Serpent: Resurrection
A 21st century Hexen adventure that takes advantage of the latest GZDoom features. A scripted RPG system brings the characters to life and with many new weap...
Filenames
serpent.wad
Size
50.02 MB
MD5
0f618bbfbbd7c7371238cba4787d4fb4
SHA-1
3ca9cfd24f82a9946f66dafbb86b290b78515630
SHA-256
3f0c1f251255d3e77c52d70c6ced6b98c499de75288444dbe0231056cc3e3482
WAD Type
PWAD
IWAD
Hexen
Engines
GZDoom
Lumps
351
Maps
MAP01, MAP02, MAP03, MAP04, MAP05, MAP06, MAP07, MAP08, MAP09, MAP10, MAP11, MAP12, MAP13, MAP14, MAP15, MAP16, MAP17, MAP18, MAP19, MAP20, MAP21, MAP22, MAP23, MAP24, MAP25, MAP98, MAP99
Read Me
Updated July 2012 with a 4th player character plus various fixes and improvements. ================================================================================================= Serpent: Resurrection - The Story so Far ================================================================================================= Another time, another world. After Banedon's defeat of the Shadowcaster five years ago, things in Durenor got relatively peaceful, until war broke out with the neighbouring Darklands recently, which has put the King's armies under a lot of strain. Banedon had put his adventuring exploits to one side, and helped set up three schools of excellence - one specialising in straightforward combat, one focusing on harnessing the powers of religion, and the other schooling in the magic arts. These will soon produce three classes of adept soldiers known as fighters, clerics and mages. All of which will serve King Rimoah and the land of Durenor when trouble arises, and will have the potential to become great heroes of Durenor, like Banedon. But recently the King's mages have detected powerful surges in the magical spectrum, and these emanated from the island of Caldera in the neighbouring kingdom of Hydratyr. And when they discovered what was causing it, they immediately summoned a meeting with the King. They told him of the legend of the Serpent Riders, a trio of powerful individuals who at one time caused carnage and chaos in distant lands. They were all defeated long ago, but it is believed that a resurrection was attempted some time ago by a rogue mage known as Praevus, who was defeated by unknown heroes. But, it is also believed that since then, someone else has somehow succeeded in freeing their souls and the magical disturbance at Caldera was caused by their return to this world! Because the schools of excellence had not yet produced their first class of fully-trained soldiers, Banedon himself went to the island a fortnight ago, but nothing has been heard since. Fearing his capture or death, the King decided to choose from the best students at each of the three schools of excellence - Anvar from the combat school, Braxus from the religious school and Sallazar from the magic school. He also controversially asked the Assassin's Guild, who he would never normally have any dealings with on moral grounds - and a young woman called Qinefer was chosen as their best student. One of them was summoned to the palace (you choose ofc) and currently waits in an anteroom for his/her audience with the King... ================================================================================================= Title : Serpent: Resurrection Filename : SERPENT.WAD Author : Stephen Clark (The Ultimate DooMer) Email Address : [email protected] Other WAD's by me : Operation: Lightning (OP-LITE2.WAD) - 11 Doom 2 levels Fragport (FRAGPORT.WAD) - 32 innovative Doom 2 levels Shadowcaster (SHADOW.WAD) - 9 Heretic levels Quake 2 skys - (Q2SKYS-1/2.WAD) 8 360° skys converted from Quake 2 and both mission packs. Licence to Spell DooM (007LTSD.WAD) - 9 Ultimate ZDoom levels Super Sonic DooM (SONIC.WAD) - 35 Sonic-themed ZDoom levels. I have also contributed to the following community wads: Community Chest - map 01, 20 & the titlepic/level name graphics. Mock 2 - map 39, 40 & the 'you fail it' area in map 41. Community Chest 2 - map 15. ZDaemon CTF Map Pack - map 23 & 29, plus leading/releasing it. ZDaemon CTF B-Sides - map 39. ZDaemon 4-way CTF pack - map 08, 15, 20 (v5) or map 10 & 15 (v6) plus leading/releasing it. Crazy CTF - map 05 (pack 2) or map 20 (pack 1/2 compilation version). KDiZD - some work on E1M3/9 plus the early orange baron who's code was eventually used for the beastiary's Heresy Lord. ZDaemon 3-way CTF pack - map 17. ZDaemon 3-way CTF Madness - map 18. Heretic Treasure Chest - E2M5. Completion Date : 1st October 2010 Misc. Author Info : A hardcore Doomer who loves all it's similar games and some others but still thinks Doom is best. Has decided to make Hexen levels. Description : A 21st century Hexen adventure that takes advantage of the latest GZDoom features. A scripted RPG system brings the characters to life and with many new weapons, spells, artifacts and monsters means it will be much tougher than any other Hexen adventure! Additional Credits To: Randy Heit (for ZDoom). Graf Zahl (for GZDoom and the additional coding which made things like new monsters and weapons possible). Grubber (for creating the unofficial build that kept us all going with new features while Randy was reworking the main ZDoom code) Enjay (the flashlight in BGPA led me to discover dynamic lights, which proved revolutionary) DRD Team (for the SVN repository and file hosting server) The creators of all the editors I used to make this happen. The creators of all the resources I used to make this happen. (see serpentc.txt for a full list of resources & authors) Ian Livingstone (for the fantasy gamebook "Legend of Zagor") Steve Jackson & Ian Livingstone (for "Warlock of Firetop Mountain", without which the former book wouldn't have existed) Joe Dever (for the "Lone Wolf" fantasy gamebooks) Mindscape (for the vintage RPG's "Legend" & "Worlds of Legend") RambOrc, Firebrand and the rest of the Korax Heritage team (for the Korax Mod) Blizzard (for a certain MMORPG) Epic Megagames (for Unreal) Raven Software (for Heretic & Hexen and their sequels) And of course, id software for the greatest game on earth! ================================================================================================= *Playing Instructions* This zip should contain the following files: SERPENT.WAD - The adventure (maps). SERPENT.PK3 - The adventure (resources). SERPENT.BAT - Batch file for playing the adventure. SERPENTC.TXT - The credits file. SERPENTH.TXT - The hints/tips file. SERPENT.TXT - This file. To play : Click on the serpent.bat file. Once loaded for the first time you need to define keys for weapons, role-playing functions and any item/mana/magic hotkeys you want. It's also recommended to set sound channels to 256 in options. (or snd_channels in zdoom.ini) If you don't wish to define new keys for role-playing functions, an alternative way to use the menu is to use the secondary fire key instead. If you're playing on a very high resolution and can't read the HUD very well due to the numbers being too small, type 'puke 809' at the console to activate the old scripted version. This won't affect the icon displaying the currently selected inventory item. ================================================================================================= * Play Information * Game Version Required : Hexen (v1.1) running with GZDoom 1.6.00 (r1418) or higher. Both OpenGL rendering and dynamic lights must be enabled in order for everything to work, along with freelook, jumping and crouching. Episode and Level # : Map 01-25 (the maps are all in the same hub, meaning you can go anywhere at any time. There are distinct groups of maps though) Single Player : Yes - Built for it. Cooperative : No - scripting is too complex. Deathmatch : No - levels are too big and complex. (and they're for Hexen) Difficulty Settings : Yes - they will work differently though due to the RPG system. Instead of the number of monsters changing between skill levels, the following happens: --------------------------------------------------------------------- | Skill | Monster | Aggression | Perceived | Ammo per | Damage | | Setting | Speed | | Attack | Pickup | Taken | | | | | Distance | (sm/lg) | | --------------------------------------------------------------------- | Tourist | Slow | Low | 1x | 30/90 | 25% | | Easy | Normal | Low | 2x | 25/75 | 50% | | Normal | Normal | Medium | 8x | 20/60 | 75% | | Hard | Normal | High | 16x | 15/45 | 100% | | Heroic | Fast | High | 16x | 15/45 | 100% | --------------------------------------------------------------------- Monster speed covers movement and attack speed (ranged & melee) but not projectile speed. (those don't change) NOTE: The "fast monsters" setting is not used on Heroic (meaning no constant projectile streams), and the speed changes are nowhere near as high as Doom's demons. It should turn out more balanced this way. Aggression covers missile attack chance. (roughly 30/40/50% but ZDoom's current implementation renders it very unpredictable) Perceived attack distance is the factor that a monster's perceived distance when deciding whether or not to shoot is reduced by. The closer it thinks it is to you, the more likely it'll attack (allegedly). Ammo per pickup is self-explanatory, sm/lg refers to mana crystals and mana batteries respectively. Damage taken covers all damage from all sources, and is applied after any other damage taken modifiers. New Sounds : Yes - loads. New Sprites : Yes - loads. New Graphics : Yes - loads. New Monsters : Yes - loads. Sources include Heretic, Hexen 2, Blood, Might & Magic and the Beastiary, many of which also have altered behaviour. Some of Hexen's monsters have been enhanced too. New Weapons : Yes - 3 new weapons for each character, utilising 2 new mana types. There is also one replacement for an existing weapon, plus two others have slightly different behaviour. New Music : Yes - a full mod soundtrack. Demos Replaced : None ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- * Construction * Base : My creative mind (And lots of inspiration from a wide variety of sources) Editor(s) used : WadAuthor, WinTex, DeHackEd, DeePsea, XWE, ZDBSP, Paint, PSP5, AudioRack, Audio Recorder, GoldWave, Doom Builder, SLumpEd, SpriteMaker, Ableton Live 8 Build Time : 5¾ years (on and off, with looooong periods of off) Known Bugs : One sky glitch in map 18 when you climb to it's highest point and turn round. Other bugs will be explained in-game via author's notes. Will Not Run With : Any source port other than GZDoom. ================================================================================================= Serpent: Resurrection - Special Features ================================================================================================= This adventure is totally unique to any other Hexen adventure, in the fact that it has a full RPG-system like those seen in table-top or computer-based fantasy role-playing games. This, along with other features is explained below. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Characters ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The 4 characters in the game are a lot more different here than they are in normal Hexen, thanks to the RPG system. So choose carefully before you begin, a profile of each character is below: Anvar - Trained in the fighting arts, you are immensly tough and strong. You can use any type of weapon without mana and wear any type of armour, and can push your body to great speeds and heights. You know very little in the ways of magic though, and your weapons will burn mana very quickly. But in truth you don't care about it - magic is the affair of book-reading milksops! You prefer a good clean fight and fear nothing and no-one. Braxus - Deeply religious, your training has developed a close alliance with your god and you are able to harness that power to great ends. You can get special features out of weapons, as well as a reasonable ability to use magic. While not as fast or as strong as a trained fighter, you are still a match for many and can wear most types of armour. You're also perhaps the most versatile of any type of adventurer. Qinefer - Skilled in the shadowy side of combat, you are not afraid to get dirty and do whatever is required for the hit. Speed, poisons, ranged weapons, all these you can use to kill without reply. Straight fighting is not your style, though your nimbleness can still be useful in such a scenario. Your knowledge of magic is limited, but you still use it as part of your toolbox when required. You can't wear heavy armour, but you prefer to be fast and avoid hits instead. Either way, you're one tough gal that's hard to beat. Sallazar - No bard will ever sing epic tales of your prowess with weapons, but what does that matter? You are a master of magic - you can command spells to avoid, confuse, weaken or defeat enemies, and can use magical weapons like no fighter ever could. However, as your training comprised mostly of poring over dusty tomes and experimenting, you are physically weak, slow on your feet and can wear little armour due to your slender form. But you have many tricks up your sleeve to ensure you won't die easily. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Attributes ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- When you start the game, you will be in an anteroom with a switch. Press the switch to roll your attributes. If you don't like them, you can re-roll by hitting the switch again. But be warned: you can only re-roll up to 4 times, and the numbers are all tied together, so don't bother trying to roll a superhero - after all the game would be too easy then wouldn't it? The attributes are: Health - This determines how much health you have. Strength - This determines the power of your melee weapon (and fighter weapons without mana). Dexterity - This determines how fast you can move, and how high you can jump. Constitution - This determines your resilience to damage. Each point reduces the damage you take. Wisdom - This determines how much mana you can hold of each type. Sorcery - This determines how good you are at spellcasting. It's the number of magic points you start the game with, and if you are Sallazar (the mage) it also affects the rate at which your magic points regenerate over time. These attributes will have an upper limit, which varies depending on character. Attributes can be improved every time you gain a level (see below) except health, which improves automatically with level. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Attribute Menu ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This is an interactive menu that displays your current level, XP's, the amount needed to gain another level and your attributes. You can access this at any time during the game, but it is recommended that you find a safe spot first (even though it won't impair vision too much). To operate the menu, you will need to define 3-4 extra keys (go to the key config in options and the extra keys will be there). One is needed to toggle the menu on and off, one or two to move the cursor (only one is needed though) and one to increase each attribute when you gain a level. The weapon keys also need to be defined, along with any hotkeys you want. If you don't wish to define new keys for the menu, an alternative way to activate it is to press the secondary fire key. This will allow you to operate the menu using movement/fire keys instead of defining new ones, but will prevent all player movement and other actions while it's active. Once you've gained a level, you will see a number of "skill points" at the bottom of the menu. These are what you use to increase your attributes. Move the cursor to the relevant attribute and press the raise key, and one of these points will be transferred. Be warned that this process can't be undone (except with a savegame), so make sure you have the cursor on the right attribute! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Experience ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Every time you kill a monster, you will gain experience points (XP's). When you reach a certain amount of XP's, you will gain a level of skill/experience. This will enable you to increase your attributes and do better things. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Monetary System ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Money comes in the form of Gold Pieces. These can be found anywhere on the island, and can also be found on the bodies of slain enemies (depending on type). There are various types of shop on the island, each dealing in a different commodity: armour, artefacts and magic-related items. Each can buy and sell various things, press the relevant switches to do so. There are also Holy Temples, which can restore health and magic points through monetary donations. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Magic System ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In addition to the new weapons and artefacts (see below), there are also a number of spells that can be used to aid your quest. These come in the form of scrolls, which allow the user to cast a given spell once. Each spell will use up a number of Magic points, and once it has been cast, the user won't be able to cast that spell again for a minute. Spells that have a duration will work across maps. Magic points can be restored by using Magic Rings or visiting a Holy Temple. They also regenerate over time if you are Sallazar, the rate depends on your Sorcery attribute. Note that everyone except Sallazar (the mage) won't be able to cast every spell, due to upper limits on their Sorcery attributes. Sallazar knows the first 2 spells off by heart, therefore does not need a scroll to cast them. He can still pick up scrolls for those spells, but he can't use them (likewise with the other characters and scrolls they can't use). If you are playing as Sallazar, the first 2 spells will appear in your inventory as the corresponding scroll with an infinity symbol on it. There's also no need to bind an additional key to use it, the same key will work for both normal and infinite versions. The spells (together with costs and scroll colours) are listed below: Power : This will improve the effect of your melee weapon(s) for 20 seconds. (cost: 2) Anvar's weapons (mana-free versions only plus the axe) will strike faster. (blue) Braxus' mace will fire 3 limited-range spiked balls, hit with a longer range and can also hit ghostly enemies. Qinefer's dagger will produce magical slash attacks with a limited range that can hit ghostly enemies, plus an optional strong melee hit that does the same. Sallazar's staff will hit harder with a longer range, and can hit ghostly enemies. It will also knock enemies back and fire a blue magical bolt. Protection : This will render you invincible for 20 seconds. 'Nuff said. (cost: 5) (light brown) Fear : This will cause enemies to run away in fear for 20 seconds. They will still (cost: 6) attack if possible, but are less likely to do so during this time. (black) However, if you get too close to them they will become paralysed with fear and will be unable to move or attack for 10 seconds, this can only affect them once during the spell. Does not affect bosses. Shrapnel : This defensive spell will create a continuous ring of short-range crystalline (cost: 8) shards around you for 20 seconds, guaranteed to inflict continuous pain as well (dark red) as damage to any monsters that come close to you during this time. Summon : This will summon a ghostly chaos serpent in front of you, who will fight on your (cost: 10) side until it dies. Like other monsters, it's health increases as you level up (grey) but it also gains new abilities. It's always stronger than normal serpents, and it's ghostly nature also means it's immune to melee attacks and some projectiles. NOTE: if you're facing too close to a wall or solid object when casting, the serpent will not appear at all. Plus there can only be one serpent active at any one time - if you try to cast another, the existing one will die first. It will travel into other maps with you, providing it's close enough to the exit. Inferno : This offensive spell will send out a ring of short-range fireballs from your (cost: 12) location, incinerating anything in their path. Anything that lives through it (bright red) will be thrown backwards into the air too. Penetrate : This launches a magical ray once per second for 20 seconds. They are powerful (cost: 15) enough to kill many normal monsters and seriously damage anything tougher. (purple) Not only that, they will rip through any number of monsters in their path. TimeStop : This advanced spell will stop the flow of time, freezing everything but you (cost: 16) to the spot - including any shots fired during the spell. It lasts for (dark brown) 20 seconds but a lot can be done in that time. Does not affect bosses. Hellstorm : This will call a storm of magical rain from above, showering a wide area (cost: 18) continuously for 20 seconds. (regardless of any walls or objects in the way) (yellow) Annhilation : This deadly spell will unleash a blast of energy powerful enough to light (cost: 20) up the sky and annhilate everything in sight. It does become ineffective (green) at a certain range though. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Artefacts ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- There are many artefacts, these are described below: Health : This comes in two forms, the Crystal Vial (10) and the Potion of Life (25), the latter of which is a purple potion that can be carried until needed. Armour : There are eight types, some of which cannot be worn by certain classes. Hexen's weird armour system has also been replaced with a more Doom-like one. (but will have a traditional RPG-like display similar to Hexen) Mana : This comes in four colours and two sizes - mana crystals and mana batteries (amount given depends on skill level), the latter of which is a light brown cube that can be carried until needed. Krater of Might : This rare and powerful item restores all of your mana to maximum levels. Magic Scrolls : These will allow you to cast one spell, one time and will use up a number of Magic points. Comes in 10 different varieties, see the above section. Magic Ring : These will restore a Magic point. (Sallazar gets an extra point) Potion of Water Breathing : This is a blue potion will enable you to breathe underwater for 30 seconds. Your unaided air supply of 15 seconds is restored when the potion runs out. Potion of Fire Protection : This is a red potion will enable you to walk through lava for 30 seconds. Potion of Excellence : This is a golden potion that will bestow you with excellence, granting you a skill point. Naturally these are hard to come by, and can't be traded. Speed Boots : These will allow you to run at great speeds for 20 seconds. Jump Boots : These will allow you to jump to great heights for 20 seconds. Torch : This illuminates your immediate surroundings for 60 seconds. Disc of Repulsion : This will reflect incoming projectiles if used at the right time, and can also be used to thrust nearby enemies away from you. Poison Vial : This version of the flechette is now available for all classes. Drop it and it releases a nastier-than-before poison cloud for about 20 seconds. Qinefer also uses these to poison her dagger, although they are used up very slowly in this manner. Timebomb of the Ancients : This old favourite returns, and is even more powerful. Drop it on the ground and run away before it detonates. Porkalator : This fires 5 projectiles in a spread pattern, any monster hit will turn into a pig for about 45 seconds. Does not work on bosses or crystal golems. Force Stone : This will create a solid pillar of force in front of you for 60 seconds. The force pillar will block all enemies and most attacks just like a real pillar. Siren Orb : This will emit a red light over a small area for 30 seconds. All enemies who step in this light will be forced to attack the orb. Does not work on bosses. There are also some artefacts that are not present in this adventure: they are the Icon of the Defender, Mystic Urn, Banishment Device, Chaos Device, Dragonskin Bracers and Dark Servant. Combined mana no longer exists due to the addition of the new mana types, and neither do the other two versions of the flechette. Finally, all items with a duration will work across maps. The player can only carry up to 5 of each item, with the exception of the the Magic Ring (15), Potion of Life (15) and the Disc of Repulsion (15). All of the items have a fixed position in the inventory and will remain even if you have none of that item (the exceptions to this are puzzle items and golden potions, plus scrolls for infinite spells if you are Sallazar). This is to make keeping track of items a lot simpler. Each character starts with some items too - Anvar starts with some armour, Braxus starts with some health potions, Qinefer starts with some poison vials and Sallazar starts with some magic rings. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- New Weapons ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- There are 3 new weapons for each character, utilising 2 new mana types (red and yellow). The 5th weapon will use yellow mana, the 6th weapon will use red mana, and the 7th weapon uses both red and yellow mana. This last weapon is in two separate pieces, find both to use it. There is also one replacement - the mage's sapphire wand has been replaced with a strong wooden staff. This is to bring him into line with the other characters by having a melee weapon, which the RPG system requires. The fighter's fist behaves a little differently and the hammer always fires a shot, even when too close to something. To use the melee version of the fighter weapons, (except the fist) toggle the appropriate weapon slot. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- New Enemies ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- There are a lot of new enemies in Serpent Resurrection, and with some new features - they have special abilities in certain maps, and their health now scales upwards with your level. (ie. each monster will have more health if fought when you're level 15 than level 10 etc.) The bosses are also different to normal, as many of them will change their behaviour throughout the fight to keep you on your toes and provide a more interesting and possibly epic encounter. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Barrels ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- These are now all pushable. There are also three new types of barrel, one of which contains gunpowder - so think twice before smashing it! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Message Logs ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- These come in the form of books on tables etc. and on noticeboards, walk up to them to view the message and move away again to cancel it. Many of these are for the storylines and immersion factor (like Unreal) but some of them contain useful information (like Hexen 2). ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Help Features ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- There are two features designed to help if you get stuck at any point. The first one will display a hint or two for the map you're on, and the other will toggle automap markers for any unvisited important locations in the map. Type 'puke 806' in the console for the first one and 'puke 807' for the second one, but these are only recommended if you really get stuck - they're not intended as a hand-holding measure! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Other Important Notes ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Some items/powerups are needed to solve puzzles or complete certain areas, so don't go using or destroying them unnecessarily! The required items will only be provided in the case of those areas that you can't escape from without them. For others you will have to find them elsewhere or buy them at the nearest shop. Exploration is key, as is preparation. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- * Copyright / Permissions * Authors may NOT use the maps as a base for modification or re-use. Authors MAY use the resources (including the scripts) in your own wads as long as you give the relevant author(s) credit in your text file. (see serpentc.txt for a full list of who made what) You may distribute the project as long as you include this text file and the other files intact. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- * Where to get this WAD * ftp://archives.gamers.org/pub/idgames/levels/hexen/s-u/ (and mirrors, better to use those) My Doom 2 wads are at: /pub/idgames/levels/doom2/m-o/op-lite2.zip and: " " " " /megawads/fragport.zip My Heretic wad is at: " " " /heretic/s-u/shadow.zip and Quake 2 skys at: " " /graphics/q2skys-1.zip and q2skys-2.zip Licence to Spell Doom is at: /pub/idgames/levels/doom/Ports/0-9/007ltsd.zip Super Sonic Doom is at: /pub/idgames/levels/doom2/Ports/megawads/sonic.zip The standalone Serpent RPG mod is at: /pub/idgames/levels/hexen/s-u/serp-rpg.zip The standalone Serpent weapons mod is at: /pub/idgames/levels/hexen/s-u/serp-wpn.zip GZDoom is at http://www.osnanet.de/c.oelckers/gzdoom/ Latest version at http://svn.drdteam.org/gzdoom/ ================================================================================================= Remember, remember that Doom lives FOREVER! =================================================================================================