[RELEASED] RSL mods galore: new release "Shinobi"

[rsl]

Thank you Davidos! I'm glad you appreciated the mods. I really wanted to characterize each one with a different set of assets/tactics. I must admit that some of them (DOOM NG in particular) were a bit rough around the edges on their first release, but I would dare to say that after a bunch of fixes they should be quite playable now...

[GuildNavigator]

This is an awesome collection of various and colorful MODs.. I think each one tastes different and shows a particualr style, representative for the way in which you like to play: magical weapons, different carachters playable, innovative objects and effect. Such the idArchives standards, I think I'll give 5/5. Rsl has been able to create something amusing, and maybe not too seerious. Great job! Keep on with these creations

PS: I like the feature "reload" in most of your weapons MOD, something that too easily people see as boring and unuseful; in fact, I think it gives the weapon mod a more realistic touch during the playing of the game!

[GuildNavigator]

She-Redux could really do with a new HUD. It's a mess.

I don't think so; yeah it's simple, but I like the energy bar and the weapons' disposal on the left...

[rsl]

Thanks GuildNavigator! This surely is a nice reward to the efforts I put in these mods.

With this post, I would also like to make an "invitation":

Should any level designer looking for new weapons find these interesting enough, feel free to reuse them in your project! Not necessarily one whole modification, even only part of it - just credit the original author(s) appropriately.

(I have also updated the first post with this info)

My intention to make this statement also stems from my mixed feelings about the last DOOMWorld Cacowards - more specifically, am I the only one who found the nomination for AEoD as "Worst WAD" really unfair? Why custom weapons and gameplay modifications are really worth the effort only if in a dedicated levelquest?
Not wanting to get too much off-topic here, but do you really think that putting AEoD in the same spot that in previous years was occupied by the likes of 'wow.wad' or 'Nazi Auferstehung' was a fair move? Sure, it may be a bit too much heterogeneous and unconsistent for many, but it is surely well implemented and - IMHO - much more entertaining than, say, the Action DOOM series.

P.S. Not wanting to start any flamewar or angry discussion here, but only interested in knowing about community opinions on the subject. Please do not start quarrels!

[chronoteeth]

Its not the fact that it isn't well implemented, or that weapon sets should only be inside custom level sets for it (look at last years [or was it 2008's?], ww-diaz actually got in the runners up area. A weapon mod doing that means it toppled a lotta grounds and made something amazing), its more or less the fact that its years of solid and really nice work thats, essentially useless. Like he said, 4 years of this life in the making just for something that me and a lot of others either A: use it for a coding resource, or B: idkfa iddqd 5 minutes done looking at it. Not only that it sparks a mindset that anything with a lotta crap = "must be the only good way" (the same reason the detailing mod was chosen last year, it sparked a mindset that overwhelming detail = must be the only good way) when these are done the same way just like all other mass guns mods: they just are good for taking a couple minutes to look at. Theres reasons why ww-diaz and icd-se are still played: because they know the key to a good mod is not to have 8 me-too guns on one key. Hell, the most guns you should be able to have is 20: 2 per key. Its a shame less people know about those mods and mods like this, and go for the mods with overwhelming arsenals, cause once they play mods like those they'll understand how important and fun a smaller, tighter arsenal really is.

Besides theres just too many of those mass weapon mods hahaha.

[rsl]

I understand your point - having too many weapons in a modification actually prevents you from using the right tool when you need it (and after all, this is what I tried to avoid when implementing my own ones). Also, the "mindset" phenomenon you talked about is undoubtedly true - for the youngest community members in particular, I would say - and is well-stigmatized in your reply.
However, IMHO there are a couple assets that prevent AEoD (the last version in particular) from being dismissed as a common "randomizer hash":

- the weapon slot limit system: this adds an element of strategy and prevents slots from getting overcrowded, thus making it more similar to a simpler modification, yet with augmented possibilities;

- original resources: I may be a bit inaccurate and not exhaustively acknowledged on the origin of all resources to make this statement, but it seems to me that in this last version almost all of the weapons are no more mere ripouts from other commercial games - the AEoD team tried to customize their appearance and "feel" in ways I hadn't seen before in other mods. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for monsters... ;

- a peculiar RPG feel: now, in my opinion this stands out as the most peculiar feature of AEoD. Due to the sheer amount of weapons, artifacts and inventory items you may acquire only by killing a randomly-spawned monster or boss, you can experience what I may define as "a cross-breed between an RPG and and an FPS". While I haven't tried to spoil all its contents myself, I guess the mod can give you a lot of surprises and unpredictable playing time before its resources/secrets are exhausted - and the implementation of classes can also add up to that. Think of the sense of surprise and reward you had when first playing DOOM and finding, say, the Plasma Rifle - here, you can experience that again and again.

In conclusion, while the cons of AEons of Death are surely well-known to many, I think the mod evolved a lot in time and now does its job quite well, having emphasized certain features on which others cannot compete. Heavy inconsistency remains mostly for the added monsters.
For all of the above, I am still convinced it deserved a better treatment.

[SoulCrow]

am I the only one who found the nomination for AEoD as "Worst WAD" really unfair?

You can go to the AEoD project thread to see more opinions on the matter.

[Trooper 077]

The problem with AEOD is not the effort put into it, It's the principal behind it. AEOD really isn't anything freash and original. All it is is a compiled bunch of resources that sometimes feel overwhelming . I agree with you that it really didn't deserve that award, But I get the principal behind it

Back on topic with your wad's though, All of them are definately enjoyable and some of the weapons are quite different and creative. My only problem is some of the recoil on the weapons are ridiculous, It might just be me but, I hate recoil weapons in doom altogether

[rsl]

Back on topic with your wad's though, All of them are definately enjoyable and some of the weapons are quite different and creative. My only problem is some of the recoil on the weapons are ridiculous, It might just be me but, I hate recoil weapons in doom altogether

Thanks for trying them out! Yeah, I know that not everybody likes recoil... Actually, I wanted to use it extensively because I like the "feel" of a powerful weapon that - as I guess should more or less behave in reality - pushes you back and shakes you when you fire it. Also, recoil (or lack of) is a strategical element in a couple cases (think She-Redux Mosquito's altfire, that allows you to 'skip' the recoil effect you normally experience with the primary fire).

Nevertheless, should you like to disable the recoil effect, you just need to delete all strings that start with ACS_Execute or ACS_ExecuteAlways (since that effect was achieved with Vaecrius' recoil script, which is the only script ever included in any of my modifications).