[Boom/cl9+] Perquisite Strata X - A demo compatible port of PSX-esxclusive levels!

[Jakub Majewski]

Hello everyone, tonight I present you with Perquisite Strata X, or in layman's terms, a Boom compatible conversion of exclusive levels from Doom's PlayStation console port!

 

That's right, you can totally boot it up in Prboom+ UM, DSDA Doom and derivatives! Demo compatible! Should work on complevels 9 and up; if you set it to MBF compatible, you can change various physics settings to make it closer to how vanilla should feel.

 

Before proceeding however, keep in mind that this port is meant for Boom compatible ports, and will not include fancy gizmos like coloured lightning. If you want that, you should probably check out Doom: The Lost Episode and the Playstation Doom TC. What is included however, are plenty of things to replicate the feel of the original while staying true to the PC version of the game:

Spoiler

• Levels are directly converted from the contents of the original CD, and are now utilising the textures found in the Doom 2 IWAD. Missing textures were either ported, or recreated using Doom 2 assets.
• The PSX version handles lightning very differently from the DOS release, and as such sector brigthness varied extremely right after the conversion process. I performed adjustments so that it looks more or less like it did on the console.
• The music has been extracted from the LCD files on the original CD, and has been converted to Module Tracker songs. Sounds faithful, and saves space! CD Tracks use OGG though.
• The Hook sprite is included via a DEHACKED patch. The PSX version had different types of spectres, and as such I've included a translucent pinky and the Nightmare Demon from Eviternity to provide replacements.
• To accommodate coloured lightning, some textures were actually recoloured.
• Boom action specials are used to recreate scrolling and translucency effects.
• UMAPINFO and MUSINFO are utilised, and your port is expected to support them.
• The famous fire sky has been recreated by using a javascript canvas. Since extracting it via browser code resulted in messy results, I used Sharex to capture the screen instead. Results were not optimal, but they are good enough for now.
• Twilight Descends had some atrocious texturing issues, and I couldn't stand by without fixing them. Sorry, not sorry.
• I've thrown an ENDOOM graphic for the hell of it.

 

List of levels:

Spoiler

1. Hell Gate
2. Hell Keep
3. Twilight Descends
4. The Marshes (Secret)
5. Threshold of Pain
6. The Mansion
7. Club Doom (Secret)
8. Redemption Denied

 

Have some images:

Spoiler

 

And most importantly of all, the credits:

Spoiler

• id Software for the original game, Williams Entertainment for the port, American McGee for Hell Gate and Hell Keep, Randy Estrella for the Marshes, Tim Heydelaar for the Mansion, Aubrey Hodges for the music and Danny "Technoman" Lewis for the Club Doom song.
• Kaiser for making the PSXMake tool. Reposted here.
• I.C.H.I. Znot and Impboy4 for providing the music in MIDI format along with the soundfont for it.
• Roger Motzkus for the cover art. The M_Doom graphic uses the Saturn cover art instead.
• Fabien Sanglard for providing the code for generating the fire effect.
• The authors behind the Nightmare Demon sprites and sounds, from Eviternity, by Dragonfly et al.
• PsyDoom for making the game playable on PCs, so it could be used as a reference point.

Programs used:

Spoiler

• SLADE
• Ultimate Doom Builder
• Adobe Photoshop CC
• Audacity
• Whacked4
• OpenMPT
• PSXMake by Kaiser
• Playscii
• For the fire effect, a combo of Notepad++, Chrome, ShareX and VLC

 

Last but not least, here's the download link:

https://www.doomworld.com/idgames/levels/doom2/Ports/p-r/psxconvjm

 

Changelog:

Spoiler

28th May 2023 - Version 0.5:

• Before this version, you were able to collect the megasphere in Club Doom from the wrong side by using the ramming against a wall bug. Since you couldn't do that in the PSX version, I decided to fix it >:-3.

 

22nd May 2023 - Version 0.4:

• Fixed the Nightmare Spectres dropping an Imp sprite upon death in some ports.

 

30th April 2023 - Version 0.3:

• The blue key switch in Threshold of Pain is now easier to press, regarding the passing use thru linedefs bugs.
• Fixed some linedefs not being hidden in The Mansion as they should.

 

30th April 2023 - Version 0.2:

• Fixed the fact that Nightmare Spectres dropped Bullet pickups upon death.
• Fixed a texturing error in the crate room in Twilight Descends(took a little liberty).

 

24th April 2023 - Version 0.1:

• Initial release.

 

 

This is the first public release, so if you find any errors or problems, please make sure to notify me about them.

 

Have fun! Hope to see some demos soon enough!

Edited May 30, 2023 by Jakub Majewski
idgames release!

[Aeddes666]

Hello.
Awesome work!
No bugs, no misaligned textures, no pain.

Just smooth memories from my old PSX... Thanks!

Tested on GZDoom, UV.

 

Some videos:

 

 

 

[mancubian_candidate]

This looks awesome, will add to my list 😄

[Jakub Majewski]

Uploaded a new version! Fixed a texturing error in Twilight Descends, and now the Nightmare Spectres no longer drop ammo.

 

Now I've also fixed a couple linedefs in other maps.

Edited April 30, 2023 by Jakub Majewski

[Daniel, the NCR Veteran]

Quote

Spoiler

Levels are directly converted from the contents of the original CD, and are now utilising the textures found in the Doom 2 IWAD. Missing textures were either ported, or recreated using Doom 2 assets.

 

While this is a cool project, doing this still isn't legal.
So demo compatibility will only work as far as casual playthroughs go, because this won't come through DSDA (and you won't really be able to see this make it into idgames either). Just giving you a friendly heads-up.

[Jakub Majewski]

3 minutes ago, Daniel, the NCR Veteran said:

While this is a cool project, doing this still isn't legal.
So demo compatibility will only work as far as casual playthroughs go, because this won't come through DSDA (and you won't really be able to see this make it into idgames either). Just giving you a friendly heads-up.

Well, as said in the OP, other mods aimed at recreating the PSX levels exist, and some of them are even on idgames. In addition, I've noticed that mods using verbatim or slightly modified IWAD resources seem to be acceptable, and given that my WAD is not a 1:1 copy of the CD's contents, and merely an approximation(sectors had to be heavily modified, textures now point to IWAD's, had to use dehacked for the monsters), I don't think I am participating in direct piracy. So, maybe this one will get a pass. Will have to wait and see though.

[4shockblast]

On 5/1/2023 at 8:42 PM, Jakub Majewski said:

Well, as said in the OP, other mods aimed at recreating the PSX levels exist, and some of them are even on idgames. In addition, I've noticed that mods using verbatim or slightly modified IWAD resources seem to be acceptable, and given that my WAD is not a 1:1 copy of the CD's contents, and merely an approximation(sectors had to be heavily modified, textures now point to IWAD's, had to use dehacked for the monsters), I don't think I am participating in direct piracy. So, maybe this one will get a pass. Will have to wait and see though.

Hey, yeah, while I think this is cool, I'm not 100% about uploading it to DSDA. If you can get this accepted by idgames, then I'll feel more comfortable uploading it, otherwise I don't think I'll put it on DSDA either, sorry. :/

[Jakub Majewski]

2 minutes ago, 4shockblast said:

Hey, yeah, while I think this is cool, I'm not 100% about uploading it to DSDA. If you can get this accepted by idgames, then I'll feel more comfortable uploading it, otherwise I don't think I'll put it on DSDA either, sorry. :/

Thanks for the reply. I might consider uploading it to idgames, but before I do that, I think it would be best to ensure that there are no bugs or other problems. Might need some more testing, as MAP05 seems to cause desyncing at times. And well, The Lost Episode is up on idgames, and it contains the console levels as well, so maybe it will get a pass too.

[TeK (⌐■_■)]

Link leads to a 404 error

[Jakub Majewski]

9 hours ago, TeK (⌐■_■) said:

Link leads to a 404 error

not anymore, thanks

[UnluckySpade7]

This is my new favourite way to play the console levels in regular DOOM. How did you manage to get the fire skybox working in game?

Edited May 26, 2023 by UnluckySpade7

[thelamp]

Finished playing this today and it was super fun! Probably would not have experienced these levels without this mod. Thanks for requesting this in my thread!

 

 

Edited May 27, 2023 by thelamp

[Jakub Majewski]

8 hours ago, thelamp said:

Finished playing this today and it was super fun! Probably would not have experienced these levels without this mod. Thanks for requesting this in my thread!

 

 

Thanks a lot for playing! You managed to uncover a few errors and oversights, which I managed to fix. For now, I will make final adjustments and prepare for an idgames release. In fact, I am going to release a small update as of now.

[Jakub Majewski]

Got accepted onto idgames!

https://www.doomworld.com/idgames/levels/doom2/Ports/p-r/psxconvjm

 

On 5/9/2023 at 4:47 AM, 4shockblast said:

Hey, yeah, while I think this is cool, I'm not 100% about uploading it to DSDA. If you can get this accepted by idgames, then I'll feel more comfortable uploading it, otherwise I don't think I'll put it on DSDA either, sorry. :/

Seems like the wad is now certified halal. I do request, however, that the demos I sent a few months ago not be sent yet. A few of them will desync on the latest version, so I will need to re-record them. I will post those later.

 

Should probably ask: is it acceptable to have multiple demos in one zipfile?

[4shockblast]

51 minutes ago, Jakub Majewski said:

Should probably ask: is it acceptable to have multiple demos in one zipfile?

Yeah, it is acceptable to have multiple demos in one zipfile. You can have a single textfile for the zip, but if you want video links to be parsed, the zip will have to have a single txt per demo file with the same filename (e.g., demo.lmp should have demo.txt) with the YouTube URL. Also, if the demos have multiple categories, it could make it easier from my end to add the category to this txt, but it's not necessary.

[UnluckySpade7]

I have noticed that in Redemption Denied the Spider-masterminds get stuck on the walls which doesn't let them open when the barons are defeated. 

[Jakub Majewski]

On 6/9/2023 at 5:11 PM, UnluckySpade7 said:

I have noticed that in Redemption Denied the Spider-masterminds get stuck on the walls which doesn't let them open when the barons are defeated. 

What source port or complevel are you using?

[Muusi]

GREAT work on this set! This goes above and beyond with the recoloured textures. Always love to see people giving attention to the best version of Doom.

Edited June 13, 2023 by Muusi

[Rudolph]

It is a shame that it is only eight map long and for Doom II only. One more map and it would have worked as a fifth Ultimate Doom episode!

 

What does Perquisite Strata mean, though?

Edited June 13, 2023 by Rudolph

[Muusi]

On 4/24/2023 at 8:17 PM, Aeddes666 said:

Hello.
Awesome work!
No bugs, no misaligned textures, no pain.

Just smooth memories from my old PSX... Thanks!

Tested on GZDoom, UV.

 

Some videos:

 

 

 

Oh god hearing PC SFX in PSX levels is seriously disturbing lol

[Jakub Majewski]

3 hours ago, Rudolph said:

It is a shame that it is only eight map long and for Doom II only. One more map and it would have worked as a fifth Ultimate Doom episode!

 

What does Perquisite Strata mean, though?

https://doomwiki.org/wiki/Extramap.wad

You could throw this in for a ninth level. It's an unfinished level from the 3do version(a fan already made it playable though).

 

 

The name is somewhat of a fancy way of saying "Bonus levels". Not 1:1 in terms of meaning though.

Edited June 13, 2023 by Jakub Majewski
added 2nd point

[Rudolph]

52 minutes ago, Jakub Majewski said:

https://doomwiki.org/wiki/Extramap.wad

You could throw this in for a ninth level. It's an unfinished level from the 3do version(a fan already made it playable though).

 

The name is somewhat of a fancy way of saying "Bonus levels". Not 1:1 in terms of meaning though.

Oh yeah, I recognize that one: it is the basis for the Master Edition's "Altar of Extraction"!

 

I read it is still quite buggy, unfortunately. :(