SHADOW SLAYER
A single-player add-on for Heretic II



The Story (Elven perspective)
Cauthorian Tradition
Beasts & Foes
Weaponry
Action Keys

What's New to the Game
System Requirements
Installation
Credits





The Story

Morcalavin has been defeated, and with him the plague that ravaged Parthoris is no more.

However there is much in the land to put right. The elders of the elves, the ssithra, the k'chekrik, and even the ogles all agree that the seven Tomes of Power are far too dangerous to be kept in one place. The temptation to use them - or misuse them - would be too great.

The seven Tomes were separated, scattered throughout Parthoris. Corvus still keeps his Tome. Siernan the ssithra healer was entrusted with one, as was the k'chekrik high priestess. The ogles, ever the most trustworthy, have been entrusted with two of the Tomes, hidden deep within their mountain homes. The remaining two have been entrusted to the two most powerful of elven families, one in Silverspring, the other in Fairbury far to the south.

Your name is Lanius, of an ancient and noble Silverspring family. Your clan managed to leave Silverspring before the insane Celestial Watcher closed off the city, and were fortunate enough to avoid contracting the plague. You are the keeper of one of the Tomes of Power, a sacred duty you do not take lightly.

Word was come out of the unexplored lands far to the east that elves are being taken captive and used as slaves. The cauthorians, a race of reptilian assassins, are responsible. Since they were immune to the plague, their compliance with Morcalavin has been condemned by the rest of Parthoris.

Long ago the cauthorians built great cities, the greatest of which was the city of Cauthor S'Gath. D'sparil's armies destroyed the cauthorian empire, and since then they have roamed Parthoris as nomads, living mostly in small family-based clans. With the rise of Morcalavin, the cauthorians realised they had only two choices: either ally themselves with the immortal seraph, or face total and final destruction as a people.

Now that Morcalavin's reign is over, the assassins are taking advantage of the chaos he has left behind. Using elven slaves they are rebuilding their once great empire, starting with the old capital city Cauthor S'Gath. They have been united under a new and ambitious leader, one who goes by the name of Shadow Slayer.

The other peoples of Parthoris fear the assassins will not stop at simply regaining their former lands. Your mission is to journey to the very heart of the old cauthorian homeland, to destroy Shadow Slayer before the empire can rise anew. It is hoped that the death of Shadow Slayer will cause the cauthorian people to fragment back into smaller nomadic clans, which are of little threat to anyone.

But be warned: Shadow Slayer is a powerful magician and accomplished warrior. And just getting to Cauthor S'Gath will be a trial in itself.






What's New to the Game

  • Six new levels (including the Cauthorian homeland)
  • The Solar Flare and Plasma Ball spells, the Mana Bow, the lightning staff, the Doom Cloud defensive spell
  • Ambosia fruit (to improve health)
  • New player skin; introducing Lanius of Silverspring
  • New monsters (golems, fire imps, albino cave rats, slaves, slavemasters)

  • Object Models:
      Animations implemented for shop signs and carnivorous plants
      Partial skeleton - elf head on a stake - hanged elf - cauthorian corpses
      Separate armour models





  • System Requirements

    You will need:
    • Heretic II installed (the full version)
    • The Expansion Pack version 1.06 (not essential, but recommended)
    • The Shadow Slayer files installed in the correct directory
    • Around 13 megabytes of disk space
    • The basic system requirements to run Heretic II
        (Refer to the help files included with Hr2)
    Without the expansion pack you won't have the whirlwind defensive spell, and some of the on-screen text won't appear correctly. Version 1.0 of Heretic II also won't let you see the Lanius skin. The game should still run though, just not at its best.

    Each level has been designed to run well under software video mode, so even a low-end video card should be sufficient to run the game.






    Installation

    Everything you need is included in one ZIP file. Simply unzip the file directly into your Heretic II directory on your harddrive (usually C:\Program Files/Heretic II/), and all the correct files and directories will be created.

    The ZIP file will create a new directory called Lanius. To run the game, simply double-click on the play_sslayer.bat file under Heretic II/Lanius/. Or use the shortcut called play_sslayer.lnk, which you can copy to your desktop (if you have Heretic II installed in C:\Program Files\). Starting the game any other way will not display the correct in-game messages, and some custom sounds won't work.

    By default the game starts with an 800x600 screen in software video mode. A crosshair for aiming spells and weapons will appear (with auto-aiming off) and the blood level will be set to ultraviolent. You can change any of these defaults using the menu system, and your own settings will always be loaded from then on.






    Credits

    Obivously the makers and distributors of Heretic II (Raven Software and Activision respectively) did most of the original work.

    The silver and gold breastplate models were extracted from the original Corvus, with a few alterations (internal faces were added, the skins were modified). The elf head on a stake, and the hanged elf, are modified from the plague-elf model. The cauthorian corpses were individual frames from the assassin model. Most of the skins are modifications of the original Heretic II versions.

    The fire imp model was created by the makers of Hexen II (another Raven/Activision product), with a few modifications (resizing & remapping the skin).

    The skeleton model was derived mostly from a Hexen II skull, with the ribs and backbone added. The skin has been slightly altered from the original (resized, colour changed).

    The grate texture used in the arena level has been modified from one that appeared in the original Heretic (Raven Games / ID Software).

    Levels and skins were created using QuArK (Quake Army Knife). Sprite (SP2) files were modified using QuArK and Sp2 Maker D'lux. Video (SMK) files were created using Smacker. Models were created or modified using the Quake Modeller V.9.0b.

    The characters Lanius and Shadow Slayer are original creations of the author, Dann Pigdon (2003). The Shadow Slayer Heretic II add-on is distributed by Heretic Hides. We are not affiliated with Raven Games, Activision, or ID Software in any way.

    The Shadow Slayer Heretic II add-on is provided 'as is' without warranty of any kind, either express or implied, including but not limited to the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. In no event shall the author be liable for any damages whatsoever including direct, indirect, incidental, consequential, loss of business profits or special damages.




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