The Hell
v1.67+

Diablo Hellfire mod + addon, done by Mordor & TH Team

--------------------------------------
ABOUT THIS GAME:
--------------------------------------

I've been playing Diablo since September 25, 1998, on a regular basis. I have always loved this game for its original taste: dark atmosphere, cold steel and blood. In July 1999 I came across Hellfire, which had more features. Yet, it kept me wanting to fix 'this and that'. I didn't know how to modify game data at those times, and simply enjoyed the game and kept playing from time to time...

Only in March 2006 did I start searching Internet for the data about Hellfire. So, there it began. This modification was started on April 14, 2006. It is based on vanilla Hellfire 1.01 and is regularly updated.

This game has the purpose of raising challenge to the maximum, giving more variety (monster types, items, spells, bosses, unique items), providing more randomness (monster generation on levels, monster stats, varying mob sizes and bosses, AC on items, level colouring, drops, uniques with greatly varying stats, etc.) and making the Multiplayer experience fully functional. And, most importantly, this game has one main goal: to give maximum pleasure from playing the game.

I encourage you to visit TheHell's forums  ->>>  http://DiabloTheHell.freeforums.org  <<<-  You'll find a lot of useful stuff there.

At the moment we are working on giving Assassin improved GFX. Gladiator's animation has been finished already. Be sure to check back regularly for updates.

Make sure to register on The Hell forum. You will find TONS of useful information there! And also you can make friends with other players and create parties for cooperative playing.

Some claim The Hell to be the best of Diablo Hellfire mods. Give it a try and, perhaps, you will think the same.

--------------------------------------
INSTALLATION:
--------------------------------------

When downloading the game, be sure to check the comments under the link. It gives crucial information about its requirements. Sometimes a full release is THE new version and patch is old. And sometimes a patch *requires* full release pre-installed. Watch release dates and you won't get lost.

Before installing, make a backup of the following files (if you install into your Hellfire folder):
- Standard.snp
- Storm.dll
- SmackW32.dll

Unpack ALL the contents to your Hellfire* directory (or more preferrably, into a copy of your Hellfire folder) and start the executable (TheHell.exe);

Don't worry - it won't replace/or overwrite any of your Hellfire savegames;

* Note: for this game to work, you'll need Hellfire pre-installed on your PC;

For 'The Hell' to work properly, these files are needed:

 The Hell ReadMe.txt   <-   the one you're reading now :)
 TH.exe
 Hell.dll
 HellDF.mor
 HellMSG.ini
 PlugUlmo.dll
 PlugUlmo.ini
 StashTH.dll
 Storm.dll
 SmackW32.dll
 Standard.snp
 TheHell.exe  (the executable file)

To be able to use Gillian's services (Stash) you must run 'TheHell.exe' instead 'TH.exe'. Get it? Do NOT use this program to import equipment from original Hellfire (or from other mods). I guarantee you will encounter severe bugs and/or crashes (because data won't match). I recommend that you use it only if you play The Hell in its separate directory (e.g., D:\Games\TheHell). 

To enjoy modified music theme of The Hell place the following file in your The Hell directory:

 HellMF.mpq (~550MB)

I realise it's quite big, so I made downloading it optional. Running TH without this MPQ file will make the game use Hellfire original music. Note: music addon is actually better be downloaded from Rlyeh's alternative downloads section (download mirror #1), because it supports download resume there (useful if you have a download manager).

In case you don't like the updated music theme, you can simply rename this file to something else, and the game will again use original Hellfire music.

To make the game use additional GFX for Gladiator and Assassin place the following files in your The Hell directory:

 thglad.mor
 thassa.mor

I realise they're quite big, too. Thus, they're made optional also. Running TH without these files will make the game use Hellfire default settings for these classes.

When you download and install new TH release, in order to not to run into glitches and/or game crashes, you will have to start new Singleplayer game. Remember this, as this game is frequently updated.

Single-Player Savegame files are stored in your TheHell directory under names 'hellsp_#.hsv'. Multiplayer Savegame files are stored in your 'Windows' directory (default root is C:\Windows) under names 'hellmp_x.drv' (they have 'hidden' attribute). I advise making backups of your save files from time to time. Be aware that trying to import savegame files from Hellfire (or other mods) can cause the game to lock up or become unable to start with crashing from the game after enetering character selection menu. In case you're changing your PC, you'll have to set your new PC network name to what your previous had, this is required to let the transferred multiplayer savegame files become functional on your new PC.

Where to check your PC network name? Here's 'how to':
1. Go to 'My computer'
2. Right click, select 'Properties'
3. Hit 'Computer name' tab
4. There you'll see the name in a small window..
5. Also, click 'change' button and it will open another window with the PC name.
I don't remember which one *exactly* influences multiplayer savegame functionality, but I know for sure that setting both names to what they were on the previous PC brings the desired result.

There is no longer need for a 'command.txt' file, and any parameters in such a file will not be used.

Known problems with installation and startup:

Q: the game starts, but after creating the character and trying to enter the game it crashes with the Data file error. What's wrong?
A: make sure you have copied the following MPQ files from your Hellfire CD to your The Hell folder: DIABDAT.MPQ, HELLFIRE.MPQ, HFMONK.MPQ

Q: I cannot setup my system settings correctly to play online. What to do?
A: Download and follow the steps in Hamachi Setup Guide (you can download it from The Hell's homepage, Downloads section)

If there are other problems, ask your question on TH forum (http://diablothehell.freeforums.org)

------------------------------------
WARNING SECTION:
------------------------------------

I recommend playing all 3 difficulty levels one by one. Don't start playing at next difficulty level unless you have finished previous one: not only this will prove way too challenging (or, most likely, impossible) but also will spoil your pleasure from playing. Forget all you've learnt in previous Diablo/Hellfire games. This one is different. Don't make the mistake of playing on Horror difficulty and then stop. Horror dificlulty is basically to get you familiar with this game and give you a taste of it. Real game begins from Purgatory. The game is balanced to reach most fun on 'Doom' mode, so don't quit after beating the game on Horror difficulty (it's only the beginning). Actually, playing on Doom mode will never be dull or easy, because no matter how high is your level or how good is your equipment, you'll always die quickly if you lose attention.

Again, I'm going to repeat it: this game IS hard. Don't overestimate yourself as you venture deeper into the dungeons. Some of those monsters are VERY unforgiving. While Single-Player allows you to take enemies by one and reload in case of failure, Multi-Player mode almost REQUIRES cooperation. Playing TH in MP alone will be almost impossible sometimes. You've been warned.

In Single-player, unique items that you got from doing the quests will morph into useless scrap metal when you restart the game. Don't be surprised when that happens. This might get fixed if I find a way to fix that. And by the way, I received several reports that if you give your quest items to Gillian before restarting the items will not morph. I didn't check that myself, but you might want to try this trick.

---------------------------------
RECOMMENDATIONS:
---------------------------------

Study 'The Hell Guide' at http://www.TheHell.narod.ru (the latest versions of the Guide can be found on Forum only)
If you read nothing else, read the Guide. It will make the difference.
There are quite a number of things you should know before starting the game. Read the Guide.

---------------------------------
CHANGES:
---------------------------------

See 'TH Changes Log.txt'

--------------------------------
MULTIPLAYER:
--------------------------------

This game has a full support for multiplayer. With its key features, like restriction to Horror difficulty for clvl 30+ characters and Purgatory difficulty for clvl 40+ players, not losing your gear upon dying, etc.

There is a multiplayer network for The Hell in Internet. We use Hamachi program (don't worry, it's free).

You can download it from: http://www.hamachi.cc/download/list.php, or better yet, use the method described below.

I personally recommend using Hamachi vesion 1.0.1.5. You can get it straight on TH site, in Downloads section.

Warning: if you use any other version of Hamachi other than 1.0.1.5, we don't guarantee that you will be able to play with others.

Check 'The Hell over Hamachi Setup Guide.pdf' file for details on setting up for multiplayer game over Internet.

When in Hamachi you can join the existing network:
Login to network: 	thehell01*
Password: 		mordor*

*type in exactly, Hamachi is case-sensitive.

There are other networks, of course. Make sure to check threads on our forum about playing online. If you've run into complications, this will probably help you.

Yes, you can play on Kali (..another program of that sort..), but since I don't play on it myself yet, I can't tell you how to set up the game for playing on it. I'd appreciate any info on this though...

Note: you can assign F9-F12 hotkeys to your desired quick commands by editing 'HellMSG.ini' file.

Of course, if you want to play with a friend of yours, you can play by directly connecting your PCs to each other. Direct connection works, too. 

--------------------------------
HOTKEYS:
--------------------------------

Most of the (useful) spells are hotkeyed to allow switching between them instantly when playing. You don't even need the speedbook anymore.
Here is the list of all these spells:

Q - Teleport
W - Fire Wall
E - Lightning Wall
R - Fire Nova
T - Lightning Nova
Y - Arcane Nova
U - Holy Nova
O - Town portal
A - Fiery blast
S - Lightning ball
D - Arcane Star
F - Stone Curse
G - Golem
H - Holy Bolt
J - Flash
K - Inferno
L - Lightning
X - Hellfire
B - Bone Spirit
N - Flame Ring
M - Lightning Ring

--------------------------------
CREDITS:
--------------------------------

Of course, there are many people who help me (either personally or by making use of their programs/utilities) in creating this game. Here they are (in no particular order):

Zakarun <- I started out with his ModMaker;
Varaya & Khan, Charlie Bevels <- mod workshop, very helpful;
Jarulf <- Diablo & Hellfire Guide (by the way, you can download it from TH website);
Ulmo <- Stash possibility and some dungeon modding;
Arthurdent <- countless gfx and dungeon architecture elements modified with his TDG utility;
Uhologa <- I also use his program CelMaker 1.7 sometimes;
San40 <- helping out with game design (visuals), moderating TH Forums, launching 2nd generation TH website, creating TH Autorun and providing torrent mirrors of TheHell Download section (mirror #2);
Sh4rk, Gladoo <- creating additional Gladiator GFX and various other help with the game;
Unexpect3D <- various help with the game, 'Hell.dll' file bug fix, english language support patch (for those who have Hellfire preinstalled on a different language);
ychiju <- this guy has given me advice on how to add more bosses to the game, if you're overwhelmed by endless stream of bosses in TH, blame him! ;P
Fresh Meat, Zog-Zog <- feedback, testing, co-oping, useful thoughts and suggestions;
Alex Prusikov <- for helping with launching The Hell mod website;
My girlfriend <- she played a lot of The Hell mod back then when the process was awfully imbalanced, item and affix morphing occured in every new release and nobody else played my mod (some woman, huh? :) );
Ted Powell, Noktis, Labiri, Zamal, Zenda <- I took some nice ideas from these guys' mods;
Rlyeh <- provide mirror for TheHell downloads (mirror #1) and without him we wouldn't be able to upload that big music file;
All participants of The Hell forum;
I've also witnessed people spreading word about TH on various boards - thank you guys. It's a pleasure to stumble on such things.
And, of course, special thanks to the Diablo creators - to the guys who actually created original Diablo.
All others not mentioned here, who help the development of this game. Don't be upset if you're not in the list. Maybe I forgot about you? Remind me!!!

See also credits in-game.

--------------------------------

If you like this game, give us bug reports and suggestions. It helps to keep making this game better. If you do it, though, please keep it short and to the point. Explain what happened (if it's a bug report), or what you didn't like and what you suggest instead. If you find something odd about the game, report it, too. Such feedback is very helpful in getting rid of small problems.

You want to help me mod this game? Contact me then! You can always find me on TH forum. Those who are willing to help, are always welcome.

E-mail here: pua_mordor@mail.ru or IM me at ICQ#302563839 (actually, better write on forum cause I'm usually offline in the messenger and my e-mail won't allow me to send letters as of late)

Feel free to contact me, it's a game in development.

Have fun!

...and check for updates regularly!!

By the way, if you don't enjoy playing TH, I can create a Hellfire mod for you, it will be exactly what YOU want.

	- Rustam Bankurov, a.k.a. Mordor