playing Heretic is hard

HeXen

Diamond Member
Dec 13, 2009
7,831
37
91
got heretic and hexen series on steam. with the exception of Hexen 2, i have to say its extremely hard to play input wise.
no mouse, getting full screen is pretty funky if not impossible. no gamepad. So using keyboard alone to move around efficiently is some funky monkey s** now i'm telln ya.
So maybe there is some way to force mouse input so i can use it to look instead of move forward and back?

gameplay wise, kinda hard to see where i'm supposed to go, usually seems to involve pushing a difficult to see switch where a hidden wall somewhere opens...assuming i can even accurately get from one end to the other smoothly without jittering all over the place due to these funky monkey control schemes.
Can't remember which one, Heretic i think. i see these doors open and close, i time it so i can go through but i get stuck and cant seem to move anywhere. weird. its different not having to look up or down either, though its not really 3d i suppose.

Hexen 2 is much better input wise, but its odd how you again find these switches that opens doors in other rooms. i wasted quite a bit of time wondering back n forth. then i watched the youtube video but lost interest after seeing it.

Remembering back reading all those COD vs old games threads, so many speak so highly of games like this, how their not linear or something...how is this series not linear? its one boxy room to another and another and another. Only difference is i have to wonder around forever finding magic switches.:\
 

Martimus

Diamond Member
Apr 24, 2007
4,488
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Whoever said the Doom type games weren't linear, has a poor memory.

They were definitely more difficult than modern FPSes though.
 

motsm

Golden Member
Jan 20, 2010
1,822
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I believe the game has an option called "Free Look" that will enable the mouse. It might be in a setup application outside of the game though, so try looking for that.
 

Martimus

Diamond Member
Apr 24, 2007
4,488
152
106
The engine does not allow the ability to look up or down. If you install a mod that lets you, the environments get really distorted when you look at them from any direction other than the standard direction.
 

Via

Diamond Member
Jan 14, 2009
4,695
4
0
Heretic 2 was one of my happy bargain bin finds.

I bought it for like $2 at a KB toy outlet and really had fun with it.
 

you2

Diamond Member
Apr 2, 2002
5,696
930
126
I remember playing heretic years ago (or maybe it was hexan); i think it was on dos; however I thought I used a mouse but maybe not it was along time ago; has that game really stood the test of time ?
 

ikachu

Senior member
Jan 19, 2011
274
2
81
I thought Heretic multiplayer was a lot of fun; we used to play it all the time in our high school computer lab. The Morph Ovum is still one of my favorite FPS items of all time.

That being said... single player is nothing to brag about. Hexen had a lot better single player from what I remember.
 

bigi

Platinum Member
Aug 8, 2001
2,484
153
106
You can get "Doom Legacy Project" and run pretty much any WAD in it. This is what I do for Doom, Hexen, Heretic and Plutonia.
 

HeXen

Diamond Member
Dec 13, 2009
7,831
37
91
You can get "Doom Legacy Project" and run pretty much any WAD in it. This is what I do for Doom, Hexen, Heretic and Plutonia.

i looked it up but can't find where to download it much less anything on how to use it to play heretic through steam.
most of what i find references it to being a doom source port.

also see something called remooD

lol 2012, playing doom engine games in dosbox instead of zdoom xD

Steam makes it come with dosbox. its not like i could magically know how to make it run in something else.

Am really interested in playing through the series, but i guess i need more insructions on how to get it all setup so i can just mouse and WASD this mofo. I don't care about being able to look up, but gotta use mouse to aim direction as i'm spoiled.
 

SonicIce

Diamond Member
Apr 12, 2004
4,774
0
76
i looked it up but can't find where to download it much less anything on how to use it to play heretic through steam.
most of what i find references it to being a doom source port.

also see something called remooD



Steam makes it come with dosbox. its not like i could magically know how to make it run in something else.

Am really interested in playing through the series, but i guess i need more insructions on how to get it all setup so i can just mouse and WASD this mofo. I don't care about being able to look up, but gotta use mouse to aim direction as i'm spoiled.

Doom Legacy was a good port back in the day but it hasn't been updated since like 2004. You're better off with a more modern port like zDoom, GZDoom, Skulltag, or zDaemon. All you have to do to install any of them is unzip the package and copy HERETIC.WAD from your steam fodler to the source port folder.
 

georgec84

Senior member
May 9, 2011
234
0
71
Let's see how many Heretic cheats I remember:

quicken
gimme x #
gimmeall
rambo
kitty

I'm laughing that someone has a hard time playing Heretic b/c of the keyboard controls. That's how we played most shooters in the early and mid 90s. In fact, Heretic was the first game to have "look up" and "look down" commands. That in itself was a huge step forward from Doom and other shooters that preceded it, not to mention the inventory items.
 

Cerb

Elite Member
Aug 26, 2000
17,484
33
86
got heretic and hexen series on steam. with the exception of Hexen 2, i have to say its extremely hard to play input wise.
no mouse, getting full screen is pretty funky if not impossible.
I distinctly recall playing those games with a mouse. If you are using DOSBox, be sure the mouse is set up (do Win98 boot floppy images have a workable mouse.com?). Alternatively, try a new engine.

lol 2012, playing doom engine games in dosbox instead of zdoom xD
I like EDGE best, myself. Nothing fancy. No special Heretic support, though, so zDoom may be better for the OP.
 

HeXen

Diamond Member
Dec 13, 2009
7,831
37
91
i got them to work using doomengine. now it plays much better and already halfway through heretic. its actually a pretty easy game now that i'm confortable with the standard control scheme.

thanks everyone.

Let's see how many Heretic cheats I remember:

quicken
gimme x #
gimmeall
rambo
kitty

I'm laughing that someone has a hard time playing Heretic b/c of the keyboard controls. That's how we played most shooters in the early and mid 90s. In fact, Heretic was the first game to have "look up" and "look down" commands. That in itself was a huge step forward from Doom and other shooters that preceded it, not to mention the inventory items.

yes but its not mid 90's anymore. its 2012 and like i said. i'm spoiled with modern controls.......problem with that or something?
Am i supposed to like KB controls in this day and age? lol

BTW, i'm old enough to remember owning a Pong system and Atari 2600. But i certainly wouldn't use a paddle or joystick in this day and age if i can use a standard gamepad that's sooo much more comfortable......and i bet your the same way and just talking crap anyway.
 

shortylickens

No Lifer
Jul 15, 2003
82,854
17,365
136
Whoever said the Doom type games weren't linear, has a poor memory.

They were definitely more difficult than modern FPSes though.

There was a "start" and an "end" but you were wide open in your method to get there.
Though I admit I prefer the puzzled in Dark Forces.