and his desk separately), extra UI elements, object scaling, easy-to-make custom thumbnails, a more in-depth and helpful GUI, and so... much... more! It’s honestly overwhelming just how much broader the possibilities are now.
Best part is, most of what’s listed above doesn’t require any changes to the game itself! Whether it be a regular level or one made with DECP, all is playable within the vanilla version of the game without the need for DCP. Speaking of which...
DEADBOLT Community Patch
custom.json
First on the list is workshop integration! With DCP installed, there are several items on the workshop that allow you to download not just new maps, but also content like sprite replacement, which will allow you to bring a little bit of variety to your level (only available for enemies at the time of writing) or the ability to play as (almost) any enemy! Force a specific loadout? Sure. Give the player control of Bouncer or Ibzan? You bet! They don’t have the luxury of using vents like the Reaper can, though. Check out these examples here:
Be sure to read the descriptions for instructions on how to enable them.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2215574282 https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2224115387 https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2251042841
The custom.json configurator can be found here:
https://deadbolt.codemuffin.com/config/customjson
Custom Objects
Ever looked at the console port of the game and wished you could use all those sweet exclusive weapons? Honestly, same. Fortunately for us, a few of them are now available! DCP includes stuff you’d recognise from a few custom maps like the Lich Arm and Crossbow, but it also implements a recreation of the console’s crossbow (named the Compound Crossbow to differentiate from the original), complete with retrievable bolts!
There are even two original weapons based on unused sprites left in the files: the Burst Pistol and Sickle! The former, as you could gather from the name, is like a mini-Burst Rifle, while the Sickle is an insanely powerful, reusable throwable.
To those of you who want to dabble with the editor, DCP has several new objects to play around with. Wallpapers, lights, and water can now be tinted with 52 colour variations, allowing for a much larger range of aesthetic options.
If you’re more interested in new gameplay features, check out the smoke detector and cable box. The smoke detector was somewhat functional in vanilla, sounding an alarm when you exit a nearby vent, but DCP shows you the radius while in the vents, so you won’t get caught off guard by it. The cable box was entirely nonfunctional, crashing when interacted with. In DCP, it will activate whatever its child is when interacted with - a much simpler alternative than killing an offscreen enemy.
Configure to your soul’s content
DCP also allows for an astonishing degree of customisation. Seriously, there’s so much stuff. Customisable or even completely removeable HUD, a debug mode with features like teleportation, infinite ammo and more, configurable character stats, custom laser sight and cursor colors, combat rolling, bullet deflection, an overhauled Load Custom menu and I feel like we’re just scratching the surface here! And, of course, each and every one of these (and many more) can be toggled at any time, creating countless possible combinations.
The provided images and gifs speak volumes more than we ever could, and experiencing all this for yourself will have an even greater impact.
So why not do just that? Go onto the DCP and DECP web pages, read up on every single available feature, check out the guides, mess around with the level config and the ingame options - sky’s the limit here, really. And if you've got feedback to provide, feel free to drop into the #modding channel over on our Discord server.
And you can bet that there’s more content to come in the future.
Broadening The Horizons
Of course, these aren’t the only pieces of modding that are worth your attention. How about fan translations? Complete with custom fonts and fully translated sprites (main menu, writings on the walls, etc.), these two fanmade localisations for Korean and Russian languages are sure to open the game up to an even greater audience, in case language barriers previously prevented that.
And with that, we bid you farewell. Happy hopooween!