BOOM compatibility problem

Some of the maps in Freedoom are using BOOM specific line specials and are not playable on non-BOOM compatible source ports, such as Vavoom. Are you going to fix this soon? The best would be full compatibility with original doom2.exe since in that case it will work with all ports.

I don't really think it will be much of a problem. Most of the good ports (Zdoom, legacy, etc) have BOOM support, and some of the BOOM special effects are really cool. Besides, you can just put in the text file that FREEDOOM requires a BOOM compatible source port, and that might encourage more people to get one. :)

The intention has been to have Freedoom be boom.exe rather than doom2.exe compatible since the beginning.

Of course you're welcome to release your own versions of the Freedoom maps in a doom2.exe compatible format, but be aware you'll have to deal with HOM and VPO problems as well as having to change various linedef and sector types.

The advantages brought in only supporting BOOM compatible ports are substantial: level designers are freed from the problems in the original engine (like Nick said, VPO and HOM issues are a pain). And some of the boom effects like deep water and the various extra line specials are genuinely useful.

Almost all of the major ports now support BOOM effects. The boom source code is under the GPL so other ports are free to add support for them as well.

fraggle said:

Almost all of the major ports now support BOOM effects. The boom source code is under the GPL so other ports are free to add support for them as well.

Well said but I don't think that JDoom or Vavoom will ever support Boom. The guys who make these ports don't seem to be interested in anything they didn't do themselves it seems.

Someone once made a Doomsday based called Boomsday. This not only adds in Boom support (I don't think it's 100% though), but a few other things such as true 3D as well. The first couple of versions of Boomsday were released a while ago, but AFAIK it's since been discontinued.

NiGHTMARE said:

Someone once made a Doomsday based called Boomsday. This not only adds in Boom support (I don't think it's 100% though), but a few other things such as true 3D as well. The first couple of versions of Boomsday were released a while ago, but AFAIK it's since been discontinued.

I know and the fact that it hasn't been included into JDoom is more than interesting, don't you think...


(OMG, this is my third anti-JDoom post today, must be coincidence that it stopped working on my computer yesterday... :-( )

Well, the Jdoom thing is a little tragic, but I don't think lack of Vavoom support is a major loss. It's just one of those source ports which, despite a great set of features, is just too slow, buggy, and plain ugly to be of any practical use (others include Edge and Legacy :P). Okay, maybe a bit of slandering on my part, but give me good ol' Zdoom any day of the week (especially with that uncapped framerate in version 47i; it's the sexiest thing I've ever seen in Doom, and that includes impse).

Lets not let this thread turn into a port-war slanging match. Thanks.

Oh yeah...? SMMU sucks!

Bottom line is, if you don't have any Boom compatible ports installed, you're not only going to miss out on Freedoom, but you're missing out on many, many great wads that are already available.

Yup, its not like the ports cost money, theres nothing stopping anyone from using them all.

Damn, I made map06 thinking it had to be doom2.exe compatible, I cut out half the sewer area because I was getting VPO.

Would it be ok if I make a new version, boom compatible, with deep water etc??

mystic said:

Would it be ok if I make a new version, boom compatible, with deep water etc??

Sure, infact I'd encourage it.

Alternatively, we need a few (2-3) levels to record demos on, and those few need to be doom2.exe compatible. You could just make it a demo map if you want, seeing as you've gone to the trouble of making it doom2.exe compatible already..