The Mordeth TC Site - Old News Archive

Yesterday's News

This section contains old news and updates concerning the Mordeth TC Project. For even older news dating from back in the days, before the advent of Doomworld when this site contained also general Doom news, click here. Do mind that links can and will be outdated by now.

June 26th, 2006

Work has been going on slowly but steady, despite ever-decreasing available free time. The current level-in-progress has most of its layout in place but some key area's still need to be fleshed out. Now that the next version of the Eternity Engine gets a doubled SEGS limit, I'm finally able to dress up the outdoor environments in a way that's more to my liking. Several previously prepared outdoor themes were reviewed before I finally settled on a particular setting a couple of weeks ago… No, I'm not telling yet... I hope to get to show some meaningfull screenies off this soon! Apart from creating, expanding and improving these new outdoor resources, there was also some maintenance work done on the existing stuff.

Today, I just feel like elaborating on some (gameplay) issues.

Despite my almost-overwhelming attraction to RPG elements lately (especially after Gothic2 / WoW), this project is still going for the "lonely marine" approach… there's no "sarge" to guide you along, no screen messages to tell you what to do, no carefully misplaced PDA's to be picked up, no NPC's to talk to, no marks on the automap to guide you. But I've sure been tempted from time to time because everything you do in a FPS (even a modern one!) is basically a switchhunt. Yes, the old and often loathed switchhunt. It's the dressing-up that's different, which disguises a "press four switches to open the door" as a "open three valves then fire up a rocket booster to kill a Tentacle which opens a way out" situation, or a "pick up 3 keys then press three switches" as a "pick up three demolition packs then destroy these three radiomasts". And it better has to make some sense to the player or he'll just fail to grasp what he's required to do in order to proceed. So, in absence of any kind of guidance and a large non-linear level to (potentially) get lost in, my player has to rely on visual clues so that means I have to limit myself to fairly straightforward "puzzles". So, in short, no Hexen syndrome here.

With a different theming in episode 2, the atmosphere has also changed. While the first episode could be described as "gloomy", its successor goes for "oppressive". It has more dark and foreboding area's which is even more accentuated by the contrasting outdoors and well-lit indoor area's sprinkled around, while the sprawling layout and architecture makes the player feel small and very much in danger.

Despite EE having no multiplayer support yet, Mordeth does plan for it. So expect good multiplayer gameplay, including shortcuts being opened up once an objective has been achieved and means of recovery after a untimely death.

Several things are still unresolved. There's a theming issue that I could really use for one level (akin to Doom3's "hallucination" stuff), but which might look misplaced inside other levels… so the question is to use it, and how, or (most likely) come up with something else instead. I'm also in doubt on how exactly to rebuild the first (due to that old burglary: lost) level, and whether Gary's refurbished level still fits in. Plus spritework that I've been neglecting for a long time.

And also important: regardless of the long development cycle, I will/can not "hurry up". Sure, I'd like this to be released... the sooner, the better… but matter of fact is that paying attention to Real Life stuff takes precedence over the need to finish some game add-on. Just be glad I got rid of my WoW addiction, and that the result will be worth waiting for! :)

And the really good news: up to now I have valiantly resisted all my girlfriend's suggestions that my "stupid game" "needs more flowers" and "maybe some cute animals you can chase and pick up". Hurray!

February 10th, 2006

Yay, a pulse!

Portals is where it's all at nowadays in Mordeth-land. Can't imagine doing stuff without those now. Levels look more life-like with added details and perspective on floors and ceilings. In many cases it's actual easier to use a portal instead of old-fashioned detailing. For example, creating a ceiling with some details (beams, skylights, perhaps a moving ceiling fan) over a floorplan with eg. lots of crates used to be a pain... now, you can just leave the ceiling bare and slap on a ceiling portal to add the details much more easily, using much less sectors and in much less time.

And apparantly interactive portals are the next step, allowing projectiles, monsters and players to pass seamlessly between sectors and their portals. At this point Eternity will basically become a 3D engine, more or less similar to Build. This will sure change gameplay a lot. But, this will take a while before implementation :) I do think that other source ports will follow Eternity's example here and implement their own versions of portals, since 3D floors are just no match for the flexibility of interactive portals.

Progress? Yes, although things could have been much better. At least I can show you guys some more screenshots which - I might add - are from a new level.

March 22nd, 2005

Wow, have I been neglecting this site... almost a year not updated! The project is still going nice, but progress has been slowed down significantly since November. Life has been a rollercoaster ride these last months, so that took most of my attention. Admittingly, spending time with World of Warcraft also did not help :) Still, I've got some stuff to show for my absence. The most fun thing to do so far was playing around with Eternity's portal and 3DMidTex features, which makes for a number of great sceneries. I've currently (re)started a new level, but I keep turning back to "finished" stuff, for that extra little tweak. Whee!

May 31st, 2004

Progress is still going nice. One final outdoor area plus an another few days good work and I can add another level to the 'completed' list. Nice, especially considering that level was done from scratch in just over 3 months - and I'm usually only be able to work on the project a day or two at most during a normal week. Two more maps, a bit of tidying up, and I think it's done. Famous last words, no doubt :)

Meanwhile, Quasar has upped the version of his Eternity engine to v3.31 Beta 7, featuring portals and high-resolution. I still haven't used its portal features, yet, due to time contraints. Got some nice things planned though :)

As a last note: my email is still getting spammed. So when trying to contact me: start your subject header with "DOOM" or your mail is bound to get discarded unread.

December 22nd, 2003

And a belated Happy Birthday to Doom! I still can't believe this good old game is now 10 years old. Lots of kudos to Cyb, Ling and the other contributors to Doomworld's celebration feature! I, as usual, was too engrossed in work and other matters to even notice we were already living in December. Also, this news blurb does not have the usual reference to the long hiatus between updates here which, incidently, is now standing at half-a-year. Shit.

Work on the TC has progressed by leaps. The Eternity engine is now at v3.31 beta5 and looking even better with each new version increment. Mordeth's dehacked patch is now obsolete and completely redone from scratch in EDF. If you haven't tried EDF yet, I recommend you do... editing new stuff has never been easier! You are not only able to (re)create any number of monsters from scratch within minutes but you even have access to custom-made behaviour, attack pointers and sounds while keeping the syntax simple and readable. You can assign new Thing/map id's to your custom-made horrors and you can make up new frames as you go without hassle. Amazing ;)

There has been a humongous amount of work done in the level department. One more level has been completed after being totally revised twice... Well, almost totally... I'm sure there are one or two area's left that went unnoticed and got spared. Revisions were neccessary because of hitting the SEGS limit (...again) and because Eternity won't have hubs after all... or at least not in the foreseable future. This meant some changes in the gameflow and thus level design. Plus there were the usual esthetic make-overs... that screenshot section is now SO out-of-date! :) I've also made a cautious attempt to recreate one of the lost levels, and I'm using some unused level parts to start a new one. But yes, the amount of work lost due the last year's burglary is hurting the project to this day.

Graphics work has had low priority. Most of the in-progress sprite work was lost as well and I haven't had the heart to redo most of this. The texture set is more or less complete but there are still a few things missing which I haven't gotten around to do yet. The site could use some maintenance itself, too. Another thing I haven't had time for.

No word from the rest of the "team", insofar I actually still have one. But then again, I haven't contacted them either... guess I finally grew sick of reminding people to actually work on their levels only to have them die on me again one draft later... Like, when you were a young kiddie and your guppies died again (possibly because you overfed them and they exploded) and you finally convince mom to buy you a new batch... that'll only work a couple of times before you remain stuck with an empty tank and heaps of small smelly dead fishies and you move on to bigger and better things (possibly a white pet rabbit). Of course, I'm still hoping against better judgement to get a couple of levels from what seems to be my last remaining contributor (yes, that's you Nick 'Nightmare' Baker).

As for attracting new level designers... You might want to read the older news section here so you can see how well that has worked out over the past couple of years. It's a shame really, because having just one or two additional ACTIVE designers brings a release very, very close indeed. But you never know... maybe an established level designer is reading this and can convince me he's up to the challenge.

Well, yeah, that's about it for now... apart from a word on email. I guess I ought to consider the basic principle behind emails, and actually start reading them. That is, after I'm done setting up a spamfilter for all my incoming mail to filter out that one legit email from amongst hundreds of spam messages. Whee, seems like i've got myself a new New Year's resolution! Sorry to those people who have tried to contact me but didn't get a reply... For now, people who want to contact me need to include the word "DOOM" plus a short description in their topic or it'll probably get discarded as spam.

ATTN Rob B. ... your change-of-adress email got discarded as spam as well.... only noticed it was from you when the 'delete' button was already pushed. Can you resend?

May 14th, 2003

Wow, this is about time I updated... it's been way too long! After last time's pretty disastrous news we're all about due for some good news for a chance. Well, you're in luck. Most, if not all, lost episode 2 resources have been rebuild and the status of most levels is now way beyond what they used to be - despite me not having been able to work on this TC for the past two months. I'm also building for Eternity beta 2 now, including using its new features.

Here are a couple of screenshots... visitors of the Doomworld Eternity Forum might have seen these already:

Notice how the Imp in the second screenshot is walking ON the suspended crossbeams, thanks to Eternity's 3DMidTex feature. This feature can also be used to make breakable surroundings, such as Demons breaking through metal grids and double-sided breakable windows... Mad stuff! Can't wait to play around with the next beta, when we (hopefully) get some kind of scripting language.

December 21st, 2002

Well, this time around the news is pretty disastrous... two weeks ago my house got burgled while I was at work, and stuff got stolen. Among which my computer and all Mordeth material. This kind of thing would almost make me nostalgic about the usual "another designer up and leaves" kind of news one has come to expect around here.

Meanwhile, the rest of the team have sent me an older Mordeth draft, and our losses seem to be not as crippling as I first feared:

Latest texture resources.
Advanced 'episode 3' level draft, older draft still available.
Village in forest/swamp level draft (ep. 3)
One entire 'episode 2' level-in-progress.
Advanced 'episode 2 level draft, older draft from before June still available.
Several sprites in various stages of design.
Some re-texturing of ep. 2 secret level.

I'm currently taking a break from re-doing those texture resources... guess another 1-2 days before completion. Ignoring all episode 3 stuff, the hurting is mostly caused by the loss of those two episode 2 level drafts... that alone will take me about two months' work to recover from. And to think I was about to upload the latest Build to the team's FTP site when disaster struck =/

Also, I'm still trying to get back in contact with Ola Bjorling, Anthony Soto and Rob Berkowitz... and I don't have their current email addy's anymore. Anyone? If you read this, please contact me! I'll be offline roughly from next monday until the first week of January, in case you do.

And the saga continues...

September 22nd, 2002

This time around we say our goodbyes to Chris Lutz, who apparantly fell off this planet just after joining up, and Anthony Soto, who has decided to become a secluded hermit for the time being. But just when I made up my mind to just sack the whole designer team altogether Nick Baker came through with a new draft. Progress on my part includes a heavily modified map and a new introduction level, plus some work on sprites.

I'm not going to acquire new members to make up for the loss of these two designers, because I'm sick and tired of (new) people leaving without so much as lifting a finger to help out before. Enough is enough.

This week we'll be preparing all resources for the long-expected switch from a MBF-derived mod to the Eternity engine, now that Joel Murdoch finally got a working compiler :) This means combining some new sprites with the main resource WAD, mapinfo lumps, level flow, etc etc. We then also gain access to Eternity's script feature which will allow some nice customisation of certain events, and - hopefully - some features we've been wanting for like, forever.

June, 23rd, 2002

Progress:

There are going to be some team changes around here. The confirmed additions are Julian Aubourg, who will be doing some music for this project, and Federico Ceccatto aka Zaldron who will be our resident sprite artist. A few others are still under review. But (and there's always a 'but' around here) Fredrik has been removed from the team because he hadn't even started on his level after joining up last November.

March 16th, 2002

A few weeks ago the team went through a crisis, as a direct result of the lack of progress that was being made. To put us all on the right track once again, we've made a few changes around here. The most important one would be that we are going to put episode 3 in the fridge, and focus on finishing episode 2 first. Everyone that had been working on an episode 3 level has been re-assigned to an episode 2 map of his choice, and some old maps will be combined into new ones. Our estimation is that this second episode will contain some 8 to 10 levels.

What does this mean for Mordeth? Well, very simple... a feasible release date in the near future. Much of the delay has been caused by us dividing our attention between two very different episodes... now that we focus on just one theme we will be able to work more efficiently. And when you are finally playing episode 2 to your heart's content, we're already halfway through developing episode 3 ;)

We also have a new level designer... please welcome Chris Lutz of Chaos Crew fame to the team! Unfortunately, due to Real Life reasons, we've said goodbye to Rob Berkowitz. His episode 3 level is shelved for now, because of our focus on episode 2.

An (tentative) overview of episode 2 levels so far is printed below. Keep in mind that the status is an estimation, and that some levels are part of a hub.

MAP DESIGNER STATUS

07 Chris Lutz just started

08 Gaston Lahaut 75% complete

09 Gaston Lahaut 60-70% complete

10 Gaston Lahaut 100% complete

11 Gary Gosson 100% complete

12 Nick Baker 70% complete

13 Nick Baker 20% complete

14 Anthony Soto 20% complete

15 Fredrik Johansson just started

16 Gaston Lahaut 5% complete

Also, Telefragged has 'graced' us with pop-up banners. If you don't see them, then you've probably added "mediamgr.ugo.com" to your restricted sites... you know, by adding that domain to Tools -> Internet Options -> Security -> Restricted Sites -> Sites. Or you might have made mediamgr.ugo.com resolve to 127.0.0.1 by editing that entry in your c:/windows/hosts file. Or more simpler, you might have turned javascript off. Pity.

November 7th, 2001

Fredrik Johansson has joined the team! He has strenghtened us as a level designer, for a not yet determined amount of levels. For those who don't know him, Fredrik is the man behind the Vrack series, and claims his Mordeth levels are going to be "much better" than my own. This is certainly going to be... interesting :)

November 4th, 2001

Time flies when you're not paying attention... one day you're just taking a small break from everything online because of time constraints, and the next you find out it's been literally months. Gods. Guess I'll have to force myself to do some much needed updating, here and over at Doomworld.

On to the Mordeth news, as I've been happily plowing along... just can't leave this game alone :) The most mentionable bit of information is that I sort off invented a new vanilla Doom trick. It's not completely "new", because it makes use of a combination of existing tricks such as the simple 3D bridge in combination with other stuff, but the result does look refreshingly "wow". What is it, you ask? Well, I found out how to suspend complex structures into the air. Think: 3D house-on-stilts, as seen in the screenies below.


A house on stilts	Inside...

As you can see from the interior of the house, you can have everything a normal house would have.... corridors, rooms, decorations, working doors, tables and other furniture. All displayed perfectly, while the entire structure is suspended into the air, resting on pillars. And this trick is so unbelievable simple, I just can't fathom why I have never seen it used before. Look for an update of Doomworld's editing tutorials soon...

Needless to say, this has been a huge inspiration for me. Progress on episode 3 and in particular two levels with a mangrove / village setting has been very, very good. If the trend continues, I might have finished one of them by next month. Whoop! There has also been some progress on episode 2 early on, but I have been neglecting those levels for the past 2 months. So little time, so much to do. And still no new zombie sprites, dammit. I've also been poking several people to see if they were interested in joining up, but so far no luck.... they too are plagued by the same Time demon.

Well, hopefully the next update won't take this long to appear here...

August 6th, 2001

Yesterday I finally received my own copy of DeepSea, which Linguica so graciously ordered for me at my request. One nice addition discovered so far was the presence of a Boom linedef trigger menu, which comes very in-handy... I'm sure other new goodies pop up once I have spent some more time behind this great level editor.

Also, two things I completely forgot to mention the previous time: Andy Olivera updated his Visions of Doom site a while ago with a review of the first episode of Mordeth. A little late, but still appreciated :) The second nice bit of news was that this was based on a Mordeth demo collection at Opulent's Speed Demos Archive, which had me entertained for the full 1:29:47 it took him to record them. Fun! I love watching people play on my levels, and see how they progress.

Both agreed that Mordeth wasn't intended or suitable for speedrunning - in which they are correct. I never understood the 'fun' of blazing through a level while ignoring everything in your way as much as possible, just to hit the exit switch. Playing like that doesn't quite do justice to a level, in my opinion at least. I'd much rather prefer to stroll through a level, enjoying the views, shooting every last critter, finding every secret and such.

Also, a big 'thank you' to those who mailed me after Telefragged mislaid Doomworld's "files" and "source ports" section. All is back in working order now, but the offerings to help restore our archives sure were appreciated!

Other news... worked on my levels a bit more, and pestered some other team members about their progress. Which seems to be going into the right direction, by the way.

Now I've got to run... after that previous remark about speedrunning, the COMPET-N guys probably will come gunning for me :)

July 28th, 2001

Lots of things have happened since the last update. For one thing, the job is working out very well and I'm currently under a permanent contract. Whoop! Plus, I'm currently writing this behind a P4 1,4 GHz 256 RDRAM, GeForce2 and like everything else... yes, I've finally upgraded :) And the interior decorating of my new place is also going very nicely indeed.

Of course, I've been having some fun with my new system... running Mordeth at a stunning 800x600 resolution without the slightest hiccup, and compiling a level under 3 seconds... It's madness! sheer madness I tell you :)

For testing purposes (...heh) I grabbed a copy of Unreal from a local bargain bin and played the entire game. It does look really great but it sure has some serious clipping problems... nevertheless, the Nali temple theme rocked. Especially the flooded temple levels were a treat to look at. All in all, a nice game. And damn, those enemies have some nice AI.

On to the Mordeth stuff... Good progress has been made on one of the Episode 2 level and one Episode 3 level has been started and about 60% finished. Plus a few additions to other levels, here and there. Joel's been busy with our engine, and seems to be on top of it. And, believe it or not, I might actually have a first beta of the new Zombie enemy out soon.

Still, it's been an extremely hectic few months, especially with a deadline some time ago... even my Doomworld duties have suffered. Now that things -seem- te be quieting down I should be returning to those duties as well.

March 18th, 2001

And slowly the dust is settling down. Hi there! I'm back. During the past three months I've moved to a different city and started my new career as a programmer (or "system developer" as they call it today) for one of our country's health insurance companies. Quite different from what I did before, but up to now I'm having a really good time!

Now that I've finally gotten internet connection at home, communication with the rest of the team has started again. A new internal Build (mainly consisting of fixes) has been sent to the designers, so that'll get them started again. There has been -some- level progress here, but my focus was mainly on sprites.

Joel Murdoch has been busy as well. We apparantly joined forces with Eternity, engine-wise. The stuff we are going to be able to do... fear :) Of course, this is the umptienth time there's been a chance of plan for our engine... I do hope me and the other designers can finally get our greasy little hands on a pumped-up engine some time soon.

More on the status of the project soon... stay tuned.

December 28th, 2000

Due to getting a new job and my subsequent move to another city I'll be out of touch for the next couple of weeks. Things should be getting back on track somewhere in February. You can email me at my Doomworld email account, but chances are I won't be there to read it. My home addy won't be valid for much longer. As you might have noticed I haven't had time for this project nor for Doomworld, but that'll be remedied once I'll get settled in my new job. Kudos to Linguica who is doing a tremendous job maintaining Doomworld! Believe me, it takes a chunk of time to do it right. We'll give our new newsie Arioch a proper breaking-in when I'm back, because well, you are not really Doomworld staff until you have been properly yelled at by me, heh :) Also, note that some of 'my' Doomworld's sections (most notably the source port section) might not be updated properly during my absence.

My prolonged absence has been seen by some as a sign that I'm no longer interested in this project. That is not the case. Some things just take priority, and I cannot help it that this goes at the cost of this project. I hope this little blurb here can settle those fears. Take care people, and behave until I'm back somewhere in February. Oh, and of course: a happy New Year to you all!

December 4th, 2000

Usually after a long period without updates there's always something to show for it here... but not this time. There has been little or no progress since the last update two months ago, mostly due to Real Life taking up all my time. Even my Doomworld duties have been suffering lately, which is to say a lot, and my online time has been drastically cut down as well :/ That said, I do hope I will be able to get back on track soon but that certainly won't happen before next week.

Although we discontinued the joint Mordeth-Fusion source port effort as mentioned in the previous update, there's still a little blurp to update about. Coder David Wood has sent his beta testers the latest binaries and source, and we can expect a stable release of Fusion one of these days. Unfortunately, they've been bitten by the RL bug too, so there's no telling when this is going to happen. Fusion will provide players and designers alike with a "next generation" MBF port, with several more features to play around with.

Linguica and I are very happy the way Doomworld's 10 sector contest turned out to be. A huge response, and some very good quality levels - especially considering designers had to work with only ten sectors! It shows that our little community is indeed still capable of making some truely great stuff, given the right stimilus :) Congratulations also to the winner of the contest - Michal Mesko. His level was very well done, detailed and with a consistant theme and above all very open. His 'hell' setting was also very original (considering the multitude of 'futuristic base' settings we've seen). In my mind there was no doubt that this level was a true winner, but that is not to say the runner-ups were crap - on the contrary. Kudos also to Jon Rimmer, who surprised me with a very Mordeth Ep1-style entry called "Gas Panic". I can tell you it's a very weird experience to see people paying homage to one's own levels :)

Well, hopefully I'll have something more to say about the Mordeth TC project itself next time...

October 2nd, 2000

As you can see, the Mordeth TC site has moved to its own virtual domain here at Doomworld... thanks to the Telefragged staff for setting me up! We obviously also sport a new layout with most of the sections rewritten as well. Some of the graphics on this site are subject to chance... creating this new layout has taken up too much time already, and I didn't want to spend more on better aesthetics. But, hopefully you will still like it! It's been tested on both Netscape and MSIE on 800x600... let me know if you experience any difficulties with this new layout and I'll try to correct them. My public and private FTP space is not up and running yet, due to a login problem.

On to the more relevant Mordeth news. I've withdrawn from the joint Fusion / Mordeth engine project... it just didn't work out. There has been almost no progress on the Mordeth code end of things, despite the (short-lived) revival mentioned the previous time. The good news is that Joel Murdoch, who worked for this TC before, has agreed to come back as our resident codemonger. Coder David Wood will also release binaries and source to Fusion soon, meaning that the Doom community will have a new engine to play with. According to beta testers Ky Moffet and Len Pitre Fusion has numerous optimisations and fixes over its codebase MBF, as well as several new codepointers and the ability to change Thing bits in-game. Great stuff :)

Progress on levels is going nicely. The basic layout for one of my own Ep3 levels is nearing completion although it will still take some time to finish, and Rob also seems to be doing a good job on his town level. I've also been looking at what kind of additional textures / sprites I need - which is thankfully a short list indeed. The past few weeks I've taken a small break from the project since some additional stuff was cropping up, and I've got 4-5 megawads waiting to be judged for Doomworld's 10-sector contest. There is some really good stuff among those entries, and it won't be a problem to put together a full megawad of very nice levels :)

Well, that's it for now... until next time.

June 9th, 2000

My email addy has been changed to glahaut@warande.uu.nl. My Doomworld email addy is also fixed now. Email sent to me between last Friday and May 18th is sitting unread on my old mailbox, and can't be retrieved until it gets reset - something I've been waiting for for the past three, almost four weeks :( So if you have sent me something important, please send it again!

May 22nd, 2000

Well, last week my Win3.32s / Calmira system finally collapsed. Normally I'd reinstall, if it weren't for the fact that the original install disks have died as well. So, this week has mainly been spent on getting my Win95 partition up and running with all the functionality and programs my old system provided. I've had been using this partition mainly to run some Win95-only programs and as a dump for all sorts of crap =) Now, everything seems to work again except for my email client... the crash ate my password, which of course I don't remember anymore. Getting a new password will take a while longer due to the fact that "service" is not a word that actually appears in our current provider's dictionary. This means I cannot get back in touch with several team members who are waiting for me to do so... sorry guys! Let's hope this gets fixed soon. For urgent matters try and catch me on Efnet's #doomroom channel.

On to the Mordeth-related stuff... coder David Wood is back in business, and has given us (that is, his beta testers and me) a new beta version of the engine to play around with. Not all is well, but it's sure good to know progress is being made! As you probably already know Mordeth's engine is a Fusion mod although not all of Fusion's features will be in Mordeth, and vice versa. David will be putting up a website for his MBF-based Fusion source port in the near future (heh, now he has to). Meanwhile I've slighty updated the engine features section. Still, it's a bit technical and won't prepare you for what the combination of all those different effects can do: moving subway trains that can run you over; destroyable walls and even entire rooms that can be demolished (including actual explosions); the fact that we have running water rushing in sinking ships that threatens to drown you; fiercely bright lava flows in dark underground mining shafts, slowly filling up an entire level leaving you running for higher grounds and relative safety; hublevels you revisit only to find out that its sunny weather has turned to a thunderstorm... and more.

Levels... well, progress is still being made albeit slowly as usual. I've scrapped yet another ep2 level in favour of a different approach... that level is coming along fine and represents a mining facility / factory deep underground. Then there are the usual odd level jobs here and there, whenever I feel like working on one particular map. One other ep2 level is currently being restructured (again!). I have no idea what my contributors are up to... I'd ask, if it weren't for the fact I can't email anyone at the moment. Rob's ep3 town level seems to coming along nice, or so he said =)

The 'big' thing that happened during these past few weeks (apart from David's resurrection) was the release of a new resource wad. The focus was mainly on new episode 2 textures... I've been retexturing levels like a madman, and boy does it make a big difference! Textures that are still missing are pipes (including room-sized ones) and wall/floor grates. The screenshot section has been updated with 'old' screens, except now you can see how they look in their current state. For example, here's a comparison of an old ep2 map screenie with a currrent one:


Old screenshot	Current state

I do hope one sees a huge difference between the two =)

Sprites... I did some half-assed attempts but didn't come very far. It's mind-numbing work, and not something I'd like to spend whole evenings on. But then again, they do need to get finished sometime soon.

About Mordeth's old episode 1. Due to the fact that it doesn't contain any markers for the new textures/sprites it is NOT compatible with -any- source port. However, for those who want to play it directly without resorting to the old installation procedure you can always grab the old "mac-compatible" version, which is just the same WAD but with the normal markers. This one IS compatible with most source ports. I just did a quick test run using Boom and everything seems to be in order (except for new text strings)... let me know when they aren't. You can grab this version from the download section.

March 27th, 2000

Well, a much delayed update since I lost my own login password and had to wait a while to get it back. So, what happened here these last few months?

Rob Berkowitz joined our team, as a level designer for episode 3. Rob is one of the people behind the Realm of Chaos website. This is a much needed addition, since progress in this area has been real slow due to lack of active designers. Nick Baker is also returning to finish his levels, Anthony Soto promised the same now that The Darkening is complete (a megawad which has btw my personal Seal Of Approval ^TM) and there are a few new people thinking about joining as well. It's pretty safe to assume I was working alone for the past months, so hopefully this will get things going again.

Work on both episodes continued, as far as one man can do. First thing I want to complete is some new 'episode 2' textures, either revamped old ones or new variations plus matching floor tiles. The current set is too monotone for my liking, plus several wall textures lack a good matching flat. Then, it's time to finish the sprites for that episode... most already were in beta, but some stuff still needed to get fixed such as several animation problems, 'color shifting' and adding stuff such as wings to flying monsters. Most of this work is currently underway. After that, 'episode 3' textures and sprites have my attention again... Somehow in between, I'm supposed to work on levels :) So far two of my own 'episode 3' levels are nearing completion, with one other being a little over halfway done. One of my 'episode 2' levels has been scrapped since it was going nowhere and replaced by a new one currently under construction, and I've made several changes to existing ones. One of those levels can be considered complete, another one is still being tweaked although its layout is complete.

I'm a little in the dark about engine progress. David Wood is still working on the Fusion engine, but some issues seemed to have come up that interferred. These unfortunate issues aside, there seems to be no progress in this area for the last 6 months or so :( On his request I'm currently writing an 'feature emergency list' of things that needed to be done yesterday which is essential to some of the levels. Those features are not hard to do (or so I'm told) so hopefully this won't take much longer.

Some sections of this site really need to be updated, in particular the 'engine' and 'links' one. The 'links' will probably be dropped in favor of something more usefull. Look for it in the near future... I might also replace the current layout with something more spiffy, and adding high-res screenshots instead of the 320x200 ones that are up now.

Some ideas I've been playing around with... It might be nice to actually split up the levels into four different episodes accessible via the menu, Doom-style. That way people can instantly play their favorite episode instead of wading through the previous ones as well. That means starting each episode from scratch, which is something I favor very much. It might even be possible to have eg. a different weapon set for each episode. I'm also researching some new special effects.

December 19th, 1999

Not much really exciting has happened since the last time, but I'd figured it was time for another update. Nick Baker, one of my level designers, has gone off to college so won't be around to wrap up his levels - which is not that big of a problem considering his main level was complete but for the exit area. Gary Gosson's level is virtually complete as well. That leaves the numerous levels I'm working on, as well as Anthony Soto's 2-3 levels :) Since I have to spread out my efforts over all those different maps progress is not fast. But, gradually, the levels are shaping up. I'm also considering to incorperate my DM level into the project, since that wouldeed things up a bit.

Experienced level editors for both episodes are still welcome, if you hadn't noticed that yet. One or two more active level designers would really make a difference! Please note that - despite our grievious shortage of designers - I only want people who are up to "Gothic DM" standards (to name a great add-on), have knowledge of Boom/MBF stuff and who are ready to commit themselves for the duration of the project. This project has been plagued by a designer exodus, and I'm certainly not waiting for this to happen again.

Textures and sprites work has been on ice for a while now. I'm still waiting for extended frames and new Thing numbers to be incorperated into the engine, since I've virtually run out of those. Coder David Wood sent word that he took a break from coding a while back but is now back in business. In fact, we've had quite a productive correspondence yesterday.

Please remember that this project is something I do for fun, in my spare time not already taken up by other activities such as visiting friends and maintaining Doomworld. Sure it's nice to know there are people out there anxious to get their grubby hands on the finished project but it won't do to bitch about the time this takes. It won't / can't increase my productivity! This also goes for those other projects currently under construction. So, think about that next time you feel like complaining, and be happy some of us don't abandon their projects after a while :)

March 27th, 2000

Well, a much delayed update since I lost my own login password and had to wait a while to get it back. So, what happened here these last few months?

December 19th, 1999

October 23rd, 1999

Yikes. Has it been that long? Time flies by when you are busy at work... even my Doomworld duties have suffered a bit. Nonetheless, this is a very exciting period for me.

Cryptic message of the day: I -do- hate it when people empty their trashcan on my nice green virgin lawn, especially when they ought to know better.

On to the Doom news. Since my last update I've done a morsel of sprite editing but focused mainly on levels, one of which is nearing completion (yay!). I don't want to tell too much about that since that would spoil a very remarkable gaming experience. Let's just say that it's simply amazing what you can do with a Doom source port :) Progress on another, non-Mordeth map is looking good as well and it should be finished one of these days. Originally part of a new megawad which seems to have died off (or at least, I haven't heard from its moderator for a while), I might release that one seperately.

During this time I've neglected my team a bit, in the sense that my 'status reports' stopped coming. They ought to be used to that by now, heh. So don't you worry guys, I have not forgotten you!

Which reminds me. I'm sure everyone has read the latest update on the Twice Risen site by now. This is nothing new... large projects have always had a lack of (contributing!) members for as long as I care to remember. Even more so if you prefer quality over quantity. Lately this problem has grown worse because some of the major and productive talents in our community have left, either because of real life obligations or because they are drawn to other games. This is especially true for single-player wads, as deathmatch maps are so much easier to make. Requiem, STRAIN... all of those didn't make their initial deadlines by several months or longer. Mordeth's release has been overdue for about half a year. That doesn't mean it's impossible to finish a grand-scale project... just look at Batman Doom, or the WolfenDoom episodes, which are ironically created by a very minimal staff of designers. The meaning of all this? Have some heart.

September 2nd, 1999

Just a blurp. As expected I've had almost no time for this project these past few weeks. Level progress on my end is a totally flat zero. Considering I'm going to start working again tomorrow that probably won't change for at least two more weeks. What can I say... some stuff can be Pretty Damn Important compared to a game :) I'm in-between Builds but some texture stuff needs to be redone since it didn't work out that well in-game. Having over 1,000 patches (heh) which makes NWT barf all over its DOS prompt doesn't quite help either.

I've found a new coder but got a little more than I bargained for... We've joined up with David Wood (aka Hakx). Comparing my and his wishlist for the MBF-based Fusion engine we concluded that we had enough in common to warrant a joint effort. Already the code mongers are cleaning up and integrating the source. We'll still end up with two seperate binaries... one for Mordeth and one generic engine for public use. This is an all-new development so concrete stuff is a little scarce at the moment, but watch this space or Hakx's site in the future!

August 6th, 1999

Huge progress has been made in the sprites and textures department. I've finished literally dozens of new sprites and am close to finishing several monsters. Although it needs some more testing it looks like the beta graphics are good as they are now, apart from the usual colour adjustments. All this is for episode 3... forest textures, ferns, shrubs and other miscellaneous stuff. The Spider is being redone and will look far more menacing in this incarnation. I've also decided to create new humanoids for the third episode... somehow military-type guys blundering around a late 18th century landscape doesn't quite fit, so I thought to give them a new 'gothic' appearance while keeping their normal properties (hitpoints, attack, etc) the same. Those sprites are nearly finished... and boy, do they look good!

I'm still fidgeting around the episode 2 levels... probably due to an overdose of that type of levels. Still, got a pretty good idea on how to finish those. It shouldn't take me -that- long now... (yeah right :). I've also made some great sketches for new monster types but decided to shelve those for the fourth episode.

Some people have advised me to concentrate on episode 2 alone and get that out of the way before I move on to episode 3. Truth is, that -is- the best way to go about it but only half the fun for me. I'm really enjoying creating the episode 3 environment and wouldn't want to brush aside all that.

I sent out an email to several programmers trying to find a replacement for Joel Murdoch, who wishes to downsize his involvement in Doom but hasn't yet left. So far no luck... most of those who emailed back are too busy with other stuff.

Little or no progress has been made in the level department, which is not that surprising considering I have an important exam coming up. Preparing for that will probably take all my time in the next 1-2 weeks.

June 25th, 1999

Everything is pretty quiet here now. I need to brush up my mad genetic enginering skillZ for my last internship, plus there's friends and stuff so that takes time away from this project. Some work has been done on levels and sprites, but since the result wasn't what I expected this will probably be redone. Work on textures is going a bit better, but progress in that area is slow as well... I suck at making textures. That doesn't mean that my textures suck, just that it takes me longer to make good ones :) Jonas Feragen is also busy hacking away at those.

Two level designers left this time. Amazing that there are still people left, don't you think? The mappers in question are Adam Williamson, who doesn't have the time to bring his map up to par with the other episode 2 levels, and Derek Mac Donald who has been having a "lack of inspiration" since he joined up in January. The door is still open for Adam should he suddenly feel that urge again.

Yes, it does affect the release date of this project but since most levels are on my own plate that date largely depends on my own progress. Then again, I have that workload because of this shit.

Apart from Mordeth stuff I also urgently need to finish some other Doom stuff which at the moment is gathering dust. Yep, I keep myself busy! :)

May 31, 1999

Thanks to all the people who answered my question about using new flats with DCK... I've got it working now! Now I'm almost exclusively using DCK v2.2f except for some Thing editing in Edmap, because this editor is just a little quicker and easier to use. Not to mention the map size it can handle :)

Chris Martin, whom many of you know as Hypostimus, dropped out of the project and supposedly left Doom althogether. This means it's up to just Anthony Soto and me to fill in an entire episode. Sigh. Fortunately, Chris left us two very sweet and very large level parts which will be used.

Kniggit has sent me some new MIDI tunes which kick ass. They do sound... different from the usual music, but I think it suits the levels real nice. You can check out some samples of Kniggit's music at his site.

Last but not least, Joel Murdoch is again working on our engine after a long break due to his computer crash. He just sent me the latest version which has the beginnings of a HUB system and some fixes. We do have problems with the "generalised sector algorithm" which enables new sector types to be cumulative with other types just like Boom has, eg. "damaging floor' plus counting as 'secret'. For some reason the existing way can't just to extended.

I've been rather busy with other things these last few weeks but progress on the levels is still being made. In hindsight, it was a mistake to develop the third episode simultaneously with the second one but how was I to know the entire Gothic team but a few exceptions got bored of Doom and quit? It's too late to focus entirely on episode 2 now... too much has been done already for the Gothic episode. Besides, it gives me some change of scenery whenever I'm bored with one particular theme.

May 8, 1999

Work on sprites and levels still continues, although several designers didn't sent me their latest level drafts like they should have done last Sunday... (Subtle hint? Not really :)) I haven't heard from Joel again but he's probably building up his system again after his recent crash. It's also high time to contact my two music artists again, to see (or better: hear) what they've been up to all this time.

I'm really getting the hang of this 18th century 'episode 3' theme. Especially the 'haunted mansion' level has my attention lately. Since noone is eager to fill up the remaining episode 3 level slot I've taken it on my plate as well. One advantage is that this enables me to create a tightly linked hub, set in the same geographical location.

Does anyone know how to make use of new flats in DCK? For some reason I can't seem to make that work so I appreciate any advise on this matter. Yes... DCK. I find myself using it all the time now instead of ol' trusty Edmap. Still, their editing capabilities are closely matched.

The next immediate shores consist of implementing several new textures and - if I still have enough unused frames left in the deh file - some of the sprites into the new textures / sprites wad. Most of it is intended for use for episode 3. Hopefully I'll have this done by the end of next week. Perhaps I'll have some more exciting news by then...

April 30, 1999

Joel Murdoch sent word today that the Mordeth source code has been succesfully salvaged from his backup disks... Plus, he'll stay on a little while longer until he has found a replacement coder for this project. Great news indeed!

April 27, 1999

Well, something bad happened, although 'bad' is quite the understatement for an event like this. Our coder Joel Murdoch lost the source of (among others) the Mordeth engine, due to another crash. The offending HD has been brought back to the shop so I'll know in a few days exactly how much trouble we're in. Since Joel was planning on moving on to other things he won't be around to do stuff from scratch should the data of the crashed HD remain unrecoverable. I'd rather not think of that worst-case scenario.

Life's been pretty hectic these last weeks so progress isn't that great. Still, I managed to do some minor sprites work as well as some textures. Some progress has been made in the level area as well, but no speed records there either. I'm combining three of my own 'episode 2' levels into a hub and have been busy making the necessary arrangements. For one of the levels it was just what the doctor ordered.

The remainder of the time was spent on brainstorming. I've come up with some very nice ideas, but lack the time to actually experiment with it. I could still use some experienced hands to help out on level editing and engine stuff... You can contact me if interested.

March 30, 1999

Welp, guess it's time for another update to let the world know this project is still alive and kicking. So, what's there to tell...

Our coder Joel is still on his two-week break but is expected back soon with new and fresh ideas on how to tackle our engine issues. The most important feature (game-wise) that still needs to be implemented is our HUB system. You can imagine it makes quite a difference whether or not you are designing for a hublevel or a normal one. Improved fogging is another feature that is eagerly awaited by me but it's something that can easily be added into a level. No, we can't rip those things out of ZDoom's source code... a MBF-based engine like ours just doesn't have ZDoom's scripting language or an equivalent which is how it is done there. We are also not switching codebase to ZDoom because, although ZDoom is IMO the most versatile engine currently in existance we don't need / want 75% of its features for this project. We decided to go with an enhanced version of MBF a while ago which would do all the things we would want for all levels... and that assumption is still valid. So there :)

I got some emails regarding engine ideas. Sorry to disappoint some of you, but Mordeth will -not- have any Quakish features such as grappling hooks, quad damage, etc etc. New features should be a logical extension of the current "Doom world". That is not to say I don't appreciate people's ideas... because I do. So keep 'em coming and who knows... Another person expressed concern about enhancing the monster AI, which he felt would be rather un-Doomish. I guess this is a rather valid issue because it -does- change the way you experience a game. The way I see it, the original Doom monster AI just isn't 'up to par' with current expectations. The new batch of source ports enable us to create more life-like environments and monster AI shouldn't stay behind. For example, they should react to dangerous situations such as crushers or the sight of one of their buddies being blown into bits - they ought to know that they can get hurt walking under a crushing ceiling or that something's up when their buddy meets its fate even if they can't actually hear or see the player at that time. Do keep in mind that this is a (what I call) logical extension of the current code... I'm not talking about weird new things like monsters coordinating their attack or laying booby-traps and ambushes. A level becomes only truly immersive if you have to plan your next move instead of being able to just lure whole legions of monsters into the same deathtrap without having to fire a single shot. Same goes for monster in-fighting... now they just fire one retaliation shot instead of the fight-to-the-death because of one teeny weeny hit.

Monster AI is a very neglected (or should I say, failed?) issue even in most recent games. Quake2's monsters are still as dumb as their Doom counterparts regardless of their patrolling routes. In fact, I'm hard-pressed to find a game that has decent 'life-like' monster behaviour that -isn't- hardcoded for a specific level (which is how eg. Daikatana handles this). Blood 2 and Kingpin might be the exception although I haven't tried these two games yet. Perhaps it is just me, but I prefer being surprised by a lonely trooper over any victorious battle with hordes of dumb monsters.

At the level editing front I'm still busy with my episode 3 maps for which I seem to have lots of inspiration - this in sharp contrast with those for episode 2. I'd rather wait for some -real- good ideas instead of muddling around with a concept I might not like two weeks from now. Gary is close to finishing his ep2 level (or already has in the meantime) and is now spending his time tweaking 'n stuff. Once I get myself back on track this episode shouldn't take that much longer. My current obsession with the third episode should not be hard to understand if you should see how it looks like... damn! If you want to know what I'm talking about... the 'screenshots' area has been updated accordingly...

Some new sprites have also been completed and are awaiting implementation in the current code / wad. I also finished a beta version of the Spider's walking frames but when seeing the result I wasn't satisfied at all. The actual animation itself was very good but I got a lot of "colour jumping" and its head was moving... wrong. Back to the slab it goes :)

March 3, 1999

Even more engine news. We have now even more ambient sounds. Apart from the world sounds there are now also 'action' sounds for entering, wading in or leaving liquids... just a few more sounds to go! Falling damage is also implemented, as well as drowning - although the latter needs some more work. This engine will be something special indeed, especially if Joel manages to implement more realistic fogging and a hub system...

Work on the levels continues as usual, and I've actually started yet another level... argh ;) Seems the level set is now sort off complete... now it's time to finish it. I'm designing these levels as a set situated in the same geographical location, so if we actually do implement a hub system it will be rather easy to place the levels.

We also acquired a new MIDI artist, by the name of Alex MacCaull, who will hopefully turn in some nice creepy music.

February 20, 1999

O my god. Joel has sent me a first version of our engine containing ambient sounds. Not all of them are done yet, just the looping ones, but it sure makes a difference to a game... instead of walking around in a level you find yourself suddenly immersed in a world. Awesome. As you can imagine, I've been spending this day in a half-lit room, bent over my level editor and working on my 'haunted mansion' level while humming the "Turn of the Screw" theme :)

February 18, 1999

Well, now I know our status... designers are dropping like flies. As most of you already know Adelusion and now David Gevert dropped out of the project. They didn't bother to send a personal email to me about it... nah... I found out via their web sites. If this is the standard set by known Doomers, well, I guess we can now understand where the lameness of some representatives of the unwashed masses comes from. Think about it.

Of course, this blows a serious hole in our schedule but then again, the people who left never did contribute actual levels yet. I might yet release episode 2 and 3 seperately but by now I have already spend a great deal of time on this third episode and I'll be damned if I let these people come between me and the well-being of this project. No need for me to dwell on this issue longer... the facts speak for themselves.

But life continues, and so does this project. From the original Gothic crew only two remain: Chris Martin and Anthony Soto. Michal Mesko has fallen quiet once again, so he is probably also "moving on" although I would like to hear otherwise. Derek MacDonald remains as well, as is my old trusty ep2 team: Nick Baker, Gary Gosson and Adam Williamson. BTW Adam, your email is down very often... tried to contact you twice already but no luck. Joe Zona left a while ago as well, but he contributed some great forest textures which are doing wonders for creating really immersive forest surroundings -- great job!. And there's Joel Murdoch, who has handled all our code up to now, and texture artist Jonas Feragen and music guy Kniggit... Gentlemen, I salute you.

Now, the good news. Joel Murdoch completed porting our code over to MBF although there are some issues not implemented yet such as ambient sounds. This MBF-based port has some enhancements and improvements over 'vanilla' Boom which allow me to create even better monsters and designs than previously possible. Speaking of monsters... I'm creating two brand-new ones that are basically "organic" versions of the Arachnotron... they'll own. Only a few more frames to go and Mordeth has some great new creepy crawlies, whee! The flying Dragon called Roc will probably be downgraded to a normal heavy-weight monster and give up its role as Big Boss to madam Spider... with the added advantage that we can now use the Roc more often in more levels.

Which reminds me... we could still use an experienced coder. I hate to beg for help every other update, but the fact remains that I'm just a single guy already doing a lot of things by himself and no way good in every facet of game making. As you can imagine quite a few level slots are also open again but I'm hesistant of taking on any more people I'm not quite sure off. I can really do without this shit.

February 12, 1999

Damn, it's been a month. Fortunately I have now left Hardware Hell and everything's back to its normal functional self. Progress has been slow on my side since I couldn't edit half the time, but I still managed to complete one ep2 level and doing lots for yet another one. Most of the other level designers still need to call in with their latest versions... I'll know more about our status in a few days.

Sprites are also doing fine, but progress in that area is always going sluggish since this is done entirely by hand, pixel-by-pixel. You'll love the result though! Joel Murdoch sent word he's close to finish porting our current code to MBF... can't wait :)

January 12, 1999

Just a quick update so that you all know I'm alive - for now. My monitor will return to the shop (hopefully) tomorrow but I'm not sure I'll get a replacement for the time being... we'll see. In case your email or whatever won't be answered you'll know what's up ;)

Now, some nice news... please welcome to the team Derek Mac Donald (aka Afterglow) who will be working as a level designer on episode 3. We're glad to have him onboard!

Not much else to say for the moment... there's only so much you can do with only a few colours at your disposal. I did edit one of my episode 2 maps a little though. Work on sprites is out of the question. Can't wait for my hardware to return back to normal!

January 4, 1999

Well, I'm back. Miss me..? :)

Just before leaving almost all colours "disappeared" from my monitor. Up to know I still don't know what is causing this... buggy drivers, broken monitor (again??) or a broken graphics card? Ack. Can't play, can't edit. Time to call in the professionals... until that time don't expect major progress here :(

Nothing has happened on the project as far as I'm aware off either. I really needed this little break to get my creativity back! If only my hardware was in order I could put some ideas to the test... Some good news as well: Kniggit sent along three great new tunes... whee!

December 23, 1998

Well, I won't be here for the remainder of this year, so I'd like to wish all of you -- the Mordeth team and fellow Doomers -- a Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year !! See you all in 1999 !!

December 21, 1998

O well, let's make this official. Mordeth's custom code will be based on Lee Killough's "Marine's Best Friend" source port, which is in turn based on TeamTNT's Boom engine. For a full list of present and future Mordeth features go and look at the "engine" section of this site.

Speaking of which... the Mordeth project could still use the odd experienced music artist, texture artist (especially for creating new skies) and C++ coders. Interested? Send me an email and don't forget pointers to your previous work. Experienced level designers for the third episode are also still welcome. Since I will be gone for the holidays later this week it might be a while before I can review your stuff though.

And a big Thank you! for all those who voted for me in 5 Years of Doom's Top Ten of Wad Authors vote. It's sooo cool to see your name listed among the greatest of our community, not to mention that sensational tickling of satisfaction :) I'm honored.

Speaking of people honoring me... Ricrob also gave me his "Award of Coolness":

I just wanted you to know that you have won my award for your work on the original Mordeth project. I know it's a bit late in coming, but I just made up the award. :) It's not only for recognition of all the hard work you put into the original project itself, but also for the continuing work that is being done by you on the continuing episodes of Mordeth. Good luck with that.

Well, you certainly took a bloody long time before giving me that Ricrob, hehehe. No seriously, it's appreciated! I've snugged it into my collection of awards in the "credits" section.

Not much has happened on the editing front, I'm afraid. Better to take a nice break during the Holidays, and return in the new year with fresh, crispy ideas.

December 10, 1998 -- HAPPY FIFTH ANNIVERSARY, DOOM !

Yes, it's been five years since the release of our beloved game: DOOM. And where better to celebrate this than at Doomworld's 5 Years Of Doom site!

It looks like the description of the Mordeth engine should be changed from "based on Boom" to "based on MBF" instead... Lee Killough's MBF source mod is based on TeamTNT's Boom v2.01 with lots of enhancements and bugfixes not seen in Boom v2.02. Just take a look at Lee Killough's latest update [site seems down] for a complete list... we're talking animated / scrolling skies, improved monster AI and much more! Prime example on how to enhance DOOM without losing any of its essence.

Unfortunately, Boom and apparantly MBF as well are / will be considered "done"... after release Lee probably won't be working on anything Doom'ish for a while - I think that is putting it mildly - and TeamTNT moved on with the start of their OGRE project.

OGRE... I just don't know enough facts about this new project to base any opinion on. Is this still Doom as we know and love it, or a step closer to losing it all? Guess we'll find out shortly.

November 24, 1998

Life is going on as usual over here. I'm very close to finishing one of my episode 3 levels after which I will probably go back to my episode 2 ones. There will also be a new joint level for that episode done by Nick Baker and your's truly which I'm looking forward to. Meanwhile, updates from my team regulary drop in my mailbox.

There are some engine changes lurking around the corner which would be truly great indeed. We have also been looking at high-res and TCP/IP gameplay after the release of PRBoom, the official Win32 port of TeamTNT's Boom engine, but it is certainly not a given that this will make it into Mordeth considering PRBoom isn't written in the same language and is in some ways not directly portable to our current code. Or so I'm told :)

Those damn sprites are of course still waiting to get finished, as well as a load of other changes. And I still need to sit down and trim down the amount of textures we are currently using. And I really need to stop banging my head against the wall.

I've noticed that there is some confusion about the next release of Mordeth... this will consist of a revised episode 1 and both episode 2 and 3. Not just of a single episode as I've read/heard elsewhere. And I will look upon it and see that it is good, and will call it "Mordeth v2.0"... Yes, I originally planned to release episode 1/2 first and only then the third one, but that was before I got the opportunity to snag some of the Gothic DM crew who wanted to do a "Gothic single-player" episode in preference to the techy second episode. And so the third episode was born, and this is why we are working on two episodes at the same time and why things are taking "a bit" longer then expected... It doesn't help either that some of those Gothic DM designers dropped out afterwards, for various excuses (eh). Considering the time I've spent on the third episode (both level editing as textures/sprites) you might have otherwise found another Christmas present under your tree this year...

November 12, 1998

Please welcome to the team David Gevert who will be working as an episode 3 mapper! Speaking of which, we could use one more experienced level designer for that same episode, as well as a coder for our source mod and an additional music artist. Take a look around the site, and if you're interested do email me. Include pointers to your previous work!

I've been catching up with a lot of email lately. Joel is going to have lots of time for our source mod in a week or so, so I expect good progress in that area as well! I've also dropped mapping for a while (...writer's block sucks) and went back to sprites editing.

November 9, 1998

I've updated almost all of the sections during the past week. Most notable changes are in the "About Mordeth" section which has now up-to-date information on all the three episodes we are currently working on. The "Bestiary" has gone and has been replaced with a section devoted to the source mod we're using. Take a look there to see what we have in store for you!

The "Screenshots" section has also been remodelled... go and see if you can detect some new screenies there :)

Another update is coming in the next couple of days, if all goes well. For now, nose around the site to see what has been changed.

October 29, 1998

Both the new texture & sprite WAD as well as most of the level drafts have been made available to the team last week. Some textures are still in development, but basically we now have everything we need. Changes in future Builds will be more and more focused on the sprites. As for level status: one of my four episode 2 levels is finished except for cleaning up some bugs, two others are about 30 / 50% done. The secret level for that episode shouldn't take that long to finish as well. Gary's episode 2 level is also doing well and Nick's level should be nearing completion. Adam apparantly hasn't done anything with his map since last time though and another level I had originally planned needs to be re-assigned. As far as episode 3 goes, I'm currently involved in two of those maps, one being 70% finished. The Boss map for episode 3 by Chris Martin and Adelusion is growing freaking -huge-... o yeah! Anthony Soto's level is steadily growing but Michal Mesko still needs to get started. Some level slots are still open.

There will be some re-arrangments in the types of monsters used, but this requires some more thought on my part. Better finish the Roc and Zombie first...

Joel Murdoch is still looking into some of the engine modifications we had planned. Ultimately, this will result in an engine that will provide a realistic setting for the Mordeth levels. Fear his mad coding skills! :)

October 12, 1998

Ok, ranting time. Go here if interested. Now, back to our regular programs:

As for level editing: Map07 got a complete new start area and it looks much better then before. The exit area is now being added and might even be finished this night... that is if I can kick myself offline for tonight. The old 'second halve' will be reworked into a new level. I've got it all worked out up there in my head :)

Work on the Zombie sprite is going OK. The chest and back area is giving me some problems but nothing I can't solve. Didn't touch the Roc for a while now.

Joel Murdoch sent me the latest engine version, which now includes some new requested light triggers. Plus, I think it's time to give you a peek at what this new engine will do for Mordeth. We already have all the features Boom has to offer, but our coders Lee Killough and Joel Murdoch have been busy hacking away at the available source. This is what you can expect:

Lots of optimisations to the original source, done by coder extraordinaire Lee Killough.
The length of the 'episodes' has been changed, with a secret level for each episode. This brings the total number of levels in the full TC to 34. Each episode is concluded with an unique full-screen intermission screen.
Every episode has its own unique SKY texture. Plus it is possible to have additional custom skies in the same level, and to change SKY textures at a whim. That's right: levels with more then one SKY texture. This will also allow a crude form of animated skies, eg. thunderclouds that will occasionally show fork lightning!
A realistic fog effect, similar to the one seen in Hexen.
More light triggers, which allows for some more effects such as shooting out lights.
A friendly demon, who will attack your enemies when summoned.
Monsters have improved AI. They will remember their primary targets after being distracted and will tend to avoid dangerous constructions such as crushers. They also won't keep getting involved in fights with other monsters, retaliating only once per attack by another monster.
Remember Quake2's lasers? Mordeth has them as well! Mind, this is not done using sprites... it's a full instant-death dealing level construct, which can be switched on / off. That's right, press a button and watch that lasercannon make mincemeat out of those swarming hordes, killing everything instantly that crosses the patch of the laserbeam. You can even destroy walls and doors with it. Be bad! Of course, lasergrids can also bar you from an area, until you find a way to switch it off.
Be carefull when entering a subway tunnel... those moving trains might actually run you over. Or take control of a subway train and run over those pesky monsters instead... *splat!*
Although you don't take falling damage yet in Mordeth, you can kill yourself by walking into lethal area's or jumping of high cliffs. Who said I wouldn't hurt you? :)
Some more goodies that will make you smile... or go 'ouch!'.

Like it? Stay tuned :)

October 2, 1998

Ok, that's it. I've totally had it. When I tried to merge the two halves of map07 to show it to the team in the next Build Deep97 (which I use for merging purposes only) screws some things up. BSP, DCK, Doom and Boom all barf on it. I'm pissed, moreover since a test merge I did earlier went virtually flawless. Perhaps the sucker has grown too big to handle with existing tools... after all, it's a 640 Kb level after compiling. Anyway, I'm not going to put any more time in this... instead, I'll use both halves to create two seperate levels. Two large levels. The original level gets 'just' a single subway tube that leads immediately to the exit instead of the subway station it had before, and the new level will take place inside this subway station - with a few things added to it, of course. Lets hope I can stop myself in time for that one.

Someone should beat up Jeff Rabenhorst for not releasing a version of Edmap that uses all of your memory, instead of the measly 640 K conventional it uses now. Or better: get him to release the source of v1.31 and let someone else take that job. From what I've heard he won't be doing that himself after all, unless someone pays him $$$.

The good news is that Doomworld is back online. But then again, you already knew that, didn't you?

September 30, 1998

In case people are desperately trying to get some Doom news... Doomworld and its host Telefragged are down for the time being due to a toasted HD of Telefragged's primary system. According to the maintainers both sites should be back up about eight hours from now... "now" being defined as 11:19 am (timezone -02.00). The late HD was a two-month old Maxtor. Eh.

While I'm at it I can just as well give a small update on Mordeth's progress :) I've been working on two of my maps, including Map07 which still contains a few very nasty and very persistant bugs. Plus I've been working on the Zombie sprites, which turns out to be a bit more work than I thought. Joel Murdoch has sent me a new version of the engine which now features some ambient sounds. Some other, important features didn't make it yet because he just had to go on holiday for two weeks, hehehe. Well, that's about it for today!

September 21, 1998

Allright, progress speed is picking up again! I've just created an 'interim' build containing some new and corrected textures and also removed some redundant ones from it. This interim build will not be made available to the team just yet since it will soon become obsolete due to the arrival of even more textures. The texture 'glitch' I wrote about in the previous update was just that... a semi-transparant texture that, mistaken for a solid one, got applied to a 1s sidedef... eh.

I've trashed the work done on the Mage so far, since I was not satisfied with the way it was going. Instead, the monster will look like a transparant 'ghost' of the Zombie. Its attack will still be the same though, calling fire upon the player. Plus, I've finally agreed on the final look of the Zombie, so I can now focus on implementing it to all the frames instead of to the single test frame I have now. The 'flying dragon' has been renamed to 'Roc' after a mythical predatory bird... its wings still need to be fixed though. Dreadfull boring work =)

All level designers with the exception of Adel and Michal got back to me, most showing preliminary work. I've started yet another new map myself, also for episode 3. Kniggit got back to me saying he should have some new music tracks ready "soon". And finally, Joel Murdoch will be working on some new features for the Mordeth engine, including ambient sounds.

September 7, 1998

Not much work has been done since the last update, this because of other matters I kept myself busy with. Still haven't received any maps from the designers, except from Gary. I do hope the others haven't done so because they are extremely busy improving their maps, or else... Dan Twomey got back to me, saying he dropped out of the project because he won't be online that often anymore. Haven't heard from the music artists in a looooong while.

To top it all off I discovered a problem with some of the new textures yesterday. Seems Doom misdraws them while NWT displays them just fine. Hrm, can't say I've seen this before, but when I find out what is causing this I will make a corrected texture/sprite WAD available to the team. Or to what's left of that team.

Currently working on four levels and some of the sprites myself. Two maps are about to go beta, although they still need a few days' (hard) work each, and one other map for episode 3 just got started. I must say I'm extremely pleased with the new textures for that episode (thanks to Joe and Ola!).

A note to all those people who are taking a lack of screenshots / updates / whatever as a sign of "lack of progress"... go and jump off a tall building. This way you will experience first-hand that nothing happens all the way down, until you actually hit the ground.

August 21, 1998

The latest texture/sprite WAD has been made available to the Mordeth team yesterday, containing some great new textures by our graphics guys Ola Bjorling and Jonas Feragen. It also included some new oak textures from Joe Zona (author of the Real TC) and some Quake cavern textures provided by Zokum.

Unfortunately, most of my mappers seem to be on holiday of sorts. And Dan Twomey apparantly jumped overboard while noone was looking... if you're reading this Dan, email me back! I'm also reviewing some people's levels to see if they would fit this team... this is taking much longer than I expected.

What's going on now... Joel Murdoch is working on our modified Boom engine and its documentation and Lee Killough (coder extraordinaire) is holding a short break. When the documentation is ready the engine will also be made available to the team. And I'll spill some of the beans in here as well =)

Some new texture ideas are waiting to get implemented... let's hope my graphics artist have time for these. Work on sprites has been almost non-existant these last two weeks, but I hope to pick this up again soon.

July 31, 1998

Finally made some time to do a much-needed update. First of all, the final winner of the bonus item contest is Patrick Martin - which doesn't come as a big surprise to those who have followed the news here. A renewed congratulations to him, and thanks to all the other contestants for sending in their suggestions. Patrick's suggestion of a "helper demon" is now being implemented by Lee Killough and my coder Joel Murdoch. As you may have gathered Lee is "unofficially" helping us out with large chunks of coding... you can see his version of "good dogs" here. There's no winner in the 'end-of-game message' contest... too few people have sent in entries for this one to make this fair.

Work on Mordeth is steadily going along. An alpha version of the Episode 3 Boss' walking frames is ready, but still needs some improvements. Work on the Zombie has been restarted, but with a different approach. Level editing is of course always continuing and I must say... some of these levels will become really awesome =)

In two weeks' time there will be another Build sent to the team, including what has been done on the engine so far. Perhaps then I will inform the general public about some of its more characteristic features, to give an idea of what can be expected... Keep yourself posted!

July 15, 1998

Things are getting back to normal again. Joel has returned, so the closing date of the contest is set monday July 20th. I haven't seen 'winning' entries yet except for Patrick Martin's suggestion mentioned in the previous update. So come on people, you've got until monday to come up with some nice entries! And please stop sending in suggestions for Quake-style bonuses, because... damn!

Bad news. Malcolm Sailor dropped out because of time constraints. To make matters worse I also had an email from Mark Klem who told he also won't have time for any Doom project due to a new job. I sadly see them go.

Due to these people leaving the team there are some vacancies: the Mordeth TC Project now seeks experienced music artists and experienced level designers.

Music artists: We need an additional 2-3 experienced artists to provide background music in MUS or MIDI format. The style should be reminiscent of the tracks of E1M8, E2M2, MAP03, 13, 18, 25 or 30. More 'action'-like tracks should be like MAP09 or 28. In short: no 120 beats-a-minute adrenaline-pumping tracks, but instead dark, scary stuff. Heavy instruments sure can be used, but use actual tunes and no drum-only thingies. We require at least 5 tracks from each artist. If interested mail me at mordeth@NO.SPAM.doomworld.com. Please include pointers to your previous work.

Level designer(s): We need 1-2 very experienced level designers for the second and third episode. The second episode has a "tekbase" team, and will feature lots of new textures, sprites and monsters. You will be given a short description on how your level should look like, but you'll have lots of room to implement this - provided you stick to the theme. The third episode takes place in a dark decaying world of gothic ruins, mansions, crumbled cities and monasteries. Basic texture set is taken from Gothic DM(2) although we're also working on our own as well. This episode also uses new sprites and monsters. Descriptions of levels are less rigid then is the case for episode 2. And of course, we're using our very own custom Boom engine. If interested mail me at mordeth@NO.SPAM.doomworld.com. Please include pointers to your previous work.

July 8, 1998

Hm I forgot to upload an update before I left for a few days with the flu... sorry about that. Anyway, I've received several entries regarding my contest with a possible winner: a "helper demon", a suggestion made by Patrick Martin. Congrats Patrick and thanks to all the others who sent in their suggestions! But my coder Joel will be absent for the next two weeks due to family matters, so it will be a while before I can determine if this is feasible. It might even be coupled to some features suggested by good ol' Andrew Stine. I've received only a few 'end of game message' suggestions, so that part of the contest is hardly fair. Plus, there's still one empty bonus entry left... So I'm extending the contest for another two weeks, until Joel returns. For the exact rules and stuff see the June 23 update.

Another new item that made it into Mordeth is a kind of 'super backpack', which gives the player not only more ammo, but also a small percentage of health and armor up to 100%. Should made for some rather interesting gameplay because a player will now be forced to think what he needs most... the ammo or the health/armor... pick it up now because you need the health charge and so wasting the ammo, or wait until your amount of ammo runs lower and then pick it up.

Haven't done much editing since I came down with the flu, but will start again soon... perhaps I'll forget this way that my country's team lost the World Cup semi-final to those pesky Brasilians... =(

June 23, 1998

OK, I'm starting my very own contest here! As you know we're going to use a modified Boom engine for the Mordeth TC... that will allow us to change the "end this game?" type of messages. Plus we're thinking of new kinds of bonuses to replace the invulnerability sphere and the light amplification goggles - two items not used in Mordeth. So:

Contest - Do one of the following things:

Create a new "end of game" type of message. No offensive stuff though.
Make up a new original bonus to replace the invulnerability sphere or the light goggles. This new item should fit within the engine used.

Contest Rules:

You can send in any number of new lines/item ideas as you would like.
No discussion possible over results.
Originality and practicality are two key words determining a winning entry.
We do not claim the exclusive use of your lines/bonus ideas.
Closing date of this contest is Friday, July 3th.

It might happen that one of you makes up this really cool new bonus but which our coder finds impossible to do... in that case we can't implement it. Practicality above all things! The people who will come up with the coolest new lines and the two new bonuses will be mentioned on this site. You can send in your entry by mailing me at g.lahaut@stud.warande.ruu.nl.

Good luck all!

June 17, 1998

Ack, has it been that long! Not that I haven't done anything... on the contrary. First the important news: Joel Murdoch will be modifying the Boom engine to better suit Mordeth's needs. Apart from some cosmetic changes there will be some alterations that will affect gameplay... and I'm not telling =) Maybe the Phase II Boom engine will be customizable in such extent that we don't need a Boom mod anymore, but for now we go for it.

I've started some new levels, one of which is now 75% finished - it's nice to work on something else for a change. Plus texture wizard Ola Bjorling is back in town! Also welcome Joe Zona (author of the Real TC) to the team; he'll be creating forest textures for us.

Matthew Dixon sent me a kind email, explaining why he left the project. Turned out he doesn't have the time anymore, and wishes us all the best (thanks Matt!).

May 25, 1998

Ah, four-day weekends rule! Especially with those soaring temperatures around here lately. Before I went off however I send out the new texture/sprite WAD to the level designers. I did forget to put in some new flats but only Gary noticed so that's allright =)

We have one new music artist... please welcome Kniggit! That said, we could still use some more so if you're interested in contributing music to the Mordeth TC mail me!

Matthew Dixon, one of the designers for the third episode, walked out of the project. He didn't give any reason why.

May 17, 1998

We are still looking for experienced music artists willing to contribute to the Mordeth TC project. The music should have an dark ambient theming... no intrusive stuff like techno or metal. Interested to compose at least five music tracks for some great levels..? Then mail me!

The new textures/sprites WAD is as good as ready. I'm waiting for Joel to send an improved version of the pnames/texture resource, since I made some small mistakes in the specifications. Otherwise, everything is in place.

May 14, 1998

Joel Murdoch has offered to write a shell for Mordeth which I gladly accepted. He's also going to mail me the new texture/pnames resource this weekend, after which I can make a new build available to the level designers. Ola Bjorling has stepped aside for a while, since regular work needs his attention. Come back soon, Ola! =)

The two new music designers who joined us recently have vanished. That is, they're not responding anymore so I guess they have abandoned the project. I hate it when that happens =( So, if you are an experienced music artist and looking for a great project to join, why not this one? The music (MIDI or MUS format) I'm looking for should be ambient, background ones... something that makes the player think there might be a demon lurking around the corner... no techno, heavy metal or anything else that intrusive. Something that tends towards the Blood midi's, to give an example. Interested? Then mail me! Do include pointers to your previous work. We're looking at about (at least) five tracks here, to be completed in two months at most.

May 3, 1998

When I was looking for level designers who were willing to join my project, naturally I wrote several candidates myself. You can say I got a lot more than I was looking for... several designers who were working together on another, rather famous project were interested in doing a single-player episode and joined up. Work would be started after the release of their project...

Now that the Gothic Deathmatch II project has been released, we can officially welcome the following designers to the Mordeth TC team: Anthony Czerwonka, Chris Martin, Dan Twomey, Michal Mesko, Malcolm Sailor, Matt Dixon and Anthony Soto ! They will design the third episode of Mordeth, with a theme of dark gothic ruins, overgrown by forests. Battle Arch-Mages, giant flying Serpents and persistent Zombies in a setting of decayed mansions, battlements, ruined streets, eerie caverns and dark cathedrals. You want to see how a single-player GDM would look like..? Look no further =)

And all this working under the Boom engine... no holds barred! People often complain that Boom does not give the player community anything new. That is only partly true, and it's a question if adding features such as mlook and jumping as seen in other source mods are really improving the original Doom and Doom2 levels. In fact, jumping can actually get you stuck in some levels. My opinion is that new features - in Boom as well as the other source ports such as Legacy - only blossom in levels that are designed to use these. And we sure plan to design levels with Boom in mind! =)

April 28, 1998

Finished and brushed up some more sprites. The Drone has been completely redone and the result is quite satisfying, if I may say so myself. Now brushing up its death frames, then it's right on to finishing the Commander and Serpent (an episode 3 monster). Got a very nice idea for an episode 4 monster as well. Also made some very nice textures.

The texture deadline is approaching fast - again. This monday I'll be collecting these and the latest level drafts. Things are going good =)

I've updated some broken links, and everything should work again now.

April 25, 1998

Due to Real Life (TM) both my texture contributors missed last week's deadline. A new one has been set friday, although I will probably reset it until after the weekend. This should hopefully give Jonas and Ola enough time.

Together with "Big Fish" I've set some general level descriptions for the third episode. Soon, very soon now their own project will be released and work on the third episode levels will commence. Until then the identity of "Big Fish" will remain shrouded in mystery, although it doesn't take Brains to figure out who they are...

Several sprites, most of them animated objects, have been finished. This weekend I will have a go at the last remaining ones, and hopefully make some progress on the monster sprites. More animated textures are also on the 'to-do' list, as are some more experiments with the Boom engine.

April 8, 1998

Ugh. A few days ago my monitor broke down, forcing me off the computer for a while. Good side is that I finally had a good reason the dumb that dodgy old "every colour but red and blue" thing and bought myself a new one. Colours galore! I spend some time today firing up games and just looking... amazing. Of course, quake still looks brown and dark =P

Upon returning I found two maps from my contributors in my mail, waiting for my review.

Ola is a bit late with his episode 3 textures, but send me a few great rock graphics and a really good sky. The deadline is approaching fast now, so I hope he and Jonas are ready by then.

Some sad news. I've suspended my work on the Beyond Doom TC. Levels are still being made for it, but the work on sprites has stopped. I just don't have the time to complete those.

The "Editing Pages" have been ported to Doomworld, plus expanded with Boom support.

April 2, 1998

Now that TeamTNT has released their Boom engine it is time to announce that the Mordeth project will be using this port as its new engine. It does not have all the features I would like to have right now, but I'm sure these will be implemented in due time. Features that made me decide to use this port were:

	1) Removal of all bugs/limitations, like the visplane buffer
	   limitation
	2) Full DeHackEd support, including text strings
	3) New features like
	    - translucent sprites
	    - faked floor/ceiling texturing, "underwater" colormap
	    - Scrolling floors, ceilings and walls, in every direction and
	      speed
	    - Scrolling floors that carry objects
	    - Wind effects, icy floors and sticky surfaces
	    - Ability to set floor light setting at different value than
	      the rest of the sector
	4) A team that continues to work on this engine with much
	   dedication and professionalism... Thanks TeamTNT!

I'm currrently converting the Mordeth dehacked patch to the new BEX format. Other stuff I need to do this week are those damn sprites and making short level descriptions for the Episode 3 team.

The Mordeth Editing Pages will be ported to Doomworld soon, since it's a more fitting place. It will also have Boom support, so keep an eye on this if you need help implementing those new features.

Two new music artists have joined the team. Please welcome Daniel Wressle and Josh Ray! They will be responsible for most of the Episode 3 music.

March 25, 1998

The new texture/sprites WAD has been send to the Episode 2 level designers. Have a ball, guys! :) I'm expecting to see first level drafts early April. Ola Bj"rling is back in town and currently making kick-ass textures, mainly for Episode 3.

Soon, very soon now, "Big Fish" will be able to work on Episode 3. Can't wait!

And a shameless plug for my technical assistant Joel Murdoch, who maintains the Doom Realm site and would like you to visit it :)

March 18, 1998

I've redesigned the Mordeth Editing Pages, plus updated the description of the transparant door, since I got some complaints about it. Now, even Dan Tam can figure it out.

The frames for the Mage are almost ready. Another two to three days of steady work, I guess, before it's finished. I've also picked up level editing again... my favorite of all passtimes. That map is really growing huge... good thing some source ports have implemented 8-player support, since this creates the possibility of actually encountering an opponent once in a while =)

March 17, 1998

As you probably all know, this site won't carry general Doom news anymore... this will be covered by our new site Doomworld from now on. Don't think this will become a dull place though... I'll keep you informed about Mordeth here, and more extensively then before.

Boris Pereira has send me a new (unofficial) version of the Doom Legacy port, which has much better DeHackEd patch support. And indeed, Mordeth is (almost) fully functional running under this port! Some things need to be improved though:

Full Dehacked support is already there except for text changes (like the mission update between map06 and 07). The sky doesn't get tiled properly. Customisable translucency, like which objects and with what percentage. Almost every solid object needs to have his height adjusted, since Id Software never bothered to set this higher then 16 units... with the ability to jump and the implementation of object heights, this really shows (like stepping 'into' solid objects such as chandeliers).

One can safely say I'm really impressed with this port, bringing it back under my attention. Mordeth v2 will probably use a source port as its engine but all depends on DeHackEd patch support and additional features. The two candidates for Mordeth's engine are TeamTNT's Boom and the Doom Legacy port. Both offer great possibilities, so I haven't decided yet.

While fiddling around with these ports I discovered a bug in the Mordeth DeHackEd patch... it does not have any consequences in regular Doom2, but it certainly was a showstopper when using it with different source ports :( Somehow, the following lines got introduced in the patch:

Sprite 0 Offset = 1
Sprite 1 Offsett = 120

This leads to incorrect negative values in the sprite table for the Imp (TROO) and the Shotgun weapon (SHTG). Which is ignored when building an alternative Doom2.exe with DeHackEd, but is responsible for messing things up under earlier versions of Doom Legacy and now Boom. The obvious thing is to remove those lines from the patch... this will correct the Imp entry (sprite 0) but somehow the wrong value for 'sprite 1' gets re-instated when building a hacked Doom2.exe ?? Can anybody explain to me what is going wrong here? It's driving me nuts!

In other news, I'm still working on sprites. I'm redoing the Mage... originally a floating upper torso and in my opinion good-looking, it was pretty much shot down by Jonas who commented:

Great, but you forgot to draw the lower body part...

Umpf :) Plus, Ola's back in town and currently doing a load of new textures for Mordeth. To my level designers I can say: YES, that new beta WAD is coming Real Soon Now :)

March 13, 1998

Friday the 13th... a graveyard... a thunderstorm... an eerie castle in the background... and the opening of

HTTP://WWW.DOOMWORLD.COM

Things can't get more perfect then that! :)

For even older news, check out this archive.