GBA Doom 2 Industrial Zone

I remember reading somewhere (probably a post on this forum or something) that due to the sheer complexity and size of the map, that Doom 2 for the Game Boy Advance divided MAP15: Industrial Zone into two maps. I was kinda confused on how a single map as open ended as that one would somehow be able to be split into two. Where would the exits be? Where would the starting room of the second half be? How could you hide the half of the map that wasn't meant to be seen yet? So in any interest I proceeded to do a little research into it.

I found some youtube videos of a playthrough of the two maps, Industrial Zone: A, and Industrial Zone: B.

I didn't really get as good a look as I was hoping but it left me with some answered questions I originally had with it. The yellow key behind the Hell Baron is where the first exit is. The giant crevice in the middle of the map is blocked by a giant brick wall and doesnt serve as a key component to the functionality of the map. Industrial Zone: A basically features almost everything the original map has to offer, only dumbing down the other half of the map and adding a brick wall so that the other half is visible only from walking along the outside of that center palace thing. After watching the video a second time i realized that the other half of the map is actually a great wall of china looking bridge with a bunch of zombies on it and apparently no way on it.

I couldn't tell at the beginning of Industrial Zone: B, if the starting area was some heavily manipulated parts of Industrial Zone, but watching the video a second time showed that the starting area is actually a fresh new never before seen area for Doom replacing where the center palace structure in the map would have been. It's got some obstacles and rooms added to give the first part a little bit of length before obtaining the yellow key. The secret exit is accessible through this map. The rest of the map functions the same.

Here are the videos I watched that I generated my speculative conjecture from:

On an unrelated note apparently the Doom guy doesn't bleed, he generates bullet puffs when shot. And the chaingun guys sound like they are using chainguns instead of rapid firing shotguns.

I also found out just now that apparently The Chasm has an A and B too.

In The Chasm: A, many parts of the map that were at first entirely optional are now vital parts of the map. The melting nukage maze building now requires a red keycard to get in. The door near the shotgun catwalk requires a yellow skullkey. The yellow skullkey is located in the part of the map that is all made up of PIPEWAL2 textures, that of course is accessed by rising the stairs from that part of the map that is accessed through running across those red pillars. The yellow key is used to open the door where there would normally be a small ledge with a rocket box on it. This ledge has been replaced by a rather short, but nonetheless entirely fresh new area where there red key can be obtained and a closet trap revealing a few pinky demons is staged. The red key is then used to access the building with the SFALLx interior where the blue key is located. The blue door is still in the same location, except that it houses the exit room to The Chasm: A instead of the network of catwalks.

The aforementioned network of catwalks is the starting room of The Chasm: B, and to my knowledge is no different than the remaining half of the original Chasm, excepting some additional escape teleports and radiation suit from the catwalks in the red key/exit room area.

videos of course

I have both Doom and Doom 2 for the GameBoy Advanced. I always thought it was odd that they split the levels up. I will say that the GBA versions aren't very fun unless you are going on a road trip and I never liked the thought of the monsters having green blood because I was so use to it being red (with exception of Barrens).

Speaking from a technological perspective, the framerate and general appearance of the game is admirable. I think it's cool that they split those levels in half instead of severely reducing them or simply not including them.

Those are the best places to split those levels if you had to do it.

I agree with GoatLoard, it does look pretty good for a GBA.

And I think the green blood looks really good on all the former humans. Very zombie like.

I have the GBA version of Doom 2, but I rarely, if ever, play it. Mostly because the save feature doesn't work at all on it.

I enjoyed Doom II on the GBA; even though it still feels a bit weird using the D-pad for movement. I also thought it was cool that there was a brand new area for Industrial Zone cause it was like a little taste of what a new Doom II could be like. Sort of like Doom the Way Id Did, even though that was more about if Id Software had levels they'd never released.

Hmm, have GBA Doom (II)'s maps been converted over? I'd like to take a closer look at this. I know someone did so with the bonus DM maps from one, so the converter has to exist.

I absolutely love GBA Doom II. GBA Doom, not so much. Just take Jaguar Doom, water it down a lot (for the GBA, of course), but add music in the levels and you have yourself GBA Doom, with a "new" level.

Xaser said:

Hmm, have GBA Doom (II)'s maps been converted over? I'd like to take a closer look at this. I know someone did so with the bonus DM maps from one, so the converter has to exist.

I'm not sure that the same methods could be used to extract data from them both, though. From what I've heard, GBA Doom II was based on a completely different engine than the original GBA Doom, allowing the limited hardware to handle Doom II's maps more smoothly. The map format might be completely different, or in any case, the rom data as a whole is probably in a pretty different arrangement than GBA Doom's.

Am I the only person, after seeing the video, noticing that the SSG's reload and fire rate is... seems a tad bit faster?

I had DOOM1 for GBA, thinking I'd finally be able to have the full doom experience after getting DOOM64, only to be disapointed.

Though I still liked it, and played it on long trips, I was let down by the missing/replaced levels.

EDIT: I also want to add how well the controls were, though. They handled wonderfully on the system.

Everything in GBA DOOM II is going to be slightly different because they reimplemented it all inside the Southpaw engine, which was a COTS FPS engine designed and optimized specifically for the GBA. It is not running in a variant of the normal DOOM engine and thus it has its own set of quirks entirely.

God the on-board sound of the GBA sucked. The Final Fantasy ports were great but had awful audio.

Doom II and the Ecks games really showed the power of the GBA when software was built with the systems constraints in mind. It's surprising how well they play.

It is a shame the sound was crippled on the GBA though (shitty DAC?). It really let the system down...

Doomhuntress said:

I have the GBA version of Doom 2, but I rarely, if ever, play it. Mostly because the save feature doesn't work at all on it.

Wait, so I am not the only one who suffered from saved games just vanishing for some reason? I am not insane? Other people suffered from this as well?

What gives?

What gives is that it depends where you got the cart. If it's from Ebay or secondhand, I would strongly suggest to check to see if your cart is a bootleg or not. FWIR, the bootleg carts of GBA Doom 2 can be almost indistinguishable from actual carts. They also come with flavors of problems you normally wouldn't encounter on authentic carts. Check ledmeister's site for ways to check if your cart is real if you bought it from Ebay.

If you bought new/from a reputable source, I don't know. Perhaps the production line for this game were assholes?

Oh, I'd love to have Doom II GBA but it's a shame that it's become such a rarity. I don't think I remember it being advertised anywhere when it was released. For a GBA port it's apparently really good, especially when compared to the first one which was basically another version of the Jaguar port. 2 was a custom-made port like others said, with almost no features cut. Splitting levels into two seems like a crude method, but I like it a lot more than stripping them bare.

I lost my cart of 1 years ago, but it was pretty fun even with so much missing. Or maybe I should just finally get a flash cart and find a good DS port.

GoatLord said:

Speaking from a technological perspective, the framerate and general appearance of the game is admirable. ...

x2

I've had a go at hacking GBA Doom II one time, but I was only able to make a program that can extract the sprites and textures (which are terrible -- the sprites have holes in them due to an oversight and the textures are made to have a much lower quality. The suckish palette of Doom II GBA doesn't help either, but they're mostly compatible with an IWAD palette). I guess I could try to go digging for the map data, but I can't promise anything.

I wish I could enjoy GBA Doom II more, but I just constantly get stuck on the fact that the game logic implemented into it barely resembles Doom at all.

What do you mean by "suckish palette"? Surely the GBA was capable reproducing VGA-quality colors.

The green blood always threw me off, though I can't say I've played much GBA doom other than a few long car trips.

GoatLord said:

What do you mean by "suckish palette"? Surely the GBA was capable reproducing VGA-quality colors.

The palette in GBA Doom 1 was comparable to the PC Doom palette, but for some reason they use a much-different one in GBA Doom II which doesn't look as good.

buttspit said:

What gives is that it depends where you got the cart. If it's from Ebay or secondhand, I would strongly suggest to check to see if your cart is a bootleg or not. FWIR, the bootleg carts of GBA Doom 2 can be almost indistinguishable from actual carts. They also come with flavors of problems you normally wouldn't encounter on authentic carts. Check ledmeister's site for ways to check if your cart is real if you bought it from Ebay.

If you bought new/from a reputable source, I don't know. Perhaps the production line for this game were assholes?

The cartridge was loose and bought second-hand. I also think it is a bootleg, given that, when you start the game, you are greeted with a message stating something along the lines of "here is the highly anticipated Doom 2 ported blablabla".

InsanityBringer said:

The palette in GBA Doom 1 was comparable to the PC Doom palette, but for some reason they use a much-different one in GBA Doom II which doesn't look as good.

I assume the color limitation was found in the engine swap.

Technician said:

I assume the color limitation was found in the engine swap.

I doubt it. They probably just did some lazy gamma correction to the palette itself because of the original GBA's terrible screen. Which means anyone playing it on a newer system is screwed and has to look at washed out colors and colors that originally complimented each other contrasting instead.

I among many people found Doom 1 to appear way too dark on the GBA because the back of the screen was unlit. You needed to be playing outside in the sun or with a lamp right above to really see much unless you wanted to play with optional "Static Lighting" option which makes all light levels 255. The changes in lighting took a toll on FPS in Doom 1 as well.

The engine swap probably is what makes the pallete look like garbage, because in Doom colors get darker the more distant you are from them (depending on the light level of the sector) and in this engine the colors remain no matter how far from them you are. Check out the area in 1:25 in the Industrial Zone B video for some lighting effects that just look fucking retarded. I think the walls and sprites normally look like they do in GBA Doom 2 except the colors become more vibrant and noticeable as you get closer to them. Make a map in doom with a room that has 64 lighting and walk right up to the walls and compare them to a room that has 112 lighting in GBA Doom 2 (standing from any distance).