Shadowcaster

• Download Shadowcaster from Archive.Org
• http://www.doomworld.com/idgames/?file=levels/heretic/s-u/shadow.zip

Updated April 2011 with co-op fixes, a major fix in e5m7 and minor improvements.
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			 Shadowcaster - The Story so Far
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Another time, another world.

You are Banedon, one of a sentient race of heretical elves known as the Sidhe. 
Renowned throughout the kingdom of Durenor for feats of bravery and heroism,
you always get called up for quests of bravery and danger.  So, you are now
standing in the grand palace of King Rimoah, where he tells you of grave danger
that threatens these shores.

He tells you about the dark mage Tetrahagael, known as the Shadowcaster because
his presence casts a shadow over the island where he resides. That shadow could
soon be cast over the whole kingdom, because the King's mages of Durenor have
discovered that he is summoning evil monsters through some kind of portal to
another world, and is preparing an invasion force made up of these monsters!

No time to lose, then.  Your quest is to journey to the island of Fagranc, where
the Shadowcaster resides, destroy him and the portal.  Not an easy task, even
by your standards, but you do have some help.  The King's mages have prepared
a boat imbued with a spell that will allow you to sneak onto the island without
being detected by the dark magic (but not when you disembark).  And also there 
are many magical weapons and artefacts on the island that possess the power to 
destroy him and his evil summonings.

The next day, you grab your staff and elvenwand, and set sail for the island.
As you approach, you can feel the presence of evil all around the place, it
seems that the whole island could be infested with monsters.  You notice a
small village, located on the far side of the island, away from the tower where
the dark mage resides.

You head towards the village, hoping it is unoccupied but ready just in case....

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Title                   : Shadowcaster

Filename                : SHADOW.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

			  Quake 2 skys (Q2SKY*.WAD where * is 1-8)

Completion Date         : 30th May 2002

Misc. Author Info       : A hardcore DooMer who loves all it's similar
			  games (esp. Quake 2 and Half-Life) but still
			  thinks DooM is best.  Has decided to try his
			  hand at making Heretic levels.

Description             : A 21st century Heretic episode covering many styles
			  of level, both traditional and unusual as well.
			  Having achieved everything I wanted to in DooM 2,
			  I have decided to move on to Heretic 'cos it's just
			  as easy to make levels for it as it is for DooM.
			  (although I will return to DooM afterwards)
			  It's also a great game and I thought of some great
			  ideas, many using Heretic's special features.

			  If you love puzzles, then prepare to be tested, because
			  there are a wide variety of fiendish puzzles in this wad,
			  covering all of Heretic's features, from the regular 
			  to the weird and wonderful!

			  Tests of skill also feature in this wad, again covering
			  a wide range of Heretic's features.

			  For those of you who like secrets, there are at least
			  5 in each level. (quite often more than that....)
			  And, once again, you'll be pleased to know that the
			  secret level is VERY well hidden.....
		
			  And you'll be even more pleased to know that I have
			  made an effort with the lighting this time! (even
			  though the lack of texture/flat based lighting makes
			  it a bit harder to do in Heretic, as there is only
			  thing based lighting, which should all oscillate)

			  In short, prepare to be challenged, in more ways than one!

Additional Credits To:    Err...no-one really, as I didn't use anyone else's 
			  graphics this time. (only Hexen ones and my own)

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*Playing Instructions*

This zip should contain the following files:

  SHADOW.WAD - The episode.
  SHADOW.HHE - HereHackEd patch - contains new game text & red key data.
	       (not needed in ZDoom)
 SC-LOAD.BAT - Batch file for loading the patch into a copy of heretic.exe
     HHE.EXE - HereHackEd, the program that loads the patch.
     HHE.INI - Contains HereHackEd setup detail (assuming c:\heretic is where your 
	       Heretic files are - if not then edit the .ini file to enter the correct location)
   DEUSF.EXE - Prepares the new sprites for use with plain Heretic and then reverses
	       the process afterwards.  (not needed in ZDoom)
 SC-PLAY.BAT - Batch file for playing the episode with heretic.exe.
  SHADOW.BAT - Batch file for playing the episode with ZDoom. (for other ports edit accordingly)
  SHADOW.TXT - This file.

To play :  Click on sc-load.bat (you only have to do this once)
	    then on sc-play.bat  (to play the episode)

For source ports, click on shadow.bat (after editing it for ports other than ZDoom)

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* Play Information *

Game Version Required  : Heretic (Shadow of the Serpent Riders)
			 or ZDoom (version 2.0 beta 47 or 47i only - 
			 (newer versions will not work due to ZDoom's 
			 language lump not being future-proof)

Episode and Level #    : E5M1-E5M9  (to avoid the intermission map)

Single Player          : Yes   (Built for it!)

Cooperative 2 Player   : Yes   (it's no different from single player
				- however the maps are co-op friendly)

Deathmatch             : No    (Levels are too big and complex)

Difficulty Settings    : Yes   (nice new titles, too)

New Sounds             : Yes - A new 'ooff' and a new 'scream'.

New Sprites	       : Yes - A red key and orb.

New Graphics           : Yes - lots, including my alphabet texture.
			       (with the green Heretic letters)

New Game Text	       : Yes - Episode and automap names, victory text and some others.
			       (plain Heretic uses the .hhe patch, ZDoom uses special data 
				lumps imbedded in the wad - plain Heretic ignores these lumps)

New Music              : Yes - I have included the original Heretic-style
			       tune (E2M6 from DooM) and rearranged the original
			       tunes for those who like to use them.

			       Personally, I recommend using your stereo! 
			       (with some fast-paced dance or metal tracks)

Demos Replaced         : None
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* Construction *

Base                   : My creative mind (And lots of inspiration from a wide
			 		   variety of sources)

Editor(s) used         : WadAuthor, WinTex, HereHackEd, NewWadTool, Stringlist, Paint, PSP.

Build Time	       : 5 months

Known Bugs             : Firemaces do not appear sometimes (a Heretic feature).
			 This affects ZDoom more than plain Heretic, where they 
(plain Heretic)		 should appear every time.  All of the firemace spots have 
(and ZDoom)		 a 'mace' sign in front of them, so if you see a 'mace' sign 
			 without a firemace behind it, bring down the console and 
			 type "summon mace" (ZDoom only).  The only mace not marked 
			 in this way is the one in the boss arena in E5M8.


		       : The first 7 letters of each level title don't appear
			 on the intermission screen (I needed all the title
(plain Heretic only)	 space, including the e5m*: bit, which doesn't show
(not in ZDoom)		 on the intermission screen).  They still appear on
			 the automap, though.

		       : Minor HOM at the start of levels 1 and 6, and in level 8
			 there is an ugly line at the bottom of the sky when you
			 leave the ground in the outdoor area (it can't be helped)

		       : Savegame buffer problems in the following areas: 

			 E5M3 - Entire level (unlikely but possible)
			 E5M4 - After you reach the gas pod area (likely)
			 E5M5 - After the red key (only if you destroy the pods)
			 E5M8 - Boss arena.  (unlikely but possible if there are lots
				of projectiles on the screen)

		       : In co-op mode, the levels have a few extra things, which 
			 may or may not cause savegame buffer trouble in plain Heretic.
			 (most maps have only a few extra things, but E5M8 has a ton of 
			  extra ammo, health and items in the boss arena)

		       : Large numbers of gas pods closely packed together can have
			 weird effects, but these don't last forever.

		       : When a manikin is hit,  the health loss does not show up on
			 the status bar.  When you next pick up some health, the 
			 health counter rights itself.

			 In ZDoom, the health loss shows up on the status bar, but 
			 not if you have just the green health counter showing.  
			 You will have to shrink the screen or look at the automap 
			 to see the actual health loss. When you next pick up some
			 health, the green counter rights itself.

(ZDoom only)	       : Some parts of the game will not render correctly with
(not in plain Heretic)	 ZDoomGL due to the absence of GL nodes.
			 Users of ZDoomGL will need to build GL nodes for all
			 the maps before playing it.

Will Not Run With      : Any source port other than ZDoom.

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Manikins	       : These are life-sized statues of yourself, and are 
			 present throughout Shadowcaster.
			 When a manikin is hit (by a projectile, explosion or
			 a shot from your own weapons), you take the damage! 
			 So be very careful whenever you see one!  
			 (unless you cheat or use a ring)

			 If you are killed by a hit on a manikin, but the manikin
			 itself doesn't die, then you won't die, but your weapon
			 will disappear and you won't be able to fire or cheat!

			 The same thing works in reverse.  If a nearly-dead manikin
			 takes a hit that kills it, then you will die also, regardless
			 of the amount of health you have.
			 (they start with 100% health and their armour matches yours
			  but this only applies in plain Heretic - in ZDoom they 
			  can take as many hits as you want)

			 Of course you can move them around by hitting them, but just
			 remember that you can only hit them so many times....

			 By the way, if you fire an egg at a manikin, you will turn into
			 a chicken.....so be careful when using eggs in their presence.
			 (the chicken effect will last for 40 seconds and using a tome 
			  will cure the effect instantly!)

Manikins in Co-op      : Player 2 manikins are placed next to player 1 manikins as far 
			 as possible, but most manikin-based puzzles use player 1 manikins 
			 only.  Any other effects are unknown, since co-op is untested.
			 (apart from the co-op friendly features testable in single player)

Other Important Notes  : Some items/powerups are needed to solve puzzles, so don't 
			 go using/destroying them unnecessarily! (this includes gas pods)
			 Shadowspheres, tomes and timebombs are not used in puzzles.

			 Don't worry, the required items will be provided in levels 
			 containing puzzles, but you will have to find them....
			 (they won't be hidden in secrets, though).

			 Extra puzzle items for each puzzle are present in co-op mode.

			 And finally, if you do get stuck somewhere, then remember
			 that it is not impossible, the puzzles are not of the same
			 nature as those in DooM (ie. lots of doors and switches) 
			 they utilise Heretic's special features and items that 
			 DooM doesn't have. (there are doors and switches also, but
			 nothing over the top. E5M6 is the worst it gets.)

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* Copyright / Permissions *
  
Authors may NOT use any of these levels as a base for modification or re-use.
Be inspired by them, but don't copy them.

You MAY use the resources in your own wads as long as you credit the appropriate 
author(s). The following resources were made by me: titlepic, end pic, alphabet, 
vine textures, red key & accompanying graphics.

You may distribute this wad as long as you include this text file and the 
other files intact.

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* Where to get this WAD *

ftp://archives.gamers.org/pub/idgames/levels/heretic/s-u/ (and mirrors)

My DooM 2 wads are at:  /pub/idgames/levels/doom2/Ports/m-o/op-lite2.zip
		  and:    "     "      "      "     "  /megawads/fragport.zip

My Quake 2 skys are at: /pub/idgames/graphics/q2skys-1.zip and q2skys-2.zip

ZDoom is available at:   http://zdoom.org
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Remember, remember that DooM lives FOREVER!
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