Tom's Halls: A Doom Alpha Community Project (MUSICIANS WANTED!)

[Faceman2000]

Somewhere, somewhen, a time traveler steps on a butterfly. . . and Sandy winds up finishing Tom's OTHER maps instead!

 

Hello all! This is a project that has been brewing in my mind for a long time now. The goal is to take incomplete and unfinished maps from various stages in Doom's development, finish them in a way that could've conceivably happened in 1993, and then package them into a couple episodes for the original game. We aren't quite shooting for DTWID-levels of faithfulness, (after all, this is literally Doom the Way id Didn't!) but it should feel authentic to the spirit of the original game. What this ISN'T is an attempt to complete the levels as described in the Doom Bible - we're just taking these leftovers and making them playable, like Sandy and Romero did 30 years ago.

 

The goal is to have a full three episodes, ordered like the press release beta: Phobos, then Hell, the Deimos. Below I have divided the various available levels into four categories: Unused Maps, Map Scraps, Majorly Revised Maps, and Near-Final Maps. The Unused Maps are the priority - levels that didn't make it into Doom in a recognizable form and will all need to be finished before the project is considered complete. These maps either either didn't make it into the final game, or were altered so much they are essentially unrecognizable from their prerelease versions. The Scraps are, well, scraps - small, incomplete, and lacking real levelness. If just completing a previously designed level seems uninteresting to you, these Scraps are where you can let yourself go wild! Majorly Revised Maps maps are maps that wound up finished in the final game, but at some stage of development showed interesting features that were lost by the time the game was finished - for example, E1M2's computer maze looks like it might've been intended to be a cave system at one point! These maps should have the cut features emphasized and the relatively unchanged areas differentiated. Near-Final Maps are levels whose geometry remained largely unchanged between the Alphas and the final game. These maps will be some of the more difficult to adapt, as they should be more radical in their interpretation of the levels. E2M2, for example, appears as early as 0.3 but is relatively unchanged geometrically by the final. So how to reinterpret it? Change the starting point, the theme (maybe make it a Hell level ala E3M3?), get creative!

 

Available Maps:

ALL CLAIMED

 

Current Tentative Maplist:

Spoiler

E1: Phobos

E1M1: Hangar 02 by Faceman2000 - based on 0.3 E1M1 (E2M7)

E1M2: Automap Map by @DrPyspy - based on the automap image seen in these images

E1M3: Control Center by Faceman2000 - based on 0.4 E1M9 (E3M3)

E1M5: Waste Processing Facility by Faceman2000 - based on 0.3/0.4 E1M3 (E2M3)

E1M7: Supply Depot by @LoneAlpha2401 - based on 0.4 E1M11/DEV.wad SHAWN2

E1M9: E5M1 by Faceman2000

 

In Development:

0.3/0.4/0.5 E1M2 (E2M2) - claimed by @Plerb

0.5 E1M12 (E1M8) - claimed by @Anomura

DEV.wad COMM5 - claimed by Faceman2000

UnusedMap2.wad - claimed by @Wavy

E2: Hell

E2M1: Magma Deeps by Faceman2000 - based on 0.5 E2M1 (E3M7)

E2M2: 0.3/0.4/0.5 E1M8 (E1M2) by @Walter confetti

E2M3: Doom Bible Map/Comm6 by Plerb

E2M4: 0.4 E1M4/0.5 E1M4 (E1M7) by Plerb

E2M6: Andhakupa by taufan99 - based on 0.5 E1M1 with the 0.2 demo level and 0.3 THESTORE

E2M7: Carnal Forge by @DankMetal - based on DEV.wad COMM1

E2M9: Spirit Drains by Faceman2000 - based on 0.5 E1M10 (E1M3)

 

In Development:

0.5 E1M13 (E2M4) - claimed by @Bendy1

0.5 E1M6 (Doom II Map 10) - claimed by @eanasir and @taufan99

 

E3: Deimos (ZERO slots open)

E3M1: Extramap by @DoodlesGDX

E3M2: SHAWNMAP.wad by @realjohnmadden

E3M4: Observatory by @Plerb - based on 0.4 E1M10 with 0.4 E1M6

E3M5: UnusedMap by @years - based on this image

E3M6: 0.5 E1M11 by @Cacodemon187 and @nicolas monti
E3M7: 0.3 SHAWN2 by nicolas monti

E3M8: Malice by @Blast_Brothers - based on 0.4 E1M5 (E1M6)

 

In Development:
0.4 E1M7 (E1M4) - claimed by @nue

E3M9: The Well by Faceman2000 - based on this image and taufan99's Andhakupa

 

Music:

Musicians of Doomworld, this project is open to you, too! For music, I would love if we could get completed versions of some of the Unused Doom Songs that John Romero released. Some attempts have already been made in the mostly-unofficial DTWID soundtrack by @Mr. Freeze, @Gifty did some a few years back, and there are a couple others listed below. Unless either of them object, we can use MIDIs from those projects if we can't get new ones for this project. Any new midis we do get will take priority over these midis from other projects.

Spoiler

Contributed songs:

• un13 - by Plerb
• un36 - by Plerb - claimed for E3M4 Observatory
• un41 - The Beginning of Doom by Plerb - claimed for D_VICTOR
• un14 & un15 by @YeOldeFellerNoob

 

DTIWD soundtrack by Mr Freeze: https://doomshack.org/uploads/DTWIDmus_[non-mangled MIDIs].zip

• D_E1M6/D_E3M6 is un23
• D_E2M1 is un44
• D_E2M3/D_INTER is un21-f
• D_E2M6 is un43 - used in E2M4 
• D_E2M9/D_E3M1 is un19
• D_E3M2 is un20
• D_E3M3 is un45
• D_VICTOR is un42

Bobby's Lost Midis by Gifty: https://www.doomworld.com/forum/topic/72645-music-project-bobbys-lost-midis/

• D_E2M3 is un12/un14 - used in E1M1 and E3M8
• D_E2M9 is un16
• D_E3M4 is listed as an original song but sounds extremely similar to un15
• D_E3M6 is un51
• D_E3M7 is un17
• D_E3M9 is un45
• D_E4M1 is un43

Others:

• Sigil D_INTER is un39
• PRCP has a version of un42
• un15 was finished and appears in Blake Stone
• Supposedly un23 is in Demonstar as well but I was unable to find it (maybe this one?)
• un31 by Andy Guy CantYouLift
• DOOM, Waiting for Romero to Play, and Getting Too Tense were all composed for Doom before being set aside for Doom II

 

Resource:

I put together a resource wad (download here!) mostly containing a selection of assets from @Xaser and @NaturalTvventy's wonderful Lost Res. There are also a couple texture edits in there by me and a few by @ItsNatureToDie, and there's also a few computer textures in there I adapted from textures in the various prerelease builds. If you feel like you need anything more texture-wise please let me know and we can discuss, but we want to stick to these as much as possible. As for where to get the maps, here are the various builds (converted to a usable format):

Spoiler

0.2 - converted by @MLGari

0.3 Prealpha

0.4

0.5

Dev.wad - a massive shoutout to @Individualised for putting this together!

extramap.wad

UnusedMap.wad - roughly reconstructed from this image by me

UnusedMap2.wad - roughly reconstructed from these images by me

Automap.wad - roughly reconstructed from the automap in these images by me

DoomBible Map - roughly reconstructed from this by Plerb

Resource Wad

 

FAQs and Other Basic Info (c):

Spoiler

• Map format is Doom for Doom - no Boom fanciness, no VPOs, and certainly no GZDoom 0 tag lifts!
• I highly suggest comparing screenshots of how maps that made it into the final game evolved from the early stages to when Sandy finished them for inspiration (I have shared them for reference below). I also suggest you remember how Sandy approached mapping: don't be afraid of optional areas!
• How many slots can I claim? Let's limit it to two apiece for now (Scraps do not count as a claim if they are being integrated into another level you've claimed). Once you have completed those two, you are welcome to claim another.
• Deadline? Once you've claimed a map, you have four weeks to show me that you have made progress on it. From there, deadlines will be more flexible.
• Difficulty? Let's aim for just a bit harder than Doom II but not as hard as Plutonia. Erring on the side of Doom's difficulty is encouraged if you are worried about it.
• Which enemies/weapons am I allowed to use? All enemies up through the Baron are fair game, even on Phobos-themed levels. If you want to include a Cyberdemon or Spider Mastermind, check with me first. BFG is reserved for season 3 but all other weapons are fair game on all other maps.
• Can I hack off large portions of the level and/or replace them? I’d rather you didn’t. It’s certainly true that happened during development sometimes, but those very maps are part of this project as a result haha. If you don’t think your level can work without major removals, let me know and we can discuss it.
• Aren't original Doom wads boring because there's no SSG? Go away.
• Aren't Doom Bible projects all cursed to fail? Yes, but this isn't a Doom Bible project, so we're fine!
• Did you steal this title from No End in Sight? No comment.
• Wait, didn't you announce a one-man megawad a year and a half ago? Yes, and it's still in progress - this is just a fun side project. You should check it out if you haven't!

 

Screenshots:

Spoiler

 

Thank you for your interest! I'm excited to see these long-lost levels get the love they deserve!

 

Comparison of maps across betas to final (for reference):

Spoiler

E1M2: v0.3 v0.4 v0.5 Final

E1M3: v0.5 Final

E1M4: v0.4 v0.5 Final

E1M6: v0.4 v0.5 Final

E1M7: v0.4 v0.5 Final

E1M8: v0.5 Final

E2M2: v0.3 v0.4 v0.5 Final

E2M3: v0.3 v0.4 v0.5 Final

E2M4: v0.5 Final

E2M7: v0.3 v0.4 v0.5 Final

E3M3: v0.4 v0.5 Final

E3M7: v0.5 Final

MAP10: v0.5 Final

MAP28: DEV.wad Final

 

 

 

Edited April 12 by Faceman2000

[Individualised]

Might be worth noting that COMM1 is an early, Doom 1 version of The Spirit World, since 0.5 E1M6's use in Doom 2 was noted as well. There's a much more complete version of that iteration of The Spirit World as MAP22 in the Doom 2 July 1994 prototype that contributors may want to take note of, as the Doom 1 version is barely finished.

 

Since E5M1 and extramap are included and those weren't created for the original release of Doom 1 (former is Ultimate Doom, latter is likely Jaguar Doom since it was found in the 3DO Doom source code), maybe MAP36 could be included and finished as well as a bonus deathmatch map or even just as a full normal map.

 

Excited to see what this becomes. I won't be taking any slots though, I think this project is deserving of much better mapping skills than what I can provide. I wish you and all contributors good luck because I think this is a really cool idea.

Edited August 6, 2023 by Individualised

[OliveTree]

this is a really intriguing idea! I hope it gets some traction.

[Individualised]

Checked out E5M1. It feels official, which is not something I can say about a lot of Doom .WADs. Great job!

[Lone2401]

A while ago I made this- it replaces E1M1 with it's 0.5 version and adds some geometry adapted from an early version of Hangar as seen in A visit to ID Software, and replaces E2M1 with 0.4's E1M11 with added geometry from E1M10. Each map has the theme of their respective episode. Would like if I can submit these here.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1kbmWaNTnEAPBCEcU5M_T-fIar-UqbAen/view

[SMG_Man]

Question - in the FAQ you said the format is "Doom (Doom Format)". Does this mean anything available in the format from later versions/Ultimate Doom is fine to use (e.g. blazing doors and fast lifts), or should we strictly stick to what was available in version 1.1?

[Walter confetti]

Really interesting project! What IWAD are you aiming for? Doom or Doom 2?

[Bri0che]

Tom Hall is the Doom developer who intrigues me the most, mainly because he was a bit "out" and had different ideas about the game itself (I think this was the main reason of why he left Id Software while Doom was still in development).

I can't really participate as I've got my own projects that are already taking up a lot of my time, but I'll be watching closely !

[taufan99]

As a huge Alpha Doom fan, I approve this!

Also, once this is finished, do you plan on adding a DeHackEd-based gameplay mod that makes it resemble the alpha/beta version(s) or keep it as it is?

[Wadmodder Shalton]

Hell Yeah, a true reimagining of the Alpha levels for Doom's early development is finally nice to have, minus all the Feature Creep stuff related to the Doom bible.

Edited August 6, 2023 by Wadmodder Shalton

[Faceman2000]

7 hours ago, SMG_Man said:

Question - in the FAQ you said the format is "Doom (Doom Format)". Does this mean anything available in the format from later versions/Ultimate Doom is fine to use (e.g. blazing doors and fast lifts), or should we strictly stick to what was available in version 1.1?

That is a good question I hadn’t considered. I think it’s fine to use line actions from Ultimate Doom. It’s not technically authentic, but I’m not too worried about that. Authenticity isn’t really the main focus of this project.

3 hours ago, Walter confetti said:

Really interesting project! What IWAD are you aiming for? Doom or Doom 2?

We’re shooting for Doom. If there’s enough interest we could do a Doom2 map pack as well but it’d be much smaller as there’s a lot less to work with.

1 hour ago, taufan99 said:

Also, once this is finished, do you plan on adding a DeHackEd-based gameplay mod that makes it resemble the alpha/beta version(s) or keep it as it is?

Right now I’m planning on keeping it as-is. I considered at one point implementing some new alpha/Doom Bible-inspired enemies, but ultimately decided keeping it vanilla was best.

8 hours ago, LoneAlpha2401 said:

A while ago I made this- it replaces E1M1 with it's 0.5 version and adds some geometry adapted from an early version of Hangar as seen in A visit to ID Software, and replaces E2M1 with 0.4's E1M11 with added geometry from E1M10. Each map has the theme of their respective episode. Would like if I can submit these here.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1kbmWaNTnEAPBCEcU5M_T-fIar-UqbAen/view

I’m actually familiar with these maps - they were a big part of my inspiration for this project. Both maps are really cool and I appreciate you sharing them here! I’m going to pass on E1M1 - it’s a good level but I really don’t recognize the 0.5 E1M1 in here besides the general horseshoe shape. As for E2M1, I hadn’t caught the fact that you included E1M10 - I love that! I’m of two minds about this one - it’s a really good map, but you also cut out huge portions of the level, and it seems that you built the map from scratch based on those two levels rather than finishing up the actual levels. If so, would you be willing to redo this map using the original geometry?

[RjY]

May I suggest moving the resource wad link somewhere more prominent? I just spent an annoying few minutes getting E5M1.wad to load without texture errors, trying various combinations of IWADs and Individualised's DEV.WAD, until I realised I was missing a file that was hidden amongst a bunch of other links, inside a spoiler tag.*

 

I also noted the switch on the side of the soulsphere pillar did not animate or sound on activation. You may need a SWITCHES lump, necessitating a Boom engine, or for vanilla compatibility, to combine SW1TEK with one in TEXTURE1/2 the vanilla engine knows about (cf. SW1SKULL in TNT:Evilution).
 

________

^{* and then on top of that it turned out to have spaces in the filename, grumble}

[Individualised]

Having E1M10 and E1M11 as seperate maps would probably be for the best to be honest, if only because I'm really interested to see what someone could do by extending E1M10 (and because E1M11 I feel is big enough for a Doom 1 IWAD map).

[nicolas monti]

Superb

 

Can I take 0.4 E1M11?

[Faceman2000]

2 hours ago, RjY said:

May I suggest moving the resource wad link somewhere more prominent?

 

I also noted the switch on the side of the soulsphere pillar did not animate or sound on activation. You may need a SWITCHES lump, necessitating a Boom engine, or for vanilla compatibility, to combine SW1TEK with one in TEXTURE1/2 the vanilla engine knows about (cf. SW1SKULL in TNT:Evilution).

I posted the link somewhere hopefully more prominent - sorry for the confusion there. I probably should’ve just bundled the necessary assets with E5M1.wad, too, so I’ll do that when I get a chance. Thanks for the suggestion.

 

As for the switch, SW1TEK should be one recognized by the engine - it’s a Doom II switch texture, which I assumed would work even in Doom format since they share the same executable. Is that not the case? I thought it worked just fine for me in Chocolate but I may have been mistaken.

2 hours ago, nicolas monti said:

Superb

 

Can I take 0.4 E1M11?

LoneAlpha has already expressed interest in that slot, so I’d like to discuss it further with him before opening it up to others. If he decides he doesn’t want to, though, it’s yours!

[RjY]

17 minutes ago, Faceman2000 said:

As for the switch, SW1TEK should be one recognized by the engine - it’s a Doom II switch texture, which I assumed would work even in Doom format since they share the same executable. Is that not the case? I thought it worked just fine for me in Chocolate but I may have been mistaken. 

 

AIUI P_InitSwitchList only recognises doom2 switch names when doom2 is the IWAD (i.e. gamemode==commercial). They are not recognised in shareware, registered, or Ultimate Doom*. This is certainly borne out in PrBoom+ 2.5.1.4 in which I just recorded this -complevel 3 demo; -skipsec 65 to see the switch (not) being pressed. I am surprised to hear that it worked in Chocolate.

 

________

* trivia: P_InitSwitchList was not updated to handle Ultimate Doom in the original source release, so in some early source ports the registered switches -- e.g. the shotgun switch at the start of E2M2 -- didn't operate.

[Walter confetti]

Here's the SDA for E5M1, pretty map but i think is a little hard, maybe add more health? sda-walt-e5m1.zip (recorded with Crispy Doom 6.0)

[Faceman2000]

19 minutes ago, RjY said:

AIUI P_InitSwitchList only recognises doom2 switch names when doom2 is the IWAD (i.e. gamemode==commercial). They are not recognised in shareware, registered, or Ultimate Doom*. This is certainly borne out in PrBoom+ 2.5.1.4 in which I just recorded this -complevel 3 demo; -skipsec 65 to see the switch (not) being pressed. I am surprised to hear that it worked in Chocolate.

Ah, gotcha. Interesting! I’m probably wrong about Chocolate - I must’ve just not noticed. I’ll have to update the resource wad to remove the switches. Is this true also for Doom II’s animated textures and flats?

[nicolas monti]

5 hours ago, Faceman2000 said:

 

LoneAlpha has already expressed interest in that slot, so I’d like to discuss it further with him before opening it up to others. If he decides he doesn’t want to, though, it’s yours!

 

no problem, if it is unavailable I could take 0.3 SHAWN2, the one with two crates in a room and a pool with imps at the west and make a full map out of it.

Edited August 7, 2023 by nicolas monti

[Plerb]

I love this idea! I came up with pretty much the exact same concept recently but I'm glad someone else did it lol

I guess I'll claim 0.4 E1M10 if it's okay. 0.3 SHAWN2 was my first pick but it looks like someone else already claimed it.

Edited August 7, 2023 by Plerb

[RjY]

1 hour ago, Faceman2000 said:

Is this true also for Doom II’s animated textures and flats?

 

No, happily P_InitPicAnims does not look at gamemode, so the animations will work as long as the patches and flats are supplied and the textures defined in the PWAD. For an example, 2002ADO uses {B,S,W}FALL[1-4] in several places.

[ludicrous_peridot]

Finally! Better levels to play with DoomDelta than the original conversions! So excited!

[Lone2401]

10 hours ago, Faceman2000 said:

If so, would you be willing to redo this map using the original geometry?

 

6 hours ago, Individualised said:

Having E1M10 and E1M11 as seperate maps would probably be for the best to be honest

In this case, I'll only claim E1M11, E1M10 might be better if combined with all the other "stub" levels

[nicolas monti]

32 minutes ago, LoneAlpha2401 said:

 

In this case, I'll only claim E1M11, E1M10 might be better if combined with all the other "stub" levels

 

I Agree with that, E1M11 is a full map in its own right, E1M10 was made by Romero and has a different mood I guess.

[Faceman2000]

47 minutes ago, LoneAlpha2401 said:

 

In this case, I'll only claim E1M11, E1M10 might be better if combined with all the other "stub" levels

Alright, sounds good! It's yours!

3 hours ago, nicolas monti said:

no problem, if it is unavailable I could take 0.3 SHAWN2, the one with two crates in a room and a pool with imps at the west and make a full map out of it.

Have at it! I'm excited to see what you come up!

3 hours ago, Plerb said:

I love this idea! I came up with pretty much the exact same concept recently but I'm glad someone else did it lol

I guess I'll claim 0.4 E1M10 if it's okay. 0.3 SHAWN2 was my first pick but it looks like someone else already claimed it.

All yours! Good luck!

 

I also updated the resource wad - all new switches have been removed - and E5M1.wad so it can be played without the resource wad.

[taufan99]

I'm in a big dillemma. On one side, I want to participate here as well, but on the other side my skills are far below everyone else here.

[Devalaous]

This project makes me happy. About the Doom 2 thing, you could do a Doom 2 conversion at a later late, mimicking what happened to Refueling Base and 'COMM1'. The Doom 2 early version thats out there has a wildly different version of The Crusher and an early unfinished Dead Simple with Doom 1 textures, so you could 'Doom 1-ify' those too. Its got a near-finished version of COMM1 too, I extracted it myself and changed the Doom 1 textures and it became a full playable level, so you can look at that Doom 2 version for ideas on what to do with the Doom 1 version.

[Individualised]

6 minutes ago, Devalaous said:

This project makes me happy. About the Doom 2 thing, you could do a Doom 2 conversion at a later late, mimicking what happened to Refueling Base and 'COMM1'. The Doom 2 early version thats out there has a wildly different version of The Crusher and an early unfinished Dead Simple with Doom 1 textures, so you could 'Doom 1-ify' those too. Its got a near-finished version of COMM1 too, I extracted it myself and changed the Doom 1 textures and it became a full playable level, so you can look at that Doom 2 version for ideas on what to do with the Doom 1 version.

Yeah, and MAP36 (as seen in DEV.WAD - not the prototype you mention) which I mentioned before.

[nicolas monti]

Starting with 0.3 SHAWN2, paying total respect to the rooms made by lord Tom, just height, texture and light tweaking as he did with his containment area and spawning vats.

The layount is pretty much complete, still "lots" of work to do

 

 

[ludicrous_peridot]

Apologies, if I am confused with map names reshuffling between pre-release and release version, but are there chances E1M2 is included?
Sure this seems to be a map Romero was working mostly, but both Romero and Hall agreed it was an important milestone for development of the game, it was part of the earliest set of maps (screenies from as early as March 1993 are showing it), and it even has a pre-beta version to have something to start with. Sure, this will be a reverse journey as compared to the process with all other maps, but would it be a reasonable addition to the consideration list?

 

Spoiler