                              S T A R  W A R S
                               D   O    O   M

                          Informational Document v1.1

                              by Action Jackson,
                            Star Wars DOOM creator

                                May 20, 1994


                              TABLE OF CONTENTS

                   [1] ................. About Star Wars DOOM
                       (1.1) ......... A Tale Of A Programmer
                       (1.2) ..................... The Legacy
                   [2] .............. What IS Star Wars DOOM?
                       [2.1] ................. Quick Overview
                   [3] ........ When Will SWDOOM Be Released?
                       [3.1] ................. Expected Dates
                       [3.2] ...... What Still Has To Be Done
                   [4] ................. Who's Making SWDOOM?
                       (4.1) .............. SWDOOM Staff List
                       [4.2] .................... Help Wanted
                   [5] ............. What to expect in SWDOOM
                       (5.1) ....................... Overview
                       *5.2* ........ Video Toaster Graphics!
                       [5.3] ................... New Sprites!
                       (5.4) .................... New Sounds!
                       (5.5) ..................... New Music!
                       [5.6] .................. New Textures!
                       (5.7) ....3 New Episodes! (27 Levels!)
                       (5.8) ................... New Weapons!
                       (5.9) ..................... New Story!
                       (5.10)....... Best Of All - It's FREE!
                   [6] .............................. Closing
                       (6.1) ................. Copyright Info
                       [6.2] .............. How To Contact Us
                       *6.3* ............. Update Information
                       (6.4) .................... Final Words



  <> <> <> <> <> <> Section [1] <> About Star Wars DOOM <> <> <> <> <> <> <>

  (1.1) A Tale of a Programmer

  Well, there I was.  I was sitting at home, on my computer, playing DOOM.
  As I listened to one of the numerous sound patches that I've collected
  spew sounds at me, I thought: I should make my own sound patch for DOOM!
  The idea sounded great.  I quit my game, got out some of my favorite 
  movies, hooked up a tape recorder to the TV, and started collecting 
  sounds.  As I went, I kept getting more and more ideas.  I began thinking 
  that I wouldn't put these sounds into a DOOM sound patch, but into a new 
  game that I could make.  I would make a 3D game, like DOOM, only better!
  It would be great!  It would be my own story!  My own characters!  My own
  game! I would spend all my time coding and debugging, and collecting 
  graphics and sounds, and... then I thought a second... did I really want 
  to make a new game?  Did I really want to waste all my time trying to
  go one-up on the best 3D game ever made?  Did I really NEED to?  No!  I 
  remembered that DOOM is just an engine that uses external files to run, 
  and the idea came to me.
  So I started messing with DOOM.  I mean REALLY messing with the insides
  of it.  I also collected a few great utils for changing sounds, graphics,
  music, and more.  I had a great level editor (DEU) that included the
  source code.  I even had some source that id had released.  So now I was
  ready to go.  One thing I needed was a theme.....

  (1.2) The Legacy

  Anyone into movies (like myself) knows what the best trilogy ever made
  is: Star Wars!  The best movies ever made would be my theme.  I started
  trying to see if this would REALLY be possible... could I change
  EVERYTHING in the game to make it a complete Star Wars universe?  The
  answer came very shortly.  YES!  So, I called up VeeBalls and asked him
  if he'd like to help.  Of course he wanted to!  And this text file is to
  inform you all about Star Wars DOOM, the name we've come to call it, and
  what's going on with it.  I decided I needed to make an announcement to
  the public, letting them know what was coming, so they could get very
  excited and anxious, and give us any suggestions/feedback they may want 
  to (and take their minds off of DOOM 1.3! :)

  <> <> <> <> <> <> Section [2] <> What IS Star Wars DOOM? <> <> <> <> <> <>

  [2.1] Quick Overview

  Star Wars DOOM (referred to in this document as SWDOOM for short) is
  basically an external WAD file for DOOM.  Sure, you've seen 'em before.
  You're on your local BBS, scanning for new files, and find yourself
  overwhelmed with the amount of external WAD files there are for DOOM.
  Most of these are just extra levels, though.  That's what makes SWDOOM
  special.  Not only is it Star Wars, but it completely changes the entire
  game.  No more monsters.  No more Robert Prince music.  No more levels
  based on hell.  Nope.  SWDOOM changes all of this, and more!  Now, you'll
  be running through the Death Star and other locations from the Star Wars
  universe, fighting Stormtroopers, Biker Scouts, even the Emperor and
  Darth Vader!  And you'll be doing it all with your light sabre, blaster,
  and other Star Wars-type weapons.  The soundtrack is of course MIDI 
  versions of John Williams' great original score.  We're not sure how big 
  the SWDOOM WAD file will be yet, but it's a good guess to say it will be 
  at least a meg or two.  The more we continue working on it, the larger
  the final file size keeps starting to look.  We're not sure about the
  size, but we're pretty sure it'll be at least two megs (unzipped).

  <> <> <> <> <> Section [3] <> When Will SWDOOM Be Released? <> <> <> <> <>
                  
  [3.1] Expected Date

  No one can say for sure, but we're hoping to have SWDOOM completed by some
  time this summer, hopefully before Commercial DOOM is released.  A 
  tentative date is about August.  One thing I can assure you of is that we
  are working very hard to complete Star Wars DOOM as soon as possible, but
  we don't want to sacrifice anything.  We want it all to be perfect.  The 
  August date could very much become July or possibly even late June, 
  depending on how well everything goes.  Of course, it might become more
  like September or even October.  There's really no way of telling.

  [3.2] What Still Has To Be Done

  Since this is the first version of the Star Wars DOOM Informational
  Document, we've just started.  We were working on hand-drawing each
  sprite of the enemies individually, but then a new idea came to us.
  (see section 5.2).  So, we scrapped what little we had done, and
  we're now about to start doing sprites and textures.  This list
  will become smaller as we work more and more on it.  Here's what's left
  to be done, in the order that they'll probably be completed:

                       1) Sprites of all characters
                       2) Weapons graphics
                       3) Music
                       4) Sound effects
                       5) Levels
                       6) Text graphics
                       7) Miscellaneous graphics:
                             End Screen,
                             status bar, screen border, etc.

  And here's what we've already completed (not too much, huh?):

                       1) Opening title screen

  Many of these are very involved processes, so some will take a lot longer
  than others.

  <> <> <> <> <> <> <> Section [4] <> Who's Making SWDOOM? <> <> <> <> <> <>

  (4.1) SWDOOM Staff List

  Currently working on Star Wars DOOM are:

                        Action Jackson: Head organizer,
                                        graphics, sounds,
                                        everything ;)
                        VeeBalls:       Graphics, music,
                                        level concepts,
                                        everything.

  Basically myself and VeeBalls are doing everything.  When we get to that
  point, I'll be making the levels in DEU 5.1 (or if there's a newer version
  by then, I'll use that).  Since DEU 5.1 comes with the source code, I'm
  planning on editing it a little to change things like the enemies' names,
  and re-compiling it.  It will then become SWDEU 1.0.

  [4.2] Help Wanted

  If you think you would like to help us work on Star Wars DOOM, feel free
  to e-mail VeeBalls on America Online, or Action Jackson on one of the many
  Grand Rapids BBSes I call.  I'm hoping to get an Internet account soon, so
  that address will be added to this document then.  I'll probably have it
  by June.
  Also, if you would like to make a better ANSI advertising screen than the
  one I threw together, let us know.

  <> <> <> <> <> <>  Section [5] <> What To Expect In SWDOOM  <> <> <> <> <>

  (5.1) Overview

  This section summarizes everything that will be changed from the original
  game DOOM in Star Wars DOOM.  As we come up with new ideas or scrap old
  ones, it will be changed accordingly.

  *5.2* Video Toaster Graphics!

  I guess this deserves an explanation.  We were working on learning Video
  Toaster, and we started realizing how superior the graphics that we
  could make with it were.  We were planning on making a Star Wars-like
  animation with it anyway, so we decided that while we were at it, we
  could make the sprites and textures for Star Wars DOOM.  So now, the
  graphics in SWDOOM will most likely be BETTER than those in the original
  DOOM!  The chances of this are extremely good.  Just another reason to
  look forward to SWDOOM!
  For those of you who don't know what Video Toaster is, I'll tell you.
  It's an extremely superior computer graphics system based on high-end
  Amiga computers.  They've used it professionally for many TV shows,
  the most popular of which are SeaQuest and Babylon V.  If you've ever
  seen a ray-tracer on your PC, that could give you an idea of what Toaster
  effects could be like, only picture it much faster, and with animation.
  The addition of Video Toaster graphics to Star Wars DOOM will improve it
  beyond imagination.  You won't believe it even WHEN you see it!
  
  [5.3] New Sprites!

  Star Wars DOOM will include new sprites for all of the monsters.  They
  will all be characters from the Star Wars universe.  The most common will
  be Stormtroopers and Biker Scouts and probably some bounty hunters.  We
  also are considering the addition of TIE Fighter pilots. The bosses are 
  probably going to be Grand Moff Tarkin, Darth Vader, and Emperor 
  Palpatine.  The two latter are definite, we just can't come up with anyone
  better to be the boss of Episode 1.  The graphics for your character will
  be changed too, as well as the ones for other Rebels when you're playing 
  Cooperative or DeathMatch.  We are currently trying to decide what the 
  main character should be.  While the idea of you being Han Solo sounds 
  really cool, the only setback to this is that when playing multi-player 
  games, the other people will just be other Han Solos, only wearing 
  different colors.  The other idea was to make the character a generic 
  fighter pilot.  This would look better in multi-player games, but we still
  would rather be Han Solo.
  We can't decide on this, so it will probably be one of the last things in
  the game that we change.  Right now we're heavily leaning towards making
  your character Han Solo.  I came up with this idea of how we could get
  around the different colors problem in multi-player games.  The parts of
  Solo's uniform that will be different colors will be the stripes down the
  sides of his pants.  This way he won't look stupid in multi-player games
  (neon-green Solo against purple Solo?!?!)  Any feedback from you would be 
  appreciated.  Tell us what you think about this.

  (5.4) New Sounds!

  Star Wars DOOM will include an entire set of new sounds, taken directly
  from the Star Wars movies.  The blaster fire will sound real.  The other
  sound effects will be just like they were in the movies.  Every sound in
  DOOM will be changed.

  (5.5) New Music!

  Star Wars DOOM will have an entirely new musical score, based on John
  Williams' original Star Wars soundtrack.  For the music, we are doing
  a combination of new music composed by VeeBalls and possibly some other
  songs taken from the file SWMUSIC.WAD, an external WAD file that changes
  the DOOM music to Star Wars music.

  [5.6] New Textures!

  The environment you're running through in Star Wars DOOM will be true to
  the movies.  The walls of the Death Star will look like you're inside the
  Death Star.  You'll feel like you're really on Endor in Episode 3.  You'll
  get frostbite when in Episode 2 on Hoth.  All textures will be authentic-
  looking Star Wars textures, and will be rendered with Video Toaster.

  (5.7) 3 New Episodes! (27 Levels!)

  Yes, every level in DOOM will be changed for Star Wars DOOM.  Here is a
  list of the planned episodes:

                      Episode 1: A New Hope

                      Episode 2: The Empire Strikes Back

                      Episode 3: Return of the Jedi

  (5.8) New Weapons!

  All the weapons in DOOM will also be changed in Star Wars DOOM to weapons
  from the Star Wars universe.  The planned weapons and what they replace
  are:
                        Weapon:              Replaces:
                         Fist                 Wookiee Fist :)   
                         Light saber          Chainsaw
                         Blaster              Pistol
                         Solo's Blaster       Shotgun  
                         Rapid-fire Blaster   Chaingun
                         Concussion Missiles  Rocket Launcher
                         Jedi Lightning       Plasma Rifle
                         The Force            BFG-9000

  (5.9) New Story!

  Nothing against id, but the story in DOOM sucked.  It really did.  Don't
  get me wrong, I love the game.  However, you'll be happy to know that
  the greatest story of all time will be the basis for Star Wars DOOM.  It
  will start in Episode 1, A New Hope, and follow the course of Star Wars.
  Then, in Episode 2, The Empire Strikes Back, you follow the storyline of
  The Empire Strikes Back.  Finally, in Episode 3, Return of the Jedi, you
  live out the roles of the characters in Return of the Jedi.  We're
  obviously going to have to change some of the story, since you can't fly
  around in ships in DOOM (although it would be fun :)  We will try and
  follow the story of the movies as closely as we can.  Compare it to Rebel
  Assault, how it followed the basic plot of the movies, only through the
  eyes of a different character.

  (5.10) Best Of All - It's FREE!

  Yep, you read right!  Star Wars DOOM will be absolutely free!  This is for
  a couple of reasons.  First, it'd be illegal for us to make money off of
  some one else's creations.  Second, even if it was legal, we wouldn't want
  to take money for it anyway.  We are doing this for our own enjoyment, and
  we felt that we could share it with the rest of the computer populace.

  <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <>  Section [6] <> Closing <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <>

  (6.1) Copyright Info

  In case you didn't know, neither Star Wars nor the game DOOM is our idea.
  The good folks at Lucasfilm, under the mighty George Lucas' direction,
  created the Star Wars trilogy.  The cool guys at id Software made the
  excellent game DOOM.  All we did was put the two together.

  [6.2] How To Contact Us

  You can reach VeeBalls through America Online.  You can reach me at any of
  the many bulletin boards that I call here in Grand Rapids, Michigan.  Like
  I said above, I'm hopefully getting an Internet address very soon, so I'll
  put that in here as soon as I get it, then you'll be able to contact me 
  through the Internet, too.  We are currently looking for a BBS to be a 
  distribution site for Star Wars DOOM.  All that the BBS needs is to make 
  all SWDOOM Informational Documents (like this one) available to the public
  and post messages to the users notifying them of SWDOOM and how it's 
  coming.  If you would like to be a SWDOOM Distro-site, contact either 
  VeeBalls or myself in one of the ways mentioned above.  Once we get a 
  distro-site, I will put it's number in this Document so you can contact 
  me through there too.  (Free advertising for the board, too!)

  *6.3* Update Information

  This is the first revision of the Star Wars DOOM Informational Document.
  I added information about Video Toaster graphics, and made many other
  slight changes.  I've indicated the updated and changed sections like
  Hank Leukart does in his "Official" DOOM FAQ and Unofficial DOOM Specs.
  Sections enclosed in () are the same as in the last version.  Sections
  enclosed in [] have been changed or updated since the last version.
  Sections enclosed in ** have been added new in this version.
  
  (6.4) Final Words

  I'll release this Document every time something significant in the process
  of developing Star Wars DOOM happens.  If we get a distro-site, you will
  be able to find the newest release there.  That's all I have!  Hope you're
  looking forward to SWDOOM as much as I am!  In the meantime, go out and
  get some friends together for a 4-player DOOM DeathMatch showdown!

  --------------------------------------------------------------------------
              M A Y  T H E  F O R C E  B E  W I T H  Y O U !
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