Hell-Forged Episode I - v1.11 Released

[Scuba Steve]

Now we wait 10 years for the release of Ep3 and the inevitible remaster of Ep1+2!!

[Amuscaria]

1-year Necromancy! updated to v1.11 that fixes some map-breaking bugs. Read opening post for details and download. I'm currently mired deep into episode 2 development so the first episode will likely not be touched again unless some major issues are found. Check out the development of the 2nd episode from the opening post links.

[Unregret]

Hello, may I ask if you can release weapon-pack version only? I want to play this mod with other Quake-style maps too.

[Amuscaria]

On 1/25/2023 at 8:30 AM, Unregret said:

Hello, may I ask if you can release weapon-pack version only? I want to play this mod with other Quake-style maps too.

I currently have no plans on making a weapons-only mod. Maybe after the mod is completed. The closest thing would be Xaser's EriGuns 2 mod he released some time ago.

[Hitman]

"Hell-Forged" Arsenal/Guns/Weapon Set Mod Showcase in Doom (Made by "Amuscaria")

 

 

[Amuscaria]

Vorpal Blade wave doesn't seem to reflect correctly in a mirror.

[Dimon12321]

Alright. So, thank you for sharing Hell-Forged resources, due to which I discovered the main game. My feedback will be short since I stopped playing it in the middle of E1M5 because of overtiming at my work (for this reason I previously didn't manage to finish Ashes 2063), so I decided to write something while my memory on Hell-Forged is still fresh.

I often stick with original Doom wads (Vanilla or Boom formats), so my complaints will be respectful.

 

Weapon pack is creative. Like in any partial conversation, it makes you reimagine Doom's combat patterns how many shots with which weapon are required to kill which monster, and here it was easy and self-explanatory.

Unfortunately, the pistol role is still present here and it belongs to the demon heart weapon (DHW). I found it weak by both damage and health refilling. When I got the rocket launcher replacement, I never used DHW again.

 

Map design is appealing and unusual. Textures look cool, decorations placed right, monster balance is at a right degree and the soundtrack is picked right.

It's difficult to judge how well the maps are supplied, since I was having a continuous play with saves, but judging by the fact I was often low on ammo at the end of most maps, running around looking for secrets, I can assume, secrets are very important for pistol starts.

 

Because I didn't find any description on mushrooms, I made an assumption this would be a spoiler, which made me prioritise the secrets search. 

I found secrets complicated. All maps beyond E1M1 made me run around for 30+ minutes to look for secrets before I give up. At first, I thought it would follow the original Doom ideas, however it doesn't follow usual patterns. By the end of my walkthrough I still couldn't understand which walls or notches could be activated, so in most cases I was checking the map in every room hoping to see some unpegged sectors which might be secrets. I didn't reveal a single grid secret. A gap in the pool which leads to the green key was discovered through IDCLIP by accident. 

The darkness in E1M9 was annoying. Together with Sherlock-Holmes-style of secret observation, that was the first time I had to abuse IDBEHOLD to get night-vision.
 

Overall, it's a good peculiar mod which changes the style of walkthrough, yet retains the spirit of Doom. I hope I won't miss Episode 2 release.

 

 

Edited October 8, 2023 by Dimon12321

[Amuscaria]

3 hours ago, Dimon12321 said:

Alright. So, thank you for sharing Hell-Forged resources, due to which I discovered the main game. My feedback will be short since I stopped playing it in the middle of E1M5 because of overtiming at my work (for this reason I previously didn't manage to finish Ashes 2063), so I decided to write something while my memory on Hell-Forged is still fresh.

I often stick with original Doom wads (Vanilla or Boom formats), so my complaints will be respectful.

 

Weapon pack is creative. Like in any partial conversation, it makes you reimagine Doom's combat patterns how many shots with which weapon are required to kill which monster, and here it was easy and self-explanatory.

Unfortunately, the pistol role is still present here and it belongs to the demon heart weapon (DHW). I found it weak by both damage and health refilling. When I got the rocket launcher replacement, I never used DHW again.

 

Map design is appealing and unusual. Textures look cool, decorations placed right, monster balance is at a right degree and the soundtrack is picked right.

It's difficult to judge how well the maps are supplied, since I was having a continuous play with saves, but judging by the fact I was often low on ammo at the end of most maps, running around looking for secrets, I can assume, secrets are very important for pistol starts.

 

Because I didn't any description on mushrooms, I made an assumption this would be a spoiler, which made me prioritise the secrets search. 

I found secrets complicated. All maps beyond E1M1 made me run around for 30+ minutes to look for secrets before I give up. At first, I thought it would follow the original Doom ideas, however it doesn't follow usual patterns. By the end of my walkthrough I still couldn't understand which walls or notches could be activated, so in most cases I was checking the map in every room hoping to see some unpegged sectors which might be secrets. I didn't reveal a single grid secret. A gap in the pool which leads to the green key was discovered through IDCLIP by accident. 

The darkness in E1M9 was annoying. Together with Sherlock-Holmes-style of secret observation, that was the first time I had to abuse IDBEHOLD to get night-vision.
 

Overall, it's a good peculiar mod which changes the style of walkthrough, yet retains the spirit of Doom. I hope I won't miss Episode 2 release.

 

 

 

Thank you for taking the time to play and review! :D

 

There are some patterns to the secrets, although maybe not as obvious as the original Doom. The rust face switches are never used as normal switches, and only used for secrets (usually as a shootable switch), and always the one that doesn't look like the others around it. The Green key is usually marked by a Skull Rust Switch texture between the Blue and Yellow areas of the map (Skull, blue+yellow makes green :P), with exception to the second map there there is no yellow area, or in secret dark map where there is also no yellow area. On some maps its more obvious then others. The other secrets follow the usual Doom tropes, off color textures, secret switch behind a normal switch, indented walls, etc. Although the darkness on some maps may make it hard for to spot them. There is also the shootable eye switches, that you can only hit with the hitscan weapon, at the end of a very narrow hole in the wall.

 

Secrets are important, but most of the ammo are not hidden in secrets, you just need to explore a bit. A lot of them are hidden on top of crates you have to jump up to, or just around some corner. Also the charging up of the Vorpal blade and using its alt fire will clear large groups of monsters, saving tons of ammo. Pinkies are there not to be shot, but as Vorpal Blade chargers.

 

As for the Wheel of Pain (the demon heart weapon), its stronger than the Immolator, it does full splash damage on impact to anything near the primary target, it regens health, and the alternate fire replenishes your blood ammo (I hope you've made use of the alternate fire modes for all the weapons). Its range is shorter for balance reasons. Since the weapon always gibs, it will be more useful in Episode 2 with the self-reviving undead monsters where gibbing prevents self-revives.

 

The Mushrooms are part of the secrets. Getting all of them will unlock the super-secret Shark Level after you beat the final boss. Each normal map has 1 mushroom, for a total of 9. :)

[Chameeleoh]

Late to the party here but have to say, this is an absolute masterpiece! Ive been wanting to take some maps from college i had and turn them into doom castles myself XD maybe someday theyll look as cool as this ^_^