MathsDevil

I have discovered how slow crushing ceilings move. They go up and down at 1 map pixel per tic with a 1 tic pause at the top and 1 tic pause at the bottom, and their lowest ceiling height is 8 units above the floor. Also, when a player (or monster 56 units high) gets in the way and the crusher goes slow all the way down, the time delay caused to its action is 7*47 = 329 tics, because for 48 map pixels it travels at 1/8th speed. If I have two identical such crushers alongside each other of height 101 units, their repeating time period is 93 down, 1 tic pause, 93 up, 1 tic pause makes 188 tics. If I interfere with one of them and get out of the way, causing a delay of 329 tics the crushers are now no longer in sync. However, 188 = 4*47 and 329 = 7*47. Therefore if I interfere with the same crusher 4 times, I have delayed it by 4*7*47 tics, which is a multiple of 4*47, the repeating period. Therefore, after interfering with the same crusher on 4 separate occasions, the crushers are back in sync again. Go on, try it! By burying the crushers in small holes in the floor (too small for the player to stand in) I can effectively make the player's interference happen at a greater height than 56 units above the crusher's floor, achieving more varied results. I just tested a level (link attached below) with two such crushers at floor minus 17 units going as high as 74 units. 1) Load the map and give yourself invulnerability (makes it easier). 2) walk forward, setting off the crushers. 3) Get crushed under the one on the right, slowing it down, then get out of the way. The crushers are now out of sync by one third of a cycle exactly. 4) Repeat the previous step twice more and you will have restored the synchronisation of the crushers perfectly! Seriously, having maths and Doom come together like this is an awesome nerd-gasm for me. TryNewNumbers.zip

Hi guys, just happened to notice this thread, I am a keen chess player --- whether I am good depends on who you compare me with! Chess is such a deep game, there's always more to learn. Recently I have enjoyed this web site by Ward Farnsworth, which is accessible to many skill levels, including beginners: http://www.chesstactics.org/ After I knew the rules, there are some general pointers I try to follow: 1) When playing White, don't be arrogant. Black's opening may look slow but I must prioritise developing all my pieces unless there is a very obvious weakness to attack. 2) In the opening, be aware of squares your opponent wants to put pieces on and get those squares covered, usually by pawns or minor pieces. 3) Don't rely on a powerful/important piece, especially a queen or king, to defend a less valuable one in case the more powerful/important piece is chased away from its defensive duties by an opposition attack. 4) Be aware of checking moves at all times. Don't give check just for the sake of it, in case your piece is chased away with no profit for you. However, checking moves can give you a 'free' move because the opposition must spend a move saving their king. 5) Sometimes disabling opposition pieces is just as good as capturing them, such as hemming in a bishop with pawns. 6) When it is my move, I spend a long time looking for threats against me. Then I search for attacking possibilities and consider the threats against me which may result from them. My game thinking is 90 per cent defensive, bizarrely this results in better attacking play in the end. Above all, have fun playing against people at a similar level to you or a little higher --- over the board experience is a brilliant way to learn the game and have a good time too!

I do not know if this bug is in the Vanilla Doom engine or is specific to PrBoom+, basically I have found scenarios in which blast damage goes through a solid barrier which straddles the y co-ordinate of the explosion. If a barrel is crushed by a crusher and 1) A solid barrier (can be a high floor, low ceiling or void) has two vertices on either side (the barrel side and the opposite side) which are exactly on the same y co-ordinate as the barrel AND 2) There is a linedef, possibly anywhere else in the map which is exactly east-west with the ends of it having that same y co-ordinate as the barrel, and 3) Also a few other vertices on that same y co-ordinate as the barrel in the vicinity of the barrel or other side of the barrier (I am less clear on where they have to be, still experimenting with this), then the bug takes effect and any thing on the other side of the barrier with its centre EXACTLY on the same y co-ordinate as the barrel will receive blast damage when the barrel is crushed, as though there was no barrier in between. In the attached file DemoBug, if you use the switch and turn around you will see the first barrel get crushed and the other barrel explode even though the pillar should prevent this. DemoBug.zip

Thanks Scifista42, that's really helpful and corroborates my experimental evidence beautifully!

My question is: if Barrel A explodes near enough to Barrel B that Barrel B explodes and nothing else has caused damage or interfered in any way, what is the time interval between the two explosions? I have carried out a few experiments and it seems to vary on a pseudo-random basis but is close to 0.37 seconds. Is there another way to work this out? I am trying to design a puzzle based on the timing of chains of barrels exploding in which each barrel only detonates the next one, and so on.

Apologies if this already exists somewhere, however I find myself wondering things about the original Doom engine that don't seem to be answered on the Doom Wiki.

Hello Scifista, yes I appreciate that pure vanilla is Chocolate Doom. However I suppose for 8 years I got used to looking/aiming up and down and monster targets being remembered in saved games without really thinking of those features as not being vanilla. I may use PrBoom+ in Boom's Vanilla mode for editing/playtesting anything technical with voodoo dolls, but Doomsday when I fancy playing other people's maps without autoaim. On the other hand I may still try Crispy Doom!

Thanks, I may have tried Crispy Doom as my next possibility but PrBoom+ is now more promising as on the Boom's Vanilla setting my Ocd-Doom voodoo doll tricks appear to be working! More testing is needed though. Also, still wondering how to turn off autoaim, although I have got looking up and down working. I may be rather busy in the real world but if there are further developments/questions I will post again.

Hi again, I have downloaded PrBoom+ and got it (partly) working. I managed to drag and drop ocd-doom.wad onto the application to make it work. However there are many issues: 1) The voodoo doll bug is now working but is inconsistent. Some linedef actions are activating properly and others are not. 2) I am a total noob as far as Command Lines or Frontends are concerned so I do not know how to specify the right complevel or put other commands in to the program. As I said, I only managed to drag and drop a WAD file onto the application. 3) Why is it that when I turn around in the game I also move instead of standing on the spot? What can I do about this? Thanks again CapnClever, I have never started up my own Source Port before because 8 years ago my brother helped me set up JDoom on the old laptop and he lives abroad now.

Thanks Capn, I'll get onto PrBoom+ later today and let you know how I get on! :-)

Hello guys. I had a laptop that lasted many (around 8) years and had Doom and Doom II working just the way I liked them but that machine has packed it in and now I have a new All-In-One machine running Windows 10 and it is very pleasing in every way except I haven't yet worked out how to get Doom I and Doom II working as I want them. I wouldn't have an issue, except that I enjoy designing levels that use the voodoo doll bug in all its glory and I like to do things in a vanilla-compatible way. Having said that, the version of JDoom that I used on the old laptop kept monsters targeting when saved games were reloaded as well as supporting looking up and down. Doomsday claims to keep the voodoo doll bug but I tested it on Ocd Doom 2 and the voodoo dolls did not trigger the linedefs. When I looked at the Compatability menu options, I could not see an option for that (included is the ability to toggle the ghost monster bug for example). If Doomsday can be adapted to support full functionality of voodoo dolls triggering linedefs, then I will be a happy bunny. I have had a look at Chocolate Doom but found it is SO faithful to vanilla that monster targets are not saved in saved games, which I find disappointing. Any thoughts?

Once I was attempting one of my challenges of completing all the levels of DoomI and DoomII IWADs in succession without dying but I had messed up the start of E3M8 so that I had used up my rockets and plasma (I hadn't picked up enough from a pistol start) and had just one per cent health. After I perfectly dodged the Spider Mastermind for a few minutes and pistolled it to death, I jumped up and punched the air.

There are occasions, such as at the start of E2M4 of DoomI when monsters that have a clear line of sight to you only see you when you walk forward - the shotgun guy(s) after that initial teleporter should activate as soon as you enter but don't.

I've sort of made my peace with the z co-ordinate bug because although lost souls can hit me directly over me, I can use switches that are buried in the floor. One thing that does bother me is how often I should save the game. Many larger levels are too big to just go back to the beginning --- it would be good if when level builders upload small levels, they recommend only saving at the start of a level. I try to make myself a bit afraid of having to reload and do one extra monster trap before saving. I used to save far too often, so the game is more enjoyable now.

That's quite interesting, I can imagine a mapping concept in which every action but exiting the level is done by the monsters and there are NO switches or linedefs directly triggered by the player. It may be difficult to achieve 100 per cent kills though, unless the trigger monsters are lost souls .... :-) They could see Doomguy through cracks in the walls and move over linedefs as a result.