[SUBMISSION] Spellcross 35 Monster Collection

Information: These Monsters require OPENGL to be used and require the option of "Adjust Spirit Clipping" set to never to visually appear correct. Hopefully Realm667 can help me solve this issue.
In addition, Monsters highlighted with "*" have additional rules to them, found in the README file attached.

All Monsters use this:
Brightmaps: No
Added States: No
ACS: None

Name: Orc
Difficulty: Very Easy
Connections: None
Summon: Orc
Melee: Yes - 3-30 Damage - Fast Attack Speed
Distance: No
Type: Orc, Weapon Wielder.

Name: Ka-Orc
Difficulty: Easy
Connections: None
Summon: KaOrc
Melee: Yes - 4-40 Damage - Slow Attack Speed
Distance: No
Type: Orc, Weapon Wielder.

Name: Magotar
Difficulty: Very Easy
Connections: None
Summon: MagotarGround
Melee: Yes - 2-28 Damage - Average Attack Speed - Small chance to attack twice in a row.
Distance: No
Type: Demon, Weapon Wielder.

Name: Magotar (Air)
Difficulty: Very Easy
Connections: Has a chance to spawn "Magotar" on non-extreme death.
Summon: MagotarAir
Melee: Yes - 2-28 Damage - Average Attack Speed - Small chance to attack twice in a row.
Distance: No
Type: Demon, Flyer, Weapon Wielder.

Name: Shadow Magotar
Difficulty: Very Easy
Connections: Same as "Magotar" but Fuzzy Rendered.
Summon: ShadowMagotarGround
Melee: Yes - 2-28 Damage - Average Attack Speed - Small chance to attack twice in a row.
Distance: No
Type: Demon, Weapon Wielder.

Name: ShadowMagotar (Air)
Difficulty: Very Easy
Connections: Same as "Magotar (Air)" but Fuzzy Rendered.
Summon: ShadowMagotarAir
Melee: Yes - 2-28 Damage - Average Attack Speed - Small chance to attack twice in a row.
Distance: No
Type: Demon, Flyer, Weapon Wielder.

Name: Dark Elf
Difficulty: Very Easy
Connections: None
Summon: DarkElf
Melee: No - But retreats from nearby targets if in Melee Range.
Distance: Yes - 6 Damage - Average Attack Speed - Projectile 1 shot - Very Fast Missile Speed
Type: Demon, Archer

Name: Arrow Thrower
Difficulty: Easy
Connections: None
Summon: ArrowThrower
Melee: No
Distance: Yes - 1 Damage - Fast Attack Speed - Projectile 9 shots - Very Fast Missile Speed
Type: Artillery, Wood

Name: Ballista
Difficulty: Easy
Connections: None
Summon: Ballista
Melee: No
Distance: Yes - 7 Damage - Fast Attack Speed - Projectile 1 shot - Fast Missile Speed
Type: Artillery, Metal

Name: Harpy
Difficulty: Easy
Connections: None
Summon: Harpy
Melee: Yes - 4-36 Damage - Average Attack Speed - Attacks Twice.
Distance: Partly - Affects the target with a 25% Damage Amplification effect for 6 seconds. Short Range.
Type: Demon, Flyer

Name: Undead
Difficulty: Easy
Connections: None
Summon: Undead
Melee: Yes - 3-18 Damage - Average Attack Speed
Distance: Partly - Affects the target with a 85% Movement Slow effect for 1.1 second. Very Short Range.
Type: Undead, Magical, Shield Wielder.

Name: Ka-Orc Kommander*
Difficulty: Medium
Connections: None
Summon: KaOrcKommander
Melee: Yes - 8-80 Damage - Fast Attack Speed
Distance: No
Type: Orc, Armoured, Weapon Wielder.

Name: Mri
Difficulty: Easy
Connections: None
Summon: Mri
Melee: No
Distance: Yes - 15 AoE Damage (80 radius) - Average Attack Speed - Hitscan 1 shot - Instant Speed, but delayed by 1/4 of a second.
Type: Demon, Magical, Chanter

Name: Golem
Difficulty: Easy
Connections: None
Summon: Golem
Melee: No
Distance: Yes - 4 Damage - Average Attack Speed - Projectile 1 shot - Fast Missile Speed - Will instantly attack again if the target is close.
Type: Stone, Magical

Name: Mechanical Tower
Difficulty: Easy
Connections: Spawns 1 "Orc" on death.
Summon: MechanicalTower
Melee: No
Distance: Yes - 3 Damage - Average Attack Speed - Projectile 1->3 shots - Average Missile Speed - Changes from 1 -> 3 shots depending on much health is lost.
Type: Metal, Wood, Machine

Name: Wizard
Difficulty: Medium
Connections: Monsters cannot infight with this Monster.
Summon: Wizard
Melee: No
Distance: Yes - 13 Damage - Average Attack Speed - Projectile 1 shot - Fast Missile Speed
Type: Mage, Magical.

Name: Ghost*
Difficulty: Medium
Connections: None.
Summon: SpellcrossGhost
Melee: Yes - 6-60 Damage - Fast Attack Speed
Distance: No.
Type: Ghost, Flyer.

Name: Balloon
Difficulty: Easy
Connections: None.
Summon: Balloon
Melee: No.
Distance: Yes - 6 Damage - Average Attack Speed - Projectile 1 shot - Average Missile Speed
Type: Zeppelin, Metal, Wood, Machine, Flyer.

Name: Nekromancer
Difficulty: Easy
Connections: Has a uncommon chance to summon "Undead" monster.
Summon: Nekromancer
Melee: No.
Distance: Yes - 1+ Damage - Average Attack Speed - Projectile 1 shot - Fast Missile Speed - Has the RIPPER effect.
Type: Undead, Magical.

Name: Hell Rider*
Difficulty: Medium
Connections: None.
Summon: HellRider
Melee: No.
Distance: Yes - 3 Damage - Fast Attack Speed - Projectile 2 shot - Fast Missile Speed.
Type: Demon, Animal Rider, Teleporter.

Name: War Orc
Difficulty: Easy
Connections: None.
Summon: WarOrc
Melee: No.
Distance: Yes - 1-5 Damage - Average Attack Speed - Hitscan 4 shots - Instant.
Type: Orc, Armoured, Gun Wielder.

Name: Anti-Tank Orc
Difficulty: Easy
Connections: None.
Summon: AntiTankOrc
Melee: No.
Distance: Yes - 4+ Damage - Average Attack Speed - Projectile 1 shot - Fast Missile Speed - Has the PIERCEARMOR effect.
Type: Orc, Armoured, Gun Wielder.

Name: Sonic Cannon
Difficulty: Easy
Connections: None.
Summon: SonicCannon
Melee: No.
Distance: Yes - 10 AoE Damage (214 radius) - Slow Attack Speed - Hitscan 1 shot - Instant Speed, but requires line of sight.
Type: Machine, Metal, Magical.

Name: Mechanical Mammoth
Difficulty: Medium
Connections: None.
Summon: MechanicalMammoth
Melee: No.
Distance: Yes - 30 AoE Damage (128 radius) - Average Attack Speed - Hitscan 1->3 (randomized) shots - Instant Speed, but delayed by 3/4 of a second.
Type: Machine, Metal, Magical.

Name: Kamikaze Bird*
Difficulty: Very Easy
Connections: None.
Summon: KamikazeBird
Melee: Partly - Instant suicide in Melee, dealing 40 AoE Damage (128 radius)
Distance: Partly - Activates "Lost Soul" Charge, chasing target faster until out of sight or blocked.
Type: Bird, Flyer, Suicidal.

Name: Conjurer
Difficulty: Easy
Connections: Has a common chance to summon "Kamikaze Bird" monster.
Summon: Conjurer
Melee: No.
Distance: Yes - 2 Damage + 10 AoE Damage (96 radius) - Average Attack Speed - Projectile 1 shot - Average Missile Speed
Type: Mage, Magical.

Name: Fortress of Terror
Difficulty: Hard
Connections: Spawns 1 "Anti-Tank Orc" on death.
Summon: FortressOfTerror
Melee: No.
Distance1: Yes - 30 Damage - Fast/Very Fast Attack Speed - Projectile 1 shot - Fast Missile Speed - Attacks Faster when weaker. Common Attack.
Distance2: Yes - 3 Damage - Fast/Very Fast Attack Speed - Projectile 16 shots - Fast Missile Speed - Attacks Faster when weaker. Uncommon Attack.
Type: Boss, Machine, Stone, Metal.

Name: Dragon*
Difficulty: Hard
Connections: None.
Summon: Dragon
Melee: No.
Distance: Yes - 15 Damage - Fast Attack Speed - Projectile 1 shot - Fast Missile Speed - Common Attack.
Type: Boss, Dragon, Flyer.

Name: Elven Master
Difficulty: Easy
Connections: None.
Summon: ElvenMaster
Melee: No - But retreats from nearby targets if in Melee Range.
Distance: Yes - 12 Damage - Average Attack Speed - Projectile 1 shot - Extremely Fast Missile Speed
Type: Demon, Archer

Name: Knight of Death*
Difficulty: Medium
Connections: None.
Summon: KnightOfDeath
Melee: No
Distance: Yes - 15 Damage - Fast Attack Speed - Projectile 1 shot - Fast Missile Speed
Type: Undead, Horse Rider, Magical.

Name: Demon
Difficulty: Medium
Connections: None.
Summon: SpellcrossDemon
Melee: No
Distance: Yes - 10 Damage - Average Attack Speed - Projectile 1 shot - Fast Missile Speed - If the Demon receives pain, it fires another missile.
Type: Demon, Teleporter

Name: Magician
Difficulty: Medium
Connections: Has a rare chance to summon "Hell Rider" monster. Starts to summon "Demon" if less than 1/6th health, dies in the process if successful dealing 75 AoE damage (128 radius).
Summon: Magician
Melee: No.
Distance: Yes - 5 Damage - Average Attack Speed - Projectile 1 shot - Slow Missile Speed - Has the SEEKERMISSILE effect.
Type: Mage, Magical.

Name: Slizoid*
Difficulty: Very Easy->Very Hard (depending on density)
Connections: Summons 3 additional Slizoids on alert. Has a rare chance to spawn "Slizoid" on movement.
Summon: Slizoid
Melee: Yes - 1-3 Damage - Fast Attack Speed - Has a common chance to ignore the target instead.
Distance: Partly - Jumps towards the target dealing 1 damage. Medium Range.
Type: Slime, Ooze, multiplier.

Name: Predator*
Difficulty: Medium
Connections: None.
Summon: Predator
Melee: Partly - Delayed Suicide in Melee, dealing 96 AoE Damage (400 radius)
Distance: Yes - 8 Damage - Very Fast Attack Speed - Projectile 1 shot - Fast Missile Speed - Refire effect.
Type: Machine, Magical, Wood, Suicidal.

Name: Black Angel
Difficulty: Medium
Connections: None.
Summon: BlackAngel
Melee: No.
Distance: Yes - 35 AoE Damage (80 radius)- Fast Attack Speed - Hitscan 1 shot - Instant Speed, but delayed by 1/6th of a second. Short Range.
Type: Magical, Fallen Angel, Weapon Wielder, Flyer.

Credits:
Submitted: Paul Bates/Blackgaze
Decorate: Paul Bates/Blackgaze
Sounds: From the computer game "Spellcross" edited by Paul Bates/Blackgaze
Sprites: From the computer game "Spellcross" edited by Paul Bates/Blackgaze
Idea Base: From the computer game "Spellcross", Monster action and logic inspired by the ingame Spellcross attacks.

Description:
35x Custom Monsters based on the computer game "Spellcross", a majority of the monsters offer something different other than walk and shoot so check out the more descriptive READ-ME attached file for the full Monster Details.

Sprite:

Monsters above are shown in image order. I will submit individual images for each Monster if requested.

Download Link:
Download

Hey, welcome to Realm

These must have taken ages to do. You said something about adjusting the sprite clipping... I havent tested this in game yet but I assume your talking about the monster sprites clipping into the ground?? Couldn't you just adjust the offsets in slade so that the sprites are just above the horizontal line.. should be easy enough to do by selecting all the sprites and clicking the set offset button, checking relative, and setting the vertical offset by 5 or so pixels, that should do all sprites at once.

Also, I noticed that the sounds are in wav format, it would be a good idea to convert them to ogg (submission rules state that they should be ogg), it would also bring the size down significantly..[strike] If you need help with that just ask [/strike]

I took the liberty of converting those wav files, and also pngout'd all sprites (took about half hour to do)... But for the size difference, its worth it.
28,241KB -> 5,414KB
Download: https://www.dropbox.com/s/1k75neckc8ebpym/Spellcross-2.wad?dl=0

You might want to double check everything to make sure its all there and working ok.

Wow thanks a lot, I forgot about converting the wav files. What did you mean by PNGout? Also what program did you use and settings to convert those wav -> ogg for future reference?

Yeah I need to re-check those offsets. I DID match the line, but it still didn't like it, I may need help if I can't solve it.

I also forgot to mention, if you people want an example of how they work together in the map, go find and try out my OBLIGE Spellcross Custom Monster Pack. I did a few changes since then, but its mostly the same monsters.

Well, looks like you put a lot of time into this. However, I've gotta address the elephant in the room first: these sprites really don't match up with any of the sprites from any of the existing games. Not only does the art style differ significantly from Doom/Raven/Strife, but the sprites are much lower resolution, and are rendered from a partially overhead view, so the perspective is not correct relative to other sprites. So that in and of itself is a fairly large problem.

Technical suggestions:

Most of the sprites appear to have some artifacting issues. Were these originally created in a different color palette? Even though most of these (if not all) appear to be saved in 32-bit color (unpaletted), it looks like they were forced into the Doom color palette at one point, so there's lots of dithering.

As far as PNGout is concerned, it's an .exe file you can download to use for optimizing sprites. It'll convert them to 8-bit paletted images (no more than 256 unique colors) and add compression. You don't need to run it directly--you just need to download it and point SLADE3 to it. Then you can right-click your sprites, select the Optimize option, and let it do the work.

For converting WAV to OGG, you can use Audacity. It's free, easy enough to use, and works fairly well. You can even convert large numbers of files at one time, though it tends to be less reliable that way in my experience than converting them one-at-a-time.

Aww MagicWazard you beat me to it

Dont forget PNGCrush and DeflOpt, there all part of the automatic optimization and compression process too. And yea, I used Audacity for the conversion of the wav files, I have tried other software, but nothing beats the free stuff.

Couldn't these be added to the "Other" section of the bestiary?

BadMojo wrote: Couldn't these be added to the "Other" section of the bestiary?

I'd be inclined to say "no"; these deviate very heavily from the art style of our other submissions. Even with the "Other Style" submissions, we really only accept submissions that are predicated on being a "close enough" match to the existing art styles.

I'm going to let some of the other mods weigh in, though.

I'm going to have to agree with MagicWazard about the sprites. They don't really fit with the other styles on the repository. In ZDoom 2.8.1, I did get a couple of errors when starting it up:

"Tried to register class 'Dragon' more than once."
"Tried to register class 'Wizard' more than once."

Well that's a little disappointing to hear, but understandable.

When I created these monsters, I was never aiming to match the DOOM art style. I played many kinds of WADS, and all the custom monsters used ranging from reskins and clean sprites to even badly rendered or even worst perspectives, yet, people used them. That's all I wanted to do, to just use them. If you try them in an example like the OBLIGE custom monster pack for Spellcross, they do offer something new in gameplay terms.

It's possible the "worst examples" monsters I bring up are unlikely to be on this site for similar reasons, but I had to try to see if they could be acceptable. My monsters have not been used since I finished them earlier this year, and it makes me quite sad to see them end this way, as this was my last idea to get them noticed. So, if they don't belong here, at least I tried.

I wanted to bring my favourite monsters to DOOM, and I tried very hard to make them work visually from a semi-isometric perspective, as they are quite close to being straight, good enough to be acceptable, at least I thought. Some got scrapped due to perspectives unable to be fixed, and some just about make it (see Mechanical Tower/Mammoth angles, and Fortress Of Terror scale), but after testing them for ages they all honestly don't really affect how I play them at all. If they don't work here, what can you suggest to get them improved for people to use elsewhere?

However, that being said.

About the colour palette and PNGout, is it compulsory? After checking the file BadMojo made (the sounds are great so far) the sprites are clearly not to be changed this way. These are not how they are meant to look, even for a reduced file size. Can we find an alternative to make them look as they do before PNGout?

Also, could someone help me with these the offset issue?
On rechecking the sprites, the Offsets are positioned correctly on the Sprite line, yet without the OPENGL setting of "adjusted sprite clipping" set to never, they won't touch the ground and look like they're floating. If the offsets are not the issue, what is causing this?

If anyone knows what's up with the "Tried to register class 'X' more than once"? Not sure why its just Dragon and Wizard though. I was along working on this project, I've done all I can do what my knowledge can take me.

The sprites need to be palleted for a submission, it has nothing to do with PNGout. But that been said, I didnt double check all of the sprites when I converted them to paletted, so Im sure some of them, if not all, would have "off" colours. The way to fix that is to either use a pallet more suitable for the sprites conversion in slade, or make a palette from scratch with the needed colours and shades..

or you could just open them up in gimp or photoshop and set the colours to index, which would convert them into 256 colours and create its own pallet based on what colours are in the image, then bring them into slade. Then do a PNGout to optimize them and reduce the size.

Now concerning your floating issue, I noticed while opening up one of the sprites in photoshop that there is alot of "bleed", or excess blank space if you will.... Now, Im assuming that setting the opengl sprite clipping to something other than "never" will try to position the sprite based on the image size.

So what that means is that blank space underneath say "MRIAS1" for instance, is going to be calculated as part of the monster, and with the adjust sprite clipping option turned on, it will position the monster so that the blank space underneath the sprite is above the "horizontal line", where the horizontal line in slade represents the floor in doom.. If that makes sense..

Basically, to fix that, I would assume you would simply use the trim tool in photoshop/gimp/paint program, to remove the blank spaces, then just set the offsets again in slade... after trimming, you should be able to let slade do the offsets automatically using the automatic offset option with the "monster" preset.

As for hope of getting this submitted here, Im afraid the MagicWazard makes a decent point. But dont let that bring you down, theres nothing stopping you from sticking them up on the zdoom forums as a modders resource.. That place is alot more populated than here anyway

Edit: Oh and before I forget... Your warnings are because the wizard and dragon actors are already taken by heretic and hexen (see the actors/heretic and hexen folders in the zdoom/gzdoom.pk3).. easy fix, just rename wizard and dragon to something else

BadMojo said nearly everything I would have to say, including the subject of color palettes. Although we generally require sprites to be paletted, they don't need to be forced into an existing game palette; they can be saved as a custom palette to maximize the number of unique colors in the image. If the custom-paletted images are loaded into ZDoom, ZDoom will convert them at run-time to whatever the best matching colors in the game are. GZDoom has no palette limitations, so it will display the custom colors as they are saved.