Doom 32X: Resurrection

[Chilly Willy]

I've worked on libyaul... much of the peripheral support was my work as I have a considerable number of Saturn peripherals, including the wheel and the keyboard. I do intend to make a Saturn version at some point. Just been waiting for the 32X version to reach a point where it's mostly finished so that there's less need to keep merging bug fixes and new features into the Saturn version.

I've got a chipped Saturn that will play CDRs, and I've got a devcart that will load executables over USB. I normally use my 32X toolchain for building Saturn demos as they both use the SH2 and 68000.

As to how D32XR is coming, Vic just worked the code and data for the cyberdemon and spider mastermind back into it, and we've worked out bank switching the rom using the standard sega mapper for larger roms (needed for both of those monsters given their size... it's why they were removed in the first place). A first version of a Saturn port of this will probably require the 4MB ram cart to make things easier. Given how easy it is to get something like an Action Replay 4M Plus, that shouldn't be too much of a burden on Saturn folks. I'd guess that most probably already have one just from sheer utility.

 

[TrekkiesUnite118]

It might not be a bad idea to try focusing on making it 4MB RAM compatible instead of 100% requiring it. Reason being there's been a lot of advancements lately with Netlink functionality. So having the cart port available to work with the Netlink Modem might not be a bad idea for adding multiplayer. You could maybe set it up in a way where if you don't have the RAM cart inserted you get something more along the lines of what PS1 Doom had content wise, allowing the Netlink modem to be used for multiplayer. If you have the RAM cart installed you get a more fleshed out single player experience though.

 

[Chilly Willy]

You actually think more than a scant handful of people will have a rare modem that goes for between $170 and $700 on ebay? I'd be much more likely to support the System Link cable: Taisen Cable - Sega Retro

 

[TrekkiesUnite118]

There's honestly probably more people with the modem than the taisen cable for what it's worth.

 

[ROS]

DIY Taisen Cable（3D print）

 

[TrekkiesUnite118]

Saturn Netlink Tunnel Script
Dreamcast-Talk Netlink Thread

The Netlink and Xband modems are far more accessible and far more appealing than the Taisen Cable is these days. It's a lot easier to find someone to play with online in the Shiro discord channel than it is to find someone with another Saturn to set up and play Doom locally with.

 

[nando]

It's funny you mention that because I've thought many times of ditching my Netlink modem in the past as "useless" but it appears holding onto it for software to catch up is the better play. I had a Taisen cable back in the day (and 2 Saturns and 2 TVs and games to play it with) and honestly, I only ever used it once. it's a huge pain in the ass in reality.

 

[Chilly Willy]

While more people might have the modem, if you don't currently have one, you probably aren't going to be able to get one... not without remortgaging your home. 😀 Then add all the other hardware you're going to need to use it - you just can't dial up an ISP in most places anymore, so like the Dreamcast folk, you're going to need to hook the modem to something like a Raspberry Pi setup to convert between the modern internet and your modem. Not saying I won't support the modem, but it's clearly going to be something added later rather than at the start. Things I have and can see the utility of will come before anything else, so support for all different sorts of controllers (including mouse and keyboard), as well as ram carts, will be the things supported first.

 

[TrekkiesUnite118]

Sure that's fair. I'm just saying between the two, the Modem is probably the more useful and accessible one to support over the Taisen Cable. So it might not be a bad idea to keep the option on the table for a bit.

 

[Chilly Willy]

Sure that's fair. I'm just saying between the two, the Modem is probably the more useful and accessible one to support over the Taisen Cable. So it might not be a bad idea to keep the option on the table for a bit.

Sure. Any suggestions will be taken seriously, and networking of any sort does eventually become important. I might not be able to test it, but when it gets worked on, others will be able to do that. I have a lot of Sega hardware, especially for the Genesis/CD/32X, but I don't have everything, so Vic and I have others do some tests for us. Not just for things we don't have, but also because sometimes you just need a completely different set of eyes to find all the things that need changing. As it is, I only have one Saturn, and neither modem nor link cable, so I won't be testing any networking to start with in any case. I was able to work on D32XR networking because I have two 32X systems and the ZT system link cable. It's always faster and easier to get something working if you can check it yourself, but I don't see that being the case for the Saturn. At least, not any time soon.

 

[yuyumaster]

Sure. Any suggestions will be taken seriously, and networking of any sort does eventually become important. I might not be able to test it, but when it gets worked on, others will be able to do that. I have a lot of Sega hardware, especially for the Genesis/CD/32X, but I don't have everything, so Vic and I have others do some tests for us. Not just for things we don't have, but also because sometimes you just need a completely different set of eyes to find all the things that need changing. As it is, I only have one Saturn, and neither modem nor link cable, so I won't be testing any networking to start with in any case. I was able to work on D32XR networking because I have two 32X systems and the ZT system link cable. It's always faster and easier to get something working if you can check it yourself, but I don't see that being the case for the Saturn. At least, not any time soon.

Thanks for your efforts. Regarding the peripherals, if you accept suggestions, making it compatible with the 3D pad (if it's possible) would be a nice touch, bc playing an FPS with analog strafing is truly a pleasure.

Strafing and moving in Lobotomy's games is incredible with that controller, really cool stuff, and I'm sure many more people own it than the Saturn's mouse. Thus, if you'd like to approach it with a "first things first" mindset, the first peripheral I'd focus on would be the 3D pad.

Can't wait to see this game being ported to Saturn with a PS1-like framerate. Again, thanks for all your work. Keeping these consoles alive keeps me alive too.

 

[Chilly Willy]

Thanks for your efforts. Regarding the peripherals, if you accept suggestions, making it compatible with the 3D pad (if it's possible) would be a nice touch, bc playing an FPS with analog strafing is truly a pleasure.

Strafing and moving in Lobotomy's games is incredible with that controller, really cool stuff, and I'm sure many more people own it than the Saturn's mouse. Thus, if you'd like to approach it with a "first things first" mindset, the first peripheral I'd focus on would be the 3D pad.

Yeah, sure. I got one of those. The analogue stick should make it much better than the standard pad. I do like that the Saturn pads have shoulder buttons. Makes strafing with the pad easier. You need one of those custom controllers with programmable shoulder buttons to do that on the 32X. One of the more popular Genesis pads with shoulder buttons maps them to Z and C, so that's something you can set in D32XR.

 

[viciious]

I've written a short paper on how Doom 32X Resurrection renderer works. Hopefully I'll be able to cover topics given time permits.
Engine optimizations, part 1 · viciious/d32xr Wiki

 

[yuyumaster]

Any news on a Saturn version of this? Thanks to the arrival of Fenrir Duo, I've recently tried Ireel, the Unreal demo by XL2 (and several other translations/homebrews) and I'm truly amazed at what can be achieved on this console. Doom should have come out much better... Have you started working on it or is it still a future project? Thanks in advance.

Don't mean to bother you at all, it's just that I'm quite excited about the Saturn homebrew state these days, and I'd love to be able to play Doom on Saturn.

 

[dogen]

there's a saturn port being made by enTropy. join the discord to follow development

 

[TrekkiesUnite118]

there's a saturn port being made by enTropy. join the discord to follow development

That's a separate project unrelated to Doom Resurrection though. That's a new port of the PC code from the ground up.

 

[Chilly Willy]

We're currently working on the last few changes for the next major update to D32XR. It includes edited levels to reinsert the Cyber Demon and Spider Mastermind.

 

[Chilly Willy]

Wow, missed a few updates on this since the last post.

So, Doom 32X Resurrection is now up to v3.2. Among other things, it fixed a bug that screen melting caused to the link cable networking. Lot's of updates and bug fixes. Get it now!

Also, even bigger news is the release of the new Doom CD32X Fusion v1.0. Now requires the SCD, which is used for loading assets like the levels, music, sounds, etc. The first release has nearly complete Ultimate Doom, Doom 2, and a few levels of TNT, in addition to all the Resurrection levels. Compare the Resurrection levels to Ultimate Doom - you'll see the improvements in geometry and textures. It's much closer to PC Doom while Resurrection is mostly Jaguar Doom. The source code is out for Fusion - it's in the experiment branch of the d32xr repository. So if you're a dev, get the code and go deep diving into the Wonderful World of CD32X!