Diablo: The Hell

by Mordor & TH Team

Manual for version 1.110

STUDY THIS GUIDE THOROUGHLY

IT PROVIDES CRUCIAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE GAME

IF YOU SKIP READING, YOU CAN RUN INTO TROUBLE

YOU'VE BEEN WARNED

About the game

I've been playing Diablo since September 25, 1998 (my birth date, by the way). I have always loved this game for its unique taste: dark atmosphere, cold steel, Satanism and blood. In July 1999 I came across Hellfire, which had more features. Yet, it kept me wanting to fix a lot of things. I didn't know how to modify the game back then, and simply enjoyed the game and kept playing from time to time...

Only in March 2006 did I start searching Internet for any clues on modifying 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 forums at  http://DiabloTheHell.freeforums.org

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.

Remarks

Koven, France:

The experience of The Hell is really what I was expecting from Diablo. I think I can say without exaggeration that this mod is really a brand new game, it's not just some modification to improve the game. It sets up a whole new environment with a gloomy and dreadful atmosphere. I'm still enjoying this mod after many months of intensive playing, it has a great replay value. Last but not least, the mod is regularly updated and keeps on improving. Highly recommended for all Diablo players.

Archer, Hungary:

I came across this mod after the Diablo 3 announcement was made. It is nearly unbelievable to see this 12 years old game still in development. It tells something about Blizzard's quality work and the enthusiasm of the mod creators. I was especially pleased to see that it is concentrated on expanding and polishing the game world near perfection. Diablo deserves this mod very much and it makes the game complete. The Hell presents the player with a mighty real challenge. It suits my cautious playing style extremely well. Highly recommended for any veterans of this elderly game, it will keep you occupied for a very long time. Prepare yourself: even starting the game feels awesome!

adriaan_s, The Netherlands:

This mod transforms Diablo from an old hack and slash fest into a brand-new challenging tactical game. The game's fantastic atmosphere seems even darker because death is always close by, lurking just behind the next door, waiting for you to slip up just a couple of seconds. Add to that a load of new content and a lot of bugfixes - and you have a mod that grabs your attention and doesn't let go.

MuRRe:

You can't live with it, you can't live without it. If you haven't tried it, even if you never played Diablo before you just HAVE TO TRY IT cause with dedication put into The Hell the reward is amazing. Thanks for making an "old" game new.

D.K. aka Sduibek, USA:

I first played Diablo in 1997, shortly after it was released. Back then this game was wicked cool... dark atmosphere, gripping gameplay and storyline, and the addictive urge to continually find better equipment and spells. The sound effects and music were not only good but added to the gameplay perfectly. I have played vanilla D1 off and on over the years, and when I burned out on Diablo II and got bored of it, I went back to Diablo 1 -- eventually stumbling upon (and playing) various mods -- Abysmal, Hellfire Fixed, The Dark, Sin Wars, and others. Some of these mods were very good, but in my opinion none of them really "got it".  The only way to really improve upon the original game would be to add more dark, gothic, gruesome atmosphere, and more of the randomized features that made/make Diablo so addictively replayable. Also, a high priority in my book is making SinglePlayer more fun to play -- as a modder you can't just assume that everyone is going to play MP. The Hell does exactly that. Monsters have been modified to have different sounds, animations, and color palettes - all of which are really cool and most of which give things a darker feel as well. Forget about the ridiculous squeaks and squeals of Hellfire. You will meet Unique ("boss") monsters on every dungeon level , sometimes even 3 or more per level. This is something that made Diablo II really fun for me to play and it's simply awesome to have that feature in TH. Player statistics' functionality has also changed... think hard before you invest points into Strength, Magic, Dexterity or Vitality - as each has a vital role and you may regret making hasty decisions. Even Paladins and Gladiators need Magic- to be able to use Town Portal, Identify, Fury and other necessary spells or items. SinglePlayer quest areas are larger and/or redesigned, more difficult, randomized, and some even vary based on Difficulty level and character class! There are literally hundreds of "Boss" monsters, unique items, color palettes, and base item types, making each game very different from the next -- when Blizzard was envisioning this kind of constantly changing, unique and endless gameplay;  this is no doubt exactly what they had in mind, if not better.

All of this and much, much more is what The Hell offers. Whether you've never played any game in the Diablo series, or you're a hardcore Diablo or Diablo II veteran, you've got to check out this mod. You won't be disappointed!

Xeratyl, Germany:

I started to play Diablo when it was released in 1997. At that time it was my first RPG and soon it was one of my favourite games. I liked especially the dark atmosphere, the ability to build characters and of course the long term playability. I played it until Diablo 2 came out. Then I switched because I wanted a new experience. At first I was a bit disappointed of Diablo 2 because it lacks the atmosphere Diablo 1 had and it is also a little less violent. Despite that I played it several years until I got bored of Diablo and continued playing other RP games. Some months ago I decided to start playing old games again, including Diablo. I wanted a fresh new challenge and started to look for some difficult mods. Then I found The Hell. I think it was just the right mod I was looking for! Many new monsters with improved AI, new items, new affixes, a lot of bugfixes including the content of Hellfire, more balanced classes and at the same time keeping the original gameplay features of vanilla Diablo. I think it is certainly one of the best mods for Diablo, which are still in development. Thank you Mordor for your hard work. This mod makes the game look in a fresh new way.  So for everybody who wants to play Diablo with an improved challenge again, try out The Hell and you won’t be disappointed!

Hextrandox (Troy), Canada:

This mod is immensely fun, involves you more into it, and is actually more real (to me). I can only find one word to describe this mod: GODLIKE.

Arphen:

Great game. But my wife hates you now since I spend most of my free time with this mod.

More remarks in this forum thread:

http://diablothehell.freeforums.org/remarks-on-the-game-t136.html

Installation

Get the newest version of Diablo: The Hell on official TH site.

The contents of TH Full release are these (check if all of them are present):

 Diablo_TheHell_Readme.pdf   <-   the one you're reading now

TH.exe

 TH.dll

 THdata.mor

THpatch.mor

 HellMSG.ini

 PlugUlmo.dll

 PlugUlmo.ini

 StashTH.dll

 Storm.dll

 SmackW32.dll

 Standard.snp

TheHell.exe  (the executable file)

 Fix-colors-in-Windows7.rar (unpack and apply ONLY if you play on Windows 7 and have color distortion)

Unpack ALL the contents to your Hellfire* directory (or more preferably, into a copy of your Hellfire folder).

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

* Note: it is recommended to have Hellfire pre-installed, however TH should be able to operate if installed over Diablo (any version/any localization) as well;

For 'The Hell' to work properly, this file from original Diablo CD required only:  DIABDAT.MPQ

Yes, only one file required. And it should have a size of approximately 493MB. Without this file in The Hell folder the game will NOT work.

To be able to use Gillian's services (Stash) you must run 'TheHell.exe' (not '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).

Additional content

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

 THmusic.mor (~1,9 GB)

I realize it's quite big, so I made downloading it optional. Running TH without this MPQ file will make the game use Hellfire original music.

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. But be aware that several areas will be mute without this expansion.

What’s new in this music? Well, stereo quality (the original was in mono), better quality, more music, support for randomized selection of tracks for a location, etc.

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

thglad.mor

 thassa.mor (works, but unfinished)

I realize 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.

Warning section

It’s imperative to check TH’s official website (http://www.diablothehell.narod.ru) or TH’s page on ModDB (http://www.moddb.com/mods/diablo-the-hell) from time to time (at least once a month). We release new versions often and each of them brings either something new or fixes some bugs, or merely improves the balance.

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 TheHell directory under names 'hellsp_#.hsv'.

Multiplayer Savegame files are stored in TheHell directory under names 'hellmp_#.drv' (they had 'hidden' attribute before version 1.82d).

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 entering character selection menu.

Warning: if you don't want to lose all your stash items when you're doing backup/reinstalling OS/formatting harddrive, backup your whole The Hell directory.

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

F.A.Q.

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 file from your Diablo CD to your TheHell directory: DIABDAT.MPQ (OR make sure your Diablo CD is in your CD/DVD/BD drive) and make sure you installed The Hell the way it’s meant to be installed. There are installation instructions, given on downloads page of TH’s official website. Also, make sure that you install Full Release FIRST, and Patch – SECOND.

Q: Will I be able to play my old Diablo/Hellfire characters after I upgrade to The Hell?

A: No. These games are too different. And if you decide to play with savegame files, you might end up with the game locked up. You are warned.

Q: Will I be able to play my old The Hell characters after I upgrade to the newer version of The Hell?

A: Yes.

Q: Why did you change life- and mana orb colors?

A: The original colors started to look goofy after I changed level palettes to make the atmosphere more dark and gritty. Yes, I’m one of those guys who really hates Diablo 3’s cartoony looks and wants to keep as close to realistic looks as possible. Blood and Horror FTW!

Q: I started playing Multiplayer on my own but it’s just too hard.

A: Don’t underestimate Multiplayer mode. If you know you will play alone, go for Singleplayer mode. It’s balanced for solo play. Whereas, Multiplayer mode is balanced for cooperative play (2-3 players, optimal). If you still want to play MP on your own, keep in mind that sometimes it will be VERY hard there.

Q: I cannot setup my system settings correctly to play online. What to do?

A: Read this thread: http://diablothehell.freeforums.org/how-to-get-online-easy-fast-vista-included-t332.html, and do everything as it says.

A2 (for Hamachi): 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.

Q: I cannot enter Crypt in multiplayer. What to do?

A: Just step on that grave and it will open (in multiplayer mode you do NOT need crypt map for it to open).

Q: I’m on Windows 7 and I’m experiencing messed up colors when playing. What to do?

A: Kill ‘explorer’ process after you’ve started The Hell (Alt+Tab back to desktop to do this).

A2: Remove desktop picture, and set a solid color there. Also, leave desktop color configuration window open as you’re starting The Hell. This might help.

A3: Apply special hacks from TH installation pack.

Q: Some hotkeys don’t work for me (B, S, etc.) Is it me or is it how it’s meant to be?

A: Keys are used to quick-select spells in the heat of combat. Keys that are used for spells, are not available for bringing up certain menus as before. See ‘Hotkeys’ section in this document for more info.

Q: Are there any online tutorials/guides for The Hell?

A: Yes. Check out or regularly updated Guide (http://diablothehell.freeforums.org/th-guide-t9.html).

Q: Are there any walkthroughs for The Hell on YouTube?

A: Yes, plenty, in fact. Search for something like ‘Diablo The Hell playthrough’ and you’ll get lost in that variety.

Q: I have a dual-monitor system and I cannot start The Hell (it crahes). What to do?

A: The game engine doesn’t like dual monitor systems. Disable 2^nd monitor before running the game.

By the way, we have a F.A.Q. topic on our board, you might want to check it as well.

Recommendations

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 difficulty is basically to get you started with this game and give you a taste of it. Real game begins on 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 your level is or how good your equipment is, 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.

Friendly Fire between players is always active for ranged attacks (this is meant to be fixed ASAP). Until fixed, avoid spamming these AoE spells and use tactics when coop’ing (e.g., use Fire Blast instead of Fire Nova or Ball Lightning instead of Lightning Nova). Just try not to hit your teammates.

The game has a flawed networking and quite often it results in bad synchronization between players. TH team will fix this issue in future.

Study The Hell Guide (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.

Just read the Guide. Also read forums, it really helps.

Don’t just jump into the game. Wait, and study documentation.

Changes made

These are general features of The Hell:

+ Increased / revised maximum character attributes;
+ Character life and mana regeneration, with speed rate determined by Vitality and Magic;
+ Life and mana potion consumption reduced strongly;
+ Different class builds;
+ Endless stream of new base items;
+ New, better unique items (approximately 500 uniques). All of them have unique images;
+ New monsters;
+ More monsters;
+ Much more unique monsters (bosses): over 450;
+ Much better coloring of bosses;
+ Dynamic colors for levels, some items and some monsters in abundance: over 1000 palettes;
+ New spells and modified old ones;
+ Dual wielding characters with animation support for it;
+ High quality music expansion;
+ Numerous bugfixes of original game;
+ Greatly improved difficulty balance;
+ Dangerous traps, burning crosses and exploding barrels;
+ Well balanced PvP (we’re working on it…);
+ New and expanded AI's for monsters;
+ New shrines (there are no shrines with negatives effects now);
+ No monsters damage your hitpoints (like Black Death did in Diablo);
+ Safer multiplayer (items are not dropped at death);
+ Weather changes in Tristram (noon, evening, dawn, night, dusk, etc.);
+ Storyline changes;
+ Now there are uberbosses in the game, waiting for you to challenge them;
+ New item effects (affixes);
+ Increased character improvement potential;
+ Modified quests and quest rewards, and quest maps (some vary depending on difficulty mode);
+ Expanded item flip animations and sounds;
+ New co-op techniques;
+ Various architecture modifications;
+ New and modified dungeon objects;
+ Full support for multiplayer through Hamachi networks, LAN or modem (no Battle.net of course);
+ Built-in english language support;
+ New soundsets for some monsters;
+ Gillian now provides specific service: she is a stasher, she keeps your items. And you can exchange these items between your other characters;
+ Some Hellfire monsters had their animations fixed;
+ Fixed player animations;

+ Fixed duping bug;

and many more features that I will never remember.  See ‘THChangesLog.txt’ for details.

On Multiplayer

This game has full support for multiplayer. With its key features, like restriction to Horror difficulty for clvl 30+ characters and Purgatory difficulty for clvl 45+ players, not losing your gear upon dying, etc.

There is a multiplayer network for The Hell in Internet. We use Hamachi program (it's free). And lately we started using Tunngle as well (personally, I like it much better!). Some use Kali, but I don’t like it, it’s very hard to get it to work.

On Hamachi:

You need version 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, you will NOT 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:           diablothehell##*

Password:                          mordor*

*type in exactly, Hamachi is case-sensitive.

Note that ## stands for numbers: 00, 01, 02, 03, etc. Keep trying until you find a network with some room for you.

On Kali:

Read this thread:

http://diablothehell.freeforums.org/how-to-get-online-easy-fast-vista-included-t332.html

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.

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.

Setting Friendly Fire to ‘OFF’ (Player Friendly) makes you unable to hit your teammates, and also activates shared experience for your party members from you.

Setting Friendly Fire to ‘ON’ (Player Attacks) makes you able to hit your teammates, and disables shared experience for you from your party members.

On Tunngle:

Download this program from their official website at http://www.tunngle.net/

Install and find The Hell’s network: Network Explorer  >>  RPG  >>  Diablo - The Hell Mod

Join the channel and chat with others. From there, you can take it to playing easily.

Personally, I think it’s the best option (Tunngle). But you can try any you like.

Some use ‘Wippien’ program (used to be popular among Korean players), but I know nothing about it.

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:

F1 - Fury

F2 - Healing

F3 - Aegis

F4 - Mana Shield

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

Z - Elemental

Ctrl – Hydra

Note: if you want to hotkey a spell/relict/staff on F5-F8 as before, you can do it

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;

Illusion <- the one who started TH2 project. TH team member;

Desert Dragon <- a lot of bugfixes and complex game improvements. TH team member;

LeGioN <- various help + advice, and new awesome unique item pics;

Fuco <- ex-TH team member;

San40 <- helping out with game design (visuals), moderating TH Forums, launching 2nd generation TH website, creating TH Autorun and providing mirrors of TheHell Download section;

Sh4rk, Gladoo <- creating additional Gladiator GFX and various other help with the game;

Unexpect3D <- various help with the game, 'TH.dll' file bug fix, english language support patch (for those who have Hellfire preinstalled on a different language);

ychiju <- first guy to mention how to add more unique monsters to the game, german site translation;

Alex Prusikov <- for helping with launching The Hell mod website (its 1st version in May 2007);

Ted Powell, Noktis, Labiri, Zamal, Zenda <- I took some nice ideas from these guys' mods;

Archer <- ex-moderator of the mod's english forum, various translations and promotion;

CableCat <- creator of TH wiki, various other help with the game;

Raphael Reed, Ben Wallace, Kirill Polyanskiy <- composers for TH team;

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!

Links

Official website:                             http://www.diablothehell.narod.ru/

My YouTube page:                        http://www.youtube.com/MordorTheModmaker

English forums:                                               http://diablothehell.freeforums.org

Russian forums:                              http://thehellmod.ucoz.ru/forum

Mod DataBase page:                     http://www.moddb.com/mods/diablo-the-hell

TH wiki: http://thehell.cablecat.dk/

One last word

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.

We're looking for ASM/C/C++ programmers, artists and composers for TheHell-2 development. Contact me if you're willing to become one of the crew.

Contacts:

E-mail:                                 diablothehell@gmail.com (preferrable method)

ICQ:                       302563839

Skype:                  Mordor_XP

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

Have fun! ...and check for updates regularly!

                - Rustam Bankurov, a.k.a. "Mordor"