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Like Hexen, Heretic falls victim to some kinks related to the fuzzy design laws of the era. For starters, a distinct lack of consistency regarding the w-- Get on with it. The feck is this?
To the point: I don't like Tomes of Power.
The item's awesome for sure, but the way it works -- I find it incredibly awkward. Timed powerups in real-time games never did sound right to m-- We get it, you suck at the game. How OP does this shit make you?
Very, very much. Long story short...
Spoiler: The Pitch
Remember when I said Heretic recaptured a fraction of Doom's awesomeness? This is me trying to mix and match parts of Heretic, Quake and Blood into a full cake.
Tomed attack modes become an ammo-guzzling secondary fire and Tomes become Bags of Holding. Some tweaks are in order for less of a Doom clone thing and almost all weapon damage is unrandomized.
Spoiler: The Rundown
Staff Primary: Same old. Time it right and you can attack slightly faster. Land 3 of those in a row and you can finish with... Secondary: ...a Tomed strike. You can throw one out without the accompanying combo, but far slower.
Gauntlets Primary: Same old. For technical reasons, it and its alternate fire are the only attacks in the game whose damage isn't unrandomized. Secondary: Tomed. They have to suck the life off SOMETHING, however -- and failing that of a suitable target, they're perfectly content with yours.
Elven Wand Primary: Now a projectile. Always goes where you point it. Secondary: Tomed. The only hitscan attack in the game will set you back 5 shots.
Ethereal Crossbow Primary: One fast bolt, no BS. Just enough to kill one Gargoyle. BONUS: See how many you can nail in a row! Secondary: Two slower, weaker bolts plus two small bolts, for 2 arrows a shot. Slightly more potential damage into it than two single shots (will kill a Sabreclaw in no time) but good luck trying to land them from a distance like you can with the primary fire.
Dragon Claw Primary: Damage split into 4 projectiles that spread out with distance. You're better off using the Crossbow or Wand for sniping. Secondary: Tomed, for 10 shots.
Hellstaff Primary: Faster projectiles. Secondary: Tomed, for 25 shots.
Phoenix Rod Primary: No delay. Secondary: Tomed, for 5 shots.
Firemace Primary: Worth using(!!). Can bounce anywhere once -- will spawn extra balls if it's on the ground. Those bounce anywhere a number of times. Try it in corridors! Still useless on water. Secondary: Tomed, for 25 shots. Still useless on water.
Miscellany
Fused Gargoyles. They may charge or throw fireballs, but they've invariably got 40 health. Fused Golems in the same vein.
Eye-level view height. Attack height changed accordingly.
Faster weapon switching.
Animation tweaks.
Great idea. But please increase the damage of the tomed Firemace to bosses, 18 is WAY too low. Most importantly though, replace the tome of power with some more interesting than bags of holding.
Second probably isn't going to happen, I'm afraid. Ammo balance is ridiculously delicate and the fact that mere bags of holding keep the whole thing from crashing down at all is already a borderline miracle.
First is a ton easier, thanks to the way the game handles the tomed Mace. I'm thinking something like 750; that's roughly 10 times the damage (ie 10 times the mean of its original damage range; 18*40=720 as opposed to 18d8) and it'll kill off one Maulotaur in 4 shots. I do hesitate, though. The [wiki=Actor_flags#BOSS]BOSS[/wiki] flag seems to work specifically so as to discourage players from using the tomed Mace against Maulotaurs, and the ability to one-shot absolutely anything but a Maulotaur is ridiculous enough to warrant an equally-ridiculous ammo cost.
Upward didn't look very good. Since the recoil is strong enough to push Corvus back, I'd wager most of the force would hit his midsection. (Plus, I doubt such a "gunnish" thing as muzzle climb would apply to magic wands and staves...)
The Hellstaff, Rod and Mace all inherit from their tomed selves. It's that way because their behavior is hard-coded within functions that are restricted to themselves and inheritors, and are either incredibly messy or outright impossible to fully reproduce in DECORATE. (It's also the reason why the Gauntlets' damage isn't unrandomized.)
Sometimes when I had full ammo with the Hellstaff, it wouldn't let me change weapons (by using weapon_prev & weapon_next anyway; number keys would allow me to change weapons).
