[Add-On] Extra Badass Monster Pack for Project MSX [v 1.7]

[VICE]

Hello there!
This mod adds some new monsters to the fray (through random spawn replacement), designed to compliment the rest of the MSX crew in their behavior, while introducing some new abilities and behaviors to spice things up.

! Use with Project MSX version 0.2a, make sure you load this mod after Project MSX. !

Keep in mind that all of these monsters are generally tougher and deadlier than the ones they are based on, so playing with this add-on makes the game much more difficult.

~ Download The Latest Version (v 1.7) ~

Have fun, and if you have an idea for a cool monster, feel free to suggest it.

Monsters in the current version:

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Plasma Grunt
- Shoots 3 accurate plasma bolts from a distance.
- Shoots plasma bolts on full-auto from up close.
- Doesn't throw grenades.
- Drops a small plasma cell.
Summon: plasmagrunt


Stealth Grunt
- Accurate AR fire from a distance.
- Turns invisible.
- Makes distinct static sounds instead of the usual combat banter.
- Powerful melee attack with a short lunge, don't get too close!
- Will periodically enter stealth and reposition after firing for a while, being hit, or running out of ammo.
- Doesn't throw grenades.
Summon: stealthgrunt


Rocket Grunt
- Fires slow, slightly homing rockets.
- Doesn't throw grenades.
- Drops autocannon shells.
Summon: rocketgrunt


Shock Trooper
- Carries a heavy chain gun with 300 rounds.
- Pain resistant, and has lot's of health.
- Very rapid fire, but is less accurate than regular grunts. Can turn you into minced meat in a matter of seconds if you're too close.
- Retreats to reload without panicking.
- Doesn't throw grenades.
- Drops a lot of 7.62 ammo.
Summon: shocktrooper


Grenadier
- Uses a handheld grenade launcher - his grenades fly fast and deal extra damage on impact, but less overall blast damage for balance (still extremely deadly, though).
- Magazine size of 6. Reloads each grenade individually.
- If his reload is interrupted, he may attempt to continue his reloading, or decide to return fire with a partial load.
- Blocks attacks for a few short moments after entering the pain state.
- 10% damage from frag grenades.
- Drops a grenade belt and some grenades.
Summon: grenadier


Warden
- Assault Pistol.
- Hellknight-like health.
- Blocks attacks for a few short moments after entering the pain state.
- Melee shield bash - knocks player back.
- Shield charge attack from medium distance.
- Half damage from frag grenades.
- Drops pistol ammo, medkits.
Tip: Use powerful, single hit-attacks such as a charged-up punch or grenade, or a raptor blast to kill them quickly when their shield is down. Small arms fire is nearly ineffective against them.
Summon: warden


Berserker
- Revolving Shotgun! 120 Rounds per ammo belt.
- Hellknight-like health.
- Insane, painless & fearless.
- Run 'n' Gun - shoots while moving.
- Drops an ammo belt and some shotgun clips.
Summon: berserker


Dark Cacodemon (Cliche, I know. Sue me.)
- More health, lower pain chance.
- Fires a spread of 3 projectiles instead of 1.
- Dodges and dashes around (A_FastChase).
- Becomes stealthy when low on health.
Summon: darkcacodemon


Bellowdemon (Sprite by SunMadcat)
- Higher health
- Doesn't shoot fireballs.
- Uses wail and bite attacks often.
- Closes in on the player and chases him aggressively.
Summon: bellowdemon


ArachnoShredder (Sprite by SunMadcat)
- Higher health
- Uses a nailshotgun at short-medium range.
- Has a rocket launcher that it can fire from large distances. Will not use the launcher if the target is very close.
- Reloads the launcher every 4 shots.
- Can fire rockets from a distance, or in mid-range in conjunction with volleys of nail shots.
- Reloads the rockets independently (i.e if it's using both the nails and the rockets at a target, and it runs out of rockets, but its target is still visible, the ArachnoShredder will continue to fire just nails. It will only stop to reload when it has a chance.)
- May drop several Raptor Shell 4-Packs.
Summon: arachnoshredder


Rapid Fire Revenant
- No seeking missiles.
- Fires long bursts of regular missiles.
Summon: rapidrevenant


Blood Knight
- Extra health.
- Charged attack creates heretic hellstaff rain effect on impact.
Summon: bloodknight


Widowmaker
- Autocannon arm - Nasty!
- Launches a trio of fast seeking missiles
- Jumps back and immediately shoots his arm cannon if you try to melee him.
- Explodes on death (watch for the delay and the flash).
- Drops autocannon artillery shell packs.
Summon: widowmaker


Lost Soul - By Ghastly Dragon and Captain Toenail.
- A complete replacement for the standard lost souls.
- Faster.
- Lower Health.
- Smaller.
- Slightly homing charge attack.

Items in the current version:

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Raptor Shell 4-pack
- Random appearance (one of the above).
- 4 shells for the raptor shotgun
- spawns rarely (1/20) whenever a hydra shell clip would spawn.
- Dropped by Raptor Grunts, Arachnoshredders.
Summon: RaptorAmmoSmall


Pistol Ammo Box
- 27 rounds (3 full clips) for the Golam Pistol.
- Occasionally spawns in regular gameplay.
- Dropped by Wardens.
Summon: pistol_ammobox


Berserker's Ammo Belt
- 64 rounds (4 full clips) for the Hydra Auotshotgun.
- Dropped by Berserkers.
Summon: autoshot_belt


Grenadier's Grenade Belt
- Contains 4 Grenades
- Unneeded grenades are left on the floor.
- Dropped by Grenadiers.
Summon: grenade_belt

Changelog + Version Archive:

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v 1.??: (??th ?? '15)
- WIP

v 1.7: (24th Apr '15)
- Added the Rocket Grunt!
- Added the Blood Knight!
- The small Raptor Shell pickup has been given a different look (and some variety!)
- Fixed a typo that prevented the Bellowdemon from spawning.
- Bellowdemon: Reworked attack pattern, it will now chase its targets aggressively as intended.
- Raptor Grunts and Arachnoshredders: Will now sometimes drop raptor shell 4-packs.
- Raptor Grunts: No longer guaranteed to drop their weapon (but chance is still pretty high).
- Widowmaker: Idle sounds were fixed (was accidentally assigned badass grunt sounds).
- Black helmet and black boot xdeath gib actors were added to the appropriate grunts. (Plasma, Stealth and Rocket for now.)
- Lost Souls: Damage Buffed
- Lost Souls: Now uses the original lost soul attack sound.
- Lost Souls: Fiery sparks added to their pain and death states.
- Grenade Belt: Once picked up, drops any unneeded grenades on the floor instead of wasting them.

v 1.6: (12th Apr '15)
- Added the ArachnoShredder (originaly by SunMadcat)
- Added the Bellowdemon (originaly by SunMadcat)
- Added small raptor shell clips (from amv2k9's MISP)
- Grenadier and Warden's damage resistance has been nerfed further to 0.5.

v 1.51: (19th Oct '13)
- Lost Souls have been replaced by Forgotten One from R667.
- Added a credits lump.
- X-Deaths disabled for Grenadier, Warden, Berserker, and Shock Trooper until suitable gibs are made. X-Deaths for Stealth and Plasma Grunts can still trigger, but they will no longer drop tan-colored helmet gibs.
- Widowmaker: New sounds.
- Warden: Rebalanced.
- Grenadier: Rebalanced.
- Berserker: Given a windup time before he starts firing. Movement pattern made less erratic.
- Added three new ammo items: Pistol Ammo Box, Berserker's Ammo Belt, Grenadier's Grenade Belt.

v 1.5: (28th Sep '13)
- Added the Berserker.
- Spawn groups have gone through a slight overhaul.
- Warden and Grenadier: Now block using hitboxes when standing in place (their legs are vulnerable). Their health has been doubled to compensate.
- Warden: Changed the sound of the charge attack and added a slight quake when the player is close. The warden now takes 10% damage and is immune to pain instead of being invulnerable during his charges.
- Warden: No longer drops shield boosters. May drop extra ammo.
- Grenadier: 10% damage and pain immunity while firing.
- Grenadier: Now only takes 10% damage from frag grenades.
- Shock Trooper: Fixed incorrect duplicate frame.
- Shock Trooper: Spawns bullet casings.
- Shock Trooper: Size reduced slightly.
- Plasma Grunt: His shots no longer cause direct damage.
- Skull Wizard: Disabled for now - will be reimplemented in a future version.

v 1.41: (17th Aug '13)
- Widowmaker: Now checks to see if he has enough room to launch the triple seeking missiles, to prevent them from hitting the ceiling as soon as he fires them (this is done by comparing ceilingz and floorz). If he doesn't have enough room, he'll default to the autocannon.
- Widowmaker: Has been given the NODROPOFF flag, so he will no longer fall down ledges when he dodges back in melee range.
- Grenadier: Now correctly checks his distance before shooting - he won't fire if the target is so far that his grenades can't reach them.
- Skull Wizard: A slight overhaul to his attack damage, patterns and visuals (wide shots use hellknight sprites again).
- Shock Trooper: Now dodges around only when very close to the player. As a result he will generally begin firing sooner when encountered/after reloading.
- Dark Cacodemon: Will now attempt to turn invisible when his health is low.
- Dark Cacodemon: Now correctly bleeds red, like his sprite.

v 1.4: (14th Aug '13)
- Added the Widowmaker.
- All "Badass" grunts (Includes the Grenadier, Warden, and Shocktrooper for now) have deeper voices now.
- Warden: Telegraphs charge attack more clearly and with a longer delay ("Closing in!").
- Warden: Reduced spawn frequency. (1 in 36)
- Warden: Reduced pistol and charge damage slightly, increased delay between shots by a few more ticks.
- Warden and Grenadier: Reduced block frequency.
- Grenadier: Reloads faster.
- Rapid-Fire Revenant, Shock Trooper, Grenadier and Plasma Grunt: Increased spawn frequency.
- Skull Wizard: Dramatically reduced spawn frequency (1 in 36 Kabro, never Hellknight.)
- Skull Wizard: Fireball spread attack has been made weaker.

v 1.3: (12th Aug '13)
- Added the Warden.
- Grenadier: Now takes halved damage from all frag grenades.
- Grenadier: Increased pain (block) chance for the Grenadier, longer block duration.

v 1.2: (10th Aug '13)
- Added the Grenadier
- Plasma Grunt: Shots have a wider splash radius now.
- Skull Wizard: Health has been nerfed. (350 -> 240)
- Skull Wizard: X and + patten shots now use mancubus fireballs instead of hellknight fireballs, resulting in a much more reasonable damage output.
- Skull Wizard: Will now use the seeking missiles more often in medium range.
- Skull Wizard: No longer infights with kabro.

v 1.1: (3rd Aug '13)
- Added the Rapid Fire Revenant
- Added the Skull Wizard
- Shock Trooper: Pain chance has been greatly reduced, size increased (scale 1.15) and he will no longer panic before reloading as much as normal grunts. Ammo count increased from 250 to 300. (In short, he's more badass now.)
- Dark Cacodemon: Script error messages on-death removed.
- Plasma Grunt: Projectiles deal more damage on direct hits (splash damage is unaltered).

v 1: (2nd Aug '13)
- Initial release.
- Added the Plasma Grunt
- Added the Shock Trooper
- Added the Stealth Grunt
- Added the Dark Cacodemon

To-Do list:

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Other:
- Make sprites for another frame of the warden's shield bash.


Incinerator - Thanks to Captain J for the sprite.
- Medium range plasma arc welder.
- Alt fire: long range fireballs.
- Resistant to fire and explosions.


Machinist
- Submachine gun.
- Recharging shield, just like yours.
- Controls and is accompanied by up to 6 combat drones.
- Killing the Machinist will disable his drones.
- Instead of grenades, machinists can deploy a stationary turret. (each machinist can only deploy a total of 1-3 turrets)
- Drops assault rifle ammo, shield boosters.


Combat Drone - Flyer
- Assault Rifle, shotgun, or automatic nailgun.
- Airborne.
- Quick.
- Controlled by a Machinist grunt. Killing the machinist disables his drones.
- Disabled (not destroyed) drones can be rebooted and made to assist the player.
- Drops ammo depending on type.


Combat Drone - Armor
- Minigun, seeking rockets or autocannon.
- Damage resistant.
- Slow.
- Controlled by a Machinist grunt. Killing the machinist disables his drones.
- Disabled (not destroyed) drones can be rebooted and made to assist the player.
- Drops ammo depending on type.

Combat Drone - Turret - Inspired by Borderlands
- Machinegun or railgun.
- Stationary.
- Does not spawn normally, deployed by machinists.
- Controlled by a Machinist grunt. Killing the machinist disables his drones.
- Disabled (not destroyed) drones can be rebooted and made to assist the player.
- Drops ammo depending on type.


Skull Wizard (Modified from the Hexen 2 monster project.)
- Shoots volleys of seeking magic missiles.
- Shoots wide spreads of fireballs in x and + patterns from medium range.
- Teleports around. Will attempt to teleport away if engaged in melee.
Summon: skullwizard


Soul Furnace - Base sprite by Uboa
- Shoots blue wave-patten fireballs.
- Shoots large blue flame waves in various directions.
- Special pain state - creates homing magic missiles when hit.
- Drops blue overshield sphere: adds half as much as a regular overshield sphere.

Sludge Demon
- Hides inside barrels. Climbs out when the player is near.
- Melee attack causes acid burn - the player keeps losing health/armor for a few seconds.

Ravager
- Demon Variant
- Rapidly chews on its target.
- Random Unpredictable Fireball projectile.

"Pinky"
- Upgraded hardware (new sprite)
- Slower than the Mauler.
- Has a lot of health.
- Can see invisible.
- Aggressively chases its target.


Charger
- Upgraded hardware (new sprite)
- Massive pinky demon variant
- Ground shaking charge attack knocks everyone out of the way.
- Painless.
- Determines whether there is room for a charger to spawn by comparing ceiling and floor heights. If there isn't enough room, the charger is replaced with a mauler.

Hunter
- Baron of Hell variant.
- Slightly slower.
- Less health.
- Very aggressive.
- Resurrects itself shortly after death.
- Can only be permanently killed by gibbing.

Night Gaunt
- Flying Enemy.
- Melee
- Can become partially invisible for a short while, making him impossible to hurt.

Siege Demon (Mancubus variant) -
- Upgraded hardware (new sprite)
- Larger (scale ~1.15)
- Autocannon arms
- Grenade Launcher underslung
- Regenerates health
- Drops artillery shell boxes, medkits, shield Boosters, grenades

Vile Bishop (Archvile variant)
- More badass.
- Fire pillar is larger and lingers for longer.
- Vile aura - player takes continuous damage as long as he remains within the radius of the aura.
- Shoots massive black fireballs with radius damage. Undead monsters are immune to these fireballs.
- Monsters killed by the fireball attack turn into lost souls/revenants.

Phage (Archvile variant)
- More badass.
- Flings axes.
- Can become partially invisible for a short while, making him impossible to hurt.
- Small chance of summoning a Night Gaunt.

Iron Savant (Archvile variant)
- Upgraded hardware (new sprite)
- Automatic Nailgun
- Summon iron globes from the ground - the globes explode towards the player, raining nails at them.

Demonic Bombardier (Cyberdemon variant) -
- Upgraded hardware (new sprite)
- Shoots special hellfire grenades - they explode on impact and create lingering diabolist flame pillars.
- Lost soul arm cannon.
- Shoots clusters of revenant seeking missiles.

[Mav3rick]

played with and i got this message when killed the dark caco... P_startscript: unknown script 648
the rest of the enemies work fine

[VICE]

Updated with a few changes and a couple of new monsters.

[Mav3rick]

can you lower the health of the Skull Wizard? it take too much ammo for not be a high rank moster and if there is no a powerfull weapon at hand it will take many hits, causing havoc and since they are special ones may they drop some special items?

having a blast so far with the new buddies

[Blue Shadow]

The Skull Wizard looks very much out of place in a mod where Doom is the target game, if you ask me.

[VICE]

The Skull Wizard is supposed to be a Hellknight-strength monster, but yeah, I suppose it could stand to have a bit less health. I've only tested fighting it in large open areas earlier, and now that I've played a few levels that were more cramped, I can see how this kind of guy can be too much trouble with a lot of health.
Not sure what kind of item it should drop. Maybe I'll give it a small chance of dropping an overshield sphere.

Glad you like it so far. I've got a few more ideas on the way, and I'll probably keep tweaking the existing monsters as I get more feedback and fight them myself.

The Skull Wizard looks very much out of place in a mod where Doom is the target game, if you ask me.

I picked it specifically because it looks a lot like a Kabro wizard, and with the way the hellknights are colored, one could pass the Kabro, the Hellknights and the Wizards as members of the same general species.
I can see how the "magic" aspect could look out of place in Doom, but I don't think it's that much of a stretch. I might do some changes to the sprites eventually to make them look more Doom-appropriate, like removing the gold trimmings from their robes and giving them some "Doomier" death frames.

[-Ghost-]

This is kind of an aesthetic thing, but do you think you could make the troopers sound more like zombies? I agree on the wizard, he doesn't quite fit in with the more modern looking troopers or the demonic enemies.

[Mav3rick]

Not sure what kind of item it should drop. Maybe I'll give it a small chance of dropping an overshield sphere.

maybe medkits and shield recharger since there are maps where that is scarce

This is kind of an aesthetic thing, but do you think you could make the troopers sound more like zombies? I agree on the wizard, he doesn't quite fit in with the more modern looking troopers or the demonic enemies.

mmm about this point maybe you will be able to find a zombie sound that you will like, for some reason the sound they have now look proper, i cant see a zombie scream at me brains and then run like mad since in msx they are very fast lol, and no im not been rude just a opinion

[MagSigmaX]

Thanks for taking the time to create more baddies for Project MSX, but I wasn't been able to test all the new monsters thoroughly since I'm on a vacation trip and I don't use my PC so often. When I test the new monsters I'll let you know what I think about them.

[VICE]

Updated with some balance changes and a new monster. A to-do list has been added to the first post.
If you have an idea for a cool monster, feel free to suggest it.

[-Ghost-]

Maybe some sort of melee zombie? I always felt that was a niche Doom was missing, a weak melee zombie that would mix in with the lower grunts as cannon fodder only dangerous in high numbers. Maybe make them possessed/zombified civvies or scientists? There are some good sprites floating around for that and it'd be a nice break in between all the projectiles.

[VICE]

This is kind of an aesthetic thing, but do you think you could make the troopers sound more like zombies?

Sorry, but that's not within the scope of the mod. The idea here is to expand, not modify, and the grunts in Project MSX are all human.

Maybe some sort of melee zombie? I always felt that was a niche Doom was missing, a weak melee zombie that would mix in with the lower grunts as cannon fodder only dangerous in high numbers. Maybe make them possessed/zombified civvies or scientists? There are some good sprites floating around for that and it'd be a nice break in between all the projectiles.

I have this sprite set I found somewhere, seems to be based on the ghoul from Quake:


I figure these could make a good cannon-fodder-type melee enemy. Maybe have them spawn in groups of 3-5 at once and swarm the player. This is for later though, I have quite a queue of monsters that I want to make.
I am aware of all the great sprites out there, but I don't want to use any zombified humans - I want there to be a clear distinction between the "grunts" and the demonic/undead enemies.
(Plus I like my monsters to have their own sprites, even if it's just a basic recolor with a few extra details.)

I'm working on a more melee inclined grunt right now, the Juicer - he uses a combination of pistol fire and shield bashes and charges, and he's mega aggressive because he's perma-roided.
The most effective way to kill it would be with a well-timed power fist, so it should encourage the player to go melee more often as well.

I'll probably make a melee & stealth "assassin" grunt too, at some point.

Edit:
Bump for version 1.3.
I decided to call the Juicer the "Warden" instead, since it ended up being a much more defensive enemy than how I originally planned it. Still, I'm very happy with it.

[iSpook]

Just a question, but will you do a 'cold' version of the pain elemental? And any potential for new Boss types? (Obvious 'later' sorta questions, but I felt like sating my curiosity.)

[VICE]

Just a question, but will you do a 'cold' version of the pain elemental?

Good call, I think I will. I'll replace the cold pain elemental's fireballs with smaller versions of the Soul Pyre's blue flame waves too.

And any potential for new Boss types? (Obvious 'later' sorta questions, but I felt like sating my curiosity.)

Well, the Soul Pyre is going to be a mini-boss kind of monster, and I also have an idea for a cyberdemon variant. I'll add that to my todo list.

[iSpook]

Ah, I only asked because they could use a version or two that isn't just SPAMSPAMSPAMSPAM, that sorta thing.