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[UDMF][WIP][Heretic] Utter Heresy! - episode 2 released


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I never thought I'd see something like this for a long time, and I'm happy to see heretic getting love!, this is epic!, good job!

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On 8/4/2022 at 11:04 PM, Not Jabba said:

This looks pretty neat! Are you planning to do all five episodes, or just the original three?


I'll try and do all 5 if i can, I have rough ideas of what i wanna do for each episode. The next one is gonna be "fire and ice" - in the original game ice is introduced in episode 2, i wanna try and make the episode themed around that with a mix of typical fiery hellscapes and frigid permafrost areas (I don't have any screenshots yet).
Considering the first episode took months It'll probably take years to finish the whole thing though.

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Hey, I just played through a few levels and took a quick ravmap+quicken+kitty tour through the rest. This mapset is... Amazing! I will definitely keep playing through these! UDMF has been implemented with great success here! This episode feels like what I had wished Heretic II had been, a clear improvement built upon the original while still using the ID tech 1 engine! Great work!

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  • 1 month later...

I'll just "borrow" some of this stuff for my own mod, thank you very much.

 

Actually, I'll just wait for the Hell Staff and Firemace to get smooth animations, but they look so good on the other weapons. 

Edited by NaliSeed

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This is great, I just started, first map is such a banger! Atmosphere and visuals are amazing.

Decoration work make it feel like Heretic but with Build engine games level of detail.

I was also pleasantly surprised to see destructible props with gib physics.

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On 10/11/2022 at 11:05 AM, Delfino Furioso said:

hey, the wadazine brought me here!

 

one question: could this work also as a standalone gameplay mod?

 

 

Well it does replace the vanilla actors so yes it could, but right now only the episode 1 stuff has replacements.

I'll be making a resource only version of this mod (identical file just without the maps and mapinfo) when episode 3 comes out since at that point all the vanilla actors will be replaced. It'll be primarily targeted for mappers but it could double as a gameplay mod too.

episode 2 is about 60% done right now if anyones wondering, here's some more shots as proof:
 

Spoiler

Screenshot_Heretic_20221015_222810.png.94cae323f9322c2a270ad40cf1a21cda.png
Screenshot_Heretic_20221015_222905.png.dff15025d52f25ce3ee836331ec08e42.png
Screenshot_Heretic_20221015_222939.png.537efb646cc5410e1783d92e653bac37.png
Screenshot_Heretic_20221015_223140.png.c62b7ef9493474c741e0cfb08bea66ee.png
Screenshot_Heretic_20221015_223201.png.a377e2e55faf678686e168ac3be59d0c.png
Screenshot_Heretic_20221015_223214.png.b05cf3b8c20e9f545a9df20e692d51d1.png
Screenshot_Heretic_20221015_223318.png.22cb9c227ca491f53934668f1f264936.png
Screenshot_Heretic_20221015_223333.png.d480511967bc3e1edb5b633c6d393f95.png
Screenshot_Heretic_20221015_223437.png.1b909da11186a32b2a0bb11682a914e0.png
Screenshot_Heretic_20221015_223512.png.03b906a5e45a03197fdb3c07e512e8fe.png
 

 

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Can I steal some of the enemy enhancements? I can offer better sprites for the food decorations and maybe other stuff from my Hexen decoration pack that you find useful.

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On 10/17/2022 at 1:29 PM, NeoWorm said:

Can I steal some of the enemy enhancements? I can offer better sprites for the food decorations and maybe other stuff from my Hexen decoration pack that you find useful.

my wads are free to take from, go ahead.
I'd say the stock hexen decorations are good enough for me. I could use some better food sprites though, the current ones are kinda crusty.
(they're from realm667, rpg maker I think it said?)

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16 hours ago, Asbadagba said:

my wads are free to take from, go ahead.
I'd say the stock hexen decorations are good enough for me. I could use some better food sprites though, the current ones are kinda crusty.
(they're from realm667, rpg maker I think it said?)

 Take a look here https://forum.zdoom.org/viewtopic.php?t=66784 and plunder whatever you want. Credits should be in the code in comments. I made some more stuff since and I will update the resource probably quite soon.

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  • 3 months later...

Episode 2 is out! (updated the main post as well)

https://www.dropbox.com/s/24uufz6vggk8ten/utterheresy_v2.0.pk3?dl=0
changelog:

Spoiler

27th january 2023 : v2.0 released

 

- added episode 2 (and all the enemies/pickups/props/etc. associated with it)

 

- the iron lich's ice attack and all of the frost lich's attacks now have damagetype ice (this makes it freeze you if you die to it)
- the iron lich now drops mace spheres instead of dragon claw ammo (although the firemace doesn't show up in the first 2 episodes)
- the elemental liches (boss 1) now have obituaries (whoops)
- the undead knight no longer bleeds (i thought that was blood on his death sprite, it's his cape)
- the undead ghost knight's axes now do about as much damage as vanilla (how did i miss this)
- the nightmare undead knight's melee now does the same damage as the normal one
- every enemy (that can be frozen) will now instantly shatter when frozen to death instead of leaving behind those statues

 

- fixed the energy orb's gl lights
- the enchanted shield is now called the paladin shield (also its hud icon and pickup text are red now)
- the hud's armor counter will now turn red when you have a paladin shield
- the depleted wand crystal (golem drop) and spare ethereal arrows (knight drop) now have unique sprites
- ammo pickups on the easiest skill (thou needeth a wet-nurse) now correctly say how much ammo they give (just uh dont turn on double ammo on any skill)
- the bag of holding, shields and map scroll now have their own pickup sounds

 

- the phoenix rod's weapon comment doesn't say it has extra range anymore
(pre release it had longer range, but late in development i changed it back to
roughly what it is in the base game, but forgot to edit the comment)
- fixed a bug where if you died while firing the powered up phoenix rod it would keep playing the firing sound forever

 

- fixed some minor visuals on e1m1 (this was the first map made so it's a bit rough)
- made some of the secrets and all the dummy sectors hidden in textured automap mode in episode 1
- raised the tome of power well on e1m5 so you can't just jump to it from the ground
(you're meant to platform from the green key, those grass patches were added later and i didn't realize they were high enough to jump off of)

 

- added/changed some food decorations from the hexen decoration pack (thanks neoworm)
^ill probably take more from here for the later episodes
- the fire decorations are now additive
- slightly changed the text color of episode 1 in the episode select


Sorry it took so long, don't really have an excuse either, but I don't wanna just leave this project in the water.
I'm gonna be putting it on a hold for a while though, I'm a little busy with life (trying to find a job, i was unemployed when i made the first 2 episodes, i have clinical depression and doom modding is how i deal with it which is why this project is so extensive) and I'm also working on an unrelated boom wad that I would like to finish first, so episode 3 and onward will have to wait. (I'll still do bugfixes/tweaks for this if needed)

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  • 2 weeks later...

I just finished episode 1. Man, this wad is GORGEOUS. I loved the way you reimagined the levels as actual locations you would find in the middle ages. The original layouts are totally recognizable but feel so fresh! And the amount of detail is just insane. I haven't played too much custom Heretic content, but this is by far the most good looking one I've ever seen :) 

 

I found all secrets but one (missed one in e1m2), I really like the fact that you kept the secrets fairly in the same location but the way to get them is not exactly the same, there's always a little twist hehe. The new enemies and upgraded abilities are great as well, none of them feels out of place. 

 

When playing vanilla Heretic, my skill level of choice is always Black Plagues, but here... boy, I got my ass kicked haha. It would have been manageable with more ammo, but damn! Ammo is tight. Same thing when playing in Smite-Meister. That's actually my only gripe with the wad, I really think ammo needs some balancing. I'm very good at ammo management, if I may so myself (I'm one of those guys that switches to the wand if a golem doesn't die with 1 crossbow shot), and despite weapons being more powerful, I kept running out of ammo the whole time (note that I wand-started all levels). Some maps were barely manageable, like e1m7-8-9. I think part of the issue is that monsters' ammo drop rate seems to be significantly lower. 

 

In any case, amazing job! I really can't wait to play episode 2 :D

 

Found only one small visual bug in e1m7:

Spoiler

Screenshot_Heretic_20230205_150247.png.f99eb8c0412fc4dc8cc9a503f1601ac1.png

 

And I also noticed that bosses seem to be pushed back really hard when hit by weapons, I don't imagine that's intended :P (I was playing with GZDoom, in case that's relevant)

Spoiler

 

 

On 1/27/2023 at 5:14 PM, Asbadagba said:

Sorry it took so long, don't really have an excuse either, but I don't wanna just leave this project in the water.
I'm gonna be putting it on a hold for a while though, I'm a little busy with life (trying to find a job, i was unemployed when i made the first 2 episodes, i have clinical depression and doom modding is how i deal with it which is why this project is so extensive) and I'm also working on an unrelated boom wad that I would like to finish first, so episode 3 and onward will have to wait. (I'll still do bugfixes/tweaks for this if needed)

I'm very sorry to hear that. I really hope things improve soon for you :)

Edited by Fernito

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glad to hear you enjoyed it!

yeah the bosses are supposed to be immune to knockback, in gzdoom there's a flag for that, but in zd2.8.1/zandro the only way to do it is by setting their mass really high. i set it to 0xffffffff thinking it was the 32 bit integer (2,147,483,647, the highest mass can be), 0xffffffff is actually the unsigned 32 bit integer (4,294,967,295), vintage zdoom just interprets 2,147,483,647 and above as the same thing, but in modern gzdoom i guess it overflows or something. i'll just set it to 0x7fffffff (2,147,483,647) as i should've.

the ammo situation is just bad habits from me, my maps are usually very tight on resources, i also didn't have anyone playtest besides me which results in me perceiving the maps to be easier than they actually are because ive been playing them over and over, episode 2 is even tighter from what i remember...
this mod is supposed to be more challenging than vanilla, but i don't want it to be unfair.
and yes the drop rates are lower, maybe i should just revert them to what they were...

i'll do a run through the existing maps some time and add more ammo in a patch, i'll also try and find some playtesters when i get back to making episodes for this.

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But let's then do the following: let me playtest all of your maps and I'll post here a playthrough for everyone of them :) I'll start with ep2 and after I'm finished I'll go back to ep1 and record those as well. That will give you a better idea of the current item/ammo balance. I'll also include written commentary when necessary.

 

 

 

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Played the first 2 levels, amazing stuff! Here are the playthroughs :)

 

EDIT: I've been playing more levels and I'm adding all videos in this post. In general, all levels have a very very tough start, ammo is so tight it makes you deeply regret every single shot you miss :P 

 

E2M1

Spoiler

 

E2M2

Spoiler

 

E2M3:

Spoiler

 

E2M4:

Spoiler

 

E2M9:

Spoiler

 

E2M5:

Spoiler

 

E2M6:

Spoiler

 

E2M7:

Spoiler

 

 

Edited by Fernito
add videos

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awesome job with this mod. it feels like a new game. like a few have already said, its nice to see heretic getting some attention. absolutely one of the classics from the glory days of the 90's fps :)

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here's v2.01, a patch with bugfixes/tweaks (mostly mapping related)
https://www.dropbox.com/s/snh692jj6f2gh04/utterheresy_v2.01.pk3?dl=0

changelog:

Spoiler

15th february 2023 : v2.01 released

- fixed bosses getting pushed around by weapons in modern gzdoom versions. (they are meant to be immune to knockback)
- removed the black bar in the were dragon's BEASI5 frame
- the frost incantation now always does 180 damage (60 per icicle) (from random(3,6)*12 per icicle)
 

- all maps: removed scale -1 textures because they don't get mirrored in software
(i went thru all the maps and added proper mirrored variants of textures)
 

- e1m6: added some more ammo at the start
 

- e1m7: added some more ammo at the start/in the yellow door
- e1m7: fixed a missing texture on the elevator near the crossbow
 

- e1m9: added some more ammo in the yellow door
 

- e2m3: added some more ammo in the starting caves
- e2m3: moved a sabreclaw off of a cliff near the yellow key
- e2m3: fixed wrong textures in the ceiling lights near the green key
- e2m3: fixed a wrong texture near the wings of wrath, also made the lavafalls bright there
 

- e2m4: fixed some wonky mapping errors near the normal exit
- e2m4: changed ethereal arrows (5) into a quiver (20) after the green key teleport
 

- e2m9: made the ring secret more obvious (it wasn't visible in software)
- e2m9: added a rock to the lich secret, making it easier to reach
 

- e2m6: added some more health near the start
- e2m6: the railings in the maze are now solid and have been raised up so gargoyles
can go through them, but not sabreclaws, players, poltergeists, etc.
 

- e2m7: the lava now hurts (i usually make hurts floors do damage after all the drawing/detailing,
so the normal floors don't hurt, oops)
- e2m7: added more ammo before the yellow key,
the greater runes inside the yellow key box were moved out of it as well


 

 

On 2/6/2023 at 9:23 PM, Fernito said:

Played the first 2 levels, amazing stuff! Here are the playthroughs :)

 

EDIT: I've been playing more levels and I'm adding all videos in this post. In general, all levels have a very very tough start, ammo is so tight it makes you deeply regret every single shot you miss :P 

 

E2M1

  Reveal hidden contents

 

E2M2

  Reveal hidden contents

 

E2M3:

  Reveal hidden contents

 

E2M4:

  Reveal hidden contents

 

E2M9:

  Reveal hidden contents

 

E2M5:

  Reveal hidden contents

 

E2M6:

  Reveal hidden contents

 

E2M7:

  Reveal hidden contents

 

 


Thanks for the playthroughs! alot of the fixes here were noticed here.
As for the ammo, I've noticed in your videos you tend to kill everything on sight, whereas when i was testing the maps I usually run past enemies when I don't have  the ammo, which results in alot of them damaging/killing each other and thus there is seemingly less need for ammo.
I did add some extra arrows/orbs to some of the maps though, different people with different playstyles...

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Yeah, as a general rule I think a map should always have enough ammo to kill every single monster on your own not having to rely on infighting to beat it 100%. My personal opinion anyway :)

 

I'll replay the updated E1 again and record my playthroughs if that's useful.

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