ZDoom

Spoiler:

---

• Basic set of working assets to give modders an headstart for the making of future CV-themed content (maps/mods)
• Also works as a Gameplay mod just fine
• 3 classes to choose from (1 avaiable for now - the Demon Hunter), each with their own arsenal, powerup, huds, and pickups
• The first mod featuring a fully funcional (?) Whip - rips enemies, can be swung in-air, repels enemy fire, also fully customizable
• New sprites never seen anvywhere else, including 16-rotations projectiles
• New damage system: DPS of all weapons is now fixed...even ripper ones (in other words, if an enemy should die in 3 hits, it WILL die in 3 hits)
• Estensive CVar customization - not just visual options, but core gameplay aspects as well. 166 CVars avaiable, either editable via options or CVARINFO lump
• Some other extras you should find yourself out
• Best used with DamNums by Xaser (see HERE)

Spoiler:

---

Richter Belmont

The most iconic charachter from the CV franchise (if you don't Count Dracula, Alucard, Simon and of course, the Whip itself) is now back, ready to make some Demon toast! Not sure for what reason and we don't know why didn't go to Heretic or Hexen first but who cares, here's here awaiting to kill (or to be killed, who knows...)

Overwiew

- Uses the Whip as a primary weapon;
- Like some Doom II Bosses, it's immune to most area damage, meaning that it must take a direct hit from a rocket to suffer from it.

Weapons!

The Vampire Killer (AKA "The Whip")

Main weapon (Main Fire is shared amongst them). When firing, it creates small pieces in a line pattern that damages enemies. It always follows user's view and can be controlled a little during attack. Short range, does not consume ammo. Does heavy damage to enemies. Can rip through monsters (still needs LoS in order to hit them). Can block enemy projectiles. Can make the user enter in a defense stance position, if main fire button is still pressed after attack. Make user stand still while firing. Can be temporarily upgraded into Fire Whip.
Does bonus damage VS bosses.

Dagger

The starter subweapon, it fires three small knives in a verical pattern when the fire button is pressed. Best used on small enemies, and/or when they are far from you enough the use of other weapon would be pretty much useless. 1 ammo per shot.
You can shoot daggers even while at 0 ammo, but this comes with a price: 1 projectile at a time, and slightly longer cooldown.

Ricochet Rock

Slot 3. When fired, it bounces through walls and ceilings without losing momentum, for a short amount of time. Meanwhile, it rips through everything it touches.
Best used on a narrow wall or from a thigh spot, it can become your best friend when last you would expect it. 2 ammo per shot, bonus damage VS air enemies (= monsters with both FLOAT and NOGRAVITY flag active).

Throwing Axe

Slot 4. Throws a giant Axe performing an arc, does as much damage as the Whip but much harder to use. Bonus damage VS air. 3 ammo per shot.

Holy Water

Slot 5. Throws a bottle on the ground, exploding on the impact. From there, flames comes out going forward and damaging enemies in a vast area. Best used on horde of small enemies, and/or while in tiny rooms. 3 ammo per shot.
NOTE: Has NO effect on bosses.

Cross

Slot 6. Works as you would expect: throw the projectile, it travels a while, it stops, then spins back once. Doesn't crash if hits a wall. Can block enemy projectiles. High damage done every few ticks, bonus damage VS bosses. 5 ammo per shot.
NOTE: While equipped, the HUD will flash green if the enemy on crosshair is whithin "optimal" range (= the Cross will stop right on the enemy, dealing massive damage in the process). Can be disabled in options menu.
NOTE 2: there's nothing more satisfying than killing enemies with the Cross spinning back, try this yourself.

The Grand Cross (also named as "Rondo of Blood", don't ask me why)

Slot 7, AKA BFG9000 equivalent for Richter. Inspired by the attack of the same name from Portrait of Ruin (DS game), it does critical damage to all enemies in a vast area. Damage restricted to only enemies with LoS. Bonus damage VS bosses. User must be stand still on ground while performing the attack, but it's invulnerable when doing so. Expensive - 20 ammo per shot.
NOTE: While equipped, the HUD will start flashing green if you have the required ammo (meaning you can AltFire with them).

Some Powerups!

Heart Brooch
Substitute of the old Backpack, provides +10 Hearts and +Max Hearts each pickup. The first pickup gives +50 Max Hearts (from 50 to 100), then gives +10 every time after that instead.

HP-UP
Substitute of the SoulSphere. Gives you +10 max HP, until a max of +200 (= 300 Max HP)

Main Weapon Booster
Replaces Berserk. It gives different effects based on the player class who picked it up. In the case of Richter, his Whip becomes a Fire Whip for the next 60 seconds.

Megasphere (also known as Boss Sphere)
The effects are essentially the same, except that it can also be dropped from bosses...but only if you did your homework first! Also former CV4 palyers should know how this works.

Q: Please briefly describe the changes of this version.
A: In short...no new character, new visual effects, strenghtened code, updated HUD, balanced weapons, a TON possible customization via CVars and some extras. An Alpha 1.0 done (supposedly) right.

Q: Will this mod work on Ultimate Doom?
A: Not tried yet, but should be compatible as well.

Q: Are custom monsters included in this mod?
A: No. Making custom monsters requires both dedication and time, something I can't afford to. On the bright side, someone will likely want to "fill" the gap, as everything else is already in there: all they have to do is create the DraculaClone V.666.2 monster and that's all, no additional coding required.
Also note that this wad doesn't alter enemies AT ALL, meaning that all special "rules" applying them (es. Bosses may drop Megaspheres) can also be used on custom ones as well.

Q: Are custom maps included in this mod?
A: No, see above answer. As I've already said, those interested making CV-themed maps for this base are free (and encouraged!) to do so.

Q: Who is the protagonist? You call him Richter, but in game sounds like Simon...we don't know the answer!
A: Neither I do.
(Seriously...this is intentional. Modders should be free to add in whatever voice pack they like. Be Simon, be Rolfe, I gave you a canvas. You decide.)

Q: But--
A: You should remember that NotS was born as a base for further CV-themed maps and/or mods. Albeit it's perfectly safe and right to use it straight as a gameplay wad, this aspect is secondary.

Q: What about ZScript?
A: No ZScript whatshowever was used in this mod, for a few reasons: one, there isn't enough support yet (you can't look the wiki for how to use certain functions, nor see examples); two, shifting standards requires time (especially when you have just "mastered" DECORATE!); three, I don't see any real advantages to justify the shift, yet.

Q: Is NotS multiplayer compatible?
A: Nes. I coded with the optical of multiple players in mind (for example, the Whip already has 8 separate lines when it comes to dealing damage - 1 per each player - to correctly calculate recovery time on monsters in some circustances), but I didn't make any test on this side, nor I know how to do such a thing. Same when comes to Zandronum. Thus nes, the multi support is there but you have to correctly link the cables to do so.

Q: I want to make NotS multi compatible, may I count on your support?
A: If doing so you encounter in a bug, and/or if you don't know what a code piece does, I'll try my best to lend you an hand.

Q: I want to make NotS Heretic/Hexen compatible!
A: Go ahead...but I didn't play neither of those, so you are on all of your own. Be warned.

Q: You said there was +150 CVars, but when I go on the options I see only a dozen or so...
A: The vast majority of them is shelted in the CVARINFO lump, if what you want is to edit some gameplay values you HAVE to open the WAD with SLADE and manually edit it. This is intentional, as encourages players going on modding.

Q: I want to use your stuff in my wad!
A: Free to do so, just give me credits. Note, this only counts when it comes to my stuff, see credits page if you have to ask permission on other users as well before using NotS material.

Q: I think this X thing is unbalanced!
A: If so, simply edit those CVars to match your likings.

- Konami, for his CV franchise - basic inspiration, sprite concept (as I've redone most of them), sounds, etc;
- ID Software, for its Doom/Doom2, also for Plasmagun sprite used as the Ricochet Rock;
- PillowBlaster, who let me (?) use his Mace sprite from RO in earlier releases;
- The crew of following mods as source of both inspiration for features included in NotS and reference material:

• Russian Overkill (by PillowBlaster, again!);
• D4D ("obsolete" DECORATE coding standard, ripper damage, CVar customization, Powerup manager);
• Graceful Doom (by Lork - monster CV pain effect);
• Beautiful Doom (by Jekyll Grim Payne - dynamic lights master switch);
• Agent ME and its Multi-Jumping ACS script;

- Skelegant, for a couple of sound effects;
- Unusually Unearthed Productions, for the incipit of this mod;
- amv2k9 and his Heretic Compatibility, sadly of a now obsolete version;
- Hornetzero, the first NotS supporter EVER;
- Pink Baron, who passed through all this.

Spoiler:

---

01/05/2017 - Release (Nots Alpha 1^2)
(Wanna see all changes? See the CVARINFO lump to get an idea!)(Seriously, way too much to list .-.)

*** (Almost) entirely rewritten code, D4D DECORATE standard
- No ZScript lump was harmed during the making of this version.
- Optimized like crazy, see below why.
- Already set in the case of additional PlayerClasses that may come on following updates.
- In general, the code is now much less prone to freezes, lags, and exploits.

*** A real control panel - the vast majority of NotS can now be direcly edited via CVARINFO with its 166 different CVars, all of them working
- Almost all NotS gameplay-related parameters can be edited this way. This includes, but it's not limited, to:

• 1) Weapons damage
  2) Weapons cooldoown
  3) Weapons radius damage
  4) Weapons range (Whip included)
  5) Powerup time affecting a specific Player Class (yes, the same powerup may have different timers)
  6) Player Class stats (Speed, JumpHeight, JumpCount, DamageFactor, etc.)
  7) Starting ammo (different for each Player Class)
  8) Maximum Ammo (with or without Backpack)(different for each Player Class)
  9) Item effects affecting a specific Player Class (es. Backpack)
  10) Megasphere behaviour (should Bosses be able to drop this item?)
  11) Weapons special effects (too many to list)
  12) Cheats(!)

- Sill has CVar-like, "standard" features like HUD, light and particle control.
- Each Player Class gets its own sets of CVars.
- As everything is packed in a lump, you can now do mass editing within seconds. Very handy when it comes to testing and/or balancing.
- Those CVars can be either edited via Options menu or CVARINFO lump.
- As an added bonus, modders can now define custom rules on their maps and/or wads, as well.

*** New damage formula for weapons
- All weapons now deals fixed damage. No dice roll, no RNG, no random, no nothing.
- New ripper projectile system, used by all weapons barring Daggers. Any enemy hitted by those projectiles will now grant an immunity aganist that source for a short time.
- This effectively stops from overkilling monsters in mere seconds (unless it was coded to do so), also modders can now manipulate weapon DPS much more easily.
- Simply put, weapons now correctly deal damage as intented.

*** Updated fullscreen HUD, now 30% larger than previous one
- Can also hold additional information, like monster and/or secret count.
- Can hold all six keys within it.
- Uses a new, custom font.
- The original HUD is still avaiable on the normal size.
- Hud resolution is now set to 1024x768.

*** Added both particles and dynamic lights on some actors and/or weapons
- Lights do disappear if no PlayerPawn can see them, to save CPU.
- Both lights and particles can be disabled at will in the Options menu.

*** Added NotS Spawners, like regular RandomSpawner but gives modders more control during ItemDrop
- Also deletes some previously drop oddities.
- See "NotS_ModConcepts.txt" for more details.

*** All custom monster routines can now be applied to any enemy
- Existing monster replacers from previous versions are now deleted.
- All bosses, whether vanilla or not, are now able to drop the Megasphere when killed

*** Added a custom soundlist when quitting the game
- For some reason, some of them will play more often than others.

*** Updated SubWeapons (general):

• WHIP
  - The Whip now actively follows the player and its wiew, like in some CV games. Visual is much clearer than before.
  - While wielded, you can now adjust the aim (somewhat) in case of a miss.
  - Now enemies takes full damage from it, but only once each attack. Also drastically reduced regular DPS.
  --> It takes 6 hits (no more, no less) to kill an Hell Knight.
  --> Increased damage VS Bosses.
  - Added both lights and particles on the Fire Whip.
  - Optimized Fire Whip execution during attack.
  
  DAGGER
  - Can be fired even without enough ammo. If so, it fires only one projectile instead of three.
  
  RICOCHET ROCK
  - Ammo use increased to 2.
  - Added dynamic lights.
  - Deals bonus damage VS air (actors with both FLOAT and NOGRAVITY flags).
  
  AXE
  - Ammo use increased to 3.
  - Damage drammatically increased (85).
  - Bonus damage VS air.
  - Still a pain in "you know where" to use.
  
  HOLY WATER
  - Ammo use increased to 3.
  - Flames shifted from green to blue.
  - Added dynamic lights.
  - Damage increased (40).
  - Does ZERO damage VS bosses.
  
  CROSS
  - Ammo use increased to 5.
  - Will now correctly rebound back as intented. Same goes in case of wall crash.
  - Added both lights and particles.
  - Does donus damage VS bosses.
  - The HUD can now help the player on stay on the right distance from monster, in order to get the perfect shot. Can be disabled via CVar.
  
  GRAND CROSS
  - More coreographic than before. Lights, particles, quakes (!), you name it.
  - Code is still somewhat messy, but there's not much room from improvement here.
  - Increased damage VS bosses.

*** Artifacts, powerups (major edits):

• MEGASPHERE
  - Can be dropped by bossed on death, ONLY ON cleared zones (no monsters in sight, + no monsters nearby).
  - However, if multiple bosses die at the same tick, they will drop only one of them.
  - In some of those circumstances, they also give additional effects. It will be rare though, so don't worry.
  
  BERSERK
  - Richter's powerup now lasts 60 seconds.
  
  INVULNERABILITY
  - Only counts seconds in which the powerup was really used. In other words, timer won't tick down while the user is under protection by something else (read, various "brief invincibility moments"). Can be disabled in the Options menu.
  
  CLOCK
  - In-game actor has now both lights and custom alpha.
  - Added custom pickup flash.
  - Added pickup sound, courtesy of Skelegant.
  - Powerup time increased to 15 seconds (Richter)

*** Added some extras, can be disabled in the Options menu.
- Meant for hardcore purists; don't worry about it otherwise.

15/07/2016 - Release (Nots Alpha 1.000)
- Supposedly very last update before working on Alucard;
- Managed to spawn the Whip away from player, so that he must now show streching his arm (kinda of) in order to attack Added a parameter to the Control Panel for X offset (default = 30);
- Fixed a bug where the Whip spawned from standard offset even while the player was chrouching;
- Increased scale for Berserk's sprite for Richter;
- Radsuit sprite reduced;
- TimeSphere sprite reduced, also doesn't pulse anymore;
- Doom Monsters now drops directly NotS items, not vanilla ones that are yet to be replaced. Also code them to always have a total Weight of 20, to better customize the chances of each drop;
- MegaSpheres dropped from bosses, if picked up while playing Single Player on a map where monster count <= monster killed, won't add anymore towards item percentage;

13/07/2016 - Release (Nots Alpha 0.998)

- (Too many things to note, better say I've redone almost everything)
- (All weapons and powerups are avaiable)

12/06/2016 - Release (Nots Alpha 0.88)

- Reduced the likehood of both Hearts and Big Hearts: use the Subweapons wisely!
- Reduced the Whip's overall DPS by 33%: too powerful, could kill everything in one hit
- Removed the Richter folder from Decorate/Weapons: I don't need to be more confused.
- Found a way to make items give custom messages and/or pickup sounds depending of the player class who picked them up. The file hierarchy is still confused though.
- Increased the bonus Whip range from "Berserks" from 10 to 15 units.
- Capped the maximum Whip's range from unlimited to 720.
- Capped the maximum additional HP you can get from HP-Ups to 200 (getting a grand total of 300 Max Hp).
- Moved the Shield code on the Template file.
- Increased Cross's ammo consumption from 1 to 3.
- The Cross subweapon can now take down enemy projectiles as well.
- Slightly increased the Holy Water's MaxStepHeight, to better allow using while upstairs.
- Fixed a bug where the ricochet rock could fly even on a time freeze.

11/06/2016 - Release (Nots Alpha 0.87)

- Introduced a new nomenclature for releases: it will use the greek alphabet, according to the overall state of the work:
1) Alpha: the wad basics are not yet fully defined, and Richter is not yet capable of giving a full game experience, gameplay-wise;
2) Beta: Richter's base is done, working on Alucard class and weapons;
3) Gamma: Alucard is also done, going for Maria;
4) Delta: When ALL base class are defined and ready to play, time to do final adjustments and finalize the in-game sprite for ALL OF THEM. Don't worry though: they are already in-progress, as the Whip's sprite comes directly from Richter's model.

- Introduced the Dynamic Replacers: with only 1 class avaiable they are pretty much useless now and almost no one will ever recognize them, but they'll make future editing much easier.
- Added more end screen messages, and made the logic behind their frequency easier to edit.
- Fixed the HUD, albeit only the fullscreen one is avaiable, best played with default fonts.
- While Subweapon 7 is still missing, the BFG (?) temporarily comes in help. It consumes 20 Hearts per shot, much like the Grand Cross will. This is to ensure that playthroughs are possibile even in this state.
- The Whip, the Dagger and the Cross have now their own custom sprites thanks to Blender. The Axe is in-progress. Weapon Icons will be provided shortly after.
- Almost every weapon and powerup has now their own sound: some of them are from CV 4, while others are from PoR
- Reworked the Cross, now it slows and restarts speeding forward instead of stopping and turning back.
- Reworked the Whip, from how it spawns to how deals damage. It should be much more stable now. Its max range can also be increased by a powerup.
- Spent some time on how to use Blender to create 3d objects and turn them into sprites: I won't need custom sprites anymore, since I can make them myself.


05/04/2016 - Release (NotS v0.22)

- Nerfed the Whip damage radius by 33%, should now pass through narrow walls. This is important if you want to swing under a cover.
- Fixed HUD Health & Armor Boxes, fonts and keys are still missing.
- Buffed the Whip damage. Cyberdemons can now be killed with 5 hits.
- Shrinked the HUD size by 30% of the previous one. Note that it's not final, as the keyslot and custom fonts are still missing.
- Added a Startup lump, to look the mod more professional than it really is.
- Added 10 different quit messagges. Some of them will appear much less likely than others though.

30/03/2016 - First release (NotS v0.2)

Carbine Dioxide wrote:That sounds like a lot of sprite work. I've tried to work on some Castlevania monster sprites for Doom, but it hasn't worked out for me so far.

Big C wrote:This mod had BETTER have "Die, monster! You don't belong in this world!" as one of the quit-text lines.

Pink Baron wrote:I was sick bored to see people fantasizing about it and not doing anything, and/or hearding people announcing projects before leaving everyone into the dust - and no playable wad.

Spoiler:

---

Spoiler:

---

11/06/2016 - Release (Nots Alpha 0.87)

- Introduced a new nomenclature for releases: it will use the greek alphabet,
according to the overall state of the work:
1) Alpha: the wad basics are not yet fully defined, and Richter is not yet
capable of giving a full game experience, gameplay-wise;
2) Beta: Richter's base is done, working on Alucard class and weapons;
3) Gamma: Alucard is also done, going for Maria;
4) Delta: When ALL base class are defined and ready to play, time to do final
adjustments and finalize the in-game sprite for ALL OF THEM. Don't worry
though: they are already in-progress, as the Whip's sprite comes directly from
Richter's model.

- Introduced the Dynamic Replacers: with only 1 class avaiable they are pretty
much useless now and almost no one will ever recognize them, but they'll make
future editing much easier.
- Added more end screen messages, and made the logic behind their frequency
easier to edit.
- Fixed the HUD, albeit only the fullscreen one is avaiable, best played with
default fonts.
- While Subweapon 7 is still missing, the BFG (?) temporarily comes in help.
It consumes 20 Hearts per shot, much like the Grand Cross will. This is to
ensure that playthroughs are possibile even in this state.
- The Whip, the Dagger and the Cross have now their own custom sprites thanks to
Blender. The Axe is in-progress. Weapon Icons will be provided shortly after.
- Almost every weapon and powerup has now their own sound: some of them are from
CV 4, while others are from PoR
- Reworked the Cross, now it slows and restarts speeding forward instead of
stopping and turning back.
- Reworked the Whip, from how it spawns to how deals damage. It should be much
more stable now. Its max range can also be increased by a powerup.
- Spent some time on how to use Blender to create 3d objects and turn them into
sprites: I won't need custom sprites anymore, since I can make them myself.


05/04/2016 - Release (NotS v0.22)

- Nerfed the Whip damage radius by 33%, should now pass through narrow walls. This is important if you want to swing under a cover.
- Fixed HUD Health & Armor Boxes, fonts and keys are still missing.
- Buffed the Whip damage. Cyberdemons can now be killed with 5 hits.
- Shrinked the HUD size by 30% of the previous one. Note that it's not final, as the keyslot and custom fonts are still missing.
- Added a Startup lump, to look the mod more professional than it really is.
- Added 10 different quit messagges. Some of them will appear much less likely than others though.

30/03/2016 - First release (NotS v0.2)

Hornetzero wrote:Very Nicely done and polished in coding I must say. Doom is an odd choice for this though. I'm fairly certain this would go a lot better in Heretic and Hexen.

EDIT: Nevermind, it works with both of them.

Is there a Specifi Version of Zdoom/Gzdoom this mod works on?