Metaternity 2019

[CorianderCastor]

It's about time.

 

The world could use more Eternity Engine love. They say be the change you want to see, so I thought it would be nice to start an EE community project.

 

So here's the plan: to get as many EE compatible maps together by December 31, 2019 and then I'll compile them into (an) episode(s). The goal is a single pke.

 

Rules as thus:

 

  One map per participant per category of single and multi player.

  Mappers of all skills encouraged to submit

  Doom 2 maps only

  Map must be playable in Eternity v. 4.00.00 with this OPTIONS lump.

 

  Map can be any format supported by Eternity

    Doom (vanilla, limit-removing, boom) and UDMF (doom, eternity) recommended

    Please state in what format the map is

 

  Malwads need not apply i.e. no malicious or abusive maps

  Eligibility of maps is up to discretion of project leader.

    Don't worry I'm lenient.

 

  Want to use monster specials or secret exits, be my guest, we shall sort it in the end

  Co-op, DM, and Difficulty "support" encouraged

    I shoot for HMP not UV as default

 

  Jumping is allowed by default

    State if you want jumping to be disabled via mapinfo

 

  No overwriting of base resources, but new assets allowed

    New music in supported formats

      Midi, ogg, mp3, spc, mod, flac

    New textures and skies

    New monsters, ambient sounds, terrain splashes, scripts, or other Eternity features

  Please give credit where credit is due

 

  Demos encouraged or vods

  Once submitted, maps are allowed tune-ups

  Once post deadline, only minor changes are allowed, till final release

 

Submitting files contained in a pke with emapinfo and other useful information will make compiling easier.  Such as how you want to be credited as an author, map name, par time, etc. Raw wads also accepted, I will repackage as needed.

 

Let's get mapping, have fun.

 

Links:

  Latest stable release thread

  Eternity Wiki

  Metaternity git repository

Edited January 24, 2019 by PaquoCastor

[Walter confetti]

Uh, so this means that we probably have 2 DMP clones community project? Cool!

 

I don't know mapping with eternity engine and I know how many people map for this specific port, but I wish you the best of luck!

 

Maybe make that maps that goes with eternity are acceptable too? Like boom, vanilla.... Edge? Legacy? I don't know really a lot about EE

[CorianderCastor]

Eternity is based on a version of SMMU, so naturally doom format (vanilla, limit-removing, boom) is compatible. UDMF (namespaces doom and eternity) and Hexen format (not recommended) are also compatible. Of course it can also read heretic maps, but I don't know if doom in heretic makes much sense, or if it works.

 

I also recommend that people not use ExtraData, since it is deprecated. But I will allow it.

 

The intent of this project is get more Eternity maps. But of course given the way OP and DMP are going this year, this will allow authors to submit two to three maps to year long projects based on their format preference. My condolences to those who want to map using unique features of EDGE, k8VaVoom, Doom Retro, Doomsday, Risen3D, Legacy, DelphiDoom, Zandronum, ZDaemon, Odamex, Classic RBDoom 3 BFG, or etc.

 

I would love to see UDMF (doom) maps by the way, but the lack of the format is totally cromulent.

 

If I get my map done by the end of the year, it will either be limit removing or UDMF (eternity).

[Gez]

17 minutes ago, PaquoCastor said:

Of course it can also read heretic maps, but I don't know if doom in heretic makes much sense

Technically it's the same format, there are just some differences in how sector and line specials are attributed. For line specials, this is mostly visible once you reach 99 and above. For example 99 is a repeatable fast blue door in Doom, but a rightward scrolling wall effect in Heretic. There are also minor differences in how some effects behave generally, like wether platforms lower all the way to their destination floor or stay just a few units above it, this kind of things. In most cases, it's too subtle to really notice.

 

With UDMF Eternity namespace, you get access to all available effects, so if one wants to use a Heretic special in a Doom map, that's the way to go. (Most Heretic effects can be implemented with Boom specials, though.)

[CorianderCastor]

Thanks for explaining that Gez.

 

I clarified and added some rules.

 

All feedback is appreciated.

[Pegleg]

Paging @Misty.

[Walter confetti]

I was reading carefully the rules but I have some questions:

 

New textures that didn't modify the stock textures are acceptable?

 

New music is OK.... I suppose you talk about midi files, right? Did other formats are acceptable? 

 

Malwads are the way you call terrywads?

Edited January 20, 2019 by Walter confetti

[CorianderCastor]

2 hours ago, Walter confetti said:

New textures that didn't modify the stock textures are acceptable?

 

Yes. I would prefer to compile everything into one pke, but that ultimately depends on what is submitted.

 

2 hours ago, Walter confetti said:

New music is OK.... I suppose you talk about midi files, right? Did other formats are acceptable? 

 

All music supported by EE. Which at least includes mp3 and ogg. Of course it's still a Doom engine, so midi and mus are of course acceptable. I don't have a full list of supported formats, but it should also support spc.

 

edit: Oh my, the dlls clearly state flac, mod, mp3, ogg, and spc. So try those.

 

2 hours ago, Walter confetti said:

Malwads are the way you call terrywads?

 

Any malicious or abusive bundles. It's a play on malware. So, yes that includes terrywads. If you want a jokey or mockwad, I might put those in a separate episode with a warning, since that's a matter of taste. If you can create something that breaks the rules cleverly, and in good taste, I will probably find a place for it. I want to shoot for balance in map slots, i.e. I want to maximize distance between long levels and hard levels. Short and sweet levels are totally cool. A master megamap is fine too.

 

And of course anyone that wants to use EDF is welcome.

 

In the end, if you can convince me to relax rules, I will.

Edited January 20, 2019 by PaquoCastor

[CorianderCastor]

@Walter confetti Have I explained everything clearly in the op now? Thanks for the help.

[Walter confetti]

Yes! Thanks to you!

[Altazimuth]

You should probably clarify whether users are to submit WADs or pkes. WADs are easier to just churn out as individual maps (due to the Doom Builder family not supporting saving maps as zip/pke/pk3), but pkes are easier to manage (in my opinion). Of course you could accept WADs then put them in to a pke at the end. If you need support with this or anything at all down the line then I'd be more than happy to help, and the same applies to all people considering applying.

 

I wish you the best of success with this project!

[CorianderCastor]

I agree pkes are easier to manage. Thanks for the offer, I might have to take you up on that down the road, I am no expert at this. I do have some experience with slade3 though, I like opening mods to see how they tic. I want to start small this year, but if I do this again next year I might enforce actually learning EE features to apply, at least directory structure and emapinfo. We shall see how it works this year though.

[printz]

Keep in mind Eternity projects can be worked directly as folders (whose structure is the same as a PKE/PK3/ZIP), in case you're interested in providing a Git repository for collaboration. But individual levels are still stored as .wad files inside the folder or zip archive. Anyway, if you work with folders, you can just use Windows Explorer or macOS Finder to manage them. Info here: http://eternity.youfailit.net/wiki/ZIP

 

The PKE/PK3/ZIP/folder structure is the same as in GZDoom.

 

@PaquoCastorI'd recommend you start with an OPTIONS lump (http://eternity.youfailit.net/wiki/OPTIONS) to establish some fixed gameplay rules. There are lots of peculiarities inherited from Boom and MBF which, if configured wrongly by player, might make some maps unplayable (or not how the author intended). Most of the ones you want to know about are the floor movement compatibility stuff and the monster behaviour stuff.

 

Whether you want jumping in your maps, you can use the EMAPINFO (http://eternity.youfailit.net/wiki/MapInfo) disable-jump option.

 

[CorianderCastor]

Okay, I made a precursory OPTIONS lump. I tried to mainly use defaults, with some things that should probably be changed. Any suggestions?

[printz]

Keep in mind that comp set to 1 means old-like (compatibility enabled). 

 

Also:

• Comp_planeshoot 1 means that hitscans won't hit the floors and ceilings when aimed that way. Anyway, if map has linked portals, it will be set to 0 anyway, for that map. 
• Comp_theights 1 is not desirable if you have comp_overunder 0 (allow walking over other things). It makes Doom decorations passable like steps. If you made it 0, Doom decorations wouldn't be passable for players and monsters (unless by jumping), but would be passable for projectiles, similar to how they were intended in Doom. 
• If you design maps with jumping in mind, comp_aircontrol better be 0, otherwise it will be unnaturally hard to jump on obstacles. 

[CorianderCastor]

14 hours ago, printz said:

Comp_theights 1 is not desirable if you have comp_overunder 0 (allow walking over other things). It makes Doom decorations passable like steps. If you made it 0, Doom decorations wouldn't be passable for players and monsters (unless by jumping), but would be passable for projectiles, similar to how they were intended in Doom. 

 

I can't believe I missed that.

 

14 hours ago, printz said:

If you design maps with jumping in mind, comp_aircontrol better be 0, otherwise it will be unnaturally hard to jump on obstacles. 

 

Yeah I noticed that and still set it the one way, oops.

 

So, I fixed those, thanks.