The Deimos Syndrome

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Rex Claussen
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The Deimos Syndrome

Post by Rex Claussen »

In this thread I said:

"Graf had made a suggestion several years ago. He had suggested creating maps where players use the original DooM weapons against Half-Life enemies. This would also be worth considering. In fact, I had briefly contemplated a map with DooM textures and weapons, but Half-Life enemies. This, too, will allow other Team members to use their own style to develop maps."

To this end I have begun creating a new mini-episode for this expansion pack, with a Deimos theme but with H-L textures. I have completed mapping, gameplay, and testing on the first map, and have made a goodly amount of mapping progress on the second map. At this point, I envision 3 maps. However, I might do more if inspiration strikes me.

But here is the issue I have: Although I have set things up so that the player can switch between DooM weapons (via KEYCONF), I have not been able to figure out how to display the ammo count. This is a potentially serious drawback, as the player is almost playing blind when it comes to knowing how much ammo s/he has. Of course, we could always create a new HUD, but that would be very cluttered (and, mostly unnecessary for the rest of the maps, all of which use HL weapons).

Alternatively, the inventory could be displayed via an ACS script, similar to what we had done with The Phobos Directive, wherein the player was able to display the list of objectives as well as which objectives had been completed. I haven't explored this option further.

Any easier way to display the ammo amounts?
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Re: The Deimos Syndrome

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Do the ammo counts appear if you use the alt HUD? ( hud_althud 1 at the console )? If so, would that be acceptable?
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Re: The Deimos Syndrome

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I feel shitty even saying anything now because I'm in the biggest slump ever, so I feel like I'm making promises without delivering on them... but in short, yes, I could do it, especially after converting the HUD to ZScript.
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Re: The Deimos Syndrome

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@Nigel: HUD_ALTHUD 1 doesn't appear to do anything. Is there even an alternative HUD in this game?

But, in answer to your question, this would be an acceptable alternative. It would just need to be stated in the text file (which people don't read, but :shrug:) or in an opening script.

@Ed: There is not any urgency, as the mapping on the entire set is far from complete. At this point I have more-or-less finished mapping on 9 out of 13 maps, with a 10th one close to being wrapped up. Really, the alternative HUD needs to be done by the time the game is ready for proper play-testing.

In this thread on the ZDooM forums I asked the same question as here: Can a simple script that counts ammo and displays the results be created? I was referred to an excellent mod, but it was far too involved for our needs. I didn't know if there was a simpler way to do things.
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Re: The Deimos Syndrome

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In this thread I noted that I have been developing an Inferno-themed map, On a rather trivial note, I have the following question: Can we call the episode The Deimos Syndrome if it will include one or more Inferno-themed maps? Will anyone care? [Probably not.]

But to provide an update on this episode, I have completed mapping for 3 of the 4 maps in this episode. The 4th map is the Inferno-themed map I'm working on.
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Re: The Deimos Syndrome

Post by Enjay »

Rex Claussen wrote: Wed May 06, 2020 17:56 @Nigel: HUD_ALTHUD 1 doesn't appear to do anything. Is there even an alternative HUD in this game?
I just spotted this question. It should do, i would have thought, because the alt-HUD is a built-in GZDoom feature. So, even if it doesn't work as expected, it should do *something*.


Maybe call the episode "The Deimos Inferno"? - but that does get away from the styling of our naming (paranoid, paranoia, paranoiac, syndrome etc). Deimos gets fairly hellish in places in Doom anyway, so - "The Deimos Syndrome" still works too IMO.
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Re: The Deimos Syndrome

Post by Rex Claussen »

I'll try the alt-HUD from the console again and see what happens.

Yes, Deimos did have hellish themes built in. But, like I said, no one will probably give a damn about the episode name.
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Re: The Deimos Syndrome

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Rex Claussen wrote: Sun Sep 12, 2021 18:00 But, like I said, no one will probably give a damn about the episode name.
I ran out of steam (and creative ideas) trying to replicate Deimos for Parallax. Now, the maps are all over the place, with no cohesive theme. Therefore, I've opted for the following episode names:

Maps 24-28 fall into an episode named "Parallax: Return to Paranoia"
Maps 29-32 are in an episode named "Parallax: The Xen Enigma"
Maps 33-37 are in an episode named "Parallax: A Little Bit of This ...."

Maps 33-34 are an homage to E2M1 and E2M2. (Map 33 is now named "The Deimos Syndrome".) Map 35 is an "orphan", not based on any original DooM maps. Map 36 is an homage to E3M9. Map 37 is another "orphan".
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Re: The Deimos Syndrome

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Most of my recent efforts have been on this episode. As some of you might know, the number of maps in this "mixed bag" episode keeps growing. It's gone from "3 or 4" maps to 7 confirmed, with the possibility of another one or two. This has raised a question in my mind: Should I focus my work on the 2 principal episodes (Parallax: Return to Paranoia and Parallax: Xen Enigma) and set aside the Parallax: A Little Bit of This .... episode for later? This would be with the objective of releasing the two "canon" episodes as soon as they're ready, and then working on and releasing the extra episode as an add-on when it's ready.

My preference would be to release all of the episodes together, as I want to be finished with this project and move on to my Zero Dark: Theta project, which has lingered for years. Releasing all of them together would mean it could be several more months for all my work to be completed and then for the other Team members to complete their respective parts.

But, while play-testing the mixed bag episode a bigger set of questions arose:
  • 1. My play-testing has been done using the Paranoid/Paranoiac weapons. The original intention of this episode was to use DooM/DooM2 weapons. I quite like playing this episode with our game's weapons and am inclined to release the map-pack with these weapons also. In other words, the player can choose to use these weapons or the DooM/DooM2 weapons. What are your thoughts?
    2. What is the best way to implement the two versions? One way is to set up ENTER/OPEN scripts throughout the maps of this episode to spawn one set of weapons or another, depending on what the player chooses at the start. The other way is to duplicate the maps into another episode and place the relevant game's weapons via a map editor and without scripting. The lazy part of me tells me to go with the latter option, as I know the scripting under the former (admittedly, more elegant) option will be a hellish task. What are your thoughts?
    3. We'll need models (including HUD models) for the DooM/DooM2 weapons. Otherwise, using sprites (say, from FreeDooM) will look grossly out of place. Any ideas on where we can get reasonable models? I don't think I'll be using the BFG9000 anywhere in the game, so we'll need models for everything except that one.
    4. While implementing new weapon/HUD models I'm guessing we'll need to match the animations with the relevant DECORATE/ZScript definitions. This is likely a task beyond my capabilities, but I imagine Ed the Bat or Nigel could easily accomplish this. Can I safely assume someone else on the Team will do this?
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