Welcome to the Arkista’s Ring series, turning Heretic and Hexen into a sci-fi & sorcery epic with a pulp fiction vibe and a pretty elf with a smart mouth. Each mod comes with a readme file with a detailed breakdown of the story, characters, weapons, items, and lore to help immerse the player in the setting. If Heretic and Hexen feel too stale or tedious, you’ll find this series gives them both a shot in the arm!
This series began as a reboot of the fantasy-oriented NES game of the same name, reinvented into a pulp sci-fi fantasy in the style of Edgar Rice Burroughs and Andre Norton with a hardboiled edge.
Click the link below to download the series in a single convenient package!
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Read on to learn the details of each mod, listed in order of release!
For Heretic
Requires GZdoom & Heretic
A hillbilly space elf named Christine is arrested for collaborating with a despotic Shogun who is conquering the galaxy. After having a bomb installed in her skull, Christine is given a chance at redemption by braving a treacherous planet in search of a powerful artifact.
Arkista’s Ring is a nonlinear sci-fi fantasy adventure where you choose your path through the game. Doors open via single-use keys, and some paths to the end are easier than others. Wield a vast array of sci-fi weaponry and fantastical artifacts against the strangest creatures in the galaxy.
A follow-up that turns any Heretic mapset into a space n’ sorcery adventure with ray guns, undead space dwarves, killer robots, and evil winged babes.
Optimum Security visits Jarro, planet of the dwarves, to rid their ore-rich moon of an infestation of ancestral ghosts and rogue robots, which turns out to be the doings of a cult of winged lunatics, led by a former underworld chum of Chrissy.
Other mapsets beside the original Heretic maps essentially detail further adventures on Jarro after the events of DDD.
Requires GZDoom & Heretic
ALSO INCLUDES REVISED VERSIONS OF THE FULL MOD FOR USE WITH
MASTERS OF CHAOS
&
FAITHLESS TRILOGY
(Run these mods instead of the original when playing MoC or Faithless.)
A follow-up that turns any Hexen mapset into a hardboiled sci-fantasy epic with new classes, weapons, monsters, textures, sounds, hud, you name it. Unlike Hexen where you have to assemble the pieces of your superweapon before you can even use it, MoM has you collect upgrades for your main weapon to make it more powerful the further you go, so you get an instant benefit rather than having to wait until late in the game. You also can find Arkista’s Ring to power your starting weapon for the duration of the hub.
When they chase black marketeer Schloss the Red to the technophile planet Ydos, Optimum’s leaders Durrante and Chrissy run afoul of an A.I. called Medusa, which acts as the planet’s BIOS and the deity of the brainwashed inhabitants. Chrissy and Durrante team up with Schloss in order to kill the false god and escape the dying world before they become the latest members of Medusa’s mindless flock.
Mapsets other than Hexen’s base maps basically chronicle the trio’s further attempts to escape Ydos.
Requires GZDoom & Hexen
Also includes music compatibility for Vicerus, Kaiser 28, & Cyrgoth Manor!
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Really liked this one. Its theme is similar to an idea I’ve had for a while. Currently running some experiments to see if I can set my similar themed idea for a TC in progress. I’ll show you a preview if it goes anywhere.
Sweet, love to see it when you do.
Thanks. Some base test work with converting 3D assets to sprites went well. I want my TC to use an all ‘original’ set of weapons/enemies/textures using assets I’ve acquired from my work with Unity. Converted to sprites conforming to a 256 color style palette. So everything should look completely unique as far as being seen in DOOM/Duke before.
I’m currently considering using EDuke as a base instead of GZDOOM. I’m no stranger to modding Duke Nukem content so the change shouldn’t be too jarring. Just reviewing EDukes features to see if it can do all the basic stuff I want before making the switch at the moment. I messed around with EDuke a bit in 2019 but can’t remember if it has a few things I want.
Hey Mike, where did you get the green Centaur sprites?
I cobbled them together myself!