[BETA] MMDoom: Might & Magic monster replacer for GZDoom v.0.8

[Mercs]

==== Description: ====

MMDoom is a GZDoom monster replacer project porting Might & Magic monsters into GZDoom. Features include:
- 60 monsters separated into three factions according to M&M lore and specifically HoMM3 city lineups
- monsters are created using sprites and sounds from Might & Magic VI-VIII and Heroes 3 games
- compatibility with most WADs and gameplay mods for Doom, recommendations below
- monsters infight based on what "species" they belong to, with each faction having three
- Elements system: each monster is assigned an element determining its resistances and weaknesses
- Water > Fire; Fire > Earth; Earth > Air; Air > Water
- DamNums mod by Xaser included: your damage is shown in colored mumbers representing the elements

==== Factions: ====

These options are present in the menu:
1. Random Faction (default) - random faction is chosen each time the map loads
2. Dark - an army of Necropolis, Dungeon and Inferno units
3. Order - an army of Castle, Tower and Rampart units
4. Chaos - an army of Fortress, Stronghold and Cove units
5. All Monsters - all monsters are mixed together

==== Download: ====

MediaFire: https://www.mediafire.com/file/g8o9hiau ... 08.7z/file

Installation: There are several ways to install Doom mods, I prefer to create a shortcut for every mod combination.
Install GZDoom and create a shortcut for gzdoom.exe. In it's Object, add every mod name in load order so it looks smth like this:
C:\...\gzdoom.exe -file Avactor.wad nashgore.pk3 Walpurgis.pk3 MMDoom.pk3 MMdamnums.pk3

Files included in archive:
- MMDoom.pk3 - main file
- MMDamNums.pk3 - Xaser's DamNums mod in included w/ a LANGUAGE file for MMDoom
- MMDamNums_WoC.pk3 - use this instead of previous file if you play w/ Wrath of Cronos mod

I recommend turning the Bloom ON in GZDoom postprocessing settings, makes projectiles look pretty.

==== Video: ====



==== Monsters & Elements: ====



==== Future plans: ====

- development will continue, this is my first GZDoom mod, there is much to learn and a lot to do, I would appreciate your feedback!
- I want to do additional UI FX for elements, auras, Heretic/Hexen/certain WADs support, more spells/projectiles, death/pain vfx, etc.
- I like the idea of making level(s) using Might & Magic textures and props, or even a gameplay mod
- but will only attempt that if I get smb to help on the project, everything goes (spriting/scripting/mapping)

==== Thanks: ====

- New World Computing for Might & Magic and Heroes series
- GZDoom, it's devs and community for being so awesome
- Zan, author of Hedon, which heavily inspired me to turn my attention to GZDoom
- AlpacaNox, author of "MM7 in Doom" proof-of-concept project that served as a starting point for MMDoom
- EHARPER256, author of Walpurgis, the mod I personally play with MMDoom most of the time and which provided inspiration for some of the monster abilities
- Agent_Ash aka Jekyll Grim, a helper on GZDoom discord and author of ZScript guide, who answered all of my endless questions about ZScript

==== Important: ====

All sprites and sounds used are imported from Might & Magic games and are such the property of Ubisoft, all rights reserved.
To see where they came from, check out the awesome Might & Magic VI-VIII games, best presented via the Merge mod that links all three game worlds.
I will never request any kind of payment or donation for MMDoom in any form, it is completely free for anyone.

==== Recommended Mods: ====

Spoiler

Essentials:
DamNums - mandatory. allows to see damage numbers. MMDoom is designed to be played w/ DamNums, it is very important for the player to learn to use elements. Version with all the MM related changes is included in the archive. Credits for the mod itself go to Xaser, it's author.
NashGore - essential. blood & gore mod that is highly customizable. Alternative is Droplets (pretty and fits MM style very well imo), but I encountered serious performance bugs w/ it. Use it even if u don't like gore, turn the gore amount in settings down a lot instead.
Warning: make sure Flip Corpses is OFF.
Corruption Cards - optional. Every time a map starts you have to pick a card giving certain monster family an affix or changing some other aspect of gameplay. Cards are varied and well implemented, good for reruns / extra challenge / randomization. Great for long playthroughs of Wrath of Cronos when your char becomes so powerful you can literally melt hordes with ease.
Note: there are only 9 monster "species" in MMDoom, any card that affects "monster and it's species" will affect the whole family (i.e. "all Rampart monsters")

Gameplay Mods:
Walpurgis - FPS mod. progression: weapon upgrades, gathering superweapon parts. a highly advanced Hexen class mod, with arguably best weapon feel and stellar spritework. classes: Myrmidon, Cleric, Magister, Druid
Wrath of Cronos LITE - RPG mod. progression: stats, skills, paths. for those who are interested to build characters by pumping numbers. classes: Fighter, Cleric, Mage, Hunter, Necromancer, Assassin
Warning: disable overhead hp bars for monsters integrated in WoC, it can cause serious performance issues when a lot of monsters are activated on a map. Use WoC patch file for MMDoom: MMDamNums_WoC.pk3, load it after both WoC and MMDoom.
Heretical Doom (untested) - FPS mod. progression: picking up items gives experience and unlocks weapon abilities. you play as Corvus utilizing powerful spells like Fly and Tomes of Power putting your every ability into overdrive.
Schism - FPS mod. no progression system. an addon for Brutal Doom that makes two polished fantasy classes available, Paladin and Sorcerer. combines magic and melee with guns.

WADs:
Eviternity - 32 maps split into six episodes including everything from techbases to Hell and even Heaven. One of those "blockbuster" maps everyone should play.
Elementalism - 15 maps split in three episodes taking place on three elemental planes: Earth, Water and Fire. Latest "blockbuster" WAD showcasing stunning art and technology. I recommend picking one faction per Plane: Chaos for Earth, Order for Water and Dark for Fire.
Lost Civilization - 22 maps full of open spaces, lush greenery, old mansions and castles, plus an occasional nightmare trip. some modern machinery and electronics exist on levels but they are not disruptive especially given the nature of M&M lore.
Ancient Aliens - 32 maps featuring stunning levels ranging from pyramids to literal skies. following best Might & Magic tradition, this WAD has a sci-fi twist.
Avactor (recommended!), ElysianCurse, TangerineNightmare, Epic2, Sunlust, AzureShades, WaterSpirit, MorbidAutumn, VerdantCitadel, Scythe2 and many others...

[Abigail II]

Incredible mod, grew up with HoMM + MM and so happy their beautiful sprites can be kept alive in ZDoom!

I know it is still a WIP, but is it possible I can make a patch for the monsters to work with https://www.moddb.com/mods/shadowcaster ... or-heretic ?

I think it would be a great combination, as that mod already has a roster of fantasy creatures from other games.

Thanks, keep it up!

[Mercs]

I do not mind, after release. Finished with last monster sprites and their basic decorate last week, currently doing design tables to make sure I get it somewhat balanced and varied, give monster different projectiles and etc.

Hopefully, won't have to wait too long, but it became evident to me elemental system I introduced doesn't really work well unless player get enough feedback, so extra time may be required for me to understand how DamNums mod works and introduce it's modified version into my mod... Version of DamNums that is in WoC will have to be disabled in menu, it doesn't work anyway, somehow coded in a way it takes the size of sprites before scales are applied to them, and sprites in MM are several times bigger than in Doom, so all numbers spawn very high up in the air lol, or even out of bounds.

That said, I did the whole elemental system via inheritance, and I see there is a lot of inheritance going in that mod as is, so, if you just add new monsters into randomspawners in that mod, you'll end up with a situation where only MM monsters react differently to elements, while all DND/etc monsters are all considered "Neutral" element unless you manually copy contents of each "element" actor into each DND/etc monster you want in that randomizer mod. It's just a long list of DamageFactor lines, nothing fancy. And it will still work even if you don't bother with elements at all.

I haven't really though about supporting other monster mods tbh, only about supporting gameplay ones like WoC. That said, I recently got some cool advice on how to do elemental system via zscript instead, it will remove inheritance and will allow you to add elements to monsters in that mod with less effort. But I will only bother with redoing it after release, maybe. Don't see much reason to tbh.

[Mercs]

Hopefully, not long now.
Skipped full two months after feb24, but currently am back on track.
Monster polish is the only big task left before beta release. But there is sure a lot of it! And an additional pipeline of things to do after beta release.
All 60 monsters are done and I've formulated an approach to balancing. Design tables are pretty big and there is lots of them, I actually didn't anticipate design taking that long.
Will try to bring some spells/spell animations from both HoMM3 (like Haste, Fire Shield, Bloodlust, etc) and MM6-8 into GZDoom to make the mod even closer to making Doom an RPG while also being compatible with most gameplay mods too! So whether you want to shoot Medusas and Archangels with guns or slice them with swords while levelling your Strength stat, I've got you covered.
Monsters already react to elemental weapons and can infight if they are from different "cities", now I want to teach them to cast buffs on each other. I am also paying attention to their AI and trying to make their agressiveness levels and general behavior a bit more varied.

[Mercs]

[Mercs]

beta released, first post updated

[Mercs]

I could really use everyone's feedback/criticism/ideas.

How well do the new monsters fill in the slots of doom monsters? Have you stumbled into any softlocks because of their abilities (like Medusa gaze, I think I'll nerf it later). Do the projectiles look OK? I believe they can use some variety, and I still have some attacks in mind (meteor shower, thunder clap, ice blast, etc), could use your ideas.

Same goes for spells. Currently there are only few - Heal, Haste, Heroism/Bloodlust. There will be more: Shield, Stone Skin, Protection from [element], Mass Camouflage, maybe some "aura" abilities, etc, etc. Also will try to make more obvious when unit is casting or is being buffed. Could use some ideas here as well.

What about elements system? Is it possible for you to learn which elements work better agains certain monsters? Did the resistances ever cause much problem, maybe on specific maps of some megawads? I want to also make it more obvious which element the enemy is, either via some kind of crit VFX/SFX or maybe some kind of UI.

I am also thinking about bringing the "Morale" and "Luck" systems from HoMM3 to MMDoom as well. And while "Luck" would technically be just a "crit attack" (will probably go beyond just increasing damage, since it's boring, maybe stuff like "Magog normally throws Firebolt, but if Luck happens, he throws Fireball", etc), "Morale" seems to be a design challenge, not really sure what kind of effect should it have. Again, would appreciate your ideas.

I will continue working on the mod in August.

PS. 280 downloads rn :3

[Blake]

oh my god.. this is crazy.. I'm the creator of Star Trek Doom and Quest for Glory 4 3D Hexen for GZDoom that made it to some of the major news sites a few years back. While I haven't done any Doom editing in years I literally kid you not started thinking about how if I ever do return to GZDoom modding one day then it would be a cool idea to do a mod with imported M&M7 units (as that arguably had the most HoMM3 like lineup).. and now only a couple of weeks later I accidentally stumble on this thread and see that another guy probably on the other side of the world just happened to have the same idea and made it a reality. Amazing!!! Well done sir! At least now I don't have to bloody do all that work hahahahaha!

Although I also had the idea of making a map where each of the 8 or I guess 9 HoMM3 factions castle screens have been rebuilt in 3D in the GZDoom engine. You pick a hero class starting character thats affiliated with one of the factions and you start in their castle and it's units are all allied with you (eg you start as a knight and you in a human castle with archers on the battlements with crusaders around you and archangles in the sky etc) and you venture out of the castle to find all sorts of nasty things out there as the other factions spew their units out of their castles.. if you get overloaded then you retreat to yours and your armies will back you up. You win when only your faction remains heh. Would be cool to see and play but.. oh man.. the work.. and god knows if I ever would have got to it as I've probably still got years of Civ modding ahead of me!

[Mercs]

Thank you so much for kind words! I'm currently going through a period of hiatus having moved to another country (since "my side of the world" is going through tough times rn), but I would like to get back into it one day, properly finish the monsters (there are some bugs, inconsistencies and unfinished designs) and possibly expand into maps/character classes territory. I envision a final product reminding Hedon - so a shooter game with some progression, pacing, worldbuilding and atmosphere involved, but mostly assembled out of Might & Magic parts.

And yeah, that "Heroes towns in 3D" idea is definitely something I fancy, though with GZDoom engine it will take some elbow grease to prevent FPS dropping to zero because of how open areas are handled.

Anyway, if you ever get tired of Civ and want to participate, I would be honored to work with you.

[Blake]

No worries mate, I wish you luck with the project and in RL! Who knows if I'll ever get back into GZDoom modding and can help but ether way I'll be following your work from now on mate!

Hedon looks cool, there seems to be a real rise in retro pixelated shooters with modern lighting these days which is awesome.

Yes that's a good point, 9 HoMM3 castles on a map with armies in each would probably not be practical (as fun as it would be) in the GZDoom engine hehe. Maybe just one castle as a hostile forest and world around it full of creatures. Fun to think about!