Have you considered using S/H mode to use shadowed background tiles? That'd basically let you have a twice better color depth. You'd be limited to darker colors for background tiles, but since such games are generally dark, I think that's a good fit. Sprites could still use non-shadowed colors, to stand out.
Right now I'm focused on portability and improving performance.
If I do end up implementing shadow & highlight, it will have to be in a way that is easy to apply and toggle on/off because my future plan is to turn this into a genuine game development kit.
START = selects gameplay options, pauses game to in-game options menu in combination with any button to toggle option setting
A = hold to run
B = shoot
C = interact (switches & doors), hold to strafe with directional pad, starts game level again after dying
X = cycle weapon select
Y = cycle weapon select
Z = toggle map
MODE = hold down button to select cycle then press A, B, C, X, Y or Z to select what wepon each button is assigned to
map controls:
A = zoom-in map
B = zoom-out map
C = toggle useless grid over map? no. change that to place markers (up to 4 markers only. placing another maker after 4 have been placed removes the earliest placed marker)
X = toggle to move character while in map view or only scrolling to view map area
I own a 32x (two, actually) but, admittedly, have yet to use it. Is it assumed that all 32x users have a six button pad or is that just for the Doom port on 32x?
I'm really not a fan of committing two buttons to weapon cycling (unless it's on Atari Jaguar, where it can be 10 numerical buttons for all I care) though. Just tapping one button to quickly cycle through just seems more natural to me. I guess competitive players might feel different about it though.
the doom 32X port detects which controler is plugged in, either 3-button or 6-button.
using two buttons to cycle through weapons is much better than one button cycling through everything single weapon to finally get to the desired weapon you need next to the one you had been using. if only there were a quicker way. there is - press the other cycle button.
otherwise the second best way is to use one button to select cycle by holding the button as you use the directional pad up & down or left & right to cycle through weapons. but that can leave you momentarily vulnerable to attack since you cannot move while you are holding the cycle select button. SEGA's mode button quick select method is better to avoid that vulnerability, which i edited in addition to my previous comment along with the START button.
using only one button for cycling can use more time to get to the weapon you want and if you accidentally pass it then you have to cycle through every weapon again. not the best control option.
when i play any port of doom i map the controls to be the same as the 32X doom port because its the best way to play doom especially on a six button controller. (holding C to strafe imo is better than L & R shoulder buttons that do the action. holding C doesnt do the action, the directional-pad does, which like the L & R button method also doesnt prevent you from moving other directions while holding C to strafe)
the 3 button layout is good too:
START = same
A = run. hold A then press START button to cycle weapon. (which is the same as one button cycling but with another button being held)
B = shoot
C = hold to strafe, tap to open doors & toggle switches, hold + START to select map
i dont wanna type the map controls.
32X port control method is the best.
the additional mouse🖱️in port 2 you applied is pretty kool to have as an available option
Man, I really hope they actually do it; most people just talk but don't follow through. You did it, and you did a great job. If you're not going to work on it anymore, make another game—or help the DOOM guy with the code so his turns out as good as yours... You're awesome.
They've been working on GRIND for a few years now. They seem very committed. But yea, I'd still like to evolve my own version of their engine. Especially as I have very unique approaches when it comes to tooling, whereas these guys are hardcore Doomers who are used to things like Doom Builder.
I just talked to the original authors of Dread (now rebranded as GRID). Apparently they have plans to officially port this one to Mega Drive. They have a prototype based on the same codebase but also a much newer and shinier codebase. After they are done with the original Amiga release, they plan releasing not only a polished Atari ST and Mega Drive experience but also release the engine as a framework with easy-to-use development tools. AKA what I had planned for this too. Heh.
It's more so really smart development. The geometry is mostly pre-computed. The only time it would have to do runtime computations is for maps where there's multiple floor planes of different height level.
Duke Nukem 3D's renderer is sector based, not BSP based. There's a lot of room-over-room stuff going on that a BSP system like Doom's couldn't represent.
You may have noticed that Doom has a lot less verticality. Yes, there's staircases and platforms but you cannot willy nilly stack floor planes on top of each other.
Given BSP is still a struggle, I don't see a sector based renderer ever happening on Genesis.
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Very nice!
Have you considered using S/H mode to use shadowed background tiles? That'd basically let you have a twice better color depth. You'd be limited to darker colors for background tiles, but since such games are generally dark, I think that's a good fit. Sprites could still use non-shadowed colors, to stand out.
I'll definitely have a try
Right now I'm focused on portability and improving performance.
If I do end up implementing shadow & highlight, it will have to be in a way that is easy to apply and toggle on/off because my future plan is to turn this into a genuine game development kit.
32X control set is better:
(six button)
START = selects gameplay options, pauses game to in-game options menu in combination with any button to toggle option setting
A = hold to run
B = shoot
C = interact (switches & doors), hold to strafe with directional pad, starts game level again after dying
X = cycle weapon select
Y = cycle weapon select
Z = toggle map
MODE = hold down button to select cycle then press A, B, C, X, Y or Z to select what wepon each button is assigned to
map controls:
A = zoom-in map
B = zoom-out map
C = toggle useless grid over map? no. change that to place markers (up to 4 markers only. placing another maker after 4 have been placed removes the earliest placed marker)
X = toggle to move character while in map view or only scrolling to view map area
Y = toggles to one of two zoomed views
I own a 32x (two, actually) but, admittedly, have yet to use it.
Is it assumed that all 32x users have a six button pad or is that just for the Doom port on 32x?
I'm really not a fan of committing two buttons to weapon cycling (unless it's on Atari Jaguar, where it can be 10 numerical buttons for all I care) though. Just tapping one button to quickly cycle through just seems more natural to me. I guess competitive players might feel different about it though.
the doom 32X port detects which controler is plugged in, either 3-button or 6-button.
using two buttons to cycle through weapons is much better than one button cycling through everything single weapon to finally get to the desired weapon you need next to the one you had been using. if only there were a quicker way. there is - press the other cycle button.
otherwise the second best way is to use one button to select cycle by holding the button as you use the directional pad up & down or left & right to cycle through weapons. but that can leave you momentarily vulnerable to attack since you cannot move while you are holding the cycle select button. SEGA's mode button quick select method is better to avoid that vulnerability, which i edited in addition to my previous comment along with the START button.
using only one button for cycling can use more time to get to the weapon you want and if you accidentally pass it then you have to cycle through every weapon again. not the best control option.
when i play any port of doom i map the controls to be the same as the 32X doom port because its the best way to play doom especially on a six button controller. (holding C to strafe imo is better than L & R shoulder buttons that do the action. holding C doesnt do the action, the directional-pad does, which like the L & R button method also doesnt prevent you from moving other directions while holding C to strafe)
the 3 button layout is good too:
START = same
A = run. hold A then press START button to cycle weapon. (which is the same as one button cycling but with another button being held)
B = shoot
C = hold to strafe, tap to open doors & toggle switches, hold + START to select map
i dont wanna type the map controls.
32X port control method is the best.
the additional mouse🖱️in port 2 you applied is pretty kool to have as an available option
Fair enough. I guess we all have our preferences.
I'll add 6-button support with the next update.
Man, I really hope they actually do it; most people just talk but don't follow through. You did it, and you did a great job. If you're not going to work on it anymore, make another game—or help the DOOM guy with the code so his turns out as good as yours... You're awesome.
They've been working on GRIND for a few years now. They seem very committed. But yea, I'd still like to evolve my own version of their engine. Especially as I have very unique approaches when it comes to tooling, whereas these guys are hardcore Doomers who are used to things like Doom Builder.
Are you going to share the code on github too like I did with megaldoom?
Of course. Once I've had time to polish things and write a proper README.
Really good—keep going, do more, add some music, or make a Doom-style level. It's really cool... Congrats...
I just talked to the original authors of Dread (now rebranded as GRID). Apparently they have plans to officially port this one to Mega Drive. They have a prototype based on the same codebase but also a much newer and shinier codebase. After they are done with the original Amiga release, they plan releasing not only a polished Atari ST and Mega Drive experience but also release the engine as a framework with easy-to-use development tools. AKA what I had planned for this too. Heh.
The Mega Drive showing off a bit more of its power.
It's more so really smart development. The geometry is mostly pre-computed. The only time it would have to do runtime computations is for maps where there's multiple floor planes of different height level.
In this case, it would be perfect to test the method with Duke Nukem 3D—perhaps on the 32X, or with some limitations on the Mega Drive.
Duke Nukem 3D's renderer is sector based, not BSP based.
There's a lot of room-over-room stuff going on that a BSP system like Doom's couldn't represent.
You may have noticed that Doom has a lot less verticality.
Yes, there's staircases and platforms but you cannot willy nilly stack floor planes on top of each other.
Given BSP is still a struggle, I don't see a sector based renderer ever happening on Genesis.