Orb of Disarray was a mod for Spear of Destiny, made by Tricob.
Announced on New Year's Eve 2004, with no further news heard since, the mod was to feature a slew of coding and graphical changes:
- Pad-locked doors - You need to get four pieces of a component to open up this type of door
- Use of the "Robo-Imp" by Ian Summerfield, and the green-suited SS by Mr. Wolf
- New sounds, and Digitized sound effects in the menus
- New status bar graphics
- Pictures of the weapons you use
- 225 maximum ammo capacity
- New music. Includes music from Duke Nukem II and Biomenace. At least three of the new tunes will be composed by Yours Truly
- Commentaries on the upper left of the screen.
- Maybe ... Ceiling and floor textures
Originally slated to be a mere Spear of Destiny add-on, carrying on in the wake of RMK-SOD, it was announced here that it would become a TC. Some of the status bar imagery would later surface as an official graphics pack download on the Image World, and some of the other graphics seen in the screenshot originated in Operation: Kill BJ.
Expanded storyline
Seemingly the boundaries of the Wolfenstein 3D/Spear of Destiny engine took its toll on the story. Tricob later elaborated:
The farthest it got in completion is a two-level demo called "RMK-SOD". The plot involved multiple eras of time clashing with one another, and you'd see 1960s quotes like "Make Love Not War" appearing in the WWII era. There were also artwork ideas for "no smoking" signs which were initiated but never done.
The ideas for the game expanded to the point where even a Wolf3D TC could not properly carry out the game. It included four selectable characters for the player to play as (including Duke Nukem in the newest versions of the ideas phase, and another character with super-speed), and each character had their own special weapons and abilities. There would be certain areas in each level that could only by accessed by a special weapon, and there were four different entry points for each player. For example, an area might by blocked by ice and broken through with a flame thrower, but that same area is also accessed by a steel barrier, and another character can cut through it with his chainsaw.
Also characters have access to a screwdriver early in the game. Many areas have ventilation shafts blocked by vent covers, and obtaining the screwdriver allows you to remove the vent cover and go inside.
There are numerous levels of course, but this time around, they're separated out into sets of five. We'll describe each scenario as a "phase" in this article. In the first Phase, you are inside an enemy structure, but none of the locked doors will open with the keys you have. You will have to find an access card that allows you to open these extra doors. The access card is found by going through a ventilation shaft and entering an area you cannot enter through its doorway.
Phase Two involves freeing a prisoner confined somewhere in the level. When he is freed, he will make his way to the level's exit by using the (invisible to the player) Arrows on the map of the level. These Arrows can be mapped out in the level designer.
Phase Three pits you against the "boss" of the territory. Like Wolf3D and SOD, the first boss level is simple in design while the following boss maps are more complex each time.
Phase Four closes up a loophole you've left open when your trek began. Leaving a trail of destruction behind you makes it easy for outside enemies to track you down and kill you. Naturally, you are not okay with this, so you've secretly planted detonators in each level you've completed. It's now time to find components for the explosive's controller, assemble them all, and flip the switch.
Phase Five - The time bomb is activated, but there's a problem - you're still inside the building that's rigged to blow up! You must find an alternate route out of the building before you're blown to bits!
From time to time, you will come across a "wise man" in the game. He will tell you things about the game and its obstacles that may be difficult or impossible to learn about otherwise. At one point, you see him surrounded by lava, and ahead of him is a tight path across the lava, and the path twists around in various directions. When you talk to him in this area, he says, "Better not try to swim; the water's a little hot today."
At one point, I intended to submit this game idea to 3-D Realms for Duke Nukem Forever and - perhaps - take the reins of the project itself. The Quake II engine was also considered.