Elementalism, an ambitious GZDoom mapset, Phase 1 out now!

[Remmirath]

Elementalism is an epic new mapset for GZDoom. Phase 1 out now!

Download link for Full Release v1.3 (Sept. 3rd, 2022)

ModDB
Mirror

Changelog from RC1:

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• General:
  
  Earth Wand has had it's damaged buffed and a small AOE effect added, but re-fire speed has been slowed down
  Boss health bars have been made shorter, transparent, and can be now moved between the top and bottom of the screen with the Elementalism Options menu. This way they don't interfere with the boss battles as much
  Opening story-text now stays on screen for longer, but can be skipped with 'Use' button
  Fire Episode skybox has been optimized, resulting in a ~10% FPS increase in F1 and F4
  Subtitles added to [REDACTED] dialogue
  Wand of Elements has a proper name when displayed on the Hud
  Automap is disabled during intermission screens
  Shaders have been updated to modern syntax
  Updated Elementalism Options menu to make it clearer how to display the new Elementalism Hud
  In-game description of the new difficulty settings updated to make it clearer what level of challenge they represent
  Numerous minor visual improvements across all the maps
  
  Earth episode:
  
  Earth 2: Switch near plasma rifle made more obvious
  Earth 3: Fixed floor shader in jungle opening area (was broken in RC2, re-fixed in RC2 v1.01)
  Earth 4: First lift can be recalled so it's not a one-way drop anymore
  Earth 4: Some early fights made slightly easier to help with the difficulty curve
  Earth 4: Lightmode set correctly so everyone has a consistent visual experience
  Earth 4: Teleporter redirect means falling off at the end of the map no longer requires extensive backtracking
  Earth 5: Boss made slightly less resistant to the Earth Wand
  
  Water episode:
  
  Water 2: Fixed potential soft-lock in final fight
  Water 3: Blue Key now works (fixed in RC1 1.01)
  Water 4: Corrected comp-level setting allows for correct enemy jumping behavior
  Water 4: Final Cybbie encounter made a little less brutal
  Water 5: First wave of fight sped up to be a little less tedious
  Water 5: Boss made more resistant to BFG tracers
  
  Fire episode:
  
  Fire 1: Potential soft-lock near big main door fixed
  Fire 2: Added message to double doors to confirm they are locked
  Fire 2: Added heath and cell ammo to Yellow Key fight
  Fire 4: Fixed decorations incorrectly flagged as secrets
  Fire 4: Fixed skybox issue when backtracking from end of the level
  Fire 4: Added escape teleporters to all inescapable lava pits
  Fire 5: Prevented early access to central arena

At nearly 5 years in the making, this has been a labor of love for everyone involved, and it is amazing (and slightly surreal) to have it finally released! A celebration of both advanced UDMF mapping and classic Doom gameplay, the aim of the mapset is to bring together the classic Doom experience we love with ambitious, high-concept modern mapping techniques. I can’t wait for you all the enjoy it! – Bauul

Note: This is a Release Candidate 2 build. This features numerous improvements and bug fixes over RC1, but please be aware some bugs may still exist.

• 15 extensive, detailed maps split across three episodes: The Realm of Earth, The Realm of Water, and the Realm of Fire
  Heavy focus on advanced UDMF and visual GZDoom features with extensive environmental storytelling
  Classic gameplay at heart: exploration and incidental-combat focused with occasional set-piece encounters
  Extensive lore for those who want to find it
  The vanilla bestiary joined by a handful of episode-specific custom monsters
  A new super-weapon, the Wand of Elements, with episode-specific attacks
  Gigantic new boss encounters
  A wholly original high-fidelity soundtrack

Project lead:
Bauul

Maps by:
Bauul: Hub, E2, E3, E5, W2, W3, W4, W5, F2, F3, F4, F5

Bridgeburner56: F1, F5

Clay: F2, W4

DMPhobos: E1

Dragonfly: E2, F2

Dreadopp: W1

Phade102: W2

Remmirath: E4, W3, F4

Music by:
HeavenWraith: W1, F2

HexenMapper: Title, E2, E3, W4, Credits

PRIMEVAL: E1, E4, W2, F4, F5, FBoss

Speedy: W3, F3

Tristan: Hub, E5, EBoss, W5, WBoss, F1

(The OST will be getting its own full release on Spotify etc. soon!)

And a fantastic supporting team of testers, programmers and artists:

antares031, boris, Cyano Blugron, Guardsoul, Gutawer, Insane_Gazebo, Jazzmaster9, Jimmy, Kaapeli47, Lazorical, Liberation, LowGcifer, Major Arlene, Pegleg, Rachael, Simpletonium, Stormcatcher.77, Terminus, TheEvilGrin, Velvetic, Wolf McBeard, Xyzzy01, Yugiboy85



GZDoom 4.7.1. Other GZDoom versions may work, but mileage will vary.





Full Screenshot Gallery: https://imgur.com/gallery/cBrO9fK



What are the minimum system requirements?

You need an Open GL 3.3 compatible GPU and a CPU with decent single-core speed. Like many modern GZDoom mapsets this has system requirements on the higher side, but we have worked carefully to optimize it as much as possible so it should run fine even on lower-end hardware.

What visual settings should I use?

Elementalism only works in the Hardware renderer. Dynamic lights are strongly recommended, as are shadowmaps if your hardware supports them.

What gameplay settings should I use?

Jump and Crouch are required. Freelook is optional, but heavily recommended. All the necessary comp-settings are set in the ZMAPINFO so you shouldn’t have to worry about them. However, if you find you are encountering odd behavior, please ensure your comp settings are set to Default.

Can I run mods with this?

Probably not. Robustly made mods may work to a degree, but some conflicts are likely inevitable. If you run into specific problems and would like more information, speak to the mods’ author.

How challenging is the mapset?

Not super challenging on the scale of modern mapsets, probably similar to something like Eviternity. If you want to experience the full UV monster count but are concerned about the difficulty, I strongly recommend trying the two new difficulties: Mild-Violence and Medium-Violence. They maintain the full UV monster count but improve the survivability of the player.

How long are the maps?

First playthroughs will vary between 20-30 minutes for the shorter maps and 45-60 minutes for the longer ones. The full mapset is around 8-10 hours of gameplay.

Can I change the Elementalism Options after starting a game?

Yes! Every option in the Elementalism Options menu can be toggled at any point, even swapping between pistol start and semi-continuous map starts.

I like to pistol start maps – how should I do that?

Select “Pistol Start” in the Elementalism Options menu. Do not use IDCLEV or MAP commands to reset the map, as you will lose your progress through the Hub.

I like to play continuous – where did some of my weapons go?

“Semi-continuous” is the only continuous option. In order not to unbalance the mapset, high-tier weaponry does not transfer between levels.

When will Phase 2 come out?

Progress has begun, but it’ll be a long (long) time!



Come join the discussion and get regular updates on the #Elementalism channel on the Hellforge Discord Server!

[AvzinElkein]

Is this for Doom (2), Heretic, or Hexen?

[Remmirath]

Is this for Doom (2), Heretic, or Hexen?

It's for Doom 2.

[ShadesMaster]

Damn still a whole year away tho, but looks AWESOME!

[Bigger C]

Holy everlasting yes.

<bookmarks this thread>

[Nash]

Classic gameplay and modern visuals, that's how you do it. ;)

[ReX]

If it wasn't for some of the textures, I wouldn't even have known this is a DooM project.

It looks spectacular! Best wishes.

[Scripten]

Wow. I am officially losing my shit over this.

Looks incredible.

[LukasG2004]

can't wait!

[Machine-Reaper]

can you give us a minor idea of how much of a modern potato you need to run this project smoothly? (Like i5 2nd Gen with 4 gigs of ram can only run ZDCMP2 on 15 fps)

[The Ultimate DooMer]

Classic gameplay and modern visuals, that's how you do it.

That's the gap in the market that needs filling...there's even more interest over at DW atm

can you give us a minor idea of how much of a modern potato you need to run this project smoothly?

More than this I'd imagine?

---

[Bauul]

can you give us a minor idea of how much of a modern potato you need to run this project smoothly? (Like i5 2nd Gen with 4 gigs of ram can only run ZDCMP2 on 15 fps)

We're trying to keep it as optimized as we can, but it will require some pretty modern hardware just for the graphical features to work. Integrated graphics will likely struggle (if they support OpenGL 3.0 at all) but a remotely dedicated modern graphics card should be fine.

My personal mapping rule so far has been: if with all the GZDoom graphical bells and whistles maxed out my GTX 1060 MaxQ drops significantly below 60 fps, it's time to tone it down.

[Zen3001]

I hope my craptop manages to run it

[Machine-Reaper]

My personal mapping rule so far has been: if with all the GZDoom graphical bells and whistles maxed out my GTX 1060 MaxQ drops significantly below 60 fps, it's time to tone it down.

Joly crap!

so it seems my GTX965m which can run Doom 2016 at 75 fps on Ultra will not be capable enough considering your using GTX 1060 MaxQ.

[Bauul]

My personal mapping rule so far has been: if with all the GZDoom graphical bells and whistles maxed out my GTX 1060 MaxQ drops significantly below 60 fps, it's time to tone it down.

Joly crap!

so it seems my GTX965m which can run Doom 2016 at 75 fps on Ultra will not be capable enough considering your using GTX 1060 MaxQ.

By "All the bells and whistles" I do mean things like x32 multisampling. If you can play Doom 2016 at 75 fps you'll be fine!