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MinerOfWorlds

Is Boom good?

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It adds a metric ton of features not present in Vanilla Doom such as conveyor belts, colored lighting, vastly increased visplane limits and much more.

https://doomwiki.org/wiki/Boom

Some people prefer Boom format mapping over ZDoom format mapping as Boom maps can run in almost every source port.

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MinerOfWorlds said:

I hear allot of people use boom but whats good about it?

The features it added are good for mappers, that's why there are so many Boom megawads. That means they require a boom-compatible source port, most are compatible.

Noone is actually using Boom, it is super old. It is superceded by many other modern ports.
https://zdoom.org/wiki/Boom

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Is Boom good?

Good question.
It all boils down to what you are trying to achieve with your map. Boom has expanded the feature set of DOOM/2 quite a bit.

Maybe an analogy will help here:

    Mapping for DOOM/2 is like using the engine in a Model T.
    DOOM has a very limited feature set compared with later ports.

    Mapping for BOOM is like using the engine in a Volkswagen Beetle.
    As already mentioned, BOOM has an expanded feature set over DOOM, introducing such effects as fake floor and ceiling.etc.

    Mapping for ZDOOM is like using the engine in a Porsche.
    The reason that ZDOOM is at the point where it is now, is because of the active participation of many mappers what they would like to see in a port and the willingness of Randi, and later others, to accommodate the many requests. Main features are ACS scripting, DECORATE actor development, etc.

    Mapping for GZDoom is like using the engine in a Porsche with Overdrive.
    GZDoom has exactly the same featureset as ZDOOM, with the additional features, developed by Graf Zahl, of eyecandy like OpenGL dynamic lights, 3D floors and 3D slopes.
While DOOM and BOOM are the oldest mapping formats, they have been dormant for many years. ZDOOM and GZDOOM are the most used ports which are currently constantly updated.

Most people in DOOMWORLD will use the Model T approach, for whatever reason.
Some say for compability, some say because it's easier that way, some are deadset against change.
Like I said, whatever reason.

You know what you can achieve with vanilla DOOM. To inform yourself of what you can achieve with BOOM or ZDOOM, check out what features are offered in the example pwads
https://www.doomworld.com/idgames/themes/TeamTNT/boom/boomedit
http://www.mediafire.com/download/w95mcmc83b5z18r/ZDoom_Editing_Demo_v1.2.zip

Of course, with programming becoming easier with each interation of OS updates, there are many other people developing other ports, like Zandronum, 3DGE, Eternity, QZDOOM und others.

If you want to be informed about all of this, read all available documentation for each port.

Once you have digested all of this, you have another conumdrum ahead of you.
Which editor is best ?
But I leave that for another time.

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Doomkid said:

It adds a metric ton of features not present in Vanilla Doom such as conveyor belts, colored lighting, vastly increased visplane limits and much more.

https://doomwiki.org/wiki/Boom

Some people prefer Boom format mapping over ZDoom format mapping as Boom maps can run in almost every source port.


But everyone uses gzdoom or zandronum

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Historically speaking, Boom is a hugely influential source port and notable for its high quality code in the first few years after the Doom source code was released - there were a lot of source ports back then but many of them were buggy and unreliable.

Nowadays there's not much reason to use it unless maybe you're building a retro PC for playing old DOS games. But it remains relevant as a common standard that many different source ports support. For example suppose you're making a level and you decide to only use Boom features; that level will be playable on ZDoom, Doom Retro, GZDoom, Zandronum, Eternity Engine, PrBoom+ or Risen3D. So it's nice to be able to make a level that uses some advanced features that pretty much anyone will be able to play on their favourite source port.

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MinerOfWorlds said:

But everyone uses gzdoom or zandronum


A large number of people use GL/PRBoom+ for easy demo recording/speedrunning compatibility or because they prefer the more authentic vanilla feel that the port provides compared to ZDoom-related ones. Boom is also a great format to map in because you don't need to worry about vanilla limitations and have additional options to work with without the overwhelming features present in ZDoom format.

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Most people in DOOMWORLD will use the Model T approach, for whatever reason.

Not what I've observed, the amount of wad releases that can run in Choco Doom tend to be the minority. There's still a good handful, but "most mappers" are definitely not vanilla mappers.

Most people on Doomworld use Boom format and the reason is pretty obvious - It can do way more than than vanilla can, has less random limitations, yet it's easy to learn quickly and can also run in nearly any port people choose to play, unlike advanced ZDoom mods. Using advanced ZDoom features in a way that's both bug-free and actually enhances the gameplay of the map is going to take a bit more reading up and learning than Boom mapping does. Newer ZDoom features only run in ZDoom, Boom features run just about anywhere. In some instances, it's not even a choice as some ports aren't compatible with every OS people use regularly.

EDIT: Removed the car analogy crap as it only adds confusion

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MinerOfWorlds said:

Are demo's really needed and speedrunning just record it and upload it to youtube


If we're talking about speedrunning older emulated games, most emulators have ways of recording inputs that can be played back to verify that no monkey business went on. TAS runs in parciular are built around this feature.

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MinerOfWorlds said:

Are demo's really needed and speedrunning just record it and upload it to youtube

Speedrunning is a big thing in Doom. There's a whole forum and archive of amazing speedruns, most that seem impossible to me :/

Its a really interesting thing to try. And its damn amazing to watch demos, to see how others play the map.

Technically, recording a demo is much more easier than recording a video. It saves space. Can be converted into a video with low or high quality. And if you don't have time for YT, then just download the demo file (only a few KB) and watch it ingame.
Most of the time, speedrunners record the demo, use the -viddump parameter and create a video file of the demo and upload it to YT anyway, cause why not.

I for one, enjoy watching speedruns.

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raymoohawk said:

am i the only one confused by the car analogies?

Nope, I never find that stuff useful at all.

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MinerOfWorlds said:

But everyone uses gzdoom or zandronum

Not at all. Especially users in this forum. But if you are a newbie and you are not sure, use GZDoom for single player and Zandronum for multiplayer. They play Boom stuff just fine.

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MinerOfWorlds said:

why not use gzdoom or zandronum then? they can boom wads and more


Reread the responses in the thread and you will get an answer to this question.

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raymoohawk said:

am i the only one confused by the car analogies?

It's a very farfetched analogy to be fair, but take away all that stuff and hopefully you'll still get the gist of what we're saying. Some people prefer the advanced features and some people prefer the more basic format despite the various pros and cons of each.

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rdwpa said:

Reread the responses in the thread and you will get an answer to this question.


compatibility? but why would you choose to use a source port that hasn't been updated in a long time?

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MinerOfWorlds said:

compatibility? but why would you choose to use a source port that hasn't been updated in a long time?

I don't think anyone actually uses the source port Boom, but its modern successor: PrBoom Plus (I know I do). That's an updated port that's still worked on.
But the map format: Boom is usually used by the majority of mappers here.

Its not about choosing specific ports. Heck, I wouldn't live with myself if GZDoom, Zandronum, PrBoom+, Chocolate Doom and 3DGE didn't exist.

Minerofworlds, what exactly is your question? I'm confused on what response you're looking for.

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There is no port that objectively supersedes all other ports. Ports like ZDoom, GZDoom and Zandronum may seem to be likely candidates, because they can "properly" run a vast majority of wads that ever existed. But they have their problems, too: Zandronum lacks the very latest (G)ZDoom features, (G)ZDoom lacks efficient multiplayer, they all lack demo compatibility support and faithfulness to some vanilla or Boom engine features. Now, there are certainly players who don't care about demos or absolute faithfulness to vanilla behavior, and those are likely to prefer (G)ZDoom or Zandronum. There are certainly also players who care about demo recording a lot, and those are likely to prefer PrBoom-plus. Players who wish to have the most accurate vanilla experience may prefer Chocolate Doom. Players who can't live without advanced graphical features may prefer Doomsday. Players who are interested in features that ZDoom-based ports don't have may prefer Eternity Engine or 3DGE. And so on. There's a port for everyone, and no single port for absolutely anyone. Deal with it.

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MinerOfWorlds said:

why not use gzdoom or zandronum then? they can boom wads and more

Can't run NUTS.WAD without it being unplayable.

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Voros said:

Can't run NUTS.WAD without it being unplayable.


I think that's NUTS.wad

scifista42 said:

Deal with it.


OK

Voros said:

I don't think anyone actually uses the source port Boom, but its modern successor: PrBoom Plus (I know I do). That's an updated port that's still worked on.
But the map format: Boom is usually used by the majority of mappers here.

Its not about choosing specific ports. Heck, I wouldn't live with myself if GZDoom, Zandronum, PrBoom+, Chocolate Doom and 3DGE didn't exist.

Minerofworlds, what exactly is your question? I'm confused on what response you're looking for.


I was wondering if one source port can do what a another one can and more why not use it?

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scifista42 said:

-Snip-

I don't think there's any way I could say it better myself. (But for God's sake, dude, try to break it down into paragraphs... I had a hard time reading the whole thing and I have to leave in a little bit...)

Just because there's a port you like doesn't mean it's the preferred port of everyone else.

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MinerOfWorlds said:

I was wondering if one source port can do what a another one can and more why not use it?

If the assumption was true, then yes, it'd be better to use the more advanced port - but the assumption is rarely true. It seems to be (at least overwhelmingly-mostly-)true for Boom vs. PrBoom-plus, and indeed, pretty much everyone uses PrBoom-plus over Boom nowadays. But as argued before, it certainly isn't true for PrBoom-plus vs. (G)ZDoom/Zandronum.

HavoX said:

paragraphs

On my screen, the text of my previous post is only 6.5 lines long (Have you ever seen Demon of the Well's posts? That's where one needs paragraphs. And his paragraphs are frequently longer than 6.5 lines, too.), and I didn't find any point where I'd consider it particularly appropriate (idea-wise) to split it, either.

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MinerOfWorlds said:

I think that's NUTS.wad



It's NUTS.wad plus a slower computer. Aside from not being playable for other reasons, it runs with 25 fps on my system with 1920x1080. NUTS is an unholy combination of too many stuff being active and having to be rendered, but of course it affects an engine like ZDoom a lot more because its added features require more checks.

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scifista42 said:

If the assumption was true, then yes, it'd be better to use the more advanced port - but the assumption is rarely true. It seems to be (at least overwhelmingly-mostly-)true for Boom vs. PrBoom-plus, and indeed, pretty much everyone uses PrBoom-plus over Boom nowadays. But as argued before, it certainly isn't true for PrBoom-plus vs. (G)ZDoom/Zandronum.


Okay

Graf Zahl said:

It's NUTS.wad plus a slower computer. Aside from not being playable for other reasons, it runs with 25 fps on my system with 1920x1080. NUTS is an unholy combination of too many stuff being active and having to be rendered, but of course it affects an engine like ZDoom a lot more because its added features require more checks.


Wasn't doom capped at 35 fps? if so 25 is more then playable.

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MinerOfWorlds said:

Okay

Wasn't doom capped at 35 fps? if so 25 is more then playable.

I don't even find <60 playable.

But anyway, use whatever you like, it's free stuff :P

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MinerOfWorlds said:

Okay

Wasn't doom capped at 35 fps? if so 25 is more then playable.



I said 'not playable for other reasons' as in 'the map cannot really be played'.

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MinerOfWorlds said:

Wasn't doom capped at 35 fps? if so 25 is more then playable.

Yeah, vanilla doom. But i play with uncapped fps (PrBoom+), it feels much more smoother although i think capping the fps to 66, the default number, is more than enough for me. But meh. 25-35 is playable, yes. More than playable, not really.

Choose whatever you like, it is free after all!

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