[Retail-ation mod]: Christmas Release!

[Zaero]

Posted 19.12.2012: Christmas Release!
Since it's a Christmas time, I decided I'll play Santa and share the fruits of my work with you. So.. here it is: A Christmas Release of Retail-ation mod pack!
http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?7tdlzw3rb75yxuk

What's in it? Well:
-support for Ultimate Doom, Doom 2 and Heretic: Shadow of the Serpent Riders
-levels improved with some atmospheric effects
-both "episode selection" and "continuous game play"
-some bonus stuff - give it a try if you want to know the details!

Enjoy and Merry Christmas!

Posted 23.6.2012:
Hi!
Did you ever wondered what it would be like if ID would release their titles a few years later, past the "shareware era"?

Well I'm trying to answer this question with a series of mods for a few ID games, most notably:
-Ultimate Doom
-Doom 2
-Heretic
-Hexen

Currently I've made a first version of a mod for Ultimate Doom which adds:
1. no episode selection - all 4 episodes merged into single gameplay
2. intermission screens for episode 4 added (thanks to Skunk for it)
3. weather effects: fog added to the exteriors/some interiors + wind to the 4th episode's sky:
set the Graphical Options -> OpenGL Options -> Preferences -> Sector Light Mode -> Legacy
4. "episode-separators" intermission screens' backgrounds changed to episodes' ending arts
5. "shareware" related intermission texts removed/altered

The mod requires Ultimate Doom and GZDoom 2.5.0. The file is about 101 kB big.

Now I'm working on Doom2 + Master Levels + No rest for the living + XBox exclusive maps merge.
The features will be:
1. episode selection: Choose the vanilla campaign or the mission pack (you'll need map files from the expansions)
2. carefully selected mission pack's level order
3. weather effects: fog for most levels + wind for the skies

Planned is also a mod for Heretic, with the features similar to that of Ultimate Doom.
As for Hexen I'm not sure yet, will see.

Also, please get familiar with my other projects:
Classic Weapons Pack for Brutal Doom: http://forum.zdoom.org/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=33169
Statusbar Reloaded HUD: http://forum.zdoom.org/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=33397

[Matt]

http://imgur.com/

[wildweasel]

No screenshots, no download link? Would appreciate it if you could get either one up soon.

[Kate]

It sounds like he should be able to (at least a screenshot of one of the weather effects =p), which was why I was surprised he didn't.

[Xaser]

Now I'm working on Doom2 + Master Levels + No rest for the living + XBox exclusive maps merge.

This wouldn't be legal to distribute. Modified Doom/2 maps are one thing, but you can't include levels from the others because you have no way of knowing that someone who owns doom2.wad (which is the only requirement for running it) also owns Master Levels or XBLA Doom.

[EDIT] Just noticed you said "you'll need map files from the expansions" -- that's better, though I suppose that means the player will have to arrange them in a specific way (i.e. map names) in order to run them with the mod, which is a lot of effort to ask out of the target audience.

I also don't see the appeal in tacking on all the original episodes into a single set unless serious modifications are made. Not sure what all PSX Doom did to compensate for it, but I wouldn't be surprised if they made the later maps harder to make up for it.

[Zaero]

No screenshots, no download link? Would appreciate it if you could get either one up soon.

It sounds like he should be able to (at least a screenshot of one of the weather effects =p), which was why I was surprised he didn't.

I wasn't sure if anybody care, that's why I didn't even bother. But since there is a interest, the screenshots are below:

Just noticed you said "you'll need map files from the expansions" -- that's better, though I suppose that means the player will have to arrange them in a specific way (i.e. map names) in order to run them with the mod, which is a lot of effort to ask out of the target audience.

This is true just for some mods (Doom2, Hexen) and I'll try to reduce this effort as much as possible, but it cannot be removed entirely for legal reasons you've listed above. Really there'll be much less hassle than you foresee.

I also don't see the appeal in tacking on all the original episodes into a single set unless serious modifications are made. Not sure what all PSX Doom did to compensate for it, but I wouldn't be surprised if they made the later maps harder to make up for it.

There are 4 solutions:
1. Use Brutal Doom which makes the game harder (or some other mod, for example Brutalized Doom maps - my mod should be compatible with it as long as author didn't changed the map names)
2. Use "map" console command with level names "e2m1", "e3m1" and "e4m1" when you'll reach those levels. This will reset both health and inventory to defaults.
3. Get used to it
4. Don't use the mod

In fact some levels might get even more balanced with my mod for ex. E4M2 which is considered arguably the hardest map in the whole doom series.

[Enjay]

I've MAPINFO'd Doom together as one episode before. It is fun but there was a bit of a weapon balance issue.

[Zaero]

I've MAPINFO'd Doom together as one episode before. It is fun but there was a bit of a weapon balance issue.

This is pretty much what my mod does. If you're familiar with mapinfo, you probably know that there is a way to force "pistol start" on certain levels (just 2 commands are needed to force both inventory and health restarts).
But having a merged campaign AND "pistol starts" altogether seems sensless, don't you think?

[XutaWoo]

1. Use Brutal Doom which makes the game harder

I don't quite understand why people are so focused on Brutal Doom, especially in stuff like this. Yes, the game balance is tweaked, but it's hardly what I'd call something that makes the gameplay harder. Especially in something like in Ultimate DOOM, where you don't even run into half the enemies!

Why not actually recommend an actually difficult mod, like, say Hideous Destructor or Satanic? Or even something where the weapon progression doesn't matter, like Russian Overkill?

Brutal Doom is a fantastic gore mod, but it's not exactly something you'd recommend for any reason other that that.

[esselfortium]

Oh hell yes! Brightly-colored nuclear fog, ripped gun sprites, and a hi-res pack that apparently only replaces exactly one texture!

What am I looking at here?

[wildweasel]

ripped gun sprites

Uh...does it still count as "ripped" if it's from the pre-release alpha versions of Doom?

[esselfortium]

ripped gun sprites

Uh...does it still count as "ripped" if it's from the pre-release alpha versions of Doom?

The idea was more that there wasn't anything in the screenshots that was actually Zaero's work or unique to this mod in any way, other than I guess the RGB values of the fog.

[Matt]

Sorry, I was the one who first asked for screens for what turns out to be just a MAPINFO edit combining everything into one episode. :/

Personally, I'd rather see D2 broken down into a bunch of 3-4 map, thematically consistent minieps...

[Zaero]

Why not actually recommend an actually difficult mod, like, say Hideous Destructor or Satanic? Or even something where the weapon progression doesn't matter, like Russian Overkill?

I recommend what I actually play. I'm not familiar with the others you've listed, but its obvious the players are allowed to use whatever they want.

Oh hell yes! Brightly-colored nuclear fog, ripped gun sprites, and a hi-res pack that apparently only replaces exactly one texture!

What am I looking at here?

Both gunsprites and hi-res textures pack are NOT the part of the mod, so g*t off - I use what I like (and clean your pants probably wet after screaming about the "one texture!").
As for the fog, yes, it's a part of the mod, but you're the one saying it's "nuclear". Did you breathe it?

The idea was more that there wasn't anything in the screenshots that was actually Zaero's work or unique to this mod in any way, other than I guess the RGB values of the fog.

Ok, since this statement is more rational than the previous, I'll try to answer this more seriously.

First the gunsprites are a part of my Classic Weapon Pack for Brutal Doom: http://forum.zdoom.org/viewtopic.php?f= ... 64#p627962
It has the modified sprites taken both from Vanilla Doom and Alpha, and some other used with permission.

The hi-res pack is broken since no proper pk3 was loaded when I took the screenshots (not sure why it still has one hires texture when it shouldn't -> EDIT: Now I know the reason: Brutal Doom 16 contains some of the hi-res textures, including "this" particular texture). The reason why I tried multiple hires pack was the sky in second "episode" of Doom 2, being the one from Doom 1. Finally I found out the jdtp-comp.pk3 is the only one to use (other claiming they're ok - aren't).

As for the fog it's a part of the mod listed here, and the way I took is probably the only way to get these effects to work with vanilla levels, without getting illegal.

One last word of advice: when you'll see the Icecream kiosk, and buy an icecream, don't expect to get a free Corvette as well.

Sorry, I was the one who first asked for screens for what turns out to be just a MAPINFO edit combining everything into one episode. :/

Is there something wrong with using the custom mapinfo as a mod? Is it forbidden? By whom? Where can I see the codex?
And it's not just levels combined, there are other features as well, seen above.

Personally, I'd rather see D2 broken down into a bunch of 3-4 map, thematically consistent minieps...

Sorry, cannot fit everyones tastes. But since you seem well familiar with mapinfo, you've probably done it already.

[Abba Zabba]

Yeah, Essel did come off kind of rude. But oh well. What's done is done.

Looking forward to this. After all, the screenshots are a WiP, so whatever the final product looks like is anyone's guess. (though I think I have a decent mental image of what it will look like.)