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Full Death Frames: All-Player Graphics
(AP.WAD)
clcoov0@mik.uky.edu
I can't believe how many requests I got for this...I might just
have to post it on cdrom.com or something cool like that :)
---Eh? (What is this?)---
This wad changes the marine death graphics from the annoying instant
spin death to a more physically possible flop. As a refresher, in Doom or
Doom 2 (or anything Doom-engined, those lazy iD people) when you kill
something, it will face you when it dies. While this is fine (sort of)
for single-player mode, it gets weird in multiplayer...try starting up
a network or serial game, then have both characters sit 90 degrees away
from an imp, then shoot it. The imp is (impossibly) facing both people
at once. Well, the same principle applies to EVERY monster in Doom (or
Doom2, or Heretic, or Hexen, man are they lazy...16 more sprites!)
---Uh? (Why bother?)---
Well, I logged quite a bit of deathmatch time some months back, and got
REALLY frustrated at not being able to blow the other guy onto his stomach,
or shoot him in the kidney, or anything remotely normal like that. I always
meant to make this wad, but usually got about 2 frames into it and said,
"Man, this is HARD!" and quit. About a month back, I felt like editing
some graphics pixel-by-pixel (don't ask why, I'm still not sure :) and stuck
with it and produced this wad, which I think is very good (for my standards).
By no means are the graphics great, but I didn't exactly have skill in
claymodeling, or a digital camera to scan them with even if I could make them.
So, I tried to capture the feel of iD graphics (and failing miserably in
some pics, but hey, if you don't like it, feel free to edit it and by all
means send me the changes!) and produced this.
---Hunh? (How in the world?)
Enough rambling, onto the technical aspects. This was done (as was
stated in many places, the DeuTex manual being the closest one at hand)
by removing the PLAYH0-PLAYN0 frames and replacing them with PLAYH1, PLAYH2H8
PLAYH3H7, PLAYH4H7, and PLAYH5, replacing the H's with whatever letter
corresponds to the frame (see Dehacked for more frame stuff). The theory
of this is that (in Doom-run games, anyway) every object can be viewed from
8 possible angles, as shown:
5
4 ____ | _____6
\ | /
3 ---------- Me --------- 7
____/ | \____
2/ | \8
1
So why say H2H8? Saying that makes Doom flip the H2 image around the y-axis
center and display it also for H8...saves space at the cost of making
some images ambidextrous :)
This was one of the first things discovered in sprite making, and the
task was always making the graphics...well, I attempted. If I knew
a good computer graphics maker, I would've conscripted them in a heartbeat.
If anyone wants to improve the gfx, PLEASE send me the changes, I want
better graphics more than anyone else....
---Ugh! (Installation)---
Sorry, but you have to modify your IWAD file. Thanks to some strange
idea that nobody would ever care enough about Doom to decode the WAD
format and replace graphics, and all that, iD made their sprites/flats
not readily expandable. Poo on them. (There are ways to do it short of
making a HUGE file, or editing your IWAD, but that's a dehacked patch...
always a touchy thing for multiplayer games)
I've tried to make this easy on you, the user.
Simply unpack the files into your doom directory and type:
APIN
Tada! That's it...if you decide you hate it too much (and feel like
shattering what little ego I have on my WAD attempts) then you can remove
it by typing:
AOUT
And if you're feeling really mean, you can burn the whole nine yards
from your directory by typing:
APDEL
---Mmmm? (You sure this won't crash?)---
This .WAD **SHOULDN'T** crash Doom, although Doom does some pretty funky
things when it wants to...I've run AP.WAD through at least 20 hours of
deathmatching so far, and not a single [unattributable] error has occurred.
---AHHH! (You killed my dog!)---
If using this WAD ruins your mood, misaligns the planets, or anything
really weird (seeing him fall forwards made you spill your piping hot
coffee onto your lap or something stupid like that :) then I will take
absolutely 0% of the responsibility: in other words USE AT YOUR OWN RISK
blah blah et cetera ad nauseum.
***ALWAYS KEEP A BACKUP OF YOUR ORIGINAL DOOM DISKS!!!!!***
---Whew! (Finally)---
Well, I don't have a big credits list, just ME, Olivier the Deutex author
(now obsolete thanks to WinTex, grrr, may the Gates be cursed unto the 20th
generation) and whoever made MVPPaint, the program used to make these fine
excuses for sprites...if you feel like suggesting something, reporting that
I have killed your dog <g> or just want to yap about Doom, Killer Instinct,
or Command & Conquer/WarCraft, feel free to email me and spout!
-Me
Geoff Coovert
clcoov0@mik.uky.edu
-Geo