Epic 2 [released]

MegaDoomer said:

The start of Map14 is broken in ZDoom-based port - it treats the blue liners thing as a solid wall.

Thanks. No problem with (g)zdoom if "Compatibility Mode is DOOM" and that's what I use. Will be fixed for the next beta.

that water looks like it's straight from an NES game.

Ugh, that water texture really kills the look in rooms where it shows up and it doesn't fit with that waterfall texture at all.

Is there a way to fix map14 in zdoom (when Compatibility Mode is not DOOM) with mapinfo?

Really enjoying it so far. Finally a new megawad to play!

Because it hasn't been said enough already, the water flat is terrible.

I'm up to MAP03 and it's pretty challenging at the moment. Ammo is really tight, which is a gameplay mechanic I'm terrible at. I like the atmosphere so far and the architecture is interesting. Some of the sound replacements seem a little questionable though, like the alternate zombie death sound and awakening sound. I'll keep on chugging though it; I'm interested in seeing how some of the other themes look.

Mechadon said:

I'm up to MAP03 and it's pretty challenging at the moment. Ammo is really tight, which is a gameplay mechanic I'm terrible at.

Then try HMP, it is much easier. And on later levels it may really save you a lot of nerves.

(Of course all maps has been tested from scratch start)

So far I've been able to manage ok, but that will probably change as I progress.

entryway said:

Is there a way to fix map14 in zdoom (when Compatibility Mode is not DOOM) with mapinfo?

Fortunately, yes. Add 'compat_trace' to this map's definition and you can shoot the switch from inside the forcefield (or whatever it's supposed to be.)


And btw, what's the point of replacing 'STCFN058' and no other font character? This one completely messes up ZDoom's font brightness calculation because it contains a color that's brighter than all the rest of the font which makes all other font color ranges in the menu look weird.

Graf Zahl said:

Fortunately, yes. Add 'compat_trace' to this map's definition and you can shoot the switch from inside the forcefield (or whatever it's supposed to be.)


And btw, what's the point of replacing 'STCFN058' and no other font character? This one completely messes up ZDoom's font brightness calculation because it contains a color that's brighter than all the rest of the font which makes all other font color ranges in the menu look weird.

Thanks, Graf. Rare post without hating :)

Can you post example of mapinfo with enabled compat_trace here? Just with that (I did not find proper syntax for compat options here http://zdoom.org/wiki/MAPINFO). Can it be global? And is it possible to have only this line in mapinfo without levelnames which are already defined in dehacked?

I agree with you about 'STCFN058'. It should be replaced.

I'm on map09 so far and this is excellent! I love the atmosphere, and the difficult gameplay is also tops. I was afraid that the gameplay was going to be a pushover, but the gameplay is actually just perfect. Those archvile traps are menacing and there'll probably be a lot of complaints about them but it keeps you on your toes and makes the feeling of tension that much more real. ;)

I'm mixed on that water, in some settings it looks good, especially in dark rooms, but when it's out in the open in bright areas it feels a bit off.

Overall though, I'm really enjoying this! Thanks a lot for making it!

Setting the flag for the whole WAD is not that easy. For that you have to provide the full MAPINFO.

If you only need to set it for MAP14 add this as ZMAPINFO to the WAD:

map MAP14 lookup "HUSTR_14"
{
	titlepatch = "CWILV13"
	next = "MAP15"
	secretnext = "MAP15"
	sky1 = "SKY2"
	cluster = 7
	par = 150
	music = "$MUSIC_DDTBL2"
	compat_trace = 1
}

That duplicates the entire existing MAP14 definition but adds the flag.

If you want to have it set for all maps, copy doom2.txt out of zdoom.pk3, delete the include line at the top and all cluster definitions at the bottom and add the flag to the 'defaultmap' section. You then could also set the proper episode name, since you already got the full lump.

Technical explanation: Doom originally ignored all lines with the same sector on both sides when calculating hitscans. ZDoom's tracer code is more thorough and checks any sector change. You only need this flag set if you need to shoot through some self referencing sectors so if you are certain that this is the only map using them you don't need to bother with the full MAPINFO replacement.

http://prboom-plus.sf.net/epic2beta2.zip

1. STCFN058 is removed.
2. CWILVxx are added.
3. Cacodemons did not teleport on map05 in gzdoom.
4. There was no way to enter into the pyramid on map31 on easy skill (voodoo takes too low damage from barrel).
5 Added ZMAPINFO lump and compat_trace is enabled (strongly required at least for map14 and map15).
6. Proper background flats during intermissions screens.
7. Water flat was changed a little.
8. Small fixes on maps 4, 5 and 18

1. In map11... I couldn't get out of the well that had the supercharge secret. How does escaping this secret work?
2. the second text intermission after you've just finished Map11, there is an error. Whoever was typing accidentally typed "the" in a row.

DeathevokatioN said:

2. the second text intermission after you've just finished Map11, there is an error. Whoever was typing accidentally typed "the" in a row.

Thanks.

DeathevokatioN said:

1. In map11... I couldn't get out of the well that had the supercharge secret. How does escaping this secret work?

Try to push walls around. There is a line for a raising of water (s1 - floor raise to next higher floor).

I tried it; fantastic! The best Egyptian/ancient stone building theme WAD since Brotherhood of Ruin and Scythe 2!

I just played the first few levels, but I can already say that this is a wad just how I like it. I actually feel like I am on an adventure somewhere in forgotten worlds, where I am exploring old mysterious tombs and cities instead of running trough boring, pixelated techbase levels in an old outdated DOS game. =D

Please replace water with the original Doom water.

This is a fantastic megawad in the vein of Indiana Jones/Tomb Raider meets Doom. Very challenging too. The archvile traps are great and devious...just like I like them :)

It was better before, I think. Why the attachment to this water flat? It looks like it came from a Game Boy Color game. Recoloring it didn't really help; it's still very obviously at a super-low color depth. With additional shading on the rough outline that currently exists, it could look just fine, but as-is....eeeeehhh

Also, the standard sky for non-GL ports has been palettized with apparently no care or effort at all, which is rather baffling for a wad that's meant to be playable in vanilla and Boom: http://sl4.poned.com/Screenshot_Doom_20101124_151907.png

esselfortium said:

Also, the standard sky for non-GL ports has been palettized with apparently no care or effort at all, which is rather baffling for a wad that's meant to be playable in vanilla and Boom: http://sl4.poned.com/Screenshot_Doom_20101124_151907.png

It is zdoom's attempt to show hi-res sky in 8-bit mode or something. It is not what you will see in vanilla and Boom. But I agree with you, lo-res sky1 is not perfect.

Scuba Steve said:

Please replace water with the original Doom water.

What picture is look better?

The second. Although I liked a bit the original Epic 2 water texture too

Definitely the second, it actually fits with the waterfall texture. :|

entryway said:

It is zdoom's attempt to show hi-res sky in 8-bit mode or something. It is not what you will see in vanilla and Boom. But I agree with you, lo-res sky1 is not perfect.

Oh, okay. That makes sense; sorry for doubting. :P

Standard Doom.wad water texture in Hitherto's shot definitely looks better though. The water flat from Scythe2's Egypt episode (I'm not sure of its actual origin) might be worth trying, too.

I also noticed that a green nukage flat used in the space levels tiles pretty poorly; there are visible straight lines at the seams.

Well fuck. Jesus Christ. If you don't have a fetish for arch viles and cyber demons I suggest you put the difficulty down to HMP. I think I need some sleep, my ass is sore from cyberdemon rockets. :P

First shot looks better IMO

First shot is ucking fugly, second shot's water is too dark. Some higher quality but brighter graphic is needed.

esselfortium said:

I also noticed that a green nukage flat used in the space levels tiles pretty poorly; there are visible straight lines at the seams.

Do you mean NUKAGE1? It is from Eternall.wad (SLIMExx) by TeamTNT

I hate to be endlessly bitchy about textures, but the replacement of the excessively bright water draws further attention to another related issue: that sand flat is ridiculously bright. :P

entryway said:

Do you mean NUKAGE1? It is from Eternall.wad (SLIMExx) by TeamTNT

Not sure; I'm not on my Windows machine at the moment and thus can't actually open up the wad to check. Does it matter where it's from, though? :\

esselfortium said:

that sand flat is ridiculously bright. :P

How else should look a sand under the midday african sun?