Aetherius (GZD 4.7.1) (Doom/Heretic/Hexen/Strife) [hiatus]

[Scautura]

I know GitHub well enough to be able to read through commit logs, but I went back two or three commits before I posted and couldn't see any changes relevant to the issue I had. Suffice to say that grabbing the newer version at the time (4ff9000, which I also can't see any "relevant" changes to, but I'm not au fait with Doom) works, so I'm happy.

There are some spurious warnings about invalid files (specifically the "thumbs.db" files in subfolders, I normally put that in a .gitignore as they're not particularly required for building or release) when running as a PK3 (well, zip, but it needs to be named PK3 to work with launchers - I'm using SSGL) but it runs fine.

[Lord Misfit]

I'm guessing [Q]ZDL is the reason you have to have the folders as PK3/PK7/etc. I wish they'd just allow loading of folder-based archives instead of people having to convert them. I'm not converting away from folder format anytime soon because to have them in PK3 means each time I want to update anything, I'd have to reupload the entire archive instead of being able to just edit the individual files that need edited. x.x

[Somagu]

Could just use one of these and that way you can satisfy both sides. Kind of.

[Lord Misfit]

Yeah I was unable to make that work. The 7za file wasn't 64-bit compatible for one, and even using a proper version, it failed to build anything. x.x

Seriously, ZDL just needs to get with the times and allow folder format already x.x

[kadu522]

How About ZDE. Its basicly a much better vergion of ZDL with folder loading. its what i am useing to play stuff like Doom RPG with no need to compile in Pk3s or pk7s.

[Lord Misfit]

Been trying this out. It seems to work a lot better than ZDL for sure. :V

ZDE Topic - viewtopic.php?f=19&t=46861

Also updated the front page to indicate a series of major updates to the AI in Compatibility Packs and the idTech1 game modes.

I wish I could put a github widget to log all my updates. I make way too many to keep track of on here. x.x

[argv]

ZDL can load folders! It's just that the “add” button doesn't understand the concept. Instead, drag the folder from File Explorer and drop it in the mod list in ZDL.

ZDoom Executor looks cool, but it's unsafe. It's hosted on SourceForge, which injects adware into executables.

[Lord Misfit]

Eh, it still could've been done a bit better imo, argv. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Anyways, I updated the main post about this a few days ago, but Aetherius now has a patch for The Ultimate Torment & Torture, based on a pre-release version of TerminusEst13's "Supportive Edition" of TUTNT. It's in the DVDS-CompatPacks repo now. SeriousCacodemon, a friend and playtester, also streamed one of the first releases of this patch. :V

[WindSoar27]

so Hey Lord Misfit i Registered so i could ask for some assistance First off let me say How awesome this Mod is for one i did manage to get it to work and played a bit even saw the lets play done by WhamNinjaMolehill. though i am having some problems with the HUD it seams to be so cramped together and overlapping one another and cluttering the screen almost to the point its hard to play for me and many of the screen shots i have seen on the thread and WhamNinjaMolehills Lets play had the HUD much smaller and less cramped Together i am not to sure if its cause i tend to play with my video mode set to 800x600 and i am using the most Recent version of GZDoom, GZDoom v3.1.0 i have a image i attached to this post to show exactly what is going on and i would appreciate any assistance in trying to fix this i am not sure if i have done something wrong or if its the settings that i use Video mode wise.

[Lord Misfit]

Unfortunately, I haven't played in such a low resolution in a long time, let alone a 4:3 one. I can see where it's squished in 4:3 modes, but it's ideal to play in a 16:9 or bigger mode. In such a situation, you can go to the Aetherius HUD options and set "(NEW) X-Offset (>4:3 modes)" to "240" or a close enough number if you're in such a mode. The value bumps the left and right sides of the hud that many units from the center point.

You can also turn off the "(New) Level Stats" too if needed, because those are always centered in the middle of the HUD and aren't affected by that option, but yeah. 4:3 mode isn't the best one to be using for this mod. x.x

[WindSoar27]

Unfortunately, I haven't played in such a low resolution in a long time, let alone a 4:3 one. I can see where it's squished in 4:3 modes, but it's ideal to play in a 16:9 or bigger mode. In such a situation, you can go to the Aetherius HUD options and set "(NEW) X-Offset (>4:3 modes)" to "240" or a close enough number if you're in such a mode. The value bumps the left and right sides of the hud that many units from the center point.

You can also turn off the "(New) Level Stats" too if needed, because those are always centered in the middle of the HUD and aren't affected by that option, but yeah. 4:3 mode isn't the best one to be using for this mod. x.x

ah i see so its Basically more meant for higher resolution Video settings than that makes a lot of sense i Appreciate it Very much

[argv]

I'd like to play this mod, as it looks like it could be quite fun, but I've got a problem: I can't use either of the HUDs! In the old-style HUD (as of 55a43b1), the HP number is unreadable (the digits just look like red rectangles). The new-style HUD looks readable enough, but it adds a crushing 3ms of ACS time per frame, which kills my already-iffy frame rate. What do?

[Lord Misfit]

I'd like to play this mod, as it looks like it could be quite fun, but I've got a problem: I can't use either of the HUDs! In the old-style HUD (as of 55a43b1), the HP number is unreadable (the digits just look like red rectangles). The new-style HUD looks readable enough, but it adds a crushing 3ms of ACS time per frame, which kills my already-iffy frame rate. What do?

1. I don't even know what version "55a43b1" is. Is this a pre 3.1 or pre 3.2 commit of GZDoom? I'm currently using the official 3.1.0a version of GZDoom to playtest Aetherius, and I couldn't find your version in the devbuild downloads page.

2. The old HUD isn't going to be around much longer [it hasn't been getting a lot of the new additions the newer HUD has, i.e], so I wouldn't get used to it.

3. As for the new HUD, yeah the HUD CAN be resource intensive on certain rigs [and when levels have a certain # of monsters or more], especially if you leave the "[New] Meter Detail" on "Very High [200/0.5%]".

Meter detail determines how many notches are drawn on each meter on the HUD [the longer ones use 200 by default, each for 0.5% of the bar], but you can set them to "High [100/1.0%]", "Medium [50/2.0%]" and "Low [20/5.0%]" to make the notches larger and less detailed on the HUD, but more resource forgiving. This matters because the more objects the ACS HUD is drawing, the more resource intensive it is. So make sure you go into the Aetherius HUD Option and set that to a favorable option.

Other things you can do with the HUD options is you can turn off Level Stat meters via "[NEW] Level Stats" to remove three entire sets of bars/notches to draw if you don't need the level stat meters anyways. "[NEW] Overlife Notches" can also be turned off if you don't need the extra notches on HP/MP/Stamina bars that represent being over 100% of each. You can also set Tension related bars to only appear when they're needed instead of "Always", or even turn off their visibility completely.

Beyond that "[BOTH] Hud Refresh Delay (Tics)" could be set to a higher amount [defaults to 1, which is perfectly accurate tracking each tic]. 2 is still pretty accurate, but the higher the number, the longer it takes the HUD to visually update information in general, so be noted. :V

Before you ask, I do want to eventually move the new HUD from ACS to ZScript, but I don't have the knowledge to do that at the moment, so you'll have to deal with it as is. :\

[argv]

1. I don't even know what version "55a43b1" is. Is this a pre 3.1 or pre 3.2 commit of GZDoom? I'm currently using the official 3.1.0a version of GZDoom to playtest Aetherius, and I couldn't find your version in the devbuild downloads page.

Oh! Sorry, I meant your commit with that ID.

3. As for the new HUD, yeah the HUD CAN be resource intensive on certain rigs [and when levels have a certain # of monsters or more], especially if you leave the "[New] Meter Detail" on "Very High [200/0.5%]".

Meter detail determines how many notches are drawn on each meter on the HUD [the longer ones use 200 by default, each for 0.5% of the bar], but you can set them to "High [100/1.0%]", "Medium [50/2.0%]" and "Low [20/5.0%]" to make the notches larger and less detailed on the HUD, but more resource forgiving. This matters because the more objects the ACS HUD is drawing, the more resource intensive it is. So make sure you go into the Aetherius HUD Option and set that to a favorable option.

Other things you can do with the HUD options is you can turn off Level Stat meters via "[NEW] Level Stats" to remove three entire sets of bars/notches to draw if you don't need the level stat meters anyways. "[NEW] Overlife Notches" can also be turned off if you don't need the extra notches on HP/MP/Stamina bars that represent being over 100% of each. You can also set Tension related bars to only appear when they're needed instead of "Always", or even turn off their visibility completely.

Beyond that "[BOTH] Hud Refresh Delay (Tics)" could be set to a higher amount [defaults to 1, which is perfectly accurate tracking each tic]. 2 is still pretty accurate, but the higher the number, the longer it takes the HUD to visually update information in general, so be noted. :V

Thanks. That does help, but the new HUD still adds 1ms of overhead…

Before you ask, I do want to eventually move the new HUD from ACS to ZScript, but I don't have the knowledge to do that at the moment, so you'll have to deal with it as is. :\

Wow. HUDDisplay is a big piece of code. I'll see if I can make any sense of it.

[argv]

I've made a little bit of progress in ZScriptifying the HUD. See the branch on my forked repo.

However, I can't seem to get the skewed meters effect to work without doing the same draw-a-sliver-at-a-time hack as the ACS does. I've posted a forum thread about it, explaining the problem and asking for help, but there have been no replies so far.

It looks like the only performant way to draw meters in this engine is to draw them rectangularly. Are you willing to sacrifice the neat skewed meter style in favor of performance?