Doom: Evil Unleashed (yet another Doom Bible project)

[hfc2x]

Greetings, Doom community. This is my second post here, and I would like to present my project in which I've been working for quite some time now.

Doom: Evil Unleashed is (yet another) a project that aims to recreate Doom as it was planned, by following the original design document witten by Tom Hall.

I know that presenting a project like this can sound quite dumb, like just presenting ideas, or having done little work to the Doom Alphas, but I can proudly say that we are actually nearing completion (like 80% already done). The original topic can be found in the ZDoom forums here. Every weapon has already been implemented, so are the different player characters with their abilities, all the new enemies, the score system, and pretty much everything is already in place

Screenshots, for the sceptics:

Spoiler

Startup:

Full scene still, missing. Comming soon :D


The TITLEPIC as shown in the intro


Choosing our character

Hangar 2:

At the start... presenting the episode


The first demon Trooper you will find


Shootin' down some badies


A demon Sargeant coming after us


Yet more troops


Our hero (Thi Barrett) takes out her helmet to have a look at the perpetual-night sky of Tei Tenga's dark side.


PERFECT! Bonus 100.000

The other levels are in too, but I'm too lazy to take more screenshots...

Currently, what I need most help with is with mapping, so people who are interested in helping can PM me here or at the ZDoom forums. I also need someone who is able to draw a cool intermission screen, because the grey one from Alpha 5 is just a mock-up. Well, anyways, I hope that you like it when it finally comes out :D

Regards everyone!

[Marnetmar]

Good idea posting this on DW, you'll get much more responses this way.

[Spazman]

Good idea posting this on DW, you'll get much more responses this way.

And this already looks amazing. Is there any playable bits in it? Or is the juicy stuff coming in later?

EDIT: I'm also making an RPG-like doom game that follows this exact story, with a bit more added. But your'e right on track so far! Keep at it!

[Spazman]

Just let Tom know that there's another promising idea coming forth.
I can probably come up with a good interpic screen for that.

[hfc2x]

TheSpazztikOne said:

Just let Tom know that there's another promising idea coming forth.
I can probably come up with a good interpic screen for that.

I mailed him some months ago, but he never responded. Guess there wasn't much to show him, and he just considered it spam.

Anyways, if you can draw an intermission map, it would be great!

[Spazman]

yeah. if i can have a copy of the pic, as i have no doom editing utilities right now...

tom may write back in a sec. we usually have decent conversations about the alphas.

BTW, you got a DL for this?

ALSO: I just saw from the pics that the demons did not retain their exploding death routine from the Alphas. Is there any way of putting that back in?

[hfc2x]

TheSpazztikOne said:

yeah. if i can have a copy of the pic, as i have no doom editing utilities right now...

There is the pic, a 256-Colour PNG (uses the palette of The Ultimate Doom).

Symbolism is as follows:

Han = Hangar 2
SD = Supply Depot 2
Waste = Waste Processing
Ref = Enlisted Quarters
Com = Communications Tower
Rec = Recreation and Training
Quart = Officer's Quarters
Pow = Power Plant
Lab = Laboratory
Obs = Observatory
Contr = Control Center
Ware = Supply Depot 1 (also Hangar 1)
Anom = Mining Complex (AKA Anomaly)

TheSpazztikOne said:

tom may write back in a sec. we usually have decent conversations about the alphas.

Well, there's no real hurry in contacting him by now. In fact I don't have any hurry in finishing this project. I want to finish it, but not to rush it ;)

TheSpazztikOne said:
BTW, you got a DL for this?[/b]

Not yet, as most maps still lack an exit to the next level (they can return to the previous, though). Others don't even have any puzzle (exit is right ahead), and so on. Levels are the most incomplete part by now.

TheSpazztikOne said:

ALSO: I just saw from the pics that the demons did not retain their exploding death routine from the Alphas. Is there any way of putting that back in?

Oh, yes the explosion death of the Sargeants is in. It's their extreme-death sequence (which is also damaging). The only weapons that can gib them are the Missile Launcher, the BFG and the Unmaker.

[Megamur]

Oh, this looks exciting! I've been wanting to play Tom Hall's DOOM ever since I first read the DOOM Bible, and with ZDoom, it finally seemed possible to make.

My only question is, isn't it John Pietrovich? "Petro" is his nickname.

[Spazman]

Well, here's the sketch of the newly designed area from that pic you gave me. I tried to keep it like its original design, but I did some work on it. Here is the outcome:

[elic]

This looks pretty cool! I wish I could help with this, but I'm already overwhelmed with other stuff.

Is the HUD fully functional yet?

[Spazman]

Finally got ahold of Hall. Letting him know OF the project. Not rushing.
He just told me to send him a few pics.

EDIT: Good news: the project is Tom Hall - Approved.

[hfc2x]

Megamur said:

My only question is, isn't it John Pietrovich? "Petro" is his nickname.

That's right. I changed it to "John Pietrovich" now. He is still referred to as "Petro" when you talk to him at the start of the game.

TheSpazztikOne said:

Well, here's the sketch of the newly designed area from that pic you gave me.

Wow, that was fast! The map looks cool. I'm not sure about that "backyard" in the mining site. The current level layout is just a normal building and the Mines section of the map is all underground (including the entrance to hell). That means, the Mining Complex building is just stuck in the crater wall. Otherwise it looks very nice.

Processingcontrol said:

Is the HUD fully functional yet?

Yes it is. The only part not shown working (in these screenshots) is the lower-right area, which does display the keys the player currently has, and also shows any status change (like if the player has become INVISIBLE, INVULNERABLE, VAMPIRIC or has gone BERSERK). In the screenshots shown in the ZDoom forum you can see the Berserk powerup being shown there.

TheSpazztikOne said:

EDIT: Good news: the project is Tom Hall - Approved.

Wow, that one was fast too LOL

[Spazman]

Gimme a little time, And I'll see if I can come up with some decent pixel-art for it....minus the Mining Area's back part. I read that section on the Canyon and I thought it was above ground at that area.

I should have a good portion of it done by tomorrow, if i'm not on a lazy-spree.

[Blastfrog]

In case anybody didn't know, I am the original author of this project, and I became dissatisfied with how many liberties I was taking in the interpretation of what the original game was supposed to be like, and I always wanted it to have a vanilla feel, so I restarted the project in Chocolate Doom, and gave the original version to hfc2x.

It should be noted that the main difference between my old and new versions are that the old one tended to stay closer to the Doom bible and take more liberties with interpretation, whereas the new one is moreso just meant to be a straight and simple playable reconstruction of what the alpha game was.

[Megamur]

Will the Chaos Field be in this? That sounded like such a great item.

[Spazman]

In case anyone didn't know:

I recall the Chaos Field being a device that forced surrounding enemies to attack each other, as if they were triggered to infight when come under friendly fire.

[Megamur]

Exactly, and that seemed like a really awesome power-up. Just get close and watch a horde go nuts on itself.

[Spazman]

Is that possible to make under ZDoom circumstances?
To tell the truth, I'm not sure if it would have like, say, a "blast-range?" like what an exploding barrel has.

It makes some sense, just not sure how much sense.

[hfc2x]

Sodaholic said:

In case anybody didn't know, I am the original author of this project

Don't you worry, you are already mentioned in the CREDITs (under Special Thanks To section).

TheSpazztikOne said:

Is that possible to make under ZDoom circumstances?

For the moment, I have a placeholder that works like the Disc of Repulsion from HeXen. While your powerup is active, being near an enemy gently pushes it away, sometimes causing monsters to hit each other, thus triggering infighting. The only problem is that they kinda "jump" up, but I might work on a more elaborate method later.

[Spazman]

Alrighty then. Anyway, I'm a-heading in for the night. Tired as Hell, and i need me sleep. Post more stuff on the interpic tomorrow.

[Spazman]

Well, got a little bit more of that intermission pic done. Right now, it's using sort-of a solid color base, and the majority of the sketchwork is still there, but it's getting there. Notice the drawn observatory, and the Mining complex no longer has a back to it!

[hfc2x]

TheSpazztikOne said:

Well, got a little bit more of that intermission pic done. Right now, it's using sort-of a solid color base, and the majority of the sketchwork is still there, but it's getting there. Notice the drawn observatory, and the Mining complex no longer has a back to it!

Very nice! The observatory looks good. I would like to point out that the terrain should be blue, though, or any other color that makes clear that it's dark. Remember we are on the dark side of Tei Tenga.

Oh, if you people haven't noticed, I switched SKY1 from the Press Release Beta with SKY3, mostly because during the time that the beta was released, the guys at id had already scrapped the Doom Bible, and of course, blue mountains fit much better for the dark side, while brown ones fit better with the light side.

[Spazman]

Here's a quick edit for that pic from earlier to fit the "Dark Side of the Tei Tenga Moon" (Catch the subtle reference?). Anyway, at this point, I'm probably going to do a lot of the basic colors and shading. Maybe add a little detail, but to the best of my abilities with pixel-art.

[Spazman]

Also, if you don't mind me asking, could I have a quick look at what's in there so far, WAD-wise? I'm not gonna poke around or anything, just gonna see what's up at this point.

[hfc2x]

TheSpazztikOne said:

Here's a quick edit for that pic from earlier to fit the "Dark Side of the Tei Tenga Moon" (Catch the subtle reference?)

Of course! I love that album!

TheSpazztikOne said:

Also, if you don't mind me asking, could I have a quick look at what's in there so far, WAD-wise? I'm not gonna poke around or anything, just gonna see what's up at this point.

Sadly, no, but I'm planning to release a beta for everyone to see in the near future, when there's playable stuff and most crap working. Not even the people helping with mapping has even seen it. Be sure to stay tuned, and you will see the playable beta soon.

[Spazman]

Any news on this? Just askin'.

Or is it just stickin' to the Zdoom forums?

[esselfortium]

At the risk of sounding insensitive here, why does every Doom Bible project always conflate Tom Hall's extravagant plans with the blatantly unfinished placeholder shit from Doom's early development? I'm pretty sure Tom's grand plan for a first-person adventure game could be more accurately realized without having Wolfenstein-looking interiors with random GRAYTALL rooms.

[40oz]

I can't explain the graytall usage but I'm sure you know much of Tom Hall's mapping was based on real life military establishments so it only makes sense to expect orthogonal rooms and pseudo-realistic sector furniture. Also I don't recognize any of Tom Hall's "placeholder shit" in those screenshots.

[hfc2x]

esselfortium said:

why does every Doom Bible project always conflate Tom Hall's extravagant plans with the blatantly unfinished placeholder shit from Doom's early development?

I think the main reason is because the "unfinished placeholder shit" is the only thing that kinda relates to the original design plan before it was scrapped. You know, alpha 4 is the one that fits better with everything laid down in the document, and of course, not much work was done in the levels at that time. I dunno, but the unfinished state of the maps and graphics is kinda inspiring, you know, it gives you a lot of freedom.
And about the GRAYTALL usage, it was one of Tom's desires for Hangar 2 (you can read it in Page 14 of the Doom Bible, in the Graphic Description section). Of course, whenever I have time, I plan to change some of those lame-looking textures and room shapes.

[hfc2x]

Bump! (I don't know if we are allowed to do it here).

Anybody out there interested in helping with art?