ZDoom

(Cross-posted from the Skulltag forums.)
(Requires skulltag_actors.pk3 and skulltag_data.pk3 to run.)


:[by Ænima and ALIENWolve]:
and the SST Team mappers

the SST readme wrote:A mod created for Skulltag, with the intent of making the original Doom2 gameplay FAR MORE addictive and satisfying while keeping most of the original gameplay BALANCE the same. Also, this mod improves Doom2's general æsthetics hundredfold. Overall, this mod was made to really spice up the otherwise "classic" play and feel of Doom2-under-ST and present a new, refreshing style of playing 1993's Doom.

More specifically, some features include:

Spoiler:

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• Pretty clientside effects for many projectiles, monsters, weapons, and decor.
• All the weapons are now more satisfying to use, more responsive, and more user-friendly. Examples: Manual reloads (cough cough, railgun), real-looking sparks and debris, smooth frame animations, a pistol which is "semi-auto", high-quality 24-bit sounds which were recorded from actual guns down at an actual shooting range as they were actually being fired.
• Slightly modified monster behavior. Just to spice things up a little. Don't worry, we've spent almost 3 years balancing this stuff.
• When the player's health is below 30%, it will recharge by 1HP every 1-2 seconds until it reaches 30% (whereas it stops recharging). But it's minor, unlike in like CoD or Halo.
• Sweet-ass HUD bars for health, armor, and ammo.
• You can SEE which weapons another player is carrying (or yourself, via chase). I actually coded this feature in long before "preferredskin" was ever supported by Skulltag. That means that i actually had to do all of this in there the hard way. Although, the benefit is that SST has player states that are specific to the action they are currently performing (examples: you can see the player reloading his ssg, pumping his shotgun,spinning-up his minigun, etc).
• Plasma and rockets change color based on which team you're on.
• Vuluptuous blood and gore effects. Spurts, spats, squirts, and splats.
• Hitsounds for competitive gamemodes.
• New pallette. Very subtle though.
• GLDefs, of course.
• A Tomb-Raider-style oxygen bar.
• Subtle yet realistic ambient effects that make the gameplay experience just that much more immersive.
• Alt-firing the RL or GL fires a rocket/grenade that can teleport. Makes for an awesome Deathmatch experience.
• Better sprites and sounds for the Skulltag monsters. New behaviors as well.
• Maps which follow the themes of the original Doom2 maps, but have refreshing twists to them as well as the use of ZDoom and Skulltag features; sorta like KDiZD, but with Doom2 instead of E1. ;p
• The ability to purge laggy clientside effects, or to toggle them off altogether. For people with crappy computers like me.
• "Visor effects", such as the stuff that you see in Metroid Prime.
• Flag-carriers make an alarm sound wherever they go, like in Unreal Tournament.
• Some monsters now have their own unique active sounds and pain sounds (as opposed to "sharing" sounds like they did in Doom2).
• "Ragdoll" physics, aka "rocket acrobatics". Shoot em up and watch em fly.
• Rocket punches.
• Spraypaint!
• Other small, various cosmetic changes, such as adding rotations to sprites which we felt needed them.
• An optional add-on mod for Deathmatch that features killstreaks, "special attacks", powerups, and rewards.
• Much much more.

Incase you didn't read the list there (or if you're not familiar with SST), I'll restate that in addition to being a game-enhancement mod that can be played with any map pack, Super Skulltag also contains remakes of the Doom2 maps in a new refreshing style. We plan on finishing every single one, and we're about 75% of the way done. Here is a list of the maps that are either done, WIP, or not taken yet:
http://pastebin.com/Wnsq8bYu

Also, a FAQ is "do these replace the doom2 map names?", and the answer is no. They do not. In other words, you can play SST with any other map pack that you want. It doesn't use MAP01-MAP32, it uses SSTMAP01-SSTMAP32.

Anyways, here is a list of requirements and recommendations if you'd like to map for SST:

Spoiler: mapper requirements

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• You must be an *experienced* mapper. You don't have to be a mapping god, but we at least expect you to know what you're doing when it comes to mapping. You must also be fairly decent at detailing (I can say that I myself BARELY meet that requirement ;p). However, detail is not extremely important.
• You must apply for a slot before you actually submit a map.
• Before you sign up, you must show me an example of your previous mapping work. It doesn't have to be anything big, just a small sample of your work that shows your mapping skills.

Spoiler: map requirements

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• Use Skulltag monsters/items/weapons, but please don't go overboard since a lot of them are really powerful.
• The map must not look like an exact replica/remake of the original Doom2 map. Remember, we only want these maps to be based on the same *themes* as the original maps. In other words, you can do what KDIZD did; by that, i mean that you can have certain areas or rooms in your map that resemble the layout of the Doom2 counterpart. That way, when players play the map, they go "OHHHHHH, hey, whatdya know, this room looks familiar..."
• You can use as many ZDoom features as you like, just please don't go overboard. The use of K2 bridges, deep water, skyboxes, slopes, and ACS scripts are ALL encouraged, so have fun and be creative.
• Make sure you've thoroughly tested your map for difficulty, gameplay balance, and bugs.
• When you're finished with your maps, PM them to me. Don't post them publicly. Thanks!

Here's the original teaser trailer for Super Skulltag:

Spoiler:

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(Yes, it's 4 years old. Conmon made it shortly before SST's original release. But I think it still serves its purpose as a trailer rather well, so why bother making a new one? )

Here's another video, this is an early test of the rocket death physics. Still needs some refining.

Spoiler:

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Aaand yet another video, this one showing how to abuse the spraypaint. ;p

Spoiler:

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-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

SOooooooooo anyways ... The new version, v1.4 is shaping up really well, but it's not quite done yet. Until then, here's the latest public Release Candidate:

Super Skulltag v1.4, RC6:
Mirror #1



SST "Lite"(put this in your Skins folder and you can use it anywhere. But don't host it):
Mirror #1
Mirror #2



SST Deathmatch Add-On (only for pvp gamemodes):
Mirror #1
Mirror #2


ST monster/weapon randomizer (replaces 25% of Doom2 things with ST things):
Mirror #1




-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Spoiler: Changelog

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v1.4:
==============================================

• rc1:
• Added SSTDM01 ("Atlas") and SSTDM02 ("Death Valley"). Dey fun. Play dat shit. DON'T NEGLECT IT.
• Added "Refueling Base".
• Finished SSTMAP19 ("The Citadel") in Gosimer's absence.
• Added unique sounds and behaviors for the Skulltag monsters.
• Added alternate attacks for the Hectebus, Cacolantern, and Abaddon.
• Fixed some HOM and a misaligned switch texture in Dead Simple.
• Fixed: The exit in SSTMAP14 ended the game instead of exiting the level.
• Fixed: Players could exit Tenements prematurely by killing the Cyberdemon without getting the yellow key.
• Fixed: For some reason, the flag alarm wouldn't sound.
• The flesh-ripping sounds aren't total ear rape anymore.
• Fixed some door delays in The Chasm, and made SSTMAP34 not suck quite so much.
• Made the keys on the HUD larger and more visible.
• Made it so that Baron and HK torsos don't dissappear.
• Commander Keen fights back.
• Improved the Zombieman and Shotgunner's XDeath states.
• Added bullet/shell casings by popular request.
• Made it so that rocket, grenade, and BFG trails are affected by "togglefx", because they weren't before.
• Added volumetric fog to a few of the maps. Just cuz.
• Added slag effects for rockets, grenades, and barrels.
• Made powerup timer bars on the HUD.
  rc2:
• Added enhanced rocket deaths. (I would call it "ragdoll" but people would get upset if I said that.)
• Fixed a bug in the beginning of Catacombs where the green torch could only be pressed once.
• Hopefully fixed "ghost" player bodies.
• Fixed a visual glitch regarding blood spots clipping through floors.
• Added effects to the revenant's missiles.
• Added weapon recoil. Players can toggle it off with the "togglerecoil" CCMD if they don't want it.
• Improved the Fist. Pressing fire does the usual jab, holding and releasing altfire performs a "slug".
• Improved the Plasma Rifle's aesthetic. Sizzlin' flesh.
• Added two more DM maps, "Placebo" and "Stratos".
• Replaced the zombieman's rifle sound with a much better sound.
• Added particle effects to a lot of actors.
• Fixed: There were mapspots with TID#16 in Icon of Sin which caused the map to break.
• Added spraypaint.
• Replaced "The Inmost Dens" and kept the old one, as "The Inmost Caves".
  rc3:
• Added dynamic echoes for loud sounds.
• Made the spraypaint affect all monsters, not just weak ones.
• Improved the BloodSpot model. Thanks, Monsoon!
• Fixed where the casings come from on the Chaingun.
• Spraypaint makes stealth monsters totally visible.
• Removed most of the stealth monsters from the first few levels.
• Gave +BOSS to the Abaddon, Hectebus, and Belphegor.
• Toned down the Chaingun sound by -0.5dB.
• Bound the Spraypaint to the 0 slot cuz some people didn't know how to use it.
• Added trails for gibs.
• Point-blank shotgun blasts cause "ragdoll" deaths. Only works on humanoids.
• Fixed: There weren't enough playerstarts in "The Citadel".
• Deathcam now works properly with ragdolls! :3
• Barrels are now pushable! They'll also explode if you push them off a cliff.
• Scaled the Revenant's sprite to match its hitbox.
• Fixed a bug where gibbed zombies would drop 2 clips or 2 shotguns.
  rc4:
• Added Altfires for the pistol, shotgun, SSG, chaingun, and minigun.
• Improved the blood effects. Thanks to TibSoul and Striker!
• Fixed a few HudMessage-related bugs.
• Smoothed out the shotgun and SSG frames.
• Added compatibility for 64 players!
• Added a new death animation for the imp. Thanks CaptJ3!
• Fixed zombie bullets clipping through walls.
  rc5:
• Enhanced gore and added juicier sounds.
• Added "running punches"! To perform, hold Fire with the fist and run at an enemy full-speed!
• The plasma rifle no longer uses random ammo amounts.
• Fixed: Zombie and imp bodies would mysteriously "disappear" online instead of being gibbed.
• Adjusted the chaingun's altfire slightly. Thanks for the suggestion, Valhalleran!
• Enhanced the railgun's effects.
• Enhanced particle effects.
• Fixed a problem with the minigun's "spinning" sound.
• Fixed: The minigun's sounds would cut off if an item was picked up while firing.
• Made the chainsaw more satisfying to use by giving it +EXTREMEDEATH.
• Enhanced effects for rockets and mancubus/hectebus fireballs.
• Added female zombies! 1 out of 8 zombies are female.
• Replaced the old PVP hitsound with the one from Quake3/WolfensteinET.
• Added better sounds for the Chaingun, Minigun, Rocket Launcher, and Grenade Launcher!
• Made the Grenade Launcher semi-auto.
• Used some blood decals from Meat Fortress 2. Thanks for ripping them, Zombieguy!
• Fixed: The spraypaint shouldn't make monsters spawn blood decals when hit.
• Added fancy texture-warping effects for all of the stock liquid textures.
• Improved the BFG9000's firing animation.
• Fixed: The Baron spawned a Hellknight lower body when split in half by a rocket.
• Lowered the overall filesize by converting some WAVs to OGGs and switching the archive from pk3 to pk7 format.
• Fixed some random artifacts on the Pistol's firing sprite.
  rc6:
• Fixed: The Cyberdemon dropped the wrong kind of soulsphere.
• Nerfed the female plasma zombie.
• Limited the blood gush sounds to 5 instances at once.
• Fixed: Zombies killed with the chainsaw wouldn't drop anything.
• Improved imp fireball, bullet ricochets, and rocket trail effects.
• Fixed: Some monsters didn't have BRIGHT states in their firing sequences.
• Added REVERBS to many map areas! Immersion factor ++.
• Improved Minigun sprites. Thanks, TiberiumSoul!
• Converted EVERY .WAV sound to .OGG, greatly reducing filesize!
• Nerfed the Shotgun's altfire cuz it was rape.
• Better looking blood and gore! (TF2-style)
• Made a 3D model for bullet tracers! (Software users will still see sprites.)

v1.3:
==============================================

• Fixed an out-of-place playerstart in Demon Breeding Grounds.
• Added more gore to the Cyberdemon's death.
• Added Blox's hi-res remaps for the blood and bullet puffs. A million thanks to him for letting us use them!
• Added SSTMAP03, SSTMAP29, and SSTMAP07.
• Fixed a weird bug pertaining to the Railgun's ammo.
• Removed SSTMAP33 ("NowHere"). It will soon be replaced by SlimeDweller's SSTMAP33.
• Minor changes to SSTMAP02, 08, 11, and 24. Added some detailing, fixed some HOM's, item placement, etc.
• Removed SSTMAP22 because Alienwolve doesn't plan to work on it any further. That slot is now open if anybody wants it.
• Fixed: The Plasma Rifle wouldn't display a muzzle flash if the player was on the red team.
• Added fancy trail effects for the attacks of the Hellknight, Baron, Belphegor, and Arachnotron.

v1.2:
==============================================

• Fixed a bug in Tenements that allowed people to cheat their way to the exit.
• Fixed a bug in Demon Breeding Grounds that would cause nosey players to get stuck outside the main area.
• Fixed: There weren't enough player starts on 'O' of Destruction, Grosse, Entryway, or Demon Breeding Grounds.
• Gave the +PAINLESS flag to some of the purely-decorative projectiles, such as barrel fragments and blood clouds.
• Replaced the player's jump sound with something that fits better.
• Added s'more detail to Underhalls. Still probably needs some more work though.
• Fixed a bug where for some reason, the Hellknight's and Baron's torsos wouldn't spawn online.
• Fixed some HOM that was in the exit room of Tricks and Traps.
• Fixed a major sector mess-up in O of Destruction. Surprised I didn't catch it sooner.
• Fixed a script-based bug that would cause Icon of Sin to break and be unfinishable.
• Fixed a problem with the SSG's flash.
• Fixed a bug in Icon of Sin where the Boss could be woken up before it was ready.
• Made it so that players' inventories are reset after they beat the game online. That way they don't get to redo all of the early levels with powerful weapons.
• Made sure to put the changelog in the readme.
• Fixed a state jump problem with the Rocket Launcher.
• Added the SST LITE font into the actual Super Skulltag main wad itself.
• Updated The Citadel. Still not finished yet.
• Fixed: In Tricks and Traps, the blue key could be acquired simply by jumping to it.
• Fixed a bug in The Inmost Dens where the door that requires the blue and red skull keys didn't work.
• Fixed a bug with the Grenade Launcher where players could hold alt-fire and wouldn't lose ammo.
• Added exit signs to the exit rooms in Entryway and Underhalls.
• Added some better-looking sprite rotations for the marine's death sprite. (Thanks Sekto!)
• Tricks and Traps isn't as frustratingly hard anymore.
• Fixed an area in The Abandoned Mines where players could sometimes get stuck.
• Removed KeksDose's fire sprites by his request.

v1.1:
==============================================

• Added +NOEXTREMEDEATH to the bulletpuffs so that the Pistol wouldn't gib zombiemen.
• Fixed the Pistol's "perfect" accuracy.
• Adjusted the MAPINFO lump so that the incomplete SST maps will be skipped automatically.
• Fixed the bug in The Pit, whereas 2 zombiemen were stuck inside each other.
• Made it so that the zombies' tracer projectiles spawn blood upon hitting bleeding targets, and spawn sparks upon hitting the walls.
• Gave SLIGHTLY more damage to the BFG's "cone" than there was in SST v1. Just to balance things out in comparison to the original Doom2 BFG.
• Fixed the whole "dropping a fisting medal" bug.
• Resolved some problematic telefragging issues in some of the maps.
• Made it so that the HighJump Rune in Nirvana gets taken away at the end of the map.
• Fixed a bug in The Inmost Dens.
• Fixed a bug in Tenements that would cause the map to sometimes break online.
• Credited each of the mappers in the text file. (I apologize to the mappers for not doing that before, i kinda forgot to ... )

Feedback and discussion is much appreciated!


EDIT:
skulltag_actors.pk3
skulltag_data.pk3
sst_v1.4rc6.pk3

You need to load it like this^ in order to play SST.

The excessive use of stealth monsters really bothers me (especially in the case of former humans). They don't make much sense, and add nothing significant to the gameplay. IMO it would be fine if they popped up as a very occasional surprise for the player, but having them as common as they are just makes the maps frustrating and boring.

By the way, is there still a map resource? I notice that you actually still have me down for MAP23.

I'm enjoying this as of right now, it's fun with a bit of a sense of humor. The visor effects are nice, like seeing the reflection in the water. I'll continue to scan it for any sort of bugs or issues.

Also, I agree with ChronoSeth on the stealth monsters. There are just FAR too many of them.

ChronoSeth wrote:The excessive use of stealth monsters really bothers me (especially in the case of former humans). They don't make much sense, and add nothing significant to the gameplay.

I'd go further than that. Stealth monsters are almost never welcome. Their use almost always detracts, sometimes significantly, from gameplay and only on the rarest of occasions do they contribute positively to a mod. In short, 99.999999% of the time they are utter shit and, IMO, are possibly the worst addition to Doom enabled by sourceports.


Also, I'm worried about a mod that makes Doom gameplay "FAR MORE addictive". I mean, hell, I've been hopelessly addicted to this game for 18 years. Do you want me to stop eating and sleeping because of it or something? Seriously, I'm not convinced that "FAR MORE addictive" at least it even achievable in Doom.

[edit] Got the file now and it does seem to be good fun. There are some nice effects in this. What's more, I haven't met a stealth enemy yet. [/edit]

Okay okay, I'll get rid of the stealth monsters. Infact, I don't remember why i added them to begin with. IMO, the only good use was scaring the shit outta players with the stealth revenants that guard the megasphere in Underhalls.

ChronoSeth wrote: By the way, is there still a map resource? I notice that you actually still have me down for MAP23.

Oh. Well what i do is extract the PK3, and add "maps.wad" as a resource wad when opening the map in Doom Builder 2. All of the textures and ambient sounds are in there.

Enjay wrote: Also, I'm worried about a mod that makes Doom gameplay "FAR MORE addictive". I mean, hell, I've been hopelessly addicted to this game for 18 years. Do you want me to stop eating and sleeping because of it or something? Seriously, I'm not convinced that "FAR MORE addictive" at least it even achievable in Doom.

Lol. I wrote that readme years ago. I don't remember why I said that. I think I actually meant it about myself. When Alienwolve and I started this mod, it was mainly a private thing. Its WIP name was "minimod", and we were originally just screwing around with various visual effects and sounds just for fun, editing the wad and sending it back and forth.

Enjay wrote: [edit] Got the file now and it does seem to be good fun. There are some nice effects in this. What's more, I haven't met a stealth enemy yet. [/edit]

Thanks. And oh, you will. IIRC, there are 2 steath demons in Underhalls and a few stealth zombiemen. The Gantlet has a room filled with stealth pinkies that all wake up at once and scare the shit outta you. If you guys don't like them, i'll just go ahead and remove them.

Thanks for the feedback.

Overall, it's actually a very fun, somewhat challenging mod. I like the reworked pistol and SSG, much better to use and listen to compared to the vanilla ones. Keep up the good work!

Very nice mod! I'm enjoying the re-done levels as well as the weapons. You really made the pistol a more viable weapon. My only comments would be to smooth out the weapon animations a little more, like the shotguns, and that the pistols has a little bit of a white outline around it. I like the max armor/health pickups, it's cool how they carry between levels too.

I found a couple of bugs. 1 If you have a zombie guy or any type shooting at you from too far a distance the projectiles disappear before they hit you. 2 If you are crouching there is no way for a Zombie of any type to hit you because they always shoot straight. even if Smart aim is enabled they still only shoot over your head while your crouching.

Updated to v1.4rc3!

See first post for link and changelog. 3:

Glad to see it survived the downfall of Skulltag

Updated to RC4! Download here!

Major changes include fancier blood (which splatters and oozes down the adjacent walls) and useful new weapon attacks (altfires)!

The shotgun's altfire is a "slam-fire" feature. Like most real shotguns (which have no trigger disconnect), if you hold the trigger down and keep pumping, a round will be fired as soon as the slide moves forward again. This attack allows you to clear rooms quickly while sacrificing accuracy.

Spoiler: example

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GjQxkZsJcg[/video]

It will save your life!


The chaingun's altfire is an automatic "chain-tapping" mode. Useful for sniping.

The pistol's altfire is a 3-round-burst. Cliche, but it's useful.

The minigun's altfire keeps the barrels spinning so that you can fire at will.

The weapon animations have also been smoothed out a bit and bullet/shell weapons now cause screen "shake".


Full changelog:

• rc4:
• Added Altfires for the pistol, shotgun, SSG, chaingun, and minigun.
• Improved the blood effects. Thanks to TibSoul and Striker!
• Fixed a few HudMessage-related bugs.
• Smoothed out the shotgun and SSG frames.
• Added compatibility for 64 players!
• Added a new death animation for the imp. Thanks CaptJ3!
• Fixed zombie bullets clipping through walls.

Fixed for you. By the way, just use the video ID (that jumble of letters and numbers at the end of the URL) for when you're putting this in:

[youtube][/youtube]

Bahhh. Sorry, my bad. I know how to do it, I just keep forgetting that the formatting here is different than on the Zandronum forums (I usually just crosspost without proofreading cuz i'm lazy). ;p

Thanks though.

Oh hey I'm still on the mapping list, If I get time I might go back to finishing off unless someone else wants to take it off my hands

: O rocket jump for kill the last boss? awesome!