Shotgun Frenzy

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Shotgun Frenzy
Title screen
Author Sam Prebble
Ports Skulltag, Zandronum
IWAD Doom II
Year 2009
Link Zandronum forum thread

Shotgun Frenzy is a multiplayer mod for Doom II and the Skulltag and Zandronum source ports, originally created by Sam Prebble (wadaholic). It contains a total of 12 levels, and was originally unveiled to the public in May of 2009. Shotgun Frenzy attempts to blend the invasion style of gameplay then popular on Skulltag with elements more typically associated with real-time strategy video games. It features a number of radical changes to the gameplay to reflect this, notably the ability to build and upgrade a base of operations, research new technologies, purchase new weapons and deploy defensive turrets or allies on the battlefield. The main objective of the game is defending the team's core located in its base from multiple attacks by waves of demons of increasing difficulty.

Shotgun Frenzy received a number of updates and enhancements over the years, with the last version by wadaholic being 1.4, released on September 3, 2012. Afterwards, the mod has continued to be maintained by members of the Zandronum community, with the latest version being Shotgun Frenzy Plus 1.7, as of May 2023.

Content[edit]

Gameplay[edit]

Shotgun Frenzy is meant to be played in a cooperative setting and thus maintains a strong focus on team play and coordination. Generally speaking, the main objective of each map consists of defending the core located at the heart of the marines' base. The demons will begin attacking in waves, but at least initially, these waves appear far away from the players' headquarters. In between the headquarters and the main demon spawn points are three contested sectors. These are initially under control of the players' team and free of any opposition, but they are vulnerable to early and sustained attacks. If the demons manage to destroy the batteries controlling each of these sectors, then the main headquarters will turn vulnerable and the task of defending its core will become that much more arduous. If the core is destroyed, the match is lost.

In order to properly defeat the demonic hordes, there are several unique gameplay elements at play. As mentioned, there is a strong influence by real-time strategy video games, and this is emphasized by the presence of a base of operations where new weapons may be purchased, new technology researched, and vehicles or stationary turrets procured to organize better lines of defense against the demons. This requires money, which is shared by all team members and is obtained by killing monsters. A commander may be chosen to oversee the base, construct new buildings and choose new technologies to research and deploy.

There are two possible ways to win a match. The first is the defensive approach to defeat all the enemies of the map, which will be periodically spawned by multiple waves, and so will only be depleted once all waves have successfully spawned in, just like a traditional invasion match. A second way is to attack the demons' home turf itself, which is harder but allows players the opportunity to destroy the demons' own core, making their war effort collapse at once if the daring raids are successful. It is also possible to build a nuclear silo to destroy the demons' base that way, but if doing so, the demons will launch an all-out attack on the silo.

The mod is split into three unique game modes. In Combat Frenzy, no buildings can be built as the team already starts with a series of pre-built structures providing supplies and technologies, with the objective to defend the three sectors from the demon invasions. In Survival Defense, there are no sectors and instead the players have to defend a vulnerable base and its core from demons attacking from all sides. Finally, in the eponymous Shotgun Frenzy mode, a player is picked as a commander who is tasked with building structures and coordinating the research and strategy of the team, and as it is played on larger maps, it also allows the deployment of heavy vehicles.

Custom monsters[edit]

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Custom weapons and items[edit]

Custom objects[edit]

External links[edit]