Blogs - hexenstar

Maximum focus on map 33. It should be the last map in the entire game to have challenged me so. All others, including the future releases - either don't have that much extension, ornamentation or redesign to them (as the Refectory/Orchard duo), - or it has already been completed in my prior efforts. Here is a snippet of the vanilla map 33 VS Legend-9, just to illustrate the volume of work and effort. Vanilla:

And now the same in Legend-9:

Quite the difference... And i haven't addressed the battle design and full map scripting yet. Nonetheless, once i am done with this level, - the magic word will start taking shape on the horizon. What's the "magic word" ? Well :-) in the realm of mods, there is only one magic word: ETA.

While Q2HM 2.0 is getting ready to launch, i've actually spent more time with Legend-9, map 33. Yep, still there, it is quite an extensive mamajama, lol. Not due to its size, it's rather average in that regard, but due to the number of different sections that it has. And each one of those has a distinct flavor, which must nonetheless connect reasonably to the adjacent sections. So, i am now approaching the Forge, which is about at 2/3 of the level, if to measure by the version 8.33 map. I also scripted the entire entrance fight, though have not tested it yet. I am closing in on this level, step by step. There are a few levels in Legend-9 that i've taken to revision 5 (such as this one - the ex-Refectory), and these demand quite a lot of effort. I know that there are still the other 4 Chapels left, - but i am not worried about that at all. These are revision 4 levels, and they have been taken care of very well. Only minor texture corrections are necessary there. No problem at all. Easy pickings.

What does it all have to do with "souls-like"? There is only one thing "worse" :-) than modding for a superior game, and that is coming across a souls-like that piques my gaming curiosity. While usually i strictly abstain from the time-guzzling pit hiding under the souls-like name, but once in several years comes one that i deem interesting enough to dive into. And when i do that, i end up wanting to contribute and help people. It is in my nature. I absolutely despise the "git good" mooing cult-cows. Cause they contribute nothing. Last time i played a souls-like (Mortal Shell), i took quite the time to create multiple guides - which proved to be very useful to many people. And i am glad it did. So, it is more than likely that i will be doing that again, although on a smaller scale this time. Meaning, - another time-boulder is rolling down Legend's road. It's not happening right now, but it's almost certainly on the menu.

The wheel of mods turns, and progress comes and goes :D LOL... Such is the "sharing" of the development time with Quake 2. That is no surprise, since Quake 2 is my favorite FPS of all time, and sharing development time with it usually looks like this : 95% in favor of the adventures of Bitterman and the rest for whatever is there. The only games that could offset this equation for me - are Doom-3 and Hexen 2, however - i can't finish my Doom-3 project now (cause i am 1 PC down, which happens to be capable of running the Doom-3 editor) and albeit sadly, but i don't make mods for Hexen 2... So, we have what we have.

And on that note, i am proud to say that i have almost finished "Q2HM 2.0: Technosphere". Finished modding almost all the SFX - just 3 or 4 left. There are improvements to some of the old fx, some old fx are remade completely and there are a lot of new fx, even though Quake 2 sound engine doesn't do a good job at showcasing those. My last step is the finalized music mastering and testing. This time, i am adding electronic music sets as the default (metal will be kept in a separate folder, no worries), the downtempo-atmospheric kind, which in my opinion enhances the game's atmosphere much better, and lets the sound effects stand out more, which is great. I do want to move the music sets to my recording machine, so that i can do the mastering with the software suited for it. I am posting an official article next time with the announcement to launch the upgraded mod this April. ETA confirmed. Here is a small but cool doggie trailer for Strogg guns:

Hexen-wise, i have advanced with the map 33, but there is still a long way to go. Map 33 in Legend-9 is based on a modified combo of Hexen's refectory and a Deathkings map (which i don't even remember). This was done long ago to combat that box-pile nonsense that "Chicken Software" tried to pass for a dark fantasy level, lol. This level underwent several improvements over the years, but now this is going to be finalized once and for all. So far, I have finished the entrance courtyard and sketched out its battle plan, which i am yet to implement and test. Even though the general wireframe for version 8.33 was good (in this case) there will be alterations in some sections - i may end up removing some of the vanilla ones that i have kept earlier - in favor of new ones i am building now. It's going well so far, and it does look good. Here are some screenshots from the area i just finished remaking.

Yesss...!!! The next version of Q2HM will converge on perfection. Hahaha... The overwhelming majority of the SFX even in the version 1.4 - are super impressive (like all 6 laser fx and impact!), though a lot of these come somewhat later in the game, while the few "bad decisions" appear right at level 1... Which is a damn shame. But don't worry: all of that is going to go away, and Quake 2 battles will sound better than ever.

There is a reason why there are not many Quake 2 sound overhaul mods, and there are no good ones among them. An average or two, but that's about it. And sadly, there is a reason for that. Not only some effects are rather hard to remake well - because they are broken into strange multiple segments that don't make any sense - like the player machinegun and the titular Tank machinegun, but the much greater problem lies in the abnormal way Quake 2 engine handles these sounds in-game. For no reason whatsoever - they don't appear the way you make them in your sound editing software of choice. Instead - they get attenuated and heavily random band-filtered to exclude or greatly limit certain frequencies - resulting in your sound effects becoming almost unrecognizable, more often than not. Thus, it becomes a rather imposing task - to somehow arrive at the effect that Quake 2 engine will not demolish. Not gonna lie, it didn't pass without some luck being involved here. That, and my reliance on the player machinegun, which i got right already in version 1.4.

It took me 4 days just to deal with the Tank machinegun, - and only a few hours to deal with making and fine-tuning ALL the other Tank sounds! (though the rocket and laser attack were already great in 1.4 and the stepping sound was perfectly chosen by someone else). I also kind of went on to give my take on how certain Strogg would talk... But more on that another time.

In the realms of Sword & Sorcery, - i am dealing with map 33 detailing and ornamentation, which is extensive enough to be called formidable. And then there is the battle design - from scratch. This is the final challenge of such magnitude in the levels department. While i anticipate some problematic sections here and there in Gibbet or something - but nowhere near the degree that is happening right now with map 33. However, Gibbet will not appear in the upcoming build, so i don't have to think about that right now. Oh yeah, i am strongly considering removing the third secret level altogether (Desolated Garden), but not sure yet... If it does end up appearing, it will be beyond version 1.0 Meaning, not so soon.

According to my estimation, both Legend 9 v.06 and Q2HM 1.8 (or maybe even 2.0 :-) ?!) will be launched very close to one another. Next time i'll bring some sound demos for the new Q2HM FX. And an official article regarding it.

And by "aliens", as those of a keen eye and mind have probably guessed, - since Doom-3 has demons and not "aliens", then i must be talking about the Strogg. And that, in turn - means Q2HM. That's right, ladies and gents: the next version of Q2HM has entered development. I've been mentioning that a few times here and there over the last year, and the moment has finally arrived. The currently available build of Q2HM (1.4) has a couple of mistakes and a couple of placeholders - all of which mar the overall experience. And i'll confess that i did those mostly due to running out of time and patience working on all the things that Q2HM does well, lol. Making 7 kinds of lasers (plus impacts) and 5 machineguns - did feel like a never-ending story toward the end, due to the weird ways that Q2 sound engine operates. So, i did put in a few placeholders to complete the project in time and save myself the frustration. Later, when working on Doom-3-Bravo, i realized that doing so was a mistake, but it was too late for that and other things were already taking priority. However, i did learn from the experience and would not allow myself anything of the sort in the future, which was already evident during the audio development cycle of Doom-3-Bravo.

At the moment, i have already fixed the two glaring placeholders in the mod: the Heavy Infantry and Gunner machineguns. Now they sound way better than they have any right to, lol. God damn stellar. You might even be tempted to bait them to fire, just to enjoy the SFX :-). Both characters also received other sounds overhaul, making the Gunner particularly imposing. A bad decision that resulted in the single shotgun sounding odd, compared to other weapons - has also been fixed: that sound has been remade. I intend to add more SFX to some other cast members, to make them more prominent on the battlefield, as well as currently compiling another alternative music set. This time going for the more atmospheric/electronic soundscape, as opposed to the classic metal one in the first Q2HM set (which will of course be there as well, no worries). So both Q2HM and Legend-9 now have to share development time.

And, as promised earlier, i have this little number for you. This video showcases the work i did for the Mage weapons, with side-by-side comparison to the HWR mod (and vanilla, for reference), which i have used as a modification starting point for these.

Map 27 is now complete, along with re-scripting and all that. Part of my plan was to make the ultimate weapons to be more prominent and to be more reasonable as to their use. In the vanilla game, they were almost always an overkill, but now there are situations which pretty much ask for it. And the entrance arena at the Monastery - is a perfect example of that.

The next logical step were maps 32 and 33. Both required significant stylistic interventions, compared to the previous iterations of these levels in the version 8.33. Map 32, remade as "Garden of Punishment" (no spoilers as to why) is much larger than its vanilla counterpart, and not only it remains as such - but i have built an additional forest-garden-ish section for it - making it even larger than it was. Just as before, its progression is going to be tied to the map 33 (ex-Refectory) via keys that unlock stuff across levels. I also did the complete ACS re-scripting for all events here and probably went the farthest in terms of ornamental design for this one. Due to the sheer size of the level - i had to create a lot of different set pieces and unique decorations. And i did :-) While it is not as intricately insane as the stuff i did in 7 Portals - it is not far from it, and takes the win through numbers alone.

A lot of the testing on these two levels was made using the Elf Class. And he consistently needed increases in damage potential, before he could hold his ground against Legend-9 enemies. And now - he can.

The second half of the level has the kind of "abandoned" aesthetics, but is extremely rich in detail with many different set pieces.

:-) I got to hear that A LOT during the last 10 days :-) which should tell you that i am back to the levels and working hard on the extensive rearrangement of Map 27 (that's map 13 for the non-modders among us). With this one, my approach had to be way more thorough than ever. Goes without saying that the boring vanilla went out the window long ago, but this time i wanted the level to make more sense and work similar to the Doom map remake that i did.

Obviously, a ton of new detailing - instantly knocked down the FPS, what else is new. So the direct solution was to dismantle as much as possible of everything that is not Legend-9 lol. That was easier said than done, cause Heresiarch Seminary relies on a lot of scripts that do stuff related to level structure and progression. So, i had to learn those scripts, identify what they do, - AND ONLY THEN start dismantling stuff, while essentially creating a new path of level progression and restructuring the layout to accommodate the detail eye candy.

I have remade everything so that no level space is wasted. The places you need to go, - are all mandatory. Whatever i could put in areas that are unavoidable, - i did, so that i could save sectors. And trust me when i tell you that i needed those sectors, to regain the FPS as much as it was possible. Because, the battles in this level are pretty intense. As you already know, Legend-9 upgraded monsters are quite deadly, - and now they start encountering in higher numbers. To fight all that and have the speed - the FPS needed to be kept within reason. It still drops in the area of max detail, but it is acceptable (at least to me). I was able to circle-strafe and move in a split second. So that part is done. I also avoided inputting any commands through Doombuilder, instead - i did everything through Hexen's ACS. Nothing fancy, with a little deduction and my experience in Doom, i was able to make the few scripting functions that i am using to work as intended. (sadly, Hexen does not have the "hudmessage" command...)

I also assigned text hints as to what switches do: so there is no more vanilla-style guesswork. Over time, i will eliminate ALL guesswork from all the important switches in the game, cause i see that concept as a rather stupid one. In the end, the primary goals at the Monastery remain the same: get the gems, pull 9 switches, kill the boss. But the progression through map 27 is way more interesting now...and it ties in to the story as well (the new story, not vanilla). I will make an action video from the level, not a walkthrough - cause that would just spoil everything.

I will need to re-script the Winnowing Hall as well, and probably 7 Portals, cause during the time i did the remaking of the 7 Portals - i would ignore scripts and just break and dismantle sequences and events with no regard whatsoever. I will need to do it properly to avoid any future "accidents". Let's hope this one runs without problems!

Right off the bat, i am proud to present this little number:

While there is a couple of smaller details that remain tentative (Sapphire skull design) or unfinished (lightning strike bolts for weapon#1), this video speaks very well for itself. I will post a separate one that compares the weapons that exist in vanilla to their upgrades in HWR and subsequently in Legend-9, to better illustrate the differences and work that has been done.

Now, on the subject of Elves, namely - Corvus, i have more good news. During almost an entire year (2023) i had no answer whatsoever to the ultimate weapon for mr. Corvus in our impending grand Hexen adventure. The reason for that is the number of modding restrictions that modern Doomsday imposes by default. In the past, i've arrived at numerous interesting gameplay ideas, which took shape in the prototype Legend 8.33. However, the modern Doomsday made all of those ideas impossible. It also turned some of those good ideas into game-breaking bugs, - which i could not solve: i merely circumvented them in version 9. Also, Wraithverge per se, in its original form - does not exist in Legend-9, simply because its action was deconstructed for multiple benefits and reasons. And for those of you who are curious: no, The Templar (aka not-Parias) uses a separate subset of features which rely on the condition that other player characters do not exist. How is that so?! Doomsday technicalities... No need to bore you with that.

This created a sort of impass which i was merely hoping to MAYBE somehow solve as time goes by. However...time did pass by (about a year) - and i was nowhere near answering this question. And i did mention it multiple times, let alone that this also shows both in the L9 demo and in the interim v0.4 I'll tell you even more: the most likely candidates for this solution started to emerge in my mind about two-three months ago. And all of these were bad. One idea was to rob some concepts from the Marine mod DLC. The other was to compromise, the result of which would be that the differences between Corvus and The Templar characters would become much less significant. Finally, the third: to have Baratus' and Corvus' ultimate weapons identical(!). And believe or not, this was the prospect with the most chances of happening.

Despite that, i was not satisfied with either of these ideas, regardless of the fact that for the very least, - they offered a solution to deliver a fully functioning arsenal, which for the upcoming version 0.6 - would have to be a given. Until one day i changed my direction of thinking. I accepted the fact that with the conditions that Doomsday imposes on me, - at least some type of "shortcut" is unavoidable. So, i started thinking: what is the LEAST CONSPICUOUS shortcut that i can come up with. And in the end, - i did find such one. So, folks, - there is another victory here: Corvus will completely retain his uniqueness, although there are going to be some weapon changes; and only a minimalistic shortcut/compromise will be taken.

This means, that i am less than one step away from returning to the level-work. Sure, some graphics work will be needed to polish Corvus' last two weapons (i already did the first two), but i will leave that part until a later release (most likely 0.8). Cause right now the most important thing for me is that his arsenal is both fully functioning and remains unique (presentation later on, after i make a video on The Templar).

So far so good, my friends! I've finished the Arc of Death upgrade with flying colors. Success on everything that i planned for it. It is as polished as my Doom-3-Bravo Plasmagun, and feels like it too! And if you haven't seen and heard that plasmagun, then go and check it out, lol. It's the best there is. ;-). Ditto for the Arc of Death. Not even those advanced 3D models look as good! I maybe am bragging a little, hehe, but that was my plan: to make something that would actually surpass those famous 3D models! I knew that no matter how fancy they are, yet they have one weakness: they are stuck inside the vanilla box: flies and ointment, equal parts, lol. So i knew i had a legit chance, if i come up with a solid plan of action. Next post: Mage weapons showcase, the moment of truth ;-) I am excited to present the results!

I have also completed the Bloodscourge upgrade (extended and refined the HWR's wind-down animation), the first weapon upgrade (i kind of recreated~ish the magic attack of Gilius Thunderhead...) and moved on to the most puzzling weapon of them all: The Sapphire Wand. The issue with this one always was that the original had just a single frame of animation. That's not much to work with, for someone with my set of skills. I do my best work when i have some kind of starting point, a headstart. Working from an absolute zero, is not my strong suit, - nothing to hide here, i do what i can. The HWR mod, which i now have access to - has two action frames. That's an improvement for sure, but not enough for what i had in mind. So, the last 10 days i was brainstorming this subject and working on it in Photoshop. I photoshopped multiple ideas of what the wand's action could potentially be. Unfortunately, they all looked sub-par, and after that Arc of Death success - my attempts with the wand looked rather measly in comparison. As if i stepped back 10 years, lol. Eventually, through various experiments i zeroed in on two different ideas, discarding my previous sketches completely. The latter of these was to go the same route as HWR does, BUT - to go the mandatory for Legend9 extra mile.

Thus, i created 4 action frames based upon the HWR 's idea, but taking it further to include more elements. I also used the trick of making sure the animation is reversible, so it can be used as wind-up and wind-down (reversed), providing extra smoothness to the result. Now, it's time to revise the standstill animation and call it a day for Daedolon. I am maybe a week away from showcasing the Mage arsenal. Two weeks to wrap the whole weapons business, and i will finally go back to levels.

Or the Lightning Spell, as it is being called in Legend-9. This time i just want to share the details of the process of upgrading the Arc of Death weapon, cause that turned out to be quite a task, and i am right in the thick of it.

For starters, if you look at the vanilla game, this weapon's animation looks like a maladroitly spliced combo between a seesaw and the passing of an egg yolk between eggshells, lol. This bothered me since very long time ago, because of how clumsy it looked, still - it was a magic weapon and no competitors had anything better, - not even Witchaven, which in the long run i liked more than Hexen (surprise, i still most certainly do), so i just took it as "the best i can get". But that was in another life ;-)

The next point is that the attack had no recovery segment: the Mage's hands just pop up out of nowhere. This is a common problem with multiple weapons in the vanilla (particularly the melee ones), and it's not a technology issue to blame. It's laziness. Pure and simple.

Last but not least, the anti-climatic soundscape, which came all the more weird compared to how lively Kirt was. What Kirt??? That Kirt. The only one Raven made well. But i am willing to overlook that one :-)

The tricky part begins with my collaboration with the HWR mod. The challenge is three-tier: ONE, reshape the animation completely - to have both hands moving in opposing circles in a manner that would loop reasonably, in visual terms. (a kind of motion akin to making a plasticine ball). To remind, the vanilla did not face this problem, as the animation is just a left-right, not a circle. TWO: create a recovery animation segment, where after breaking the lightning sphere, the Mage slams his hands back together into creating the lightning ball again. And THREE: to make sure that all three sequences (standstill, attack, recovery) flow smoothly into one another, and do not make odd jumps in transition. Finally, all this must be accompanied by a properly smashing sfx. Because of the high quality bar set by the HWR, it was tricky to make these modifications while remaining on par, or at least - as close to it as possible.

So, that's where i am now. Animation / animation-transition polish. While it is indeed the most demanding weapon modding process that i have done since Warrior's Fire Sword, but I have already solved most of it. It took me a few dozen tries to get the standstill animation right, ngl. But my main surprise was the fact that for so long i deemed this weapon "impossible to modify", and it really isn't. Modifying something like an Axe is ten times more challenging. I learned that from the HWR mod, and it most definitely became the inspiration for further enhancement ideas. More so, it made them possible. I am by far not the best animator out there, but i am persistent and i learn fast. My thanks go to the HWR mod and its creator for that.

I want to assemble all the joint-effort enhancements in a single video, so i am refraining from posting short videos now. One thing i promise you :-) this weapon is going to turn a new page. Permanently. :-)

Update from 14.12.2023.

The Arc of Death sequence will not be converted "as is", because upon closer inspection there is a definitive oversight in the standstill animation (and attack animation as well). So, i am going to fix that. The lapse is actually very similar to the one that i already fixed in the Bloodscourge attack animation (wind down part), so i guess it is a conceptual flaw. No problem. That i can easily deal with. You'll see when i bring the results.

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I guess my ability to anticipate bullshit was greater than i estimated. Solved the Bloodscourge animation issue. Doomsday wouldn't play it the way it was supposed to, so i just kept attaching the animation to various other sprites in the game, making the Bloodscourge script point to them, until i found the one that it WOULD play. Which mod does that kind of nonsense??? No mod does that. Only the insane ones, like Legend9, lol. Anyway, got that covered. For my next weapons showcase video, - which will be the Mage - i'll get those upgraded animations working as they should. And in case you haven't seen my previous showcase (Warrior class), - then here it is:

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So, more good news. Effective since last week, Legend-9 partially joins forces with the Hexen Weapons Refinement mod. The HWR mod is a GZDoom animation enhancement mod for vanilla Hexen weapons and some of the vanilla animated objects. The mod is expertly done and its animation quality is unmatched by anything else out there. That is, as far as vanilla Hexen goes.

Legend9, contrarily, being a different kind of animation-heavy mod, - takes its ideas as far out of the vanilla-box as they can go. So what i am interested in, - is using some of HWR sprites for further modification (with permission) - to create an even better result, not limited by the viewpoint of the vanilla. I'll demonstrate exactly how this works in my next blog post.

I must note, that despite some common denominators - the two mods are completely incompatible on every technical aspect of modding, so it does take quite a bit of Photoshop action to make these things work in Doomsday, before considering building any further modifications.

The weapons that will benefit from such a combined build are:

- Axe (basic) : extended animation (HWR+Legend9) / completed

- Arc of Death : full hands sequence (HWR+Legend9), extended / work in progress

- Firestorm : attack sequence only (HWR+Legend9) / work in progress

- Bloodscourge : attack sequence only (HWR+Legend9), extended / completed