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Deertag

modifying monsters

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Is there an already made DECORATE file for Doom/Doom2 original monsters?

I'd like to be able to modify the original monsters to something that personally suits me for what I want them to do. I have spent hours checking out, downloading and inspecting the custom monsters on Tormentor667 web site. However, there is always something about most that bothers me.

example: one will look great but I don't like the fireball. Another will have a great fireball but something else about it is not to my liking. This is not to say that these custom monsters aren't good, just that for my own taste, they are not always what I envision what I want.

Apparently, after checking in the Doom/Doom2 IWADS I cannot see all the monster info, actually any info at all, that you can see in a custom monster decorate file. So I'm lost on how to proceed on making modifications. My thought was if someone had already converted Doom's monsters to DECORATE for use as a base, then that would be perfect for a starting point.

Thanks for any help.

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Well apparently I'm screwed. After hours of playing around with trying to create the effect I want for a monster, it's just not working. It looks to me that the sprites themselves control the animation of the monster, which doesn't make sense to me, but what do I know. I'm just a dummy noob.

What I am trying to achieve is a dark imp that throws the red fireball like the original doom imp. One handed like throwing a baseball. Doesn't seem like to much to ask.

What I am getting after loading in a various sets of dark imp sprites, from numerous different dark imps, is a two handed clap with the fireball looking like it comes out of the center of the chest. To compound the problem, the imp also displays a blue circle around both hands for a second prior to throwing the red fireball. Which of course just looks wrong.

I even deleted all sprites that look to have any connection to a blue fireball, but to no avail. I still get the blue circle around the hands. I'm guessing because someone created 1 dark imp and all other dark imps are copies of that first one.

If anyone has any suggestions on a fix, I certainly would appreciate the help. Since I am no artist and have no coding experience, my hope of a cheap fix for a new monster for my map is up in smoke.

EDIT: BTW, thanks for that link Phobosdeimos1. Just what I was looking for, altho as you can see, I'm not getting the results I was hoping for.

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A little bit of sprite editing is probably called for, which particular dark imp variant are you using?

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You could use the original Imp and edit it to your liking. The decorate is found in gzdoom.pk3. Take the imp and use photoshop to change the colour balance and make it darker. You could always make it look different by editing the sprite yourself.

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@ GreyGhost currently I'm using the Devil sprites. I also tried the STDarkImp. Both appear to be the same as far as looks go. Actually, I tried the Nami, Void and Nether as well. Basically looking to see if I could find a behavior difference since I want my version of a dark imp to act and perform the same as the original doom imp.

Funny how all these dark imp varients all act the same and have become common while the original doom imp is now the rare one.

I had hoped to build a heirarcy of imps based on the number of body spikes that would be in relation to their comparative strengths. I also wanted the red eyes and red mouth as well. (don't much care for the yellow/green/black eyes and mouths being used on the current crop of dark imps)

My plan was to modify a 1, 2 and a 3 spike dark imp and create a progressively harder and tougher dark imp family based on the number of spikes. But like I mentioned, I don't like the blue fireballs being used and I don't like the 2handed clap animation of the current dark imps. Actually, now as I am writing this out, it occurs to me that other than liking the black skin texture, there isn't much else I like about most of these dark imps. lol

I'm starting to think what I want isn't possible with my skills nor with simple editing. I'm sure my "vision" far exceeds my abilities. Altho I can edit well enough to change the basic stats and even change fireball types. I just can't get rid of the initial blip of blue on both hands nor that annoying 2handed clap.

@ Alphawolf Thank you for your suggestion. I had thought of that and think it's probably the best way to go, but 1) I couldn't find a set of original doom imp sprites and 2) I downloaded a free photoshop and since I have never used a program like that, I was lost on how to use it.

Hell, I have a hard enough time building a doom map without trying to teach myself new tricks, like photoshop. lol (sigh) I wish I knew how to do all this stuff. I have the interest, just not the know how or the patience.

As you all can see tho, I'm very good at long winded forum posts. lol

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You can extract the standard imp sprites from any IWAD - including Shareware Doom. As for image editors, Photoshop and Gimp are probably a little overpowered for sprite editing, you might like to try something like GrafX2 that's not going to overwhelm you with features.

I'll take a look at the dark imps and see if I can adapt one to your purpose, maybe change the blue aura to red?

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That'd be great if you're willing to do that. That's awesome.

As for opening up the Doom IWAD, I tried that with Slade3 and couldn't find any sprites. Of course I am probably not doing something correctly, but any file I clicked on didn't have sprites, be they monsters or items. I have no trouble finding the sprites in the custom monster files, it the original Doom monsters I can't locate. Maybe Slade3 isn't the program to use?

Maybe I need an image editor like you suggested for that to work? I had downloaded Gimp2 but couldn't figure it out. I'll try Grafx2 that you suggested. I enjoy learning how to do stuff for my Doom editing. The frustration lies in not initially understanding the process. Once I get the hang of that aspect, it's obviously much more enjoyable to practice new tricks. :)

I appreciate your help and interest. Thanks.

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Deertag said:

....As for opening up the Doom IWAD, I tried that with Slade3 and couldn't find any sprites. Of course I am probably not doing something correctly, but any file I clicked on didn't have sprites, be they monsters or items.....


Slade3 is indeed the program you need to export the sprites, just make sure that the filter is set to All



Right-click the sprite name, then Gfx and Export as PNG

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