ENEMY!!!

Hoping to get a fair amount of mapping done over the Christmas period when I'll have a fair amount of time off work.

I've been dithering around deciding on what mod base and game to map for over the past year (oscillating between Doom and Quake, and I had a long stint of experimentation with K8Vavoom).  In the end I've gone back to a gameplay mod I was developing based on Eriguns back in early 2021, which commits me to GZDoom as the mod relies heavily on ZScript and also incorporates Nashgore and Nash's Doom 3-style custom PDA system.  The main drawback of GZDoom for me is the lack of horizontally moving platforms, but K8Vavoom lacks support for quite a few GZDoom features and Quake's bestiary doesn't appeal to me as much (plus in Quake mapping it's harder to map efficiently without blocking out areas beforehand, which I don't enjoy doing).  Thus, there is no perfect engine for what I'm going for, which makes it a tricky decision, so I just have to be decisive.

What's remaining constant is that I'm intending to chiefly use Ben "Makkon" Hale's Quake textures for these maps, with a bit of backup from OTEX and/or FoxTex (especially for liquids).  Although I've ultimately decided to create my planned maps for Doom rather than Quake, I've started enjoying playing Quake as much as Doom in recent months and I keep a close eye on the Quake Mapping Discord and their jams.  My failed attempts at Quake mapping have also helped me to appreciate how to use the Makkon textures effectively (especially the trims, which were a new concept to me when I first encountered them, but they've grown in popularity recently, I've seen a number of trims in FoxTex as well).

28/12/2019 - the 25 year anniversary of me installing Doom for the first time.  I didn't expect that I would still be playing and modding it regularly some 25 years later.