High-Res Addon: DarkHour-DarkPack - StarWars TC for DoomII

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Just_Jim
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High-Res Addon: DarkHour-DarkPack - StarWars TC for DoomII

Post by Just_Jim »

DarkHour and DarkPack are StarWars Total Conversion Wads for DooomII. I have just played through the first map of this TC high-res-ing the textures as I went.

http://www-personal.umich.edu/~jimw/Cla ... our_DP.pk3 DarkHour_DP.pk3 contains both Wads and the Textures. I will update this .pk3 pack when I finish playing through the next map. Further updates will follow each map I play through until all the Textures are done.

Use the gzDoom engine http://svn.drdteam.org/gzdoom/
Requires the commercial DoomII Wad or FreeDoom Complete Wad http://www.nongnu.org/freedoom/download.html

Screenshots:

Image

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Please suggest Textures to use for this High-Res-ing .pk3 Pack
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Enjay
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Re: High-Res Addon: DarkHour-DarkPack - StarWars TC for Doom

Post by Enjay »

Nice, looks really cool. I'm a big fan of the Darkest Hour WADs and I think they stand as real show-pieces of what Zdoom can do. I'm going to guess that some of your textures came from the Dark Forces mod for Jedi Academy but, if not...

http://darkforces.jediknight.net/index2.shtml
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Rex Claussen
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Re: High-Res Addon: DarkHour-DarkPack - StarWars TC for Doom

Post by Rex Claussen »

Ha! Very nice looking. I've downloaded the file and will give it a go soon.

Now if we could get hi-res sprites to replace the enemies we'd be all set.
Just_Jim
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Re: High-Res Addon: DarkHour-DarkPack - StarWars TC for Doom

Post by Just_Jim »

The textures came from many different sources (including Dark Forces Mod for JA) and PhotoShop magic. I included the source "ReadNe' files in the directory \Docs in the .pk3 Pack. I have an idea about how to make Hi-Res sprites.

Sprite Questions: Can they be .png images? Do they go in a directory \sprites in the .pk3 Pack? What width x height will gzDoom support? Does gzDoom need to be told to override the "wad" sprites?

Yes, I know the questions should be in the Help Threads, but I am lazy and have your attention.
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Enjay
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Re: High-Res Addon: DarkHour-DarkPack - StarWars TC for Doom

Post by Enjay »

Just_Jim wrote:Can they be .png images?
Yes. In fact, that's probably the best format to use because (G)Zdoom can read sprite offsets that are coded into the png files.
Just_Jim wrote:Do they go in a directory \sprites in the .pk3 Pack?
Yes, but see below.
Just_Jim wrote:What width x height will gzDoom support?
I don't know what the limit is, but it's likely to be bigger than you are going to need.
Just_Jim wrote:Does gzDoom need to be told to override the "wad" sprites?
GZdoom (and Doom generally) works on a last-loaded gets priority basis. So, if you load your pk3 after the WAD, your PK3 will override anything with the same name that has already loaded (with the exception of certain cumulative lumps).


However, I don't *think* that there is an easy way to replace sprites automatically scaling them. What you will have to do is write new DECORATE definitions for the actors and give them new scale factors. To be fair, some properly DECORATE coded enemies for Darkest Hour wouldn't go amiss anyway. From memory they are mainly just minimal changes from the Doom original actors using a bit of DEHACKED here and there. In fact, I think I may have had a hand in a little bit of that myself. It was a long time ago.

Another alternative, I think, would be to define all the sprites using a TEXTURES lump. You can define scaling and offset values there IIRC. However, I'm less familiar with this and someone else might need to chip-in to cover any problems that are specific to replacing sprites this way.



Oh, it's worth mentioning that this mod "forced" (or should that be "Forced" :P ) me to dig out my copy of Darkest Hour and Dawn again. I have to say, despite its age it really stands up well and still feels very fresh and well made. The only thing I felt was a bit aged was the enemies I mentioned. At the time I don't think that making enemies using DECORATE was even an option but I always felt that it was a shame that a lot of the bad guys were, fairly obviously, really mainly just re-skinned Doom enemies.
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Gez
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Re: High-Res Addon: DarkHour-DarkPack - StarWars TC for Doom

Post by Gez »

Enjay wrote:
Just_Jim wrote:What width x height will gzDoom support?
I don't know what the limit is, but it's likely to be bigger than you are going to need.
I don't know if there's a hard limit anywhere on image size; but there is one for TGA images -- if the file header says that either the width or the height is greater than 2048, ZDoom interprets that as "this is probably not actually a TGA picture", so for this format at least the limit is 2048x2048.

For GZDoom, there is also the limit imposed by OpenGL. I think it is 4096x4096 on most implementation. Note that a 32-bit picture with these dimensions represents 67 MB of pixel data, which you will admit is probably excessive.
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Re: High-Res Addon: DarkHour-DarkPack - StarWars TC for Doom

Post by Graf Zahl »

Gez wrote: For GZDoom, there is also the limit imposed by OpenGL. I think it is 4096x4096 on most implementation. Note that a 32-bit picture with these dimensions represents 67 MB of pixel data, which you will admit is probably excessive.

OpenGL does not impose this limit. The graphics hardware does. It's either 4096x4096 or 8192x8192 on most cards.
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Rex Claussen
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Re: High-Res Addon: DarkHour-DarkPack - StarWars TC for Doom

Post by Rex Claussen »

Rex Claussen wrote:Ha! Very nice looking. I've downloaded the file and will give it a go soon.
I finally went beyond simply walking through the game to admire the new, hi-res textures. [And, yes, they are quite admirable and give the game a fresh look.] Some thoughts, and at least one issue:

1. The sprites, do indeed, look shabby when compared to the shiny, hi-res textures.
2. The DooM enemy behavior is extremely transparent.
3. Some of the sounds don't fit. I wonder why I originally thought they worked fine.
4. Given that there are models in the mod, thereby requiring GZDooM, raises the inevitable question: ought this to be remade as a GZDooM mod? Volunteers, anyone?
5. Currently, the transfer heights special that allows the use of fake 3D floors is borked. I haven't opened the maps in an editor, but on Map01 if you try to go under bridges or over the ducts you are blocked. The only way past is to NOCLIP through.
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Enjay
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Re: High-Res Addon: DarkHour-DarkPack - StarWars TC for Doom

Post by Enjay »

Rex Claussen wrote:2. The DooM enemy behavior is extremely transparent.
Unfortunately, that's true. I remember mentioning it waaay back when the mod was originally done. A little more could have been done with dehacked to get some more interesting or pseudo-unique behaviour but it would always have been limited to what dehacked could do. Now with decorate (as we saw with DBT's skills for Paranoid) it would be possible to craft some enemies that were tailor made and unique to the mod.
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Re: High-Res Addon: DarkHour-DarkPack - StarWars TC for Doom

Post by Rex Claussen »

Enjay wrote:Now with decorate (as we saw with DBT's skills for Paranoid) it would be possible to craft some enemies that were tailor made and unique to the mod.
Again I ask: "ought this to be remade as a GZDooM mod? Volunteers, anyone?"
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Graf Zahl
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Re: High-Res Addon: DarkHour-DarkPack - StarWars TC for Doom

Post by Graf Zahl »

I'd rather see more levels in this style than a rehash of this mod. ;)
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Re: High-Res Addon: DarkHour-DarkPack - StarWars TC for Doom

Post by Rex Claussen »

Graf Zahl wrote:I'd rather see more levels in this style than a rehash of this mod. ;)
That's certainly an idea that crossed my mind. But with my fingers currently in so many pies I'm hesitant to take on an added responsibility. Moreover, if I (and/or others) start on the GZDooM path, it will probably involve a complete makeover, meaning a huge effort. At this point I'm already beginning to feel burnt out with my current initiatives; undertaking a gigantic new venture will probably not happen any time soon.

Something I'm willing to attempt, perhaps, is doing a single map add-on using the new hi-res textures. [The sprites will still look shitty, however. And the behavior will still be the DooM enemy behavior. Unless DBT can work his magic without putting in a great deal of effort.]
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