Brightmaps Plus v1.92

[NightFright]

It was suggested that I create a separate thread for this, so here it is.

Since GZDoom's brightmaps.pk3 is not fully compatible with Revenant100's Sprite Fixing Project, new brightmaps were needed. This package does not only provide that but also adds many more brightmaps than the original file delivers, e.g. glowing eyes for Doom monsters, weapon pickups or (optional) texture brightmaps. This package builds upon the work of previous brightmaps releases, but many entries have been edited, changed or added for more subtle effects which do not interfere too much with actual gameplay (e.g. monster eyes usually don't glow THAT brightly in the dark any more to avoid revealing monster presence too early). Glowing eyes effect for Soulsphere/Megasphere and slightly sparkling health bonus are all new-additions created by myself.

Last update: Version 1.92 (Nov 29, 2022)

1.1] Brightmaps for vanilla sprites (PK3, 1.5 MB) *
1.2] Brightmaps for Sprite Fixing Project (PK3, 1.5 MB) *
2] Brightmaps for textures (PK3, 0.6 MB)
* Use one of the two available sprite packs, textures optional

Brightmaps Plus on GitHub

NOTES:
1) This will NOT work with any sort of "Smooth Doom" projects. These add new sprites which won't have brightmaps assigned to them.
2) Some PWADs (e.g. Sunlust, Ancient Aliens, Back to Saturn X) come with their own monster/item sprites due to palette adjustments. These are usually based on vanilla sprites/alignments, which means that if you are using spritefixes and the fitting brightmaps, these won't work properly in such cases (because spritefixes are overwritten with modified vanilla sprites). Possible solutions:
- Use "Brightmaps for vanilla sprites" instead or
- Download the compatibility fixes provided by the spritefix project author. Loading order would then be: spritefixes - PWAD - spritefix compat fix - spritefix brightmaps.

Example screenshots (MAP30):


Info:
- Doom, Heretic, Hexen and Strife supported
- Spritefixes supported (depending on which mod file you use)
- More (and better) brightmaps than default brightmaps.pk3 with additional features (e.g. monster eyes glow in the dark, texture brightmaps)
- Completely replaces brightmaps.pk3 that comes with GZDoom. You don't need to load both files at the same time
- It is assumed you use the spritefixes for Doom and Heretic made by Revenant100 (d1spfx19.wad, d2spfx19.wad, hrspfx10.wad)
- As long as you use the spritefix version, avoid loading these brightmaps with Doom/Heretic addons that come with customized sprites.

Credits:
Based on original graphics by
- id Software (Doom/Doom II)
- Raven Software (Heretic/Hexen)
- Rogue Entertainment (Strife)
- TeamTNT (Final Doom)

Brightmaps provided by
- Acidhoes (Hexen sprites)
- DrVenom8 (Doom/Heretic sprites and Heretic/Hexen textures)
- NightFright (Doom spritefix sprites & various edits)
- TheUnbeholden (Doom/Final Doom textures)
- Virtue (Doom/Hexen/Strife sprites)
- Warden (some Mancubus sprites)

[NightFright]

A bit of love for Heretic. Iron Lich was at least partially improperly defined (brightmaps are called LICH in GZDoom instead of HEAD, probably to avoid conflicts with Doom's Cacodemon) - it should work as intended now. A few pickups were tweaked as well.

CHANGELOG v1.61
[HERETIC] Improved: Quiver of Ethereal Arrows (AMC2 B/C), Crystal Vial (PTN1), Quartz Flask (PTN2)
[HERETIC] Fixed: Iron Lich (HEAD/LICH)

[Caligari87]

Just curious, how does this compare and contrast with sbrightmaps.pk3? That's what I've been using for a while and I really like it, but I'm not sure if this builds on it or not.

[NightFright]

Among other sources, this project is based on sbrightmaps - sort of, since Z86 most likely got his brightmaps basically from the same sources I did (not sure how much he made by himself). I have applied a lot of changes and adjustments, but you shouldn't lose any significant functionality/effects when using this instead.

After I converted all brightmaps to greyscale, some brightmaps have their brightnesses reduced, but that's also due to feedback from people who complained that gameplay changes too much if you see glowing monster eyes in the dark. It's still like that, but in some cases (zombie, sergeant, imp) you may need to pay a bit more attention to spot them.

Main advantage is that it unites all brightmaps, for Doom 1+2, TNT, Plutonia, Heretic, Hexen and Strife in one single file. And it works with spritefixes, but also without if needed.

[Caligari87]

Alright, awesome! Looks like I'll probably be adding this to my autoload then.

[Nash]

I wonder, is there a way to programmatically enable and disable between vanilla brightmaps and spritefixes brightmaps? Not really comfortable with having to edit the files frequently depending on what I'm playing...

[NightFright]

I would also like to have that option. And while we are at it, make texture brightmaps switchable, too. Hell, I could even make glowing monster eyes optional. I haven't seen this anywhere so far though, therefore I am sceptical. Coding team input may be needed for this one.

If GLDEFS is only loaded on startup and cannot be updated dynamically ingame, I guess we are out of luck, though. In the worst case you may need to create a seperate zipfile without spritefixes enabled, but I'd also prefer a single-file solution.

[NightFright]

Maintenance release in order to adapt to lump filtering changes with GZDoom 4.1.0. Please do NOT use this version with GZDoom 4.0.0 or earlier. For convenience, I will keep a link to v1.61 in the OP for the time being, but I assume that eventually everybody will update to latest GZDoom version.

CHANGELOG v1.62
[DOOM] Adjusted lump filtering for DOOM 1+2 according to latest GZDoom 4.1.0 syntax

[Hipnotic Rogue]

Thank you very much. Loving your work.

[mgtroyas]

Yes, fantastic work, it's working great with all the wad's I've played.

[Grizzly]

This is super neat. Thank you!

[Grizzly]

Must say, having this on whilst playing Sigil does clash with the intended look somewhat. Sigil's maps are intentionally dark, and having glowing eyes and some brightmapped textures really stand out on maps like E5M2.

[NightFright]

That's the catch. It was actually a lot worse before my edits since all brightmaps were pretty much fullbright. I'd like to add ingame switches for textures and glowing eyes, but I think GZDoom isn't capable of dynamically switching brightmap definitions. Maybe one day.

I'll consider doing a "lite" version without any texture brightmaps and glowing eyes removed (even official brightmaps.pk3 has some, at least for the zombie, sergeant and chaingunner) for the absolute purists or special cases like Sigil.

[m8f]

glowing eyes and some brightmapped textures really stand out on maps like E5M2.

This is what I load brightmaps for

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[NightFright]

The problem is that with software rendering you can't have brightmaps. You will have a different experience with the hardware renderer anyway, regardless whether you use brightmaps and dynamic lights or not.

But it's true, dark maps are making brightmaps truly shine.