Aliens TC

Aliens TC is a total conversion based on the movie Aliens, created in 1994 by Justin Fisher.

It was the first total conversion and is one of the most famous. In the week following the release of Doom II, there was more discussion in the Doom newsgroups related to Aliens TC than Doom II. The popularity of the Aliens TC even reached outside the Doom community, for instance providing inspiration for the 1998 Dreamworks game Trespasser. Fisher was offered employment by various game developers (including Dreamworks for the team that would later make Trespasser), but declined in order to finish his university degree.

The Aliens TC is noted for its suspenseful atmosphere. The first level is devoid of enemies, a surprising feature considering the fast-paced action of Doom. Later on, however, the players faces the aliens and even gets to use the powerloader from Aliens as a weapon.

Fisher had gotten the idea to create the Aliens TC within his first five minutes of playing Doom in late December 1993, noting the similarity in atmosphere of Doom and the movie. Incidentally, it has later become known that id Software originally planned to base Doom on an Aliens license, but abandoned the idea in the early stages of development in order to retain creative freedom.

There was also an attempt to make a Aliens total conversion mod using the Quake engine, but 20th Century Fox owned the rights and sold them to Sierra Entertainment to make the Aliens versus Predator for the PC, finally released in 1999.

Levels
The original mod was for Doom 1.666 and had to be patched over the game, replacing the second episode The Shores of Hell. It turned out to be an excellent choice, as the music tracks well complemented the levels' atmosphere; especially for E2M2 and E2M6, when the Marines first enter the Atmospheric Processor, and when Ripley returns there to search for Newt, respectively. Fisher later adapted Aliens TC for Doom II.

The load screen retains that of Shores of Hell. A new load screen was among the numerous improvements never implemented, as Fisher had worked on the project for around six months and was sick of it at the end.

Most of the textures are techbase. Fisher also cleverly used hellish textures, colouring them green, which made it look convincingly like wall slime. The background uses Knee Deep in the Dead's misty, mountainous skyline.

E2M5 "Escape from the Atmospheric Processor" was suppose to after E2M2 "Atmospheric Processor". However, Fisher had to shift it so that the secret level would work properly, as E2M5 leads to the secret level in Shores of Hell.

E2M5 and E3M1 are designed for deathmatch, as they have proximity indicators that lower and flash when a player walks by. Most of the levels, however, are generally non-linear with the exception of E2M3 (sealing off the MedLabs and getting to the transmitter).

"Escape from the MedLabs" was split up into E2M4 and E3M1, the later being a bonus level. E3M2 (the Alien Ship) is another bonus level which was made by Fisher's friend Richard Love.

Aliens
The "regular" aliens are based on the Demons and take approximately 2 shotgun shells or 14 bullets to bring down. This was a key reason why AliensTC was difficult, as it took much (scarce) ammunition to kill these common enemies, which could run fast and could do significant melee damage.

Aliens that spit acid use Imps. While no member of the species so in the actual Aliens universe, Fisher said he wanted to add variety.

Aliens that explode and release corrosive acid were made by using a Spectre and exploding barrel, which several reviewers considered very innovative. Consequently, due to the limited damage frames in Doom, there are no regular exploding barrels in the TC. The only clue that an Alien would burst is that it makes no sound.

To implement the hatching eggs that release face huggers, Fisher had the Cacodemon release a Sergeant, not unlike how the Doom II Pain Elemental releases Lost Souls.

The Queen Alien (replacing the Cyberdemon) graphic was a poorly digitized version of a model, as Fisher conceded. While Ripley uses a Power Loader against it in Aliens (1986), in Aliens TC it is much safer and quicker to use guns.

Weapons

 * 1. Fists
 * 1. Power Loader - uses the Chainsaw
 * 2. Pistol
 * 3. Shotgun
 * 4. Pulse Rifle - uses the Chaingun
 * 5. Grenade Launcher - Rocket launcher
 * 6. Smartgun - Plasma Rifle

The Power Loader, while cool looking, was otherwise essentially the Chainsaw. It is too weak to be used against the Queen Alien and is virtually useless if the parameters are set to Fast monsters.

The Pulse Rifle was the most common weapon in Aliens (1986), while the shotgun only makes one appearance, being carried by Corporal Hicks "for close encounters" during the Marine's first incursion in the atmospheric processor. However, the shotgun tends to be the most widely used in Aliens TC due to the availability of shells, and because the Pulse Rifle ammo is too weak against most of the aliens.

The Grenade launcher is underslung on Pulse Rifle, so both weapons are acquired with one pickup. Both also have the same first-person graphic, save for the LED counter which is green to indicate the Pulse Rifle and red for the Grenades. (In the movies, the ammo indicator is located on the side of the gun.)

Fisher describes the Smartgun as a "2 meter electric monster carried by Drake and Vasquez", and has it firing small yellow energy pulses. In the movies, the Smartgun is merely just the squad's machine gun, with its only "electronics" being its limited auto-aiming capability.

Fisher designed Weapon #7 to punish cheaters, so it will simply show images of the Power Loader but not do anything.

Sounds
Fisher took many sounds from the Aliens (1986) film, including doors, weaponry, and explosions.

At the completion/load screen, the pulse rifle gunfire culminated into an explosion of the dropship/APC crash, followed by Hick's "We are leaving!".

"Looks like hits from small arms fire." Sergeant Apone commenting on the bullet holes on the walls.

"Check those corners. Check those corners." Sergeant Apone as the team carefully inspects the premises.

"Remember, short controlled bursts." As the Aliens are breaking into the MedLabs, Corporal D. Hicks reminds the Marines that they don't have much ammo.

"We are leaving!" Cpl D. Hicks, used at the load screen before starting a level.

Other Alien WADs
Orin Flaharty, who would later contribute to the two Memento Mori megawads and Requiem, made four add-on levels for Aliens TC, which were released in mid-1995. This followed the basic storyline of the film, compressed down to four maps. There were also two other less well-known Aliens-themed WADS, AliensDoom (also known as AliensDM) and AliensX. Both of them featured power loaders as enemies (yellow in AliensDM, black in AliensX). AliensDM had a new intro screen and made frequent use of Pvt Hudson's quotes.

The story in AliensDM is that the Colonial Marines are investigating a Weyland-Yutani' planet where the employees have gone rogue with their research on aliens. While the Marines initially beat off an attack by power loaders, the entire team is soon killed, save for you.

The first level in AliensDM is the APC drop site. The second level is a circular/hexagonal map, designed to represent the alien ship; this featured a teleportation bug that made it impossible to finish the game. Most of the regular STAR textures are used, with few modifications. The alien eggs are exploding barrels. The chainsaw has been replaced with a welder (used by Hicks and Ripley to try to rescue Newt), and the BFG9000 is the flamethrower.

AliensX was the least well-developed mod. It was a Vanilla Doom megawad that replaced E1M1 through to E3M9, although the levels were actually already-existing maps that had simply been compiled into a single WAD. AliensX also included several sci-fi themed sprites and sounds taken from other resources - including a Probot from Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back - although these were not specifically matched to the levels.