DOOM Retro v5.3 (updated March 3, 2024)

I gotta say, at first water bobbing looked strange, but then I thought, hey, that is the way water works. It comes in waves, not as flat surface coming up and down. The same thing goes to “unsynchronized” bobbing of water and objects in it. So I would rather keep it that way.

I agree with Krazov. Brad's original gif looks more natural and liquidy to me than Linguica's version, which is more obviously a solid floor moving up and down.

Triple-agreed. The effect is super-nice-and-subtle in the original gif; the new one is jarring in an "oh god everything is moving" sense.

I'm starting to agree as well. I've spent some time getting the liquid flats' textures to animate "correctly", but overall it doesn't look as good. So I think I might keep it at as is... Thanks for your input, guys.

I like the port. I have a question: What is the sound sample rate in the game? I find that the gun sound effects seem kind of tinny compared to some other source ports.

bradharding said:

Exactly. In the version I released, the flat's actual texture didn't shift in height, only the bottom of the lower textures of the walls surrounding the flat.

Ok, I got it now. I must admit: I am strongly considering stealing your effect :)

You know, you could go half-in-half: Half original effect, half new. Might be a nice compromise.

Anyway, very cool!

I think I've found a bug. In E1M3 there's a doorway that you can't enter. It's in the secret area where you pick up the rocket launcher. To get out of the area you have to go through a passage to your left. The area is filled with acid so I presume it's something to do with your new liquid effects. :)

Yeah I just had that problem, including the soul sphere area in E1M6, I even turned the liquid effects off and still couldn't go through. Well, I like the brightmaps, it's nice those can be achieved without shaders. Maybe try adding some more of those like for Imps' eyes so you can see them coming toward you in the dark?

LOL I remember Brad specifically experimenting with imps having bright maps for their eyes and not liking the effect.

mdmenzel said:

I like the port. I have a question: What is the sound sample rate in the game? I find that the gun sound effects seem kind of tinny compared to some other source ports.

The sample rate is 44100Hz. Same as Chocolate DOOM, except hard-coded.

kb1 said:

Ok, I got it now. I must admit: I am strongly considering stealing your effect :)

You know, you could go half-in-half: Half original effect, half new. Might be a nice compromise.

Anyway, very cool!

Go right ahead! :) That reminds me - so when are we going to see the source for your own port? I bet there's a treasure-trove of stuff I can "borrow" from it. :P

Average said:

... E1M3 ...

Cyanosis said:

... E1M6 ... Imps' eyes ...

Will look into these asap. Thanks. v1.6.6 won't be too far away methinks...

And Linguica is right about the Imps' eyes: been there, done that, and decided it is too distracting

bradharding said:

Go right ahead! :) That reminds me - so when are we going to see the source for your own port? I bet there's a treasure-trove of stuff I can "borrow" from it. :P

Thanks! Yes, I've been noticing a lot of my port's features being rediscovered by others and incorporated into their engines! I need to get on the ball!

Actually, there's a few things holding me back:

* Documentation: I want each non-vanilla change to be documented, and to credit the author (me or otherwise).

* Web access and hosting: Still no internet at home. When I do eventually feel like paying for it, I'll need to pay to host a large web site/database combo to accomplish my goals.

* Old tools and libraries/multi-platform support: Still compiling with VC 6 (SP5 - the only version of VC6 with fast floating-point compiler options). Also not using SDL, instead using Windows DirectX buffering, Windows native and DirectInput controller support, Windows MIDI (I process the MIDI note-per-note which is kinda nice - no delay changing songs), and some old-ass sound library (Midas) used by ZDoom 1.11 for sfx (it still works). I'd also like to build a 64-bit version, and big endian support to allow more platforms.

* Demo versioning concerns, and incompleteness: Once you release source, you have to start writing demo compatibility code against your own old versions! So, I want to release a finished product, not one that I have to continually update regularly (I will still do updates, but thy will be huge upgrades, not bug fixes, hopefully).

So, in summary:
To release my port, I need to:
- improve documentation

- get setup with home internet access, and setup hosting for a largish site with server-side scripting and database support

- upgrade to modern compiler tools and libraries, that will allow cross-platform support.

- get to the light at the end of the tunnel!

I won't stop, and it'll eventually happen, but it's gonna be a while, I'm afraid. First and foremost, I build it for me, and I always have a working compiled version, ready for action. I enjoy playing as much as I do coding, which is not universal for coders, apparently.

My favorite game mode is my own version of coop that I call "un-coop". It's a coop game in which all of the players are dicks. You know: hide around the corner while your buddy gets his ass kicked, then run in and steal all the health and ammo. Go looking for secrets while your friend clears out the level. That kind of shit. My port has numerous features to combat that shit, and make coop actually fun under those conditions.

Before I release the source, I'll continue to provide small fixes now and again, if I can be of help. Maybe soon I'll post some videos.

Anyway, bradharding, your port kicks ass - keep up the good work. :)

Brad can you make the end level screen warping happen without the screen size getting changed for that frame? It looks wonky if playing in fullscreen/widescreen mode.

Less than a week after the last one, DOOM RETRO v1.6.6 is now available for download. This time there are several changes and refinements to the new liquid animation, plus a couple of other necessary bugfixes. Visit doomretro.com to download.

Gunfire seems to light up the area significantly less than it used to. I see you removed a scaling factor for lightnum while also increasing its range from 32 to 128. Looks like fake contrast on walls is reduced too?

Linguica said:

Gunfire seems to light up the area significantly less than it used to. I see you removed a scaling factor for lightnum while also increasing its range from 32 to 128. Looks like fake contrast on walls is reduced too?

You're right. Didn't notice that before! I think I'll quickly revert the change, recompile and upload the new binary. No one will know! Thanks.

My favorite game mode is my own version of coop that I call "un-coop". It's a coop game in which all of the players are dicks. You know: hide around the corner while your buddy gets his ass kicked, then run in and steal all the health and ammo. Go looking for secrets while your friend clears out the level. That kind of shit. My port has numerous features to combat that shit, and make coop actually fun under those conditions.

My fav trick - keeping the door closed on someone who's getting his ass whipped into cream and trying desperately to escape.
I stand by the door they came through; they try to open - I close immediately. Until they get splattered by the cyber's rockets or whatever.
If I hear that squishy gibbed sound - all the more satisfying. The satisfaction of knowing that I just screwed someone over.

What?
I don't need that horde of monsters following him in here, that's for sure.

Still churning out those point releases, guys! DOOM RETRO v1.6.7 is now available. It includes the "long wall error" fix worked on by Linguica, entryway and kb1 elsewhere on these forums, plus a few other things. Visit doomretro.com for the link and release notes. Thanks.

bradharding said:

Still churning out those point releases, guys! DOOM RETRO v1.6.7 is now available. It includes the "long wall error" fix worked on by Linguica, entryway and kb1 elsewhere on these forums, plus a few other things. Visit doomretro.com for the link and release notes. Thanks.

No credit appropriate for me on long wall error (except for some enthusiasm :) - that was all Linguica, with some math from entryway. Thanks, though! Good job on the release!

Why can't the wads with those nodes be loaded?

kb1 said:

No credit appropriate for me on long wall error (except for some enthusiasm :) - that was all Linguica, with some math from entryway. Thanks, though! Good job on the release!

But you were part of the discussion, even though you're solution didn't end up being the best!

VGA said:

Why can't the wads with those nodes be loaded?

To the best of my knowledge, WAD files with DeePBSP and ZDBSP nodes are of a completely different format (see http://doomwiki.org/wiki/Node_builder), and not Vanilla compatible. DR is now just displaying an error before trying to load the map and then crashing anyway.

Is doom retro still only vanilla compatible? (maybe there should be a new set of terms for what source ports are capable of)

What are your plans for future supported features?

jmickle66666666 said:

Is doom retro still only vanilla compatible? (maybe there should be a new set of terms for what source ports are capable of)

What are your plans for future supported features?

A lot of that stuff is indicated here: http://doomwiki.org/wiki/Comparison_of_source_ports

Obviously, if you have any ideas for things to add to it, feel free to suggest them.

You know, I've linked to that wiki page several times in the past; it's a really useful page to the community.

jmickle66666666 said:

Is doom retro still only vanilla compatible? (maybe there should be a new set of terms for what source ports are capable of)

What are your plans for future supported features?

It's limit removing. I hope to make it Boom compatible at some point in the future, but that will require some major work.

The next feature I will be focusing on will be a console.

If you'd like to try for uncapped framerate you should take a look at Doom 64 Ex's sources, Kaiser says here:

Kaiser said:

Well I was considering adding this feature for Doom64ex and since its based directly on top of the original doom2 source, I would want to be able to implement this without having to do serious changes to the loop code.

http://www.doomworld.com/vb/source-ports/49830-implementation-of-uncapped-framerates/

About a year later he added it to Doom 64 Ex!

I don't know what I've done wrong but ever since 1.6.6 I've not been able to play the game.

The game boots fine but the screen is a garble squeezed into a few pixels in the top left of the screen. I can hit enter to bring up the menu and the like. I just can't see the game. I've tried changing resolutions in the cfg but to no avail. I've also wiped the previous builds and created a new folder with both 1.6.6 and 1.6.7. Is there data stored somewhere else on my computer? I've looked in my appdata folder but found nothing.

I've no idea what changed or why it started happening... it just did!

I'm on Windows 7 Pro 64 bit with a GTX780 and i7 4770k. :)

Average said:

I don't know what I've done wrong but ever since 1.6.6 I've not been able to play the game.

The game boots fine but the screen is a garble squeezed into a few pixels in the top left of the screen. I can hit enter to bring up the menu and the like. I just can't see the game. I've tried changing resolutions in the cfg but to no avail. I've also wiped the previous builds and created a new folder with both 1.6.6 and 1.6.7. Is there data stored somewhere else on my computer? I've looked in my appdata folder but found nothing.

I've no idea what changed or why it started happening... it just did!

I'm on Windows 7 Pro 64 bit with a GTX780 and i7 4770k. :)

This is no good! What is your desktop resolution (it's 1280x1024 from memory, right?), and what resolutions have you tried? Also, try setting fullscreen to false to see if it at least runs in a window. At my day job at the moment, but I'll certainly look into it!

Wow. That was a quick response! I'm actually running at 1920 by 1080. I've tried 320x200, 320x240, 640x400, 640x480 1280x720 and 1280x800.

I'll try the windowed thingy and see if that helps. :)

Okay. I tried switching fullscreen off and the game ran fine. I then tried the above different resolutions just to see. They all worked fine too. It seems to be something to do with fullscreen mode. :)

If I run DR and select TNT.wad (it's in another folder) it crashes with a standard windows error. If I select doom2.wad from that same folder it works fine. If I use ZDL to launch DR with the TNT iwad then it works fine.

Why does it crash?

bradharding said:

It's limit removing. I hope to make it Boom compatible at some point in the future, but that will require some major work.

It's not that bad. The worst part is in putting faith in code that looks way different, especially when seeing Killough's one-liners :)

I'd recommend starting with a newer port, like PrBoom+. More recent fixes, and cleaner code. If you go that route, you'll also have to decide early-on how tight you want old demo support to be, cause PrBoom+ (and to a lesser degree, Boom) is chock-full with demo compatibility checks and fixes.