[NOW ON IDGAMES] OPal: An Experimental Palette for Doom 1/2

[DiR]

VERSION 2: ELECTRIC BLUE-GALOO (IDGAMES RELEASE!)

 

This is a palette inspired by the compressed and depressed hues of Silent Hill's otherworld, but not nearly as dark. Instead of making certain colours more muted, I added different shades to certain colours to help them stand out more in textures where they would otherwise wouldn't causing grungy clumps of cool and warm colours that give a noisy, distressed look without looking too much like it was deep-fried in contrast and saturation.

 

I find that it suits hell-themed environments, or warm environments in general (Try it out with "Doom II In Spain Only") Of course it may look funny with techbases but who knows? It's an experimental palette after all so who am I to tell you what you can or can't use it with.

 

Features:

- Higher contrast for that fake HDR look (mileage may vary)

- Contrast between warm and cool colours add additional colour contrast for extra grit

- New golden invulnerability palette to prevent power blindness

 

(NEW!) Features Added in v2:

- Brand-new shades of blue, the blues have been made lighter and shifted from a dark indigo colour to a lighter cyan shade

- New palettes for pain, item pickup, and radsuit effects, available in Migraine Maroon, Yucca Yellow, and Geiger Green

 

Screenshots: (Taken in GZDoom's OpenGL Software Renderer + Dynamic Lights) - All levels from AUGER;ZENITH to showcase new blues

Spoiler

Old Screenshots: (Taken in GZDoom's OpenGL Software Renderer + Dynamic Lights)

Spoiler

 

Screen Effects Preview (PrBoom+ since GZDoom doesn't use the palette's screen effect colours)

Note: No screenshots of the pickup flash, I couldn't hit printscreen fast enough :P

Spoiler

 

Palette Demonstration Video (Thanks @segfault!)

 

 

Known/Potential Issues:

- Of course, when you use it in a WAD that already has a custom palette it may not be 100% compatible

- Since the added contrast makes things a smidge darker, you may want to turn up your brightness

 

Planned Features: [ALL DONE!]

- Improved painstate palettes to avoid being blinded by damage

- An idgames release once everything's in order

 

Credits:

Sigvatr for making PalPlus, which I drew inspiration from

ReaperAA for making ColdPal, which I also drew inspiration from
Special thanks to all those on the editing questions subforum who answered my dumb questions about how to use the image tools in SLADE.

 

Download:

Download from /idgames

 

Direct Downloads:

Spoiler

OPal-v2.zip

OPal-v1.zip (Old)

 

Edited October 7, 2022 by DiR
Update for idgames release

[MFG38]

I'm digging the look of this from the screenshots - has a subtle horror vibe to it. Almost inspiring me to make a map(set) that makes use of this.

Edited September 4, 2022 by MFG38

[egghead07]

It's a .wad file so will it conflict with a level .wad 

[DiR]

Just now, egghead07 said:

It's a .wad file so will it conflict with a level .wad 

The file itself only contains a PLAYPAL and a COLORMAP lump (and that PP lump is just the old PLAYPAL that I left in) so if you put it after your map of choice in the load order it should be fine unless the mapset already has a palette that it needs to work properly.

[russin]

Idk, but it looks like palette from ion fury. Love this

[Mr Masker]

Wow this is a very interesting way of playing Doom. Is this pallete mod thing a common thing? This is the first I've seen and I'm intrigued.

[indigotyrian]

8 minutes ago, Mr Masker said:

Wow this is a very interesting way of playing Doom. Is this pallete mod thing a common thing? This is the first I've seen and I'm intrigued.

 

A lot of Doom wads, particularly one with more levels like to modify the palette, but not many Doom mods out there just tweak the palette. It's pretty cool IMO.

 

I really like this! I think the biggest, most noticeable thing this palette does is that it makes the browns much warmer and crisper -- I'd go so far as to call the brown range downright [Mortal Kombat Dan Forden voice] toasty! My one complaint is that the blue range is quite dark, which can muddy out a lot of details in blue textures and also makes the soulsphere too dark imo. Still, quite fantastic.

 

I threw together a quick lil video showing off some levels with OPal. Played in Doom Retro v4.6.2.

 

 

Maps featured:

 

Hellbound MAP01 (You can really see how the browns pop here, especially against the brick!)

Ad Mortem MAP01 (A decidedly warmer take on Ad Mortem's normally cool palette, though this does show OPal's weak blues.)

Rowdy Rudy 2: Powertrip MAP02 (Techbases don't really suffer all that much, and the great browns make the earth feel earthier.)

DBP50: Emerald City MAP03 (Emerald City's palette normally has a greenish tint but OPal gives the WAD a morning glow feeling.)

Eviternity MAP02 (Removing the Eviterniteal from Eviternity might be a sin but I had to see what OPal looks like on OTEX.)

[Thelokk]

As soon as I saw this palette, I immediately thought E4 - and, as expected, it looks spectacular:

 

 

[DiR]

7 hours ago, segfault said:

I really like this! I think the biggest, most noticeable thing this palette does is that it makes the browns much warmer and crisper -- I'd go so far as to call the brown range downright [Mortal Kombat Dan Forden voice] toasty! My one complaint is that the blue range is quite dark, which can muddy out a lot of details in blue textures and also makes the soulsphere too dark imo. Still, quite fantastic.

Thanks for the showcase! I do agree that the blues need a little more work, I'm going to tweak that colour range some more and hopefully have an improved version 2. Glad to hear you liked it!

[DiR]

14 hours ago, segfault said:

 

 

I forgot to ask last time, but can I use your video as the palette preview on the main post itself? While it's an old version it shows about 90% of what the palette is all about.

[DiR]

OPal has been updated to version 2, you can find the download link over on main post or get it right here ---> OPal-v2.zip

[Gez]

15 hours ago, Mr Masker said:

Is this pallete mod thing a common thing? This is the first I've seen and I'm intrigued.

The OP listed both PalPlus and ColdPal as sources of inspiration, so... it's not a new thing.

 

There have been maybe a dozen of generic palette mods (mods that only contain a palette and colormap). It's less common than mods that come with their own palette but it exists.

 

[indigotyrian]

8 hours ago, DiR said:

I forgot to ask last time, but can I use your video as the palette preview on the main post itself? While it's an old version it shows about 90% of what the palette is all about.

 

I can do you one better. Here's a v2 showcase! (Currently uploading as I write this so it might not be available right now.)

 

 

 

Maps Featured:

Hellbound MAP02 (Hellbound's heavy use of brown brick and wood textures early on really shines here.)

Ad Mortem MAP02 (OPal's warmer take on the colors transforms Ad Mortem from "spoopy" to "harrowing")

Rowdy Rudy 2: Powertrip MAP03 (WADs that target vanilla-like aesthetics benefit greatly from OPal as brown features prominently as a neutral color.)

DBP50: Emerald City MAP06 (I mentioned this in the last video but Emerald City with OPal's warmer tone has a distinct "golden hour" feel to it.)

Eviternity MAP04 (The improved blues in OPal V2 really shine here.)

Valiant MAP02 + Vesper (I wanted to see how OPal's new blues work with Vesper, a mod that features blue so prominently that it comes with its own palette replacement with a boosted, BTSX-like blue. Here it looks just as sharp and electric.)

Epic 2 MAP01 (Just a straight upgrade here, as the prominent tans of Egyptian aesthetics really get to pop here. Everything feels brighter and punchier.)

DBP37: Auger;Zenith MAP03 (I consider A;Z a sort of "worst case" for OPal because of its focus on neon colors over earth tones. It's not that much different from the palette it comes with, but it's not bad!)

DBP29: Morbid Autumn MAP01 (Ending this out with a WAD that I think benefits the most from the kind of atmosphere this palette brings. OPal and Morbid Autumn go together like a pinky demon and a super shotgun blast.)

[Thelokk]

For NaNoWadMo I'm working on a large map developed specifically for use with this palette. Will update with a few shots when I'm done with architecture.

[Redneckerz]

Looks absolutely stunning. Wonderful achievement and a great poster child for anyone else that wants to make a palette. This is how you do that.

[Bri]

I built a map using this palette:

It's really fun to work with. Great work. :)

[Dusty_Rhodes]

On 9/4/2022 at 11:25 AM, Mr Masker said:

Wow this is a very interesting way of playing Doom. Is this pallete mod thing a common thing? This is the first I've seen and I'm intrigued.

@Marn has some very cool stand alone palettes. Check his wiki page.

[Thelokk]

Loving to play around with this palette. While my first reaction was "WOOOOOOOOOOD", it actually does wonders in breathing new life into IWAD metal textures - so rusty and weathered looking. 

 

Edited September 8, 2022 by Thelokk

[Codename_Delta]

I love this thing already, it's like someone put an evening filter on doom, got some really nice screenies too.

 

 

The reason why some are in choco and some are in nugget is because Choco crashed when it tried to save DOOM100 and then I guess it can't go past DOOM99.

 

 

The ones in choco were taken first.

 

 

 

[DiR]

OPal is now available for download from IDGames! You can check the main post for the link or get it from here.

[Codename_Delta]

6 hours ago, DiR said:

OPal is now available for download from IDGames! You can check the main post for the link or get it from here.

It's been there for weeks :P

[RataUnderground]

Love this palette, its warm and harmonious, thank you! 👍

[DiR]

On 10/7/2022 at 3:18 PM, Codename_Delta said:

It's been there for weeks :P

I'm gonna be honest, I submitted it to IDGames and then got busy. Weeks passed and I just remembered about it haha