qzdoom-gpl/docs/history.txt

ZDoom Release History

More detailed info can be found in the file docs/rh-log.txt included with
the source code.


1.22 (12 December 1999)
=======================
* Scroll_Texture_Both and TranslucentLine specials can now be used from ACS.
* Fixed compiler-dependent cvar ordering during netgame arbitration.
* Fixed certain polyobject movement combinations that would not stop even
  though they were supposed to.
* Did some cleanup for Alpha processors.


1.21 (26 November 1999)
=======================
* Fixed problems with thinkers removing themselves and causing other thinkers
  to not get a chance to think.
* Added hud_scale cvar.


1.20 (25 November 1999)
=======================
* Fixed saving, reloading, and then resaving games when travelling between
  levels in a hub.
* Fixed saving of ACS scripts scheduled to occur on a future level.


1.19 (24 November 1999)
=======================
* DeHackEd patches that set an actor's death sound to 0 without removing
  the A_Scream call no longer crash.
* Fixed sync problems when playing with bullet puffs as particles vs as
  sprites.
* Fixed friction when walking on the bottom of swimmable water.
* Added Jeffrey Cuenco's fixes to get -host and -join to work properly.
* Fixed BOOM generalized locked doors so that the open/close type will
  actually close.
* Added pointer tracking and cleanup. This should fix the occasional
  crashes when saving games and various other anomalies.


1.18b (15 September 1999)
=========================
* Fixed crash when saving games with more than 1024 objects.
* Fixed crash when loading a game without starting a new one first.
* Reduced the size and frequency of pregame network packets, under the
  assumption that problems people were having using 1.18 on the Internet
  are a result of limited modem bandwidth. 


1.18a (12 September 1999)
=========================
* Fixed liquid warping temporarily stopping when changing levels.
* +/-mlook commands do not generate unknown command messages.
* Fixed support for maps with >10 deathmatch starts. Thanks to Roman
  Hatsiev.
* Fixed support for the special "maps" EndGame? in MAPINFO lumps.
* Teleport destination (no gravity) now works as intended.
* Hopefully fixed savegame problems.
* Bots are restored from savegames.
* Fixed keyboard turning speed when -dup is used.
* Network commands get executed only once when -dup is used.
* In sectors with damaging floors and swimmable deep water, the damage
  will also be applied while the player is swimming and not just when
  the player is on the ground.


1.18 (5 September 1999)
=======================
* Replaced the older Cajun 0.71 with Cajun 0.97.
* Fixed handling of status bar faces with skins that provide them.
* Added swimmable water.
* Messages printed to the middle of the screen also print to the console.
* Skill and other server cvars get saved in savegames again.
* Added liquid texture warping.
* Bad MAPINFO lumps generate error messages instead of hanging.
* Realized that it's impossible to guarantee that all object pointers will
  be valid without some effort, so FArchive saves DObject objects as NULL
  objects now instead of aborting with an error.
* Added the ACS built-in functions localambientsound, activatorsound, and
  setlinemonsterblocking.
* Added a thing that does nothing but count toward the number of secrets.
* Added a fly mode.
* Finally implemented the +moveup and +movedown commands.


118test10-source only (14 August 1999)
======================================
* Reimplemented hub travel.
* Optimized R_MapPlane slightly.
* Added fov command.
* Added vertical sub-pixel accuracy to the renderer.
* Added searches for an IWAD in the current directory, $DOOMWADDIR, and
  $HOME.


118test9 (9 August 1999)
========================
* Fixed the "wild" bot spinning problem.
* Commands like changemap that could make network games go out of sync
  should work properly now. The reason they would do that is closely related
  to the reason that the bots would start spinning.
* Finished the serializer. Now savegames work. Hubs don't, because I haven't
  written the player travelling code yet.
* Various other code cleanup.


118test8 (20 July 1999)
=======================
* Fixed a crash problem with the "burn" screen wipe.
* Fixed a crash problem with playing non-assigned sound sequences.
* Fixed a crash problem related to trying to shutdown the music subsystem
  twice.
* If you try to add more coop bots than there are coop starts, the extra
  bot leaves quietly instead of ending the game.
* Weapondrop is now a "server" cvar, which it should have been in the
  first place.
* Changed the nodetable file format to be more compact.
* Bots can now be recorded in demos.
* Bots work in multiplayer games. Still buggy. Spawning bots can cause
  consistancy failures, and they can start spinning wildly.


118test7 (12 July 1999)
=======================
* Fixed handling of maps with scrolling walls.
* Single player works again. In test6, all games were considered either coop
  or deathmatch.
* Disabled the bot thinking code in single player games, so you don't suffer
  a performance hitwhen not using bots.
* Added some performance counters accessible through the stat command.


118test6 (10 July 1999)
=======================
* Rewrote the wu line drawer to look better (especially in overlay mode).
* Stretched skies now get stretched horizontally as well as vertically.
* Did an initial integration of the Cajun Bot 0.71 code.


118test5 (6 July 1999)
======================
* Fixed a potential infinite loop that was introduced in 118test1.
* Delayed the initial execution of cvar callbacks.
* Added Heretic's anti-aliased Wu line drawer to the automap.


118test4 (3 July 1999)
======================
* Fixed the "Bad DCanvas::CopyRect" problem introduced in test3.
* Fixed sound sequences that should not be cut off when stopped (such as
  the standard doors).


118test3 (2 July 1999)
======================
* Removed unnecessary display mode switches.
* Created a DCanvas class to encapsulate most 2D rendering.


118test2 (1 July 1999)
======================
* Fixed vertical aim clipping (BFG works again).
* Fixed monster wandering.
* Maps with mapthings of type 0 no longer generate warning messages.
* Crushers that do no damage no longer act as if they inflict pain to
  actors.
* The alias command lists aliases again.
* Aliases are saved to the config file again.


118test1 (30 June 1999)
=======================
* Tweaked the optimized renderer for fifth-generation processors.
* Added the following specials:
    - Line_AlignFloor
    - Line_AlignCeiling
    - Sector_SetRotation
    - Sector_SetCeilingPanning
    - Sector_SetFloorPanning
    - Secter_SetCeilingScale
    - Sector_SetFloorScale
* Added an additional parameter to the Transfer_Heights special.
* Switched to the OpenPTC library for display.
* Converted lots of code to an object-oriented C++ architecture.


1.17c (5 May 1999)
==================
* Fixed game saving crashes on maps with wind/current effects.
* In deep water sectors, the underwater light and fog colors can now be
  set independently of the area above water.
* Added nojump, allowjump, nofreelook, and allowfreelook keywords for
  use in MAPINFO lumps.
* The random number seed now changes each time you run the program.


1.17b (15 March 1999)
=====================
1.17b contains some minor bug fixes over 1.17 and 1.17a. It also loads
faster because the sprite dimensions are not cached until they are
actually needed. There are also some other internal changes in
preparation for supporting Heretic and Hexen, but those don't affect
the user yet.


1.17a (21 February 1999)
========================
1.17a is mostly minor bug fixes and was released because Herian 2 needed
some of those fixes. There are a few new features, however:

* If you have a skins directory in the same directory as zdoom.exe,
  every wad file in it will be automatically loaded when the game starts.
  This way, you don't have to load your skins by hand to use them.
* New formatting options for text printed using ACS.
* A code pointer to make monsters fire a railgun.


1.17 (17 February 1999)
=======================
* I'm releasing both DOS and Win32 versions simultaneously. (The DOS version
  does not support MIDI/MUS music or a joystick.)

Bug fixes:
* Multiplayer games with monsters do not crash.
* Player corpses do not levitate and then fall down when a player respawns
  in multiplayer games.
* Using togglemap outside of a game will not crash.
* Monsters stop attacking their target once it's dead.
* EV_StopPlat() does not get stuck in an infinite loop if there are moving
  platforms.
* Partially invisible players are drawn the proper colors (instead of
  green) if r_drawfuzz is 0.
* If you are invisible, so are your muzzle flashes.
* Trying to execute a non-existant script will not crash.
* Using a ChangeCamera special from an open script will not crash.
* The FloorAndCeiling_RaiseByValue and FloorAndCeiling_LowerByValues now
  behave like Hexen's.
* Using -loadgame from the command line works.
* Fixed a memory leak during generation of the translucency tables.
* In high resolutions, weapon sprites meet the bottom of the screen.
* Sounds will not cut out mysteriously when there is no reason for them to
  do so.
* Sounds will also not be stopped immediately when a thing is removed, so
  explosion sounds will play to their full length.
* Things can make more than one sound at once.
* The deathmatch scoreboard is aligned properly at high resolutions.
* Spynext and spyprev work properly instead of leaving the status bar
  "lagging behind" the player being viewed.
* The light-amp does not disable colored lighting.
* The sky gets inverted when using the invulnerability powerup.
* Implemented better z-checking code (from Heretic/Hexen).
* Pain elementals will spawn one lost soul at a time instead of two inside
  of each other.
* Bex patches that use thing mnemonics really do work now, and unknown bit
  messages aren't generated for regular DeHackEd patches.
* Linedef type 134 for regular DOOM/BOOM maps requires a red key for
  activation (it was being improperly translated to require a blue one).
* Monsters can activate secret lines when they cross them. (See DOOM2/MAP08).
* The player extreme death sound is used.
* When a player leaves a network game, their body is removed instead of
  being left empty.
* 0-length sounds are treated as empty sounds instead of sounds 4 gigs long.
* Skins that replaced player sounds with sounds in the IWAD work.
* Muzzle flashes do not light up foggy areas, and fullbright sprites stay
  shrouded in fog.
* Alphanumeric keys no longer automatically repeat on the console.
* Wads such as gothicdm2 that used new flats in addition to the ones in the
  IWAD with the regular doom.exe work.

New features:
* Significant speed improvements on modern processors.
* Armor and keys are shown on the fullscreen HUD.
* Colored text.
* A playdemo console command.
* A chasecam.
* A particle sytsem.
* An optional railgun to show off the particle system. (Start the game with
  -deh railgun.bex if you want to use it.)

New features interesting for wad authors:
* Polyobjects.
* Sound sequences.
* WAVE files can be used as sound lumps without converting them to DMX's
  format first.
* A sky can be specified to not be stretched even if it is shorter than 200
  pixels.
* Sparks.
* Particle fountains.
* Parallax skies.
* Some new DeHackEd thing flags from Hexen (bobbing, reflective, etc.).


1.16 (22 December 1998)
=======================
Bug fixes:
* No more limit on size of savegames or demos.
* Screen resolutions above 320x200 are now the proper brightness (they were
  too bright before.)
* Improved the brightness of the console font.
* Bullet puffs can show up on the floor and ceiling and not just walls.
* Missile weapons can trigger gun activation lines.
* Barrels now bounce around as much as they did in original DOOM. (They were
  too "inert" in 1.14.)
* If a demo is being recorded, quitting the game normally will save the demo
  to disk. (Previously, you had to use the stop command to do this.)

New features for players:
* Proper support for BOOM maps.
* Mouse wheel support and weapnext/weapprev commands.
* Doublebindings.
* Better analog joystick support.
* 180 degree turn command for keyboarders.
* Damage done by a rocket to its shooter is configurable and defaults to the
  original Doom behavior.
* User-configurable gender. (Even though I don't have any new player sounds,
  at least the obituaries are gender-aware. :-)
* Teamplay mode.
* New cvar to disable manual aiming of the BFG to prevent someone from
  shooting it at the floor and quickly triggering tracer damage before.
* Maps no longer need to have as many deathmatch starts as there are players
  in a deathmatch game.
* Support for Doom Legacy skins.
* Rewrote the MIDI/MUS code so that it has a working volume control.
* Many more console commands and cvars.

New features for editors:
* Proper support for BOOM maps.
* Obituaries are configurable with a .bex patch.
* Moster paths
* Colored lighting
* Fog can be applied to only part of a level instead of all of it.
* Per-sector gravity settings.
* Support for up to 256 ambient sounds (as opposed to the limit of 64 in
  earlier versions).
* Sector damage adjustable from between 0-255 points of damage.
* Changable camera views.
* The following editing features that were introduced in Hexen are also
  available in ZDoom:
  - Most line specials take arguments that modify their behavior.
  - ACS scripting.
  - Hubs.
  - Earthquakes.
  - Dormant monsters.
  - Trigger events to happen on monster deaths.
  - "Waggling" floors.
  - Pillar builders.
  - Push activation lines (walking into a wall can trigger an event).
  - Thing spawning (e.g. for traps/gifts).


1.14a (27 July 1998)
====================
Bugs fixed are:

* No more crashing about freeing a pointer without ZONEID when changing
  levels.
* Skies wider than 256 pixels are drawn correctly.
* Monsters' heights are once again the same as they were in id's original
  DOOM, so certain areas work properly again.
* Monsters shouldn't teleport into each other anymore.
* Improved support for international keyboards.
* The skill level chosen for a new game is no longer ignored if the new
  game is started while a demo is playing.

Cosmetic changes:

* No more "sv_gravity changed to...", "skill changed to...", etc. messages
  in single player games.
* Activating the player setup menu automatically stops any playing demos,
  since it doesn't work properly while they play.
* Barrels don't go flying away when exploding anymore.
* Added def_patch cvar to automatically load a DeHackEd patch each time the
  game is started.
* ZDoom save games now use the name zdoomsv?.dsg instead of doomsav?.dsg.

This version also includes some preliminary BOOM support as I started
integrating some of the BOOM source code with ZDoom:

* Medusa fix.
* Openings limit removed.
* Removed limit on switches and animations.
* Added support for BOOM-like ANIMATED and SWITCHES lumps in PWADs.
* Added support for BOOM-style scrollers (including conveyors).
* Added partial deep-water support.


1.14 (14 July 1998)
===================
Bugs fixed:
* The bunny scroller at the end of E3M8 no longer crashes the game.
* The IDKFA cheat gives the proper amount of armor again.
* Demo recording works again.
* Telefragging works again.
* Picking up the invulnerability sphere displays the correct colors now.
* DeHackEd patches containing text replacements no longer crash the game.
* Printing a string containing "%s" to the console and then changing the
  video mode will no longer crash the game.
* Chat mode finally works again.
* If MIDAS can't initialize, you can still play the game but without sound.
* Pistol and chaingun sounds no longer cut out when there are lots of
  zombie men shooting their pistols at you.
* Mouse input should no longer be so jerky under Windows NT.
* The crosshair is finally accurate for aiming.
* Autoaim is properly remembered each time you start ZDoom.
* Switches in the Ultimate Doom that aren't also in the shareware Doom
  properly change their appearance when switched.

New features:
* Players can choose their own colors and names.
  (Player setup menu is included).
* 8-player support (untested but should work).
* Miscellaneous internal code changes have been borrowed from the BOOM
  source. (This does *not* mean that ZDoom supports BOOM levels yet.)
* Cheats, chat messages, and gamestate changes are now recorded in demos.
* Single-player demos recorded with ZDoom are generally smaller than
  before.
* Quake 2-style deathmatch flags.
* Cheats (optionally) work in multiplayer games.
* Mode X is now supported under Win95, so all the machines that couldn't
  run ZDoom in 320x200 before should be able to now.
* Fewer conditions result in error messages that quit the game. (If you
  have Heretic, try this: Start ZDoom with -file heretic and go to the
  console and type "MAP E1M1".)
* Keys can repeat in the console.
* The console and chat mode now use the localized keymap set with the
  Keyboard control panel.
* Messages at the top of the screen now break along between words instead
  of in the middle of them.
* Added -config command line parameter.
* Added -fastdemo command line parameter.
* Added new screen shot command. (bound to "Print Screen" key by default)
* Added Quake-like +showscores command. (bound to "\" key by default)
* Aliases are now saved in the config file.
* Added support for multiple pitched sounds like in very old version of
  Doom. (Use the snd_pitched cvar to turn it on and off.)


1.13 (26 May 1998)
==================
* Fixed some major bugs (that crashed the game) and other lesser bugs that were
  just annoying.
* 3-D collisions for walking under and standing on other things.
* The status bar can be scaled to the full width of the screen.
* The screen mode can be selected from a menu inside the game.
* ZDoom can run in a window on the desktop.
* Better DeHackEd support. Only a few text replacements are not supported.
  Everything else works (including monster infighting which I haven't seen
  in any other port).
* New features for level designers (see editing.txt for details):
    Specification of next and secret maps on a per-map basis.
    Specify sky texture on a per-map basis.
    Use any lump in a wad as music for a map.
    Give maps a custom name without using a DeHackEd patch.
    Maps can be named anything (not just E?M? or MAP??).
    Place any messages of any length between any two maps.
    Hexen-style fog (of any color).
    Ambient sounds--either point like Quake or global like Heretic and Hexen.
    Automatic use of DeHackEd patches in PWADs.
    No more tutti-frutti for short textures of certain heights.
    zdoom.wcf file for use with WadAuthor.
* Rocket jumping. (One very important note about this: You need to be *in the
  air* when your rocket explodes for rocket jumping to work. This is different
  from Quake, and I will probably rewrite it for the next release.)
* Dynamic palette flashes.
* Supports stretching skies for freelook.
* Larger freelook range.
* Added tab-completion to the console.
* zdoom.cfg is now the name of the default configuration file since Doom
  Legacy decided to start using config.cfg.
* French language support. (Set language cvar to "french".)
* Player obituaries.
* Unlimited ammo cheat (use g_unlimitedammo cvar).


1.12 (7 April 1998)
===================
* Some visual enhancements were made such as centering the menus and 
  drawing borders around the status bar in higher resolutions.
* Console commands can now be specified on the command line.
* Removed some of DOOM's limits such as VisPlanes, VisSprites, and 2S 
  HOM.
* Rewrote some of the inner loops in assembly. (There was some assembly 
  in 1.11, but it never got used.)
* New cvars relating to mouse movement. (invertmouse, m_pitch, m_yaw, 
  etc.)
* Mouse movement doesn't get sluggish in high resolutions.
* Automap colors are customizable.
* Automap overlay and rotation are available.
* Eight crosshairs.
* Shoot up/down.
* Alt-Tab and Pause work properly on all machines now.
* The +jump command now works.
* 25% and 75% translucency levels in addition to 50%. The translucency 
  tables now get saved to disk, too, so they only need to be calculated 
  once instead of every time the game is run.
* The console font is now editable.
* Near complete support for DeHackEd patches. (Only monster infighting 
  and changing a few minor text strings are not supported.)
* Sky height and position is now fixed for high resolutions. (It still 
  wraps if you look up, but at least now if you look straight ahead, it 
  never will.)
* Weapon sprite is always drawn at the correct location. (It was being 
  drawn too low in some resolutions like 400x300.)
* New options menu, which includes a key configuration screen.
* "Stealth" monsters.
* New full-screen HUD.
* And a few other things not worth mentioning separately.


1.11 (6 March 1998) Initial Release
===================================
* Works under both Windows 95 and NT 4.0, although it works best under 
  Win95.
* Limited support for the Pause key. It works with some keyboards on 
  some machines.
* Supports any resolution compatible with your DirectDraw drivers.
* Look up/down ala Heretic.
* Translucency for selected objects.
* Has a console with most of the functionality of Quake's. The only 
  significant missing feature is Tab-completion.
* Notarget cheat.
* Command to kill all monsters in a level or yourself.
* Can play MUS, MIDI, and MOD music.
* Selected sounds are played in surround sound.
* Doors that need keys to open are highlighted on the automap.
* Automap now shows various statistics in addition to the level name.
* True keybindings. Bind any key to any command or sequence of 
  commands.
* Intermission screen can now display your stats using absolute values 
  rather than percentages.
* A new more general demo format.