Compendium - Classic Megawad Compilation

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Dynamo
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Compendium - Classic Megawad Compilation

Post by Dynamo »

Image

Hello and welcome!

After a long wait and an exorbitant amount of work I am pleased to finally be able to release my latest project: Compendium.

Having worked on this for a few years now, I feel confident in releasing v1.0. Compendium is as the name implies a compilation-style project, containing a hand picked collection of some of the best doom maps/wads released from 1994 to roughly 2004-2005, representing the classic era of Doom modding. All the mappacks represented have been remastered (in the sense that outdated DeHackED code has been converted to DECORATE/ACS) and bugfixed (generally speaking I've removed all bugs I've found which can allow a player to become stuck in a level, including a ton of fixes that should ensure much better multiplayer compatibility), but they are otherwise untouched, as it is not my intention to mess with the authors' original vision. This means that there are no new rooms, no different thing placements and nothing of the sort to be found in this. Each of the wads included in this is accessible from a (currently functional but unfinished) central hub map. After you complete one of the mappacks, you are sent back to the hub map, which means you can keep your arsenal when going to the next one (or simply start a new game to be taken back to the same hub map with a clear arsenal).

There are right now 54 wads represented, for a total of over one thousand levels. I've tried to ensure that this project is fully compatible with gameplay mods, and hopefully that is indeed the case: this includes the wads that previously broke horribly due to dehacked patches. Please note however that as of the current release there are no new weapons included. Some of the wads included in this are well known vanilla megawads from the time, such as Memento Mori, Obituary and STRAIN. Others are wads that take advantage of ZDoom features, such as Daedalus and Project Slipgate. Others yet take Doom gameplay to creative new heights, like Cyberdreams or All Hell is Breaking Loose. Some are celebrated classics, others are undiscovered gems. Some, like Eternal Doom, have absolutely massive maps which will take a long time to navigate, others, like Scythe, focus on quick and intense gun and run action. I've tried to go for as much variety as I could in terms of the styles of gameplay and level design offered here, so I am sure that you are bound to find at least one mappack you'd really like in this.

Some might wonder what the point of such a project is. One could, after all, simply download the relevant wads off the idgames database as needed. And indeed, my aim here is not that of replacing the original files, which should be preserved and rejoiced in exactly the way they used to be. As far as I'm aware there have not been similar projects to this released yet, although other communities such as the Duke Nukem 3D one have made something comparable. That being said, the advantages of having a project like this are numerous. For one thing all the 54 wads included here are completely cross-compatible which means you don't have to load each of them separately. This is particularly advantageous for those who wish to play using RPG-style mods with a very large arsenal and experience systems, etc (DoomRL comes to mind for example). It is also extremely useful for multiplayer hosting on Zandronum, as instead of hosting 54 servers you would need to host only one. Now not only that but as I mentioned, the code conversion and bugfixing makes these the most up to date and polished repackagings that these wads have seen yet. Some of these were still stuck in old DOS installers and such, personally I think it's about time someone made a modern repackaging to be enjoyed by all GZDoom users without hassle. Last but not least, I have spent a very long time digging the idgames archives (among other sites) to find interesting old wads that have slipped past the spotlights, so this project beyond being one of bugfixing and ease of use, is also (at least as far as I'm concerned) one of documentation. This is a love letter to that period of Doom modding which in my opinion holds some of the best maps ever made for the game, from which I think mappers even today could have a lot to learn.

In any case, I think I went on long enough. If you have any further questions regarding this project feel free to refer to the Frequently Asked Questions. For now I'll let some screenshots speak for themselves regarding (a tiny bit of) what you will find here:

Images temporarily unavailable due to hosting site closing.

An additional feature available in this is the addition of Brightmaps for (almost) every mappack featured in this, most of it my work. For a comparison, you can see the before and after effects of the brightmaps. You are, of course, feel free to use them in any of your projects, should they fit your texture pack.

Without further ado, here is the download link:
Click!

This project has only been tested with GZDoom. Use the latest version and it should work fine.

Please note that due to the massive scale of this project there is simply no way in hell I'm going to be able to find all bugs/problems in all of the 1000+ levels, so any bug reports would be highly appreciated, as well as general feedback, i.e. does the package feel complete and comprehensive (sans the still unfinished hubmap), is it fun to play, do you enjoy this, do you want me to add more to it , etc. Anything that's on your mind just let me know.

Thanks everyone for reading and I hope you'll have a blast with this, be it running these for your first time with vanilla weapons or running through one of your favorite wads with a gameplay mod of your choosing.

In fact, if you aren't sure on what gameplay mod to pick, there is a small little one I've made. It is compen-play.pk3 in the download link. It changes some of the graphics and sounds and some of the behavior of a few enemies, doesn't change the game radically though, but if you just want something to go with it then try it.

Recommended files to go with it:
Sprite Shadows by Nash
HXRTC HUDs, the one I am using in the screenshots shown above
Widescreen statusbars for Doom PWADs, by NightFright

Cheers :)
Last edited by Dynamo on Tue Jan 25, 2022 6:04 pm, edited 6 times in total.
Accensus
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Re: Compendium

Post by Accensus »

Fukken saved.

Amazing job, dude.
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Rachael
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Re: Compendium

Post by Rachael »

This is a perfect museum for both old memories and undiscovered classics. Well done, I know a ton of work went into this.
AvzinElkein
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Re: Compendium

Post by AvzinElkein »

Will I need a patch (that doesn't exist yet) if I want to play this with Guncaster? If I don't need a patch, which order should I load the two in?
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Dynamo
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Re: Compendium

Post by Dynamo »

As I wrote on the first post, from what I know this should be fully compatible with most gameplay mods, provided you don't load compen-play.pk3. If there's any issues the mod author could easily make a patch I think but considering this does not replace vanilla enemies and weapons I don't think there should be any problems.
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m8f
 
 
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Re: Compendium

Post by m8f »

Dynamo wrote:There are right now 54 wads represented, for a total of over one thousand levels. I've tried to ensure that this project is fully compatible with gameplay mods
:shock: :D

This is a real gigawad, and a must-have for every Doom fan.

Thank you for the colossal amount of work!
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Kinsie
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Re: Compendium

Post by Kinsie »

Not bad, not bad at all.

Not really sure what the point of including the Shooting Gallery map is, and I can't say I'm a huge fan of the custom fonts and sounds... but these are matter-of-taste things I can easily fix myself.

Good work on getting all this stuff to co-exist, at any rate!
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Kassman
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Re: Compendium

Post by Kassman »

Congratulations on this monumental undertaking Dynamo!
jablon1000
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Re: Compendium

Post by jablon1000 »

Doomgasm!

You must be mad, so much work on this but its fuckin great!
Cacodemon345
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Re: Compendium

Post by Cacodemon345 »

Hey Dynamo, can you put the file through Google Drive? I am having issues trying to download it through MEGA.
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StroggVorbis
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Re: Compendium

Post by StroggVorbis »

Compendium is for Doom what The Undergate is for Quake. Essential download! :D
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Dynamo
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Re: Compendium

Post by Dynamo »

Thanks everyone for the kind words :D I hope you have a blast playing this
Cacodemon345 wrote:Hey Dynamo, can you put the file through Google Drive? I am having issues trying to download it through MEGA.
Sure!
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mun54w ... 3hMDv/view Hope this works!
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gwHero
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Re: Compendium

Post by gwHero »

Kassman wrote:Congratulations on this monumental undertaking Dynamo!
'monumental' is the correct word to describe this.
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RSSwizard
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Re: Compendium

Post by RSSwizard »

This sounds positively nuclear and im looking forward to playing it.
Hopefully it doesnt come with the screenshot HUD or doesnt actually require it.
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Dynamo
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Re: Compendium

Post by Dynamo »

The HUD is a completely separate file, available in the last section of the post as a separate download :) It's just what I use to play GZDoom
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