Iä! Cosmic Survival Horror: 0.1 Release (07-14-26)

[Thantaran]

It's always been there; at the back of your skull or just under your beating heart --- the feeling that something isn't right. The world, your tangible existence that you can touch and smell...it's not real. Not /really/ real.

This world is a veil. A mask. A mocking disguise for the truth that lingers just beneath the surface, swimming in shadows and peering out in the corner of your eye. It's an illusion created by those who want to sleep soundly at night, secure in their bedtime stories of civilization, purpose, and hope.

The truth is there. It's hidden in the cracks of a broken mirror, the rants of wide-eyed preachers, the journals written by delusional mathematicians, and the disquieting fugues of obsessive composers. Ancient and blasphemous texts, once seen as mad superstition, are now treasure troves to you...each one revealing a little bit more, each one another step towards damnation...

It's a truth you have to find. You have to. Even as your mind begins to fray and the world you thought you knew turns to dust, you must find the truth. You simply must.

The truth is the only way to explain what you have seen...

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DOWNLOAD v0.1alpha HERE: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/ ... sp=sharing

Requirements: Made for/Tested in UZdoom. Uses Zscript, so I have no idea what you'll accidentally summon if you try to use a different source port.
(WARNING: this is an alpha proof-of-concept: Awful code and bugs abound!)
Note 1: make sure you bind your Zoom, Reload, and User-1, -2, and -3 keys.
Note 2: In spite of Project Malice's thematic horror synergy, this mod was tested/balanced against vanilla monsters. Use Project Malice at your own risk. (And tell us how it went!)

Iä! Crimson House of Ruin is a cosmic-/survival-horror weapon mod for Doom II. Its weapon mechanics are inspired by mods such as Shut Up and Bleed and Red Spiral '93, while its spell mechanics are inspired by two-fisted mods like Guncaster or Psychic. The ur-inspiration is perhaps Clive Barker's Undying -- I was surprised that I couldn't find any weapon mods that brought its particular style to Doom -- but it's certainly grown from there.

This mod is currently in a 0.1 alpha state. This is my first Doom mod, and I am in no way a sprite artist, sound designer, or a particularly skilled coder. I learned just enough Zscript to make sure the mechanics I have in mind are possible (if implemented crudely), and now it's time for requesting help from the community!

The first and foremost need (while I keep working on the code) is sprites/sounds. I managed to scrounge up some crude placeholders, but I'd love it if I could acquire bespoke sprites and sounds for spells, weapons, the characters, etc. If any of you are interested in providing said content, please let me know.

What's currently included:
Five weapons, all of which can be upgraded, some of which can use different kinds of ammo.
Five twisted spells that are gained from sacrificing blasphemous books at profane temples.
A lucidity (read: sanity) mechanic that replaces armor and is used to fuel spells.
Hallucinations if you lower your lucidity too much.
New inventory items with a variety of odd effects.
Dark conditions that weaken your foes to improve your chances.
Unholy sigils that will grant you great power at a terrible cost!

What (I hope) is yet to come:
Unique sprites and sounds!
A useful/effective HUD!
Improved code quality!
A quality Intermission Map!
Better thematic mechanics and systems!
More Lore!
More ammo types!
More Items!
More Magic!
More Hallucinations!
A Monster Pack!
Anything else that suddenly excites me!

Recommended Mods (some of which may eventually be integrated):
DarkDoomZ (with handheld incandescent Flashlight)
Use To Pickup
Intelligent Supplies
Appropriately Spooky Soundtracks (Manhunt, Terra Infernus, Soundscapes Of Cosmic Horror, etc.)
Appropriately Spooky Atmosphere mods, such as Universal Rain and Snow and/or Dr_Cosmobyte's Ambience Pack

Recommended Maps:
None yet --- anything that's not geared towards slaughter or run-and-gun, probably. Let me know if you find a map that works well and I'll put it here.

[Enjay]

Look interesting, but the file has its permissions set wrong. The link gives a "You need access" page.

[Thantaran]

D'oh! Permissions should be set properly, now!

[Enjay]

OK, it's working now.

After getting to the new map (on completing map01) I walked into one of the portal/teleport lines and was teleported to a room. Unfortunately, it teleported me to somewhere that I got stuck in a line.

I tried a few times and sometimes I got stuck and at other times I didn't. I think the problem is that if you enter a teleport very close to the vertices that connect the different teleport lines, you get taken to a position where the player's radius overlaps an impassable wall and you get stuck.

[Thantaran]

Noted and fixed for next version. Thanks!

[Shatter-Thought[V-4]]

This is interesting so far, though the severe nerfing of your side to side movement is far too annoying and counterproductive. It's bad enough to slow forward movement as many maps have jumps you need full or near full speed, however slowing side movement this much seriously hampers your combat ability to a point of leaving no chance in larger ambushes, and most maps period, even the ones that do not have slaughter-numbers, may throw tight and difficult ambushes that you just can't survive without being able to dodge and shoot at a decent speed.