How do I run The Slaughter Spectrum?

[Jiggahertz]

(I'm using ZDL and GZDoom btw)

 

I put the the map WADs, MAP01.WAD, MAP02.WAD, etc. into ZDL, I selected Doom 2 as the IWAD, yet when I click launch, it just shows the regular Doom 2 launch screen, and when I start a new game, the first map is all bugged out and missing all kinds of textures and effects etc., and the regular Doom 2 Entryway music is still playing instead of the proper song for that map.

 

How do I run The Slaughter Spectrum? What files do I have to put in the "external files" section in ZDL? Do I just have to add the entire .zip file for the WAD?

[dmslr]

Edit: I'm stupid. Ignore this post.

Edited April 22, 2021 by dmslr

[Shepardus]

You shouldn't be dealing with individual map wads. I forget if The Slaughter Spectrum comes as a zip or a pk3 or what, but you should load that archive.

[Jiggahertz]

27 minutes ago, Shepardus said:

You shouldn't be dealing with individual map wads. I forget if The Slaughter Spectrum comes as a zip or a pk3 or what, but you should load that archive.

Yeah I managed to figure it out, thanks

[Major Arlene]

@Bridgeburner56 still needs to get the proper pk3 on /idgames ;p

 

but for those wondering, I think the original download comes as a .zip- renaming the file to .pk3 as the extension instead will produce the desired result. 

[Catpho]

fyi i can run it as a .zip as well, somehow :P

[Pegleg]

@TheUnstableNutcase

 

I did the same thing as you when I download The Slaughter Spectrum. "Oh, this is a zip file? Well, then let me unzip it." And I had the same result as you. After looking at it in Slade, and remembering that it was UDMF, it dawned on me that it was a pk3 and should just be played as such. Changing the extension from zip to pk3, as Major Arlene wrote, will solve your problem. Bridgeburner should probably do that whenever he uploads The Slaughter Spectrum to idgames; perhaps no one but the two of us tried unzipping the file (with a zip extension), but it wouldn't hurt to avoid the problem in the future.

 

11 minutes ago, Major Arlene said:

@Bridgeburner56 still needs to get the proper pk3 on /idgames ;p

 

but for those wondering, I think the original download comes as a .zip- renaming the file to .pk3 as the extension instead will produce the desired result. 

 

The Slaughter Spectrum would instantly be the second largest file on idgames, trailing only the full version of Damnation by Arclite. Damnation weighs in at 235.8 MB (compared to 228.9 MB for v. 1.0 of TSS), but Damnation has 32 maps plus full MP3s for each map, a variety of ambient sounds from other games, textures from a number of texture sets, and Skulltag actors. The closest analog to TSS on idgames would be Heartland, which has 8 maps, compared to the 5 maps of TSS, and Heartland is still 5 times smaller (45.3 MB vs. 228.9 MB).

 

I'm not trying to dissuade @Bridgeburner56 from uploading The Slaughter Spectrum. I think he should. And he shouldn't be worried about age. Steve D uploaded Abcess to idgames in 2017, despite having originally made the maps in 1998.

 

27 minutes ago, Catpho said:

fyi i can run it as a .zip as well, somehow :P

 

You probably just dropped it onto whatever version of GZDoom you had and GZDoom did the rest.

[Jiggahertz]

1 hour ago, Pegleg said:

@TheUnstableNutcase

 

I did the same thing as you when I download The Slaughter Spectrum. "Oh, this is a zip file? Well, then let me unzip it." And I had the same result as you. After looking at it in Slade, and remembering that it was UDMF, it dawned on me that it was a pk3 and should just be played as such. Changing the extension from zip to pk3, as Major Arlene wrote, will solve your problem. Bridgeburner should probably do that whenever he uploads The Slaughter Spectrum to idgames; perhaps no one but the two of us tried unzipping the file (with a zip extension), but it wouldn't hurt to avoid the problem in the future.

 

 

The Slaughter Spectrum would instantly be the second largest file on idgames, trailing only the full version of Damnation by Arclite. Damnation weighs in at 235.8 MB (compared to 228.9 MB for v. 1.0 of TSS), but Damnation has 32 maps plus full MP3s for each map, a variety of ambient sounds from other games, textures from a number of texture sets, and Skulltag actors. The closest analog to TSS on idgames would be Heartland, which has 8 maps, compared to the 5 maps of TSS, and Heartland is still 5 times smaller (45.3 MB vs. 228.9 MB).

 

I'm not trying to dissuade @Bridgeburner56 from uploading The Slaughter Spectrum. I think he should. And he shouldn't be worried about age. Steve D uploaded Abcess to idgames in 2017, despite having originally made the maps in 1998.

 

 

You probably just dropped it onto whatever version of GZDoom you had and GZDoom did the rest.

Yeah it doesn't need to be a .pk3, it works fine as a .zip file

[RonnieJamesDiner]

For those interested, here is an excerpt from the zdoom wiki (pointing out that, technically speaking, there is no difference between a .pk3 and .zip).

 

Quote

A .zip file used as the container for a ZDoom mod is usually given either the .pk3 extension (originally used by Quake 3,) .pkz (for ZDoom,) .pke (for Eternity Engine) or .ipk3 (for full-game ZIPs) instead of .zip. While there is no technical difference, this helps avoid potential confusion from users thinking the mod should be extracted from it, and also prevents Windows from presenting it as a directory.

 

[Andromeda]

2 hours ago, Pegleg said:

I'm not trying to dissuade Bridgeburner56 from uploading The Slaughter Spectrum. I think he should. And he shouldn't be worried about age. Steve D uploaded Abcess to idgames in 2017, despite having originally made the maps in 1998.

 

Hell, an early version of Splatterhouse first appeared as MAP06 on Realm of Chaos even further back in 1996, before being remastered and placed in the MAP03 slot for Abcess. I agree, if it's good who cares if it's old? :)

[Bridgeburner56]

I am a professional