Doom alert!

[xrbrevin]

just spotted this little gem:

https://www.indieretronews.com/2023/07/doom-brand-new-port-of-classic-fps-for.html

 

[Saberman]

Gameplay:

 

[Beeblebrox]

It's a good day!! Damn I love the A8 scene. Edit see below  Can't wait for this final engine to be released. 

 

BTW did this rasta conversion a couple of months back. Seems apt to post here. 

 

https://forums.atariage.com/topic/200118-images-generated-by-rastaconverter/?do=findComment&comment=5243289

 

 

Edit: wow just followed the indieretronews link which in turn links to the YouTube video. In the description of the video the download links are present!!

 

http://moodler.pl/doom.zip

 

https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&redir_token=QUFFLUhqbFVpS01xSkpPQ0c2V05rZEVoOS1MYmxBZHRxUXxBQ3Jtc0tsT21tRmw4QVAzbDNtNTlmcDg2Q1F4b09RRlMwVlV2SkxLZjJSZkVFejlmanZSUmIxZkRHYkJ2UWFIdlk5VHFRRWVvNG5La2xnQ1d3ek1jcWI4Z1lsejN5T2c1TGM4Z19nb3dmZk9zRW5Ga3NNWTlzNA&q=https%3A%2F%2Flostparty.pl%2F2023%2Fstuff%2FLostParty2023stuff.zip&v=wGfXhZJqHbY

 

 

The details:

 

Atari port by Krzysztof Swiecicki - Swiety/ZELAX rewriten to asm , optimized and fixed. Double horizontal view, viewfinder. Original Doom for the VIC-20 ported by Steve Mccrea. This is a "port" of iD software's Doom which was released at Lost Party 2023. For the features of this port, it includes cut down versions of shareware Doom's levels, minus the secret level. Sergeants, demons, imps and cacodemons, with AI code cut down from the Doom source. Fist, chainsaw, pistol, shotgun, chaingun and pick ups such as health, keys and ammo. Corpses, exploding barrels, secrets and so much more listed below!"

 

• 11 music tracks, converted from the original Doom midi files
• 20 sound effects, converted from the original Doom PC speaker sounds
• cheat codes
• panning and zooming map
• intermission and victory screens
• arbitrarily angled textured walls

Edited July 9 by Beeblebrox

[Beeblebrox]

Just played a few levels. Very nice. Kudos to the coders

[Beeblebrox]

It runs fine on my Incognito'd Atari 800 

 

Edit: Doom on the A8 definitely would benefit from SNACK controller compatiblity. 

 

Aside the directional and fire buttons you could map the following to the SNES pad which would omit the need to touch the keyboard:

 

use/open doors

Strafe left and right

weapons toggle

map toggle

 

It worked really well for Globe's 128k raycasting engine demo.

https://forums.atariage.com/topic/330601-128kb-raycaster-engine-wip/?do=findComment&comment=4996013

 

Edited July 9 by Beeblebrox

[Beeblebrox]

BTW given the sound FX are directly from the DOOM original PC speaker sounds, (which I must admit I never heard before), - check it out - very cool (just make sure your speakers are turned down ):

 

 

[Beeblebrox]

Anyone else had a good Doom session on the A8 since this was released?

[MrTrust]

I tried it out last night.  What can you say?  It's pretty astonishing, really.

 

I've been playing through the Doom series recently, and I worked my way to maybe halfway through Doom 3, and I'm getting a little fatigued of the series at this point, so I'm not sure I have it in me to play this all the way through.

 

I would love to see this engine used for an original game on the XL/XE.  Maybe something less action-oriented and closer to Corporation/Cyber-Cop, or like a primitive System Shock.  I think you could do something really special along those lines if this is any indication.

[Beeblebrox]

22 minutes ago, MrTrust said:

I tried it out last night.  What can you say?  It's pretty astonishing, really.

 

I would love to see this engine used for an original game on the XL/XE.  Maybe something less action-oriented and closer to Corporation/Cyber-Cop, or like a primitive System Shock.  I think you could do something really special along those lines if this is any indication.

Couldn't agree with you more.   The A8 and 3D gaming is here to stay. Final Assault was amazing. Playing this VicDoom port is cool. Can't wait to see what unfolds.

[MrTrust]

13 minutes ago, Beeblebrox said:

Couldn't agree with you more.   The A8 and 3D gaming is here to stay. Final Assault was amazing. Playing this VicDoom port is cool. Can't wait to see what unfolds.

 

Oh, this was originally a Vic-20 game?  WTF; how?  I guess I'm even more impressed.  I'm not sure how I missed Final Assault.  Looks like I need to keep up with the A8 scene more.

 

 

[Beeblebrox]

@MrTrustYup the code is ported from the Vic20 Doom:

 

Atari port by Krzysztof Swiecicki - Swiety/ZELAX rewriten to asm , optimized and fixed. Double horizontal view, viewfinder. Original Doom for the VIC-20 ported by Steve Mccrea. 

 

Assuming given you have missed the release of 2021's Final assault you may have missed others; therefore allow me to shout about a few of my favs, including Final assault.  

 

Whilst there have been 3D engines in the 80's/90's and also after the Millennium, ( to name a few Rescue on Fractalus, Mercenary, Total Eclipse, Wayout, Capture the Flag, NRV's astounding Project M (a Wolf3D proof of concept), the Vector engine, Shanti's engine WIP, the other Wolf demo engine and others); in the last couple of years we've had some great ray tracing and psuedo 3D games and/or engines.

 

Final Assault (by Globe):https://atari8.dev/final_assault/

 

The 128k Raycasting engine proof of concept (also by Globe):

https://forums.atariage.com/topic/330601-128kb-raycaster-engine-wip/?do=findComment&comment=4996013

 

An for me most impressively the DOOM engine headed up by coder Swiety as showcased as part of the Rewind demo last summer - which has to be seen to be believed in terms of the spec and audio/visuals  - and this engine runs in 64k!!:

(above video set to start at the point in the demo the Doom engine is shown).

 

This engine boasts 16 shade visuals (Atari GTIA Gr9), realtime texture and lighting effects, animate doors, flaming torches and fire, synthisized SFX and the (stock) Pokey tune playing is fantastic, (both the latter are courtesy of A8 sound master Miker).

All this and the frame rate is actually very acceptable. Plus you'll see at the end there is even sky, moving independantly of the walls!

 

So on top of Swiety's VicDOOM port, the 3 x other engines above really illustrate just what is capable in the right hands when A8 coders push the limits of the system and most importantly play to it's strengths.

 

One of the key enhancements which Globe built into both Final Assault and his 128k raycaster was support for multi-button controllers (a fav of mine facilitated by the excellent SNACK which allows a SNES controller to be used). With SNACK all the controls are mapped to it and there is no need for any keyboard control. In Globe's 128k 3D raycaster engine this means you can turn, strafe, alternative weapons, and enable fast turn and run, plus more on the one controller.

 

In Final assault, (which as you can see from the following image has many keys assigned to the Atari keyboard alongside joystick control), having to avoid relying on keyboard and joystick makes the game far more engaging IMHO:

 

 

I really hope multibutton functionality is factored into any future 3D engines as it greatly enhances the games. After all it's great to have FPS/3D gaming on the A8, but gameplay and control is essential to a fun and challenging gaming experience.

 

Can't wait to see what happens in 2023/24 with all of these engines

 

 

 

 

Edited July 10 by Beeblebrox

[w1k]

 

[Beeblebrox]

6 minutes ago, w1k said:

 

Damn those Pinkey demons!!

[Luke210]

Anyone else are having veeeery slow loading problems with this one? I've tested this on my real 800xe and altirra.

[Beeblebrox]

12 minutes ago, Luke210 said:

Anyone else are having veeeery slow loading problems with this one? I've tested this on my real 800xe and altirra.

Not had any loading issues on Altirra and on my Incognito'd 800 it loads fine

 

With your 800XE how/what device are you loading it from? 

[Luke210]

AVGcart and sdrive...

 

[Beeblebrox]

7 minutes ago, Luke210 said:

AVGcart and sdrive...

 

Sure, and how long are we talking in terms of the slow loading time you are experiencing?

 

 

[Luke210]

First level loads abnormally slow or not at all.

 

edit. ok, i'm stupid, i have to press FIRE on the loading screen ("entering hangar")

Edited July 10 by Luke210

[Beeblebrox]

9 minutes ago, Luke210 said:

First level loads abnormally slow or not at all.

Is it the same speed whether you are loading the ATR on Altirra, as on real hardware? If so I wonder if your ATR download is corrupt?

 

Try mine (in Altirra first):

doom1.atr

 

If the same I guess you could see what config/setup you have on Altirra, (such as a particular Bios or emulated device installed).

 

 

 

Edited July 10 by Beeblebrox

[Beeblebrox]

@Luke210  One other consideration that has just come to mind was that maybe given this is coded for PAL, maybe this was a factor, (if you are running NTSC(?) for example)

 

However I've just ran it in Altirra in NTSC mode and it loads fast and plays fine, (with the obvious presence of the mismatch of pallete colours given it's intended to be played on PAL). Ironically though given this Doom port has a quirky/garish pallate to start out with it acually makes little difference heh heh.

 

Let me now if my earlier uploaded ATR worked?

 

 

[Luke210]

8 hours ago, Beeblebrox said:

@Luke210 

 

Let me now if my earlier uploaded ATR worked?

 

 

I've just have to press FIRE on the loading screen ("entering hangar") ...

[xxl]

thanks for in-game greetings 🙂

next step will be textured floor in shooters

[Beeblebrox]

Just spied a link to a recent DOOM article (via Atarionline.pl) that talks about 3D engines and Doom on the A8 (note: browser translates from Polish):

 

https://retroage.net/doom-3/

 

Intersting read and there are some interesting videos and also the evolution of the Vic/maze Doom GTIA engine which I've not seen before. 

 

Edit: BTW I have to respectfully disagree with the author's comments about Globe's Final assault engine. The graphics and enemies take a while to get used to but the game is perfectly playable visually once you get used to the resolution.

 

One correction to note is that the article mentions the Rewind demo, (in which the GTIA DOOM engine is showcased), requires 1mb to run.

 

Just to clear things up, two points of clarification  - one about the Rewind demo and the other about the GTIA Doom engine showcased in it:

 

Firstly  just in case the author of the article isn't aware we now have an additional version of the Rewind demo in two parts which runs on 576k upgraded machines.

See here:

 

Secondly just in case anyone thinks the GTIA Doom engine segment showcased in the Rewind demo requires a lot or ram it is actually running in 128k as mentioned, (were most of the other segments in the Rewind demo run in 64k I believe. See here)

 

So this is an engine that is running in 128k which is astounding given the realtime texture and lighting alongside excellent Pokey music it demonstrates - (screenshots taken from the Rewind demo):

 

  

 

 

Edited July 14 by Beeblebrox
typos

[Beeblebrox]

Bit more time to watch the videos in that article. 

 

I still am in awe of this gtia engine. Running on 1979 chipset!! 

 

 

 

..... Actually looks quite good in grayscale. 

 

When the double doors open and behind a square robot of sorts emerges,  moving back and forth, it really illustrates just how much potential there is as a 3d engine. 

 

Edit: actually a 3d puzzle solving game could almost be made out of such an engine. 

 

Certainly for 128k + you could create amazing games based on this engine.

 

 

Edited July 19 by Beeblebrox

[Saint (Swiety)]

I append a new version of vicdoom engine, beta version for test.

 

What new:

 

- faster and better texture mapping - use finetune tables for better texturing 

- faster map drawing and scrolling

- change face color at low health

- i added checking the closing of the door , when the imp bites and poss shoots, in 90% there should be no effect that despite closing door we still lose live

- some bug fixed at calculation walls

 

altfine9.xex