The Hell mod

The Hell is an unofficial addon/modification for Diablo: Hellfire, created by Mordor and The Hell Team.

The project was started on April 14, 2006 by Mordor, and the first playable public version was released about a year later. Since then, the game has expanded tremendously, attracting more and more people, not only players, but also people who helped in the creation of the mod.

Overview
This is the developer's personal testimonial: "I have always loved this game for its original taste, dark atmosphere, cold steel and blood. By the moment I started creating The Hell, I had been playing Diablo: Hellfire for ten years, and this mod represents all that I ever wanted from this game. This is Diablo's best of the best. Don't be fooled by the simplicity of the game or by its visual similarity to Hellfire. There is more than meets the eye. It's an absolutely new & improved game under the old mask...

I'll put it bluntly: not all Diablo veterans will be able to beat the game on Doom mode. It is the HARDEST Diablo mod ever!"

The hallmark of The Hell is a very serious approach to development. First and foremost, it has concentrated on eliminating most of the initial bugs that Diablo I and Hellfire were originally released with. It also raises the challenge considerably, gives much more variety (monsters, items, spells, boss monsters, unique items, item&mdash;monster & environment colors), improves the overall difficulty balance of the game, improves the monster AI, introduces new character animations, increases the replay value, and gives full support for Multiplayer experience through a free program called Hamachi.

The developers are also working on The Hell 2, which is a project to rewrite the game code, and thereby make a new program that uses the same game data. Just like what OpenTTD did to transport Tycoon Deluxe, except it will not be GPLed. This will make it a lot easier to make completely new features, like raising the resolution and making IP based multiplayer.

The mod alters nearly every mechanic of the game, while (in general) following the similar plotline. Changes include alterations to the classes, most (if not all) monsters, items, and levels. Random unique boss monsters will appear on each level, sometimes even several in the same area. The developers have recently expanded the list of base items, loot tables, and drop rates available in the game and look forward to many more making an appearance in future patches. Almost all unique items have been balanced with pros and cons. Authors have removed or updated many prefix/suffix combos, some of which are even on par with uniques.

The core idea is that each level is supposed to be conquered with considerable effort. To succeed, the player(s) will have to clear every corner of every level, squeeze every bit of potential from their gear, use tricks and non-trivial tactics to avoid being cornered in a fight that is otherwise impossible to win.

One of the most wanted features for this game that was added was that the Search spell is now activated automatically when the Auto-Map is ON. New spell additions include; the Hellfire spell that deals physical damage to monsters immune to magic, Arcane Nova, Fury, and Shocking Blast, just to name a few. Some spells even inflict knockback now, which is really useful in some situations.

Hundreds of new color palettes were developed for each area of the game. For the first time, you will be able to walk through Tristram in the morning, noon, and dusk. Some items have been recolored, and others completely replaced with new graphics. There are two new graphic add-ons, and additional high quality music as well.

Features
Some of the core changes to Hellfire are:
 * Challenge factor was raised considerably
 * Over 500 named monsters
 * Many new base items with room for thousands more
 * New and adjusted unique items
 * New and adjusted item prefixes and suffixes
 * New and adjusted spells
 * Hundreds of new and improved palettes for items, bosses, and environment
 * Completely revamped experience gain
 * Improved monster AI
 * Additional character classes
 * Optional music add-on
 * Unlimited item storage
 * Improved PvM and PvP balance
 * Bug fixes
 * Full support for multi-player experience through Hamachi
 * Increased replay value

The mod's homepage is quite user friendly; it features five different languages and contains additional downloadable material. There are two new graphics add-ons, additional high quality music and a useful clicker program. The Bard and the Barbarian from the original Hellfire have become the Assassin and the Gladiator. The Gladiator's animation is completed and it introduces dual wielding graphics to the game, and so does the Assassin's as well. Another new feature of the mod is "Gillian the Stasher," who provides the player(s) with unlimited storage of valuable items. A very useful Guide section is also available on the mod's website for the starters. This mod is reportedly much harder than the original game, so it is recommended to consult this guide, and the project's forums too.

Key features like restriction to Horror difficulty below clvl 30+, and Purgatory difficulty below clvl 40+ characters help in the balance, and to avoid frustrating players. Gear-and-gold loss upon death has also been removed. The rate at which the characters gain experience has been fine tuned as well. As this is a mod, you cannot import existing Hellfire characters into The Hell. Starting from scratch is a daunting task, but at the rate of character growth, you will have time to get accustomed to the tactics and the gear necessary to survive.

One of the most appealing features of this mod is the ongoing effort to implement all of the original Diablo 1.09 patch fixes into the game, as Sierra forgot to do this. Bug reports and suggestions are of utmost importance in the polishing of this mod. This mod carries on the legacy of some notable Diablo: Hellfire mods from earlier in the game’s history. Although they are not supported anymore and do not have updates, some of their great features and ideas live on in The Hell. Today, this is the only mod still full of life in the world of the original Diablo: Hellfire.

This game has a full support for multi-player with the help of a free independent program called Hamachi. Documentation on how to set up and use it is available on the website. Of course, if you want to play with a friend, you can still connect two PCs to each other via a null modem.

Monsters
You will most likely not be able to beat the game in your first attempt. Instead, you will be required to conquer every area. It is recommended playing all three difficulty levels one by one. Do not start playing on the next difficulty level unless you have finished the previous one, as this will prove way too challenging, if not impossible. Forget all you have learned in previous Diablo/Hellfire mods, this one is different. Horror difficulty is basically the entry level to get you familiar with the tactics necessary to succeed and give you a taste of what is to come. The real experience begins from Purgatory onward. The game is balanced to reach the most fun on 'Doom' mode, so don't quit after beating the game on Horror difficulty, as it was only the beginning. Playing on Doom mode will never be dull or easy, because no matter how high your level is or how good your equipment is, you will always die quickly with a lapse in concentration.

This game is extremely hard, do not overestimate yourself as you venture deeper into the labyrinth, some of those monsters are very unforgiving. While single-player allows you to take enemies one by one and reload your game in case of failure, multi-player absolutely requires cooperation. Playing The Hell in multi-player alone will be almost impossible sometimes.

There is quite a number of things you should know before starting to play this game. You can check the 'Guide' section on the webpage for this info. If you've got questions, you can ask them on the TH forum. You will find a lot of useful information there. The homepage and documentation of The Hell are very user friendly, and have five languages available on their website, and three in their readme, with plans for other languages as well.

New Monsters

 * Tomb Slave
 * Grave Digger
 * Revived/Revived (Archer)

Changed Monsters

 * Ghoul
 * Skeleton/Skeleton (Archer)
 * Fallen One
 * Hork Spawn
 * Scavenger
 * Overlord
 * Lich
 * Spider Lord
 * Plague Eater
 * Dark One
 * Zombie
 * Corpse Bow