Friends, Fans and other adventurers of the Hexen universe,
About two years ago, i have explicitly stated, that Legend-9 is the "the mod that is not to be". A decision instigated mostly by my dissatisfaction with the state of the mod at the time (especially considering how long it's been around), and a thorough understanding of how far it actually stood from my ultimate desired
vision.
However, as time was passing by - i kept asking myself: is this all i was capable of? How has the game that i loved so much during my teenage years - turned into a bleak, half-finished under-mod with design holes all over, veering dangerously into the chore territory. I had only myself to blame for the inconsistent quality or the often found disparity between the good ideas and average execution, all the while leaving quite a few elements "as is" = following the slacking way of the Raven (as in Software).
The answer was slowly becoming clear: this was not to be the end. No way! This - was a new beginning. I would re-ignite the fire of Hexen in a way that has never been done before. I would forge a triumph of classic oldschool glory that any Hexen fan would stand for. And i would bring the game back to my top list, sparing no effort in the process.
So I took several steps back: analyzing every single fault of version 8.33, every section that i previously deemed "too tedious to work on" and the reasons why some parts of it are fun while others are a feast of boredom. Learning, practicing, designing my signature style and staples, working on concepts and ideas by using my other mods as training exercises, - all in order to finally come up with a solid plan to reflect the vision where no stone is left unturned, a vision that the mod should (and would) eventually become.
Half a year later, i was ready to begin the journey of making Legend-9. I saw it as something more than a mod: a revolutionary upgrade-remake, a statement of creative design, logical analysis and deductive reasoning. Something that hopefully, - would inspire others to reach higher, just as some projects have inspired me in the same way. For the last 16 months i was essentially remaking the entire game, with a
sub-objective to raise my standards every day, - right until the point when i could no longer come up with superior ideas for an extended period of time. The resulting difference between any of my previous efforts and Legend-9 is nothing short of indescribable. Every single section has been revised and remade to reflect the polished-to-the-max directive. There is nothing out there like this mod, but i sincerely hope - that some day there will be.
Currently, i am launching the 6-level demo, which is the entire first episode, about 5-7 hours of gameplay. The rest of the game is yet to undergo the necessary polish, fine-tuning, balancing and error correction.
And while i am working on that, - i would like to take this opportunity to bring the project to you, even if only in part for the time being.
A few final notes on the demo (and the full version as well):
- Legend-9 is a Doomsday-engine EXCLUSIVE mod. It does NOT work with GZDoom or anything else. The mod functions through Doomsday-specific script files, and these are recognized by Doomsday engine only. A Legend-9 compatible and tested modern version of the Doomsday engine - can be downloaded here, in the files section.
- Legend-9 will eventually exist as two versions: modern and vintage. The "modern" version is meant to be played only on the modern version of Doomsday engine. The vintage version, respectively - is meant for the vintage engine. These are NOT interchangeable.
- The demo that is currently being released - is the "modern" version. It was tailored to and tested with Doomsday 2.3.1 This demo will crash or have issues, if used with older versions of Doomsday.
- Doomsday engine or Legend-9 (or 8.33) has no issues working on Windows 10. And never had any issues. The myth about Legend mod and Windows 10 - is just that: a myth.
And without any further ado, i welcome all of you to the new adventure...
