Freedoom 0.6 released

After nearly 18 months, the next version of the free software IWAD "Freedoom" is available.

Version 0.6 features several levels taken from the doom1 "demo" IWAD - that the maintainers felt deserved wider exposure - mapped into slots in the doom2 IWAD; a few new sound effects; some updated levels and a newly written TEXTURE1 definition.

The maintainers are already starting the planning process for 0.7. Only one thing is certain: a very different development model is needed.

Suppose I'll have to give it a test run. Hope the file size is smaller.

Neato, I'll be grabbing this for school Doom'in.

Crashes when using it as an iwad with a pwad that modifies the main texture lumps.

Nes said:

Crashes when using it as an iwad with a pwad that modifies the main texture lumps.

Which source port?

Needs 32in24 style development <3

File size still sucks, though I like the new opening level.

It sounds like they need help, perhaps I'll chip in. I'd think a ton of people would be chipping in by now.

Nes said:

Crashes when using it as an iwad with a pwad that modifies the main texture lumps.

I've found the cause of this and committed a fix for it. Hopefully we should be able to release a 0.6.1 version with it all fixed up.

MasterSyphadias said:

File size still sucks, though I like the new opening level.

What file size would you prefer? it's 19M, against doom2's 14M. I've seen individual levels for more modern games reaching this figure.

Does anyone else have a problem with the size?

I ask because I was considering ballooning it a fair bit for 0.7.

In this day and age 19mb is tiny.

Arch-Valentine said:

In this day and age 19mb is tiny.

Be that as it may there is context to consider - 19MB might be tiny for some files but it's huge for others. For a Doom PWAD it's large. For an IWAD it's slightly above average.

Furthermore there are various reasons why Freedoom might be expected to be quite a bit bigger than Doom2. Having bigger and more complicated maps is an obvious one.

I think if Freedoom were well over 30MB I might start to wonder what was causing it to be so large. But I wouldn't start to complain unless it was like twice that and full of mp3s :)

fraggle said:

I've found the cause of this and committed a fix for it. Hopefully we should be able to release a 0.6.1 version with it all fixed up.

Awesome. Thanks.

My concerns with file size is the fact that people are trying to use this on there Nintendo DS', PSP's, GP32's, etc. Systems with low resources and limited RAM.
The less resources there is to load, the less chance of lock ups or reduced frames there is.

On the other hand, if this is meant to be something which has the goal of being included with Haiku, Linux, Amiga, etc. distros, then I suppose You'll want to make a good impression and include some of the best maps, most detailed maps possible and would not want to concern yourself with larger files sizes.
I mean if I were to download something that really felt like DOOM III as it could have been had it been released on an enhanced code from the original engine, then my day would totally be made!

So my feelings conflict, I suppose as long as the major resources are there, one could strip the original FreeDOOM iWAD of it's original maps, and replace them with quality maps that are friendly to low resource hardware. That would seem the more logical route in the end. So long as it works with with pWADS, and everything acts as it should then great! :)

Apparently map10 can't be completed, as people noticed here and here.

boris said:

Apparently map10 can't be completed, as people noticed here and here.

Thanks - yup, I haven't fixed that yet because I haven't got a map editor installed apart from in windows (and I haven't booted to windows in ages). I want that fixed for 0.6.1. too.

MasterSyphadias said:

My concerns with file size is the fact that people are trying to use this on there Nintendo DS', PSP's, GP32's, etc. Systems with low resources and limited RAM.
The less resources there is to load, the less chance of lock ups or reduced frames there is.

That's a good point. We haven't had anyone trying to do this contact us with problems or concerns before. If things seemed to be moving too far away from this end to be useful; it might be worth having a "freedoom-lite" sub-project.

I think a low sector mapping contest of sorts from within the community could provide a nice chunk of maps for such a project and in little time...

...assuming a decent enough amount of talented mappers got involved.

I currently have only a Nintendo DS which I run a port of PrBOOM on. I keep in touch with the author and would not mind reporting to the FreeDOOM project as to my experiences on there in comparison to the actually DOOM II iWAD.

Freedoom 10sectors?

I'd hit it

I second the Freedoom-lite branch.

Ditto on the "Freedoom-lite", sounds like a good idea. :)

Shaikoten said:

Needs 32in24 style development <3

I was thinking more Community Chest style development. But yeah, 32in24 sounds like a good thing to shoot for.

Shaikoten said:

Needs 32in24 style development <3

This is actually a really good idea :-)

Perhaps a thread for Freedoom lite and Freedoom 32in24 should be made. The 32in24 thing could probably be started today or tomorrow, if that's more preferable.

Jim Rainer said:

Perhaps a thread for Freedoom lite and Freedoom 32in24 should be made. The 32in24 thing could probably be started today or tomorrow, if that's more preferable.

Good idea. Done: see the freedoom sub-forum.