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Sigvatr

Phobos++

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Hi there, I'd like to make an announcement about the wad I am currently in the process of designing, Phobos++.

Every episode of Doom has its own unique atmosphere, gameplay and feel to it. This is all well and good, but the only bad thing about it is that there simply isn't enough of each episode to go around! Playing through an episode of Doom on your first run can take less than few hours in most cases, and these days speed runners can do it in a fraction of the time. Doom simply is just too short of a game!

The idea behind Phobos++ is to design a recreation of Knee Deep in the Dead with gameplay that will last just under a day on a first run for your average Doom player. This is the primary focus of the recreation. However, I also want to do good service to all that has been learnt about wad editing since Doom was released. Specifically, I want to make sure that Phobos++ will have the following:

- Just the right amount of detail. Not so much that it distracts the player, but enough to create a suitably spooky atmosphere. I think as far as detail is concerned, consistency is key.

- Levels that aren't meticulously long, easy to get lost in or full of monster closets.

- A fresh take on Knee Deep in the Dead, rather than a blatant clone that looks exactly the same and has the same level features and gameplay.

- Lots of secrets.

There are also a few other areas I would like to address during the creation of this megawad:

- Inconsistent Difficulty - I notice that the majority of fan made levels for Doom are simply far too difficult for your casual Doom player to handle. I'm betting that there are a lot of Doom players out there who would like to play a new and exciting wad that isn't simply overkill on the difficulty. I plan on giving even newer players a fair go at playing through Phobos++, but also to gradually ramp up the difficulty towards something that experienced Doom players can appreciate towards the end. I *******ely plan on Phobos++ being possible to beat in Nightmare mode, which is something I see a lot of wad designers disregard completely these days.

- Incosistent Graphic Style - Another thing that bugs me about fan made levels is that many of them feature new graphics, but these are simply additions to the already vast library of Doom's graphics, and usually these wads can't quite maintain the same graphical style of the original. That being said, creating graphics that match the style of the original's is quite difficult! Because of this, the only new graphics I plan on using in Phobos++ will be recolors of the original graphics. Hopefully this will convincingly maintain the style of the original game while simultaneously keeping the feel of the levels fresh.

- Weapon Availability - Part of the Knee Deep in the Dead experience is the limited range of weaponry. Essentially, the player does not have access to the super shotgun, plasma rifle or BFG. I plan on maintaining the Knee Deep in the Dead range of weaponry in Phobos++.

You can read more about the project at my website, http://doom.sigvatr.com

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yomoneyboat said:

KDiZD did it


Good for him. Whether or not the Dooming community is going to appreciate this project or not is not very high on my agenda list; I am doing it because I enjoy mapping first and foremost.

Personally, I don't think that making a more enjoyable wad than KDiZD would be particularly challenging.

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So how much of this project have you started? Let's see some screens.

Sigvatr said:

Personally, I don't think that making a more enjoyable wad than KDiZD would be particularly challenging.

It would be to make a more detailed wad.

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I'm not planning on releasing any screens until it hits the 25% completed mark. As of now, it is at about 5%.

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Sigvatr said:

I'm not planning on releasing any screens until it hits the 25% completed mark. As of now, it is at about 5%.

Highly suspicious statement...

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yomoneyboat said:

Highly suspicious statement...


Eveybody, relax, free your mind and repeat after me:

"Ohmmm! Ohmm! Ohm...err...I mean Benefit of the doubt...benefit of the doubt..."

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yomoneyboat said:

KDiZD did it

Sigvatr said:

Good for him. ... Personally, I don't think that making a more enjoyable wad than KDiZD would be particularly challenging.

Sigvatr, I'm guessing you're new to the DooM scene. KDiZD is the name of a project, not the name of the person who created it.

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BlackFish said:

Is it just me or there's too many E1 related wads out.


It's just you. As I see it this wad is already ahead of kdizd because it's not being made by 9 people with completely out-of-control egos.

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BlackFish said:

Is it just me or there's too many E1 related wads out.

oh and the project in question is here


I'm also planning on doing E2 and E3 in the long run.

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BlackFish said:
Is it just me or there's too many E1 related wads out.

Incidentally I was saying the same thing on another thread, so you can imagine. More substance and less imitation wouldn't hurt.

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Sigvatr said:

I'm also planning on doing E2 and E3 in the long run.

How long of a run are we talking about here?

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yomoneyboat said:

How long of a run are we talking about here?


I plan on each one taking roughly a year.

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Sigvatr said:

I plan on each one taking roughly a year.


Heh, a year! It better be really cool... I dont know if I could stand another E1 remake unless it was really good.

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Sigvatr said:

I plan on each one taking roughly a year.

At least you're setting realistic goals.

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I don't want to get into a habit of spoiling the release by posting shots of Phobos++ all the time, but here are a few shots of the first level.

Don't expect any more for a while :)










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Those screens look pretty good. I'm usually not a fan of colored lighting in Doom, but it looks like you might succeed where others failed. What source port are you making this for?

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LordK said:

Those screens look pretty good. I'm usually not a fan of colored lighting in Doom, but it looks like you might succeed where others failed. What source port are you making this for?


GZDoom.

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Hmm, ok, the screens look rather interesting! Maybe I will give it a chance. Show a few more pics if you could please, I have seen a lot of E1 maps in my day... Anyways so far so good, I also think the lighting looks great, its what a E1 map needs.

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Yessssss looking good ;). Will have to try this out once it's released.

@BlackFish - Yeah I've noticed there seem to be ALOT of episode 1 replacements/remakes/whateveryouwanttocallit. I seen a couple of episode 2, and episode 3 is just really generic hell, so nothing is really strictly episode 3. I seen a couple of episode 4 ones as well, but no doom 2 ones or plutonia/tnt ones at all (though, I don't care much for Final Doom anyway as I treat them as just more PWADs, not really official doom levels in the sense that they've come straight from id).

I know some of the reasons why people really like Episode 1, which I won't get into because most people know anyway and it's too long a list to write, but I'm really starting to think that they're are too many E1 remake. Obviously, IMPO, KDiZD was the pinnacle of an E1 remake, and I can't play any E1 remakes without comparing it to KDiZD. But that's just my taste, and I understand quite a few people around here did not like KDiZD. But still, haven't there been enough E1 remakes already?

Oh Sigvatr, don't get me wrong though. You seem to be doing all of Doom 1 again, so good luck with this project and I hope that it produces something you can be proud of!

EDIT: Oops, it was BlackFish who first brought it up.

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Why only Phobos++? Why not Phobos+++++++++?
Seriously, why did you use two pluses instead of nine, or, more sensically, one?

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yomoneyboat said:

Why only Phobos++? Why not Phobos+++++++++?
Seriously, why did you use two pluses instead of nine, or, more sensically, one?

int phobos = 1;

while(1) {
    phobos++;
}

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