The Rebel

• Download The Rebel from Archive.Org

===========================================================================
Archive Maintainer      : Ty Halderman
Update to               : rslrebel.zip in /combos subdirectory, this is RELEASE #6+!
Advanced engine needed  : GZDOOM 1.5.6 (software renderer)
Primary purpose         : Single play
===========================================================================
Title                   : The Rebel
Filename                : rslrebel.wad
Release date            : May 07, 2013
Author                  : Richard Smith Long
Email Address           : [email protected]
Other Files By Author   : rslproto.wad, rslvenge.wad
Misc. Author Info       : AKA "Dick S. Long"





Description             : After Hell's invasion of Earth, mankind had no adequate way to react
                          and started to succumb, slowly yet inexorably. More and more people
                          were enslaved by the Netherworld forces each day, deprived of their will
                          to become faithful and mindless servants of the Dark God Baphomet,
                          in the form of 'Cultists'. But one day, one not-so-plagued man
                          dares to oppose...



My rationale:
------------

I have always been attracted by the opportunity to have a good array of magical weapons at my disposal
for slaughtering demons, controlling a sort of "adventurer-like" character.
This modification is my attempt at making one as complete and diversified as possible,
by keeping some sort of "retro-horror" feeling throughout. Don't be fooled by the heavy reuse
of well-known commercial game graphics: I have tried to animate them, and customize their appearance
and behaviour in a quite original fashion.



Changelog:
---------

Nov. 07, 2009: initial release.

Dec. 11, 2009: release #2.

- fixed transparency bug for burning corpses.
- fixed random spawners for inventory items.
- improved effectiveness of Vile Orb secondary attack.
- added dynamite bundle inventory item.

July 13, 2010: release #3.

- added custom HUD.
- powered up the Vile Orb secondary attack:
  now rages normally spawn in greater number and
  seek for a target by themselves.
- toned down Hell Patriarch and altered its attack behaviour.
- Cyber Masterminds now may drop a megasphere.
- commented out +CHEATNOTWEAPON by popular demand.

August 31, 2010: release #4.

- added long-time-due special death states to applicable actors:
  poison and electric.
- made dynamite bundle inventory item durable across levels.

October 28, 2010: release #5.

- improved weapon switch timing.
- added custom fullscreen HUD.

February 17, 2011: release #6.

- added altfire to sawed-off (both-barrels simultaneous discharge).
- integrated Mikk's blood system for added effects
  (can be commented out for rollback purposes).

May 07, 2013: release #6+.

- fixed display scaling with normal HUD.
- added HUD smooth interpolation.
- improved knife-generated sparks.
- added weapon tag names.
- added blend effect for player burning death.
- fixed HUD fragcount.
- added custom teleportation effect.
- tidied up DECORATE lump.
- fixed HUD gauges inconsistency.
- fixed inconsistent state jump in Cold Hand.
- made magazines ammunition independent from skill level.
- fixed PoisonBlob / PoisonFog actors coding (removed reference to missing sprite).
- fixed behaviour of particle actors on moving flats (MOVEWITHSECTOR).
- fixed behaviour of dual-fire magical weapons when almost out-of-mana.
- improved appearance of still actors whenever applicable (FORCEXYBILLBOARD).
- added new class 'Executioner': beefier and quite slower.
  But immune to health saps caused by the secondary attack modes of magical weapons...
- fixed a few formal inconsistencies and spelling mistakes in this very text file.





Modification details:
--------------------



>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
 Non-magical weapons:
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

slot 1: Knife
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 The only starting melee weapon available to our rebel.
 Can be swung by performing a single slash (tap primary attack)
 or a slash-plus-backslash combo (sustain primary attack).
 When a flaming heart artifact is found, the rebel's physical strength
 and the power of each slash are heavily augmented.

slot 2: Thompson machinegun
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 The standard automatic firearm used by Baphomet Cultists.
 While each round is relatively weak, its firing ratio and accuracy
 quite make up for it.
 50 rounds. Requires reload, although auto-triggered.

slot 3: Sawed-off shotgun
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 This is a better gun for dealing with average-to-stronger foes.
 Each shot guarantees a generous pellet spread (not too accurate)
 and a precious kickback effect. Alternate fire is pure pleasure...
 2 rounds. Requires reload, although auto-triggered.



>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
 Magical weapons
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

~~~~~~~   The DARK side (requires dark mana)   ~~~~~~~

slot 4: Golden Serpent (staff)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 This magical golden staff is said to have been forged in ancient Egypt,
 to grant its fierce power to pharaohs. All of its existing instances
 have since been claimed by Hell forces themselves.

 Primary fire: the serpent head blows out two streams of poisonous vapor
               from its nostrils. This attack is extremely effective
               at short-to-mid range, yet also very mana-consuming.

 Secondary fire: the staff unleashes a slithering blob of poisonous acid
                 that explodes into a poison cloud upon first collision,
                 and tears all nearby targets.
                 THIS ATTACK DRAINS HEALTH.

slot 5: Vile Orb (verge)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 On top of a gnarled wooden verge, the Vile Orb sits apparently quiet,
 ready to revive the wicked souls of slain demons to fight at its master's side.

 Primary fire: the Orb fades and becomes translucent for a while, only to show
               the well of souls in Hades swirling faster, in an attempt to
               resurrect one or more dead corpses in front of the verge's wielder.

 Secondary fire: the verge evokes a rageing soul from the bowels of hell,
                 which hastily directs towards the pointed target
                 and continues to persecute it upon exhaustion.
                 THIS ATTACK DRAINS HEALTH.

slot 6: Lava Sceptre
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 This horrid-looking artifact has the skull on top of it as a mere placeholder,
 for its powers relate neither to the dead, nor to bloodlust.
 The weapon is able to summon the power of hell fire in the form of fiercely-
 exploding lava balls.

 Primary fire: the sceptre hurls exploding lava balls that retain a limited
               bouncing ability. A stream of exploding balls can easily
               be unleashed on a target.

 Secondary fire: the skull first emits two rays of light from its orbits to the zenith,
                 and then vomits an enormous lava mass that explodes upon first contact,
                 and damages a large area around it.
                 THIS ATTACK DRAINS HEALTH.



~~~~~~~   The LIGHT side (requires light mana)   ~~~~~~~

slot 1: Cold Hand (spell)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 Giving you control of the water element, this spell is a great asset
 of the light side in fighting the forces of Evil. Foes frozen with this spell
 shatter into pieces that melt shortly after, thus making it impossible
 for Baphomet and its minions to revive them.

 Primary fire: the rebel is able to generate a wave of cold, frozen air with his/her palm;
               his/her target gets frozen and explodes into ice pieces after a while.
               The wave has a very limited reach, thus making this spell very effective
               at melee-to-short range, but of limited use otherwise.

 Secondary fire: with a more pronounced gesture, the rebel can summon a trail of ice spikes,
                 that appear announced by a chiming sound. This ice wall is effective in
                 trapping to a limited extent several swarms of hellspawn, yet
                 it is not indestructible.
                 THIS ATTACK DRAINS HEALTH.

slot 7: Judgement (rod)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 Described as the greatest holy weapon ever existed, instances of this weapon are said
 to have been derived by fragments of the staff that Moses wielded when crossing the divided waters
 of the Red Sea. Its sacred power is feared by Baphomet itself, with good reason.

 Primary fire: when holding the rod, our rebel is granted the power of illumination:
               he/she can invest with weaving light the enemy and have it violently disintegrate,
               assured that it shall not be resurrected.
               Such power can destroy any hellspawn in a few seconds - no matter how dire
               the situation is. At the cost of much light mana.

 Secondary fire: for a short period of time, the wielder rapidly decays into necrosis
                 only to sacrifice his/her soul to the power of the rod. He/She then
                 slams the wood on the ground to summon a devastating lightning storm
                 that randomly propagates in front of him/her, sweeping away everything
                 on its path.
                 THIS ATTACK DRAINS HEALTH.



>>>>>>>>>>>
 Artifacts
<<<<<<<<<<<

Flaming heart

 A magical artifact that greatly increases the physical strength of the rebel and his/her
 melee attacks by consequence, albeit its effect does not last forever.

Magic scroll

 The magic scroll not only reveals the map of the place the rebel is adventuring in,
 but also the presence of items and monsters nearby.

Ethereal cloak

 When the rebel wears an ethereal cloak, he/she goes completely unnoticed by enemies,
 although such protection is granted only for a limited amount of time.

Protective suit

 This suit can be used to safely venture on damaging terrains such as acid or lava,
 but it wears off after a while.

Magical torch

 When a magical torch is found, for a while it will lighten the area the rebel is in
 just as in full daylight.



>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
 Carriable items
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

Dynamite bundle

 A time-triggered explosive load that can be bounced around and starts countdown once stopping on ground.
 A devastating explosion chain ensues afterwards, but it's all in how hard it is to lob /place the charge effectively.



>>>>>>>>>
 Classes
<<<<<<<<<

Rebel       - our beloved hero. Cannot sustain the most powerful, alternate attacks of magical weapons without suffering an injury.
Executioner - a beefier and slower sidekick of the rebel. To his advantage, alternate magical attacks come at no cost other than mana.



Footnotes:

(1) The suggested commandline for launching the modification is the following one
    (assumes that the modification has been decompressed in subdirectory 'RSL' of your (G)ZDOOM directory):

    (g)zdoom.exe -iwad <IWAD_PATH>\<IWAD_FILE> -file <CUSTOM_LEVEL_PATHNAME> RSL\rslrebel.wad

    (if under GZDOOM, add option '+gl_nogl 1' to disable hardware rendering)

(2) Do not forget to bind a key for weapon reload under 'Options > Customize Controls'
    in (G)ZDOOM.

(3) To obtain the complete set of weapons for quicktesting
    without breaking the weapon set at your disposal,
    type 'rsl' in the console.

(4) The modification is compatible with the following IWADs: The Ultimate DOOM, DOOM 2, Final DOOM.





WARNING * WARNING * WARNING * WARNING * WARNING * WARNING * WARNING * WARNING * WARNING * WARNING
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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By reading the following credits you may spoil certain "surprise monsters" in the modification...
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WARNING * WARNING * WARNING * WARNING * WARNING * WARNING * WARNING * WARNING * WARNING * WARNING

Additional Credits to   : Various sources (see below):

                          DoomRater for the reload-oriented DECORATE actors

                          Vaecrius for the recoil ACS script

                          Lobotomy software for:
                           -game sounds
                           -Knife, Golden Serpent staff and Judgement rod sprites

                          3D Realms for:
                           -game sounds
                           -Cold Hand spell and Vile Orb verge sprites

                          Monolith software for:
                           -game sounds
                           -Thompson machinegun, Sawed-off shotgun and Lava Sceptre sprites
                           -artifacts sprites
                           -burning corpse sprites
                           -dynamite bundle sprites

                          WildWeasel (wwhcdiaz.wad) for burning corpse death sounds

                          Nash Muhandes for the blood and gore effects

                          Neoworm for Rebel, Baphomet Cultist, Baphomet Fanatic
                           and Baphomet Hitman sprites

                          Espi for the Hell Guard

                          Nanami for the Cyber Mastermind

                          Raven Software for:
                           -Ice Spike sprites
                           -Rageing Soul sprites
                           -Hell Patriarch sprites
                           -magic scroll sprite

                          CutManMike (wrw.wad) for the Vile Orb concept

                          Cobalt and Butcher (zbloodpak.rar @ http://cobalt-pit.de/)
                           for the mugshot graphics

                          Mikk for the custom blood system

                          Monolith, Psyren and DoorHenge for the custom teleportation effect

                          TerminusEst13 for sincere appreciation - however, I am not so allergic to (good) critique
                           as you wrote somewhere, dude! Only, I can't stand trolls...

All other authors I forgot to mention: please forgive me! I tried to be accurate as much as I could.
If you here notice some of your resources un-mentioned, please notify me and I will try to remedy.

===========================================================================

* What is included *

New levels              : None
Sounds                  : Yes
Music                   : No
Graphics                : Yes
Dehacked/BEX Patch      : No
Demos                   : No
Other                   : (G)ZDOOM-specific lumps
Other files required    : None



* Play Information *

Game                    : DOOM
Map #                   : None
Single Player           : Designed for
Cooperative 2-4 Player  : Maybe (untested)
Deathmatch 2-4 Player   : Maybe (untested)
Other game styles       : None
Difficulty Settings     : N/A



* Construction *

Base                    : New from scratch
Build Time              : 3 months
Editor(s) used          : Adobe Photoshop, GoldWave Audio Editor, Notepad, XWE
Known Bugs              : Widescreen modes are not supported. Sorry.
May Not Run With...     : Ports not supporting DECORATE; level WADs with heavy amounts of DEHACKED / DECORATE modifications



* Copyright / Permissions *

Authors MAY use the contents of this file as a base for modification or
reuse.  Permissions have been obtained from original authors for any of
their resources modified or included in this file.

You MAY distribute this file, provided you include this text file, with no
modifications.  You may distribute this file in any electronic format (BBS,
Diskette, CD, etc) as long as you include this file intact.  I have
received permission from the original authors of any modified or included
content in this file to allow further distribution.



* Where to get the file that this text file describes *

The Usual: ftp://archives.3dgamers.com/pub/idgames/ and mirrors
Web sites: None others than the IDGames archive
FTP sites: None others than the IDGames archive