Shadowcasting?

[Koko Ricky]

I know there's a Doomworld page about it, but I don't understand it. Seems like it shouldn't be too hard to implement, I know it can be done in vanilla. So yeah, I'd like to have a shadow cast on the ground but not the ceiling. Any suggestions?

[EarthQuake]

If the "shadow" in question does not touch any walls, you can simply raise the ceiling of said shadow so it's far above the surrounding ceiling. Then, simply leave the newly revealed upper textures untextured, and the ceiling textures will bleed over your new hole, hiding it.

However, if it does touch a wall, you need to put a thin sector against the wall so all sides of the shadow are surrounded by a ceiling of equal height. This basically create the same situation as above, allowing the ceiling flats to cover the hole.

[Gez]

It's cleaner to use the Boom light transfer specials, though.

[Koko Ricky]

Wow, looks like once again I have no idea what anyone's talking about. Good going, brain.

[Kappes Buur]

It is all well and good to come up with all those fancy mapping schemes, but let me reiterate what I posted in saifi's thread:

If one is happy and contented mapping in the strict confines for vanilla DOOM, so be it.

But, with the same effort it would take trying to learn how to wrangle something new into a vanilla map by
learning special tricks or DEHACKED, one could have learned mapping for ZDOOM, GZDOOM, ETERNITY etc.
And those newer engines are so much more flexible in constructing complex architecture, special effects,
adding new monsters, weapons, fonts, or use scripting to design gameflow never seen before.

Though you have to relearn linedef specials, it is well worth the effort.

[Krispy]

Brutal doom casts players' shadows...

[Xaser]

@Kappes and Krispy: Nobody's saying "Don't use advanced engines", and this thread is about mapping while Brutal Doom has no maps. You're straying a bit.

As for the Boom transfer special: check out the top two specials on this page. Effectively, what they do is they copy floor or ceiling lighting from the sector the line exists in (front side) to the tagged sector, so if you want to cast a 128-brightness shadow in a 192-brightness room, you can set the shadow sector to 128 light, stick a dummy sector somewhere with 192-brightness, then put linedef type 261 in the dummy sector and tag it to the shadow area. That'll restore the ceiling light, and since the shadow sector's actual light value is still 128, the player will correctly darken when they enter.

And yes, I linked the Eternity reference, but that special is straight from Boom. ;)

[GreyGhost]

(both 1440x900)

It's said "a picture's worth a thousand words" and an example wad might be good for a couple of hundred. Here's a small map you can open in Doom Builder to help make sense of the walls of text. It has vanilla shadows on the left and Boom property transfer shadows on the right.

The vanilla shadow sector's are as described by EarthQuake, with their ceilings raised and left untextured (as you'll notice in the second picture). They rely on bleed-over from the surrounding sector's ceiling to hide the gaping hole, it's just a matter of setting the shadow sector's ceiling high enough that it's not visible to the player - even when using mouselook.

The Boom shadows rely on dummy sectors located behind the wall light that control the ceiling light level. They work as follows -

• Create or select a sector that you want to apply a floor shadow to and set it's brightness to what you want to use.
• Create a dummy sector in the void and set it's light level to that of the surrounding sectors.
• Edit one of the dummy sectors linedefs, giving it Action 261 (Ceiling brightness to this brightness) and a tag number.
• Give the same tag number to the sector you're applying the floor shadow to.

That sets the ceiling brightness to match the surrounding sectors while leaving a shadow on the floor.

EDIT - map and text updated.

[esselfortium]

GreyGhost said:

One thing I noticed while making this map is that the vanilla shadow looks more convincing, maybe something simple I've overlooked.

It's because the Boom ones don't affect the walls (that is, the crate and the step). You could fix that by using a ceiling light transfer instead of a floor light transfer :)

[GreyGhost]

Yep - had to be something simple. Thanks, that worked a treat.

[fraggle]

EarthQuake said:

If the "shadow" in question does not touch any walls, you can simply raise the ceiling of said shadow so it's far above the surrounding ceiling. Then, simply leave the newly revealed upper textures untextured, and the ceiling textures will bleed over your new hole, hiding it.

Awesome stuff. Takes me back to my mapping days :)

[EarthQuake]

Gez said:

It's cleaner to use the Boom light transfer specials, though.

Indeed it is. Although it's possible to recreate any light transfer tricks with vanilla that are possible with the Boom light specials, one drawback is that hacking up the floors in vanilla in an attempt at creating realistic shadows can actually hinder monster movement (since they don't pass over the invisible gaps, even really narrow ones).

So yeah, I prefer the Boom specials as well.

[Agentbromsnor]

Even though I don't like the Build engine's editor, I do remember being able to edit the brightness on walls (lines) too, which you can't do in Doom. I think it would be a neat thing to implement in modern Doom sourceports as well.

[Gez]

Agentbromsnor said:

Even though I don't like the Build engine's editor, I do remember being able to edit the brightness on walls (lines) too, which you can't do in Doom. I think it would be a neat thing to implement in modern Doom sourceports as well.

Already possible with ZDoom when using UDMF.

[Agentbromsnor]

Gez said:

Already possible with ZDoom when using UDMF.

Only in ZDoom? I'm using GZDoom and UDMF format, but I've never seen it.

[Kappes Buur]

Agentbromsnor said:

Only in ZDoom? I'm using GZDoom and UDMF format, but I've never seen it.

If it is possible in ZDoom, then it is also possible in GZDoom.

From the 'Sidedefs' panel use 'Custom Fields' and 'lights'.

[Agentbromsnor]

Oh okay. But you can't edit the light in 3D mode like in Build?

[Koko Ricky]

I tried the Vanilla method and it worked perfectly, didn't look weird in GZDoom. Thanks so much! I just had to read it a few times. I'll try to the Boom method in another map when I move beyond Vanilla.