[WIP] Malice - Version 1.0pre5 [BURNING MELEE!]

[TheRailgunner]

(credit for the font goes to Jimmy)

Gear up, Legionnaire. Hey, it's almost finished - just got some odds and ends left. Last updated 6/19/2022.

Motion blur-less patch! Currently about half-finished - this will be updated as progress continues on restoring the "Crisp" sprites for newer weapons. Load AFTER RG_Malice.pk3; it is a sprites-only set. Last updated 6/19/2022.

Also, this ZMovement patch. Load AFTER RG_Malice.pk3. ZMovement 3.2.1.pk3 is not required, per the ZMovement thread:

Mod patches are standalone and do not require ZMovement to be loaded together.

THANK YOU MY MAN IVORY

This is a project I started midway through working on The Trooper after becoming aware of how nightmarish its feature bloat and workload had become. Hence, I began porting the Infinity Legion weapons over to this new mod - originally intended as a basic weapons-only mod with simplified versions of the N7 Battle Rifle and N8 Sniper Rifle, it quickly became a testbed for movement mechanics (one of which made their way to The Trooper before I put it on hiatus) and animation concepts. As of now, it nears completion - featuring enhanced multi-jumps, a primitive thruster system, and dashing/sprinting animations for non-pistol weapons at the cost of "normal" mobility, Malice provides a brand-new movement scheme, relying on an active sprint system (i.e., the "sprint" key must be held down) to change the flow of combat - however, there is also an Auto-Sprint setting in Options that allows you to sidestep this, much like the Always Run setting. Unlike The Trooper, the weapons in this mod are few in number - intended to replace the standard Doom arsenal with weapons that fulfill the same roles with no superfluous extras and relatively little common use between them.

Take a look at this nonsense:


Behold, Quick Draw:


So, this allows you to fire off a blast from the Trinity SSG at pretty much any time! Hold the Fire key down for repeated shots, or hold Reload to, well, reload the gun before switching back to your main weapon (holding down Fire long enough to trigger the reload sequence, but not long enough to fire the gun again, also works). To use the Quick Draw ability, bind a key to the "User 8/Quick Draw" function.

Most recent gameplay video - June 11, 2021:


Older gameplay videos:

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The features:

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*Sprinting system - holding forward and Left Shift causes you to sprint, which is shown by the swaying of your weapons. Note that it only works going forward or forward-left/right - you can't sprint sideways or backward. Update 8/16/2020: Added the Auto-Sprint feature, which gives you the option to set sprinting to occur anytime you move forward without needing to press Shift. similar to "Always Run". As of 7/10/2021, you can also disable the swaying animation via the Options menu.
*Dashing - double-tapping in a given direction vaults you a good distance in that direction. Unlike sprinting, a dash can move in ANY direction - great for when you need to evade that Cyberdemon rocket RIGHT NOW or when that Baron gets a little too disrespectful of your personal space. You can dash sideways - or even backward - while sprinting, but you cannot sprint during a forward dash, as this releases the forward key necessary to maintain a sprint. You CAN, however, dash INTO a sprint or start sprinting immediately after starting the dash. Either way, the dash comes first.
*Variable gravity jumping - while you are gifted with unlimited extra jumps, you also have the option of holding down the Jump key to greatly reduce your gravity, like a sort of rudimentary jetpack function. You can sprint into a jump, as well as dash into or during a jump (but not both - you can dash only once while airborne), but you can't start sprinting in midair, unfortunately.
*Handicapped normal movement - while NOT sprinting, the player moves at slightly less than vanilla walking speed, and even slower while aiming down sights or zooming. This is obviously to encourage you to sprint, dash, and jump instead of just running around at a sustained 60+ MPH in any direction. Bear in mind that you can sprint indefinitely, it allows you to match Doomguy's running speed for compatibility and gameplay purposes, and it doesn't stop you from shooting, reloading, or zooming. Speaking of...
*Cancels - sprints and dashes can be interrrupted/broken by firing, aiming, or reloading your weapons. Some weapons, like the Nishimura Ten Shotgun, can also cancel out of a reload by firing or switching weapons. Note that switching weapons does NOT break a sprint or dash, visually or otherwise. Finally, zooming/ADS can be canceled by sprinting or dashing - something worth remembering when you're using the Nishimura Twelve Railgun.
*HUD functionality - unlike The Trooper, the HUD tells you fairly concisely what weapons you have, how much ammo you have, and what settings are active on the weapon, if any. No more fumbling through random arbitrary keys to remember what your gun's gonna do when you fire it - it say so right next to the ammo counter! (crossing the ammo part out for now until I put the relevant icons next to the ammo counters)
*Improved items - all armor provides 100% damage protection, and all can add to the maximum of 200 armor points. Green, blue, bonus? Pick that shit up. In addition, Invulnerability Spheres no longer subject you to that hideous InverseMap.
*Balance - while all weapons are slightly more powerful than their Doom counterparts, they maintain more or less the same basic balance that the vanilla arsenal does. The higher damage is generally compensated for by reloads - ammo usage is more or less the same as vanilla Doom. Malice is definitely MUCH closer to classic Doom in terms of gameplay/weapon balance than it is to, say, something like Russian Overkill.
*Reloading and zooming - self explanatory. With the exception of the K-JACK and the CFG, all weapons have magazines, must be reloaded when empty, and have the ability to aim down sights for accuracy.
*Quick grenades - also self-explanatory. You have a continually regenerating supply of grenades and the ability to change what these grenades do. Each grenade type has advantages and disadvantages.
*Super moves - powerful attack modes that confer a decisive advantage to you in battle for short periods of time.
*Simplicity - despite all of the above, there's at most two functions to a given weapon, up to one alternate ammo type, and minimal functional overlap. There's an equivalent for every Doom weapon in the arsenal - and no more than one per each (in the N10's case, it's actually the equivalent of BOTH shotguns). Ammo is in rounds and not magazines, and each ammo type is tailored to each weapon - no weapons share ammo, period. The features are, from the ground-up, intended to be relatively intuitive and easy to adjust to. Hell, even "semi-auto" weapons have refire calls, much as they do in vanilla Doom.
*Compatibility - Malice is a weapons-only mod. Apart from some minor item replacements, it's intended to be far more compatible with other mods than its predecessors. In a nutshell, if it isn't a weapon replacement, player replacement, or TC, it should work with this mod.
*Fun - at the risk of being conceited, there's a definite enjoyment I get from running-and-gunning with this mod, and you ABSOLUTELY can play this like you would vanilla Doom (well, with reloading, but still). It's kind of what The Trooper was supposed to be early on, except polished and more well-planned.

Some tips that will help you start out (this is mainly preparing for release)

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*You'll need Reload, Zoom, and User Keys 1, 2, 3, and 4. User 1 is reserved for quick-melee, which will replace the Fists. User 2 will ALWAYS be a fire-selector switch, and User 3 will ALWAYS be a weapon modifier - a lesson I learned from working on The Trooper, which has a cumbersome weapon state system. User 4 launches a quick-grenade. You will also need a spare key for the grenade-type selector.
*EDIT: 3/27/2021 - You will also need to bind Weapon States 5, 6, and 7 - 5 is the grenade-type selector, 6 is the Super Move selector, and 7 triggers the Super Move itself.
*Binding Left Shift as the Sprint key is preferable. In addition, have Always Run set to "on".
*Hold forward BEFORE holding the Sprint key - I have yet to figure out how to get around this limitation at the moment.
*Do NOT use the Nishimura Four's primary fire - or any of the other weapons' Altfires - at close range. You WILL kill yourself if you do so.
*DEFINITELY do not use the CFG at close range unless you have plenty of health and room behind you.
*When in doubt and you're certain no one's behind you, dash backward, then sideways, and always take advantage of your jumps.

The arsenal (so far):
Update 4/29/2021:

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Some Fists and a Kick, replaces Fists [Slot 1/User Key 1] - Fairly self-explanatory, your own fists and sometimes your right leg. These actually do a decent amount of damage, and sprinting puts a lot more momentum behind punches and kicks, dealing considerably more damage. Kicks break a sprint, for obvious reasons. Berserk gives your quick-melee a 5x damage boost. When used alone, Primary Fire throws a Jab, Altfire throws a Cross Punch, and User Key 1 launches a Kick. When holding a weapon, User Key 1 triggers a Quick Melee - a kick if standing or dashing, or a cross punch when sprinting; holding it down throws a jab followed by a cross punch if standing/dashing or a jab followed by a kick if sprinting. In addition to fairly strong melee attacks, you also have a continuously recharging stock of Power Melee attacks - the Power Jab, which launches a confined, aimed blast from your fist that punches (pun intended) through enemies within an extended range, the Super Cross Punch, which burns through a swath of enemies, and the Ultra Kick, which blasts almost everything around you on the ground.


Nishimura Four Heavy Sidearm (malfunctioning), replaces Pistol [Slot 2] - Damaged on your way here from...whatever Infinity Legion starship, Fortress, or Outpost you were dispatched from. As such, it doesn't perform as well as a properly functioning variant; the magazine is limited to 30 shots, the weapon's destructive power is handicapped, and the fire selector is stuck on semi-auto. It comes equipped with the ability to fire "mini-shells" using Altfire as a close-quarters option so you can avoid roasting yourself. Owing to its excessive damage, the damaged N4 will function...erratically. Still an effective weapon until you can find a better one - or an intact N4 Pistol, for that matter...


Nishimura Ten Shotgun, replaces Shotgun [Slot 3] - A formidable, if niche, component of the Legion's arsenal. Fires a spread of pellets from its 8 gauge shells, as shotguns do. Despite being pump-action, it has a two-round burst setting, as well as a configurable pellet spread. Holds 12 shells in its top-loading tube magazine, and can Altfire special antimatter shells.

Update 05/30/2021:

Trinity Coachcannon, sometimes replaces Shotguns and Super Shotguns [Slot 3] - This three-barreled monstrosity puts all of your other weapons to shame with a blast that'll fell even the most battle-hardened demonic adversary. Altfire launches three grievously devastating slugs with pinpoint accuracy, for when you need as much damage as you can muster in one spot. The Trinity suffers from the Achilles' Heel of all Super Shotguns, however - it must be reloaded after every shot, something best kept in mind when charging a room full of infernal cannon fodder.


Nishimura Twelve Railgun, replaces Super Shotgun [Slot 6] - The successor to the Nishimura Eight Sniper Rifle, this device fulfills much the same role - a powerful long-range weapon. Like most other Nishimura weapons, the N12 can also Altfire antimatter rounds, and has threeone currently usable zoom setting (will fix/add a separate key to change zoom level). Unlike the N8, even conventional projectiles hit their target with a degree of explosive force. "Railgun" is arguably a strange title for the N12, mostly because the N7, N8, and N10 are also technically railguns as well (the cartridge design gives the superficial appearance of functioning like a conventional firearm - the casings are probably more accurately described as spent power cells) Improving slightly on the N8 before it, this weapon features an 8 round magazine.


Nishimura Seven Battle Rifle, replaces Chaingun [Slot 4] - The familiar standard issue Legion rifle, the N7 is more or less the predecessor to all other antimatter-capacitance weapons like the N8 and N10, and can deliver a blistering storm of lead and annihilation in both full-auto and burst-fire mode. As before, can Altfire antimatter rounds (the N7 has the least powerful AM-C round, the N4 excluded because of its vastly different operating mechanism). Has a removable scope, which I may actually omit entirely before release. Holds 36 rounds.

Update 11/19/2020:

M1/2431 "M-Zero" Garand Rifle, [Slot 4] - The one-off prototype predecessor to the standard-issue Legion rifle, the M0 packs a great deal of punch compared to the N7, which can be expected from Nagato Nishimura's personal battle implement - it wasn't made to be efficient in any way other than its ability to kill things, which it excels at handily. Holding a double-capacity 16-round en bloc clip, the M0's superior stopping power is countered by the much increased reload frequency. Like the N7, it can Altfire antimatter rounds; how they managed to do more damage coming out of an M0 than an N7 despite sharing ammo is beyond me, but, in the immortal words of Professor Farnsworth, "But that's how it works! Leave me alone!". Warning: Legion Combat Protocols forbid the use of antimatter ammunition against the Borg without an Anti-Borg Frequency Mutation Module - Legionnaires without access to said Modules are restricted to kinetic ammunition to prevent adaptation to Legion weaponry by the Collective.


K-JACK Photon Torpedo Launcher, Mark II, replaces Rocket Launcher [Slot 5] - Because old-style rockets and missiles are so 21st century. The K-JACK fires miniature photon torpedoes and beams them into its loading chamber directly from your ammo supply (may make an actual reload someday), and can launch slower seeking torpedoes using Altfire. Apart from that, pretty standard RL replacement stuff.


Nishimura Four Heavy Sidearm (pristine), replaces Plasma Rifle [Slot 2] - A brand-spanking new, factory-fresh N4. Fires a torrent of antimatter fragments at nearly light speed in either full-auto or five-round burst. The option to switch between mini-shells and shotgun-esque antimatter scattershots becomes available to you as well. In addition, the properly functioning weapon makes full use of its magazines, which now hold 60 rounds. The only downside to the N4 over the fucked-up pistol you started out with is the lack of surprise functionality - which, quite frankly, we can all do without. The weapon's damage per shot is also effectively doubled. This weapon used to replace the damaged N4 in your arsenal upon pickup, but owing to the damaged pistol's novelty, I've allowed it to remain in your arsenal, pending the addition of a self-destruct feature.

Update 4/29/2021:

Perseus Arms Proximity Control Rifle, replaces Plasma Rifle [Slot 6] - A multi-barreled dispenser of excessive firepower, the PCR carves an unrelenting path of destruction through both your enemies and your ammo supply, unleashing a hellish blaze of antimatter fragments at up to 10,000 rounds per minute. Like its more diminutive sibling, the N4 Sidearm, it can also fire inert matter at similar speed for close-quarters combat.

Update 4/29/2021:

Surfeit Torment Explosive Revolver, occasionally replaces some ammo and weapons [Slot 2] - a unique revolver that delivers the explosive death, one bullet at a time. While it has a small magazine of 6 rounds, each one packs a powerful punch, many times more so while Golden Arsenal is active.

Update 9/16/2020:

"Scorpion" Tractor Beam Emitter, replaces Chainsaw [Slot 1] - A hastily modified tractor beam emitter pulled off of a downed Legion Cutlass-D fighter craft, this weaponized gizmo drags enemies caught within the field it emits towards you, much as tractor beams do in Star Trek. The closer an enemy is to you, the more damage they take from the beam - this thing wasn't made for levitating eggs, you know. Because it's been separated from a Legion spacecraft - and therefore its primary power supply, the Scorpion relies on a regenerating backup power source - it can be depleted entirely, but must regenerate to at least a certain threshold before it can be used again. Altfire generates a Repulsor Beam instead, which pushes enemies away from you and deals more damage, but uses more power. Update 05/30/2021: The Scorpion can also be used to gather items, giving it practical alternate functionality and the ability to entirely destroy any sense of proper map progression, should one desire.

Update 8/16/2020:

Cosmic Force Generator, replaces BFG [Slot 7] - A weapon from another set of universes entirely, lovingly crafted by the good folks at Summerfield's R&D labs. Eschewing more reasonable means of destruction, this nuclear fusion cannon quite literally launches a miniature star, pulling objects towards it and frying anything that gets too close to it. Perhaps as a safety feature (but more because of the difficulty of controlling such a weapon), the CFG kicks like a bionic centaur, throwing you a good distance backward after firing - probably for the best, as the miniature Sun this thing poops out can very easily cook you too.

The "story":

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Everything needs a plot, right? Cool, here's a cliche, contrived storyline - you are, presumably, an enlisted Infinity Legionnaire in the service of famed Planeswalker/vagabond/Gauntlet-wielder/blatantly overpowered cringy insert-fic character Nagato Nishimura (but this ain't about him), and, for lack of a real reason or explanation, you wind up in some godforsaken hellhole with a few busted magazines, your trusty Nishimura Seven Battle Rifle, and exactly NONE of your other standard-issue armaments. Thankfully, the Infinity Legion's protocols are pretty clear on what you do when you're lost with just yourself and your gun - shoot, crush, and kill your way to the nearest Legion starship, Protectorate, Fortress, Outpost, or Stronghold! And guess who's lost with no backup except your forcefully-handicapped pistol?

Get shooting - I don't think your adversaries are the diplomatic type, and quite frankly...neither are you.

Screenshots:

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Credits:

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DoomNukem: Firing sounds, ammo pickups, casings, various other graphical bits and bobs, Trinity Coach Cannon sprites
PillowBlaster: Various sounds, some code references (too many to list), dash script
Keksdose: Layered effect system
Jimmy: Fonts, not to mention the logo font
Sgt. Shivers: Base for Nishimura Seven sprites
SoniK.O.Fan: Nishimura Ten ADS frame and reload frame, hand improvements
wildweasel: Various code references, some sounds (also too many to list)
Neccronixis: Various Doom 2016 sprites, sounds, etc.
zrrion: Muzzle flashes
HazeBandicoot: Crosshairs
Blox: Shiny shiny Nishimura Seven sprite
Deimus: Nishimura Seven iron sights
HorrorMovieRei: Player-seeking item script adapted from Avarice Coins
Jarewill: Code fixes that made the current item pickup system properly functional
Gorman Frebmane: base for Trinity reload animation
Ivory Duke: ZMovement and a ZMovement patch base!

Playtesters - I wouldn't have gotten this anywhere near as playable or as polished without your help:
JuliusKoolius
FurRose
ValeriePalerie
Linz
YukesVonFaust
Pakku
Dr_Cosmobyte
Twitchy2019
affandede
AstartesCitizen
JimmyJ
Valherran
DanTheHedgefox
Ferretmanjcdenton
Sensu_Kamen
Yeetee
PatCatz2004
Folding Chair
Cyanide
TheOldKingCole
YukesVonFaust
Adrian Malacoda (my brother!)
Turnock
JohnnyLongWang
Gizzard97
Irozu19
Yeetee
Tombstone665 (I technically didn't get to send you a demo, but I'm glad you wanted to be involved - it means more to me than you think)

I'm sure I missed so many people - if you notice something of yours, or someone else's, that's not on this list, please let me know!

To-do before version 1.0:

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*Polish and tone-down the various visual FX
*Fix all sound-cutoff bugs
*Compatibility with other IWADS - mainly Heretic and Strife, possibly Hexen and HacX

Anyway...welcome to Malice.

[Dr_Cosmobyte]

SWEET! It's been a long time, but it'll be worrh the wait for another mod of yours. Can't wait for the release.

[StroggVorbis]

So not only are we going to have Malice for Quake, but Malice for Doom too!

[TheRailgunner]

So not only are we going to have Malice for Quake, but Malice for Doom too!

Shit, I thought that name wasn't taken. Anyway, gotta add some things I forgot to put in the opening post, mainly regarding the nature of the mod (it's a weapons-only mod).

[StroggVorbis]

The other Malice was a commercial product released in 1997, donut worry

[Yebudoom]

Shit, I thought that name wasn't taken.

Yeah, about that...

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This, on the other hand, is a monster-only mod.

[Captain J]

Looks very impressive, powerful yet efficiently simpler than your other gameplay mod. I hardly can wait for this!

[berry]

I would play this mod and make a Russian translation

[SeriousWeasle]

Looks like a very interesting mod, can't wait to play it!

[Ferretmanjcdenton]

I think the same as anyone here .. Awesome . can't wait to play it ..

[TheRailgunner]

So, something I'm hoping I can get permission for is compiling a "recommended mod list" that packs a choice few mods - stuff like Target Spy, Immerse, Critical Shots, and the like - into a single, convenient package as an option for people trying out Malice.

In the mean time, I'm gonna see if my computer can survive making a demo video while I figure out the remaining weapons and do some further polishing.

[TheRailgunner]

Been working on a concept - Auto-sprint, the basic idea being a CVAR for players who don't want to hold down Shift to sprint. This essentially functions as Malice's equivalent of the "Always Run" setting, though at present I can't figure out how to make it aware of whether the player is running or walking (this would allow cl_run to be functional again - at the moment, "Always Run" has to be set for the sprinting system to work).

Still not satisfied with the BFG replacement - might replace it with a Cosmic Force Generator or something.

[Valherran]

This reminds me of Project MSX, can't wait to try it!

[AstartesCitizen]

Just recently replayed the trooper, I am glad that there is another mod with the same theme in the works but less complicated my main gripe with the tropper was its altfire system, sometimes I did felt overwhelm by many weapons types dont get me wrong I loved the weapons the spritework is amazing and very fun to shoot, so if we are getting a more lets say "compact" weapons mod but with the similar vibe of the original thing then cant wait for it, the screenshots already got my interest.

[TheRailgunner]

Finally feel like I've made enough progress to show this off:



Pretty straightforward - all of the weapons and their various features (forgot to do the "wide spread" for the N10). Oh, and some pretty CFG fireballs.