my project

[Butts]

ok, im setting forth to complete a project of mine, it is in GZdoom. it will be a 3 map set. my goal is to get it done. the theme is base. the other goal is to have it be pretty fun but very challenging and hectic. also, im going for a high level of detail. here are some wip screenies.
enjoy.

starting area, unfinished.
http://img521.imageshack.us/my.php?image=doom0017vb8.png

is it possible to break the linedefs in sight limit in gzdoom? i think i did here.
http://img502.imageshack.us/my.php?image=doom0018ly5.png

the upper room(im debating whether or not that room is for decoration only.http://img210.imageshack.us/my.php?image=doom0019pt8.png

edit: i removed 4000 lines from the upper room and i still get that HOMy glitchy thing. i cant figure out whats wrong with the portal. that glitchy thing only shows up when i move to certain areas.

[Tango]

Wow. Looks awesome.

[Butts]

ok the stacked sector is really starting to piss me off. i spent a whole lot of time on it now its starting to get really glitchy as of late. here is a screen shot.
http://img104.imageshack.us/my.php?image=doom0020om9.png

i really want to get this fixed but dont want to delete the upper sector.... i also want to be able to keep most of the detail too. that is my only stacked sector so far, btw.

[BoldEnglishman]

Well, judging from what I've seen in maps with portals and stacked sectors, it's gonna look glitchy no matter what you do. The Ultimate Torment and Torture has portals and such and it still looked glitchy from certain areas.

[Dutch Doomer]

Looks very promising I see youre going for an brown themed map, I hope you can fix that problem with those stacked sectors.

[esselfortium]

This is looking great so far. The issue with stacked sectors is pretty much unavoidable, sadly. Stacked sectors are a gross hack. If you want actually functional portals, without HOM, I recommend mapping for Eternity Engine. It really needs some good maps to get people interested in it, anyway :P

[Butts]

can eternity engine do 3d floors too?

here is a note on my project though-- it will take a long time.

it is wrestling season for my school, so i have even less time to map than usual. then right after i have swimming season, but its not as important. haha. dont expect this soon, but there will be updates... occasionally.

to get a feel for the size of this level, here is the unfinished area of where you just come out of the starting room. the cyberdemon is just there for comparison.
http://img227.imageshack.us/my.php?image=doom0021ws5.png

[Tango]

Wow, this is looking great. The architecture looks awesome and I'd say you're doing a better job with this "theme" than Torm did. As long as you almost completely avoid hallways, this should be great. :)

[esselfortium]

Butts said:

can eternity engine do 3d floors too?

Well...it can do linked portals, which are a much better way of accomplishing what you'd ordinarily use 3d floors for.

Linked portals are currently still in development, since there are a few kinks to work out, but I've seen them in action and they are pretty incredible.

You use them in the same way that you use normal portals, in that you build each "floor" on a separate, unconnected part of the map and connect them together with the portals, with the difference that you can walk through them, shoot through them, see through them, be seen through them, etc., just like any other map geometry.

For someone trying to build a multiple-story building, or anything more complex than a few floating bridges here and there, linked portals are much more convenient to use than 3d floors, since you don't end up in sector tag hell.

If you're interested in trying them out, bug SoM to give you a build with linked portals in it. They're fun to play with :p

[Butts]

wow, those linked portals sound amazing. that would be something i would use a lot. for the most part, my 3d floors are for decoration purposes, but i still implement walkways and such. and as for hallways, tango: ill try my best. there wont be any real narrow corridor after corridor action, but mostly extremely detailed, and somewhat large and open halls if i can, to avoid boringness. height variations will also be implemented on the sides of some halls to ensure non-blandness.
oh yeah also this map is going to be pretty inter-connective. i got inspired by the map blackrock by vader.

does anyone know any good texture sets that are variations of stock textures? like the gray texture set and silver texture set by nick baker.

[esselfortium]

Butts said:

height variations will also be implemented on the sides of some halls to ensure non-blandness.

I'd recommend trying to use height variation to affect gameplay and layout as much as possible, rather than just for details and such. It goes such a long way towards both making your gameplay more interesting and making your map feel more realistic, and it seems like a lot of mappers overlook it.

Even something as simple as taking one side of a room, adding a little staircase going up 64 units to it, and putting some windows or supports or something to separate the base room and the smaller raised section can make the difference between a flat, boring room and a really unique one.

I love doing stuff like balconies where you can overlook a lower area but not be able to access it yet (or vice versa), and windows into other rooms at other heights. Even though Doom is only 2.5D, you can still do a lot in the way of vertically-oriented gameplay. :)

does anyone know any good texture sets that are variations of stock textures? like the gray texture set and silver texture set by nick baker.

Espi's Suspended in Dusk (sid.wad), an absolutely amazing and inspiring-as-hell doom2.exe-compatible mapset, has a bunch of great metal2, gray, pipe, stargr, and stone variants in it. They're free to use as long as you credit him. I'd highly recommend taking a look.

[Butts]

By non blandness i was referring to the gameplay. haha. thanks for the suggestions. suspended in dusk is amazing, im inspired to make a vanilla compatible map now... after i finish this set. haha.

[Guest DILDOMASTER666]

Make this for RORDoom. <3

[Butts]

what is RORdoom?
anyways, a small amount of progress on brown map.
http://img266.imageshack.us/my.php?image=doom0023ca9.png

and here is a sample of what to expect in map 2
http://img409.imageshack.us/my.php?image=doom0022uf4.png

[esselfortium]

Butts said:

what is RORdoom?
anyways, a small amount of progress on brown map.
http://img266.imageshack.us/my.php?image=doom0023ca9.png

and here is a sample of what to expect in map 2
http://img409.imageshack.us/my.php?image=doom0022uf4.png

Those look beautiful. Awesome work. :O

[Vader]

Nice stuff there!

However, are you aware, that GZdoom is capable of doing true 3d floors?
You could save yourself a lot of trouble if you use this feature instead of stacked sectors...
The portal shown in your image is certainly fixable though(at least from what i can see), but it's way too hard for me to explain.
I could make an example wad how to avoid these problems and post it here, if you're interested!

[Butts]

yep, i am aware of the 3d floors in gzdoom, im using them in various locations, but i used the stacked sector in that first room because i didnt want to have to make like 80 dummy sectors and still have to decorate the floor as well. an example wad would be wonderful. thanks.

[Butts]

alright, here is some more progress on the map 2...

epic.
http://img266.imageshack.us/my.php?image=doom0025pf9.png

cave/labyrinth going here... more arches.
http://img413.imageshack.us/my.php?image=doom0024so8.png

[Vader]

Ok, seems I was wrong... I more or less copied the room you've shown in the screenshot, but i can't get the stack to work properly either.
I think the ceiling beams wich crosses the portal sector(s) and connect to the walls beyond it are causing the trouble... there isn't much you can do about it without completely destroying the architecture I'm afraid!
I'd really suggest using 3dfloors there, it shouldn't be that much work setting up the control sectors.

Sorry for disappointing you :(

[Butts]

dang. thanks for trying anyways. i think one problem might be the fact that the lines in the upper sector have actions assigned to them, because when i gave the lights up there translucent property the portal became even glitchier. and more HOM-ish.

[the iron hitman]

In the lower sector, you can't have those ceiling beams coming out of the ceiling because from my experience, any upper texture area from the ceiling in the area of the stacked sector causes horrible HOM. Also in the top sector, you can't have any lower texture areas either. So basically:-

Upper Stack = No lower textures in the area of the Stack
Lower Stack = No Upper textures in the area of the Stack

If you must have the ceiling beams. Then you can use stacked sectors for the decoration, but use 3D floors for the ceiling beams. Just don't have them completely on the ceiling of the stack =) hope this helps

[esselfortium]

Man. Stacked sectors blow :(

[Butts]

Heh, stacked sectors do indeed blow. anyways, thanks for all the advice guys im going to try my best, howver at the moment i have not the patience to undergo the tedium of setting up the 3d floors. but, however, i am on a roll with my gothicy hexenish map. anyone know any good cave-like textures? im looking for some textures that would fit along the lines of... Oblivion. how would i get those textures from the game anyways(sorry for dumb question haha.)

[hobomaster22]

If you have multiple sectors in the area of view for the stacked sectors, those sectors also need portals with their own tids. (on the bottom). You also have to be careful of how close you have a stacked sector to other parts in the map. It needs room to draw, I can't see why this portal would not work. It seems pretty simple, check these things.

[Butts]

The bottom sector is only one sector, but the top is multiple.