Infernal Doom - mutator for Brutal Doom!

[Zaero]

Posted 04.02.2013
Premiere release!
After around half year the mod is finally ready to grab! With tons of tweaks and fixes and changed name to reflect it, it's my biggest ZDoom project to date.
If you've expected screenshots with some never-seen-before, fancy sprites, you might get disappointed a bit: this mod is mostly about how things work, not how they look. Regardless, IMHO it's worth a try!

Download: http://www.mediafire.com/?i9bf0vi6gfu6mf0

Tell me what you think and.. Enjoy!

Posted 23.07.2012
Well, looks like I've made another mini-mod for Brutal Doom.
It is the fruit of my decorate learning. A simple enhancement of Doom's items, which adds some new properties to them.

[Former pickup name -> New pickup name: additional properties]:
Berserk -> Bloodlust: drains health from enemies during attack (for 60 sec), does not switch to fists automatically.
"New" pickup sprite (glowing skull).
Soul Sphere -> Strong Soul: regenerates 5 health per 3 sec (for 60 sec)
Mega Spehere -> Demonic Fury: doubles the attack rate and damage (for 60 sec),
but does not grant armor (it's now offensive powerup, instead of defensive it used to be)
Infrared -> Combat Visor: boosts the movement speed by 50% (for 120 sec)
RadSuit -> Protective Gear: additional 25% protection from other damage types (for 60 sec).
"New" pickup sprite (the one from Classic Weapons Pack is now moved here).
BlurSphere -> Ghost Sphere: enemies run away from player, they attack very little (for 60 sec)
Invulnerability -> Hell Time: freezes time when powerup is active (for 30 sec)

All the default item properties (such as Soul Sphere granting 100 HP bonus) are still there, unless stated otherwise.
The "new" is in quotes, since it's not made from scratch, but made using already existing resources.
The file will be available to download after some more testing. I've also adjusted the Statusbar Reloaded to show powerup counters for some of the items.

The screenshots below shows the pickup sprites, however the effects of additional properties cannot be captured.

[Zaero]

Progress update 4.8.2012:

The mod grows bigger. Currently is also changes some weapon-related properties:
1. Pistol is default startup weapon.
2. Rifle still can be picked up from zombies.
3. Rocket launcher altfire: launches bouncing grenades. They're more dangerous than rockets for both monsters and players!
4. Plasma Gun's "volley" altfire consumes ammo from current cell only (not reserve). Also it's no longer possible to "charge" it forever until the fire is released.
This altfire mode is no longer default (left commented out).
5. Plasma Gun's "volley" altfire replaced with insta-hit "railshot" altfire, consumes 10 ammo per shot.
6. BFG9000 altfire: 4x faster charge, hitscan blasts, slight kickback, consumes 15 ammo per shot.
7. Player movement speed increased back to vanilla value.

The above basically means all Skulltag's weapons are reachable in maps played under ZDoom.

[hugoroy]

This looks great, can't wait to try it out!

[Valherran]

Hmmm, might have a balance problem with some maps if the Megasphere does not give armor... Other than that it looks like fun.

[-Ghost-]

Sounds interesting, but possibly almost too strong. How does it play on say, Doom 2 on UV?

[Ghostbreed]

This looks really promising. Might I ask where you got that custom HUD face? I know about the HUD itself but not that face.

[Zaero]

Sounds interesting, but possibly almost too strong. How does it play on say, Doom 2 on UV?

I'm currently testing this (always on UV) with Plutonia Revisited. The game is still balanced, with some boss fights/slaughter traps slightly easier. The reason is the boosted Megasphere/Invulnerability behavior. Exchanging Megasphere's armor bonus for Demonic Fury is a really good deal - the artifact is no longer only protecting player, but battle-encouraging. 2x faster and 2x stronger attacks means the damage output multiplier is the same as Quake's Quad Damage, but at cost of much faster ammo consumption. The powerup is balanced cuz no armor is granted, so player still must be careful. "Charge or retreat? That is the question"

Invulnerability powerup owns enemies anyway. That's why it's combined with Hell Time ability. The player is simply no longer tossed by incoming projectiles, which makes it easier to wreak havoc or pass by.

Soulsphere just makes sure player's health will not drop below 100 for 60 sec (unless player is badly wounded and killed). Nice feature, but not overpowering.
RedSuit and Infrared are also just slightly boosted, so some of you may even not notice.

But my personal favorite is the Bloodlust (former Berserk). Since it's dropped by monsters on random, I've changed the "medkit appearance" for more demonic looking (thanks to Doom's Alpha Lost Soul sprite). When the item is takes it does not switch to fists but grants you "vampiric" powers. Each time you shed blood (from living or dead bodies) you get as much health as damage dealt (up to 100). Finally "berserk" really means going nuts. As long as you wreak havoc, no one can stop you! The effect lasts for 60 sec and can be used also with fists for an never ending brawl. After the red screen fades out, player still has all the berserk benefit till the end of the level.

From all the altfires I like grenade launch the most. You can suprise-kill monsters behind the corner, drop some down the pit or simply launch it in mancubus' face for insta-gib (yes, it's THAT strong). If you feel lucky you can also launch one in the teleport for a quick delivery (the only projectile to do so!).
Overpowered? Maybe, but it works both ways. One trajectory misscalculation and you'll end up dead. Period.

Plasma Gun's railshot deals about the same damage as SSG dualshot. The pros are the accuracy and ability to pierce the monsters in the row. The cons are the (short) charging time, slow firerate and ammo consumption (10 per shot is quite a lot when you'll get trigger happy). Also the damage is not as big as someone might expect.

BFG altfire is really useful sometimes, but holding the trigger down will chew the cells in no time (15 per shot means just 40 can be fired before it runs out - with backpack). Very good for taking down bosses when there is planty of cells around.

As the testing progressed I find the changes to not be overpowered but more fair towards player. Finally there is a few more tricks in player's disposal to deal with those explosive-rounds-firing Masterminds and such. But the tricks don't come for free, they require some skill and ammo.

This looks really promising. Might I ask where you got that custom HUD face? I know about the HUD itself but not that face.

Those mugfaces are made by Mr.Rocket at NewDoom forums. Tried to include them in my latest release of Statusbar Reloaded, but couldn't contact him for permission.

[Dan50]

Looks cool

[Mr.Rocket]

You are welcome to use the HUD/mug face, that's what I made them for.
Just give me some credit if you release them with your mod etc.

[Zaero]

You are welcome to use the HUD/mug face, that's what I made them for.
Just give me some credit if you release them with your mod etc.

Great!

Edit: The new version of Statusbar Reloaded (1.2) is ready for download: http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?908wp8a2e731m73

[Zaero]

22.08.12 Progress update:
-some of the minor glitches fixed (rifle frame appearing when reload button is pressed even when pistol is selected)
-pistol is now fully automatic and silenced. One burst of 10 rounds is able to kill any enemy up to Chainguner in a matter of 2 sec or so. Still needs to be reloaded after 10 rounds, and is pretty weak later on.
-pistol and assault rifle resumes firing after reload (if trigger is held)
EDIT: Already did:
-an altfire for flamecannon (imp fireballs)
-chainsaw slowly depleting fuel
-Fuel limit rised to 300/600, Flame Cannon primary uses 10 (so up to 30/60 shots are possible as usual), secondary uses 1 and is really weak (but is not affected by gravity!). Chainsaw depletes 1 unit per 2 sec or so.
-To remain balanced with Ultimate/Doom levels (where Mancubuses are not present) both chainsaw and backpack gives 100 gas units (Flame Cannon gives 80).

Screenies below.

[Zaero]

Progress update:
-fuel-consuming weapons currently put on hold
-compatible with BD .17 (not backwards compatible since ammo capacity for pistol and rifle was changed in BD .17)
-berserk pack is replaced by machine gun (monsters still drop berserk powerups)
-there is a slight chance medikit will get replaced by marine ally (this can happen about dozen times per IWAD). Marine is not captured, so he can take care of himself since the start. This allows for both Invisibility and Marine helper be present at the same time.
-rearranged weapon slots (machinegun in slot 4, missile launcher in slot 5, flame cannon in slot 6 - all with lower priority than vanilla weapons).
-classes now use inheritance which means smaller files and better compatibility with future BD versions.

[Ghostbreed]

What's the status of this?

[Zaero]

What's the status of this?

It's good you're asking.
The mutator is almost done. I consider a name change since it's now a much larger thing than before. Also asked Sarge Mark if it's ok to release it but got no answer since (will try again soon). Also I need to contact the Skulltag spriting author to ask for permission to use some sprites (if you can help - PM me). Currently I'm testing the thing, see no bugs, so it looks like it's ready to go ASAP.

Features:
-most new classes uses inheritance to maintain compatibility with future BD releases and to reduce the file size
-3 custom player classes (one of them is a vanilla player, one is a "warrior" type and one scout)
-sometimes marine helper may appear on the level (not replacing anything, place is randomly chosen)
-burning enemies can set others on fire easier
-most things are destructible (dead monsters, decorations etc)
-much more interaction with decorations (you can turn the lamps on/off, break the wiring of tech pillars etc)
-some powerups are boosted (deflective invulnerability, vampiric demon rune) and there are 4 new (introduced via random spawners)
-there are 3 types of armor and health bonuses and a red armor vest (very powerful but rare)
-many BD bugs were fixed (invisible hanging body, rifle zoomout when reload button is pressed, etc)
-2 weapons added to the weapon stock: silenced Pistol and Unmaker
-all weapons have altfires, some even more than one (reload button acts as fire selector then)
-some weapons have cool features: chainsaw must be manually turned on and drains fuel, pistol have laser sight, etc.
-ssg, flamethrower and revenant launcher can be obtained even in Doom 1 and it's pwads
-fuel from rockets can be drained and used in a fuel consuming weapons (flamer, chainsaw)
-Unmaker and Revenant launcher uses the same ammo which is provided even in Doom 1 maps
-to get the Unmaker you must collect all it's parts. The ritual of assembly is described as you do so.
-compatible with my other mods (especially Classic Weapons pack which I plan to update really soon!) and HUDs (plan to update it as well)
-and more..

Currently the file is less than 1 MB big, pk3 compressed (I will release it as pk7 to reduce bandwidth).

The only thing which annoys me is the mod can break savegames if used in the middle of a gameplay previously without it. But that is the case for ANY mod patch as far as I'm aware (BD's Arsenal Expansion Pack) and cannot be dealt with.

If you want to know other details - let me know.

[Ghostbreed]

Awesome Zaero, good to hear
I hope the last few stops will be outta your way soon, can't wait to try this out.