Weasel's Mods

[wildweasel]

The stranger stood atop the towering pillar, with his two revolvers, Cain and Abel, cocked and pointed at Baphomet's enormous head. Cubes with skulls etched on them were flying around the auditorium, bursting into flames and transforming into the faces of men that the stranger once knew in his mortal life. But he didn't pause to reflect on them - he merely stood there, fingers on the triggers. He paid no mind to the various hellspawn already firing their weapons at him - they would all miss anyway.

He pulled the trigger, slowly as one would do if they were occupying themselves with a game of Russian roulette. The pewter black pistol burst backwards, its bullet streaking forward in an instant and impacting Baphomet's left eye. The demonic behemoth reared back, one clawed hand clasped on his face. His fingers barely contained the spray of orange blood from the eye socket.

The stranger waited until Baphomet returned to his crouching position, then at last, spoke. "Why didn't you listen?" he inquired mockingly. "Why did you, the lord of all that is evil and unholy, choose to ignore my warnings? You sent your legions to Earth, where they are the weakest against what humanity has to offer. But that was only your first mistake."

"Then what was the second?"

"Sending me to Earth with them." At that point, he pulled the sterling silver trigger of Abel, propelling a bullet into the gaping hole in Baphomet's forehead and straight into his exposed brain. Baphomet stood clear to his feet, towering thousands of feet above everything else. He let out an ear-piercing scream that echoed across what one would imagine is the entire known universe - and beyond. And then, inexplicably, everything disappeared.

The man had no idea where he was - everything was pure black, aside from his own hands and the rest of his once-again bare body. He had nothing left except himself.

Slowly, gradually, small pinpricks of light blinked to life around him until there were hundreds of thousands surrounding him. It was almost a beauty to behold, were it not for the fact that it was likely a prison.

A voice boomed from somewhere. "Yet again you have succeeded in rescuing your pathetic little world from total obliteration. And now...here you are, floating in the middle of nowhere. Where will you go from here? Where can you go? Earth no longer has a use for you. Nor do the moons of Mars. Perhaps you could return to Earth and enjoy yourself...or follow me elsewhere, to another universe entirely? After all...we haven't finished quite yet."

What felt like a giant hand reached from somewhere behind him and snatched him clear out of space. Everything went black again.

As we speak, Earth is yet again under siege. There is nothing you can do to stop the hordes from washing over the land. You have been expelled from your own universe...to the age of the Serpent Riders.

D'sparil shall take care of you.
-- -------------
The Stranger Part 2 (tentative name) is a new weapon mod for Heretic that requires GZDoom to play. The emphasis is on arcade action that makes Heretic a bit more like a Quake game - I intend to minimize the usage of inventory items (aside from healing items) and make things a bit more action-oriented as opposed to using RPG elements and realism.

The contents so far:

• A break-action shotgun, using the RhinoStopper graphics by DoomRater. However, it's modified quite a bit - as it is now your starting weapon instead of the Elvenwand.
• A flare pistol, modified from Captain Red's that was released a while back.
• Imported player sounds from The Stranger (because you wouldn't spontaneously change your voice after being thrown to another universe).
• Quad Damage powerup (replaces Tome of Power) - an instant-use powerup that multiplies direct damage by 4, while leaving splash damage alone.
• Some new status graphics - ammo and health numbers replaced.
• Two out of three health items have been replaced.

[Snarboo]

AWESOME.

[wildweasel]

The Stranger Part 2

• Added the Luger Parabellum from the original Stranger. It replaces the Gauntlets and has a unique ammo type.
• The number of shotgun shells per pickup is now 2 instead of 4.
• Added Cain and Abel. They currently do not replace anything, and neither does their ammo. They are only available in dual form. Perhaps they ought to replace the Firemace?
• Corrected a glitch where the Breaker Shotgun didn't make its quad-damage sound when firing in quad-damage mode.
• Corrected alignment of the ARTIHEAL sprite.

Cain and Abel represented humanity's first major conflict. Jealousy, hatred...all diverted into a single murder. Nobody is sure if Cain's victim actually fought back - but if he did, he would have probably had about the same chance of killing Cain that Cain did him.

This conflict was embodied in the twin revolvers - one as black as obsidian, with a crude pewter finish and a black jet trigger. The other was white and pure, with a reflective silver sheen that almost made one forget that it was a revolver instead of beautiful jewelry. The trigger was forged from pure silver and reinforced with diamond.

Together, while the revolvers might have seemed like a contrast, their eternal conflict would result in the ultimate teamwork - neither revolver better than the other, despite each having its own special ability.

While the purest white had its dark side, the capability to unleash the souls of the damned at whatever its user pleased; the most corrupted black revolver had a spot of goodness in it - though not even Baphomet nor the stranger had any clue what it was, considering neither had actually used the original Cain.

And as it seemed, the original Cain was presented as a gift to one of D'Sparil's underlings, stored safely away from prying hands.

This was Baphomet's third mistake - inadvertently guiding the stranger to the very weapon that could complete the puzzle.

[DoomRater]

I would think that Abel was taken by surprise, which is why he lost the fight. After all, he was led deceptively into the fields...

But anyway. Lovely to see some of my weaponry being used! (Even if that RhinoStopper is just a longer version of the Flare Gun)

[wildweasel]

The stranger found himself lying face down on a cold stone floor. He painfully pushed himself to his feet, and took an inventory of himself.

His revolvers were still gone. He assumed that Baphomet took them before sending him through the void. He was back in his old clothes though - the torn coat, the black pants, the boots and gloves. Right down to the hidden knife in the right boot.

In the place of the revolvers, however, were a sword and a small shotgun. The shotgun was a simple break-action variety with no distinguishing characteristics. But the sword was one of a kind - the ornate hilt, the finely polished blade, and the grip that resembled a skull.

He strapped the sword to his back and removed it from its sheath. It was unbelievably light. While the handle was clearly intended for two hands, it was easy enough to wield with just one. His knowledge of medieval weaponry told him that this was a Bastard sword.

It was somewhat fitting that he be given this fine blade - upon looking around himself, he noticed he was standing at a dock. The dock was attached to a small fortress, which by the looks of it was still in use - if not by its original occupants, then by something more sinister. Likely the minions of whoever this "D'Sparil" character was.

No sooner did he come to this conclusion than a red gargoyle swooped down upon him. He quickly raised his shotgun and took aim.

The Stranger Part 2

• Added the Long Sword, with very special thanks to Marty Kirra for having the patience to edit Quietus to have Doom Guy hands (even if they weren't Doom Guy hands before). You start the game with this weapon - it replaces the Staff.
• Quad Damage timer was lowered from 60 seconds to 20.
• Fixed player sounds - the NoWay, Oof, and Jump sounds were still Heretic's. A SNDINFO edit fixed this.

[wildweasel]

The LC-55 9mm automatic pistol was intended purely as a weapon of self-defense. That being said, it proved useful in dispersing large crowds with its fully-automatic fire, blazing speed, and powerful rounds. Unfortunately, the one major flaw that prevented it from becoming more wide-spread was its tendency to jam. Sometimes it would seize up on the very first shot, leaving its user to stand there and struggle with the firing mechanism in order to free the jammed round.

The LC-55's successor, the LC-62, was meant to correct those flaws. The round being fired was the more powerful .40 caliber round, and the rate of fire was intentionally lowered to prevent jamming. However, due to the process which the manufacturers used to construct the gun, the various parts of the gun are still very cheaply made. Springs tend to snap out of their place, and the slide has a tendency to not blow back. In other words, the gun still jams - just not as often.

The Stranger Part 2

• The Long Sword's current attack has been sped up slightly. It's pending a redesign, for a combo attack.
• Added the repulsion kick from the first Stranger as an alt-fire for the Long Sword.
• Resources for the flare gun and Luger have both been deleted.
• In the Luger's place, I'm using Marty's Fallen Eagle pistol.
• The LC-62 Auto Pistol has been fully imported and coded. Sprites still need aligning, but the gun fires, reloads, jams, and un-jams. Thanks to DoomRater for the new reloading concept (which I had to modify because his version doesn't check to see if the player has any clips left). Mega thanks to Marty, as usual - his graphics kick ass.

[wildweasel]

On a table in front of him lay a pile of odd copper spheres, each one bearing a white band around it. The stranger imagined that they were some type of hand grenade, in a sort of medieval version of those that he had discovered on his last trip to Earth. He was pleasantly surprised to see that they were much lighter than before - he supposed that they did not contain actual explosives, per se, but rather an ethereal type of explosive designed only to detonate at precisely the right moment.

The stranger took one of the spheres from the table and twisted it. A clicking from within told him that the bomb was now armed. Taking his best cues from the likes of Greg Maddux, he pitched the sphere at a nearby wall and watched as it burst not into flames, but into a cloud of green gas. He could smell its odor from across the room. He began to feel nauseous from it.

He could only imagine how much damage a cloud of gas like that could do within its blast radius.

The Stranger Part 2

• Added the combo attack to the Long Sword.
• The Auto Pistol has much less of a chance to jam - 3 times out of 255, as opposed to 5 out of 255 (in part 1).
• The gas bombs have been added, with heavily modified Shadow Warrior Sticky Bomb graphics. I like these enough that I'm willing to take a screenshot of them. Here ya go!

[wildweasel]

The Stranger Part 2

• The assault shotgun is in. Uses edited Doom Hunt Shotgun graphics - the shotgun now takes clips. Replaces the Crossbow.
• The pocket pistol is in. It's a semi-automatic .45 handgun that does moderate damage and replaces the Gauntlets.
• Various ammo pickups were implemented.

[wildweasel]

The Stranger Part 2

• The long sword's kick attack now emits a visible shockwave (imported from LWM's hammerhound in the Boss Resource Wad). Took me ages to figure out how to get it working on a player. Does not damage enemies - the Repulsion effect handles that.
• Adjusted the damage of the pocket shotgun, so it is no longer more powerful than the assault shotgun.
• Adjusted the damage of the assault shotgun, so it can no longer kill an undead warrior in a single shot.
• Adjusted the accuracy of the pocket pistol, so it can now hit things.
• Adjusted the long sword's combo attack, so the speed is slightly more even.
• Changed the pocket pistol's firing sound so it no longer sounds like a cannon.

[Paul]

I'm still waiting for your PM to clarify me your request Brother. If I haven't made myself clear concerning the agreement to what you asked me for-the answer is yes.

[wildweasel]

Well, I've actually been doing some thinking and figured that I might not need the graphics I asked for after all.

[Paul]

Now you make me feel like that 5th wheel

[Chronoteeth]

I could always use some of whatever it was you asked paul to make!

But thats me.

[wildweasel]

The Stranger Part 2
I forgot to post about this yesterday...

• Gas bombs were modified, so when they impact, they spray gas in circles until they burn out.
• Quad damage was removed in favor of more traditional Tome of Power stuff.

[wildweasel]

The stranger sat upon a barrel to rest after having cleansed another room. He thought back to what started this business in the first place. It wasn't Baphomet - he only came into the picture later on. Much later.

What was his life like on Earth before he ended up in Hell? What did he do wrong? What would the afterlife be like, had he not decided to take that fateful shot at Baphomet's skull?

He thought and thought, but he kept drawing blanks. He could scarcely remember his own name. All that came to mind was the number of creatures - Hell's, or otherwise - that he had killed. Stripped from the mortal realm by his very hands. No matter the tool of destruction, he was solely responsible for each and every one of their lives being taken.

But one memory of his seemed different. It didn't seem to involve death, destruction, or even misfortune. Maybe a bit of crying, but not the sad and melancholy kind - perhaps they were tears of joy.

He stood at the bottom of a flight of cement stairs, looking up. He had a backpack in one hand and some keys in the other. At the top...he couldn't tell who it was, but it was a woman. A modestly attractive brunette wearing a simple blue dress.

Nothing else seemed to happen in this memory - it was just an eternity of him and this woman standing on either end of a flight of stairs. But then, the woman's lips moved. He heard nothing, but the mere sight of those red lips told him exactly what she was saying.

Take care of yourself...Ransom.

Ransom? Was that his name? Odd name for a common man...

Or perhaps he wasn't merely a common man. There had to be something that distinguished him. Something that would have explained his ruthless efficiency in dealing with these monstrosities, despite having never seen any of them before in his life.

He refused to think any further of the issue. If anything, perhaps D'Sparil possessed the key to his suppressed memories. Maybe defeating him would allow him to come to terms with his life, and live the way he ought to.

The Stranger Part 2

• The pocket shotgun was modified, so that you must click the primary trigger to load the shotgun after the round has been fired.
• Added a new melee attack to the pocket shotgun - not based on the original RhinoStopper melee attack by DoomRater.
• The assault shotgun was also modified, so you must click to rechamber the next round.
• Graphical resources for a new weapon, the automatic hot coal launcher, have been imported - Graphics by Paul, weapon idea by Chronoteeth. This weapon will replace the Firemace when it's coded.