[GEC] Master Edition PSX Doom for the PlayStation. Beta 4 Released [11/16/2022]

[Dark Pulse]

2 hours ago, Jay Cee said:

Okay, major update and great news! After much troubleshooting, I figured out the issue. I had the game image files on my SD card, and apparently the card somehow became corrupted. I downloaded the game images again, but to my phone's main drive. Loaded it up in RetroArch and it works perfectly! The culprit was my SD card all along. Thank you so much for your assistance!

That would explain it then. Glad to hear it works!

[Ron_O_Wallis]

Is there a way a version could be made of this with the original SC-55 tracks from Doom 1 and 2? I don't really like the atmospheric soundtrack

[Dark Pulse]

33 minutes ago, bob_smith said:

Is there a way a version could be made of this with the original SC-55 tracks from Doom 1 and 2? I don't really like the atmospheric soundtrack

That'd require a massive rework of the sound engine, especially since fitting that all as CD-DA probably wouldn't be possible.

 

XA Audio, maybe, but that would have to be actually added to the engine code.

 

In short, while I don't speak for the devs, probably not a priority for them.

[Impboy4]

3 minutes ago, Dark Pulse said:

In short, while I don't speak for the devs, probably not a priority for them.

It's never gonna be a priority because that would defeat the purpose of PSX Doom in the first place.

If you want your midi jams @bob_smith, stick with the original PC version.  I prefer ambience anyway since it fits the game better.

[Dimon12321]

12 hours ago, Impboy4 said:

It's never gonna be a priority because that would defeat the purpose of PSX Doom in the first place.

If you want your midi jams @bob_smith, stick with the original PC version.  I prefer ambience anyway since it fits the game better.

Out of curiosity, how does PSX Doom music look like within the game's .bin files? Is it in mp3 format or something? If so, then replacing the soundtrack with custom music shouldn't be difficult.

[Impboy4]

9 minutes ago, Dimon12321 said:

Out of curiosity, how does PSX Doom music look like within the game's .bin files? Is it in mp3 format or something? If so, then replacing the soundtrack with custom music shouldn't be difficult.

The majority of the music uses samples and a sequencer like a MIDI. There is Redbook audio as well but that takes up a lot of space and PS1 discs aren't very big storage wise.

[Dark Pulse]

4 hours ago, Dimon12321 said:

Out of curiosity, how does PSX Doom music look like within the game's .bin files? Is it in mp3 format or something? If so, then replacing the soundtrack with custom music shouldn't be difficult.

It's more akin to sequenced/MIDI/Module music than waveform, yes.

 

There are a few exceptions: The menu track, the intermission screen (and between-game/ending texts), Club Doom, and the Credits (which are standard CD Audio). Everything else is sequenced.

[intacowetrust]

Hey everyone, small bit of Master Edition related news. PsyDoom 1.1.0 has now been released and includes full support for Beta 4!

 

You can grab the latest PsyDoom binary for Windows, macOS and Linux here:

https://github.com/BodbDearg/PsyDoom/releases

 

Happing Dooming!

[Vita93]

Just to note, I've tried Beta 4 on ps1_netemu on a PS3 and it works fine.  The reason that matters is ps1_netemu is an official PS1 emulator created by Sony.

[Poogg]

Apologies if this has been address before, but when I start one of the games they seem to start on random levels (Other than the first Doom.) I've tried a few PlayStation emulators and PsyDoom and I get the same pattern (see below.) This happens on BETA 3 and 4. Is there a setting I'm missing? I feel like I'm going insane!

Doom: Level 01
SIGIL: Level 10
Doom II: Level 18
NRFTL: Level 26
Master Levels: Level 34
Evolution: Level 58
Plutiona: Level 76

[taufan99]

14 minutes ago, Poogg said:

Apologies if this has been address before, but when I start one of the games they seem to start on random levels (Other than the first Doom.) I've tried a few PlayStation emulators and PsyDoom and I get the same pattern (see below.) This happens on BETA 3 and 4. Is there a setting I'm missing? I feel like I'm going insane!

Doom: Level 01
SIGIL: Level 10
Doom II: Level 18
NRFTL: Level 26
Master Levels: Level 34
Evolution: Level 58
Plutiona: Level 76

This is intentional, as the Master Edition currently only contains new converted map and none from the official PSX ports. They'll eventually be included sometime after.

[RonLivingston]

Beta 4 released! does that meen that I can convert more then 1 map in a single file?

[Dark Pulse]

18 hours ago, taufan99 said:

This is intentional, as the Master Edition currently only contains new converted map and none from the official PSX ports. They'll eventually be included sometime after.

I don't think they will be, actually. GEC AFAIK does not intend to include the original levels.

[Starwind]

Maps from 2018 backported to hardware from 1994. Why the hell not? Never thought I'd be playing Sigil with PS1 pixelation. This is amazing.

 

I have a DS4 but I need to order the original Dualshock. Sure, I'm using Duckstation and not a real console but still.

[Kyle07]

On 4/10/2023 at 2:15 AM, Starwind said:

Maps from 2018 backported to hardware from 1994. Why the hell not? Never thought I'd be playing Sigil with PS1 pixelation. This is amazing.

 

I have a DS4 but I need to order the original Dualshock. Sure, I'm using Duckstation and not a real console but still.

Can you then connect the original Dualshock with your pc? Are there adapters available?

I'm using a DualSense controller to play PS1 classics like Tomb Raider (windows version). It's awesome. :)

[Dark Pulse]

2 hours ago, Kyle07 said:

Can you then connect the original Dualshock with your pc? Are there adapters available?

I'm using a DualSense controller to play PS1 classics like Tomb Raider (windows version). It's awesome. :)

Those definitely exist (they were certainly everywhere during the PS2 days), but admittedly nowadays I'd say you'd be hard justified to actually do that over something with Bluetooth or more modern plugs. Not to mentionel the wear and tear that a 25+ year old controller will have - remember those are still rubber membranes and the like inside.

 

Sure, you could get replacement parts, but you will need soldering skills for new analog sticks. And if you don't know how to solder, that's not an option. At that point you're simply better off getting a modern controller anyway (I'm sure there are controllers similar to the OG DualShock style).

[OniriA]

Just leaving this here.

 

 

[deepthaw]

Is there a version of this or anything similar that brings dual shock support to the original version? I’d like to play the familiar Doom episodes on my MiSTer with DS controls. 

[Currior]

Hi all,

 

This is absolutely a dream come true.  Despite its shortcomings (especially the lack of the Arch Vile), Playstation Doom has a particular place in my heart and is close to being my favourite version of the game.

 

I've always wished for something like this -- more content for PSX Doom and particularly the cut content, and here it is.  I'm absolutely blown away by the work that's been done here from the GEC team to the individual mappers and playtesters.  We've even gotten the Arch Vile back!

 

If you want to know just how excited I am by this project then I'll tell you this -- over the last week I've ready every single post in this thread from the first to the last.  I feel like I've gotten to know you all and have far more knowledge about this release than someone who just downloaded it for the first time ought to.

 

From the bottom of my retro loving heart, thank you!!

[Currior]

On 4/2/2023 at 12:36 PM, Dark Pulse said:

I don't think they will be, actually. GEC AFAIK does not intend to include the original levels.

 

Benefit of having read the thread from top to bottom in the last few days:

 

On 11/27/2022 at 6:29 PM, Gerardo194 said:

Hello. Hope you are very fine. 

What you are experiencing with the level progression is the normal behavior of the project in this Beta phase 4 GEC has released. It's not a bug. 

GEC is planning the full progression of the project to include those maps you want to see from both PSXDoom and Final Doom. 

Hope you enjoy beta 4 and have a good night. 

 

 

GEC have stated a few times that it's planned to have two releases, one with just the cut content and one with the full progression, but that will come after the project is finished.

[Dark Pulse]

1 hour ago, Currior said:

GEC have stated a few times that it's planned to have two releases, one with just the cut content and one with the full progression, but that will come after the project is finished.

Correct, but it will also be a separate project from Master Edition (unless they've since changed their mind).

 

Last I spoke with them, the intention was to have Master Edition as just the cut maps, and that other project as the one that merged the two.

[Currior]

1 hour ago, Dark Pulse said:

Last I spoke with them, the intention was to have Master Edition as just the cut maps, and that other project as the one that merged the two.

 

This really is the best of all possible worlds.  I mean I'm happy playing the Master Edition as a new 108 level game as god knows I've played the original to death, but with the various quality of life improvements, it will also be nice to have a go to with all the content in one place.

 

Finally a use for my Playstation Classic!  (Don't laugh -- I bought it in a sale for $15).

[flamming_python]

Plenty of awesome games still for the PS1, don't be hatin'

 

And there's nothing to laugh about on account of the Playstation Classic. I'm still using my PSP for running this thing.

[Individualised]

The PlayStation Classic is barely powerful enough to run the stolen (I say stolen because whilst PCSX Rearmed is open source, Sony have taken a hard stance against unofficial PlayStation emulation in the past therefore I believe that they are immoral in using PCSX Rearmed and should be using their own emulator) emulator it comes with.

On 2/26/2023 at 3:02 AM, Dark Pulse said:

That'd require a massive rework of the sound engine, especially since fitting that all as CD-DA probably wouldn't be possible.

 

XA Audio, maybe, but that would have to be actually added to the engine code.

 

In short, while I don't speak for the devs, probably not a priority for them.

PS1 Doom uses a sequenced audio format. It should be possible to convert the MIDI sequence data to that format and use SC-55 samples as instruments.

Edited April 23, 2023 by Individualised

[Dark Pulse]

2 hours ago, Individualised said:

How come? PS1 Doom uses a sequenced audio format. It should be possible to convert the MIDI sequence data to that format and use SC-55 samples as instruments.

Not possible either - there's only 512 KB of dedicated RAM for the SPU. Considering I've seen most of these sound fonts for the SC55 go well into the dozens of MB, that method doesn't have a prayer of working.

 

Even the MAME ROM for the SC-55 is just a hair under 3 MB. You're going to definitely have to split things up into chunks and then hope no individual track needs more than 512 KB for all of its samples to be accounted for. All that extra work for a "maybe." Oh yes, don't forget sound effects also need to fit into that 512 KB of RAM, so the actual amount free for instruments will be even less. Of course you could gain more RAM by compressing the samples further (say, to 22 or 11 kHz), but then quality suffers. This is why I said XA Audio would probably work best if this were to be done - there's plenty of space on the disc, the sampling, while not CD quality, is pretty damn close (usually 37.8 kHz but it can be 18.9 kHz as well), and since you're just streaming audio, it takes up a miniscule amount of RAM to do.

 

Then, of course, there's the principle of it - you're literally nuking one of the things that sets it apart from most other versions of Doom. If we are going to turn the sound back to PC, why not kill the colored lighting, too? Why not remove its original maps?

 

So to me it's honestly kind of a stupid idea. There's solutions if it were really in demand, but I'd think a lot of players would kinda look at it like it were blasphemy. If you want the PC soundtrack, play PC Doom. Or play it via PsyDoom, I'm pretty sure it allows for external audio overrides.

[Currior]

8 hours ago, flamming_python said:

Plenty of awesome games still for the PS1, don't be hatin'

 

No PS1 hate from me -- just the PS Classic is underpowered with a questionable selection of games and inexplicably some PAL versions in the NTSC region.

[Lollie]

On 4/24/2023 at 12:39 AM, Individualised said:

PS1 Doom uses a sequenced audio format. It should be possible to convert the MIDI sequence data to that format and use SC-55 samples as instruments.

So the thing is, yes, it would be technically possible and feasible. We have tools, courtesy of @intacowetrust's PsyDoom and the command-line tools that came out of it, and they've gone through the general process of authoring a new song for PSX Doom. But I need to stress, I think you might be underestimating the amount of work that would be required to actually make this work.

 

Basically:

- Authoring new samples optimized for PSX Doom - which means making sure sample lengths are padded to a multiple of 28 samples, and that your loop points are aligned to 28-sample blocks - and converting them all to PSX Doom's .VAG format.

- Packing your new instrument samples into an .LCD file.

- Converting Doom's MIDIs to JSON, manually authoring instrument data for each and every song, and then converting them all back to .WMD.

 

With the exception of the test song, I don't know if anyone else has actually gone through the complete process of authoring new music for PSX Doom, so there's a lot of unknowns to the whole process.

 

That said, there is a much easier way to achieve this, though it would only work via PsyDoom:

Create a mod that adds all the PC Doom music as CD Audio.

 

Do note though that because PsyDoom currently only accepts CD Audio in .BIN format (effectively PCM audio), it will require all of your music tracks to basically be .WAV files with renamed extensions. For the entire PC Doom soundtrack, this would take up a truly massive amount of hard-drive space... but it would be way easier than converting the original Doom MIDIs into PSX Doom's sequenced music format.

[thatguyknownaswill]

Could Davester2296’s covers be put in the iso as CD audio? I really love his covers!
 

https://youtu.be/A4hN0KsvSEI

[Lollie]

Definitely doable for PsyDoom, again via the same mod I mentioned! You'd just have to convert his MP3s/OGGs to WAV first, which is easy to do with any audio editor (and there are likely some online tools that can do this as well).

[vivisectt]

Noticed a couple bugs. When playing co-op and customizing the controls I get a network error and it restarts the level. If using default controls it doesn’t do this. Also if using a dual shock controller on both systems it will vibrate on both when it should be only vibrating on one. For instance, firing a gun on p1 makes p2’s controller vibrate as well.