Hearts of Demons - ARACHNOTRON 0.0.2 Alpha [7/23/24]

[Brohnesorge]

GZDoom 4.11.0 or higher recommended!
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GZDoom can run zips like it can pk3 or WAD, so after downloading just load it up like you would any other mod.

3000 years ago we conquered our home dimension. All intelligent life bowed to our superior technology and psionic powers. So we developed the means to conquer other dimensions. Our current campaign takes us into a so called Hell. Resistance is little, but resistance must still be crushed.

My name is Qol'thurmackquti'thresnbadad, but the demons who inhabit this land merely call me Qol. I am the apex male of my species. I am...



An Arachnotron.

My duties send me all over Hell, crushing defiant demons where I go. Hell's Demon Lords have started an invasion of a neighbor dimension on a planet called "Earth". This has only been advantageous to us. Humans have weak minds, very easily crushed and taking over by our psionic abilities and have developed ways to combat the demons we would never have dreamed of. Between my enhanced arsenal and my psionic powers, my mission is always a success.

Most Arachnotrons have lost their way, becoming too dependent on their robotic legs, being unable to even float any more. I am a rare breed, born of intense training.

My arsenal is perfect for taking out the demons who resist us. And traitors that sympathize with the demons. I need to make sure my legs are set up correctly. Main Fire fires my main weapon, and Alt fire fires my sub weapon. Zoom cycles through my Psionic Powers, and Reload casts them. Weapon State 1 is used for switching my equipped sub weapon, while Weapon State 2 is used for changing the ammo type of my guns. With my enhanced mech legs, I can pick up a second copy of most of my weapons to twin link them. Thanks to our technology, an universal ammo type was developed and as such all weapons take the same ammo.

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Slot 2 - Birdeater Plasma Repeater - 1 ammo

A basic weapon, equipped onto most Arachnotron soldier units. Mine is a experimental Mark 2 model, with much better fire rate.
Ammo Type 1 is basic blue plasma fired at a rapid rate.
Ammo Type 2 is dense green plasma fired at a slower rate but is much more powerful.

Slot 3 - Recluse Plasma Caster - 2 ammo

Fires a spread of weaker plasma, with a special vent on the barrel to split the casted plasma into many smaller balls.
Ammo Type 1 is a wide spread of basic blue plasma.
Ammo Type 2 is a tighter spread of dense green plasma.

Slot 4 - Black Widow Flechette Cannon - 1 ammo

A rarer weapon, as most physical material weapons have been cast aside for the much more advanced and powerful plasma weaponry.
Ammo Type 1 is blessed silver flechettes, created from human "priests" we've enslaved during the invasion of Earth.
Ammo Type 2 is barbed steel flechettes, weaker but the barbs cause great pain in whatever they hit.

Slot 5 - Vinegaroon Slug Launcher - 10 ammo

A large weapon, taking up both installation slots so it cannot be twin linked. Very powerful and useful for hard targets and groups alike.
Ammo Type 1 is explosive slugs, loaded with a HE payload that explodes in a large area on impact.
Ammo Type 2 is termite slugs, burning and throwing sparks when the ground is hit, and dealing massive damage on direct hit.

Slot 6 - Goliath Chaingun - 3 ammo

A beast of a machine gun, normally reserved for the larger chassis of our Queens. It is a great honor that I am allowed to use such a weapon.

Ammo Type 1 fires a perfectly accurate explosive round and two non-explosive rounds in a very tight spread. I believe the human caliber is .50 cal.
This weapon does not have an Ammo Type 2

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Prosoma - 1 sub ammo

My newer model chassis is able to equip a variety of explosive sub weapons. The most basic of these is the Prosoma grenade launcher. Installed flanking my body, these launcher six grenades that bounce around or explode on impact.

Satae - 2 sub ammo

Installed to the sides of my chassis, these rocket launchers fire a flurry of micro rockets that deal decent damage and explode. Each launcher is loaded with 3 rockets and they fire their entire payload with the press of the button.

Scorpion Tail - Constant sub ammo drain

A highly destructive weapon installed onto new models and on the mindless Arachnodrones, it fires a dense laser beam that does no direct damage, but agitates the particles of dense ground matter, cause it to explode after a brief delay. Fires as long as the button is held down.

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Force - 10 PP

The most basic of psionic powers, it unleashes pure force where I'm looking, dealing set damage and knocking enemies back. I've developed it further and it sends a crippling wave through the nervous system of the victim, enhancing their pain receptors. This makes them take additional damage for a limited time. This power can also be used when my Psionic Power is depleted, although to a much lesser effect.

Mind Blast - 10 PP

Sends a shockwave of power into the ground, causing it spread around me, pushing back anything in range.

Renew - Constant PP drain

This power is key to my continued survival. While focusing, I can refresh my psionic barrier at a slow rate.

Possess - 50 PP

The greatest of my powers, this allows me to alter the very thoughts and feelings of the target. I use it to make enemies my ally. I have yet to encounter a demon or a brain able to resist my will.

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Souls

My chassis is equip with a Soul Extractor, causing anything I kill to manifest a soul by taking all their residual mana and focusing it to a point. Or in the case of possessed humans, it simple manifests their soul. Normally this is useless to us. However I have a special device hooked up to my brain and body, allowing me to absorb souls to heal my wounds and restore my Psionic Power.

Focus Crystals

Common in a green lesser quality and a blue greater quality, these crystals all me to restore my barrier and my Power before crumbling to dust. Greater crystals can even overcharge my barrier above its maximum capacity.

Mega Barrier

A device installed onto my legs, it forms a secondary barrier around me, greatly reducing the damage I and my barrier take. The barriers properties also heal my wounds while its in effect. This is a huge drain on power, and its battery will run out after five minutes.

Mind Charge

The brain of a psionicly sensitive human. By picking it up and draining its power, it fully refreshes my barrier and my Psionic Power. Additionally for a limited time, I can manifest my Psionics without draining my Power.

Soul Gems

Gems created by great demon magi, they are normally used to enhance the magically powers of the holder. Instead, we developed a way to install them into our legs, converting their magic boosting ability into a Psionic Power boosting one.

Ammo Storage

Installed onto the back end of my legs, this allows me to carry additional main and sub ammo. It can be further expanded by disassembling other ammo storage devices.

Soulsphere

Another magically artifact created by the demons. It stores a large amount of souls, and has the same effect but much greater. Able to fortify our body past maximum health.

Megasphere

This magically sphere has defied all attempts to study it further. All we have been able to discover is it greatly fortifies our bodies and restores our power. But how exactly it works has eluded us.

Invulnerability Sphere

This artifact was created by a powerful demon. When held, it cause me to become totally immune to damage of any kind. The effect doesn't last long, and the sphere fades away after use.

Welcome to the early alpha of Hearts of Demons - ARACHNOTRON! This is a early release and much work has yet to be done, but I figure its time for the public to get their hands on it. Its a bit janky but perfectly functional. I don't plan on adding anymore weapons, sub weapons or powers but I do plan on a lot of cleanup and a lot of...uh...beautification.

[openroadracer]

So, preliminary test drive here and I'm pretty impressed. However, I notice that you don't have a Chainsaw replacement.

To which, I ask: Could you let me double up the basic "Birdeater" Plasma Repeater? It'd be fun, I think, and not let it get totally outclassed by the other weapons, especially the Black Widow Flechette Cannon.

[Brohnesorge]

You can in fact, double up the Birdeater. A second one spawns over the SSG.

[openroadracer]

You can in fact, double up the Birdeater. A second one spawns over the SSG.

Yeah, I just found that out by switching from DooM 1993 to DooM II. Going to run Bourgeois DM with it, since that lets you have all weapons pretty easily.

That said, I still think a Chainsaw replacement should be made. I think some kind of electric stun prod would work. What do you think?

[Brohnesorge]

Its not a bad idea, but I just don't plan on having a chainsaw replacement for now. I'm considering it more since it's been mentioned.

[DarkkOne]

Chainsaw replacement could be a non-weapon. Maybe something basic like a psychic channeler - when it's out, the psychic powers have enhanced abilities, or something?

[openroadracer]

One thing I've noticed with this mod is that EVERY weapon that is on the map is picked up as soon as you walk over it, even if your ammo's already at max. I'd suggest having a poke around in the code of Pillowblaster's Trailblazer on how to handle weapons that can double up without making it where you always vacuum up every gun you meet.

EDIT: Alright, after more time experiencing this mod, I have to say that I'm quite impressed.

The weapons aren't as powerful as they were in Baron or Revenant, and that's fine. They're still rather overpowered vs. vanilla, but I imagine this mod is meant to go with your LEGION enemy pack.

Even in its basic, single-gun form, the Birdeater Plasma Repeater offers a high rate of fire and good accuracy. The alternate ammo is much slower firing, but I presume it's supposed to be a miniature BFG shot. Doubled up, the Birdeaters unleash a deluge of plasma fire that rips through basic enemies with ease and rapidly kills everything short of boss-tier targets.

The Recluse Plasma Caster provides a better short range effectiveness than the Birdeater, sacrificing rate of fire and accuracy for more damage. Doubled up Recluses actually do a great job of substituting over the Super Shotgun, blasting out rapid volleys of plasma great for wiping whole groups at a time. Both plasma weapons are great "workhorse" guns with strong usability even into the late game.

The Black Widow Flechette Cannon has to be my favorite weapon in the mod right now. Offering higher velocity than the two plasma weapons, it also offers a truly blistering rate of fire, ESPECIALLY when doubled up, even more so with the barbed steel projectiles of the alternate ammo. It's also a great way to just humiliate Archviles, with the hail of steel barbs stunlocking them to death.

The Vinegaroon Slug Cannon is an excellent "sniper" weapon. I mostly use it on its primary ammo mode, since explosive shots seem more useful most of the time. With it stuck to only being a single gun, however, it ultimately feels lackluster compared to the rest of the armory.

The Goliath Chaingun, honestly, twin Goliaths is just insane. It's the unholy cross between the Black Widow and the Vinegaroon, and it just trivializes boss encounters. The only thing I could suggest is maybe have a piercing round for an alternate ammo.

As far as sub-weapons go, I honestly haven't used them as much as I probably should. The Prosoma grenade salvo is good for breaking up crowds, but the upward launch angle makes it difficult to get them on target while keeping my main gun on them. The Satae rockets are much more useful to me, since they fly straight at my target. The Scorpion Tail laser just consumes too much ammo in too little time for my tastes.

Lastly, I've really not dabbled much with the Psionics. The one I've used most is Force, and that really just because I'm kinda obsessive about popping every barrel I meet. It certainly hits hard, though. That said, there seems to be an issue with using Possess and the end-of-level kill counter, as it seems Possessed enemies no longer count towards your kill total even though they're still part of the overall monster tally.

I look forward to others showing me what this four-legged cyberbrain can do.

EDIT 2: I just have to ask: Would you consider adding some "novel" upgrades to the spawn slots for the radiation suit and the light amplification visor? Because seeing those spawn spots empty is kinda weirding me out a little.

[openroadracer]

If there's one thing I'd suggest, I'd actually ask if you could change the player character sprite in this mod to the DooM 64 Arachnotron sprites. Even better, Spriter's Resource has a sprite sheet of the D64 Arachnotron.

The reason I suggest this is because the original DooM II Arachnotron has a single gun, but the D64 version has twin guns. With this mod allowing you to double up all of your primary weapons except the Vinegaroon Slug Cannon, the D64 Arachnotron sprites would work nicely.

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Also, I should have known better than to collect my posts into a single post with edits. Doesn't look like there's any new feedback that way.

[GoalDude-00]

I didn't really expect LZDoom would run this, so I was pleasantly surprised it actually worked a-ok aside from a crash to console when I acquired another Birdeater and accidentally tapped slot 2 twice. I wasn't able to reproduce this and didn't snag a screenshot of it when it happened, sorry.

I don't expect it to remain compatible with LZDoom but it's pretty fun to just run around as an arachnotron. The rather complicated HUD perfectly captures Qol's cybernetic nature, sometimes it feels less like I'm in control of a living being and rather piloting a small mech (which is the mod's goal in a sense).

No suggestions here, this is just fun to play as it is. Excited to see what comes next.

[openroadracer]

I suppose something else I'd suggest is making it where the various Psionic powers, instead of being available at start, are instead found in levels as "chips" that each contain the knowledge of how to utilize the powers.

Force and Renew would still be given when you start a new game; but Mind Blast would sometimes spawn over either Shotguns or Super Shotguns, while Possess should be saved for a "power weapon" slot, like BFG slot.

Going back to the ideas about things to replace the Chainsaw, Rad Suit and Night Vision: the chainsaw could easily be replaced by a small primary ammo pickup if you're not going to put a weapon on that spawn slot; the Rad Suit could be replaced by a regular Focus Gem or some other boost to the player's Barrier; and the Night Vision could be replaced with a leg upgrade module that enables you to climb walls.

[Brohnesorge]

Funny you mention a leg upgrade, that was something I was brainstorming myself. Maybe even make it where you can leave your legs to get into a varity of different types of legs...

[openroadracer]

Funny you mention a leg upgrade, that was something I was brainstorming myself. Maybe even make it where you can leave your legs to get into a varity of different types of legs...

So, you got anything for that giant of a post of mine up there? It was originally going to be three separate posts.

[shaodoomkahn]

ok, now i wanna see Hearts of demons - Zombies

[AvzinElkein]

ok, now i wanna see Hearts of demons - Zombies

...that better be a joke.

[openroadracer]

ok, now i wanna see Hearts of demons - Zombies

Actually, considering the "Imp Mage" boss enemy in Hearts of Demons: LEGION(yes, I'm going to call the enemy set that), I was honestly thinking more along the lines of Hearts of Demons: IMP.

Think about it. Use Human weapons and armor, learn spells, gain power, unlock the true potential within. Being able to combine usage of firearms and spells is already seen in Hearts of Demons: BARON, and Hearts of Demons: REVENANT used to have human guns you'd wield in your hands.

HoD: IMP would be technically somewhat similar to BARON, but the difference in the Imp's scale is what would make it different. Instead of a .50cal Ma Deuce, you'd wield an M249. Instead of a Mk.19 grenade launcher, you'd wield an M32. Maybe you'd be able to imbue the power of your spells into your guns, to make them even more powerful.

The big thing here would be the variety of spells and effects the Imp could wield. Master the elements: Fire, Ice, Lightning, Wind, Rock, maybe even Poison and/or Acid. Find ways to combine them, like using Water with Lightning to create deadly electrified puddles, or Rock with Fire to throw magma in your enemies' faces.

Of course, there's an easier way to power, but you've seen what happens to your cyborg brethren: they've lost their potential, given up their ability to use magic. But there are many Human technologies that don't require such invasive actions, things you might even be able to augment with your magics... Just be careful. No one knows what might result if you push too much Mana into the wrong piece of tech.