[ON HOLD] [GZDoom] ZHDoom - A Comedy Cosmetic Mod

[Dasha W. Frost]

IMPORTANT! Pains me to day this, but I finally (few months too late, and I deeply apologize for bumping the thread) changed the status of the project to "On Hold". Very big and serious hold, one might even say. I was planning to release the first demo in the beginning of this year, but so happened that I suddenly got myself involved into another one giant artistic project, unrelated to Doom, so I completely and most certainly put ZHDoom aside for now... Sadly.

I am still planning to finally finish it up, for I have ideas and, honestly, I really missed Doom modding this whole time... But since I'm still actively working on another one project of great personal importance to me - and, truth be told, work on it will continue further within next few years at least - I'm only thinking about working on ZHDoom every now and then, on and off, and that has become very clear right now. Therefore, since my priorities significantly shifted, from now on I decided to update this thread only when things are definitely ready for release, so that nobody's hopes are crushed again. The release date is still "when it's done".

The next update is going to be a playable version right away. Just please wait patiently for it. Someday it will happen. Thank you very much for understanding! 

 

 

Hello everyone, I’m ready to introduce you a project I’ve been working on for some time.

 

Ladies and gentlemen, meet ZHDoom

 

Here is the trailer!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBDVeQPChsA

 

What is this anyway?

When I made up my mind and decided to start working on it, in my ZHDoom Bible (*wink wink* aka nervous tick) I wrote that ZHDoom is a joke WAD (in a good way, if possible)/partial conversion that is inspired by memes and internet lulz. It replaces primarily monsters, some textures and cosmetic stuff in the game, as well as exchanges sounds and music (possibly, WIP) for a better mood match. The gameplay as well as structure of the DECORATE actors has minimal to no changes at all, on purpose, to preserve original pacing of the game that we all (myself included) like so much. Low res setting of artworks is also preserved when possible as a part of aesthetics, with exception of cases when something turns into a total pixel mush when downscaled to such little resolutions.

All in all, this is a very simple mod that focuses mainly on certain graphics and sounds... and makes the game terrible yet hilarious.

 

The backstory is still WIP, although some points are already made up. The main character is Zhdun who goes adventuring in the vast perils of the internet and turns other popular memes into little copies of himself. First of all, as I think, the mod is gonna be interesting to nostalgic people from Russia or post-Soviet countries, for I’m using quite a few memes that were specifically popular there. But there’s also a bunch of universally known and/or Western memes as well (Doge, rage comic faces, etc.).

For the source of inspiration and resources, I mostly used materials from KnowYourMeme.Com and Wikireality.Ru. The main purpose of this mod is fun and ridiculousness. Please don’t expect anything serious from it whatsoever. In other words, this.

 

The mod is supposed to work with all original Doom IWADs (1 and 2, Ultimate, TNT and Plutonia, etc.), as well as virtually with any map pack/mod that uses vanilla monsters and textures. (therefore if you’re planning on trying it out with multiple complex mods... use on your own risk, it might not work)

 

Thus, the project expanded and is now planned to be released in PK3 format... so I guess I no longer can say that this is gonna be a “joke WAD”, for it’s not gonna be a WAD in the first place, LOL. (ok, bad joke)

 

Screenshots:

Spoiler

 

 

 

The story so far

ZHDoom (or, alternatively, ZHDoom for Doom) is my first funny mod that I decided to start working on just to learn ZScript and how Doom mods are made in general. During the last year I’ve been playing a lot of Doom mods, and I was wondering if I can make something of my own. I hesitated for a long time, for I was actually thinking about making my own indie game first, plus I spend a lot of time drawing (my primary activity), so I had enough things to do anyway... But lately, my curiosity and ambition tipped the weights, and here it is, my very first Doom mod.

 

The story of the idea of this weird mod was rather random and based on a word game. There is this Zhdun (aka Snorp) meme that became very popular in Russia a few years back that I really like. So my mind randomly created the word “Zhdoom” instead (just because it sounds good), and I imagined the poster of Doom 1 with that character instead of Doomguy. And other popular memes (namely Doge) instead of demons... That’s basically the whole story. Yes, yes, I know, the idea is questionable and somewhat cringeworthy... But that’s the point! :D I thought this little project would be a very good start for me to get used to modding.

 

Compatibility

I made it exclusively for GZDoom port (tested with 4.5.0 and 4.7.1); I’m not sure it’s gonna work on any other source port, definitely not anything vanilla-oriented (no Crispy Doom, etc.). I myself use always and only GZDoom for years and years, so I just made it GZDoom compatible, and that's where I test it every time. If you’re feeling adventurous though, feel free to test it out on other source ports similar to ZDoom or its derivatives, and let me know how it works. Thank you for jolly cooperation!

 

Current progress

I would say it’s approximately 75% done by now – for Doom 1. 

I am making assets for Doom 1/Ultimate Doom right now, and once that is done, I’ll move on to expanding resources for other Doom IWADs, too. One at a time, little by little.

 

Credits – briefly (for now)

Know Your Meme database, Wikireality.ru, and whatever I ripped myself from YouTube or drew from scratch in Krita. The mod is put together all by myself, with little help and suggestions from my husband (thank you so much, and love you! <3).

I’ll put a complete extensive list of resources I used in making of the mod in PK3 file upon release.

 

 

Attention! No memes were harmed in the making of this horrible funny mod.

 

 

Release date

The first release - a version compatible with Doom Demo and The Ultimate Doom - is going to be released soon in early 2022. After that I'll move on to adding content to make it playable with other IWADs. The rest is still TBA in 2022 sometime. Or I should better say, “when it’s *meticulously* done”. Because “cook until done” IS a thing.

I don’t work on this mod all the time – it’s more like my spare activity for the days I don’t feel like doing anything else. But I am determined to bring it to completion!

 

 

I’m gonna be updating this post with how progress is going and will be adding more screenshots/video footage, so stay tuned! See you soon! And thank you for your attention and support!

Edited May 20, 2022 by Dasha W. Frost : Updated status of the project

[Major Arlene]

As someone who has lived vicariously through meme, I wholly endorse this.

[Toilet_Wine_Connoisseur]

alright im interested

[notTyrone]

I survive mostly on memes.  Keeping an eye on this

[Dusty_Rhodes]

This looks like fun. I love to see some humor in wads. Especially in ZDoom ones, as they can be taken very far. 

[Dasha W. Frost]

Thank you so much everyone, I'm very happy to hear someone is interested! That gives me more motivation!

 

I'll try to finish up the Doom 1 part of the mod by the end of this year; no promises but might happen :)

[Dasha W. Frost]

Just a quick update: I'm finishing up working on textures I wanted to change. I'm trying to keep changes minimal so that players don't want to cringe and immediately stop playing the mod because there are too many flashy memes sticking out from everywhere. Balance is the key. Instead, I'm carefully browsing through vanilla textures and think about which ones to modify. Thus, most textures I made changes to so far are the ones that do not appear very often in the game.

There are a couple new ANIMDEFS for textures that were not originally animated.

 

Also, removing blood and all the scariness from textures and sprites, and turned off blood splatter decals completely. Making the mod funny and cute, not bloody :) (which is kinda opposite to what Doom originally intended to be, but oh well) 

 

The only thing I have not touched yet is the main character himself. But soon, very soon ;)

[Dasha W. Frost]

Hello everyone, I finally came back with a trailer!!! Added a link to the main post for everyone to see (plus changed some little details in the description/progress).

 

So, as of today, the mod is approximately 75% done, and in early 2022 I'll release a playable version for Doom 1 for y'all to play! Yaaaay! 

 

There are still a few enemies left to make, some texture replacements/changes, and something I totally forgot about (again)... sprites of the main character (oops).

Music is still mostly untouched. But soon... ;)

 

Thank you very much for your support, and Happy New Year! See you all in 2022.

[Dusty_Rhodes]

Looks fun, I'll be excited to play it!

 

 

*edit

 

After watching the trailer, looks very funny. Lots of great classic memes, I forgot about Longcat, pre - Reddit Doge, and Epic Smilely. Good stuff.

[Dasha W. Frost]

Thank you, @Dusty_Rhodes)))

[Merry Widow]

This is a really great idea. I know I always enjoy a good bit of humor, and I'm sure others can too.

[Dasha W. Frost]

An important (and extremely delayed, so I do apologize) update on the status of the project. Updated the original post with this:

 

Pains me to day this, but I finally (few months too late, and I deeply apologize for bumping the thread) changed the status of the project to "On Hold". Very big and serious hold, one might even say. I was planning to release the first demo in the beginning of this year, but so happened that I suddenly got myself involved into another one giant artistic project, unrelated to Doom, so I completely and most certainly put ZHDoom aside for now... Sadly.

I am still planning to finally finish it up, for I have ideas and, honestly, I really missed Doom modding this whole time... But since I'm still actively working on another one project of great personal importance to me - and, truth be told, work on it will continue further within next few years at least - I'm only thinking about working on ZHDoom every now and then, on and off, and that has become very clear right now. Therefore, since my priorities significantly shifted, from now on I decided to update this thread only when things are definitely ready for release, so that nobody's hopes are crushed again. The release date is still "when it's done".

The next update is going to be a playable version right away. Just please wait patiently for it. Someday it will happen. Thank you very much for understanding!

 

... I guess for fans of Zhdun waiting a bit more is not a problem?!

[Dusty_Rhodes]

Ah well, good luck with your other projects. I can wait a bit more heh, I'll be happy to play it when it comes out.

[Dasha W. Frost]

@Dusty_Rhodes thank you so much, I really appreciate the support :)