Hexen: Cult of Despair - A "semi-openworld" WoC campaign

[Exeor]

Hi all!

I have been working in an Hexen campaign since I discovered the mod Wrath of Cronos, I really love Heretic & Hexen and this mod gave me enough strength and motivation to start my own campaign using this mod. I'm still new in level design terms but I think that I have been improving and learning over time.

What is Wrath of Cronos?: It is an Hexen mod made by Tethis (full compatible with Doom, Heretic and even Strife) which brings rpg elements, new weapons, 5 playable classes and new monsters.

What brings this campaign?: Cult of Despair is a campaign exclusive for WoC although I have plans to make a full vanilla version in the distant future. The game configuration is made in Hexen UDMF to take advantage of the Doom 64 light system and the alignment of floor textures. It uses a lot of scripts for the spawn system of enemies and items, so for example, you will never see the most dangerous Ettin variant called Bormereth in the first hours of the game or a Merchant in a weird place (because it sometimes replaces the Boots of Speed and the Chaos Device). I have added new props for ambience purposes such as more tree variants, corpses or custom textures.

But what would be a "semi-openworld" without npcs? Yes, you will see and meet characters (and friendly animals!) during your adventure, it adds some immersion to feel that you aren't the only sane human in this dark world, they will sometimes say useful information, tips or even where you must go in your quest (don't worry, I don't want there to be "Where do I go?" moments, all puzzles are very intuitive and your next objetives are clear.

The lore of Cult of Despair is about a large group of cultists (corrupted people by arcane forces) who are using the temples to summon a legion of Void monsters to Spaurus; the land where my mod takes place, but over time you will discover something much worse in their plans... Something related with a trio of old enemies that once they ruled three worlds and were defeated by different heroes... You are aware of the bad news about this so you start your adventure to stop those rituals, along the way, some cultists attack you and you are rescued by some villagers waking up in a house.

Some basic info:

Game: Hexen
Format: Gzdoom 3.3.0 or Gzdoom 3.4.0 (sadly, Wrath of Cronos is not compatible with the latest gzdoom versions)
What mods you need to run it: wrathofcronosv2.2.pk3
Designed with jump and crouch moments, also freelook
Approximate play length (first beta): 2 hours

Everyone loves images:

https://imgur.com/a/UHvRyUv

Special thanks to:

z0k - Mapping some areas, specially Map01
phobosdm256 - Some extra help and tips
Tethis - For making WoC
Realm667 - Sprites and textures
Not Jabba - Some extra textures
129thVisplane - Some extra textures
Ichor - Some extra textures
Mehnrues - Some sprites I took from his Empire Revolt mod
Nintendo and From Software for the musics that I used in my maps (Zelda and Dark Souls)


Downloads:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1Eq1gl ... 0K9sAIn8lM


This beta brings the next levels:

Map01 = Overworld, it can be considered the hub of the first part of the game
Map02 = Direwood Castle, the first temple
Map03 = Underground Caves, heavily inspired in the hidden grottos of Ocarina of Time/Majora's Mask, most of them are optional places with good rewards by exploring
Map04 = The Swamp, a huge swamp with interesting places to explore and a manor.
Map05 = Hidden Basement, what kind of secret place is this?
Map06 = Swamp Temple, the second temple
Map07 = The Graveyard, an optional area to explore, not recommended for low level players!
Map08 = A Merchant cave
Map09 = Unfinished village (you can't visit it in this build anyway)
Map10 = The village where you start the game

Thanks for reading and I really hope you enjoy it!

If you have some questions or if I forgot some important information please tell me.

By the way, the beta finishes after you find the Flame Mask and open this wall:

[ELPoder36]

I must congratulate you on the saga. Very good and well achieved. The roads, paths and posters are wonderful. The music during the bosses gives you that great epic sensation. I haven't finished it yet, but I loved it. Keep going!

[Exeor]

I must congratulate you on the saga. Very good and well achieved. The roads, paths and posters are wonderful. The music during the bosses gives you that great epic sensation. I haven't finished it yet, but I loved it. Keep going!

Thank you very much!
I'm updating the maps and expanding the areas little by little almost every day, expect more details in the levels and dungeons, more monsters (yes, even underwater enemies) more vegetation/bushes, harmless wildlife like crabs or crows and an optional mini-dungeon in the Swamp for the next update. Also the Dark Patriarch battle will be nerfed, some people told me that it is a spike difficulty.
I will try to use SNES music most of the time for the charm of my campaign (Castlevania IV, Final Fantasy VI, Secret of Evermore and Mana specially), but probably the music of the bosses will stay the same for now.

New acuatic fellas:

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The optional mini-dungeon in the Swamp:

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Also, the next version will work with the latest gzdoom builds

[ELPoder36]

Nooo, the patriarch is not difficult, in fact I was going to mention that the level of difficulty is simple (or at least for those of us who have been playing this game for a long time) you could make an optional patch with difficult and fast enemies for example). I fought against the patriarch and I found it very funny and with a lot of action. When I reached the end, it was level 14 (exp factor set at 0.75 on my part). We will wait for more advances!

[Exeor]

Nooo, the patriarch is not difficult, in fact I was going to mention that the level of difficulty is simple (or at least for those of us who have been playing this game for a long time) you could make an optional patch with difficult and fast enemies for example). I fought against the patriarch and I found it very funny and with a lot of action. When I reached the end, it was level 14 (exp factor set at 0.75 on my part). We will wait for more advances!

Of Course, I can make a patch where the difficulty has increased notably with more monsters in screen and more mid/high tier variations of the creatures.
About the Dark Patriarch, I have changed it for Two Vampires bishops, the battle is just as long as the patriarch fight, except they don't hit like a truck now. Also don't worry, you gonna have a good fight against him later

I have been doing small revamps in some areas as I said (specially in the mid-boss arenas) so why not some screenshots?

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You can see crows, jumping fishes and crabs near of rivers or buildings now.

Again, thanks for your interest in my mod ELPoder36, it helps me to continue improving everything.

[ELPoder36]

You have nothing to thank. It is a pleasure. I like creative people and want to express their art in games as epic as this. I will be aware of progress and updates looking at this topic. A hug and good luck with the work!

[Exeor]

It's been a while but I have been working this month a lot, the next update will bring two optional dungeons to explore, a new village, a lot of new details added into the old levels and some rooms in the dungeons have been slightly changed.

I also added the Strife dialogue, it is really useful for the vision about what I want with my mod.

I don't know when the next update will be available, but I hope to have it ready in two weeks more or less.

And of course, new images:

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