Lithium 1.7.0 Beta (Apr. 17, 2022)

[Dissy EX]

Now it runs on LZDoom skipping the CSV language lump. BTW Graf says you could have used the old format for that.

I know. It was just slightly easier to generate a CSV, so I did that. I figured since the mod requires 4.3 (and in 1.7, 4.6) it wasn't really necessary to account for that. I've never used LZDoom.

That's a bummer. Unfortunately I'm kinda forced to use LZDoom as GZDoom refuses to run with a decent performance on my machine. Since LZ skips CSV language lumps now, the UI/HUD graphics don't work. Is there any way I can fix this on my end?

[fakemai]

Try using regular GZDoom with the "OpenGL ES" back-end. It's under the video options, or if you can't even get into GZDoom, run with gzdoom +set vid_preferbackend 3

[Marrub]

Today marks the 5th anniversary of Lithium 1.0, from January 10th, 2017! I've been working on-and-off on this mod since around February 2016, and over that time it's become my most complete work yet. Initially Lithium was planned to be an RPG-lite bullet-hell mod, but eventually morphed into a narrative-heavy high-tech mod. The initial two name ideas were Bullet Hell Doom and LRPG, but soon after development started I settled on Lithium. I was very big into Nirvana at the time and extremely depressed, and the song resonated with me in a really particular way. The following year of development was horrendous, but my friends managed to keep me together enough to finish what I had started. Shoutouts to Yholl, Kyle873, Zombie, DavidPH, Ryan Cordell, Kate, and Xaser in particular; and especially Yholl as I fear the bird-man's wrath coming down upon me. For real, though, for the whole year of 2016 these people were essentially my entire world. I'm still to this day honored to have made acquaintances with all of these people. The years following the first release of Lithium were somehow even worse than what I usually think of as the worst pit of my life. The following requires a content warning for suicide and death.

---

I attempted suicide in 2016. I've been struggling with my mental health since I was old enough to think. I am safe now, and I do not want to harm myself. The following year, 2017, was worse. Despite being surrounded by friends online, I was still in the same horrid living situation that I was in the previous year, and nothing was getting better. Things deteriorated. Within the span of a month, Kate, and then my cousin, both died. This mod became my only creative outlet and seemed like my whole world at the time.

I don't remember most of 2018. My memory is a hazy mess after January of that year. I just remember that I kept working, my situation didn't change, and I occasionally got distracted with other projects. I only remember the progress I made that year; I deprogrammed a lot of internalized bigotry, I came out as trans and plural, and I released Lithium 1.6. 2019 was an excellent year for me until around November, however I had mostly given up working on Lithium around May of that year. I was very preoccupied with other projects, visiting a friend of mine, confessing to my partner (hi rib) and moving out. Around February of 2020 I started up development again, and released 1.6.2 and 1.6.3 around that time. The latter two years have been hectic due to COVID, interpersonal woes, commercial work, surgery, and now tackling my eating disorder. I don't think I'll be able to release 1.7 this year due to the latter. However, I am still going to work on Lithium as much as I possibly can. I'm in a significantly better place than I was even last year - let alone when I started developing Lithium. A lot of my soul has gone into this mod, and I simply can not possibly thank everyone enough for how much support I've gotten over the years. Lithium has been a conduit for my creativity and my struggles throughout my life. Thank you to the people who have helped me throughout these past 6 years, both materially and mentally. Thank you to the people who have played Lithium and enjoyed it, seen parts of themself in its writing, and given me critique. Y'all mean the world to me.

[KynikossDragonn]

I look forward to 1.7 whenever it comes, Marrub. I only hope that things don't get worse for you in these trying times, really saddens me to know you've been through things like that...

[Marrub]

Here's some stuff I've been working on recently!

• Dark Lord's slot 6 weapon is more or less finished!
• Junk gun!
• Revamped the HUD system internally, so now the HUD can be changed to any class'! I also reimplemented the 1.0 HUD. :P

[Linz]

Here's some stuff I've been working on recently!

• Dark Lord's slot 6 weapon is more or less finished!
• Junk gun!
• Revamped the HUD system internally, so now the HUD can be changed to any class'! I also reimplemented the 1.0 HUD.

I see Dark Lord is coming along nicely

Still a lot of ways to go though I take it?

[Dr_Cosmobyte]

(late) happy birthday to this!

I feel it isn't any exxagerating on my part to say: Lithium marks a point of evolution in doom modding. This mod is 5 years old and it still looks like arcane magic from the inside!

And it does have a immense replay value, since every playthrough might have little details (either RNG or player influenced) that can alter an entire Megawad progression.

So, yes. Lithium is great and i think we're all thankful for your dedication.

[Marrub]

Here's some stuff I've been working on recently!

• Dark Lord's slot 6 weapon is more or less finished!
• Junk gun!
• Revamped the HUD system internally, so now the HUD can be changed to any class'! I also reimplemented the 1.0 HUD. :P

I see Dark Lord is coming along nicely :D

Still a lot of ways to go though I take it?

Yup. Still gotta do the slot 1 and 7 weapons, a few of the subweapons, all of the upgrades, the info pages, etc. But a lot of his weapons and mechanics are done.

[KynikossDragonn]

Junk gun!

This reminds me of literally throwing shellcasings as a weapon in Cruelty Squad, if you have "Augmented Arms" equipped in your arm augmentation slot.

Though, it's way more lethal in Cruelty Squad's case.

[Marrub]

The guns! They are finished! After five thousand years! BFG and melee weapons aren't started, but Dark Lord is quite close to being playable.

[Someonewhoplaysdoom]

The guns! They are finished! After five thousand years! BFG and melee weapons aren't started, but Dark Lord is quite close to being playable.

Luv how Incredibly Edgy and devastating looks the Dark Lord weapons.

[Marrub]

And now the melee weapons are finished. Along the way I learned I really like 3D animation, so I might actually end up having a more productive workflow for hand-drawn sprites! Still need to do the BFG and the last two subweapons, make the boss rewards work, fix some issues, change the control scheme a bit, etc. But for the most part, Dark Lord is pretty close to playable. I may release a 1.7 beta soon!

[Dr_Cosmobyte]

This is awesome, boss. Keep it coming.

[Linz]

Say, any big changes coming to the Marine and Cyber Mage in the next update btw?

[Marrub]

Say, any big changes coming to the Marine and Cyber Mage in the next update btw?

A bunch of core changes were made that effect all classes, but besides that: things look smoother and are a bit better balanced, the ammo system is redone, and I did a rework of Marine's movement to be more consistent. That's about it.