It's from Hexen 2 I believe. A few of the enemies are from it, it's a popular game for quake modders to rip from due to how easy it is to get it to work. 

@Qmaster, there are two super secrets in E2M2, one is a location and the other is a speed runners delight!

@OTP, I don't get the impression from that TF log that the launch of the mod was liked much. Bal certainly has a good point, the visual profiles of the new monsters is not really obvious and a bit wishy washy.

@PuLSaR, The test maps were designed to test things, nothing more. They were added to the final release for mappers to check out in an editor. I really wish I had released them separate as a dev/map pack, it seems no one is getting the reason for why they exist. :(

@mwh, I know hard/nightmare skill is crazy hard compared to ID/custom maps, but easy/normal should be good? I think the inconsistency with the skill levels is because its by different map authors. Everyone has their own ideas of what skill levels should be setup as.

@mankrip, The huge maps are just by MFX (crucial/swampy/test3), everything else is small to medium in size.

@Vondur, thanks I will check out the demo's. Taking your time is certainly a good plan, there is no rush to explore the content. :)

@Shambler, FINALLY! comments by Shambler! Haha, I was beginning to think you hated the mod! (which is probably true by the sound of your comments) Well if you don't like the projectile shotgun or Z aware enemy system, switch them off! Moaning about the defaults when YOU can change the MOD setup to your OWN defaults, is crazy!

I know not everyone is going to like the defaults, I can understand that, so here is an example setup in quake.rc:

131072 No projectiles/casings for Shotguns
262144 No Z aware monsters
524288 No Enemy/player footsteps

Temp1 = 917504

If you want particles add 1024 to the total. 

The launch of the mod was very well liked overall, OTP just picked a few snippets out of context. 

I am curious if Minotaur is custom AD or from some other mod / game?

The Minotaur(white/brown), Spider(brown/green), Scorpion(green/black) and Skull Wizard(red/green/brown/grey) are from Hexen 2 with many new/update skins by me. Quake modders rip models from Hexen 2 because the model format is the same. The palette/skin has to be converted (not a perfect match) and the game code logic has to be written from scratch. Its not a drag and drop process.

Voreling, Gaunt and Drole are from Quoth. Jim is a complete rework of the bob asset from Quoth. All the game logic is written by me as the Quoth source is closed and not available.

The Wraith (+variants) is from Quake expansion pack by Rogue Software, with extra skins by me/Lunuran. The game code logic was written by me.

Centurion and Pyro are from Rubicon2. I used the game code from Rubicon2 as a base and I changed it to suit the MOD with more options.

Soldier (+variants) is based on new HD model from Capnbubs and all the Enforcer variants are based on the ID model. All the game code logic was updated by me.

Zombie Knight and Knight are by Lunuran with Game logic by me. Both models have awesome extra animations and are not the same as previous released models.

Crossbow Knight, Death Guard, Hunter Ogres (chainsaw/mace/hammer), Death Knight, Fury Knight and Sergeant Knight are animated by necros and skin/model based on ID asset with lots of changed by me. Most of the game logic code is new and written by me.

Lost Souls based on a skull model from Q3, remade, skinned and animated by me. All game logic code written by me.

In a perfect world all of the new models (especially the hexen 2) should of been new assets. Unfortunately there was so little time and no one on the team dedicated to creating new assets. 

I'm sure that the default q1 monsters were made harder

This is a good point, all of the monsters have skill level modifiers. It works in very subtle ways; like projectile speeds, extra attacks and less chance of pain animations. The parameters are GRADUALLY linked to skill levels, so for example a voreballs doesn't go from 250 to 350 when switching from skill 2 to 3, but speeds up gradually across all skill levels.

The skill level scaling does not affect monster health or minion spawning speeds. The previous nightmare behaviour (spam turrets) is maintained, but the pace of change from easy to nightmare should feel gradual.

I highly recommend anyone who is curious about the changes to open defscustom.qc and check out the constant variables and see how the skill levels scale the monster abilities.

I know this feature is going to upset some people because this can compound some monster setups linked to skill levels. Though I have stressed on many occasions, this MOD is an alternative Quake, its NOT designed to be exactly the same. There is no point making Quake again, it already exists, this MOD is trying to be something different.

Probably the downside to the skill scaling system is, it cannot be switched off with a quake.rc option, its always on! Personally I like the extra challenge of monsters that scale with skill levels because I often play maps on several skill levels and I like the gradual scaling.

The major issue with skill level scaling is when a mapper creates specific encounters for skill levels with tougher monsters and they are scaled by the code at the same time! This can create really tough higher skill setups with very sharp difficulty spikes. 

sorry little confused re scaling, do you mean a the speed of a voreball, for exmaple, in a map played on will gradually increase if you play the map long enough? 

Thanks for the info Sock. Its a good hitlist then for me to work through and update the more obviously borrowed ones so Arcane Dimensions is its entire own thing at one point. Fun side project to go along with my more chose select Q1 remakes.

And what about the ogres? a bunch was made but for some reason none replace the vanilla Q1 version? 

Personally I think the minotaur and the stone giant guys are most in need of love considering their size and relative pixel density... 

Well...if you redo the hexen 2 models I would also change the design quite a bit to make them proper Quakey and wierd instead of generic medieval trope monsters. 

@nitin, the scaling only affects the final top speed, the majority of projectiles do not change speed during flight (there are exceptions, rocket soldier and drole)

Another example:
Hell Knights fire spike projectiles are scaled as follows:
200=easy, 250=normal, 300=hard, 350=nm

The original default was 300, the majority of original defaults have been setup as hard and the easy/normal scale down and the NM sales up. Anyone playing against a Hell knight on skill HARD should feel like its regular Quake and the other skill levels are scaled accordingly. 

I'm sorry that is the impression you got - I specifically picked out the quotes that are feedback and suggestions rather than pure praise (of which there was lots). 

I don't mind the Hexen 2 models nearly as much as all the content from rogue, specifically the profoundly goofy wraith models. 

update the more obviously borrowed ones so Arcane Dimensions is its entire own thing at one point.

That would be an amazing thing to a happen for the MOD. The use of the Hexen 2 models has always been a thorn in the side of the MOD.

what about the ogres? a bunch was made but for some reason none replace the vanilla Q1 version?

I wanted to replace all the ogres, but MFX kept using the old assets and I did not want to force him to change. His original reason was because of variety but eventually the new/old models turned into a way to make the Z aware ogres look different. People on the team could not tell the difference and a bunch of Z Aware ogres can wreck a player very quickly if not visually forewarned.

Well...if you redo the hexen 2 models I would also change the design quite a bit to make them proper Quakey and wierd instead of generic medieval trope monsters.

Yeah, I totally agree, many of the hexen2 models/skins really don't fit well with Quake. I used them because I wanted more options for different encounters and I love small like creatures for swarm attacks! 

Oh and, if we collect a few more Skiffy models, then all the engine coders will have a GREAT reason to whop in .md3 support so we can see them without wibblie-wobblies >:} 

Yes cause all my models are MD3 before they become MDL hehe

Good to hear folks would not mind them more Quaky when I eventually redo some of them. 

was with the hats of the "dguard" guys... they kinda look like mushrooms to me... maybe I'm crazy. 

Mountaineering tour on ad_swampy.
http://quaketastic.com/files/demos/top.7z 

Have you played Kinn's excellent maps:

Bastion of the Underworld and The Marcher Fortress? 

@OTP, its fine don't worry, I read the TF channel stuff and just saw a pile of moaning! No one likes to eat shit sandwiches, you have to include some nice stuff once in a while! :P

@Fifth, the Death Guard is indeed weird. Its a scaled down version of the Hell knight which was originally designed to replace the Red Knights, but then Lunuran released his knight which is light years ahead. The death guard is suppose to be dressed in leather armour, hence its lower health and gimp look!

Anyway, since there is very little YT content available for AD (Daz seems to have retired!) I am going to start making promo like videos showing slices of combat and new monsters. As always any feedback or suggestions on the Videos are welcome.

Part 1 - The Wraith 

Blame Xcom2! It has consumed his soul from the looks of things...

Parubaru... these are maps not from Arcane correct? :) No I do not think I played the. 

I've seen playthroughs of those maps. They need to be recompiled with tools from today to have nicer lighting. Would look extra epic. 

bastion/marcher

Yes they are from a time when sunlight was pretty much minlight that cast shadows.

I think you'll find more than just the lighting in those maps is somewhat dated by today's standards though... 

@Kinn, nah you are too modest, the architecture in Marcher (spiral curved staircases anyone!) is still epic and the flow is really good. Lots of brilliant encounter setups, the bell ringing, the SK breaking floor and the final arena fight. It may not have the looks of modern lighting, it certainly has the gameplay IMHO.

Fun Fact : Marcher was one of the original inspirations for AD, the gib system and use of H2 models is the reason they exist in AD! 

When I say they need to its more I would love it if they did hehe. But those are cool maps. Fun to hear how inspiration just triggers and circle through communities. 

Thanks guys :} Of course it's hard to take an objective view of one's own work.

I'm hoping to extrude a little AD-flavoured treat from my nozzle before QExpo '16.