Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.

Author Topic: Alien Breed TC for BOOM based DOOM Engines & Such.  (Read 19720 times)

Description:

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline XDelusionTopic starter

  • Alien Breeder
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Join Date: Mar 2002
  • Posts: 5089
    • Show only replies by XDelusion
    • http://starwarslegacy.net/
Alien Breed TC for BOOM based DOOM Engines & Such.
« on: May 19, 2012, 02:59:34 AM »
Fish came up with the idea while discussing BOOM in Nova's BOOM 68k thread.

He was inspired by the idea behind the Alien Breed Quake project, but felt it would feel more at home on a DOOM based engine.

Of course such a project would need to be created for a reasonably advanced DOOM source engine and BOOM for the moment, seems to fit the bill the best. While it does lack some of Alien Breed 3D 1 and 2's features, the majority of them can be emulated. Unless of course a more advanced engine were somehow ported, though how well many of them would carry over to 68k is beyond my knowledge. Such a venture may be limited to next gen machines if things were to go that way, but for the moment my focus is on basic BOOM compatibility unless Fish should manage to port something more exotic, in which case I will not be able to resist the urge to not take advantage of the extra features. ;)

Anyhow, I have aN 11 year experience in DOOM editing, and have been playing DOOM and DOOM source ports, mods, TC's, etc. since DOOM was a demo on floppy. For which case I can not help but be excited about the possibility of recreating, or better yet, creating a new Alien Breed FPS!

I have spent the past decade steadily cracking away at my Star Wars TC (long story), but would love to take a break and work on another project that is not so demanding. It'll give me a good break, plus help me think in new ways, which is important when trying to keep a game interesting and fresh as you progress through the levels.

I don't believe I am the world's best mapper, but I do believe I have the know how and experience to contribute something worth while. Likewise with everything I've learned over the past decade, I can pretty well utilize every feature that BOOM based source ports bring to the table and more. On top of the built in features, I've a pretty good knowledge of BOOM and Vanilla based DOOM bugs which can be used to work in the mapper's advantage.



If anyone has any input they would like to share about the project, DOOM in general, Source Ports, editing, contributing, etc. Please feel free to rant.
« Last Edit: May 19, 2012, 02:13:10 PM by XDelusion »
Earth has a lot of things other folks might want... like the whole planet. And maybe these folks would like a few changes made, like more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and room for their way of life. - William S. Burroughs
 

Offline XDelusionTopic starter

  • Alien Breeder
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Join Date: Mar 2002
  • Posts: 5089
    • Show only replies by XDelusion
    • http://starwarslegacy.net/
Re: Alien Breed TC for BOOM based DOOM Engines & Such.
« Reply #1 on: May 19, 2012, 03:10:31 AM »
Fish, this engine might just be what you want. I "think" (if it's still fairly light weight like Legacy) it would work on a Natami or suped up 4000/1200 just fine.

The only thing I think a non PPC or X86 Amiga would not be able to pull off, are the real 3D floors, and the scripting events, but there are alternatives.

Other than that it does feature Free Look, Jump, and a plethora of other features.

http://remood.org/standard/index.php?page=news&guid=none

My other thought goes back to PrBOOM or better yet PrBOOM Plus (BOOM GL ON CRACK!!!!!), but I've no idea how well they would transfer to 68k.
« Last Edit: May 19, 2012, 02:15:18 PM by XDelusion »
Earth has a lot of things other folks might want... like the whole planet. And maybe these folks would like a few changes made, like more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and room for their way of life. - William S. Burroughs
 

Offline fishy_fiz

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Join Date: Jan 2005
  • Posts: 1813
    • Show only replies by fishy_fiz
Re: Alien Breed TC for BOOM based DOOM Engines & Such.
« Reply #2 on: May 19, 2012, 10:36:53 AM »
I guess ultimately something that also runs on Boom would be ideal. While my main "classic" amiga is my amithlon box I'd very much like to have it run well on a real amiga too. Loses its appeal a little (to me at least) otherwise. If I wanted to make an AB3d mod that require something resembling modern hardware I dont think Id be using the Doom engine :) Wanting it to run well on a real classic also helps with not losing sight of the original plan as well, and helps avoid feature creep.
Near as I can tell this is where I write something under the guise of being innocuous, but really its a pot shot at another persons/peoples choice of Amiga based systems. Unfortunately only I cant see how transparent and petty it makes me look.
 

Offline XDelusionTopic starter

  • Alien Breeder
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Join Date: Mar 2002
  • Posts: 5089
    • Show only replies by XDelusion
    • http://starwarslegacy.net/
Re: Alien Breed TC for BOOM based DOOM Engines & Such.
« Reply #3 on: May 19, 2012, 11:41:54 AM »
Quote from: fishy_fiz;693572
I guess ultimately something that also runs on Boom would be ideal. While my main "classic" amiga is my amithlon box I'd very much like to have it run well on a real amiga too. Loses its appeal a little (to me at least) otherwise. If I wanted to make an AB3d mod that require something resembling modern hardware I dont think Id be using the Doom engine :) Wanting it to run well on a real classic also helps with not losing sight of the original plan as well, and helps avoid feature creep.


My thoughts exactly! :)
Earth has a lot of things other folks might want... like the whole planet. And maybe these folks would like a few changes made, like more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and room for their way of life. - William S. Burroughs
 

Offline Abu the monkey

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Join Date: Mar 2011
  • Posts: 23
    • Show only replies by Abu the monkey
Re: Alien Breed TC for BOOM based DOOM Engines & Such.
« Reply #4 on: May 19, 2012, 12:49:34 PM »
I like the sound of this :)

good luck guys...
 

Offline XDelusionTopic starter

  • Alien Breeder
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Join Date: Mar 2002
  • Posts: 5089
    • Show only replies by XDelusion
    • http://starwarslegacy.net/
Re: Alien Breed TC for BOOM based DOOM Engines & Such.
« Reply #5 on: June 07, 2012, 12:54:54 AM »
I was hoping that I would have a small demo to upload, or a video, but at the last minute I ran into a few issues, so it's going to be a day or two longer (fingers crossed).

For what ever reason, despite the fact that I have been through the source files of AB3D II a million times, there are a couple textures I've yet to locate, and I'm finding it utterly difficult to track down all the sounds.

I found scores of them, but ironically NOTHING for that Red Alien that shows up at the very beginning of both AB3D games. Irony of ironies!!!

My next thought was to record my self playing Alien Breed 3D under WinUAE, but alas, I can't get the video capture part figured out, and I can't find a part that just saves to sound. Though I suppose I can run my audio output into another computer and capture that way, which is what I plan on doing tonight.

Audio and missing textures aside, I have found the majority of the resources used in these games. I have also managed to create a new default palette for BOOM which is 98% identical of that in the original game.

I am polishing off the Red Alien enemy and went ahead and created a few new frames for him to make him a bit more animated when, walking, attacking and dying. All that is left t do for him is to adjust his moving speed and sync that with the speed of the frame cycles. Well that and to get that damned audio in there. Grrr!!

As for the levels, I have not done much, as I'd really prefer to have my resources prepared before I go heavy into the mapping end of things, so thus far all I have done is the very opening to the first map of Alien Breed 3D. Seeing as the maps in Alien Breed 3D II totally suck, I won't be bothering with them, only the enemies, and textures which I will use for creating new levels to take place after AB3D's original 16. On that note, hopefully when I have the resource pack ready and available, perhaps a few of you could chip in and and help with the mapping? :)


As for mimicking game behavior, I will say that there will be no crouching, unless that feature can somehow be added into BOOM (please God please!!!), but there are always work arounds for that that will not detract from the game play so I have no worries there.

Also you will be able to go into the water, and it will present a little friction while you are in it, but you will not be able to see into it from above, nor above it when under it, though it is fully possible to change the color lighting to that it truly looks like you are under.

At the end of stage three there is a room where you fight some flying enemies from below the water. To compensate for the fact that you can't see them from below the water, I will simply have to raise the floor up a wee bit so that the player's view point is raised high enough to see what's out there.

Player foot steps and water splashing effects will be lost, as DOOM and BOOM never implemented those features, but I will be doing other things with the audio to inject a little ambiance and therefore atmosphere that was not in the game originally, but would really help to bring it alive without straying to far from the feel of the original experience.

There was much more I wanted to say, but I'm having a brain fart so I will report later when my small demo is ready.

There will not be a whole lot to look at yet, but I can assure you that what little there is took me DAYS of trial and error and do and redo in order to accomplish. The palette being the largest pain in the arse of them all, not to mention locating all those resources in the mess that is the sources, then converting all them into a format that the BOOM engine will play friendly with.

Until next time...
« Last Edit: June 07, 2012, 12:58:13 AM by XDelusion »
Earth has a lot of things other folks might want... like the whole planet. And maybe these folks would like a few changes made, like more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and room for their way of life. - William S. Burroughs
 

Offline amiman99

Re: Alien Breed TC for BOOM based DOOM Engines & Such.
« Reply #6 on: June 07, 2012, 01:43:45 AM »
For your sound problem, you could use WinUAE and Fraps http://www.fraps.com/download.php for your video recordings, or use windows sound recorder. Just start sound recorder, press record, then start the emulator.

I will PM you an interesting link...
A500 KS 2.1, 1MB Chip, 68000
A600 KS 3.1, 2MB Chip, ACA630 32MB RAM
A1000 KS 1.3, 8MB RAM
A1200 KS 3.1, Blizzard IV 50MHz 64MB RAM
A2000 KS 2.1, 68030 25MHz, 6MB RAM
A3000 KS 3.1, 68030 25MHz, 16MB RAM
A4000 KS 3.0, 68040 25MHz, 16MB RAM
CDTV KS 3.1, 4MB RAM
CD32
(AROS BOX) Dead :(
 

Offline XDelusionTopic starter

  • Alien Breeder
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Join Date: Mar 2002
  • Posts: 5089
    • Show only replies by XDelusion
    • http://starwarslegacy.net/
Re: Alien Breed TC for BOOM based DOOM Engines & Such.
« Reply #7 on: June 07, 2012, 02:57:55 AM »
Thankx for the link, cool stuff!

BTW, for those who don't know much about how games are made.

You would find it utterly hilarious in regards to how many corners Team 17 cut in order to make the Alien Breed 3D series work. They went over board in the over use of the same textures, and the enemies lack the number of frames that their DOOM counter parts use, not to mention a few other things...

Things which I have to patch up and improve upon at that.

On the other hand, some of the features they added in that were not present in vanilla DOOm are really quite impressive, though sadly, the levels in AB3D II really suck for the most part, they are very uninterested compared to those found in the first AB3D, which I must say do happen to be a fun and interesting set of maps.

The only real draw back to AB3D (which is why I feel a remake is needed) is the very small display screen in which you are forced to play. The lack of Mouse support, the fact that if you play it with a joypad that you can only use 1 button (need those strafing buttons guys!!!), and last but not least, the horrible, HORRIBLE resolution in which you must play. A character on the other side of a small room can be very hard to see sometimes, so even if you end up playing this TC I'm working on in BOOM on classic Amiga, it will still look a LOT better than it did in it's original format, though when PrBOOM Plus is complete for AROS (and hopefully later MorphOS and OS 4), you'll be able to enjoy this puppy in beautiful OpenGL, which is my preferred way of playing it! :)
Earth has a lot of things other folks might want... like the whole planet. And maybe these folks would like a few changes made, like more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and room for their way of life. - William S. Burroughs
 

Offline Hattig

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Join Date: Feb 2002
  • Posts: 901
    • Show only replies by Hattig
Re: Alien Breed TC for BOOM based DOOM Engines & Such.
« Reply #8 on: June 07, 2012, 08:34:36 AM »
I'll look forward to seeing this progress - I hope it goes well.

I think it would be great to see comparison screenshots between the original and your Doom mod, just so we can appreciate the difference higher resolution makes.

I hope you don't need to re-do the wall/floor textures in a higher resolution for the PrBoom versions!
 

Offline XDelusionTopic starter

  • Alien Breeder
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Join Date: Mar 2002
  • Posts: 5089
    • Show only replies by XDelusion
    • http://starwarslegacy.net/
Re: Alien Breed TC for BOOM based DOOM Engines & Such.
« Reply #9 on: June 08, 2012, 06:50:59 AM »
Heh, well since my last post, I got really bold and decided to complete map one which in turn means I need/want to have both enemies and all textures present for the demonstration. Needless to say, I screwed something up in this undertaking and have broken compatability with the Amiga port of BOOM.
So, what I think I'm going to do is release a video of my current work via PrBOOM Plus. That way you all an get a glimpse of map 1 recreated for the BOOM engine, using what textures, sprites, sounds, and behaviors I have completed this far.
Likewise this will not be a finished version of the map, as I still have a little detailing I'd like to do in order to bring it out of 1994 a little bit.

On that note, I can not believe how horribly Team 17 left their textures misaligned!!!
That aside, a little extra detailing would go a long way. Some of the rooms are just square an the tops of buildings, rock walls and the like are always plateu shaped. Yuck yuck yuck!

So yes, more mapping, more resource and behavior prepping, and a bit of bug finding so I can restore compatability with boom. :)
Earth has a lot of things other folks might want... like the whole planet. And maybe these folks would like a few changes made, like more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and room for their way of life. - William S. Burroughs
 

Offline XDelusionTopic starter

  • Alien Breeder
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Join Date: Mar 2002
  • Posts: 5089
    • Show only replies by XDelusion
    • http://starwarslegacy.net/
Re: Alien Breed TC for BOOM based DOOM Engines & Such.
« Reply #10 on: June 08, 2012, 08:18:18 PM »
http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?47c4hjyfq8h89eo


This demonstration is only meant as an early proof of concept. There is much work that has to be done so not everything looks, sounds, or behaves 100% as it would in the original Alien Breed 3D.

Also, when designing the maps I use PrBOOM Plus in GL mode, so when you play this in BOOM on a real Amiga you will probably notice that the lighting is horribly low. This will be resolved in the future, so in the mean time it is preferred that you test this with PrBOOM Plus in GL mode or in Hi-Res software mode otherwise you more than likely will not be able to see a thing once you enter the building.


Changed:

ABout 70% of the textures from map01 are present, though I would still like to do a bit of tweaking to the palette. In some cases I could not find the original texture in the AB3DII sources on Aminet, so I created a replacement, or am using temporary textures as a filler.

Some of the audio has been included, though as you will notice, some samples have a "popping" sound when they play. I have no idea why this is as the popping sound is not present in the originals, but hopefully I'll be able to work that out over time.

I have created and added a few new frames to the Red Alien, this way when he attacks his mouth will actually move up and down. Also when he dies there are a few additional death frames, though at the moment the frames change at such a rate that you probably will not notice them right now.



I am not finished with the Barrels, but as you should be able to see, I am trying to mimick the behavior of the barrel explosions from AB3D in that they go through a total of three explosions as opposed to the single explosion in standard DOOM.



As you will notice, BOOM does not support floor transparency, so you are not able to see what is beneath or above water, though when you enter the water you will notice that the physics do change to emulate the feeling of being under water. Later on I will work on the color map so that everything will appear blue when under water as well.



3D platforms have yet to be added, but they should be fully doable.


There is probably more I should note here, but at the moment I am again having a brain fart....

MUST SLEEP!!!!!!


You can find PrBOOM Plus here:

http://prboom-plus.sourceforge.net/

Though sadly, we do not have it for any of the next gen Amiga OS's yet. Though I do know that BSzili has been working towards getting that and or Odamex working on AROS, so we should be able to enjoy this on there soon enough!!! :)
Earth has a lot of things other folks might want... like the whole planet. And maybe these folks would like a few changes made, like more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and room for their way of life. - William S. Burroughs
 

Offline Karlos

  • Sockologist
  • Global Moderator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Join Date: Nov 2002
  • Posts: 16866
  • Country: gb
  • Thanked: 4 times
    • Show only replies by Karlos
Re: Alien Breed TC for BOOM based DOOM Engines & Such.
« Reply #11 on: June 08, 2012, 09:00:03 PM »
Quote from: XDelusion;695543
I was hoping that I would have a small demo to upload, or a video, but at the last minute I ran into a few issues, so it's going to be a day or two longer (fingers crossed).

For what ever reason, despite the fact that I have been through the source files of AB3D II a million times, there are a couple textures I've yet to locate, and I'm finding it utterly difficult to track down all the sounds.


I'm sure I have all the game assets somewhere and several I created for my AB3D2 mod.

Quote

I found scores of them, but ironically NOTHING for that Red Alien that shows up at the very beginning of both AB3D games. Irony of ironies!!!


Definitely got that guy, I remember trying to create a lightmapped version of him for the AB3D2 engine but he almost always ended up looking black with the odd specular highlight.
int p; // A
 

Offline Havie

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Join Date: Mar 2012
  • Posts: 101
    • Show only replies by Havie
Re: Alien Breed TC for BOOM based DOOM Engines & Such.
« Reply #12 on: June 08, 2012, 09:20:38 PM »
I'm obviously being stupid but how does the wad work with prboom?  I select AB3D wad from the menu but when I play the game I still start on the normal doom map. Help!
 

Offline XDelusionTopic starter

  • Alien Breeder
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Join Date: Mar 2002
  • Posts: 5089
    • Show only replies by XDelusion
    • http://starwarslegacy.net/
Re: Alien Breed TC for BOOM based DOOM Engines & Such.
« Reply #13 on: June 08, 2012, 09:55:18 PM »
Quote from: Karlos;695739
I'm sure I have all the game assets somewhere and several I created for my AB3D2 mod.



Definitely got that guy, I remember trying to create a lightmapped version of him for the AB3D2 engine but he almost always ended up looking black with the odd specular highlight.



I got the red alien, I was just missing a couple minor bits and pieces for him as well as a couple textures. Nothing I can't recreate by hand I don't think, though I would be happy to have a look at your resources should you decide to upload them! :)

P.S. look at my post above your lat post. I've uploaded a demo.
Earth has a lot of things other folks might want... like the whole planet. And maybe these folks would like a few changes made, like more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and room for their way of life. - William S. Burroughs
 

Offline XDelusionTopic starter

  • Alien Breeder
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Join Date: Mar 2002
  • Posts: 5089
    • Show only replies by XDelusion
    • http://starwarslegacy.net/
Re: Alien Breed TC for BOOM based DOOM Engines & Such.
« Reply #14 on: June 08, 2012, 09:56:35 PM »
Quote from: Havie;695747
I'm obviously being stupid but how does the wad work with prboom?  I select AB3D wad from the menu but when I play the game I still start on the normal doom map. Help!


Put all three WAD files in the same directory as your BOOM executable.

Right click on the BOOM icon, and add in the WAD files through there.

Scroll down and you'll see what you need to do.

P.S. I forgot to include the separate BEX file for BOOM. Rather I injected it into the AB3D.WAD file as that's how PRBOOM Plus handles them. I'll upload the BEX shortly.
Earth has a lot of things other folks might want... like the whole planet. And maybe these folks would like a few changes made, like more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and room for their way of life. - William S. Burroughs