Hello there!
This is a (not-so) quick update. The 3rd release of CHP is nearly complete, just gotta work out some of the final touches. There's quite a lot to talk about aside from the addition of all of the optional tier enemies and the EX bosses, which puts the total amount of enemies in this add-on to well over 3000, all coded manually (totally hasn't taken hundreds of hours).
#1 - Custom Spawns
I've mentioned the idea of having custom spawns before, and I have it fully implemented and fully working! It works very similarly to the CH custom difficulty add-on, with you being able to set different numeric values for each multi-tier combination. There are 225 different values to set, 15 tiers * 15 secondary tiers. As of right now with 225 values, it is a lot of work changing values for a customized experience. That's why I've also included a whole bunch of pre-made custom spawn tables, so you can easily switch the game up.
For example, the "Insanity Mode" option in the current release has been replaced with a custom spawn preset that makes ridiculous spawns more common. There's also a preset that makes the spawns easier for casual play, a preset without any secondary tiers in case you want to experience the original CH monster roster, a preset for Black/White bosses only, challenge presets that spawn only green -> white EX secondary tiers, a preset for vanilla doom, a preset for a CH knockoff, a fireblu based preset, and a true random preset. There's so many possibilities with custom spawns, that I think this is the key to CH's excellence.
But unlike the CH custom difficulty add-on, the downside is that you cannot disable a specific enemy, you must disable the entire multi-tier combo. (otherwise there would be over 3000 options instead) One thing that's changed about spawns in general since the last update, is the consistency of spawn rates between different base enemies. For instance, a Green Zombie used to have different odds for a zombie than a Green Caco had for cacodemons, but now, all multi-tier combos have the exact same odds across each base enemy, which was a very beneficial change in the making of custom spawns.
I would like to expand on the custom spawns for a future release to see if I could make an advanced editor that alters entire tiers and secondary tiers at once, options that group the smaller options together, but I'm not even sure if that's within the realm of possibility.
#2 - The EX Bosses
The EX Bosses are back, and they'll give you more of a beating than ever before. Each of the 10 EX bosses return, most of them altered in some way (especially Black Hell Knight EX and Black Arachno EX). Black Arachno EX is no longer a basic arachnotron sprite covered in tar and a purple spinkle, and Black Hell Knight EX is now a dual-wielding menace with updated sprites, and that's just 1% of the overall enemy changes for this update. Just know that with EX bosses, mixed with EX secondary tiers, you can get a multi-EX boss, a Black EX Black Imp EX if you will. Whoever beats these guys without telefrags or cheese deserves an award.
There will also be 6 new EX bosses made by me included in the 3rd release. 5 of them are already made and ready, the last one is planned and will be made soon. Just go ahead and take a guess >:)
#3 - Other nonsensical changes
I could go on and on about so many minor changes in this add-on over the past few months, they all sort of add up to one massive change. For starters, the brown secondary tier no longer resurrects enemies. I've been playtesting on slaughtermaps, and it is pure nightmare fuel the seas of endless enemies that get back up like nothing ever happened. Brown secondary enemies would snap their fingers and revive 20 enemies, and it ended up being too ridiculous, even for this add-on. So now, they do something different instead. Abyss secondary tier still resurrects enemies, though it's much less than brown ever did.
The effects from abyss and cyan enemies now have a timer displayed indicating how many seconds of slowness/reversed controls you have left. Additionally, there is a limit on how long you can be affected that caps at 20 seconds. I had to add this after a loser Abyss Black Chaingunner EX reversed my controls FOR AN HOUR! It rarely goes above a minute!
I've also redone the secondary tier translations for Gray, Fireblu, Blue, Purple, Black, and White (which took waaaay longer than you might think). Gray secondary tier is more gray-tinted to distinguish them between Black/White. Fireblu is now actually Fireblu, Blue is not Teal, and Purple, Black, and White are generally brighter.
When's the next release?
I'm very excited to get the next release out, but there are still things to finish up before that happens. You can expect the next release to be during early April at the earliest, but it should be ready in no more than a month. This 3rd release is extra special, because it marks the TRUE completion of this year-long project I've worked tirelessly on. EVERY SINGLE ENEMY in CH enemy will be fully converted, rebalanced, polished, and most importantly, will have 14 siblings that will cause you agony.
Then, the only thing left to do are the EX bosses. It's already came so soon, after a few years of CH drought. Thank you for your time, I hope you look forward to the completed add-on as much as I do.
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