Chris Hansen

Rex Claussen has mastered doomcute and Half-life as well as Star Wars in many of his releases. I think most of his stuff will suit Grungo just fine. https://doomnexus.drdteam.org/pictures.html

This thread is about my personal anthology project for The Ultimate Doom called "Hell's Bane" to celebrate Doom's 30th birthday and my 25th anniversary as a level designer. Here I will post status updates and eventually provide a download link and generally communicate with the community about it. What is Hell's Bane? This is a Boom compatible megawad replacement for The Ultimate Doom. It features 4 episodes with 9 levels each all themed in the vein of the original game. The levels are all levels that I have released either solo or as part of projects over the past 25 years. There are also a couple of new levels to fill in the gaps. "Hell's Bane" is oldschool Doom with a few Boom tricks behind the scenes. Who's this even for!? Well, I guess if you're into highly modified stuff and find the original Doom bestiary boring, then this probably isn't for you. I'm guessing you'd really have to be in the mood for some old school Doom if you feel like ploughing through all 36 levels, which is why this megawad's target audience would perhaps be better suited for those in the mood to play an episode in their favourite flavour. Or maybe you are familiar with my work and are just really curious to see what I did with the old levels - you know, how I hacked them to pieces, stretched them or pounded them back into the new millennium. But who am I to judge or decide. All I wish is that if you download this megawad that you will enjoy it for what it is: A love letter to Doom and celebration to the fact that I've spent 25 years placing vertices and splitting linedefs. Important sourceport info In order for the boss levels to function correctly you will need one of these sourceports or newer. The wad is Boom comp and requires a sourceport that supports UMAPINFO if you want the intended experience: DSDA-Doom 0.26.2 PrBoom+ 2.5.17um PrBoom+ 2.6.66-ucrt64 PrBoom+ 2.61um-w32 Woof 11.2.0-win64 GZDoom dev builds from 16th July 2023 onwards (boss levels wont work in GZDoom 4.10) General play info Boom compatible sourceport with UMAPINFO support required (see info above) Pistol start intended, but feel free to play continuously of course. Jumping and mouselook NOT intended. May break progression if you do. No-clipping definitely NOT recommended. Download hb_rc1.zip November 26, 2023 hb_rc2.zip* (changelog) December 4, 2023 hb_rc3.zip* (changelog) December 18, 2023 *Note: In-game demos will probably desync badly in RC2. They will be re-recorded for the final release. Feel free to help me spread the word about this megawad to other doomers outside this website who might have an interest in it. I don't have or use social media, so any help in that department is greatly appreciated. Status Release Canditate 3 Credits Music by @BattleCat (aka Lazernaut), @wallabra, @MFG38, @continuum.mid, @LightningBoltForever, @Crunchynut44, Cacodreamin', @Korp, @Bobby "J and @Herr Dethnout Testers @Biodegradable, @GarrettChan, @LadyMistDragon and @jgs1989. Also, @boris for helping finding lots of pesky bugs! Episode ending artwork by @NotMuchNormal Story by @Endless @Mechadon for advice on making sky textures Tech advice @plums Map list Soundtrack Screenshots

Marvellous!

I am humbled by your support @Bertt91. Thank you for playing and taking the time to share your thoughts.

>>>> Download RC3 here <<<< Lots of small changes, mostly in episode 3 and 4. Changelog here - also included in the zip. Note: Ingame demos will probably desync badly in RC2 and RC3. They will be re-recorded for the final release.

Thank you once again boris. I will have a look at the things you have mentioned and prepare a RC3 soon. I have not had the time to watch all your videos yet but I will chew through them at some point.

I guess an old dog really can learn new tricks, ehh? :) While I do like doing what it is I've always been doing I also try and improve a bit. And exactly what you are mentioning is something I've strived for. Opening up the levels and cranking up the scale a bit. So thank you for noticing ;) And thank you for the videos!

With permission from Kesler, I wanted to share a few screenshots from KGZDoom1 with you.

Get it! It's good fun and those screenshots don't do it justice. Mr Kesler is back, kicking ass and taking names!

You're very welcome, @Insaneprophet! I'm glad you enjoyed playing it and that it all seemed to work fine on LZDoom. And yes, @NotMuchNormal really did an outstanding job with the artwork! Can't recommend him enough. Don't forget to praise the midi composers. They need to feel some love too. It being Christmas soon and all :)

Thanks, @boris. I've seen the videos and picked up some of those issues as well from watching your play through. Still need to watch E3M5.

Nice video! I like that you are commenting it while you play :) I've tried it before too and I agree that it can be a little daunting speaking English out loud for all those native speakers. I noticed a couple of small things in the level I might go back and change, nothing mayor. Thanks again and keep them coming!

I'm humbled by your praise and I am just glad to hear that you are having a lot of fun playing my levels. Thank you. Damn it. Thanks for finding this bug. Yes, it's bugged. I've used a WR action when I should've used a SR action. Must have happened at some point when I was trying different things with that lift. You did everything right. It's just me releasing stuff with bugs in it :( Both of the reported bugs have been squashed!

Thank you very much @Enclave! I am very happy to hear that you've enjoyed it so far and it sounds like you understand what I aimed for with this megawad.

The thought crossed my mind long ago, but it's more important for me to release something decent than to hit a certain date. I still feel like this is release is a celebration of Doom's birthday even though it won't be on Dec 10. Hehe! As do most players. I think I might even have gone back and made changes to it since it's original release long ago. I guess I just had a ton of ideas and was totally enamoured by Doombuilder's possibilities that I sometimes kinda lost track of what's important. But it's still a level I love very much. There is more than one way and not really one that is better than the other. As you mention, one might be a little faster. Thank you - and also for spotting more stupid mistakes! :) I will fix those asap!

I think you might be using a sourceport - or a version of a sourceport - that either does not support UMAPINFO or is outdated. Despite GZDoom being really good at eating almost anything, there is a version with a bug that prevents the last actions triggering when the bosses die in E4M7. Try a newer version of your sourceport or check that it supports UMAPINFO. To be sure, I just tried E4M7 (RC2) and it worked fine. I'm happy to hear that you've otherwise enjoyed playing this megawad :) Thank you. I hope you have fun with it!

Thanks @Bri0che! Glad you've enjoyed playing it so far. I hope you'll keep finding it enjoyable! Fixed for RC3/final release. And yes, Find --> Replace in Doombuilder is a godsend in cases like this! I love that feature so much.

Welcome back! Screenshots look great! What a pleasant surprise this is. Funny thing @Torn: I found my old copy of fbdemo2.wad on my drive and it's one day older than the one on /idgames. Mine's dated 9th of December. The one on /idgames is 10th of December. Send me a PM anytime if you need a hand with - or just wanna chat - about Ult. Doom :)

Thank you for clearing that up for me! It's an odd mistake and not one typical for me. I wonder how or why it has happened and why i haven't noticed. I use PrBoom+, Eternity, DSDA and GZDoom to test my maps and never noticed the problem. But it's there and you found it and that's the most important thing. How it snuck it's way in there doesn't really matter that much. Other than it annoys me and hurts my pride! :D I'll take a look at it.

>>>> Download RC2 here <<<< Lots of small changes as can be read in the posts above. The most critical bug was on E4M7 which has been fixed in this version along with many other changes. Changelog here - also included in the zip. Note: Ingame demos will probably desync badly in RC2. They will be re-recorded for the final release. Thank you for all the feedback and overall positive response so far!

Hmm, this is a Doom texture so I can't replicate the problem. GZDoom reports no problems in the console. Did you mean another texture or am I misunderstanding you?

Way ahead of you. Based on your last feedback I had already placed CGs in the map. Almost in the exact same spot as you suggested in your screenshot :) I will take a look at it. Will do then! Yuck. I'll take a look at it. Ohh man, you are thorough! :) I will see what I can do about it. If it's too complicated for me to fix, then I will probably leave it alone. Let's see what I can figure out. I hate those. When I get rid of them in one place, they pop up in another. I will try and see if I can fix it with another nodebuilder (works most of the time). THANKS for the feedback! I'm super grateful for it.

Ohh man, @boris, where were you back 8 years ago when I released Monument! I could've used your critical eye back then , so I wouldn't have transferred these issues to Hell's Bane :) I'll take a look at it and see what I can do. I am still a little wary messing too much with the levels. I feel like an obscure secret or two is okay for a release that is supposed to reflect 25 years of level designing. But it goes without saying that it needs to be solvable of course. Yeah, stop it, man! Nahh, it's totally fine. I kinda figured you're enjoying it after all since you're still here :) Keep it coming - unless of course you run out of steam. One question for you though in that regard: Should I release a RC2? There was a critical issue in E4M7 and I think that it warrants a new version, so that people can actually finish that level. @plums has located the error and helped me fix it. Huge shoutout to him!

@jmickle to the rescue! https://www.jmickle.com/genrerator/maptheme.html

Thank you for voicing your concerns or observations about those maps. I'm guessing you mean E1M8 and not E1M9. I probably won't change anything about that map, but I will have a look at the other things in M4 and M5. Your logic is sound :)