Elementalism, an ambitious new GZDoom mapset. Phase 1 out now!

[NeptunesTyrant]

Holy Crap does Antediluvian's Wall look amazing.

 

 How did you do those trees and rocks, are they 3d Models?

[Bauul]

3 hours ago, NeptunesTyrant said:

How did you do those trees and rocks, are they 3d Models?

 

Thanks! The trees are 3D models, while the rocks are vertex-slopes (a UDMF feature for triangular sectors).

[Bauul]

Update: October 27th 2018

 

Back in October last year, GZDoom v3.2.0 introduced 'per pixel lighting' for models, meaning different parts of a model could be lit separately, compared to all-at-once like with sprites.  This meant that, for the first time, models could be used as stand-ins for proper level geometry (albeit without collision detection), opening up a possibility of vastly more interesting shapes and constructs than Sectors and Linedefs would allow, at less computational cost as well.

 

Unfortunately for the Elementalism team, we lacked any kind of real modeling skill, so we've been limited to simple shapes or pre-fabs.  That is, until now.

 

We are exceptionally pleased to announce that model-maestro @Clay has joined the team.  He's an absolute beast at Blender, and not only has already hugely improved many of the models we were already using, but has begun churning out some amazing dedicated props for us to use.  It's still early days, but we're hugely excited to begin fully utilizing models (including the recent .obj support) in our maps.

 

Some of his contributions so far:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We can't wait to show you more of what Clay comes up with!

 

 

Across the rest of the team, @Bridgeburner56 is continuing work on his intricate Dark episode map, which already seems to feature more linedefs than some entire IWADs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

@Remmirath has been mostly focusing on his new job after graduating, but has found a little time to work on his mammoth Fire map. It's become so big we've promoted it to the final non-boss map of the episode!

 

 

 

 

Meanwhile, @Dreadopp and @Phade102 have both begun working on the Egyptian themed Water episode, where ancient water-logged temples give way to strange discoveries and other-worldly secrets.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And finally, I'm continuing work on my creepy Dark episode tech-base map, which now sees the introduction of a viscous new enemy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Happy Halloween everyone!

Edited October 27, 2018 by Bauul

[Firedust]

Holy carp. I hope my computer will be able to run this.

[Tango]

the progress here looks stellar :D the models look a slight bit out of place to me, and I think it's because their textures seem like they're at a higher resolution than the surrounding textures. the fourth shot from the top, with the skull lantern and the chains, is maybe the best example. the contrast in resolution between those chains and the model is really stark to me. I can't tell exactly what scale that scene is at - I don't know if the chains are large or whether the cog is small - but it seems like the resolution of the models is a few steps ahead of their surroundings in terms of resolution. that aside, everything still looks excellent, including and especially the models

[Teder]

SUPERB! Love that violets and those red tech pillars. All screenshots look great.

[Bauul]

7 minutes ago, Tango said:

I think it's because their textures seem like they're at a higher resolution than the surrounding textures

 

You're spot on, they are much higher.  This is because in some cases the models are scaled really big, so it was to avoid giant pixels on those.  Down the line, the plan is to produce a lower resolution version of the skins for these smaller examples of the models, so in the final release they won't look out-of-place.

[Tango]

aha I see. very cool, glad to hear :)

[elend]

This looks absolutely amazing. The models fit in rather well I must say and I am especially surprised how coherent everything looks, even though the themes are wildly different. Great work, this will be an amazing map set.

[ReaperAA]

Too much beautiful detail. I wonder my PC will be able to handle this.

 

(In near future: My PC has stopped responding)

[Kristian Nebula]

Damn these look amazing! :D Mind-bendingly beautiful stuff!

[pulkmees]

Yup, definitely won't be able to play this. Also the way this is hyped up now feels like I'm gonna be disappointed no matter what.

[snapshot]

Can you go through the holes in those Gears? or is there an invisible barrier, cause that would be awkward.

Edited October 28, 2018 by tempdecal.wad

[Marlamir]

"polk" Holy shit this is stunning. Now i feel Ashamed of my mapping skills :)

[Bauul]

16 hours ago, Firedust said:

I hope my computer will be able to run this.

 

9 hours ago, ReaperAA said:

I wonder my PC will be able to handle this.

 

1 hour ago, pulkmees said:

Yup, definitely won't be able to play this. 

 

On the subject of system requirements: one of the main aims of the wad is to really push the capabilities of GZDoom, so to really get the best out of the mapset you are going to need at least a remotely modern PC.

 

That being said though, we do want as many people to be able to play it as possible. If it runs like a slideshow for most people, what's the point? So we're paying a lot of attention to optimizing the maps wherever we can, including rebuilding entire areas if there are efficiencies to be gained.

 

We're taking this very seriously, and while yes it will never run as smoothly as a vanilla mapset, rest assured that on release even the most visually advanced maps will be running as efficiently and as optimized as we could possibly manage. 

[pulkmees]

That's a lot of effort for something that's free though. Also this kinda needs to be a full on TC at this point ? It's too detailed and colorful to be just a doom mod no ?

 

(I'm also lowkey kind of annoyed that this is being made as now I'm super disheartened of continuing work on my own wad. At least if it was a TC it wouldn't be a doom wad any more.)

Edited October 28, 2018 by pulkmees
added a word

[Loud Silence]

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Edited October 28, 2018 by Rimantas

[Misty]

6 minutes ago, Rimantas said:

Not everyone can use that weird gzDoom.

It sounds, like you're quite upset that people dare to use gzdoom for project like this one. 

[leodoom85]

11 minutes ago, Rimantas said:

Not everyone can use that weird gzDoom.

Hey, didn't know that gzDoom was another fork of GZDoom :P

In a serious note, the mappers are doing everything as possible to optimize the maps to the point that the players can enjoy without suffering extremely low framerate. 
Also, don't forget that there are 2 builds of the same port, one that supports OpenGL 3.3 and above and the vintage build that supports OpenGL 2.0...up to you to choose your intended build :)

Edited October 28, 2018 by leodoom85

[bioshockfan90]

This looks incredible! I've been talking about this for years, that if there were a singular example to hold up, to prove that UDMF-format mapping can yield fantastic results, this would be it. I'm very excited to be playing this whenever it releases. Kudos to the team for putting in a huge amount of work into this, it really shows! :)

[MFG38]

Looking just as awesome as always!

[seed]

1 hour ago, Bauul said:

you are going to need at least a remotely modern PC.

 

Noice, can't wait to play those maps rather than just stare at impressive, gorgeous gifs.

[Loud Silence]

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Edited October 28, 2018 by Rimantas

[leodoom85]

I have a laptop that just contains OGL 3.3 and has specs equal to a 7-year old PC and I still have some low framerate here and there. Not gonna say that you'll invest money to get a better PC but, you'll lose quite the beast of mapset I tell you. o/

[Phade102]

53 minutes ago, Rimantas said:

What about 1.5? :) I use very old, perfectly working XP laptop, it can run 2006 year games nicely. Since i don't play newer games, i'm not going to waste money for another PC just because some overdid port for 1993 year game requires it.

 

Elementalism is only one of the very few wads that will require advanced features (at the moment) so dont worry, there will be a lot of other amazing doom wads you can play =) I'm sure there will be plenty of videos put up and such of the levels once the wad has been out for a while!

 

But I understand that you're frustrated that you wont be able to play elementalism. sadly, for the scope of the project the team is thinking of, it does require those advanced features.

[jazzmaster9]

 

This project looks amazing. But damn 32 levels? Ambitious for sure :)

Good luck on this guys.

1 hour ago, Rimantas said:

What about 1.5? :) I use very old, perfectly working XP laptop, it can run 2006 year games nicely. Since i don't play newer games, i'm not going to waste money for another PC just because some overdid port for 1993 year game requires it.

 

Well this "overdid port" is pretty much its own version of Doom and gave us "Winters Fury" and "Blade of Agony".

We wouldnt have those if GZDoom stuck itself in the 1990s buddy.

 

[Loud Silence]

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Edited October 28, 2018 by Rimantas

[Novaseer]

insert self-entitled GTX 1060 comment here

 

In all seriousness, this is looking fantastic! I hope it works well enough with good ol' Russian Overkill...

[Aquila Chrysaetos]

2 hours ago, Rimantas said:

Not everyone can use that weird gzDoom.

 

1 hour ago, Rimantas said:

What about 1.5? :) I use very old, perfectly working XP laptop, it can run 2006 year games nicely. Since i don't play newer games, i'm not going to waste money for another PC just because some overdid port for 1993 year game requires it.

 

11 minutes ago, Rimantas said:

Maybe it's just me, but i love the Doom, not some kind of version that looks like different game.

I have this crazy idea: don't play the wad when it's released. Problem solved.

People are going to make what they want. You have no right to tell them to make it to your requirements.

[Loud Silence]

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Edited October 28, 2018 by Rimantas