Ancient Aliens - final version on idgames

skillsaw said:

Thanks. Let me know if there's still an issue.

Platforms worked flawlessly with latest Gzdoom x64

There's an unseemly yellow pixel inside the ankh on texture EG_DEC07. Color remap 161->132 makes it more acceptable.

pagb said:

Platforms worked flawlessly with latest Gzdoom x64

Thanks, good to know this works.

Gez said:

There's an unseemly yellow pixel inside the ankh on texture EG_DEC07. Color remap 161->132 makes it more acceptable.

Will fix in a future release for both aa-tex and aaliens. Thanks!

Awesome ending :)

In PrBoom+ and GlBoom+, it is not possible to see at all which line is currently highlighted while in setup screens:



I noticed this when watching some demos from this thread using the RC1 WAD, but it isn't fixed in RC3A. Not a big deal but I thought I'd mention it. In eg. Sunlust the menus in Pr+ are at least still usable even though the palette and HUD font were changed (the highlight doesn't look very good, but it is visible). Valiant had the same problem though, selection is completely invisible...

EDIT: Proper solution is to include new CR* lumps in the WAD for the new HUD font/palette. http://prboom.sourceforge.net/editing/reference-6.html#ss6.3

EDIT #2: Or maybe not? "Note however that the font character graphics must be defined using the palette indices for the standard red range of the palette 176-191"

EDIT #3: Ok, the above is certainly not true -- the color remap lumps are 256 bytes each and can be used to remap the whole palette range. CRORANGE is the one PrBoom+ uses for highlights in menus, I made one that works with AA real quick: [removed]

PrBoom+'s menu system uses CRGOLD, CRGREEN, CRRED and CRGRAY too, but CRORANGE is enough to make the menu usable since that's what the highlight uses.

Thanks for doing that xttl! Someone brought this to my attention on IRC (don't remember who!) a little while ago but I didn't know how to create the lump so it kind of got left for later.

If you can use a hex editor, it's quite simple (a hex editor is what I used). The file you use as a color translation lump needs to be 256 bytes, one byte for each palette index. The byte's offset (position) in the file will be the source color index and the value is the target color index. If a color is not to be remapped, the offset and value should be identical.

For example, here is data for a color translation lump that doesn't remap any colors (all source colors are mapped to themselves): [removed]

That's a 256-byte file that has the byte values going 00, 01, 02, ... all the way up until FF in sequence (=hex for 255). If you wanted to eg. remap color 200 (a color in the middle of the blue range in your palette) to color 120 (a color in the middle of your green range), you'd change the value of the byte at offset C8 (hex for 200) from C8 (200) to 78 (120).

Alternatively, you can make these tables using image manipulation software too, if it supports reading and writing raw paletted images. Here's for example how Paint Shop Pro 9 can be used for this (yeah I know it's old and all, but it's what I still mostly use and what I have handy right now when writing this):

First, open the file as a 16x16 pixel 8-bit ("grayscale") RAW. Also, set header size to 0 if it's not already and uncheck "flipped" if it's checked, the other options in the dialog box don't matter (they're only used when importing raw hi/truecolor images). Now you should see a 256-color grayscale gradient going from black in the upper left corner to white in the lower right corner.

Second, load your WAD's palette using the "maintain indexes" option, now it should look very similar to what you'd see in for example SLADE when looking at your palette lump.

Third, paint over the pixel that shows the source color using the target color (brush tool size 1 is good for this). Repeat for as many colors as you have to remap. When done, save the file, as a RAW with a 0 byte header. This file can now be imported as a color translation lump in SLADE.

Thanks for writing that up. I've never used a hex editor before but I am familiar with hexadecimal so that method doesn't sound too difficult. I may grab a hex editor and adjust the ranges a bit if I'm feeling ambitious (maybe make it magenta or teal instead of orange).

One more tip: it can make editing the tables easier if you set the hex editor to show 16 columns (so it is showing 16 colors per row).

Anyway, I just made a full set of translations using PSP9 (replaces all CR* lumps from prboom-plus.wad) for this wad if you or anybody else is interested: [link removed]

I made these very quickly, so some of them might not be as good as they could be. For example, the gold translation maps the 32 color black-gray-white range to only 7 different target colors since that was how many were readily available in the palette's designated gold color range. I didn't want to start trying to hand pick more colors to use from outside the range.

Btw. I also noticed that PrBoom+ uses the same translation lumps for coloring the status bar numbers or the fullscreen HUD. So to make this work, in addition to the grayscale range (0-31) these now also remap the red range (176-191, used by fullscreen HUD graphics from prboom-plus.wad) and whatever you'd call the range going from index 64 to 79 (used by status bar numbers) to the target colors.

Now, I wonder if there's a way to make PrBoom+ to actually use CRRED when it wants to draw red text... with the IWAD font it obviously wasn't needed, but not so anymore.

edit: fixed link

RC3b:

http://www.mediafire.com/download/78a6xmqju45sigf

-Lots of bugfixes to MAP23 which had some issues with it's monster teleporters in some ports. Also lots of other stuff on MAP23.
-Kassman has done quite a bit of additional work to MAP24, including a new intro and ending that ties the map thematically into the episode better.
-Translation tables for UI gfx thanks to xttl
-Multiplayer fixes and thing placement adjustments for maps 17+ (thanks to dew for attending the ZDaemon MP sessions and letting me know what was up)
-Fix to progression breaking issue on map28 in some ports
-Probably a lot of minor bugfixes elsewhere

RC3b for ZDaemon: aaliens_rc3b-zdaemon1.zip

In map19, the yellow key lift area is kind of awkward. It can really send you flying. Here's a -cl 9 -nomo showing it: http://www.mediafire.com/download/ps7lscbr5t55q9y/aaliensrc3b_19_lol.lmp

You don't even really need to be grinding on it like that.

hi skillsaw

on map21 the trigger for the crushers in the last arena before exit didnt activate for me on one playthrough.

demo here

using GlBoom+ 2.5.1.4

edit: sorry i should say this is with rc3b

I was stuck a long time in Illuminati Revisited because I couldn't find the opening in the purple rock formation after opening it, I think that could be highlighted more with some visual indicators.

rdwpa said:

In map19, the yellow key lift area is kind of awkward. It can really send you flying. Here's a -cl 9 -nomo showing it: http://www.mediafire.com/download/ps7lscbr5t55q9y/aaliensrc3b_19_lol.lmp

You don't even really need to be grinding on it like that.

I'll try to adjust the lift a bit.

rehelekretep said:

on map21 the trigger for the crushers in the last arena before exit didnt activate for me on one playthrough.

Hm! Not sure how you skipped that trigger. It's already placed at an angle that should make that difficult.

frooben said:

I was stuck a long time in Illuminati Revisited because I couldn't find the opening in the purple rock formation after opening it, I think that could be highlighted more with some visual indicators.

Not exactly sure what part of the map you're referring to. I don't think any rock formations ever open.

skillsaw said:

Hm! Not sure how you skipped that trigger. It's already placed at an angle that should make that difficult.

yeah not sure how it happened; i wasnt moving fast or anything...

Oh shit, am I unbanned?

I started playing this yesterday on HNTR, it's good fun even if I do have to play it on sissy difficulty. However, I found a map exploit/bug:



Using my Wolfenstein-honed ninja trap escape skillz, I was able to escape this ambush at the end of map11 before the bars went up, which both trivialized the fight and made it impossible to complete the level.

(as for the HUD and shotgun, I've created an Ancient Aliens patch for my Modes of Destruction gameplay mod, which adds DECORATE versions of the AA monsters and an AA-themed HUD)

Of the 13 maps I've played so far I like map08 and map10 the best, even though the flying saucers lag the shit out of ZDoom on my PC.

Final versions of Ancient Aliens and aa-tex are available from idgames!

Ancient Aliens
https://www.doomworld.com/idgames/levels/doom2/Ports/megawads/aaliens

aa-tex
https://www.doomworld.com/idgames/combos/aa-tex

I'd like to say thanks one last time to everyone who contributed and to everyone who played, so, thanks!

Congratulations on the release!

Congrats, skillsaw. The final stage with brainstorming even more easter eggs and silliness for the story was quite a lot of fun.

[Homer]WOO-HOO[/Homer]

It's about time. Congratulations on the release.

EDIT: You know what I think we should be doing on such an occasion? We ought to celebrate. There should be cake and ice cream involved!

(I was going to make another post, but I didn't want to get into trouble and have that post merged with this one, so... I decided to make an edit instead.)

You did it!

Congrats on the final release.

Is it possible to see a changelog of what's different from RC3b?

rileymartin said:

Is it possible to see a changelog of what's different from RC3b?

Unfortunately I didn't really keep any records as I did stuff.

Generally, the differences are -

1) bugfixes throughout
2) minor balance tweaks throughout
3) Kassman did quite a bit of work to 24 again, including a cool new secret and some heavy rebalancing

Thanks all :)

I see one of my suggestions <3. Anyway, grats on the release, awesome mapset.

A version of the 2016-07-17 idgames release that will run in ZDaemon: aaliens-zdaemon1.zip

And let me also congratulate you on bringing this beast of a WAD into the world!

Congrats on the release!

Woolie Wool said:

Using my Wolfenstein-honed ninja trap escape skillz, I was able to escape this ambush at the end of map11 before the bars went up, which both trivialized the fight and made it impossible to complete the level.

I managed that too, but it doesn't break the level, you can press use on the bars to drop them from the outside.

I just noticed the purple marble texture in MAP01's first room in the green light corner to the right as you enter isn't aligned across the sidedefs.

Also, amazing megawad. Even better than Valiant (which is in my top 5 of favorite megawads).