How would I make a texture that fits in with Doom's art style?

[Murderous Owl]

I'm currently working on a Doom 2 map and want to add a church, however I need to make a stained glass texture, and I'm unsure how to get it to fit in with other Doom textures. Obviously I know I need to make sure it matches the color pallet, and I also know that often times in the 90s game creators would photo scan images into the game, but that's all I really know. What are some tips to make textures fit in place with other Doom textures?

[Dreamskull]

Okay since no one is answering you Ill get involved. Basically youll note that there are texture pairings. You just add onto them. That might sound plain, but think of them as asset packs. You just put in the style of, but instead of what you normally get, there will be yours in addition alongside that match.

 

-Wood

-Metal

-Green Marble

-Orange Tech Base

-White Tech Base

-Flesh

-Tomb

-Rock

 

Wood has various wood panels

Metal has rivets that have various levels of damage or rust

Green marble has those statue heads (A white marble would be excellent)

Orange and White Tech base has machine panels.

Flesh has spines and eyes

Tomb has torches

Rock has gradient and color of rock

 

There are tons other, but youll have to make it work in your own way. 

 

These are assets that fits nicely to accent outcroppings. You do stuff like that, small to big. Pretty soon you can recreate something big and replace, but itll still match the pairing style. A lot of the smaller stuff is interchangeable. Youll probably want your floors and ceilings to blend into everything so they get max use. Its not one of my strong suits, but youll note that its easier once things are categorized. Try to sort them all out into pairings and see what each might need. Disrepair or overgrowth might be an angle you could go. Gore versions could work. You could go a few ways once its all known.

 

A big one - recolorings

a small one - one or two hybrid pairings specifically made so you can place or combine pairings closer together so they dont clash as hard.

(Wood is a low tier hybrid pairing between tech base and green marble as an example.)

 

No, I dont know them all. Im a tad lazy, but a key component is blending things together and then have maybe a few contrast colors in setting.

Once you have something of a setting, you need to blend it into the church youre building. It isnt even about the stained glass. You just dont want your eyeballs to doubt the blend youre building into. Dont go wild with it. Just approach it slowly. Once you have enough assets, itll come together.

 

tldr: categorize every texture into pairings and get a far off setting built, then texture something that isnt even close to the church and work your way there using something familiar. Blend it well and youll go places. Its gotta be in style of what already exists, small to big, as soon as youre comfortable enough with a fully done custom in that style that blends well, its not hard to build into something wholly new - which is your stained glass window.

Edited October 3, 2023 by Dreamskull

[volleyvalley]

Look for the coloured stained glass textures in Hexen, it had a few of them if remember correctly.