HacX: Twitch 'n Kill - Now Standalone on DOS!

This package of Banjo Software's HacX: Twitch 'n Kill is designed to be a completely standalone game for DOS. All tools found when playing the game as a PWAD are still available, now edited specifically for configuring and launching DHACX.EXE. 

What's included:

• Files extracted from the original CD installation (some were modified for this standalone version)
  • HACX.EXE: The launcher from the original release; can launch single and multiplayer modes
    • Uses HACX.BIN and HACX.DAT
  • DHSERSET.EXE: A hex edited version of SERSETUP.EXE, designed to launch DHACX.EXE.
  • Various Documentation TXTs.
• DHACX.EXE: a hacked DOOM2.EXE designed to run HACX.WAD on its own.
  • Dehacked patch from IWAD applied.
  • Also hex-edited to include HacX's custom quit messages found in the IWAD's LANGUAGE lump.
• HACX.WAD: HacX: Twitch 'n Kill v1.2 IWAD, unmodified.
• DHIPXSET.EXE: Like DHSERSET.EXE, but for IPX networking. There wasn't one included in the disc version, so I made my own.
• HM.EXE: DeathManager v1.5, edited to read and write from HM.DAT and HM.CFG respectively (compatible with the aforementioned launcher).
• SETUP.EXE: A hex-edited version of Chex Quest's Setup EXE with a simple name change on the title bar.
• DEHACKED.EXE: Just regular old DeHackEd 3.1, with an INI file to specify the new EXE and WAD names.
• NOVERT.COM: Always a useful tool to have, disables vertical mouse movement. The batch menu that DOSBox uses is configured to run it automatically.
• DOSBox Staging v0.77.1 (32-bit) included for convenient play with a batch menu with shortcuts, akin to GOG's DOS game installations.
  • Use LAUNCH.BAT to run, or just run the EXE if you need to do everything manually.

Installation (DOSBox) 

1. Extract the ZIP where you want.
2. Inside the HACX directory, run LAUNCH.BAT and enjoy!

Installation (DOS/Win9x)

1. Extract the ZIP where you want.
2. Delete the .BAT and .CONF files, as well as the DOSBox folder. You won't need those since you can run everything natively on DOS and Win9x.
3. Run HACX.EXE and enjoy!

Download:

Google Drive

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Alright, gave this a try. Who can tell what's wrong with this image?

On a somewhat related note, recently I came across this project, which is based on the HacX 1.0 CD release -- which I believe is the better version compared to the freeware 1.1, upon which the stand-alone version 1.2 is based.

8 minutes ago, MrFlibble said:

Alright, gave this a try. Who can tell what's wrong with this image?

On a somewhat related note, recently I came across this project, which is based on the HacX 1.0 CD release -- which I believe is the better version compared to the freeware 1.1, upon which the stand-alone version 1.2 is based.

I.... Can't say I know what's wrong. Maybe I just don't play HacX enough.

Hint hint

1 minute ago, MrFlibble said:

Hint hint

Huh.... Well any suggestions on how to fix this?

The 1.2 IWAD is based on the Freed∞m IWAD, while the colourisation of the screen during invulnerability mode was moved to ZDoom-specific DECORATE scripts (IIRC), whereas the original palette lump for this mode remains the same as in Freed∞m (as shown on the first image). You need to extract the correct lump with shades of blue from the original HACX IWAD (any version will do) and put it in the 1.2 IWAD.

23 minutes ago, MrFlibble said:

The 1.2 IWAD is based on the Freed∞m IWAD, while the colourisation of the screen during invulnerability mode was moved to ZDoom-specific DECORATE scripts (IIRC), whereas the original palette lump for this mode remains the same as in Freed∞m (as shown on the first image). You need to extract the correct lump with shades of blue from the original HACX IWAD (any version will do) and put it in the 1.2 IWAD.

So this is mostly a 1.2-specific issue, then... Does that improved edition IWAD fix it?

EDIT: So I tried out loading the improved edition PWAD with 1.2, and it seems to work fine. I think that can be available as an option for people, as you're able to go to the command line and load it manually as well.

5 hours ago, MrFlibble said:

On a somewhat related note, recently I came across this project, which is based on the HacX 1.0 CD release -- which I believe is the better version compared to the freeware 1.1, upon which the stand-alone version 1.2 is based.

Oh, nice to see someone else did that.  When I got my hands on Hacx 1.0 from Nostromo I did merge the 1.0 map changes into 1.2 (so that the multiplayer fixes were preserved) but @Xaser never got around to actually doing the 1.3 release (along with other fixes some of which I see mentioned in that thread).  It looks like MAGNETIC went a little further in depth, although I can't tell if he just reverted the maps or if he fixed the refixed the multiplayer bugs over 1.0.  But it would be really cool to get something released officially.

I have the WIP 1.3 version and a small to-do list stashed around here somewhere -- been busy with a lot of other stuff and there hasn't been any interest in anything Hacx-related until like the last 6 months or something -- it came out of nowhere and I haven't had time to look at things just yet.

JIC, I vaguely remember that sometime after the 1.2 IWAD release, Freed∞m updated its sound banks, which IIRC affects the quality of OPL music. I suppose it would be nice to update those as well for HacX, if this hasn't been done yet that is.

BTW, @OpenRift, there's another, probably relatively minor issue with your pack: I wanted to use Gravis Ultrasound in DOSBox, but although I was able to select GUS as the sound/music device in the setup programme, the game could not use it because the respective lumps are apparently absent from the IWAD. I suppose it should be possible to get those from Freed∞m as well.

On 2/10/2022 at 12:41 PM, MrFlibble said:

JIC, I vaguely remember that sometime after the 1.2 IWAD release, Freed∞m updated its sound banks, which IIRC affects the quality of OPL music. I suppose it would be nice to update those as well for HacX, if this hasn't been done yet that is.

Recently I returned to this question and extracted the GENMIDI lump from the HacX 1.2 IWAD, but it appears to be different from any GENMIDI versions I could find in the various Freed∞m releases, from 0.6 to the present state. Conversely, the stand-alone IWADs of REKKR and Harmony use the same GENMIDI lump as the one found in Freed∞m versions 0.9 and above:

I wonder where the HacX one comes from (the original HacX from 1997 did not have its own GENMIDI lump, using the Doom II default one).

Since GENMIDI is very much on my mind lately I am intrigued to find another set of instruments for a Doom-based game.

The readme mentions @Xaser was among those responsible for the IWAD, maybe he can shed some light on the lump?

Not directly related to the conversation, here, but at one point I have made Tartar load the 1.1 version without Doom IWAD -

in fact autoload it in place of the IWAD if it's found. This required also providing a PLAYPAL (any mod like PAL_PLUS would do) and DEH-patch (which I plainly extracted with DeHackEd from the installed binary), and Tartar can actually autoload both, so you end up just starting the port without parameters.

I am not sure the game is fully playable this way, as I never tested further than loading arbitrary levels, but thought I mentioned it,

as this makes for a DOS stand-alone pack without any stuff from ID.

33 minutes ago, ludicrous_peridot said:

The readme mentions @Xaser was among those responsible for the IWAD, maybe he can shed some light on the lump?

I vaguely remember that when v1.2 came out, I read somewhere that the missing lumps needed to create the complete HacX IWAD were imported from Freed∞m, so I automatically assumed that GENMIDI would be coming from there as well. I can't find where I got that information right now, but it seemed logical to be the case.

Yup, Hacx 1.2's GENMIDI is from Freedoom back in the day, though modern Freedoom has since updated to use DMXOPL, which sounds way better. I'd definitely use it for a v1.3 or an unofficial update or whatnot, 'cause it's fantastic.

1 hour ago, Xaser said:

Hacx 1.2's GENMIDI is from Freedoom back in the day

Do you remember which version? I've extracted the GENMIDI lumps from versions 0.6.4 to 0.10, but they do not match.

1 hour ago, Xaser said:

though modern Freedoom has since updated to use DMXOPL, which sounds way better

I've not heard about this project before, this is pretty cool. Thanks for the info!

Unfortunately not -- it's been too long, the memory banks have since been scrubbed once or twice. :P

Apologies to @OpenRift for "abusing" the thread one more time, but since the topic of DMXOPL has been brought up here, may I inquire about one thing?

I am aware that for BTSX e2 a version of OPL banks by Sneakernets was used, which I assume is DMXOPL2 or DMXOPL3. Yet both on the linked DW page and on in current readme on github, the author mentions note drops in vanilla and that the set in primarily aimed at modern OPL emulators with multiple OPL chips. With that regard and BTSX e2 being a vanilla WAD, is there a "simplified" version of DMXOPL around that works just fine on cards with a single OPL3 chip?

33 minutes ago, ludicrous_peridot said:

Apologies to @OpenRift for "abusing" the thread one more time, but since the topic of DMXOPL has been brought up here, may I inquire about one thing?

I am aware that for BTSX e2 a version of OPL banks by Sneakernets was used, which I assume is DMXOPL2 or DMXOPL3. Yet both on the linked DW page and on in current readme on github, the author mentions note drops in vanilla and that the set in primarily aimed at modern OPL emulators with multiple OPL chips. With that regard and BTSX e2 being a vanilla WAD, is there a "simplified" version of DMXOPL around that works just fine on cards with a single OPL3 chip?

Look for "GENMIDI - Vanilla.op2" at https://github.com/sneakernets/DMXOPL, although it notes that you still want your DMXOPTION param set correctly

Thanks, @dasho.

Also getting back on track ;)