Community Chest 64

[Antnee]

9 minutes ago, Kore said:

The wiki is most probably wrong as the supplementary utils.txts suggests that one second is 30 tics. There are other few mistakes here and there so I suggest checking common.txt, the tech bible and this https://doomwiki.org/wiki/Macro

 

Yep, you're right.  I'll take a slice of cheddar on my humble pie:

 

 

I'll go edit my posts.

 

[sector666]

1 hour ago, Kore said:

The wiki is most probably wrong as the supplementary utils.txts suggests that one second is 30 tics. There are other few mistakes here and there so I suggest checking common.txt, the tech bible and this https://doomwiki.org/wiki/Macro

 

I've fixed the 35 tics mistake on the macros page. If there are any other mistakes you know of on the Doom 64 EX wiki, please mention them so they can be corrected.

[RileyXY1]

My MAP20 will start with remakes of two very old Doom WADs, Origiwad and CROSS.WAD, before it becomes its own thing later.

[Koko Ricky]

Are there any YouTube tutorials on working with macros? I've been having a hard time wrapping my mind around the explanations here, clearly presented as they are.

[Antnee]

1 minute ago, GoatLord said:

Are there any YouTube tutorials on working with macros? I've been having a hard time wrapping my mind around the explanations here, clearly presented as they are.

 

Not that I'm aware of, but give me one thing you're trying to do.

[hardcore_gamer]

Not sure why people find macros so hard to understand. If you already know how to code\script for Gzdoom then macros are very similar. In fact they are actually easier since they are basically just linedef actions pretty much.

[Koko Ricky]

I find GZdoom scripting confusing as well. What I want to do is have a few specific areas change their lighting i.e. an armor or megasphere initially lighting the room, then darkening it upon pick-up.

[Antnee]

Alright, that's an easy one.

First, the way sector coloring works in EX is your macro will copy one sector's colors (srctag) to another (dsttag).  So you're going to have a "bright" sector- the one with your armor in it- and a "dark" sector.  Bright sector is tag 10, dark sector is tag 11.
 

Quote

 

macro 1

{

Sector_CopyLights(10, 11);

}

 

 

But how do you make it happen?  Tag your armor with 333, then make sure it has "trigger on touch" checked.

 

 

Then you'll need to actually add your macro to a linedef.    Make sure it's also tagged as 333, and is set as macro 1.

 

 

It ends up looking like this.

 

 

You can download this little example map here.

 

 

[Koko Ricky]

I'm getting an "unknown identifier: 'common'" error when I try to compile anything, despite setting the directory correctly. 

[Bob9001]

Don't worry fixed the error :)

[Nevander]

3 hours ago, Antnee said:

Alright, that's an easy one.

First, the way sector coloring works in EX is your macro will copy one sector's colors (srctag) to another (dsttag).  So you're going to have a "bright" sector- the one with your armor in it- and a "dark" sector.  Bright sector is tag 10, dark sector is tag 11.

Note also to be careful, you can easily have the parameters backwards. It may copy light to the dark instead of removing the light from the sector with the item.

 

2 hours ago, GoatLord said:

I'm getting an "unknown identifier: 'common'" error when I try to compile anything, despite setting the directory correctly. 

Make sure you have done both of these:

 

#setdir "c:\Doom Builder 64\Compilers\Doom64\"

#include "common.txt"

 

But change the path to your path.

[Koko Ricky]

My path is exactly that. For some reason it doesn't register it.

[Antnee]

2 hours ago, GoatLord said:

My path is exactly that. For some reason it doesn't register it.

 

Try changing your actual directory to something without spaces.  For example mine is

#setdir "c:\doom64ex\DoomBuilder64\Compilers\Doom64\"
#include "common.txt"

 

[Nevander]

Spaces should not matter so long as the path is in quotes. My path has spaces and it compiles scripts fine. Something else must be wrong.

[Antnee]

2 minutes ago, Nevander said:

Spaces should not matter so long as the path is in quotes. My path has spaces and it compiles scripts fine. Something else must be wrong.

 

It shouldn't, but I couldn't get mine to work without doing it this way.

@Goatlord can you paste a screenshot of your scripts editor?

[Nevander]

My Doom Builder 64 is on my D drive by the way, not C (where the OS is). I doubt this matters but thought I'd mention.

[Koko Ricky]

EDIT: It appears to be working. This is going to require a lot of trial and error.

[Bob9001]

Quick question: I've started to put lighting in, how would people feel if I left the outdoor areas the default lighting and only made lighting for indoor areas?

 

I've found a good combination for the indoor areas.

[Antnee]

If it looks good, the method doesn't really matter.

 

[Impboy4]

Really it depends on what sky you use.  The color of the sky determines the color of the outdoor areas. (ex. the dark purple mountains with a stormy sky should have the same dark purple hue lighting for all outdoor areas)

[Koko Ricky]

Personally I covered every inch of my map in color. Sometimes it's more subdued, and sometimes it's very saturated. I thought about how every single implied light source—be it the ambient light of the environment itself, or lights from torches and lamps or other things—has a color it gives off. I found that every surface needed color, even if just a touch.

[Kore]

Creating the illusion of different local colors is what's hard. I'd say it's not even worth it.

[Bob9001]

Introducing Ancient Dimension!!

 

Few notes:

 

1. I've decided to change the name of my map to fit the theme of it better. So the new name is: Ancient Dimension.

 

2. Secret exit goes to Map 32, Normal exit goes to Map 04.

 

3. Screenshots have been updated to show the colour in them.

 

Screenshots:

 

Spoiler

 

Map Title: Ancient Dimension

IWAD: DOOM64.WAD

PWAD: d64ex_dwcmp_resources.wad

Music: Default Map31 Music.

Difficulty: Medium to Hard.

Compatibility: Doom 64.

Map: Map 31

 

Monster Count: Unknown

Secret Count: 3

 

Download: Ancient_Dimension v1.2.zip

Edited April 3, 2019 by Bob9001

[StevenC21]

@Bob9001 Thank you for your submission!

[Koko Ricky]

Is it possible to change the music? I know we can't add anything, but I'd like to use a different track if possible.

[snapshot]

http://doom64ex.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php/MAPINFO#Map_Definition

[Koko Ricky]

@Bob901, I was just going through your map and thought I'd share a few words.

 

PROS:

- It kept me engaged.

- There was a constant sense of wondering what was going to happen next.

- The map is big and open, and encourages exploration.

- It doesn't feel like your typical end-of-mapset boss fight.

- Ammo to monster ratio is handled well.

- You're not immediately given all the weapons up front, even though it's an endgame map.

 

CONS: 

- It may be big and open, but in most cases it's giant, empty spaces with nothing to engage the player. 

- Lighting is lackluster. There are no shadowed or darkened areas to speak of, and coloring is used in a way that feels more garish and arbitrary than carefully considered.

- None of the switches have a sound or graphic change (in addition to often being placed very low to the ground, which is awkward). It's also not clear, visually, which switches correspond to which keys. To get the graphic/sound effect to work properly, this video proved helpful for me:

- There's at least one inescapable lava pit, on the side of the bridge with the cyberdemon fight that is opposite the one with the "islands."

- Speaking of lava, the lava wall you can walk through only scrolls on one side. You'll probably need to place another line right behind it with the same properties to get it to scroll from both sides.

- Some occlusion issues crop up in a few areas. Check carefully to see if there are unnecessary "no occlusion" flags on any of your lines.

- The map crashed in the den after the second cyberdemon fight. Not sure if this happens every time, as I've encountered random, non-repeatable crashes in my map.

- One of the switches (in the library) requires you to shoot it to activate it (I think) which you can only do if you have mouselook turned on. This puts players who play in the "traditional" Doom 64 style at a disadvantage.

Edited October 23, 2018 by GoatLord

[Antnee]

Are there custom assets not included here?

 

 

Playing anyway - the blue key ambush, if you're going to have them teleport in, you should either change the Door_Open to Ceiling_MoveByValueFast, or move the "junk" sector farther away so that the "magic" isn't revealed.  Having a loud "open door" sound preclude monster teleports is kinda.... you know...

 

Lighting:  Definitely could use desaturation for the most part.  Instead of 240 being your saturation, try 120 or so. 

 

This wall can't be shot through...

 

 

...but this one can?

 

 

I can see the bottom of the skybox- as well as a lot of other stuff I shouldn't be able to see- through these windows.  Curious as to why you did them like this?

 

 

 

(where are the windows?)

 

 

The library room is really quite buggy and unbalanced.  And I agree with above, mouselook should not be required (especially since there's a bug for W10 users that makes it nearly impossible)  Some details:

 

(No enemies can get past this line.  Not even the Pain Elementals/lost souls.  Makes things just like shooting fish in a barrel...)

 

There are 4!  Berserk packs in here.  Along with a bunch of medikits.  That's way, way too much health for an area which is frankly not challenging at all- mainly due to the above, but also the arachnotrons/hell knights/barons up on the ledge are far too easy to make them kill each other, and arachnotrons that close to such high ledges can't really shoot you, but you can shoot them.  The ambush of spectres/a couple barons is also very easy to cheat your way out of- just let them crowd the ledge, then simply run over their heads.

I usually don't like to suggest ways to design an encounter, but if it were me?  I'd lower that entire platform once they all come out.  Take away my woobie dude.

Much of the map's encounters feel cheap like that.  With two main exceptions, I can simply "cheat" my way out of any difficulty.  The cyberdemon, for example, can't get off the bridge, so you can just do this:

 

 

I was in no danger at any point from getting hit.  The encounter isn't dangerous, it's just an ammo tax.  So I definitely disagree with your difficulty assessment- it's not difficult at any point really.

 

Also- to elaborate on a point that's already been made, you *have* to make those switches animate.  I have no idea whether I did anything or not when I kick a switch (and I'm assuming that's what's happening since they are all ankle height- that's a trip hazard you know).  And *especially* if it's a shootyswitch.  Otherwise you unload shitloads of ammo because you have no idea whether it activated or not.

 

And, what do I do with the yellow key?  Might be an example of me not being able to tell whether or not I activated a switch.

 

This feels a little eviscerating, so let me just say this:  It has potential to be really good with some cleanup and further testing.  I like the layout overall.  The pre-cyberdemon arachnotron/cacodemon encounter was cool.  And nothing felt unfair.

 

Definitely fill some of the empty spaces, and add some pillars or decoration to the longer, plainer lines.  Looking forward to seeing this in it's final form!

 

 

 

 

Edited October 23, 2018 by Antnee

[Koko Ricky]

I'm still working on my map, but thought I'd offer the current version for testing. I'm looking to find any bugs or gameplay issues that need addressing. Currently it is only set for hard difficulty, but I plan to add easy/medium modes.

 

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1-C2cnmJwPLJGMjSdwO95_muZBuBrHT7J

[seed]

@Bob9001 Okay, so I checked your map as well and well, I would say it's decent, but not much more than that.

 

The biggest issue would be that it's simply too large (not necessarily long), and the lightning doesn't do it justice, it's way too bright and that steals all of its atmosphere. It also has a few other issues that others have pointed out above me, most notably the missing textures. Black parts of the skybox can also be seen in a few areas too, and there's some balancing issues in the room with the yellow skull (seriously, 4 Berserk packs + medikits?). The enemy placement also needs some improvements, some parts are either overcrowded while others feel empty.

 

In short, there is potential for something much better, but only if the enemy placement is improved, more detail is added to the map, excessive health is removed (better balancing), the lightning is improved, and the size of the map is reduced.