[Doom2, limit-removing] BOOMER: Beyond Vanilla — Action/adventure/exploration-focused WAD (v0.08.02 2023-12-18)

[Fernito]

(TL;DR - idgames link: https://www.doomworld.com/idgames/levels/doom2/Ports/a-c/boomer)

 

[UPDATED 2023-12-18]

 

 

[ABOUT THE WAD]

Boomer: Beyond Vanilla is a limit-removing Doom 2 WAD, focused on action and adventure/exploration. I set myself the challenge of creating a fun and visually pleasing mapset using only original Doom 2 textures/flats and vanilla gameplay mechanics, with the idea in mind of offering a unique experience each time it is played, rather than being a one-time consumption WAD. Most of the maps are mid to big-sized with non-linear progression, a lot of interconnection and several optional areas. 

 

Music has always been a crucial aspect of videogames for me, and this time is no exception. The WAD features a 100% original MIDI soundtrack that tries to capture the vibe of 90’s shooters’ music. I'd like to mention that the work of Lee Jackson has been especially influential for my musical development, and this project also features an amazing original MIDI from him. Needless to say, a lot of love has been put into the soundtrack, so I really hope you enjoy it! :)

 

This is the first episode of what I’d like to become one day a fully fledged megaWAD. Maybe in the (far) future I’ll continue with it, but for now I’ll take a break as I’m quite burnt out from this project after spending a considerable amount of my scarce free time on it for the last two years x_x. As suggested by @Captain Keen, I’m releasing this first episode as a standalone WAD and I’ll call it the “shareware” version.

[RECOMMENDED SETTINGS]

The WAD was designed to be played with vanilla style lighting. IMHO, the best playing experience is given by DSDA-Doom with hardware renderer + indexed lighting, followed by Crispy Doom. GZDoom has performance issues in some maps when using the software renderer, and IMO none of its hardware renderer lightmodes* is close enough to vanilla (not even the “vanilla” one, heh), which kinda screws up the atmosphere, so I can’t really recommend it much.

* = the IMO most appropriate lightmode is selected by default via ZMAPINFO.

 

In terms of gameplay, it should be played with vanilla settings: no mouselook, no jumping, infinitely tall objects, decorations should not block projectiles, etc. All maps are optimized for pistol start, though continuous play is also fine. Difficulty settings are fully implemented, and there’s no shame in selecting a lower skill level if you're looking for a more laid-back, exploration-focused experience.

 

The soundtrack was composed using the Microsoft GS Wavetable synth as target, so bear in mind that the track volume balance might be off with other soundfonts. It is worth mentioning that it sounds exceptionally bad with the OPL synth, as it doesn’t handle pitch bendings properly.  

 

TL;DR: 

Map Format: Doom 2 

IWAD: doom2.wad

Ports Tested: 

• Crispy Doom 
• GZDoom (comp. mode “Doom (strict)”)
• PrBoom+ (complevel 2)
• DSDA-Doom (complevel 2)

Maps: MAP01 - 07

Gameplay: Single play and coop

Difficulty Settings: Yes

Multiplayer Placement: Only coop

Build Time: ~2 years

Requirements/recommended settings: 

• Vanilla settings: no jumping, no freelook, etc.
• Software renderer or similar is strongly recommended.
• Pistol start recommended, but continuous play is also ok.
• Microsoft GS Wavetable recommended for the MIDIs.

 

[CREDITS]:

A big shout out to the playtesters @Biodegradable, @LordEntr0py, @mancubian_candidate, the_lamp, @rita remton, @Vile, and especially @Veemon, @Kyka and Joe Lennox, whose thorough playtesting and encouragement have been vital for the development of the WAD.

 

I'd also like to thank @Ozymandias81 and @Van Daemon for their invaluable help testing the WAD in coop!  

 

Thanks again to @Veemon for his contributions to MAP07! 

 

The artwork was made by Bo Hernö: https://twitter.com/BoJustBo1

The logo was made by my good friend Rocc-O: https://www.instagram.com/rocc.o.tattoo

 

And of course, thanks to the one and only Lee Jackson @leejacksonaudio and to my good friend Enzo Cabrera for their exceptional contributions to the soundtrack! 

 

And also thanks to my amazing musician friend Tomás Rojas for his incredible rework of MAP07's track, rebaptized as "Obliterating Rendezvous" (formerly "UkT"): https://www.instagram.com/tr.mus/

[SCREENSHOTS]

 

 

More screenshots:

Spoiler

 

 

[TRACK LIST]:

Spoiler

Map01: "Energía" - Fernito
Map02: "Fernando's dream" - Lee Jackson
Map03: "Goin' down the hard way" - Fernito (solo by Enzo Cabrera/Fernito)
Map04: "Monster Condo style" - Fernito
Map05: "Misleading demeanor" - Fernito
Map06: "A day at the beach" - Fernito
Map07: "Obliterating Rendezvous" - Synth solos by Enzo Cabrera; bass and drums by Fernito; guitars, arrangements and mixing (and new name!) by Tomás Rojas
Map08/Text screen: "Rite of passage" - Fernito
Title screen: "Slam" - Fernito
Intermission: "Victory toll" - Fernito

 

[FAQ]

Q: Does it run with [insert gameplay mod here]? 

A: I never tried it, but I don’t see why it shouldn’t. Just take into account that the wad uses voodoo dolls in some parts plus some other mild vanilla trickery, which might break with some mods, I guess.

 

[DOWNLOAD]

Latest version v0.08.02 (2023-12-18)

Dropbox: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/hd5na6k2xo5n42ptm77r7/boomer-v0.08.01.wad?rlkey=ind2p8ecre81bmjdomq27ml2p&dl=0

Idgames: https://www.doomworld.com/idgames/levels/doom2/Ports/a-c/boomer

 

[CHANGELOG]

 

v0.08.02 (2023-12-18)

• Music: 
  • Small changes to MAP04 track
• Maps:
  • MAP06: fixed potential sequence break via archvile jump
  • MAP08/32: removed the BFG super-secret, which made the map potentially cheesable, plus other small balance and aesthetic fixes

v0.08.01 (2023-10-07)

• Added 3 demos (they should run well at least on DSDA-Doom and Crispy Doom)
• Added meaningful par times to every level  
• Music: 
  • Totally reworked track for MAP07, "Obliterating Rendezvous" (Credit: Tomás Rojas)
  • Extended intermission screen track, "Victory toll"
  • Put some more work on end map/text screen track, "Rite of passage"
  • Several small tweaks in most of the other tracks.
• Maps
  • All maps were updated for easier navigation: a lot of useless linedefs where hidden, so now the automap views should be a lot less confusing (thanks to all those that brought this to my attention)
  • MAP07: got buffed a little bit
  • MAP08: previously just an exit-less short end map, now a 100% playable "challenge" map
  • MAP32: same as MAP08, just with the bony red sky :) 
  • Several other small aesthetic and QoL improvements in most levels (e.g.: making those multi-sector lifts not ear rape you anymore)

v0.07.04 (2023-06-24)

• Several texture and QoL improvements in most levels.
• Updated ENDOOM screen

v0.07.03 (2023-04-09)

• Several small fixes in most of the levels.
• Updated MIDI for Map07 and title screen.

v0.07.02 (2023-04-02) 

• First official release of "shareware" episode

Edited December 25, 2023 by Fernito : Release v0.08.02

[Insaneprophet]

I like everything you just said and have found how Im going to spend my Sunday 😀

[Andrea Rovenski]

ALRIGHT! I'm in. Did you do the art work for the title? looks awesome! Will bookmark and play this one when it's finished :)

[Fernito]

5 minutes ago, Andrea Rovenski said:

ALRIGHT! I'm in. Did you do the art work for the title? looks awesome! Will bookmark and play this one when it's finished :)

The artwork was made by Bo Hernö (the same artist that made the Cacowards 2022 banner). I put a link to his instagram in the credits, his boomer shooter related pixelart is incredible :)

[Kyka]

I really invite all you wonderful doomers to give this wad a chance. If you do, you will find one of the most unique, wonderful, and epic mapsets that, certainly I have seen, especially seeing as it uses only stock resources.

 

I was privileged to have played and playtested this absolute beautiful wad. Some of you may have seen me posting a few screens there in the 'post your pictures' thread of an unnamed project. Well this was that project.

 

Give it a play. I guarantee you won't be disappointed.

Edited January 15, 2023 by Kyka

[Veemon]

WAD Fully recommended, The visuals are completely incredible (Among the most detailed maps you can find in the entire doom community) The Midis are great, they have a touch of "Push Forward" but at the same time of atmosphere.

 

Each Map had a unique way to confront the Fights, The monster placement and fights are very unique and clever. Be Fast, Think faster, Shoot Even faster!

 

I was Very happy of being a betatester of this amazing Project. 

 

Please! Play this, is amazing. But Aware of The performance take all the recomendations from Fernito for Good Performance in Software Mode

Edited January 15, 2023 by Veemon

[RED77]

Just Played the fist two levels. AMAZING stuff

[Insaneprophet]

Hmmmm. My lzdoom refuses to boot up and experiences a "very fatal error" in software mode. Seems to start just fine in hardware though.

[Fernito]

49 minutes ago, Kyka said:

Give it a play. I guarantee you won't be disappointed.

 

45 minutes ago, Veemon said:

Please! Play this, is amazing. 

Awww thank you, guys! <3 I'll be eternally grateful for your feedback :)

21 minutes ago, Insaneprophet said:

Hmmmm. My lzdoom refuses to boot up and experiences a "very fatal error" in software mode. Seems to start just fine in hardware though.

I'm sorry to hear :/ maybe you could try with a different port?

[Deadwing]

Looks really impressive!

[Redneckerz]

Those TITLEPIC's are f*ckin gorgeous. @Fernito how did you make those?

And uses voodoo dolls and vanilla trickery? I like what i am seeing.

 

The light shading in particular stands out. You are really make the most of the geometry and sector lights whenever possible.

[Fernito]

2 minutes ago, Redneckerz said:

Those TITLEPIC's are f*ckin gorgeous. @Fernito how did you make those?

And uses voodoo dolls and vanilla trickery? I like what i am seeing.

 

The light shading in particular stands out. You are really make the most of the geometry and sector lights whenever possible.

The title and intermission pics were drawn by Bo Hernö, I just gave him the guidelines of what I wanted: https://twitter.com/BoJustBo1. As I mentioned in another post, it's the same guy that made the Cacowards banner last year, he makes amazing pixelart *_*

 

Oh, and btw: just very mild vanilla trickery, don't expect anything too hardcore :) 

[Noiser]

Pretty cool! I can't wait to try it out (My Crispy Doom is ready 8D)

[Vile]

Very impressive set; super-detailed and complex levels despite the vanilla limitations, great new music and lots to explore.  Great work!  I did see some minor issues here and there (missing textures, stuck monsters in teleport closets) and I'll try to compile a list of that stuff later.  There's a vod in the spoiler that I'll probably use to help me remember some of it, if interested.

 

Spoiler

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1708153410

 

[TheCyberDruid]

Just played through the first five maps and it's great :) Thank you for making those maps. They are just a lot of fun to play!

[mancubian_candidate]

Looks incredible, I will give it a go 😄

[mancubian_candidate]

Just finished the 1st map and its incredible. These Secrets are tough!

[Fernito]

13 hours ago, Vile said:

Very impressive set; super-detailed and complex levels despite the vanilla limitations, great new music and lots to explore.  Great work!  I did see some minor issues here and there (missing textures, stuck monsters in teleport closets) and I'll try to compile a list of that stuff later.  There's a vod in the spoiler that I'll probably use to help me remember some of it, if interested.

 

  Reveal hidden contents

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1708153410

 

Thanks a lot for the video, I'll watch it asap! I could've sworn all of the tp closets were working fine during my last test playthrough :c

PS: I watched MAP01, and:

Spoiler

I'm impressed you found both the rocket launcher and the backpack in your first playthrough :) you're literally the first player that has ever found both of them.

9 hours ago, mancubian_candidate said:

Just finished the 1st map and its incredible. These Secrets are tough!

Did you find all of them? :o

Edited January 16, 2023 by Fernito

[mancubian_candidate]

6 hours ago, Fernito said:

PS: I watched MAP01, and:

  Reveal hidden contents

I'm impressed you found both the rocket launcher and the backpack in your first playthrough :) you're literally the first player that has ever found both of them.

Did you find all of them? :o

 

2/3 in Map 1 unfortunately. Going to retry again after work today. The last one is driving me crazy (still looking for the Rocket Launcher) 😂

[Wavy]

Oh my god, the screenshots look awesome! Definitely gonna try this one.

[Kyka]

21 hours ago, Vile said:

Very impressive set; super-detailed and complex levels despite the vanilla limitations, great new music and lots to explore.  Great work!  I did see some minor issues here and there (missing textures, stuck monsters in teleport closets) and I'll try to compile a list of that stuff later.  There's a vod in the spoiler that I'll probably use to help me remember some of it, if interested.

 

  Hide contents

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1708153410

 

 Impressive stream. :) You found way more secrets than I did.

[Fernito]

4 hours ago, Kyka said:

 Impressive stream. :) You found way more secrets than I did.

Indeed O_O

 

@Vile I just finished watching your full stream in one sitting... that was impressive O_O I really appreciate the fact you took the time to find absolutely every secret the wad has to offer*, I really put a lot of love into it. Also, no need to compile a list of issues; I already fixed most of the bugs you found, that was a really useful playthrough! Thanks again for taking the time :)  

 

* = minus one (:

And btw,

Spoiler

The one-time secret in map03 actually is not tagged as a secret, so it's not an issue if you don't find it, it's more like an easter egg. I still implemented a crusher to kill the archie triggered near the exit in case you missed it.

 

[Vile]

4 hours ago, Kyka said:

 Impressive stream. :) You found way more secrets than I did.

 

I don't remember how many I found on my own, but my general approach for finding secrets is just playing the map normally until I get to the exit, but then go back and use iddst or the editor to find anything I missed.  I'm pistol-starting each map anyway so I don't carry anything with me - it's more to save time and verify everything is collectible.  I know my Doom Builder window doesn't show up on stream but yeah, it wasn't all me.  I think on some maps I found very few secrets before going back since many of them are quite well hidden.

Edited January 16, 2023 by Vile

[Vile]

37 minutes ago, Fernito said:

@Vile I just finished watching your full stream in one sitting... that was impressive O_O I really appreciate the fact you took the time to find absolutely every secret the wad has to offer*, I really put a lot of love into it. Also, no need to compile a list of issues; I already fixed most of the bugs you found, that was a really useful playthrough! Thanks again for taking the time :)  

 

* = minus one (:

And btw,

  Reveal hidden contents

The one-time secret in map03 actually is not tagged as a secret, so it's not an issue if you don't find it, it's more like an easter egg. I still implemented a crusher to kill the archie triggered near the exit in case you missed it.

 

 

Ahh awesome, I hadn't gotten around to going back thru it yet but I'm glad it was helpful!

[Insaneprophet]

Im on 6 or 7 now and damn are these cool maps. It just absolutely kills me though that i cant 100% them. Every lvl i find all sorts of stuff that i cant figure out how to get to or what this or that did. The worst are the ones where i can hear it, i can pin point where its loudest but i dont see anything.😀

[SP_FACE1]

What a beautiful and imaginative style of mapping with basic resources! The maps ooze an atmosphere of a weird alien world with strange structures and constructions which somehow have a familiar but unknown logic to them and figuring it out gives a nice sense of accomplishment. Oh, and the fights are fantastic!

 

I ran into this texture issue on MAP03 (using GZDoom):

Spoiler

 

[Bauul]

On 1/15/2023 at 5:01 AM, Fernito said:

It should be played with vanilla settings: no mouselook, no jumping, infinitely tall objects, decorations should not block projectiles, etc., or else there is risk of sequence breakings.

 

Even though this is a limit-removing WAD, in this day and age I strongly recommend taking the time to write a few MAPINFOs for the more well-used advanced ports, as then you can set all these to apply automatically and not need to worry about people playing with the wrong settings (which some people absolutely 100% will do if left to their own devices).

 

If there's only one MAPINFO you end up adding, I would make it ZMAPINFO, because in my experience (G)ZDoom players are the cohort most likely not to understand the importance of playing with vanilla settings.  The ZDoomwiki has a good overview of the comp-settings available.  Alternatively, you could grab a wad that already has a vanilla-setting MAPINFO written (like 1K Lines 3) and re-use that.

 

On 1/15/2023 at 5:01 AM, Fernito said:

The hardware renderer screws up the atmosphere big time (parts that are supposed to be almost pitch-dark look too bright, etc.)

 

I suspect you're talking about GZDoom's hardware renderer here (e.g. DSDA's new hardware renderer from Xaser is almost indistinguishable from the software renderer).  If you weren't aware, GZDoom has a variety of sector light modes that can dramatically change how a scene looks.  My suspicion is you're using one of the lightmodes that is pretty different to the original Doom. 

 

Given that some (many) people will play with the hardware renderer (because a lot of people never read a wad's information) I would suggest you try out a few of the different light modes (you can cycle through them in the settings) and see which looks closest to the how the maps look in software.  The light mode "vanilla" is usually the closest, FYI. If there's one that's close enough that you're happy with, you can lock the levels to use only that lightmode (regardless to what people set in their own options menu) using ZMAPINFO.  That way the levels should look better in hardware mode regardless of anyone's settings.

[Fernito]

16 hours ago, Insaneprophet said:

Im on 6 or 7 now and damn are these cool maps. It just absolutely kills me though that i cant 100% them. Every lvl i find all sorts of stuff that i cant figure out how to get to or what this or that did. The worst are the ones where i can hear it, i can pin point where its loudest but i dont see anything.😀

I'm sure you'll find them eventually! :D Is there any particular secret that's driving you nuts? I can give you a hint if you'd like hehe

 

15 hours ago, SP_FACE1 said:

What a beautiful and imaginative style of mapping with basic resources! The maps ooze an atmosphere of a weird alien world with strange structures and constructions which somehow have a familiar but unknown logic to them and figuring it out gives a nice sense of accomplishment. Oh, and the fights are fantastic!

 

I ran into this texture issue on MAP03 (using GZDoom):

  Reveal hidden contents

 

Thanks a lot, I'm really glad you liked it :) And the missing texture is already fixed :D 

14 hours ago, Bauul said:

 

Even though this is a limit-removing WAD, in this day and age I strongly recommend taking the time to write a few MAPINFOs for the more well-used advanced ports, as then you can set all these to apply automatically and not need to worry about people playing with the wrong settings (which some people absolutely 100% will do if left to their own devices).

  

If there's only one MAPINFO you end up adding, I would make it ZMAPINFO, because in my experience (G)ZDoom players are the cohort most likely not to understand the importance of playing with vanilla settings.  The ZDoomwiki has a good overview of the comp-settings available.  Alternatively, you could grab a wad that already has a vanilla-setting MAPINFO written (like 1K Lines 3) and re-use that.

  

 suspect you're talking about GZDoom's hardware renderer here (e.g. DSDA's new hardware renderer from Xaser is almost indistinguishable from the software renderer).  If you weren't aware, GZDoom has a variety of sector light modes that can dramatically change how a scene looks.  My suspicion is you're using one of the lightmodes that is pretty different to the original Doom. 

  

Given that some (many) people will play with the hardware renderer (because a lot of people never read a wad's information) I would suggest you try out a few of the different light modes (you can cycle through them in the settings) and see which looks closest to the how the maps look in software.  The light mode "vanilla" is usually the closest, FYI. If there's one that's close enough that you're happy with, you can lock the levels to use only that lightmode (regardless to what people set in their own options menu) using ZMAPINFO.  That way the levels should look better in hardware mode regardless of anyone's settings.

Thanks a bunch for all this info. I have to admit I had no idea of most of what you just said. Now that I know, I'll definitely look into implementing MAP/ZMAPINFO lumps for the WAD :) Is there any documentation somewhere regarding ZMAPINFO? I quickly googled for it but didn't find anything relevant (or if you could point me to a WAD with ZMAPINFO which I could "reverse engineer" would be also great)

 

PS: nevermind, I downloaded 1K Lines 3 and extracted ZMAPINFO from there :) Thanks!

Edited January 17, 2023 by Fernito

[saski]

VERY Nice work! Would love to play this co-op. any chance you could add playerstarts and eliminate co-op traps?

[Insaneprophet]

3 hours ago, Fernito said:

I'm sure you'll find them eventually! :D Is there any particular secret that's driving you nuts? I can give you a hint if you'd like hehe

They are all driving me nuts. I usually dont care if i get all secrets, or any, but when i like the levels this much i get hooked. Something about large levels that require exploration, once i get started i cant stop. My play time per lvl has been somewhere around 1 1/2-2 hours, and i imagine only half of that is standard progression. I already plan on replaying from the start as soon as im finished, you can expect some DMs pertaining to the secrets i get stuck on. My OCD in this matter will not get the better of me...