Ozymandias81 wrote:I do noticed checking your project that you have even included all dialogues, and sprites have all their offsets setup on TEXTURES which is pretty cool thing (and their nameing comes from an automatic process of renaming them - smart idea because it is not something I have done, I went more with a classical approach, which means conventional names and offsets applied)
Yeah, I setup all my textures, sprites, etc through the textures lump because it's easiest to script it and change it from there. For example, UW1 walls are 64x64 but floors and ceilings are 32x32 so all need to be scaled up. Also, UW draws its flats bottom to top instead of top to bottom, so I have to use a negative y scale to flip them all. Also, when I started, I wasn't sure what overall scale I was going to use. The maps you saw are 1:1, meaning that 64 UW map units = 64 GZDoom map units. But I wasn't sure I wanted to stick to that, so my script actually has as scale factor and I can spit these maps out in any scale like 128:64 or whatever. So having a textures lump gives me a place to scale everything globally instead of scaling every single wall and floor and ceiling individually.
It also makes it easier to change out the graphics for higher-res version later if I want to.
Ozymandias81 wrote:What I am not sure regarding your project is including Void entities as enemies, they were not interactive afaik if I remember correctly, most of them where put on places over lava or too far to reach
My script just rips out all the critters (UW engine calls monster objects "critters") as they are defined. Void monsters are defined as critters, so that how the script built them. Actually since the void monsters don't really do anything, they don't have attack or walking animations, so UW used those extra sprite slots to pack multiple monsters in a single void monster sprite set. So you're not even seeing all the void monsters because I'm only displaying the first animation in each set.
Ozymandias81 wrote:(I got both from free on GoG a couple of months ago, adjusted their lame dosbox config and they works fine now
Don't forget to change the aspect ratio. Remember that like Doom, UW wasn't drawn with square pixels. Look at your health/mana potions, if they don't look round but look short and squatty, they you're playing at the wrong aspect ratio.
Also, there is an EXE hack that gives modern mouselook and WASD controls. It is compatible with the GoG release if you want to check it out.
There are also several web pages telling how to get better music, some even mentioning using an MT32 emulator. I've never got any of them to work properly, but I remember the music from that game being one of it's strengths.
Ozymandias81 wrote:afaik UnderworldExporter instead is not suitable to end the game for both, or am I wrong?
I really don't now - there have been several fan ports/remakes that have come and died over the years, I don't remember which one was which. The most recent one I looked at was Underworld Adventures, which is going again after halting back in 2007.
Is UnderworldExporter that unity one? I remember that looking promising, and said it could play the game through the end. I might have had a look at it, I don't remember how far into it I played.
Ozymandias81 wrote:You doing a superb job there, and in order to not clash with your project I might consider to go for the "arcade" approach with detailed maps in Hexed Underworld, keeping enemies, weapons and some of the lore from UW games
My scope has shifted as I be working on it. My first goal was just to bring the levels. Then I thought about putting in UW monsters and weapons. And now I've start scripting game play stuff and getting into that, so it look like I'm going for TC.
If you're just doing levels and monsters and going to mix in some Hexen stuff, I'll tell you a few things I remember from my mapping:
- As I said above, UW wall textures are 64x64, floors and ceilings are 32x32 and y-flipped
- All walls are orthogonal or diagonal. If diagonal, the textures are x-stretched to fill the line. So on diagonal lines I set my texture x-scales to 0.71, that stretches 64 to ~91 so the textures line up right.
- UW doesn't have an option to unpeg textures, so all textures are drawn starting at the top of the wall. UW does a weird distortion with textures on the side of ramps that I don't think you can emulate in GZDoom, so you'll have to figure out how you want to handle that.
- UW uses textures for level geometry and also decal objects. Textures are stretched on diagonal walls but decals are not. An example of this: On the first level, go north from the silver sapling room until you get to the bridge. Look to your right and you'll see a grating on a diagonal wall. Notice the grating texture is stretched to fill the wall. Go to where you first got the red key, north to that little room with a rat in it. Look at the grating on the diagonal wall, notice it is not stretched to fill the wall. That is a decal. To know what is a decal, try to pick it up. If it says "Nothing to get" it is a texture, if it says "You cannot get that" it is a decal.
Hexen might actually be the perfect place to import UW. I was originally thinking of a "doomguy in UW" kind of cross over (kind of like your Bloom) but as I started considering monsters I realized it would be a slaughter. Most UW monsters are slow moving melee and close-range monsters. Doom guy with shotguns and rockets would mow 'em down, no problem. I'd have to boost their abilities to make them a viable threat. But I remember Hexen has a lot more melee and close-quarters combat, that would probably work out better for UW environments.
Anyway, excited to see where you go with this, and feel free to ask me anything about UW.
