Revitalized Concept for Trial of Runes

...and she's not the only one waiting.

It's been around 4 months since my Just an Idea post about Trial of Runes. Since then, I still couldn't get this concept out of my head and I kept returning to it. Wonder if that's something I can actually achieve. Argue with myself about whenever or not I should actually pursue this endeavor. Challenge myself with something truly new, difficult and exciting for myself. And there's this lingering sense that I need to try in spite of all my concerns.

After some encouragement, I've decided to "take the bait". I want to try and make Trial of  Runes make to live. As far as I can, at least. With that, I was working on a proper "design document" for this mod, but progress has been slow, and I ultimately abandoned it for a time being. Recent re-release of Quake reinforced this idea and got me back to it. And now, I would attempt to provide more refined summary of what this project is.

Goals.

Nothing much has changed here. As before, Trial of Runes is meant to be a proof-of-concept for what theoretical new singleplayer Quake game can be if it ever becomes a reality. Present some general ideas about the direction this series can take in order to stand on its own right besides modern DOOM and Wolfenstein titles. All build upon the original game and its limitations, changing things only where it's really necessary.

On the other hand, I see Trial of Runes as my potential "moment of truth" since I genuinely believe in this concept and how awesome it can end up being. I want to succeed and end this cycle of constant failures and brief triumph that plague my daily routine these last few years. This project can also give me a glimpse at potential career path as a video game developer since many people started out in this industry through modding. Perhaps I'll discover some kind of talent or proof to myself that I should never try this again.

Either way, this pursuit promises to be a lot of fun and that's what this is all about. Spending your time doing something productive and enjoyable, learning new things through guides, conversations and experience. Try my best to create a solid first-time modding project for myself and others, even if that particular sentence is probably the most counterintuitive thing I've written here thus far.

Description.

Anyway, let's get more on point and start from the beginning. General idea for Trial of Runes appeared thanks to discussions regarding a theoretical new Quake game in Retro FPS thread at /VR/ board on 4Chan. In short, it was just "Take more inspirations from Hexen series and use Runes with magic" and that premise didn't change all that much. Of course, that includes the continuation of Ranger's story and staying true to the original game, while also leaning a bit more towards its original concept.

Originally I thought it would be a great idea to begin with Trial of Runes Classic: a version of the mod for original clients, such as WinQuake. Logic behind it was that putting myself in such limitations would allow me to get proper experience with Quake modding and keep things fairly simple from technical side of things. Now, I think that could be just a bit too much and not even possible... although it does sound appealing. I don't want to take on more than I can chew by chasing the likes of Arcane Dimensions and Alkaline in terms of scope and design, but having a customized version of a HUD is very important to me.

However, as I've previously mentioned, there's now an official re-release out there, and I think it should be the primary focus for Trial of Runes. Why? Well, I think it's just the right target for what this mod should be. It's not to say the likes of controller support (let's face it, nu-Quake game will be on Xbox and maybe Nintendo Switch) and option for colored lighting are absent in source ports, but having Quake 64-like HUD from the get-go is pretty damn nice. There's a certain niche to fill, but at the same time I still want it to be playable on QuakeSpasm-Spiked and other ports.

Even though I'm mentioned before how I find it very unlikely to be able to properly realize  Trial of Runes within the original constrains of Quake, I still think that it would be best to respect them as much as possible. Like, to a point where you would be able to make maps for it that are playable on previously mentioned WinQuake, albeit missing a few advanced features. At the same time, I did consider using progs_dump as a base for this mod instead of reinventing the wheel when it's just not necessary, so that's probably the way to go.

Lastly, a few words needs to be said about the narrative. Due to the nature of the project, I'll draw a lot of inspirations from lore material that's presented in Quake Champions together with respecting the original game and mission packs. At first, I wanted to place Trial of Runes immediately after Dissolution of Eternity, but potential inclusion of Dimension of the Past and Dimension of the Machine into Quake canon through re-release made me reconsider. Although DOPA doesn't really have any narrative, DotP was more fortunate with that. So ToR might take place directly or some time after Chthon's second demise.

Levels.

This one got me kind of stuck, actually. At first, I thought I had a clear vision of what kind of maps I want to make for Trial of Runes, but upon further "brainstorming" (if that can be said about my brain's activity) I realized how far away I was from the truth since in fact I didn't really have a proper concept for maps besides the ambiguous "something in between Quake and Hexen". Like, what was that even supposed to mean?

Instead, I decided to try and define what elements I want to learn towards when in comes to level development for Trial of Runes. Obvious goal is to have more varied puzzles, something more akin to Hexen series: not just hunting switches and keys, but a few specific items to raise a bridge to the exit, kill specific enemies to unlock the path forward and stuff like that. I'm still not sure whenever or not I want the first map to be focused on melee encounters exclusively as that might be nearly impossible to get right.

Another idea from my initial draft that I most likely will drop are "Trial" maps. Focusing a specific map to introduce a certain Rune sounded good on paper, but then it revealed a few flaws over time. Even though ToR is meant to be a concept for modern game, spending a good chunk of the episode to introduce player to a rather simple mechanic seems very unnecessary. Especially if these maps would be somewhat larger than your regular Quake map. Alternatively, if  "Trial" levels will be made on smaller scale, I think it would greatly disrupt the flow of ToR and just feel off to most players in comparison to the rest of it.

What I know for sure is that I don't want there to be similar maps. I want each level to have something unique and stand out in some way. That's a good excuse for trying myself at making different kind of maps, although I'm sure it's easy to see how it can backfire on new mapper such as myself. After all I've mentioned before, I'm convinced I need to take another look for inspirations and not just within Quake itself. Other games can bring in something good to the table as well, and I'm eager to play or look at them through YouTube.

Either way, I think that would erase just one map from ToR's original list (including introduction and secret level). Unless there would be a dedicated boss map, which is something I'm not so sure about as there might be no boss in the first place. I would still like to lean more towards using textures from original Quake and its Mission Packs exclusively and avoid using custom WAD's, relaying solely on my creativity. At best, I planned to probably recolor some of them for a couple of maps. When in comes to naming maps, I'm still gravitating more towards using abbreviation "TR" instead of "TOR" as it's just shorter, but who knows... I mean, it wasn't a problem for Scourge of Armagon.

Firepower.

My perspective on weapons also faced significant changes after the initial draft for Trial of Runes. Originally I thought about just dumping in all weaponry from original game and Mission Packs, but then I realized that it would be just too much. There's really no need for recycling them just for the sake of it: less is more. Still, I would like to stick to my idea of organizing weapons into five different categories in order to reduce the amount of keybinds they're using by default since I just find such simplification pretty appealing.

Runes would still be based on their iteration from Dissolution of Eternity, but aimed towards proving alternative fire option for melee weapons, shotguns and nailguns. Idea of switching between each Rune sounds just too hideous, so instead it should be easily used via alt+fire of respective weapon. As before, Rune attack should waste both gun ammo (instead it's a melee weapon) and mana. When it comes to power-ups, I guess it's best to just let them be. I thought about somehow keep players away from utilizing Runes with Quad Damage and other original bonuses, but I suppose I shouldn't ruin the fun for others. However, there're still no plans for creating new power-ups or carrying over existing ones from Mission Packs: it's all about Runes this time around.

Let's start with Axe since this one is going to be rather short. It's still going to be combined with the Rune of Black Magic that basically turns it into "vampire axe": using 10 mana in order to restore 10 health. This is the most expensive Rune in terms of mana usage since it allows you to restore your health. Maybe it's too much, considering the maximum amount of mana is supposed to stay at 100, but I don't want to overshadow standard weapons. 

Currently, Mjolnir is the only weapon that "comes back" from Mission Packs... if you ignore the fact that originally the protagonist of Quake was supposed to have hammer as his weapon of choice. Still, it wouldn't avoid changes like Axe. First of all, its AoE attack using Cells is gone for good. It's going to be replaced by alt-fire via the Rune of Elder Magic, which is going to turn Mjolnir into a ranged weapon that fires lightning projectiles like Vorpel Sword's Tome of Power attack from Hexen 2. It would use 5 mana points per fire and maybe slightly increase its damage and/or small chance to stun/knock back enemy.

Unfortunately for some, shotguns wouldn't receive any changes and their interaction with the Rune of Hell Magic probably ain't as creative as it could've been. Reason for it is that I decided to just leave its function from Dissolution of  Eternity, which is the reduction of attack delay by 1/3. Originally I considered some kind of explosive fire thing, but there're guns for that already. This fire option suppose to cost 3 and 6 mana points for Shotgun and Super Shotgun respectively.

That leaves us only with the Rune of Earth Magic and nailguns were the obvious choice here since you originally get it from Chthon. Lava nails are back from Dissolution of Eternity without any changes whatsoever. "Don't fix it if it ain't broke" and all that. They'll cost you 2-4 mana points per fire from Nailgun and Super Nailgun.

When it comes to Grenade and Rocket Launcher, I'm not sure I should actually mess with them all that much. After all, there's no need for alt-fire options for all weapons. Turning Proximity Mine Launcher into secondary option for Grenade Launcher seems like a no-brainer, but it makes me wonder whenever or not there would be a practical use for it. You can create some interesting puzzles and secrets with it though, so maybe there's a way. Rocket Launcher, on the other hand, seems to be too perfect for limited imagination. The only idea I had for it was a Remote Detonation option from modern DOOM games, but I want to avoid borrowing stuff from there as much as possible. Besides, I think that would make Rocket Launcher even more overpowered.

Same kind of implies to Thunderbolt and the potential integration of Plasma Gun as an alternative fire option: simply too much, unnecessary and likely would take away some attention from Runes. And I don't want to bring back Laser Cannon as well. There's a better candidate for another energy weapon that is an essential part of Quake arsenal for many players: Reaper, also known as "Railgun". It wouldn't the first time for railgun to appear in  original Quake as Violent Rumble is doing the same and even it took inspiration from Quake Champions by taking Ranger's gun model as a base. But that would be more likely the case of reinventing the wheel with sharing a lot of Cell ammo and probably even being hidden away in a secret level. Yeah, I think it's more likely to be just a novelty.

Enemies.

When it comes to enemies, I've decided to limit myself to the maximum of six "new" creatures for this modification on top of original roster of deadly creatures. Properly integrating them into already solid line-up of enemies would be quite challenging, especially since at first I need to make sure that I'm able to set up good encounters with the likes of Ogres and Death Knights. It'll be a long way of trial and error, but I already have some ideas for Vore and Spawn scenarios.

Either way, I haven't abandoned the idea of bringing back certain bastards from Mission Packs. At some point I wanted to avoid them completely in pursuit of originality, but I don't think that's something I can truly stand after my approach to weapons, nor I have that many new ideas. Given how DOOM brought back all the original monsters one way or the other, I thought it would make a lot of sense to bring back Centroids and Wraths. No offense to Gremlins and various variants of original enemies from Dissolution of Eternity, but I think that these two are just what Trial of Runes needs to represent their respective packs.

Contrary to the latter examples, I knew I need a new "low tier" enemy. Something in between Zombies and Grunts, ideal for melee combat. Thankfully, I was lucky enough to stumble upon some illustrations from Sandy Petersen'n Field Guide to Cthultu Monsters from 1988 that obviously influenced id Software. It is a great source of inspiration for new Lovecraftian creatures, such as Deep Ones, Ghasts and Ghouls. Although Quake certainly deviated from typical Lovecraft canon with the great example of that being an appearance of Shub-Niggurath, which is much closer to her Dark Young than actual Black Goat of the Woods. So, perhaps a Deep One with clear Ghoul influences wouldn't be that outrageous. These inhabitants of ancient caverns hidden under the sea will punch or even jump onto anyone who invades their home with potentially poisonous claws.

Now, to the more powerful foes. Based on Axe Ogre, Warlord is an armored menace equipped with machete (in order to emphasize Ogre's preference of broad blades) and magical shield that makes him extremely dangerous. There comes around couple of influences from Mission Packs as I want his defense to be fairly similar to Empathy or Power Shields. "Armagon's solution" probably would easier to integrate, but how exactly? Should he always return half of  received damage to Ranger or only during his defense stance? Or it's better to use Power Shield's ability for that as that seems more fair? I'm having a hard time figuring out whenever there's a silver lining between the two, but I know for sure that Empathy Shield in his hand would look much better. Perhaps I'm focused too much on this and should go back to Centaur and Stone Golem from Hexen series as a main reference for what Warlord should be like.

For this one, we're shifting more towards science fiction side of Quake. I've been thinking about the way to introduce a "lite version of Armagon" into the mix, but my original idea for him was boring and the name was just awful. So I took a step back and decided to look at Strogg enemies from Quake 2. With my desire to include railgun into Trial of Runes, the choice became fairly obvious: an equivalent of Gladiator named Makrogg. That way, I could make a good use of what's planned as a novelty weapon.

Last idea from my original concept I'm not particularly sure about is the third flying enemy. Originally I thought about reintroducing Serpent from older version of Quake and copy Fire Imp from Hexen 2, but I might prefer to take another inspiration from Sandy Petersen and bring in another Lovecraftian creature in a form of Byakhee. I'm not sure whenever or not he should throw projectiles and/or dive into the player nor it I have better ideas for his attacks though. To be fair, my lack  of creativity is pretty obvious since all these "new" enemies are borrowed from other titles and there's no real excuse for that.

Conclusion.

Well, I guess that's pretty much it for the start. Although I feel like I'm missing something and that's probably true, I hope that's more than enough to share my vision for Trial of Runes, show that I know what kind of project I want it to be while I have no idea what I'm actually talking about. So any type of feedback and direction from others will be much appreciated, and I'll try my best to focus on getting just that. Having discussions is just another part of learning experience, but obviously I shouldn't try to learn on my own.

Just share your thoughts on what you think of all this mess I've written here. Whenever you're just an player or have some experience with Quake modding, I'm really interested to hear your honest feedback about this concept, what it can and should be. Even if you think that all of this is just complete rubbish and I shouldn't bother. At the very least, I can try my hands at some vanilla Quake mapping through Trenchbroom and other needed programs.