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Modified version of "Hell On Earth - Starter Pack" to run in slower computers. Tested on a 2009 laptop at 1.20 GHz

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Brutal Doom Hell On Earth StarterPack for slower computers
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Hereticnic Author
Hereticnic - - 229 comments

"Hell On Earth - Starter Pack" is a map pack designed to be played specifically with Brutal Doom v20B.
This modified version has reduced visual effects to make the mod run better in older computers like mine.
You will be able to enjoy this mod on a dual-core CPU as low as 1.20 GHz (that is not a typo, I typed 1.2, not 2.1)
update2: the sound files were re-compressed so that the file now requires 60MB less space.
...
Included in this package:
- the map pack itself (it requires the file ExtraTextures.WAD to be loaded together with it)
- pre-configured gzdoom versions 2.4.0 and 1.9.1 (everything pre-configured to look like the original games, no filtering, dynamic lights are on, hud font size increased, WASD controls pre-configured for all games Doom, Hexen and Heretic) All you gotta do is rename the INI file after the 1st launch.
- a modified version of Brutal v20B optimized for slower computers as well, revision E (further updates coming soon)
- Always load Brutal.pk3 FIRST and then load the Maps LAST like this:
gzdoom.exe -file Brutal.pk3 ExtraTextures.wad StarterPack.wad

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Guest
Guest - - 689,208 comments

WORKS ON 32BIT WIN XP

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Hereticnic Author
Hereticnic - - 229 comments

Yes. For older machines you should use gzdoom 2.4.0 (it's included on the ZIP)
If that doesn't work, try Zandronum, it's a bit older.
Test map16 first, that's the most demanding map in terms of framerate.

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Hereticnic Author
Hereticnic - - 229 comments

I just became aware of an issue gzdoom 2.4.0 has with 3D sectors (bridges and elevated platforms you can walk under)
Maybe it doesn't affect this map-pack, but if you have problems they work just fine in gzdoom 1.9.1 and zandronum (also 1.9.1)
gzdoom devs always ******* up

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Guest
Guest - - 689,208 comments

About maps 14,15,16... Why don'you split each of these maps into two smaller ones? That would be the best solution I think

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Hereticnic Author
Hereticnic - - 229 comments

I try to make all these modifications without ever touching the map editor. Too much manual labor unfortunately, I can't afford to put hours into that.
For the same reason I was not able to optimize Winter's Fury (a map pack from 2006 that still runs like crap in some computers to this day)
SgtMark, as much as people love to jump on the hating bandwagon to hate him (but everyone uses bits of his scripts here and there, huh? consistency, people... consistency...) he did a great job of making huge wide open maps while keeping them optimized as much as possible, it could be much worse, he could simply not care as he had an i7 CPU at the time if I'm not mistaken, but he took the extra mile to making things smoothly.
Back to Winter's Fury, the main problem with it is that the maps mostly consist of long endless stretches of map with two major flaws:
1) Putting the entire map in the same vertical floor level. For anyone that knows the basics of Doom mapping that's a big no-no, and the main reason because the original Doom1 and Doom2 maps are the way they are, with multiple levels and such.
2) On top of that, the guy made wide open sections of the map connected most of the time by doors that stay open (they don't close back) or even worse by translucent laser barriers or whatever they're called. You should always divide sections of your map using doors to block vision. If doors are not enough to keep CPU usage low, you should divide sections of the map with corridors, two doors on this corridor ensures visibility is blocked and the engine is not doing overwork.
If the map authors themselves don't care, then there's little hope of optimizing it.
I'm trying to spread this information around in the hope that mod authors in the near future will learn and stop making these simple mistakes, which in turn gives them less work to maintain the mods. gzdoom devs are encouraging modders to use the wrong methods to do stuff (some of the Zdoom wiki articles even ommit older information to only show the new methods) and it's up to us to make noise about it and stop this trend before it gets worse. If you have a core i9 and a Doom mod is giving you slowdowns, then sorry, I have to break the news for you, you're doing something terribly wrong.

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Karl515
Karl515 - - 84 comments

Why is it a bad idea to make a map in the same vertical floor level? Is it because of rendering optimizations?

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Guest
Guest - - 689,208 comments

finally, a version of the wad for me!

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Hereticnic Author
Hereticnic - - 229 comments

What kind of machine did you use?
=D

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Guest
Guest - - 689,208 comments

I also hope this works on slow android devices (playing doom on mobile devices with delta touch)

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Guest
Guest - - 689,208 comments

jesus

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Guest
Guest - - 689,208 comments

you're a life savior,finally 30 fps!

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Hereticnic Author
Hereticnic - - 229 comments

Did it work?
In what kind of machine?
=D

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OMXGAMERZ
OMXGAMERZ - - 298 comments

Can u do lite version of project brutality 3.0?

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Hereticnic Author
Hereticnic - - 229 comments

I don't have that old computer anymore, but I can do a few tests. Please give me an example of an area that suffers with severe slowdowns. I need to know the exact maps and which area I need to go in order to detect slowdown. (if you can make footage or screenshots, even better)

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DeathCold
DeathCold - - 315 comments

Still doesn't help. On the bigger maps i still experience a huge lag. So much that i can't even shoot or see what the hell is happening around me.

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Hereticnic Author
Hereticnic - - 229 comments

Map16 is still a problem, not much that I could do with that one.
What kind of machine you are running it? I was getting 20 FPS (playable) in a core2duo (2009) laptop

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Hereticnic Author
Hereticnic - - 229 comments

You can try this new technique. I just found this a few months ago, mindblowing because I was getting slowdowns even in the new machine.
Try downloading earlier versions of gzdoom that will run with older GPU's (or with no GPU at all, Intel Graphics, etc) like version 3.2.0 or 2.4.0 ... The trick is running the game in Vulkan mode (restart to apply) Vulkan will make use of your graphics card, not just CPU, very useful for big crowded areas. Try that.

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DoomCATO
DoomCATO - - 106 comments

This WAD makes it way easier to run the game or any WAD, especially with Project Brutality.

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Hereticnic Author
Hereticnic - - 229 comments

Did it work? Awesome, have fun

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