[PoC/WIP]Doom Combined - Play DOOM 1 maps in DOOM 2 properly

[sarge_945]

Hey everyone! You might remember me from the Last Weapon Used mod. Anyway, I am back after a bit of a hiatus with a new project.

The aim of this project is to let you play play doom 1 maps in doom 2 seamlessly, with some extended features. I know many projects like this have existed in the past, such as njtex.wad, but they always had a few problems, namely:

1. They usually contained all of the copyrighted doom 1 textures/patches, etc.
2. Some textures in Doom 1 and Doom 2 are different but share the same names. This is problematic with these wads, because one texture will always take precedence over the other, depending on the order in which you load the file, which means...
--2.5. They can't really be thrown in your autoload folder and forgotten about, as they will more than likely mess with your textures in some way.
3. They don't usually offer any real reason to actually play the doom 1 maps in doom 2, especially when Doom 1 is just as easy to launch and play with ZDL as Doom 2 is. I guess they are for an extra bunch of textures in doom 2, but they were never really used in many wads AFAIK

Anyway, now that there are more and more wads which cover both Doom 1 and Doom 2 (like Maps of Chaos, which was actually the inspiration to make this, although it was mainly done for fun), I decided to take it upon myself to make all of the Doom 1 content work in Doom 2 without conflicts and other issues, and to give somewhat of an incentive to play through the Doom 1 campaign and PWADS in Doom 2.

This mod has the following features:
1. No Doom 1 assets. The only assets I am using are INTERPIC from Doom 2, INTERPIC from UDoom and the Doom 2 credits screen. I am looking for ways around these. You will need DOOM.WAD to play this
2. A script to automatically fix textures that have the same name in both games. The method used might not work with all hires texture packs, but it's better than things just being broken. This should work in all PWADs that use the ExMx map format.
3. Hand placed Doom 2 enemies and items throughout the Doom 1 levels, as well as the levels from some PWADs (PWADs coming soon. I am looking to get Maps of Chaos and a few others done). I have tried to be faithful to the original Doom feeling, while adding in Doom 2 assets where I feel it makes sense. No modified maps are required, this is all done via script.
4. A randomizer which dynamically replaces enemies and some weapon spawns with the super shotgun, as a fallback for the hand-placed approach (for unsupported PWADs, etc).
5. Configurability. If you don't like the new content, you can set dc_no_extra_actors to true to only do texture replacements without any spawning of new enemies/items.

Currently the Randomizer is not done, and only Episode 1 of the DOOM IWAD is supported for the hand-placed items.

I am hoping this is of interest to some, although I understand it will likely be quite niche. I did it out of fun and practice, not for any real major practical reason.

Anyway, if for some reason you're interested in this, you can download it here. To install, simply load DOOM.WAD before this (DOOM.WAD should probably be the first file you load after DOOM2.WAD), and then place DoomCombined.pk7 directly after it.

This is early pre-alpha stuff. I expect there to be bugs, and I expect the balance to be a little off. The main-menu art is admittedly terrible. I welcome any feedback. It is tested with other mods, and it seems to be very compatible. I have tested it with Brutal Doom and thyinterpic.wad, and both work fine if loaded after.

remember to unzip the file, don't just drag the 7z into ZDL! (or your launcher of choice). I don't know why this board doesn't allow pk7 files to be uploaded directly.

KNOWN BUGS: If you use the "map" command, the texture replacement doesn't work for that map. I still don't know why this is.

[JohnnyTheWolf]

I have been waiting for a mod that would retroactively add Doom II upgrades to Doom!

[Machine-Reaper]

Question~

Would there be a possibility of playing two megawads belonging to each game, Doom 1 and 2 in a single game ?

I mean lets say I have "Hell Revealed" which replaces Doom 2 maps and then "Doom Episode 1 The way ID did it" which replaces Doom 1 maps. Would I be able to get them all inside one game?

[sarge_945]

Question~

Would there be a possibility of playing two megawads belonging to each game, Doom 1 and 2 in a single game ?

I mean lets say I have "Hell Revealed" which replaces Doom 2 maps and then "Doom Episode 1 The way ID did it" which replaces Doom 1 maps. Would I be able to get them all inside one game?

I like to run Maps of Chaos, which includes both Doom 1 and Doom 2 content in the same wad.

They should both work, however if they both add the same content there might be clashes. A good example - if they both have custom intermission screens, it will likely you will only see the INTERPIC from the wad that was loaded last, but the actual maps should work just fine.

I don't have the randomiser up and running yet, so you won't see any doom 2 items in doom 1 PWADs, but let me know if it all works regardless.

I have been waiting for a mod that would retroactively add Doom II upgrades to Doom!

Awesome! I don;t have support for any PWADs right now, but please let me know how the balance/item placements are for episode 1.

[JohnnyTheWolf]

Episode 1 is already extremely generous in terms of health and ammo, so you should add more Doom II enemies early on to make up for the ability to acquire the Super Shotgun as early as E1M2.

Regardless, this is very promising!

[sarge_945]

Episode 1 is already extremely generous in terms of health and ammo, so you should add more Doom II enemies early on to make up for the ability to acquire the Super Shotgun as early as E1M2.

Regardless, this is very promising!

Thanks for the feedback!

Originally there were a LOT more chaingunners, but it felt like a bullet hell. I am trying to still keep the Doom 1 feel. I know E1 was a little easy in the original game, and I am trying to still keep it a little easy, but sure, I will add even more guys.

Unfortunately, other than chaingun guys, none of the Doom 2 enemies really fit into the theme of Episode 1.

Did you get a change to play through the whole thing? I did add some nasty surprises in some of the levels

[armymen12002003]

this looks very interesting i'm gonna keep an eye on this.

[JohnnyTheWolf]

Unfortunately, other than chaingun guys, none of the Doom 2 enemies really fit into the theme of Episode 1.

I am not sure I understand your point. How exactly do they not fit?

Did you get a change to play through the whole thing? I did add some nasty surprises in some of the levels

Not yet, although I did notice the Hell Knight at the end of E1M4.

[RikohZX]

Unfortunately, other than chaingun guys, none of the Doom 2 enemies really fit into the theme of Episode 1.

I am not sure I understand your point. How exactly do they not fit?

Tossing in Mancubi, Archviles or Arachnotrons would really clash with the "starter flow" that Episode 1 tries to keep. I mean, the entire episode has only the two Zombiemen, Imps and Pinkies for a reason up until the Bruiser Brothers to really set up just how much shit you're in for with later episodes with even more hellish foes.

[sarge_945]

Unfortunately, other than chaingun guys, none of the Doom 2 enemies really fit into the theme of Episode 1.

I am not sure I understand your point. How exactly do they not fit?

Tossing in Mancubi, Archviles or Arachnotrons would really clash with the "starter flow" that Episode 1 tries to keep. I mean, the entire episode has only the two Zombiemen, Imps and Pinkies for a reason up until the Bruiser Brothers to really set up just how much shit you're in for with later episodes with even more hellish foes.

THIS sums it up pretty well. Episode 1 doesn't have much enemy variety overall, even from the doom 1 enemies. It's basically zombiemen, sergeants, imps, pinkys and spectres the whole way through until the Barons in e1m8. I probably should have started with a different episode for some more variety. E4M1 is done too, I took some more liberties there.

Episodes 2-4 should have a lot more variety for enemy choices, I just need to get around to doing them.

also,

---

there are some arch-viles towards the mid-end of episode 1. I know they don't really fit, but I did them as a test and as a surprise . I would like to know what you guys think of their placement specifically

Remember that this is all preliminary, and is more of a test than anything, so I expect there will be balancing issues. I am more than open to suggestions for changes/additions

[JohnnyTheWolf]

Oh, I am not suggesting throwing every Doom II monster in Knee Deep in the Dead either.

It is just that, again, it is already a very easy episode and it is kind of boring to go through it with the Super Shotgun without meeting much resistance.

[sarge_945]

Oh, I am not suggesting throwing every Doom II monster in Knee Deep in the Dead either.

It is just that, again, it is already a very easy episode and it is kind of boring to go through it with the Super Shotgun without meeting much resistance.

Do you have any suggestions for making it a bit harder?

[JohnnyTheWolf]

Maybe introduce the Hell Knight and the Lost Souls much earlier and in greater numbers?

Or, if you want to save Doom II monsters for later, a lot more Imps and Pinkies; since they do not drop ammo, it would help counter its overabundance throughout Episode 1.

[sarge_945]

Maybe introduce the Hell Knight and the Lost Souls much earlier and in greater numbers?

Or, if you want to save Doom II monsters for later, a lot more Imps and Pinkies; since they do not drop ammo, it would help counter its overabundance throughout Episode 1.

That's a good idea. I was thinking more chaingunners too. Generally in high-up or unreachable places for extra effect. Not too many though, I know how annoying hitscan can be in Doom

[Homor]

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS! I've been searching for a mod that does this for months, and I feel so foolish for not finding this earlier! Being able to play doom1 maps in Doom2, with all the new features and enemies, is so damn important to me, and will make playing new mods a lot more enjoyable in the future. From the bottom of my heart, thank you!