ZDoom

Greetings once more everyone that may have played my first WADs I released here (HeXen: Tower of Chaos: Special Edition and Heretic: Sitnalta) and greetings to all of you that are completely new to my WAD related stuff.

((Download link of awesome power))
http://www.mediafire.com/file/4i5e5oxjf ... W.zip/file


(Screenshots from some levels in the WAD)

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((Info about the wad itself))


VERY IMPORTANT NOTE: In the latest builds of ANW you can now skip some of the longer cutscenes (With the exclusion of the ending, because it's the ending of the mod) so you won't have to rewatch them every single subsequent playthrough. Skippable Cutscenes will be identified with a PRINTBOLD Message that reads: "Press "USE" to skip" once it begins. This message will stay for 3 seconds, after which it's safer to watch the cutscenes rather than skipping midway through, as the final parts of the cutscene you just skipped may activate twice if skip right towards the end of a cutscene. Usually you're safe to skip mid-sentence for a character, but you'll still see the HUDMESSAGE and hear their last line for it's duration before it's skipped completely.


I give you all a new WAD I've been working like no tomorrow at these last couple of months. A new WAD that furthers the simple, yet slightly intriguing plot of the first to entries in my small WAD series This new WAD is obviously the one you see here, this is A New World, a WAD heavily inspired on the gameplay seen in the Shadow Wood hub in original HeXen. Inspired so much that it even uses the "Each level has its own unique key" idea.

The plot for the mapset is as follows:
((Spoilers for those that have not played TOWER OF CHAOS: SPECIAL EDITION))

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After Korax's defeat five years ago, Cronos has returned to relative peace after Baratus, Daedolon and Parias formed a new triumvirate. One that seeks to right the wrongs of the original Triumvirate that was ruled by the tyrands Zedek, Menelkir and Traductus. Daedolon serves as Archmage of the reformed Arcanum, while Baratus serves as the new General of the reformed Legion and Parias serves as Pope of a new Church with a new pantheon of Gods. The three have the full support of the Selroy the 2nd, the son of King Selroy the 1st who died under mysterious cicumstances roughly three years ago. Together, King Selroy the 2nd and the New Triumvirate strive to enact a new age in Cronos, an age of peace and prosperity that will last until the end of days. All seems well, until today...

Today, the three heroes were ambushed by a minion of Korax they thought was vanquished five years ago when they swept by the Shadowlands on their pursuit of the Tower of Chaos. This foe was a disfigured vampire lord from the western lands of Mauristen, who calls himself "Lord Raducal." Acting just as fierce as before, Raducal slew many guards in the Council Chamber before he was chased off by the three heroes once again. Upon Raducal's escape, the three heroes vowed that they'd travel together once again and put an end to the bestial vampire Lord once and for all, and so they pursued the vile creature. Their journey took them to the Arcanum research site known as Sentinel Island, where research into a lost portal nexus were being conducted prior to Raducal's attack. And that is where our story begins.

That about covers the basic premise of the story, now onto some of the gameplay features.

Through out the WAD, you will be revisiting the same levels to gain access to a Power Gem from each level. As stated, ANW was inspired by the Shadow Wood hub from original HeXen, and it can really be seen as you play the mod. An example would be that you get the Keys for Maps 3, 4 and 5 in Map 6. And get the keys for map 6, 5, 3 in map 4 and etc.

The WAD also features a Good and Bad ending. I will not be spoiling anything about them, rather, I will simply put a warning that you may get the bad ending unless you make sure to explore everything the WAD has to offer in all non level 9 levels.
And speaking of level numbers, ANW offers 9 levels. Eight regular levels and a rather important 9th secret level (Which covers the map08 slot).

The story also plays a big role in the WAD, as the cutscenes will tell you later on (Currently you can't skip these cutscenes, as I have no clue on how to make them. If anyone knows how to make a potential skip script for them, then do tell! As I'd love to add a skipping feature for the cutscenes). The cutscenes aren't as frequent as they are in your usual modern FPS, as a matter of fact, they only show up every now and then, and barely halt the gameplay too much (I'd say so at least).

The mapset is also coop compatible, and has been thoroughly tested thanks to the playthroughs by https://www.twitch.tv/derddydert so it is guaranteed to work much better than initial builds once did.

Lastly the mod features the same "notes system" I utilized in my latest project Descent into the Abyss, what this means is covered below:

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The base code was based on Alando1's Temple of the Lizardmen III's PDA system. What this means is that sometimes you will find notes across the world (Identified by a scroll item pickup with text scribbled onto it) that you can read a bunch of world building lore in. This can be anything from dead people's last words, to arcane experiment reports and such. The notes in TOC aren't required for progression, they merely add a bit of flavour text to spice up the world somewhat. ANOTHER important thing about this system, you should bind a Drop Item key so you can throw the notes you've read already, otherwise they will begin cluttering your inventory. Alternately you can simply switch weapons and it should lower the "note weapon" from your screen.

With that said and done, it is time to write in the lovely credits.

Credits

Monster code related stuff:

KrazyCommando for the ShieldFix addon, which makes the shields of the centaurs no longer block form every angle, meaning you can kill them more quickly by attacking their feet rather than waiting for the shields to lower like we used to in vanilla HeXen.

Sprites:

Tifsim sprites: Originally by Raven Software, edited by Eriance

Raducal sprites: Originally by Raven Software, edited by Eriance

Vampire sprites: Originally by Raven Software, edited by Maelstrom and Nash

New Spear and Trident Sprites by respective authors.

Sounds:

Blizzard Entertainment

Raven Software (A lot of Heretic and HeXen 2 sounds)

ZDoom WRW

Decorate:

ArgonianLord

Eriance

Maelstrom

Music:

Level 1 theme from: Anvil of Dawn
Level 2 theme from: Anvil of Dawn
Level 3 theme from: Castlevania Aria of Sorrow
Level 4 theme from: Daikatana(It was not horrendously bad)
Level 5 theme from: Shadow Warrior (1997)
Level 6 theme from: Heretic 2
Level 7 theme from: HeXen: Beyond Heretic (Remix of unused track)
Level 8 themes from: Neverwinter Nights 2 and Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver

Additional music:


Confrontation: from Aria of Sorrow: Used for Iron Lich boss

Westminster Roofs: from Nightmare Creatures: Used for Tifsim

Queen/Primagen Boss: from Turok 2: Seeds of Evil: Used for Mindflayer boss

Tracking the Kobold Raiders: from Neverwinter Nights: Used for Redyres boss

The Sewer Snake: from Nightmare Creatures: Used for Raducal's boss fight

Port Oblivion: from Turok 2: Seeds of Evil: Used for Raducal dialogue

West Harbour Theme: from Neverwinter Nights 2: Used for bad ending

Aarin Gend: from Neverwinter Nights: Used for good ending

In the house: from Realms of the Haunting: Used for second stage of the "horror section"

Blood, track 10: from Blood: Used for first stage of the "horror section"

Voice cast:

Raducal voice acting: ArgonianLord

Mindflayer voice acting: ArgonianLord

Tifsim voice acting: LordMisfit

Redyres voice acting: KrazyCommando

Special thanks to:

You for downloading

fluffyshamber for helping me resolve the massive problems with the "Skip cutscene" feature.

My dear friends Icedude323(aka Sam) and LordMisfit for giving me some great voice overs

Yholl for some DECORATE assistance here and there

Even more special thanks to my friend VikingBoyBilly for handing me the foundations of Swamplorn Fortress that he had made years before ANW was even in developlment. Almsot the entire layout of the level and most of the early texturing for the map is his work, I simply finished the level.

I would also appreciate it if you post info about potential bugs and glitches so that I can fix them if need be.



Copyright / Permissions.

Authors may NOT use the contents of this file as a base for
modification or reuse. Permissions from authors for the music included
have NOT been contacted, however, their credits are listed. As such, this
WAD may NOT be used for commercial or "for profit" purposes, either by
myself or other parties.

You may NOT redistribute this file without my permission.

Hmmm... that screenshots looks interesting, by the way I think what it will good at play and discovering around.

I'll try it.

I love the way this is looking.

Interesting concept using voice-overs for some of the characters. Haven't seen that in any other wad. Level design is brilliant too.

Pretty good overall, especially the choice of graphics and monsters (it's a shame there aren't more wads that mix Heretic/Hexen/Hexen 2 stuff, as they all work so well together). Final boss fight is a bit weak but the rest is nicely done.

Some major flaws though:

Weapons: The 3rd weapon is so far back in the project, it's almost at the end of it. There's green mana scattered everywhere, and nothing to use it with. Hexen is bad enough for having only 4 weapons, but with this project you effectively only have 2.

Cutscenes: The text appears too slowly and there's too much of a gap between lines (especially given the length of some). There's also a few cases where the player can move around during them, and one bug (at the good bishop who gives you the trident) where the camera doesn't switch back to you (so I had to noclip past it). I'd also print the messages to the console (HUDMSG_LOG instead of PLAIN) and make the cutscenes skippable, too. (the easiest way to do it is by telling the player to puke a script from the console)

Items: Definitely too many of these (esp. flasks, discs and flechettes), same goes for mana. You can also break the final map by using a chaos device (doors won't open again), so I'd remove these by script upon entering the map.

The Ultimate DooMer wrote:Pretty good overall, especially the choice of graphics and monsters (it's a shame there aren't more wads that mix Heretic/Hexen/Hexen 2 stuff, as they all work so well together). Final boss fight is a bit weak but the rest is nicely done.

Some major flaws though:

Weapons: The 3rd weapon is so far back in the project, it's almost at the end of it. There's green mana scattered everywhere, and nothing to use it with. Hexen is bad enough for having only 4 weapons, but with this project you effectively only have 2.

Cutscenes: The text appears too slowly and there's too much of a gap between lines (especially given the length of some). There's also a few cases where the player can move around during them, and one bug (at the good bishop who gives you the trident) where the camera doesn't switch back to you (so I had to noclip past it). I'd also print the messages to the console (HUDMSG_LOG instead of PLAIN) and make the cutscenes skippable, too. (the easiest way to do it is by telling the player to puke a script from the console)

Items: Definitely too many of these (esp. flasks, discs and flechettes), same goes for mana. You can also break the final map by using a chaos device (doors won't open again), so I'd remove these by script upon entering the map.

Fair points of criticism. As for why there's so much green mana everywhere, well its primarily due to the fact that the different classes should have some backup green mana if they've gotten their respective green mana weapon. Might switch somethings around later on.

I've been wanting to fix the cutscenes issue for quite some time. Matter of fact, I was actually waiting for someone to help me add some form of skipping feature for the cutscenes. And for future reference, I will definitely try to do something about the text. Think the plain-text will make things far easier for me to kill off those annoying breaks between the voice overs. The type-on might be a cool idea, but it is really annoying to work with when you need to keep track of voice overs too. So if you got any idea on how to go about fixing it, I'll be in your debt. Level testing with the lack of an option to skip the cutscenes is bloody infuriating.

As for that friendly bishop, well that bug I have never seen before, huh weird. I'll make sure to check up on it as soon as I have the time.


EDIT: Checked up on the issue with the good bishop, for whatever reason I can't seem to replicate this issue. The cameras switch just as they should without any issues. So I don't really know how to solve this I'm afraid

/ArgonianLord

I have finished it with the bad ending (which was very sad) and the good ending now and it was really awesome !
The story was interesting and cool, i don't know about mapping but the way You put your ideas in this wad is awesome, you have a lot of creativity and ideas !
The nightmare part was really creepy for a hexen wad, the puzzles are cool but not boring (i was lost at the end to find the place where i have to put the mask).
The level design is not symetrical or flat, you keep your style but you have improved it !
The wad was less epic and shorter than the previous one but the quality of the maps was better (with more ideas), it's not just a hexen wad for me, but a real classic where you added an awesome adventure, man, if you make some new wads, i will play it for sure !

There is maybe still too much health items (well, for skilled players, maybe), i liked the stuff for Hexen 2 and others, really cool.
But im still dead sometimes by the dark bishop who throw the bats (the powerful ones) so it's all good ^^ it was dangerous sometimes !

Again, i don't know about programming a map or others, but it's the best adventure I have played in wad of Hexen, a bit like Master Of Chaos, but with a story and all ! Good job !

I did not see the bad ending. I liked this mapset a lot more than I did your original Tower of Chaos, it was plenty more fluent and contained far less dead-end corridors - not to mention the abundance of hints and level design structured to lead the player to important things. The dialogue was still as cringeworthy as ever (and the voice acting, ehhhhhh) but thankfully that particular content also wasn't so overdone as in Tower of Chaos. Nice work with this thing, 9/10 would play it again

Myself, and my partner have gone through a new World serveral times. We have some bugs and Comments:

Bugs:
1. It is still possible to get locked in Heaven or Hell if one person goes through the portal and doesn't hold the door open for other players.
2. If one person goes through Heaven, and a different person goes through Hell, neither door will open for either opening. You will be stuck in Raducal's Room with no exit.
3. In the event all players do choose one ending or another, only one player can exit Raducal's Room, the other players must use F12 to see the ending.

Possible Enhancements:
I think the Bishop Sprite is far too overused. I would suggest the D'spairil Palette Swap from the Doom Extra Monsters pack for Tifsim the Fire Mage.
The Bosses really are too easy.

Wrath of Cronos Specific:
Heretic monsters, and most bosses do not give Experience. The only boss that does is the Death Wyvern.

From Zombie Ryushu and partners, comes: A New world with Wrath of Cronos support!

This is Alpha level code.
- Most Heretic Monsters give Experience, display a life bar, and scale in difficulty relative to the enemy.
- Iron Lich boss included.
- Most enemies drop items
- Vampire reverted to Stock WOC Vampire properties.

Exceptions / Known issues.
- Undead Knight Ghost does not give experience. The non-Ethereal version functions normally.
- Custom Bosses: Raducal, Tifsim, Redreys Mind Flayer do not scale with the player level yet.

Credit goes to:
Kalinka
MadCat
Spiral Energy for support.
Some scripting credit of MadCat.

This project has its own thread now.

VERY IMPORTANT NOTICE: In the latest builds of ANW you can now skip some of the longer cutscenes (With the exclusion of the ending, because it's the ending of the mod) so you won't have to rewatch them every single subsequent playthrough. Skippable Cutscenes will be identified with a PRINTBOLD Message that reads: "Press "USE" to skip" once it begins. This message will stay for 3 seconds, after which it's safer to watch the cutscenes rather than skipping midway through, as the final parts of the cutscene you just skipped may activate twice if skip right towards the end of a cutscene. Usually you're safe to skip mid-sentence for a character, but you'll still see the HUDMESSAGE and hear their last line for it's duration before it's skipped completely.

Great job on these recent updates! COOP plays so smoothly. The story makes this hub/mapset quite immersive.

This update seems so beautiful.

In the unlikely scenario someone saw the previous post I made here this morning, the issue with the Skippable Cutscenes has been resolved.

For context, the previous up to date version of ANW came with a new feature that allowed you to skip the cutscenes if you wanted to. Before I had help from fluffyshambler, the prompt to press use and Skip a cutscene was still around even if you watched the whole thing. So the moment you pressed Use, the final parts of the Cutscene script would play out again and cause multiple problems. Now it works as intended thanks to the help I received.

Again, terribly sorry if someones first experience with ANW was the previous messed up version.