Legend 9.0 progress, the last update: "Houston, we have a problem..." blog - hexenstar

That's it, my friends - we are there. But we do have a SERIOUS problem. No no, don't be alarmed: the mod was not abolished, not canceled, not suspended or anything even remotely similar. In 10 days sharp - you will all have the opportunity to play Legend-9 - Episode 1...the problem is the engine that i have worked with, basically - since forever, - now works against me. I will get into more details in the big release article, but the center of the problem is the notorious white-flash bug with certain weapons - which happens to even more characters in Legend 9, than it did 8.33. I have investigated this problem thoroughly and traced it right to its origin. The origin of it - is not some kind of my own oversight, but Doomsday engine itself. To be more specific, - any version ABOVE 1.9.10 - has this bug. This makes TWO (yes, now it is two) of the default characters in the mod - UNPLAYABLE on a more modern version of Doomsday.

So, you can say like, "but HexenStar, what's the issue? Dump the modern version and play a vintage one!" That's where other bugs come into play. The vintage-vintage version that i always used - is not compatible with true color images which i used for the new title screen and it cannot display the extended story sequences with dedicated artworks and all that. (i actually paid money for some of the base material for the story sequences modding). So that's not gonna work. Legend 9 and Doomsday 1.8.6 - part ways.

But then you'd ask, - "how about a version that is in-between? Like 1.9.10? It does not have the white flash bug and it has better OS compatibility?" Sounds great in theory - but there are other BUGSSS!!! Story sequences don't play and now character portraits don't display as well...

The bottom line is, - that with the exception of those two bugs (and the universal Doomsday bug of floor triggers randomly not working every once in a while) - Legend 9 runs flawlessly on the up-to-date version of the Doomsday engine, such as 2.3.1 I will demonstrate it in a dedicated video. If the creators of the engine fix their own bugs - then the mod will be playable perfectly. And yes, - i can foresee your next question: yes, i did email the creator regarding this subject yesterday - so we shall see what response i may get. It is likely that i need to bring this subject to the awareness of the wider Hexen/Legend audience and not just post it in my little blog.

All this leads me to doing the following: in parallel with the official Legend 9 demo, - make a simplified version, where the expanded story sequences do not exist and the title screen is not in true color - which will look very, VERY ugly.......but, at least the gameplay for all characters will appear intact. The way i see it, this is not even a poor man's idea - it is downright pathetic, but given the situation as it currently is - this is the best i can do to bring the mod to you in a more complete functionality. After all, i did work for years on this mod and worked damn hard, - and i do want you to enjoy the result. I only wish there was a way for you to enjoy it COMPLETELY, as i originally intended.

We shall see how this situation unfolds. I am open to any helpful suggestions and ideas.

Sincerely, HS