Walpurgis 1.0A (For Doom/Heretic/Hexen) [FULL 1.0 Release]

[PresBarackbar]

Really like the new projectiles!

[Linz]

Reccomendation for maps anyone?

[eharper256]

Really like the new projectiles!

Thanks! I'm pretty happy with the results so far.

Reccomendation for maps anyone?

Walp will work with anything that doesn't have sweeping arsenal and actor changes and there a wide defintion of what makes for 'good' in maps. For me; intuitive flow and fair difficulty are the premium points. In my case: equivalent to the original TNT at UV is probably around what I consider 'fair' since I kinda suck, but most 2010's era maps start to swerve into a ridiculous difficulty level three times that even if you play HNTR/difficulty 2.

That in mind...

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Doom megawads that are good for Walp:

Chainworm Commando
Whispers of Satan
2048 unleashed
EPIC
Legacy of Heroes 
Torment and Torture
Goetia
Scythe 1
Kama-Sutra
Akeldama 
The Czechbox

Hexen Megawads/Hubs:

4 Weeks of Pain
Penumbra
The Scourge of Viscerus

I can't actually think of any Heretic ones off the top of my head. 

I'm sure others can probably think of some stuff as well...

[Lagi]

heretic

viewtopic.php?f=42&t=66415
https://www.wad-archive.com/wad/HYMN-A- ... ty-Project

with custom monsters:
viewtopic.php?f=42&t=67747
viewtopic.php?f=42&t=69697
viewtopic.php?f=42&t=63799

[eharper256]

Notice for everyone: GZDoom's newest 4.5.0 version has a new forced menu scaling thing
that will completely fuck up Walpurgis's class and Difficulty Select screens:

Until I release 0.91, I recommend you don't upgrade your GZDoom from 4.4.x.

Would people prefer I fix this immediately (and force you to update your GZDoom), or leave it until 4.5.x becomes more widespread?

heretic

Thanks for the Heretic Recs. I think I've only played Sold Souls (and it was too hard for me, lol).

Note: If using ones with custom monsters, run Walpurgis after them in the load order or you'll probably have weird issues.

[HLRaven]

You can actually fix this by going in Options, Full Options, Miscellaneous and turning "Disabling Menu Clean Scaling" to on

[eharper256]

You can actually fix this by going in Options, Full Options, Miscellaneous and turning "Disabling Menu Clean Scaling" to on

Ah, thanks for figuring that out! I couldn't find the option for the life of me (not helped by the new 'simple options' thing that it introduced).

[RafaHell]

Love this mod! Makes Hexen combat fun !!

One small nitpick with your new Druid class: Doesn't feel much like a druid to me... I dunno, usually their weapons are more "nature-based" (oak staff or shilellagh/club, sickle or scimitar if you want the slashy-slashy, slings or wooden shortbows for range).

This feels more like a... an "amazon", if you will. Or even a thief, what with that dagger.

The shapeshift ability is definately druidic, that's for sure!
Imho I feel it would be better as a "4" (like an ult), though.

I don't mean to impose my opinions on you at all (I'm a nobody on the internet, after all), but if I may, this is how it could feel more druidic (I'm just gonna go wild, but hopefully it helps in giving ideas):

Slot 1- Sling with stones (or acorns, like in the movie "Willow") that turn enemies to stone or something like that. Alt attack enrages enemies so that they attack whatever's nearest to them?
Slot 2- Hebiko's Sceptre here. Maybe make the attacks more melee ranged (homing attack could be more of a short-range, damage-per-second kind of thing, for example).
Slot 3- Ichival Bow.
Slot 4- Shapeshift.

[eharper256]

Love this mod! Makes Hexen combat fun !!

Thanks! Glad you like it!

Don't forget it works pretty well for Doom and Heretic as well (and that will improve further in the next few versions as I mod the cast of those games).

One small nitpick with your new Druid class: Doesn't feel much like a druid to me... I dunno, usually their weapons are more "nature-based" (oak staff or shilellagh/club, sickle or scimitar if you want the slashy-slashy, slings or wooden shortbows for range).

This feels more like a... an "amazon", if you will. Or even a thief, what with that dagger.

Heh; in the stereotypical sense you're right. As someone who has GM'ed alot of Dungeons and Dragons tabletop games, mind, you see quite a few Druids that go off character. One who couldn't shapeshift at all, and just mastered vine whips and lightning strikes. One who called themselves an 'Iron Druid', presumably based on Atticus from the Iron Druid book series, who used alot of knives and was indeed a multiclass rogue, and who I allowed to shift into a iron porcupine form as their shifter. And a few Kannagi's/Miko's (Japanese Shinto Nature Priests) which work completely differently.

So I rather liked the idea of her being more a bridge between archaic and artifice in a similar way, and that's what inspired her development!

So yeah, think of her as a multiclass Druid/Ranger, if you prefer.

I don't mean to impose my opinions on you at all (I'm a nobody on the internet, after all), but if I may, this is how it could feel more druidic (I'm just gonna go wild, but hopefully it helps in giving ideas):

Not at all; I prefer comments to internet silence anyday. Go wild (heh).

Slot 1- Sling with stones (or acorns, like in the movie "Willow") that turn enemies to stone or something like that. Alt attack enrages enemies so that they attack whatever's nearest to them?
Slot 2- Hebiko's Sceptre here. Maybe make the attacks more melee ranged (homing attack could be more of a short-range, damage-per-second kind of thing, for example).
Slot 3- Ichival Bow.
Slot 4- Shapeshift.

The shapeshift ability is definately druidic, that's for sure!
Imho I feel it would be better as a "4" (like an ult), though.

Fun fact: the original plan was indeed to use the expanded Heretic staff as the 1 slot weapon. But then I randomly sprited the Baselard and thought 'fuck it, I like knives, it's gonna be knives'. Since I ended up putting a fair bit of work into that sprite, I'm probably not going to change it now, no offence. Petrify and Hypnotism as free mana-less abilities is also pretty overpowered and would be hard to balance (and Hypnotising monsters is already on the Hebiko's 2nd fire).

You're not the first one to suggest moving the Hebiko Sceptre to 2. I do partly agree because its a workhorse weapon that would be very nice to have earlier rather than later (in a slightly nerfed form). My main beef with that (and why it was 3 in the first place) was purely because I thought it shouldn't be using Blue (Aether) mana when its a big green snake sceptre, but perhaps I'm too stubborn on that. I was considering altering it a bit, though. I was considering making the Gas be attached to a grenade like thing to add to its utility; but a close range corrosive gas-thrower could be plausible, if treading on Algor and Firestorm's shoes a little.

The Ichival has got some big tweaks for 0.91 to make it much more of an ultimate. I've completely re-done the secondary and tertiary fire (and will preview those soon, actually). They are now the Artillery Arrow and the Bouncing Blazer Shots respectively, and they're pretty badass (and way more interesting than before)

Shapeshift being the ult also presents a weird problem, which I think has also been pointed out before; the fact it would need 3 unique parts, which seems a bit crazy just for a small wolf pendant! (and would require me to re-sprite the HUD parts for it as well).

Also, when we get around to the alternate in-slot weapons (mentioned a few posts back, probably happening in the 0.94~ish kind of area), I'll probably add an option for some leaf or water based weapon to the druid, though this is all still in the prototyping stage right now.

[RafaHell]

Ah well. It's your vision, after all. And it's fine.
I've DMed DnD ever since 2nd Edition, and I've gone "out of the box" countless times as well, but, well, there's a reason you don't see Baratus wielding magic, or Algor wielding an axe... Very well defined ability differentiations. And I think you've done a great job with that, all told!

I just wanna mention that, when you announced the druid, I imagined more of a "pet" class, where one of the weapon slots would summon a bear or wolf or something (or a bat or spider!), complemented by other "nature-based abilities/weapons" in the other slots.
And I imagined she could be more of a CC class, with plant snares, and short duration paralyzing missile weapons (like the sling + stones/acorns).

Out of all of my suggestions, the two I would be "dissapointed" by (not really... it's just the word I found handy) is the dagger (just feels waaay out of character... sprite it into a sickle maybe?) and the shapeshift ability not being the ult. I mean, it's way more epic (to me) to have to find pieces of a pendant or some trinket that would unlock the power to shapeshift than just finding pieces of a bow.

I understand this all would require tons more work, of course, so whatever, it's fine as it is.
This is the best Hexen mod, bar none, imo. (I know you can play Heretic n' Doom maps with it as well)

If I may, I'd like to add a suggestion to add critters to the world, like Brutal Hexen RPG does, except not make them so annoying and deadly !!

Cheers

[eharper256]

I nearly forgot about the weekly news!

Most of this week has been on tweaking monsters for Doom, and adding in changes for the Ichival. But here's a quick preview pic for something else I'm adding in for 0.91:

New armour packages, uniquely catered to each character! All armour drops will now include parts from these most of the time rather than the smaller individual pieces, with at least 2 in a drop. Since most Hexen levels AND most modern Doom levels are really stingy with armour drops, this is the counter for that to increase everyone's survivability. I'm also pretty happy with how the sprites turned out (even if you don't see them much, lol). They're pretty heavily modified versions of some diablo armour, and some of Neoworm's work.


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I just wanna mention that, when you announced the druid, I imagined more of a "pet" class, where one of the weapon slots would summon a bear or wolf or something (or a bat or spider!), complemented by other "nature-based abilities/weapons" in the other slots.
And I imagined she could be more of a CC class, with plant snares, and short duration paralyzing missile weapons (like the sling + stones/acorns).

Well, you do get to summon a pet plant in the flechette. XD

Paralysis and status effects besides poison are very difficult to implement in DECORATE (it took me ages to get the hypnosis on Hebiko working) and in Doom games they end up more gimmicky than anything, unfortunately, since there's lots of things to kill, rather than tactical encounters in co-op strategy. One of my main complaints with Wrath of Chronos is that frankly, Doom games are not meant to have a full RPG system slapped on them, really.

This is the best Hexen mod, bar none, imo. (I know you can play Heretic n' Doom maps with it as well)

Thanks again. Let me know how you fare in various levels. The main thing I'm often wondering about is how people find the difficulty and gameplay loop in levels from all the games, but its something I don't get alot of feedback on. Balance changes only really happen when I personally find something horribly out of bounds, and since I'm a mediocre doom player, I do wonder about even those...

If I may, I'd like to add a suggestion to add critters to the world, like Brutal Hexen RPG does, except not make them so annoying and deadly !!

Cheers

Hmm, maybe. Loose chickens, pigs, etc, occasionally spawning in the place of low-tier items like Vials/Discs could be a thing, with a food HP drop. I think about that, could be fun!

[eharper256]

Here's a new video!


One of the parts of 0.9 I wasn't terribly happy about when I released it was how the Ichival, the Druid's Ultimate Weapon, turned out at the time... it wasn't terribly 'ultimate', as a few people pointed out (and I agreed).

After now having had time to review it and upgrade it to my heart's content with less time pressure of wanting to throw out the first Druid release, its had a huge overhaul- the old Secondary and Tertiary Fires are completely gone, with new replacements: The Artillery Arrow, and the Bouncing Blazer.

Each mode now has unique additions to its sprite. The Primary Fire also now also zooms in and slows down time to help you snipe when you hold it, and gained more power and a cheaper cost too.

This demo shows a quick run of Doom's E4M1 and the start of E4M2 to test it out, as well as a full fire-mode tester in the latter part of the video to compare its new capabilities. As a bonus side effect, if you keep your eyes peeled, you can see the various new projectiles Doom Monsters have, as well as the new Armour Bundles!

Barring major problems, I expect to get 0.91 out this weekend or maybe next.

[PresBarackbar]

Now THAT'S some serious looking firepower! I can't wait to get my hands on it.

[eharper256]

Now THAT'S some serious looking firepower! I can't wait to get my hands on it.

Yup, its quite a stark difference to before!

[eharper256]

Here's the 0.91 Release!!

Get it from MEGA HERE
Googledrive Mirror

Keep in mind you will need to update to GZDoom 4.5.0 or later; unfortunately this is required to maintain compatibility. Sorry!

CHANGELOG:

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 [0.91]
'Stop Bossing Me Around'
-----------------------
+New!:	The Deathkings, the humanoid bosses of Hexen, get an entire rework;
		to make them more interesting to fight.
		~ Menelkir is now a Lightning Master who can unleash plasma balls,
		~ trails of seeking plasma, tendrils of lightning, and huge, devastating
		~ shockwaves. He blinks around when wounded to evade hits.
		[ Zedek IS IN YOUR FACE, remodelling it with his Hammer of Retribution.
		[ He's really fast at closing distance and slippery, with good HP,
		[ and is very deadly if he can corner you in melee.
		+ Tradactus is now a fast, flying Super-Bishop. He zips around his 
		+ warrens, pelting you with attacks, whilst constantly summoning 
		+ Lesser Bishops and Reivers to dogpile you.
+New!:	Imps, Both Chaos Serpents, Barons/Knights, Revenants and Caco's all
		get revised projectiles with improved looks and less random damage. 
		This especially helps with fighting mid and higher tier Doom enemies in
		Walpurgis, leading to less instagibs for the poor Magister and Druid 
		from 80 damage Revenant missiles and other such RNG related craziness,
		which are alot more deadly when your Armour save fluctuates heavily, 
		as it does in Walp, but does not in Doom.
+New!:	Doom Zombies are no longer hitscanners. Been meaning to do this for awhile,
		they now fire tracer projectiles. Basic Zombiedudes are probably mildly
		more dangerous as they fire short bursts now, but they are still horribly
		inaccurate. Shotgunner remains similar danger, chaingunner is slightly
		easier due to loss of his hitscan and near-perfect accuracy. They also
		gained new sounds for their guns. Spider Mastermind is also affected.
+New!:	Armour is overhauled. You will now only rarely spot individual pieces,
		as normal Armour drops of all kinds are now class-specific packages
		with their own unique sprites (i.e. Myrmidon gets a full set of Legion
		Armour, Magister gets a Spellweavers Robe and Boots). The maximum amount
		of armour you can have is now slightly higher as well.
+New!:	The Torch Item now uses Dynamic Lights so that it properly acts like,
		well, a torch (lol), rather than the Doom Light Amp Goggles. It casts
		an orangy-yellow halo in a reasonable range, and it flickers.
+New!:	General graphical and audio effect improvements, such as a revised 
		effect when you drink from the Mystic Urn and the Krater of Might and 
		more variety for pain sounds.
+New!:	The Ichival gets a big overhaul to make it better!!
		>> 	The old Secondary (Butterfly Shot) is gone, replaced with the 
			Artillery Arrow. As this arrow flies, it clones itself over and
			over in all 8 cardinal directions relative to its flightpath.
			Hence, the longer it flies, the more firepower it produces! At
			medium distance, it can be a powerful shotgun blast, and at long
			distance, its a wide area MIRV strike in an 8 pointed star shape.
			The puts the Ichival's Secondary Fire on par with the other ult's
			for horde clearance, especially if you can fire from above.
		>>	The old Tertiary Fire is also gone, replaced with the Bouncing
			Blazer. This arrow ricochets many times whilst spewing napalm.
			This makes it especially strong in tight corridors where it can 
			maximise its bouncing and napalm concentration; thought quite 
			poor in wide open areas. It can also bounce off monsters!
		>>	The Primary Fire now zooms in to 2x after a short delay holding the
			arrow in the string, and time slows, allowing you to snipe!
			Its now also 33% cheaper, costing 8 of both mana, rather than 12. 
		>>	The secondary and tertiary fire now have different arrow effects when
			on the string, and also slightly different sound effects.
		>> 	Finally, the bow itself got slightly improved sprites.
+Tweak:	The Mystic Urn now allows you to overfill your HP (up to 200!) like Doom 
		Soul Spheres making it a fair bit more useful and not something clogging 
		up your inventory all the time until you're really low on health.
+Tweak:	Firestorm Font Tertiary Fire (Blazing Barrier) can now be sustained by
		holding the Reload button. As it probably should have since the start,
		but I was lazy with the coding lol.
+Tweak:	New, better looking Gas Cloud sprites and effects.
+Tweak:	Quietus flames now have appropriate green embers.
+Tweak:	Druid Dog Mode Claw sprites improved. Dog Nose is no longer shown when you
		are transformed as it didn't look very good to be honest.
+Tweak:	Druid Hebiko Sceptre Tertiary Fire now fires a Gas Grenade, which explodes
		on 3 bounces, or hitting an enemy, rather than simply deploying the gas 
		at your location directly, which makes it easier to use.
+Fixed:	When the Ichival only had enough Mana for 1 shot, it would sometimes take
		that mana and then fail to work, wasting it and switching weapon, due
		to the odd behaviour of A_Refire. This has been fixed.
+Fixed:	When adding a quick bind to Flechettes; the Druid's Frenzyweed Flechette
		was not included, so the bind wouldn't work for her. Fixed.
+Fixed:	Non-Druid Ultimate weapon pieces were displaying generic pickup messages
		in some cases. Now each part has a unique message again.
+Fixed:	Druid's Hebiko Sceptre would sometimes entirely fail to check for mana
		when using the Gas Cloud and Hypnosis, allowing free spam of them. Fixed.
+Fixed:	Druid's weapons had no pickup sounds set, so would play the default.
		They now have sounds defined.
+Balance:	Quietus Secondary Torpedo now charges up 33% faster (!) and if you
			miss the overcharge timing it will now automatically fire, rather
			than blow up in your face. None of the other ultimate weapons had
			a penalty like this and it was a needless nerf to Quietus. It should
			now be a mighty and reliable attack.
+Balance:	Crux Calicus Primary Fire revised; it now rips through enemies, but
			maintains its wall-bouncing. Its damage is now different but still
			much better than previous. It also gained a graphical and sound
			overhaul to give it a more satisfying 'oomph' to be more on par with  
			the other ultimate primary fires.
+Balance:	Druid Dogmode primary slashes no longer use any Aetherial Mana, and
			the secondary Ice-Ball mode charges up about 25% quicker than before.
+Balance:	Damage from Firestorm Secondary and Agnus Abyssus Primary nerfed,
			as there were some weird random numbers causing the damage to be much
			higher than expected in 0.9. 
+Balance:	Firestorm Secondary Verdant Mana cost increased by 2 (from 8 => 10).
+Misc:	A CVAR to prevent Firestorm's Secondary Fire from creating heat and 
		soot decals was added. A request from Doomworld.
+Misc:	Druid Dogmode vision now defaults to colour, if you've not played Walp
		before. Remember you can change it in the Walpurgis options!