GrnKnght

Basically, replaced or changed a ton of maps, replaced a bunch of sprites, and did a general touch-up on everything.

On a positive note, the team might be more open to including high quality textures and replacing aquatex textures, so Disregard anything I said about that.

It's a mixed bag. Episode 1 is perfect, except for E1M5 hitscan hell and an underwhelming E1M8.

The latest version is always at: http://freedoom.soulsphere.org/

Updated semi-daily.

Disregard, fixed in latest version.
Part of it is that the lump limit is 4k and they are at around 3.6k right now.

Still plenty of space for new textures, but they are refusing anyway because they might reach it at some point. (how that would be possible, given the refusal to add textures without replacing old ones, I have no clue)

Besides, they should replace some of the aquatex textures. They were contributed freely, and I see why people don't want to replace them (especially since some are in use right now), but they need replacement.

AQPANL 01 is inexcusable.

• There is a green gradient that doesn't tile
• the metal is pillowshaded.
• the wear pattern is shared between surfaces that should be separate.
• the grill/grating thing is impossible to parse at low resolution or at an angle.

On 10/15/2023 at 7:33 PM, Noiser said:

Wat? That doesn't have anything to do with compatibility. The problem of derivative "Doom-like" textures is related to the period in which these maps were made (which ironically was when the project was Boom). Also the resource limit is extremely high - but you can always use an extra wad for that if needed.

Perhaps. I just know that there is a serious push in the discord to replace the unique looking textures with more doomlike textures, quality be darned. PWAD compat is used as an excuse, and whenever I suggest alternate textures, they get rebuked because "we don't want to reach the limit"

So even if the limit is large, people on the discord are using the limit as the reasoning for not being more creative. Maybe my reasoning is wrong, but there is definitely a push against making Freedoom have it's own unique feel. I want to see the project thrive as something unique, not just a doom rip-off.
No longer relevent

Going to have to be trilobite. It is the only one that really nails the insect feeling.

In retrospect I definitely judged the project a bit to harshly. Since my original comment, I have gotten more involved in the discord. People are definitely making good progress over there. There are still several factors that are hampering the development, and there are like half a dozen PR's that need to be merged, but we are making progress.

Honestly I would have understood replacing the SSG a lot more if there was more done to distance the project from doom in other categories, particularly the portrayal of hell/horizon.
 

On 10/8/2023 at 9:31 AM, MrFlibble said:

Vanilla compatibility has nothing to do with the number of textures. FYI, Freed∞m IWADs already include extra textures, among them the Aquatex set, which are actively used in the maps -- just start Phase 1 and you'll be immediately greeted by Aquatex stuff (in fact, E1M1 started as a submission for an Aquatext mapping contest).

I know it includes extra textures, the issue is that https://doomwiki.org/wiki/PWAD_size_limit, also applies to IWADS, and the Iwad is already stuffed with misc doom engine assets.

Aquatex is great for techbases but not so much for alien planets.

If you visit the discord you'll see that they are discarding perfectly good "bonus" graphics because they are worried about reaching the limit. Vanilla compatibility has everything to do with the lack of resources.

Disregard, I've changed my mind since then.

No longer relevant, see bellow.
Problem is that the project is trying to do too many things at once.
People have said that the project goals are:

• Pwad compatible. 
• Full vanilla limits compatible
• Completely distinct from doom

To be distinct from doom it needs to include textures that suit it's own themes. To maintain PWAD compat it needs to include equivalents of all doom textures, and Vanilla compatibility puts a limit on the number of textures.

So instead of making a TC that is really good at one thing, we have this mismatch of different goals that ends up bringing the entire project down.
Personally I think we should have ditched vanilla limits a long time ago, but I have been overruled. 

Always love to see freedoom textures. Can other people use some of them?

For reference, both whacked and bex are plaintext files a custom extension. Some changes might make it impossible to parse with WhackEd4, but the files won't be corrupted by editing as text.

Corner compflat, redone from scratch, This time it uses the freedoom shawn as a base, and has a new border hand drawn to be unique, so it should be Kosher for freedoom derived projects.

(anyone is free to use/modify. Same terms as freedoom.)

Edit: I know it looks like it tiles awfully when used with the actual freedoom console, but the problem is with the original textures, and I can't fix it without replacing the whole bunch. Still, give it a try

Well, freedoom doesn't really have HD textures, but here is an idea (bit humorous):

"Your Hell frozen over?
Tired of fighting demons?
Sign up with AGM to explore new HORIZONS"

(HORIZON is the name for alien planet that replaces hell in freedoom.)

15 minutes ago, jo2ukegappy said:

Been working on some billboards for a Community project, if you've got ideas I'd love to hear them.

 

Might I recommend an ad for AGM? (the fictional company that replaces UAC in freedoom) Maybe something slamming the competition. 

Yup, it seems freedoom is ready for release. There are a few things that could be improved, but right now it is a matter of "don't let perfect be the enemy of good"

For example, they recently replaced the double barreled shotgun again, despite the one they had being pretty much perfect. I feel the project is running on "new for the sake of new" right now.

Edit: Oh, and also, it looks like they need new demo's recorded for the menu screen.

Base was CONS1_8 from the Romero doom dump (via lostres), I replaced the silver part to fit better alongside the consoles included in base game, and made the outer section pure grey to facilitate sector borders. Can be rotated to derive custom CONS2_2 to CONS2_6

Original:

Edited:

It was too hard for me to finish, but the design looks amazing! 

I like freedoom, but the marble face textures are just silly looking.

I am a new mapper, and I feel like I can make really cool single room combat arenas, with height variation and engaging combat, but I always draw a blank on how to expand the map outwards from those encounters.

I have a bunch of discarded .wad files, that are just a single setpiece room, because I can't figure out the leadup or winddown after it.z

Anyone have the same issue? and if so, are there any tips for overcoming it?

20 hours ago, RED77 said:

Nice.

only one note, you can get soft blocked on the second area, the one with the three nuke sectors that have the lowering barriers.

from the stair you can jump on the barriers and drop on the nuke without scape 

Thanks. I must have missed that. (and apparently the window into the chaingun area is too tall, it can let you through without the switch.)

2 minutes ago, ViolentBeetle said:

The most relevant authority on this question is idgames archive and its rules state that yes, you can do that. The only forbidden thing is to have exact copies of lumps that exists in the IWAD you specified as base.

Thanks. I wasn't planning on using them extensively, just for a bit of trim. 

Thanks a lot everyone! Your feedback really means so much to me, and I feel encouraged to make more maps in the future.

I am planning on making a map based around cybernetics and a hell/tech mix, The theme means that having access to textures like skinbord or skintek would be incredibly useful.

I notice that many popular texture packs use doom 1 textures. (cc4-tex for example,) and I am wondering if I am allowed to do the same.

Just want to say, I loved the dialogue in afterglow, and it would be a shame if that style was completely discarded. The conversations contribute deeply to the worldbuilding.