Archvile Replacement Recommendations

[Twitchy2019]

Hi,
I am looking to find a replacement file for the Archvile in Doom 2. I started playing the game a while back and as a whole, the enemy was pretty balanced within the maps that were included with the game. That said, the enemy I feel is imbalanced in custom maps a lot of times. This has led to some rage quits and thoughts about the subject, and so, here we are. The thing I seek is just a file that totally replaces the monster itself through the GZDoom source port. Please leave some suggestions on how to go about this.

A few rules to keep in mind:
1. I don't care about how much I "suck" at the game for not putting up with such an overpowered enemy. I play games to have a challenge, not to throw my computer in a rage half across the room. The archvile has a nearly unavoidable attack and resurrects enemies rather quickly. Such an enemy requires preparation and balance which few map makers actually pull off effectively. I play on the Hurt Me Plenty difficulty and I had a tough time dealing with some maps featuring that enemy, henceforth I want it gone. I play games to make myself happy, not anyone else.

2. Please post active links that replace the monster itself only. I'm not after a monster randomizer mod or a Brutal Doom weapons and monsters overhaul.

3. Please keep all information to topic and leave discussions not pertaining to file links out. I will to the extent of the rules here have this enforced.

[edward850]

[Twitchy2019]

I'd give a thumbs up simply for the retardedness of this video. You could say I...cheated...if you want to call it that. What I did was simply open up GZDoom and edited the actor file that had the archvile in it. Its pain chance was only 10, yes 10! How could they do that? So, I upped it to about 70. That will make it get hurt and stop its attack more often if I shoot it. It becomes easy to spam it with the chaingun. I could also change its health if I wanted as well. Cheating? Maybe. But this is Doom, the shooter you can MOD, BABY! So nyah!! (sticks tongue out)

[kodi]

You shouldn't edit gzdoom.pk3 if that's what you did. Instead, make a text file called decorate.txt that holds something like this:

Code: Select all

actor weakvile : archvile replaces archvile
{
health 500
painchance 100
-quicktoretaliate
}

then zip it up and rename the extension to ".pk3". Drag and drop into gzdoom.exe or put into your ZDL or whatever load order to use.

[Arctangent]

I play games to have a challenge, not to throw my computer in a rage half across the room.

I feel like you have a weird definition of "challenge," considering it's supposed to frustrate you at times.

Y'know, as to make the moment you overcome it all the sweeter.

[Nevander]

I love that video. Classic masterpiece. Despite the silliness, every trick in there actually works. You'd be surprised how easy it is to deal with Archviles once you know their mechanics. Basically, if you get blasted by an Archvile you either a) got unlucky with timing or b) not doing it right.

[Matt]

as someone who hates archvile attacks almost as much as the vanilla IoS fight...

basically the enemy is this:
1. revive nearby dead guys
2. take a fuckton of damage before going down
3. single, slow, powerful hitscan attack that launches the player upwards on hit
4. said attack is preceded by an interface screw (blinding the player with a huge fire sprite)

3 is annoying because all hitscans are annoying in Doom, but it's 2-4 combined with the low painchance that really sets up the ragequit. These factors together make the archvile an especially frustrating experience because the only way to avoid getting hit is to hide and listen carefully and wait it out - exactly the sort of thing that puts you in a "submissive" position in an act of social violence (that it's a controlling "predator" position in asocial violence is perhaps why others like fighting the archvile - it's the difference between "challenge" being a euphemism for a problem to be solved, and "challenge" being a confrontation with someone who needs their ass kicked).

When I replace the archvile in a mod, I almost always end up making it summon a moving flame either in front of it or in front of the player (after a second delay), which flame then moves around, shoots fireballs at the player for a bit before eventually disappearing, and if it comes across a dead body will revive it before disappearing. Its melee attack can also launch the player upwards before it disappears, thus allowing some of the jump puzzles that you need to be hit with a vile attack to solve. This replicates 1 but spreads 3-4 out into a secondary summoning/distraction mook, making the archvile fight more like a grounded but unpainlockable pain elemental that shot tiny cacos instead of lost souls. (2 is typically lost by accident since all the weapons in said mod are much more powerful)

Other things that you can replace the archvile with:

- a cyberdemon mk.ii that's the size of a baron, has a grenade attack that's slower to set up and aims at your feet (thus launching you up), and is as fast and tough and painless as an archvile, possibly able to heal or summon monsters.

- an extremely heavily armoured super shotgun/chaingun/railgun/bazooka guy that can summon imps/pinkies/whatever and has a killer uppercut, but always shoots at where you were a second before the shot.

- a cluster of invisible noclipping invulnerable non-countkill monsters that each runs off and revives the nearest corpse (or ten) before disappearing. In play you'd just come across this empty space where the archvile should be, then everything around you starts coming to life... (this won't let you do the archvile-jump but at this point you're probably not the type who'd be hardcore-vanilla with jump disabled anyway!)

[Nevander]

Kinda unrelated but in my opinion the only things that any self respecting Doomer should set in this day and age is "limit lost souls" and disable "actors are infinitely tall." Don't jump, don't crouch. Mouselook, that's up to you. Personally I can aim with a mouse and hit more shots than try to rely on the crappy auto-aim to aim rockets for me and end up wasting them on a wall.