Diaz

Diaz
Author	wildweasel
Port	ZDoom
IWAD
Status	Released
Link	Diaz at Doomworld/idgames
	This mod was a runner-up for the 15th Annual Cacowards on Doomworld  in the "This is my boomstick!" category!

Diaz: Last Hours of Purity is a gameplay patch by wildweasel and Marty Kirra. It is part of the Weaselverse series of mods; while it is not the first mod in said series (that would be The Stranger), the release of the Hits Collection version indirectly coined the title.

Back Story

It is 2143. The Research Crimes Prevention Agency, a United Nations-funded investigative task force dealing with ethical issues in scientific research, sends two of its best agents to Phobos to serve as peacekeepers during the initial testing of the UAC's "Project Wells," better known as the Gateway experiment. Agent Olivia Diaz arrives on Phobos a few hours after the experiment has begun, leaving her with a trail of bodies, a horde of demons, and little hope of stopping an invasion.

Versions

Diaz has had two official "full" releases, with a third on the way. The first version of Diaz introduced most of the weapons that would cement the mod's arsenal, such as the RPG-7. While this version did contain a reloading system, it lacked the randomized enemies, recoil effects, and difficulty of later versions. The original release also contained three weapons that later versions would not retain: the SPAS-12 assault shotgun, which was removed due to wildweasel's distaste towards it; the Colt .45 pistol, and the Arc Welder, a railgun-type weapon that replaced the BFG.

Wildweasel's Hits Collection

In 2007, wildweasel announced his intention to update older mods and re-release them under the WWHC (wildweasel's Hits Collection) label. Doom Illustrated was the first release under this label, and presently the only other mod to bear the tag. Diaz was selected as the second mod to receive the treatment, and redeveloping the mod took roughly a year, including long periods of private and public beta testing prior to release. The WWHC version added a handful of brand new monsters with a limited randomizer that will occasionally substitute an alternate monster in place of a normal one, six new weapons, and notably made the mod much more difficult to play due to some enemies being increased in power, weapons being toned down, and difficulty settings being adjusted. An additional bonus is the ability to play as Diaz's backup, Agent Hernandez. This version was released to /idgames in 2008.

Version 3

Announced in late 2010, Diaz Version 3 is slated to improve on nearly every aspect of the mod that has been criticized, including some game-breaking issues and use of borrowed commercial game resources. No proper release date has been determined, but Random Public Beta #2 may be downloaded from this forum thread.

Weapons

• Martial Arts - Diaz can do quite a bit of damage with no weapon at all; unarmed attacks are almost more efficient than the player's own starting sidearm in the right situation. In the original release, unarmed fighting was merely a one-two-three combo. As of the Hits Collection release, unarmed combat is more in-depth, with a number of different "finishing" attacks triggered by pressing Alternate Fire at the correct time during a combo.
  • If the player is under the effects of a Combat Boost, a secret combo can be triggered: press Fire, Fire, Fire, AltFire (pressing AltFire during the chop attack) to launch an extremely powerful short-ranged fireball attack. This attack was intended to emulate the famous Falcon Punch from the Super Smash Bros. series, but due to lack of willing voice talent, the accompanying battle cry could not be added to the mod.
• Kurdd & Schaumers P50 Handgun - Diaz's starting sidearm, replacing the Colt from the original release. Like most firearms in the mod, Alternate Fire triggers a pistol whip attack.
• Judgment Mark II Handgun - Hernandez's starting sidearm. It behaves similarly to the P50, but is somewhat more accurate, slightly slower and less damaging, but has a more powerful melee attack. In the WWHC version, Diaz can acquire this weapon from SWAT officers.
• Marteba Revolver - A powerful Magnum revolver that can be obtained from Mercenary Elites. The name "Marteba" is an amalgam of Italian weapon manufacturer Mateba, and Marty Kirra, the mod's co-creator.
• Mini-Shotgun - A small CQB shotgun. In the original release, the Mini-Shotgun only fired one shot at a time and automatically reloaded. In WWHC, the Mini-Shotgun holds four shells and can be reloaded manually.
• Mauser Rifle - A Mauser Karabiner 98K, which both replaces the Super Shotgun and can also be obtained from Nazi riflemen.
• SMG - Rapid fire crowd control weapon, the weakest of the rapid fire weapons but with generally high accuracy, rate of fire, and ammo availability. In WWHC, this weapon received a slight power increase and fire rate reduction.
• Skorpion - A powerful assault rifle, this is the slowest rapid-fire weapon in the mod, but is also the most accurate. The original version had it carrying 30 rounds and firing much faster, while the WWHC version slowed it down, increased its power and dropped magazine size to 20 shots. In V3, it was replaced with the Bloc AN-41, which functions the same but bears different graphics.
• RPK-74 - The fastest, most powerful rapid fire weapon in the game, the RPK is difficult to use but makes up for this with its devastating firepower. In the original release, the RPK (erroneously called RPD) could not be fired unless its bipod was set up, and setting up said bipod prevents the player from moving. In WWHC, this restriction was lifted, with the penalty that firing without the bipod comes with extreme recoil and a short "ready" time when firing, while firing with the bipod comes with a 50% movement speed decrease.
• AT-30 Anti-Tank Rifle - First available in WWHC, the Anti-Tank Rifle fires explosive shells that barely damage the player or anything around the target, but deal severe damage directly to the target. Its fate for V3 is uncertain.
• Hand Grenades - Grenades don't deal much splash damage, but launch shrapnel everywhere. In the original release, these fragments mysteriously did not damage Diaz.
• RPG7 - A single-shot rocket launcher that deals extreme damage to everything in the vicinity.
• Neutralizer - An energy weapon that fires several bolts of homing plasma.
• Lance Driver - A chargeable energy weapon that can deal a lot of damage if charged to the maximum.

Original Release Only

These weapons are only available in the original release of Diaz.

• Colt .45 Pistol - Diaz's personal sidearm; players begin the game with this pistol.
• SPAS-12 Assault Shotgun - A pump-action shotgun that can hold seven shells.
• Arc Welder - A somewhat underpowered railgun weapon.