BOOMcool.wad: Voodoo Doll Showcase | Boom Compatible Combination Lock, Rocket Triggered Destructable Wall & Vending Machine

[Grimosaur]

Here's a showcase of some cool boom-compatible stuff I've made with voodoo dolls.

 

Tested and working in PrBoom+ and Eternity. Doesn't work in GZDoom because of the alternate collision code.

 

This wad contains 6 maps: demonstrations of a boom compatible combination lock, rocket wall, vending machine and inbetween maps showing the inner-workings of each.

 

Details for each and how they can be used in maps-

Combination Lock:

Spoiler

• The digits of the randomised code can be shown to the player in different places across the whole map, maybe individually in secrets which can then be used to open a super secret area using the assembled code.
• The lock has the potential to have multiple codes open up different things, so perhaps as you progress through a map you can be given more and more codes which you can enter into the lock to be given extra ammo or powerups.
• The individual digit switchers can be blocked off by key doors, so as the player progresses through a level they can slowly be able to enter more and more codes which had been revealed to them earlier depending on the keys they have (as those codes would have some zeros in them).
• It can be used as a gimmick in a combat encounter, where as the player fights off hordes of enemies they have to constantly be entering in codes at the same time to keep their ammo and health supply up. That could also add a random difficulty setting to that fight, as the randomised codes can either be really low or high numbers.

 

You're able to spam every button as fast as you can and it >should< never break.

The code doesn't have to be randomised, you can create your own code by just pre-raising the walls inside the alcoves which the voodoo dolls slide into.

Even if you don't use the combination lock itself, you can still use a simplified version of the random code giver to randomise certain aspects of your level. Perhaps depending on the timing you press a switch or walk over a hidden line, alternate paths can open up to different parts of the level, adding a ton of replay value to a single level. Maybe an ultra secret area can open up if you walk over a hidden w1 line at the exact right moment just for the one player who happens to walk over at the right time. Or maybe it could add additional cyberdemons to a fight JUST for them... ah, maybe that's too mean.

Rocket Wall:

Spoiler

• Can completely change how the player uses their rockets as they are now essentialy extra keys which can be used to gain access to bonus rooms. Highly encourages the player to use them much more sparingly.
• Can be used in series at the end of a hard combat encounter as a bonus for players who saved their rockets. Maybe a super secret area at the very end for players who didn't use a single rocket in the encounter?
• Can be used to hide Binding of Isaac style secret rooms or shortcuts to later parts of the level.
• Can be completely hidden with no visual indication just to give that one player a "HOLY SHIT" moment as they discover a super secret area that likely only they have found just because they happened to fire a rocket in that spot.

Vending Machine:

Spoiler

• Like the rocket wall, completely changes how the player values their rockets.
• Rockets now become a currency which can be used to exchange for powerups or keys to additional areas.
• Depending on the players condition, they may choose to exchange much of their rocket ammo for health, while healthier players get to use their rockets more for combat.

 

It doesn't really function like a vending machine, I just don't know what else to call it. It actually functions more like the donation machine from Binding of Isaac than a vending machine. I do have an idea of how to get it to function exactly like a vending machine, I just decided to keep it simple with you progressively gaining powerups as you pump in more and more rockets as opposed to purchasing your powerup and seeing your rocket-balance go down. It is possible, it would just be more for looks than for pure function in a level.

This is essentialy just a reloadable rocket wall which keeps track of how many rockets you have fired at it.

 

Download: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mLFiffTagfL9NGX2SjfVSVx0Fut6FgsH/view?usp=sharing

 

Edited October 19, 2023 by Grimosaur

[TheNoob_Gamer]

Saw this (the combination lock) in the Doom Pictures Thread a while back. Although a bit janky to do, it is a really impressive showcase of insane tricks you can pull off in Boom!

 

[Nikku4211]

I tried this in the original DOS Boom, and it gave me a Segmentation Violation and then crashed.

 

Played this in PrBoom+ 2.6.

 

I like the tricks used here.

 

[Danlex]

Wow, this is amazing, I always love to see crazy stuff like this done in boom format

[Walter confetti]

Very interesting!

[Nine Inch Heels]

I think I will look into a couple of these in the next few days, because this is usually in the ballpark of what I am interested in...

 

I've taken a gander at map01 in the builder already, and on first glance it does look more complicated than it might need to be in order to facilitate the desired effect. I'm not quite sure how I would go about building a 0000-9999 lock yet, but I am confident that the setup you use can be trimmed and tuned to be more "intuitive" for people who would want a prefab they could then use in their maps in the future. Also it might be possible to come up with a system that will also work in GZDoom for most, if not all, these samples you've provided, but obviously I can't guarantee that at this point in time.

Edited August 22, 2021 by Nine Inch Heels

[Grimosaur]

1 hour ago, Nine Inch Heels said:

I've taken a gander at map01 in the builder already, and on first glance it does look more complicated than it might need to be in order to facilitate the desired effect.

 

Yeah, the combination lock is definitely the one that's most cobbled together. I just stuck with the first method that came into my head without bothering to try anything else that may have been better. Like, I definitely didn't need to do it with ultra-precise instantly lowering and raising floors to set the digits.

I did try something like this before, using just a simple 'floor raise to next higher floor' but the voodoo doll would just run up all the walls because the conveyor speed was too high, so I just went back to instantly raising floors without bothering to fix it. I think this would be the simplest way to go though.

The dolls which limit the speed you hit the switch could also be made simpler by just using a low ceiling and raising and lowering the floor by 1 unit to stop the doll instead of the needlessly complex pillars.

The whole thing can be downsized by a LOT as well.

 

On the other hand the destructable wall and vending machine are I think about as optimised as they can be. Though, there must be an easier way to reload the wall with a barrel for the vending machine. Only way I could think of to move them all but then cancel their momentum was to use tons of teleporters, but maybe it can be done with that same 'floor raise to next higher floor' idea in the image, just with a barrel between each step.

The voodoo dolls which collect the powerups could also be done with just one voodoo doll, I just decided to use a doll for each powerup because there were too many to fit around a single sector all at different floor values, they would all just jump up to the next one.

 

Ah, hang on, why don't I just do it like this?

I am stoopit, this would work perfectly wouldn't it?

Edited August 22, 2021 by Grimosaur

[Nine Inch Heels]

I think, and again this is mostly on a hunch, that your combination lock has way more components to it than it actually needs to... When you build something as complex, then I would argue the best course of action before trying to actually make anything work is to take some time to consider which functions you would actually need at a bare minimum, and stick to that bare minimum about as closely as you possibly can... The problem with that is, of course, that sometimes while building you may realize you need some additional function you might not have anticipated...

 

But sure, let's do some "guesswork":

 

Let's say you wanted a 4 digit combination lock, you'll want one conveyor with 4 barriers right next to each other in it, with a finish line each that can only be reached if you enter the correct combination. Rather than simulating the correct number with 4 additional rather lengthy conveyors that would then open the barriers, you could perhaps instead employ control sectors with very specific floor and ceiling heights to simulate roughly how keys work in real life and make the corresponding checks with a very short, and therefore much more responsive looping conveyor... But as I said, I didn't really think much about this yet, I'll try and come up with something tomorrow after work, and if I can manage to simplify this enough, and maybe also get some of the other stuff to work in GZDoom for example, then it might be a good idea to publish the polished results in the editing tutorials section with a more comprehensive explanation of all the moving parts, so that other people can actually understand how everything works, instead of getting confused by the sheer number of components, if you know what I mean...

[Grimosaur]

15 minutes ago, Nine Inch Heels said:

Let's say you wanted a 4 digit combination lock, you'll want one conveyor with 4 barriers right next to each other in it, with a finish line each that can only be reached if you enter the correct combination. Rather than simulating the correct number with 4 additional rather lengthy conveyors that would then open the barriers, you could perhaps instead employ control sectors with very specific floor and ceiling heights to simulate roughly how keys work in real life and make the corresponding checks with a very short, and therefore much more responsive looping conveyor...

 

Ah, I can already visualise how much simpler that is... I really only began making this as a challenge for myself to further my voodoo doll skills. It was only after I finished the maps that I thought I might as well release them and let anyone use them in their own maps so I'm not keeping them for myself. But of course if you're gonna do that you wouldn't want to make them absolutely hulking monstrosities that only you can understand... and you wouldn't want to just flat-out tell people to copy-paste the whole thing because you can't be bothered making a tutorial... uhh... uhhhhh... yeeeaaah...

 

Also, I figured out why the other maps break in GZDoom. It was just because the 'scroll floor when sector changes height' conveyor wasn't given enough time to raise to let the doll pass over the lines, so now the destructable wall is fully GZDoom compatible. Vending machine still breaks though, but it's definitely in need of a redo as well, it's got some pretty unnecessarily precise timings just like the combination lock. I won't update the download, these are much better off being tutorials anyway. Though you would be better writing them than me, you definitely know your stuff a lot better than I do.

[Nine Inch Heels]

Thinking on it some more... I suppose the challenge in constructing a copy and paste prefab people can adjust to any combination they would want, would then be to build it such that making said adjustments can be made without breaking anything within the setup in the process... So, this should be an interesting problem to solve...

Edited August 23, 2021 by Nine Inch Heels