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jplstatic

Dante's Inferno

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Does anyone know of any doom megawad made to be like dante's inferno, or even the whole divine comedy trilogy? I was thinking of doing it but there's already a commercial game made after it and if it's already made for doom I wouldn't want to waste my time. But I've always wanted to make pure hell levels and if I used dante's inferno I'd have a reason. Then I could make Purgatorio and Paradiso and make all heaven levels where hellspawn had invaded heaven or something. or I could make a bunch of angel sprites and you could for some reason kill angels. That would appease satanists I guess, but that would be kind of lame for a game idea. Just the inferno would be cool. The nine circles of hell spread out over multiple levels. Maybe a hub for each circle with sublevels. Then I could get an artist to make satan to replace the cyberdemon, if that hasn't already been done. If so I could just ask permission to use it. But yeah, anyone ever done this before? I want to try to make the scariest wad ever. A lot of people hated the wad I made in 99 and I quit for a while but I don't do drugs or hang out with idiots anymore so I'm able to make some really good ellaborate levels that aren't too hard (that was one complaint), but one quality I was told is that they were scary as hell. I would make this wad scary as hell too, because it would be hell.

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I wanted to make Dante's Inferno at one point, but never got around to it. As far as I know, it's never been done. Lutz does have a very nice Inferno.wad he made, but it's not a faithful remake of Dante's Inferno.

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I've never read the book. I do plan on buying it through amazon but from what I've read of it on wikipedia there doesn't seem to be descriptions of scenery or anything, just the titles and who resides there. I would probably just use the names for the levels and make my own hell.

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jplstatic said:

I've never read the book. I do plan on buying it through amazon but from what I've read of it on wikipedia there doesn't seem to be descriptions of scenery or anything, just the titles and who resides there. I would probably just use the names for the levels and make my own hell.

you should read the book first and try to make the levels as they are described as far as the doom game will allow you.

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jplstatic said:

has anyone read it? Are there actually descriptions?


From what I've read, Limbo (the first circle of hell) is where those who were virtuous (like socrates) but weren't Christians and the unbaptized babies went. In Limbo, the people are not truly punished.

The description is basically a corrupted version of heaven that's peaceful, but also extremely depressing. There is a seven sided castle surrounded by green fields and gardens.

Each punishment in hell represents a person's sin in some way.

EDIT:

Turns out wikipedia has a section on the inferno with brief descriptions of each circle of hell.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dante's_Inferno

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yeah, there are a lot of descriptions of the landscape and various forms of physical suffering the sinners undergo.

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I think a translation would be better. I downloaded the entire divine comedy for 99 cents and its not at all what I thought it'd be. Its just an unrhyming poem. I haven't found much that I could make into doom levels so far. I'll keep reading if I get keep myself doing it. I always had issues reading.

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Dante's Inferno really fascinated and impressed me 10 years ago, and still remains to be one of my all-time favorite works. Unfortunately I don't know if there's any wad which precisely represents the 9 circles of hell, but I know some great atmospheric mapsets that are partially similar to Dante's hell, such as Christopher Lutz's Inferno (which I found to be excellent for speedy playing on Nightmare), or the third episode of Doom 2 Reloaded (which has Limbo, Phlegethon and even Cocytus).

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I have contemplated this or a similar project for a LONG time; I was actually kicking around the idea of using ZDoom to make a series of demos and/or a "movie" that illustrates both the movements of Dante and Virgil through Hell as well while presenting a running translation of the poem via on-screen messages (I prefer the Ciardi translation, personally). (Back in high school, I used Doom to physically build the cave referenced in Plato's Cave Metaphor and let my classmates run around in it, so this wouldn't be the first time I used Doom to try and educate.)

As mentioned above, the poem itself doesn't contain a wealth of physical descriptions -- in the opening Canto, for example, the only real phrases that stand out are "a dark wood" and "a steep hill" -- so you would have to do some pretty serious extrapolation. Still, there is certainly enough lay down the basics -- swap, desert, graveyard, ice field, etc. There are other technical aspects that would have to be worked out regarding the huge scale of certain creatures (sprites vs geometry) and the fact that transitions between areas are often glossed over (Dante spends a lot of time "swooning" (fainting) and waking up somewhere else), but it could end up being a really cool project.

As for my "Infero" level set: it isn't really based on the work at all, though "The Hanging Place" is a definite nod to the Wood of the Suicides (circle 7), and there are several areas that I were inspired by Gustav Dore's woodcut illustrations.

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Lutz said:

(Back in high school, I used Doom to physically build the cave referenced in Plato's Cave Metaphor and let my classmates run around in it, so this wouldn't be the first time I used Doom to try and educate.)

Do you still have this wad?

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I doubt it. I made it back when I was a senior in high school ('96) on my parents computer, and I'm sure it's been lost. I might still have it on floppy disk somewhere, though...

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Lutz said:

I doubt it. I made it back when I was a senior in high school ('96) on my parents computer, and I'm sure it's been lost. I might still have it on floppy disk somewhere, though...

awww.. I'd be interested in seeing it.

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jplstatic said:

I think a translation would be better. I downloaded the entire divine comedy for 99 cents and its not at all what I thought it'd be. Its just an unrhyming poem. I haven't found much that I could make into doom levels so far. I'll keep reading if I get keep myself doing it. I always had issues reading.


Are you reading it in English or in the original language?

Here in Italy we have to study the Divina Commedia in our schools, so I read it all in the ancient Italian language.
There is not only the Inferno (hell), but also two books on Purgatorio e Paradiso.


SPOILER

At the end Dante meets God

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Lorenzo said:

There is not only the Inferno (hell), but also two books on Purgatorio e Paradiso.


The last two books would definitley not make a good Doom Wad

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Foodles said:

The last two books would definitley not make a good Doom Wad


I don't think so... Can you imagine fighting demons in Paradice?

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Lorenzo said:

I don't think so... Can you imagine fighting demons in Paradice?


Let's change that part, then.

Just because the poem has a good ending doesn't mean the WAD should. I love the idea of an Inferno-style hell.

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Marnetmar said:

Inferno-style hell.


Do you recognised what you just wrote?

Inferno-style hell = hell-style hell.

Kinda fun.

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Marnetmar said:

Haha, I didn't realise what I just wrote at all. You know what I mean though, right?


Yes, a series of doom levels set in hell as represented by Dante in the first book of Divina Commedia.

It reminded me the "Deadly Deathkings of Dead" from TV tropes site.

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Lorenzo said:

Inferno-style hell = hell-style hell.

In English these two words are synonymous but not identical. "hell" is a more general term, "inferno" is a fiery kind of hell.

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Foodles said:

The last two books would definitley not make a good Doom Wad


Considering the kind of liberties Visceral Games did with just the first book (heh), I don't see why the same liberties could be used for a Doom megawad based on the entire Divine Comedy including Purgatorio and Paradiso.

You know, minus the part where Visceral made a short-ass game based off the first book that was barely mediocre. :v

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