Elementalism, an ambitious new GZDoom mapset. Phase 1 out now!
Elementalism is an epic new mapset for GZDoom. Phase 1 out now!
Download links for Full Release v1.3 (September 2nd 2022):
ModDB
Remmirath's Website
At 5 years in the making, this has been a labor of love for everyone involved, and it is amazing (and slightly surreal) to have it finally released! A celebration of both advanced UDMF mapping and classic Doom gameplay, the aim of the mapset is to bring together the classic Doom experience we love with ambitious, high-concept modern mapping techniques. I can’t wait for you all the enjoy it! – Bauul
Changelog:
The God of Entropy stirs. Travel to the elemental planes and retrieve the imprisoning runes before it is too late!
15 extensive, detailed maps split across three episodes: The Realm of Earth, The Realm of Water, and the Realm of Fire
Heavy focus on advanced UDMF and visual GZDoom features with extensive environmental storytelling
Classic gameplay at heart: exploration and incidental-combat focused with occasional set-piece encounters
Extensive lore for those who want to find it
The vanilla bestiary joined by a handful of episode-specific custom monsters
A new super-weapon, the Wand of Elements, with episode-specific attacks
Gigantic new boss encounters
A wholly original high-fidelity soundtrack (available on YouTube and Spotify)
Project lead:
@Bauul
Maps by:
@Bauul: Hub, E2, E3, E5, W2, W3, W4, W5, F2, F3, F4, F5
@Bridgeburner56: F1, F5
@Clay: F2, W4
@DMPhobos: E1
@Dragonfly: E2, F2
@Dreadopp: W1
@Phade102: W2
@Remmirath: E4, W3, F4
Music by:
@HeavenWraith: W1, F2 @HexenMapper: Title, E2, E3, W4, Credits @PRIMEVAL: E1, E4, W2, F4, F5, FBoss @Speedy: W3, F3 @Tristan: Hub, E5, EBoss, W5, WBoss, F1
And a fantastic supporting team of testers, programmers and artists: antares031, boris, Cyano Blugron, Guardsoul, Gutawer, Insane_Gazebo, Jazzmaster9, Jimmy, Kaapeli47, Lazorical, Liberation, LowGcifer, Major Arlene, Pegleg, Rachael, Simpletonium, Stormcatcher.77, Terminus, TheEvilGrin, Velvetic, Wolf McBeard, Xyzzy01, Yugiboy85 GZDoom 4.7.1. Other GZDoom versions may work, but mileage will vary. Full Screenshot Gallery: https://imgur.com/gallery/cBrO9fK What is included in Phase 1? The Earth, Water and Fire realms, covering 15 levels. Phase 2 will then include Air, Light and Darkness, also 15 levels. How do I play the mapset?
Download and install GZDoom 4.7.1 or newer from www.zdoom.org. You need Doom 2 installed, but GZDoom should find the required files automatically when run. If not, you need to copy Doom2.wad from your Doom 2 directory to the GZDoom directory. Extract the Elementalism Phase1.pk3 from the zip, and click and drag it onto GZDoom.exe to run the mapset. What are the minimum system requirements? You need an Open GL 3.3 compatible GPU and a CPU with decent single-core speed. Like many modern GZDoom mapsets this has system requirements on the higher side, but we have worked carefully to optimize it as much as possible so it should run fine even on lower-end hardware. What visual settings should I use? Elementalism only works in the Hardware or Vulkan renderer, not the Software renderer. Dynamic lights are strongly recommended, as are shadowmaps if your hardware supports them. What gameplay settings should I use? Jump and Crouch are required. Freelook is optional, but heavily recommended. All the necessary comp-settings are set in the ZMAPINFO so you shouldn’t have to worry about them. However, if you find you are encountering odd behavior, please ensure your comp settings are set to Default. Can I run mods with this? Probably not. Robustly made mods may work to a degree, but some conflicts are likely inevitable. If you run into specific problems and would like more information, speak to the mods’ author. How challenging is the mapset? Not super challenging on the scale of modern mapsets, probably similar to something like Eviternity. If you want to experience the full UV monster count but are concerned about the difficulty, I strongly recommend trying the two new difficulties: Mild-Violence and Medium-Violence. They maintain the full UV monster count but improve the survivability of the player. How long are the maps? First playthroughs will vary between 20-30 minutes for the shorter maps and 45-60 minutes for the longer ones. The full mapset is around 8-10 hours of gameplay. Can I change the Elementalism Options after starting a game? Yes! Every option in the Elementalism Options menu can be toggled at any point, even swapping between pistol start and semi-continuous map starts. I like to pistol start maps – how should I do that? Select “Pistol Start” in the Elementalism Options menu. Do not use IDCLEV or MAP commands to reset the map, as you will lose your progress through the Hub. I like to play continuous – where did some of my weapons go? “Semi-continuous” is the only continuous option. In order not to unbalance the mapset, high-tier weaponry does not transfer between levels. When will Phase 2 come out? Progress has begun, but it’ll be a long (long) time! Come join the discussion and get regular updates on the #Elementalism channel on the Hellforge Discord Server!
@HeavenWraith: W1, F2 @HexenMapper: Title, E2, E3, W4, Credits @PRIMEVAL: E1, E4, W2, F4, F5, FBoss @Speedy: W3, F3 @Tristan: Hub, E5, EBoss, W5, WBoss, F1
And a fantastic supporting team of testers, programmers and artists: antares031, boris, Cyano Blugron, Guardsoul, Gutawer, Insane_Gazebo, Jazzmaster9, Jimmy, Kaapeli47, Lazorical, Liberation, LowGcifer, Major Arlene, Pegleg, Rachael, Simpletonium, Stormcatcher.77, Terminus, TheEvilGrin, Velvetic, Wolf McBeard, Xyzzy01, Yugiboy85 GZDoom 4.7.1. Other GZDoom versions may work, but mileage will vary. Full Screenshot Gallery: https://imgur.com/gallery/cBrO9fK What is included in Phase 1? The Earth, Water and Fire realms, covering 15 levels. Phase 2 will then include Air, Light and Darkness, also 15 levels. How do I play the mapset?
Download and install GZDoom 4.7.1 or newer from www.zdoom.org. You need Doom 2 installed, but GZDoom should find the required files automatically when run. If not, you need to copy Doom2.wad from your Doom 2 directory to the GZDoom directory. Extract the Elementalism Phase1.pk3 from the zip, and click and drag it onto GZDoom.exe to run the mapset. What are the minimum system requirements? You need an Open GL 3.3 compatible GPU and a CPU with decent single-core speed. Like many modern GZDoom mapsets this has system requirements on the higher side, but we have worked carefully to optimize it as much as possible so it should run fine even on lower-end hardware. What visual settings should I use? Elementalism only works in the Hardware or Vulkan renderer, not the Software renderer. Dynamic lights are strongly recommended, as are shadowmaps if your hardware supports them. What gameplay settings should I use? Jump and Crouch are required. Freelook is optional, but heavily recommended. All the necessary comp-settings are set in the ZMAPINFO so you shouldn’t have to worry about them. However, if you find you are encountering odd behavior, please ensure your comp settings are set to Default. Can I run mods with this? Probably not. Robustly made mods may work to a degree, but some conflicts are likely inevitable. If you run into specific problems and would like more information, speak to the mods’ author. How challenging is the mapset? Not super challenging on the scale of modern mapsets, probably similar to something like Eviternity. If you want to experience the full UV monster count but are concerned about the difficulty, I strongly recommend trying the two new difficulties: Mild-Violence and Medium-Violence. They maintain the full UV monster count but improve the survivability of the player. How long are the maps? First playthroughs will vary between 20-30 minutes for the shorter maps and 45-60 minutes for the longer ones. The full mapset is around 8-10 hours of gameplay. Can I change the Elementalism Options after starting a game? Yes! Every option in the Elementalism Options menu can be toggled at any point, even swapping between pistol start and semi-continuous map starts. I like to pistol start maps – how should I do that? Select “Pistol Start” in the Elementalism Options menu. Do not use IDCLEV or MAP commands to reset the map, as you will lose your progress through the Hub. I like to play continuous – where did some of my weapons go? “Semi-continuous” is the only continuous option. In order not to unbalance the mapset, high-tier weaponry does not transfer between levels. When will Phase 2 come out? Progress has begun, but it’ll be a long (long) time! Come join the discussion and get regular updates on the #Elementalism channel on the Hellforge Discord Server!
I am absolutely thrilled to announce that after four years of hard work, Elementalism Phase 1 is nearly ready, and will be released on March 5th 2022!
This has been an absolute labor of love from everyone involved, and it will be incredible to be able to share everything we've made with you all. I can't wait to have you all play it!
In celebration, I made a new release date trailer!
The mapset is basically finished, but the plan is to have the version released on March 5th to be as complete and final as possible, so the next two and a half months will be entirely dedicated to testing, balancing and bug-fixing.
If anyone would like to be part of the internal testing process, please drop me a DM. While I will keep the number of testers at least somewhat limited just to avoid it all being overwhelming, I would be very grateful for any offers of help!
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