Howdy my friends! After almost more than a year without having published any update at all, finally version 2.7 has arrived... So after a long time, having been quite busy with my HXRTC Project Doom mod, I decided to take a swap and starting to work back with its equivalent for Heretic game, although not before having gone through quite a serious problem... And you may be wondering, what exactly happened? Well, it turns out that I found out not long ago that one of the most important features of the game, that is, the one related with the weapons under the
Tome of Power influence, has undergone an unexpected change in behaviour, causing the powered up weapon sound loop to NOT stop playing at all, even after the effect of the
Tome of Power has been exhausted. And possibly some of you have already noticed this weird issue as well, since it is something that does not go easily unnoticed.
For all of the above, and after having reported the possible bug in the ZDoom forum a few days ago, I've finally been able to find out that everything was caused by some GZDoom internal code changes, which were introduced from version 4.6.0. (Also, the LZDoom fork started doing the same after updating and adopting the adjustments of the original engine). The aforementioned changes are responsible for restoring the original behaviour of the game when the effect of the
Tome of Power ends, that is, WITHOUT lowering the powered-up weapon and then raising the normal weapon. This new default -and not changeable- setting was actively clashing with the old functionality method followed until now in the mod (and also affects some other external files, like the Sgt. Shivers' Shazam Heretic addon).
So then, after thinking about it deeply, plus several fixing attempts -testings and failings- I've seen myself forced to make the determination to say goodbye to the old classic
Tome of Power, and replace it with a new artifact with similar benefits, which I'll describe a few lines below. Also, and for avoiding any further issues, most of the mod weapons have been conveniently fixed and reconverted, having removed obsolete Decorate functions and sections, and also discarding several old sprites and sounds.
(I'm sorry if these recent changes do not fit to everyone's taste; it probably won't be in some cases, but as I said before, I have considered it necessary doing it this way. On the other hand, if by chance some of you still use GZDoom v4.5.0, you have the option to stick with previous v2.5.1 of the mod, since under that previous GZDoom version everything still worked flawlessly).
- - Phew... After such a ramble, it's time to go with the changelog for this new version, isn't it? OK, as I said before, the new replacement artifact introduced in this update is... the Tome of Might! And what is actually the difference with the classic Tome of Power, you say? Well, unlike the latter one, the Tome of Might does not grant a visually more powerful version of each weapon, but instead directly multiplies all damage caused by the player by 1.5, including all gunpowder weapons, Dagger attacks and Shurikens. (Yup, the old Tome Of Power worked only and exclusively with magical weapons, as you will remember...) Doesn't sound bad after all, huh? Just get and try one of them, and soon you'll see how for about half a minute your threatening enemies shall drop like flies, even with your most basic weapons!
- Most of the mod magical weapons have been revised and updated with slightly smoother animations and some additional recoil effects. A couple of them have been improved with some new sprites and sounds, while a few others have gained slightly improved attack patterns. However, I think describing each and every change here in detail would be quite tedious to write and boring to read at the same time, so I'd better let you find out for yourselves... 
- Talking about weapons, there is available from now a new semi-secret monster weapon, which could be collected by the player if he is lucky enough. Unfortunately for now there is not much information about it, and the Allied Mages haven't been able to trade this type of weapon either, so currently you won't have the option to buy it directly from them. The only safe to say thing is that those monsters that possess this kind of weapon were already old acquaintances by Corvus III's grandfather...
- A pair of new Crystal Vial types have been included: the Tonic Crystal Vial (it can restore up to 40 health points without surpassing the current maximum HP) and the Aegis Crystal Vial (this one will give you 15 shield points and at same time will grant the highest protection degree; in case you have not equipped any shield when picking it up, a shiny Holy Helmet will be automatically put into inventory, granting the player with a 100% of absorbing damage just like the Legendary Shield). [NOTE: these new items won't be either available for sale through Allied Mages, so you'll only find them scattered on map levels or by random spawning].
- Updated the HUD for compatibility with the Tome of Might artifact and the new rare monster weapon.
- Several bugfixes, a few more tweakings and code optimizations.
Download link is available at the first post, as usual...
That's all for now. Enjoy and have fun, everyone!
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