Space Station Omega is getting a sequel

[GooberMan]

Wait, what? Didn't you retire, Goober?



I return to Doom mapping with ten years of game development experience and some million-selling titles under my belt. Reading the belated 2012 Cacowards got me thinking - wouldn't it be cool to pick up the editor and do something for Doom's 20th birthday? I released Doom: The Arcade Game for Doom's 8th and managed to win a not-yet-called-a-Cacoward for Doom's 10th. Over the years, requests have been made for a sequel to Space Station Omega. Alas, I hung up the mapping hat in 2004. But why return now? Nostalgia mainly. Doom was a very important game in my development, and I want to give something back to it for the big 20.

So. Prime Directive. It is episode five of The Gateway Experiments. What happened to episodes two, three, and four? Well, I'm doing a George Lucas and skipping a few. And to complete that allegory, I've also gone back and revised Space Station Omega. Not too much, mind you - it's mainly so that decisions you make there have an impact on Prime Directive. Although, perhaps most controversially, Elaine is now represented by a female marine sprite set. I KNOW, RIGHT?

Episode five has the following features planned:

• A far better story than episode one
  
• Fully voiced dialogue
  
• A campaign that spawns at least five maps
  
• Actual Half-Life style level transitions (these are already in and working)
  
• A complete day/night cycle (also in and working)
  
• A somewhat restrained usage of DECORATE - this is still Doom at its core
  
• Far better ACS than the rubbish I wrote ten years ago

The plan is to have it released by November the 10th. I’m basically aiming for it to be in time for the Cacowards, but it’ll be up to you guys to tell me if it’s worthy of nomination. I know Space Station Omega is well regarded, but being away from Doom editing for so long tells me that I have to prove myself all over again to the community.

The gameplay in Prime Directive will be more influenced by Metroid Prime and Dark Souls than Call of Linearity: Rail Ops. The conversation stuff I’m planning will be a rather cut-back test implementation of some ideas I’ve had for quite some time now. And if you thought the story in Space Station Omega was a high point of the WAD, this story will knock your socks clean off.

Space Station Omega v1.1 can be found here for anyone wanting a blast from the past.

And some in-development videos. The first one shows off the day/night system sped up:

The following shows off some Half-Life transitions (currently only showing off the "airlocks" but there are less inhibited transitions implemented):

[Cacowad]

i loved space station omega, glad to see you back in :)

[Phobus]

This thread just goes to show - never say "never" where Doom maps are concerned!

[Katamori]

Honestly, I didn't like the original one at all. However, I respect the work and the effort you've put in that stuff.

[Guest]

Good stuff. This looks really interesting.

[RogueLeader]

I'm getting an error when I run the game and try to use the radio. It says unknown command: "ge_cycle". What is that?

[GooberMan]