Why exactly Steam doesn't allow the contextual menus with gzDoom?

[mankubus]

I want to make a retro fps game and publish it on steam using gzDoom as the engine so I don't need to learn unity and complicate things x100 times, but the thing is, I was told that if you use gzDoom then you don't get these contextual menus from multiplayer:

 

 

 

This is a big problem since I want people to easily create a lobby and join all within Steam seamlessly. So I don't know what to do. Is there a way to get around this or do I really have to learn Unity only to get this feature?

[ZeroTheEro]

That's because GZDoom isn't integrated into Steam. Pretty sure you'd have to make a fork of GZDoom that would allow such things.

[TheMightyHeracross]

You can't make a fork with such things because the GPL license doesn't let you link to the proprietary Steamworks API. The Forestale's dev ran into this very problem. You're pretty much SOL in this respect.

[ZeroTheEro]

Welp, time for you to use Unity then

[mankubus]

1 hour ago, ZeroTheEro said:

Welp, time for you to use Unity then

 

But I can't code. Is there a 2.5d fps template where I just have to replace the sprites with my own artwork and sightly tweak AI behaviour for monsters or something? (similar to ACS or modifying .con files in Duke3d).

Edited July 1, 2021 by mankubus

[ZeroTheEro]

I am not sure of such things, tbh.

[Edward850]

6 hours ago, mankubus said:

But I can't code.

Well then you are in for a problem no matter where you turn. Those context menus aren't something you simply "enable", they require explicit status's to be communicated to the Steam client so it even knows that there's something to present, or even how to use them.

 

Steam can't just magically show a join game option it needs to know there is a game to join and how to join it. Then it needs to have something to pass that information into, and then the game itself needs to handle being passed a bunch of connection information from Steam and how to use that. And if you wanted to use GZDoom for the task then you would have to spend a lot of time rewriting it's netcode because its existing one sure as shit can't support a join game option just at any time, both for the host and the client.

 

None of this is stuff you get "for free". It can't just be handed to you.

Edited July 1, 2021 by Edward850

[Xeebleton]

you either learn unity or leave it as-is. it isnt even that big of a feature anyway, so dont let that stop you from making a game and publishing it to the world!

[mankubus]

On 7/1/2021 at 10:50 PM, DoodlesYT said:

you either learn unity or leave it as-is. it isnt even that big of a feature anyway, so dont let that stop you from making a game and publishing it to the world!

 

Yeah but I believe multiplayer is a big part of a fps game to keep it alive because once people finish the single player they no longer play. But with a good coop and dm community there can still be players, and without the context menu the extra effort it would take to play would drive people away from doing so. I'll have to decide if I want to learn unity or make a mostly single player gzdoom game then.

Edited July 3, 2021 by mankubus

[Nevander]

On 7/3/2021 at 8:37 AM, mankubus said:

Yeah but I believe multiplayer is a big part of a fps game to keep it alive because once people finish the single player they no longer play.

Bold assumption there. I for one often only continue to play a game because of good single player. A fantastic single player experience is far more important to many people than some context menu options for a multiplayer that might not even be that good.

[mankubus]

1 hour ago, Nevander said:

Bold assumption there. I for one often only continue to play a game because of good single player. A fantastic single player experience is far more important to many people than some context menu options for a multiplayer that might not even be that good.

 

Yeah but it sure helps. For instance I think Duke3d has way less people making maps comapred to Doom because it has no multiplayer.

[Murdoch]

10 minutes ago, mankubus said:

 

Yeah but it sure helps. For instance I think Duke3d has way less people making maps comapred to Doom because it has no multiplayer.

 

Duke has multiplayer. I have no idea if there's any player base anymore but it definitely has it. Also, the majority of new Doom content is single player. So your argument really does not hold up to logic in that regard. Yes, multiplayer can add value but I think you are vastly overreaching here anyway. Your odds of creating a game as a single developer that has enough of an impact to justify the multiplayer is pretty close to nil. And if you have no coding ability then that will hold you back.

 

I do not want to discourage you but you do need to be realistic. Be ambitious, yes, but do not try to sprint before you can crawl. Have you released any maps at all? If not, do that first. Hone your craft. Get feedback, and build from there.

[mankubus]

10 minutes ago, Murdoch said:

 

Duke has multiplayer. I have no idea if there's any player base anymore but it definitely has it. Also, the majority of new Doom content is single player. So your argument really does not hold up to logic in that regard. Yes, multiplayer can add value but I think you are vastly overreaching here anyway. Your odds of creating a game as a single developer that has enough of an impact to justify the multiplayer is pretty close to nil. And if you have no coding ability then that will hold you back.

 

I do not want to discourage you but you do need to be realistic. Be ambitious, yes, but do not try to sprint before you can crawl. Have you released any maps at all? If not, do that first. Hone your craft. Get feedback, and build from there.

I have been making maps since the early 2000's mostly for duke and doom, I also have experience in sound production. I can learn how to make 3d models and turn them into sprites. The problem is mostly coding but I can get around it if I have templates that I can modify.

 

I think you underrate have MP. The Duke3d MP sucks, it lags, there's no Doomseeker/zDaemon equivalent, no one plays because its bad. We saw a bit of a resurgence with Meltdown since COOP was playable and people released new maps on the workshop but then they replaced it for the 20th anniversary thing.

[Murdoch]

2 minutes ago, mankubus said:

I have been making maps since the early 2000's mostly for duke and doom, I also have experience in sound production. I can learn how to make 3d models and turn them into sprites. The problem is mostly coding but I can get around it if I have templates that I can modify.

 

I think you underrate have MP. The Duke3d MP sucks, it lags, there's no Doomseeker/zDaemon equivalent, no one plays because its bad. We saw a bit of a resurgence with Meltdown since COOP was playable and people released new maps on the workshop but then they replaced it for the 20th anniversary thing.

 

Ah, OK, good. Apologies, we are used to far less experienced people than yourself thinking they can come in and just bash out a game.