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This is an instance of me getting an idea for something that I'm not particularly interested (certainly not motivated) to work on, but I thought the idea itself was cool enough to share. And hey, who knows what the future may hold, so why not write it down. The basic idea I had in mind was that this would be a horror game that forgoes the common trope of there being a supernatural or sci-fi element to create monsters and drive the scares. No, the game would be designed to feel like a mostly plausible scenario. You're just some random civilian with minimal knowledge of firearms and no combat training, and for some reason or another, there is a bunch of armed soldiers in the building trying to kill you. Yeah I haven't really thought too much on what the context of this would be... I don't know if they're hunting you specifically or just anyone in the area, I also don't know if this would be a real government entity or some private entity. So for now I'll just call them the "Goon Squad". Anyway, the structure I had in mind was that it would be laid out somewhat like a classic Resident Evil game, where you'd have to traverse back and fourth through an interconnected structure solving puzzles and trying to survive. And the gameplay would be a first person shooter with very light milsim elements. And I do mean light, like mainly stuff related to bullets being wasted if you reload to early, having to hold still and wait for a second while you bandage yourself, that sort of thing. Just enough to make you feel sufficiently de-powered. Furthermore, I think the thing about this concept that intrigues me the most is that the people you're fighting aren't just mindless zombies. The Goon Squad would (hopefully) be fairly intelligent and act like a coordinated group of soldiers. Meaning they'd scan areas looking for movement, they'd radio in backup if you're spotted, and even if they don't get the opportunity... if you get in a fight with them and the bullets start flying, people are gonna know. If you fire off a shot and kill a soldier, everyone in your quarter of the building is going to be like "What the fuck was that?" and immediately run to your position. So if you're forced to get in a gunfight, you will likely have to either try and hide somewhere, get the hell outta dodge, or maybe try and find a vantage point where you can pick off anyone who comes in. Although if you do that last thing too much, then when new members of the Goon Squad are sent in, they'll start throwing flashbangs into a room before investigating. And maybe as you get closer towards the end of the game, we can slowly give the player a certain degree of empowerment. Like reloading is a little faster, your character is able to keep the gun more steady while aiming down the sights, maybe you found a silencer for your pistol, that sort of thing. I should also mention that aesthetically, we'd still be going for a distinctly "horror" atmosphere. Not using sci-fi monsters or ghosts or whatever doesn't prevent us from using some creepy lighting and chilling sound designs. Also I do like the idea of giving the Goon Squad that "illuminated gas mask" look, sort of like the HECU have in Half-Life, and the Helgast troops in the Killzone series. I can definitely get down with the idea of giving them uniforms that have a subtle alien look to them, just as long as they clearly behave like human soldiers. I suppose the one major issue I see with this idea is just that it would be too difficult, and I can see two possible ways to remedy that- 1: You make actually encountering a soldier a rare occurrence for a large chunk of the game. So the soldiers would usually just be in a group of 2 or 3, and there'd only ever be like 4 or 5 groups in the building at any given time. Or 2: Widen the map up significantly so you can give soldiers a wide birth. You would have to stealth through areas in a manner closer to something like Far Cry. Now maybe a game like this does exist and I'm just not aware of it, but I don't think I've ever seen a game come close to this. I mean already, the idea of a game structured like Resident Evil but with exclusively human enemies is not something I've ever heard of, let alone one where the AI is designed to respond in a way actual soldiers would. The only game I've heard of that seems to even be in the ball park conceptually is... This War of Mine...? Which is a 2D survival game. But from what I understand, that's mainly meant to be a commentary on what being in a warzone does to civilians and their families... and with the premise I just outlined, you definitely could go in that direction thematically, but that's not really what made me think this was such a cool concept. I mostly just like the idea of creating horror simply by being outnumbered and outgunned, all while using enemies that aren't something we'd typically call "creepy". Let me know if you've heard of a game that's done something like this, I definitely think this idea has potential and it'd be really cool if someone's already done it.

Something that I keep forgetting is that GZDoom has normal/specular map support, but all the mods I've seen that really make use of it are those "HD Texture Packs" that mess with the art style in a way that I don't really like. I'm wondering if anyone's made a texture pack that leaves all of the base textures intact and just adds normal maps to them. I've seen a mod like this that works for Zandronum by seemingly auto-generating normal maps for everything, but not for base GZDoom.

Y'know, this concept is something that I've been thinking a lot about recently. And I think if we're to argue that the core "essence" of Doom lies in its classic entries and the sequels are iterations of that essence, here's how I'd illustrate it: Doom 3 and Doom 2016/Eternal are two halves of Classic Doom's core identity. Doom 3 is probably closer to what they were originally going for when creating the originals, being a dark romp through a sci-fi environment watching it progressively get overtaken by demonic influences. But feels the need to significantly slow the combat down in the service of that goal. New Doom iterates on the aspects of Classic Doom that people remember, fast-paced action, no reloading, ripping and tearing, etc. I believe LGR described the concept as "Zeitgeist Doom" in that it's more a sequel to Doom as it exists in the cultural identity rather than a sequel to what Doom was at the time. Which is certainly a very clever way of updating a franchise for the modern era, and I think does a lot to give New Doom a distinct identity from Old Doom. But like I said earlier... to me, each of these things only represent half of the essence of classic Doom. They don't feel reductive in any way because they each supplement their missing half with something new. But to me, the "essence" of Doom is a combination of 1: B-Horror atmosphere and aesthetics, 2: Demons and weird Hell magic, 3: Sci-Fi and Space Marines, and 4: That classic fast-paced action. Every Doom game gets #2 and #3 right on some level, but I have yet to see a modern iteration of Doom that really does both #1 and #4 on that list simultaneously. And the classic games aren't usually remembered for that first thing because they simply weren't implemented in a way that holds up nowadays... And that kinda sucks.

Actually, y'know what... fuck it, I'm gonna do it. I'm gonna go with the plan of "making the start of each level connect directly with the previous one". I'll create a rough version of this idea and pass a pre-release build around with some playtesters.

Okay, so I've recently had an idea but I wanted to get some feedback on it before I move forward. I'm thinking about adding some short starting areas with more ambient music, similar to what I did with E1M1. I got the idea after doing a Doom 3 replay and really appreciating the moments where the game chose to slow down and let you take in the atmosphere. (Here's some screenshots I took for inspiration): I think having these segments be at the beginning of each level would probably be for the best, as it segments it out and allows me to stay faithful to the original once you get into the main chunk. The music would be one of the ambient pieces from Doom 3 or perhaps some other game, and then would shift into the real track for the level as you make it through the entrance. Furthermore, these opening segments would be very light in terms of combat, instead gameplay would focus on a short and simple puzzle, if even that. The bottom line is I wouldn't want too much action going on before you get into the actual level, as I think that would dilute the idea of being "Classic Doom maps remade". I do really want to get people's thoughts on this though, as I'm not sure if I should go through with this idea, how I should handle it, or how significant these portions should be. Because while I think the opening segment in E1M1 is really good for setting the tone of the mod, having it in all of the levels might make the experience feel like it's straying too much from the original. It also might be that having these short segments devoid of significant content might get monotonous by the end. I might end up only doing something really small for a couple of the levels where I feel it's most appropriate. Or, the most extreme extent I'd be willing to take this idea is to try and have these areas bridge the gap between the exit door in one level to the entry door of the next. Like you exit the Hangar and you'd get to physically walk your way to the Nuclear Plant. I think something like that could really enhance the experience of the mod by making it a full unbroken journey, or it could water everything down by reducing the percentage of time spent in the actual remade stages. I don't know. I'm really conflicted on this idea, as you can see. Let me know what you think.

Not having any real ideas for a layout at the start is definitely a pretty common problem for a lot of people, myself included, and people will have very different ways of dealing with it. I don't usually have a lot of success drawing my map out first. What I like to do is just draw random shapes in the map editor. Just slap in a few different rooms of varying shapes and sizes, and then modify it from there.

I don't know if Pac Man can just eat whole people the way he can with ghosts. If not, I probably have a chance because I can just tackle him and roll him down a hill or something.

I've been wanting to play the gameplay mod "TERRORISTS!" recently and I wanted to ask if anyone knows of a good set of urban-themed maps to go with the theme. Since the mod has a sort of upgrade system, longer WADs are strongly preferred.

New, very small update: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/l0gqybzypj8djsn2b12xq/spectacle_creep_build7A.zip?rlkey=6yn4j333oqzrdqvrgyp8ihx42&dl=0 It's primarily a hotfix for 1: Removing scripting I had tied to keycards because those also break Brutal Doom and Project Brutality. And 2: The aforementioned rad suits that don't spawn on difficulties below UV. On top of that I also did a few detailing touch-ups here and there, especially in that last arena section of E1M6. But in really cool news, I did get the all-clear from Nemistade to use his E1M1 cover for Spectacle Creep! I also want to say that this is a top-tier example of what I'd like to see from a remix that's intended to sound more fast & aggressive. I don't really have the musical knowledge to fully explain why I prefer this over most other covers of E1M1. It just feels like it has a level of restraint that lets it have a creative implementation of some other instruments (namely those strings) rather than fully leaning on the drums & guitar while keeping it from feeling like it's trying too hard. And also the more unique segment they add towards the end I think really helps the track stand out and gives an opportunity to pump up the intensity without going in too hard on the main part of the song. I dunno if any of that made sense, I just wanted to give a brief explanation of why I think this still fits the vibe of Spectacle Creep, even if it seemingly doesn't match my initial request of slower, more atmospheric remixes.

Going through these and some of the others I was able to find... uh... man, it's close. It's really close... I love the vibe, and you're right in saying it absolutely fits with the more atmospheric mood I was going for. But... I dunno, it's just not all there. Like in "On the Hunt" it kinda seems like the chord progression that was in the original just doesn't happen for some reason (which is a problem considering I've stated that the original version of that song feels like it needs something), and in other songs I'm pretty sure some of the riffs are just missing. I don't know much about this person, but it makes me really bummed out that they've passed away. I'm definitely hearing a lot of potential in these tracks, I just wish they had the opportunity to go back in with some more experience and polish them up some.

...Does... ...Does Hideous Destructor not use splash damage...? Actually, can you check if there's anything in HD that uses Doom's Editor numbers? It's possible the entity is just being overridden by coincidence. Otherwise, that means Hideous Destructor is using a custom system to calculate splash damage. In which case having parts of a map that can only be destroyed via explosives is just full-on impossible to make compatible with Hideous Destructor. Unless I set it up to specifically recognize that mod's explosive system... and... I'm not doin' that.

Good catch! I will make sure that gets fixed in the next update.

UPDAAAAAAATE! E1M6 IS OUT BOIS! https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/jcxfou5qbjm7a8erup6q9/spectacle_creep_build7.zip?rlkey=1w18841m87sne0iu7ukngpsjk&dl=0 Other changes include: -A whole slew of added environmental effects + enhanced lighting -Blood, gore, and dead bodies galore! There is now actual decals and blood marks surrounding corpses for a more sinister atmosphere. -A laundry list of improvements to detailing. Most notably an overhaul to the E1M1 courtyard that I encourage you to check out for yourself. -Finally fixed the destructible environments not triggering in other mods... I think? I tied the trigger to an object that can only be destroyed via splash damage, so it should work, although I have not had a good opportunity to test it yet. -New E1M2 remix compiled from various other renditions of the theme, courtesy of Tiberium Soul. -I've added some tracks from Shane's HQ Doom Music pack for E1M4 and E1M9, although since they're mainly just enhanced instrument swaps, they are likely to be replaced later down the line. -BFG has been added to the Addon Mod. It's now basically just a gigantic rocket launcher that deals a bunch of splash damage (even ignoring bosses' splash damage immunity). But it also slows you down briefly while firing, and the large plasma cell packs only give you 80 cell energy instead of 100. -The SMG previously would give you 50 bullets as opposed to the 20 you'd get from a chaingun. Now I knocked that back down to 30. -Bullet boxes will give you 60 bullets instead of 50. -The addon mod now also has a subtle amount of recoil + screen shake effects to give the weapons a bit more punch. -Added a new firing sound for the shotgun. -Changed the menu theme from the Quake 4 theme to the Doom PSX theme. Considering I always kinda considered that as the "true" theme of classic Doom even if it's not as iconic as At Doom's Gate, I have no idea why I didn't think to use that first. -"Crud-Buster" difficulty has been renamed to "Hell to Pay" difficulty. Which is a much... MUCH better name, lmao. -Probably some other changes too, I'm not good at documenting this stuff lol. PS- I'm aware that a lot of the intermission screens now use out of date screenshots of the maps, but since I imagine I will continue to iterate and improve on what's already here, I'm going to wait until I'm close to the final release of Episode 1 before I update them.

Just popped in to say that an update is coming very soon. I just need to do some finishing touches on E1M6 (Namely add support for the Hard+ mode and create an intermission screen for it) In the meantime, much like what I did to tease E1M5, here is a comparison of the layouts for the remake vs the original.

Wrapping up the E1M6 remake I don't know if I'll be able to pull it off, but I'd like to be able to get it done before I go back to school.