Should SRB2 be moved to the ZDoom engine?

[superflip96]

You know recently, having just re-played SRB2 a bit, I realized something.
Compared to most current doom source ports, the Doom Legacy seems very outdated.
Now, I can see that Legacy was the only engine at the time with floor over floor capabilities, but ports such as Zdoom have improved that, and more. *Like a working openGL renderer.*

Don't get me wrong, I do like the Doom Legacy engine and how much SRB2 has been made from a shooter to a 3-D platformer, but I'm just saying.

And to further draw attention on the subject, take a look at this:
http://www.doomworld.com/vb/source-ports/50327-doom-legacy-is-illegal/
Doom Legacy uses engine coding from a version of Quake that wasn't released as public source code, which to my knowledge isn't exactly legal.

This is only a suggestion, not a demand.

 

[Cue]

Been there, discussed that, might as well move to a decent engine if we have to recode everything.

 

[SSNTails]

[quote="Ghostly Death]I talked with Carmack and he said that it should not be a problem since it's being used in a GPL source port.[/quote]

Considering Quake is now GPL too, I'm not sure the illegality is relevant anymore.

In any case, SRB2 is open source. It would be awesome to see the code ported to ZDoom. Good luck!

 

[superflip96]

Been there, discussed that, might as well move to a decent engine if we have to recode everything.

Well, is most of the coding in SRB2 Boom-Compatible? Because if I remember, Zdoom is capable of Boom-compatible coding.

In any case, SRB2 is open source. It would be awesome to see the code ported to ZDoom. Good luck!

If someone wished to port SRB2 to a different engine, which version of SRB2 would that be?

 

[SSNTails]

Well, is most of the coding in SRB2 Boom-Compatible? Because if I remember, Zdoom is capable of Boom-compatible coding.

Hahahahahahahahaa......no.

It's funny that we only get non-programmers always asking this question.

ZDoom also has really really bad network play. And if you want to talk about illegality, they used code from Duke Nukem before it was open source, too.

Don't think of SRB2 as an interchangable Doom port - there's been so much recoding done it may as well be a totally different program. We only maintain somewhat of a map format compatibility so mappers have a broader choice of editors.

If someone wished to port SRB2 to a different engine, which version of SRB2 would that be?

Probably to Wizard 2

 

[MechaS3K]

Yes, remaking SRB2 with ZDooM is a good idea. No, it's not a practical idea. It would probably take another 10 years to get the ZDooM source to a point equivalent to where we have the Legacy source now, and then there's the matter of editing. Scripting would open many doors for new mods, but the problem is that ZDooM uses scripting for everything, including 3D floors and slopes. BTW, ZDooM does not even support 3D floors or slopes - GZDooM's OpenGL renderer does.

In short, ZDooMSRB2 would be a beast to work with, if it worked at all.

 

[luis90]

If we're going to port it to another engine, we might as well port it to the cube 2 engine. Dynamic map editing, how great would that be?

 

[Fawfulfan]

If SRB2 was going to be converted to another engine, we would have to make that endless, painful process worthwhile. Therefore, I say that if we switch to any other engine, we abandon Doom entirely and switch to Unreal. Unreal is light-years ahead of anything that any Doom engine can do, in graphics and gameplay.

Of course, the process of such a switch would be a nightmare, as we'd have to scrap everything SRB2 has so far, including the WAD system (while custom levels and characters would obviously still be possible, they'd be in a different format), and basically reboot the entire game, which I bet would take even longer than the decade or so we've spent getting SRB2 this far with Legacy. I'm also not sure about the legality, either.

 

[Billy]

Honestly at that point it may as well be a whole new game.

I see why people suggest moving to another Doom port instead of an different engine altogether (it keeps things mostly similar). I honestly believe that if SRB2 did switch engines (which would set the game back considerably), another Doom based engine would be the best choice.

Save engine changes for the sequel.

(As a random side note, an SRB2 sequel on the Quake1 engine sounds intriguing to me. Most likely wouldn't be worth the effort though)

 

[MascaraSnake]

Save engine changes for the sequel.

Sequel? What have you been smoking?

 

[Autosaver]

If SRB2 was going to be converted to another engine, we would have to make that endless, painful process worthwhile. Therefore, I say that if we switch to any other engine, we abandon Doom entirely and switch to Unreal. Unreal is light-years ahead of anything that any Doom engine can do, in graphics and gameplay.

I'm pretty sure Sonic Brown Bloom 2 will be a great game.

 

[Fawfulfan]

I'm pretty sure Sonic Brown Bloom 2 will be a great game.

You're pretty sure what will be a great game?

 

[JEV3]

Here's basically the way discussions such as these go down:

1. People point out that the source of SRB2's engine is dated and that their dream features are possible in newer engines.
2. The Developers already have their engine picked out, and though dated it is satisfactory.
3. SRB2's engine is so different from any origin that bringing it to a new engine would basically mean coding a new engine from a new source.
4. See what happens when you make your own version of SRB2 in another engine.
5. If you're going to go that far, why not just make an entirely new game. Why restrict yourself to SRB2's vision if you're using different mechanics?
6. People redirect their focus to SRB2's own engine, and then find out that it is dated and that their dream featurs are possible in newer engines, the cycle continues.

This cycle has been repeated so many times even in the space of time I've been here. I can't imagine how long AJ has had to watch the community go in circles.

My advice?
If you're a programmer then try it yourself; either save the devs the trouble from explaining the process to you or come up with something neat that might raise a few eyebrows. If you're not a programmer, then admit that you're ignorant and allow the other members to steer you into a more practical territory.