freedoom/NEWS.adoc

= Freedoom project news

== HEAD
=== Graphics
  * New ESPI* textures are included as an alternative to the STAR*
    textures.  These are named after and in honor of Esa Repo (Espi).
  * A STARBR1 texture is now included as a counterpart to STARBR2.

== 0.12.1 (2019-10-22)
=== General
  * The HTML documentation (eg, +NEWS+ and +README+ files) are
    generated with a style based on _Freedoom_’s own website, rather
    than the default AsciiDoc styling.
  * _Phase 2_’s internal DEMO1 has been replaced, thanks to some odd
    vanilla quirks that could cause it to desync in some (but not all)
    conditions.

=== Levels
  * The sailor monster type is formally banished from _Freedoom_’s own
    levels, and remaining uses of it were removed.

=== Manual
  * Incongruities between the actual game and manual have been fixed.

=== Build system
  * The `make install` targets have been consolidated to behave more
    similarly to how the pre-built zip distributions are: a split
    between _FreeDM_ and _Phase 1+2_, rather than installing each of
    the tree IWADs independently (and thus getting their own
    +/usr/share/doc+ directories, for instance).

== 0.12.0 (2019-10-10)
=== General
  * We now have a manual rendered to beautiful PDF format.  Thanks to
    Simon Howard, the project’s founder.
  * A strong focus on vanilla compatibility has been sought for this
    release.  Most, if not all, levels should work now.
  * _Final Doom_ compatibility de-emphasized.  Where it creates
    conflicts with _Doom II_ mods or texture definitions, we prefer
    the _Doom II_ side of things.  _Final Doom_-specific maps and mods
    may never look completely right in _Freedoom_, as a result.

=== Levels
  * _FreeDM_ has seen a major overhaul, with most maps being modified,
    with new additions and removals of the weaker levels.  It now
    benefits from the use of Aquatex and Egyptian textures in some of
    its levels, giving a more vibrant feel than before.
  * _Phase 1_ gets a lot of mapping love in this round, fleshing out
    the levels and tweaking difficulty levels so easy, normal, and
    hard are all accounted for.  There is a new C3M5 by Mortrixs.
  * _Phase 2_ MAP01 saw an overhaul, simplifying its design in
    significant ways to improve the flow around the level.
  * Two maps in _Phase 2_ were replaced due to being recreations of
    _Doom II_ maps.  Jayexetee and GooseJelly get credits for the new
    ones, in MAP06 and MAP26.
  * Maps in _Phase 2_ in general have had some slight re-arrangement
    based on difficulty levels and themes.  A new MAP06 by Jayexetee
    is included, the old one taking the MAP18 slot.
  * All levels are now guaranteed to have co-op and deathmatch starts.

=== Graphics
  * New power-up (stealth, overdrive, and ultra-overdrive) sprites.
  * New necromancer (arch-vile) sprites by Urric.
  * Some weapon and ammo sprites have been tweaked and improved.
  * Completed and enhanced set of _Evilution_ and _Plutonia_ textures.
  * New skull-switches by MissLav.
  * New SKY4 based on an astronomy photograph.
  * Tweaked player sprites and HUD face by Ferk.

=== Music
  * New tracks in C1M2, C2M3, C2M8, MAP03, MAP12, MAP22, MAP25, MAP26,
    MAP27, DM03, DM06, DM09, DM17, DM24, DM31, and DM32.
  * All files in-tree have been renamed from *.mus to *.mid.  The file
    format must always be MIDI.  This makes it easy on music composers
    to actually work with the files.

=== Unix script and metadata
  * Metainfo (formerly appdata) and desktop files have been brought up
    to the latest standard specifications and recommendations, using
    reverse-DNS for the project identifier, and a self-evaluated
    content rating.
  * The launch shell-script changed the `PORT` environment variable to
    `DOOMPORT` to avoid conflicts with the genericly-named `PORT`.  It
    also builds a sensible default `DOOMWADPATH` environment variable
    to assist ports that do not have a hard-coded fallback.
  * The script no longer tries to look for `boom`, `zdoom`, nor
    `prboom` by default, as these are ports no longer maintained.

=== Build system
  * Freedoom’s build system now has a hard dependency on Python 3, in
    anticipation of Python 2’s end-of-life.
  * We have moved from ImageMagick to Pillow, a Python library for
    graphics manipulation.  It provides faster build times as well as
    API stability.
  * GIF files have been replaced with PNG files.  True PNG file format
    transparency is used instead of a cyan background.
  * `ASCIIDOC` and `ASCIIDOC_MAN` variables have been added to the
    Makefile to control the AsciiDoc implementation used to generate
    HTML and man page files.

== 0.11.3 (2017-07-18)
  * Builds with DeuTex 5.0 and newer.

== 0.11.2 (2017-03-15)
  * Missing multiplayer starts have been added to several levels.
  * A few mapping errors were repaired by changing sector heights.
    Speedrunners can better appreciate smooth flow through the levels.
  * Easy and normal difficulty levels have been tweaked.
  * Par times for _Phase 1_ have been added.
  * Cleaned up the title screen using the _Freedoom_ font for “Phase
    1” and “Phase 2” on-screen.

== 0.11.1 (2017-02-22)
  * 1% armor bonus picks are recolored from red to green.  They were
    too easily confused for health pickups.
  * New _TNT: Evilution_ compatible textures.
  * New pain bringer and pain lord sprites, replacing old concept
    art-derived ones.
  * A few mapping errors are fixed, including misaligned textures,
    leftover Boom specials, and it should no longer be possible to get
    stuck between a rock and a tree in _Phase 1_ C1M1.
  * Brand-new _Phase 1_ C3M1, replacing the old _Doom_-inspired level.
  * Widescreen statusbar for ZDoom removed.  This created
    incompatibility with some mods.

== 0.11 (2017-02-16)
  * _Freedoom_ is now a limit-removing game rather than using Boom
    specials.
  * Lots of new music.
  * New levels, including a new C1M1 for _Phase 1_.
  * Aquatex: over 200 new textures for mappers to use.
  * New intermission screens.
  * Some new weapon sprites: new pistol and new pickups.
  * New medkit and armor pickup sprites.
  * New project logo

== 0.10.1 (2015-12-23)
  * Repairs an incompatibility in _Phase 1_ C3M7 with Boom 2.02.
  * Fully-completed sprite set for the flame bringer.

== 0.10 (2015-12-16)
  * Brand new status bar.
  * New sprites for the serpent and orb monsters.
  * New HUD graphics for the single- and double-barreled shotguns,
    missile launcher, and SKAG-1337.
  * New pain sounds for many monsters and the player.
  * New maps in _Phase 1_ and _Phase 2_.

== 0.9 (2014-10-14)
  * New file names that no longer conflict with _Doom_’s
  ** +freedoom1.wad+ is _Freedoom: Phase 1_ -- compatible with _The
     Ultimate Doom_.
  ** +freedoom2.wad+ is _Freedoom: Phase 2_ -- compatible with _Doom
     II_ and _Final Doom_.
  * _FreeDM_ and _Phase 1_ have grown out of the shadows of the
    project and have seen rapid advances, largely led by Xindage, our
    prominent Brazilian contributor.
  * New text font from Mechadon to replace the old one in all menus,
    in-game text, and status-bar HUD.
  * New zombie, shotgun zombie, and assault tripod sprites by a
    skilled pixel artist, raymoohawk.
  * New sounds for the dark soldier by jewellds.
  * More complete support for _Final Doom_ mods, adding many more
    textures missing to support mods for both _TNT: Evilution_ and
    _The Plutonia Experiment_, thanks to fraggle and AXDOOMER.

== 0.8 (2014-01-01)
  * _Ultimate Freedoom_’s episode 4 is now the Cacoward-winning _Double Impact_.
  * Many maps have been updated
  * Improved sprites and sounds
  * _FreeDM_ is now vanilla-compatible and has quite a few new maps.
  * A BEX file is included in the IWADs, which allows compatible
    source ports to replace many strings in the game, such as level
    names, weapon pickups, and intermission text.

// TODO: Older news
//
// 0.8 was around the time that summarized lists of changes were
// started, with very sparse information about older releases.