Vanilla Essence 4.3: 320x200p support! More bugfixes.

[Pixel Eater]

Vanilla Essence 4.3.pk3

Vanilla Essence 4 makes entering and exiting vanilla mode easy with a single key bind.
It now fulfills the original request outlined here.

v4.3 improves cvar access (thanks again to M8f!). There's customization for the alternate HUD and the highest resolution has been bumped up to 1080p.

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Download Vanilla Essence 4.pk3 into a folder of your choice (the same one containing GZDoom is suggested) and either:
1) Drag the downloaded file onto the GZDoom application's icon, or
2) Open the GZDoom application and click browse on the bottom left corner of the window, then navigate to and select Vanilla Essence 4.2.pk3.


A new menu titled Vanilla Essence is added near the bottom of the in-game options menu. It contains a single toggle to Vanilla-ize GZDoom, an option to bind a key and Five sub categories to explore and adjust. v4.2 includes an extra menu to tweak the resolution settings further and with live previewing.

Each sub menu also has an option to automatically reset it's contents to their vanilla settings. Or with each option presented below, cycle through with the arrow keys until you reach the one which says 'Vanilla'. There are sometimes additional vanilla options for the various console versions.

Please note that while always choosing Vanilla will help you find a common ground it is not always the best option for your enjoyment. Familiarise yourself with the regular menus and you will find some hidden treasures!

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v4.2 fixes errors thanks to M8f. It now includes 160p resolution for GBA emulation and has corrected sprite scaling for PSX mode.
v4.1 adds support for 320x200p up to 720p with adjustments designed for approximating different gaming console outputs.

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Vanilla Essence 4.2.pk3

Vanilla Essence 4.1.pk3

[Rachael]

Moved to Gameplay Mods since this qualifies more as one, even with a lack of weapon and monster replacements. (That does not diminish its potential usefulness, though, and I am sure there are people who will really want this)

[Pixel Eater]

Ah, okay. Fair enough

[m8f]

May I suggest more options to Vanilla Essence Menu?

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1. Spawn item drops on the floor. By default it is No, so monster toss items in the air on death.
   (Option "$CMPTMNU_NOTOSSDROPS", "compat_NOTOSSDROPS", "YesNo")
2. Automap: map color set.
   (Option "$AUTOMAPMNU_COLORSET", "am_colorset", "MapColorTypes")
3. Automap: show item count
   (Option "$AUTOMAPMNU_SHOWITEMS", "am_showitems", "OnOff")
4. Automap: show monster count
   (Option "$AUTOMAPMNU_SHOWMONSTERS", "am_showmonsters", "OnOff")
5. Automap: show secret count
   (Option "$AUTOMAPMNU_SHOWSECRETS", "am_showsecrets", "OnOff")
6. Automap: show time elapsed
   (Option "$AUTOMAPMNU_SHOWTIME", "am_showtime", "OnOff")

[Pixel Eater]

Cheers m8f, I have added the item drop and map colour options as well as some others to the menu. The additional items you suggested are a bit too in-depth and don't fit the spirit of the menu's intent though. As this is intended firstly for beginners and only secondarily for the convenience of experienced users, I want to keep the options to the bare minimum.

Thanks for introducing me to the map colours option too, I didn't realise I was missing out on the original style

[m8f]

I want to keep the options to the bare minimum.

I cannot disagree.

By the way, what does "dogaflop" mean? Is it part of April Fool's Day?

[Pixel Eater]

My significant other assures me it is the literal opposite of the word catapult

[Syrion]

This is excellent! I'm not even a novice gamer at all, but as someone who isn't well versed in gaming/graphics tech, Doom modding or GZDoom specifically the effects of some options in the GZDoom menu can be tough or nigh impossible to understand due to the total lack of explanation. And, as someone looking for a mostly vanilla experience with GZDoom (which I'm sure many players are) it can be downright frustrating trying to set it up.

While I have managed to find my preferred GZDoom settings by now, knowing about your mod would have spared me lots of tinkering around and thus time. Also, I still didn't know what the "vanilla" option would be in some cases, such as fog. So, thanks!
I'm sure beginners would greatly benefit from this mod, unfortunately I'm afraid hardly any of them will find their way here. Actually, in my opinion this mod should be part of GZDoom in some form, but I guess that's a different topic. One that brought me here, actually

[Pixel Eater]

Cheers Syrion! And thankyou for reminding me I wanted to update this.

It can now be enable with one control or Four individual ones hidden in sub-menus. It seems that most changes aren't saved between sessions but that may just be my system? I actually find it convenient nonetheless!

And now I really need to get back to packing house

[NightFright]

Just discovered this and wanted to express my gratitude. I had the impression that some of the settings are not saved, especially when using the single-control option. Entries like dropmode or compatflags don't seem to be saved properly, either (only if you do it by yourself through the regulary options menu, if available). Nevertheless, it's a neat mod that helps a lot with getting set up for a more vanilla-style gameplay experience. It's even better if you set up the Nuked OPL emulator for music, btw.

[Pixel Eater]

I had the impression that some of the settings are not saved

Oh it's not just me! The only ones that did save for me were the compatibility flags, so the opposite in my case.

It's even better if you set up the Nuked OPL emulator for music, btw.

I don't appear to have that emulator (maybe because I'm on a Mac?) so I won't go messing with that in case others end up with no music at all!

And I'm currently wondering if it's possible to duplicate the user's 'before' settings to a load of custom Cvars so there can be a restore option. I'll look into that sometime soon...

[NightFright]

Right now I am simply working with two config files to avoid losing my original settings, something like -config gzdoom-vanilla.ini.

Regarding compatibility mode, I was expecting these entries in my ini after setting it up with VE (according to "Doom (Strict)"):

Code: Select all

compatflags2=11
compatflags=-1172751401

However, it's different when your mod is applying the settings. Would that make any difference?

[Pixel Eater]

That might be because I've been setting it via the individual Cvars (and only the main ones). But if I set it with the compatflags like you're pointing out it would be much more efficient and hopefully also fix the saving problems it has. Thanks for showing me that NightFright

[Pixel Eater]

Thanks to NightFright I have an update which makes the behaviour more consistent. All settings changed by using an "auto vanilla" command are now temporary and should be reset for the next session.
I've also corrected/added some options to work with the new GZDoom 3.5.1 and included an option to shorten the reverb of rockets.

[NightFright]

Works like a charm now. Also the reset seems to work (even though the mod ini entry for the rocket reverb remains set to "True" for some reason). Thanks a lot for the adjustments! Let's hope future GZD releases won't break this - at least not too soon.