HereticArcana! (HexArcana V3.0)

[theroguemonk]

how does this work ... its normal doom with just one hexen weapon? i a m confised

[Crudux Cruo]

What Lagi said. Haha man you should make mods too you have a good eye for balance! I've been toying with doing a derivative mod of walpurgis and Hexarcana but i don't think i ever will. I think my modding days are over for now.

[Lagi]

What Lagi said. Haha man you should make mods too you have a good eye for balance! I've been toying with doing a derivative mod of walpurgis and Hexarcana but i don't think i ever will. I think my modding days are over for now.

Nah.. I have no sense of art, barely can use a paint.

I think, that if you start toying wih it, than you must first have some idea behind, that You want to make real. Second, you can always ask for help. Third its not worth it, time sink that would be better spend on playing games or making money.

[4page]

Theroguemonk: The videos that I just put up are only showing one of the weapons that I'm working on that I'm not super confident about and wanted some feedback on. This update is going to bring quite a few significant changes to the mod in addition to a lot of insignificant changes. Sadly, it's taking a bit longer than I would have liked.

[Crudux Cruo]

Much worth the wait!

[4page]

UPDATE 2.0 IS HERE!!!!! REJOICE, FOR THE HOUR IS AT HAND, RAISE UP THINE ARMS AND SHOUT TO THE HEAVENS!!!!

Many many changes, see provided changelog in the download for a comprehensive list.

Some Highlights:
New class!!!! Vesper.
He is master of all things Bat. Check him out, he's fun.
Completely overhauled the Magister's Mace, kinda makes the rest of the mod seem underdone, I feel.
Slayer's Axe has gotten a fairly significant rework.
Warlock's Lightning and Magister's chain-lightning on the bow have had HUGE under the hood reworks, they should be much more reliable, and the Warlock's lightning I think looks nicer.
Magister's Wraithverge now has Rage fire modes.
Slayer's Gauntlets have been tweaked the way they attack enemies, now instead of just hitting the person you're looking at you can still hit enemies slightly to the side, especially if they're right next to you. This might make it easier to hit things while moving around, since you need to get so close and I've found doing that makes me tend to slide past the target and end up missing. It also might end up making things feel a little strange at times.
Warlock's Telekinesis has had a facelift, AND in power mode you can pick up enemies and toss them at other enemies.
Warlock's BloodScourge Meteors have been improved and should be MUCH more useful and even more ridiculous.
I've implemented several keybinds for use items, check the controls options menu for details.
There are now a lot more options in the HexArcana options menu!

That's most of the bigger stuff. Have fun and let me know what you think!

[Terensworth]

So I was like "This is a sudden... oh, crud, it's April Fools."
It was then that I realized that you're a genius and actually did release a whole new class, one that is truly batty.

---

Seriously, though, the bat basic weapon is a hilarious play on words, while the rest of the class seems to be 100% as brilliant as the rest, though Vesper is silly on paper, it is also awesome in practice.
I'm gonna assume that you will replace the uh... slugger with something more fantasy based later, though... r-right?

[4page]

Absolutely not. Unless I can get somebody to make it more Gothic Fantasy in some way, it's gotta be a bat. I love how silly it is. It's just this one random thing that fits in so perfectly, but seems so completely out of place with absolutely no explanation or reason.

[Lagi]

Absolutely amazing update.

Vesper is an awesome class ( I agree the 1st weapon Bat word joke, is eee... It dont fit with rest of Hexen vibe). First melee weapon is anyway awesome in game. You can knock back foes. And this clubbing sound. (just the trade mark, prevent me from getting it serious) I love the bats! what a lovely creatures.

OFC i cheat because I was curious. the super weapon is ok, I expect just something... other? Anyway I LOVE the bats! Thats a brilliant idea to utilize some helpers. I feel like some rat-catcher, except I have bats.

Can you recommend some more hexen maps?

[Terensworth]

In the midst of a Vesper playthrough, it's very chill so far, the power of fire is quite calming to use, ironically.
Side note that after looking through the new animations here and there on all the classes I am tempted to name this the finger snapping update. I love finger snapping.

Also, I love the concept of the Vesper completing a grimoire of elements rather than assembling weapons, very cool.

[4page]

Lagi: I'm glad you like the Vesper! I kinda agree about the super weapon. I was on the fence swapping the position of the 3rd and 4th weapons, but it ended up this way because the swarm can be pretty powerful, especially your pet bats. But it does come across rather unspectacularly. Also, I usually play vanilla hexen and Deathkings of the Dark Citadel maps, so I can't really recommend many mapsets. I really need to get around to playing more. That said, I rather liked Lepistus. Another one that I thought was really well paced, though a little short, was Nadir, but that one does not play well with gameplay mods, due to the way that it adds its own weapons.

Terensworth: I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing. You can thank Lagi for the snapping animations. I had asked for them for the cleric and Lagi made them, but couldn't fit them in anywhere, so I threw them into Vesper. Then Lagi was helping me out and made the lovely new animation for activating and deactivating rage mode and he included the snap there. As for the grimoire concept I figured they were all spells and all dealt with bats, so I thought it was a good idea. I just couldn't figure out any ideas for a 4th spell that could be considered weak enough for a starting weapon. So that's where the bat came from.

[Captain J]

By the Gods! This mod is really amazing and cool! I love those special effects, extra potion and the HUD indicating how much i have. And of course, i've got some feedback to make it kinda more grand.

- Vesper's gibbed head sprite is actually Warrior's.

- Smokes coming from Vesper's Baseball Bat after hitting with it has no transparency.

- Vesper's Flechettes spins and take a while to explode if you place it on the ground.

- What does the Alt-Fire attack on Warlock's hand do? The damage is not so satisfying and his hand jiggles if i holding it. It's not very efficient than the primary one... Or is this supposed to be the attack alteration thing? I hardly noticed without seeing any texts about it.

- Warlock's Arc of Death seems hurting the user, but visually. You can see the blood splat on him if you use it.

- The difficulty names are rather long to read. It's fun, clever and all, but i think they could be confusing.

- The primary attack of Magister's Firestorm spell has very short range, unlike in the original game. And after i do the attack alteration thing, some weird blue ball spawns on his feet. Check chasecam.

- Every single Class except Slayer plays no wall-bump sound grunt.

Thank god you reinforced the variety of Hexen. I thank the gods for such heroism!

[Terensworth]

Terensworth: I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing. You can thank Lagi for the snapping animations. I had asked for them for the cleric and Lagi made them, but couldn't fit them in anywhere, so I threw them into Vesper. Then Lagi was helping me out and made the lovely new animation for activating and deactivating rage mode and he included the snap there. As for the grimoire concept I figured they were all spells and all dealt with bats, so I thought it was a good idea. I just couldn't figure out any ideas for a 4th spell that could be considered weak enough for a starting weapon. So that's where the bat came from.

Honestly, not sure either, it might be a bit overpowered, so much so that it's actually a little zen-inducing, though I only tested it against basic enemies [anything that can easily kill centaurs is A-OK in my book]. I like it either way.
And yeah, thank you for the snapping, Lagi!

Also uh... if you want an idea instead of a baseball bat... maybe a cane? I mean, assuming spriting is possible, I'm picturing the Vesper being all classy with a cane, personally. Either that or a bat staff he beats people over the face with.

Oh, and Vesper's standing sprite seems to be slayer's too.

[eharper256]

Absolute mad-lad! Mad-man. Bat-man?

I like you're full on embracing the OP and crazy aspect as your new direction.

Bat-man is batty. I feel like the old Rise of the Triad Excalibat is being made fun of being used as a basic weapon, mind you. Still, its hit out the park secondary is neat. Space distorting bats are good stuff too.
Bloodscourge's meteor casting circle is a brilliant addition. It feels even more crazy OP than before.
Like the change for the Mage's powered up Fireball.
I like the changes you've done with Firestorm patterns to make it different! I always felt a bit bad for using your patterns from 1.1 in Walp, and it was on my list to change the circle at some point.
Combo timing on the mace is something that irritates the hell out of me; but its cool for those that like that sort of thing.
Good job on enhancing the Cleric Rage Mode to make it feel worth using. Clicking it on and off to save HP is still optimal, but losing a bit of HP to enhance the mace and firestorm for slightly longer periods is more tempting now. Alas Wraithverge really didn't need a rage mode... but ah well...

My less enjoyed things:
I still stand by my previous opinion that the Telekinesis animation still looks awful and I preferred the old one.
Frost clouds and shards eminate from the centre of the players view despite the hand being off to the right; which looks off. Especially notable on the shards; they look like they're coming from the index finger (lol).
Already pointed out above, you need a delay on the upgraded plasma ball so it doesn't splatter the players blood everywhere.

[Lagi]

eharper WOo there is Rise Of the Triad remake?! Excalibat look sick with this green eye. I thinks that would fit excellent into Vesper. Sentient distorted weapon. Well I dont want to get too hyped, but I would make branch with this face.

====
I check the Magister
Lepistus use some custom sprites as well, and the sprite offset change during Mace swing is jarring. And what I read Nadir is even worse (i mean less mod friendly).

The sound informing about Heavy Swing ready, become little annoying after some time. It should be shorter, less exhibit sound. F.ex. I never get tired from hearing WHOP sound.

The mace game play with timing attack fit well this class. You need to be calm to solve crowded combat situations. But panic swinging work still much better than in vanilla. Also timing gameplay for this class is reinforce by the bow, when you need to load the string to the max to one-shot (even) centaurs. I think its great that it require nerve skill, and really make from Magister a different class.

Mace alt-fire is good with providing needed stamina / health. But it feel strange that you can hold the charged spell. What is the purpose of prolonging alt-fire key release?