Ultimate Gloom (Gloom3:Zombie Edition) (Amiga)


Box and post cards (front) Click to enlarge.
 Box and post cards (back) Click to enlarge.


Case and instructions (front) Click to enlarge.
 Case and instructions (back) Click to enlarge.


Instructions are the same as original Gloom except for a front cover.

License
 Commercial (In 2013, the author made it Public Domain. :Source)
Publisher
 Guildhall Leisure Services
Producer (almost stuff)
 Gareth Murfin (Alpha Software)
Leading artist and concept manager
James Caygill
Additional Art
 Jason Jordache
Utilities creator and additional software designer
Dave Newton
Voice actors for introduction and in game sfx
 Chris Burns (He was also a playtester.) & Richard Murfin
Story by:
 Chris Murfin
c2p routines by:
 Peter McGavin & Iain Barclay

The first "Total Conversion" of Gloom Deluxe !!


Ultimate Gloom CD consists of the game "Gloom3: Zombie Edition" and many assets which help us to create total conversion of "Gloom Deluxe".
Yes, this Gloom3 itself was the first total conversion of Gloom Deluxe. This brand new game was designed in 1997 with theme of Zombies.
According to the interview from "Amiga Future", Gareth Murfin (only 17 years old at that time) and his team had cleared a copyright, however,
original source code of Gloom Deluxe had been lost from a hard disk of Mark Sibly, who was a coder of original Gloom Deluxe.
So Gazy had to start his project without source code. Unfortunately he was also too young to reverse-engineer Gloom Deluxe itself,
I guess, all he could do was a total conversion of Gloom Deluxe.
Although almost stuff had done by him, there are many textures (roof, floor and wall) which also had used in original Gloom.
Especially you can see sprites of gun which had stolen from a quite different game "Testament".
Those were reasons why this game became lowly evaluated.
But it was easy to understand how we were able to hack Gloom Deluxe, so this game itself become an important hint
for people who want to create total conversions of Gloom Deluxe.

Contents ( 32MB / 569 files in total):

Ultimate_Gloom
( CD0: )
 FreeData!
 GloomEditor
 GLOOMDAT.LHA
GLOOMED.LHA
GLOOMED.TXT
Graphics
LHA_Files
 GloomBreed256Levels.LHA
GloomBreed256Textures.LHA
GloomCheats.LHA
GloomDeluxe_WB.LHA
GloomDeluxeLevelSelector.LHA
GloomDeluxeTrainer.LHA
GloomSelector.LHA
MAKESAVE.LHA
NewBaddie.LHA
SPACEHULK_Levels.LHA
Gloom_3
 ( Data of Gloom3 game. )
Guildhall
 ACIDMODS
 ( Guildhall's assets shown for promotion. )
AGA
( 26 files )
Islona
 AGA  ( No files inside. )
 ( Islona's assets shown for promotion. )
( 34 files )
System
 c
devs
fonts
l   ("Ram-Handler" inside.)
libs
Disk.info
 ( About "Ultimate Gloom" icon shown at the Workbench screen. )
GLOMSPEC.TXT
 ( Text file referring to minimum requirement (INCORRECT!). )
GLOOM3.TXT
 ( Instructions of Gloom3 game. )
Gloom_3.info
 ( About "Gloom_3" icon shown at the Workbench screen. )
Guildhall_Games!
 ( Self-executable script to load assets in cd0:Guildhall correctly. )
Guildhall_Games!.info
 ( About "Guildhall_Games!" icon shown at the Workbench screen. )
Islona_Games!
 ( Self-executable script to load assets in cd0:Islona correctly. )
Islona_Games!.info
 ( About "Islona_Games!" icon shown at the Workbench screen. )
c
 ( Files related to configuration & saving of Gloom3.
  But Gloom3 program refers to them in the same folder,
  so they're pointless in this place. )
k
sg
sv

FAQs

Q1: Is it a CD32 title as the author said in "GLOMSPEC.TXT" ?

A1: No. It is just a game for "Amiga CD", not CD32.

......It is due to several reasons. First, it does NOT have a CD32 trademark file.
 It means that nothing happens after you insert that CD and turn your stock CD32 on.
 Even if you choose "Boot with no startup-sequence" at the early startup control screen, it shows only "CD32" logo screen, not "Amiga DOS" screen,
 It doesn't have even cd0:s/startup-sequence, however! See the contents of that CD shown above!
  Q1-i: So, if that CD had both a CD32 trademark file and s/startup-sequence it would be OK ?
  A1-i: No. You need cd0:c/setpatch run at the startup sequence.
           Otherwise, the game would be crash immediately or glitch after you change the configuration.
  Q1-ii: So, if it runs "setpatch" at the startup sequence, everything would be OK ?
  A1-ii: No! You must assign Gloom3, otherwise the system told you "Insert Gloom3: in any device." .
            As the original content of that CD, your correct command line is:
            cd0:system/c/assign Gloom3: cd0:Gloom_3
  Q1-iii: So, after I assign Gloom3: , I shall be able to start the game now?
  A1-iii: No!! The game crashes when it load the first level. It is due to lack of RAM.
           Gloom3's music file is much bigger than original Gloom Deluxe. So if your CD32 has only 2MB chip RAM,
           you must remove both of "med1" and "med2" from cd0:Gloom_3/sfxs folder. But it's impossible to edit your CD-rom !
  Q1-iv: So, if that CD doesn't have both of "med1" and "med2" in cd0:Gloom_3/sfxs folder, it's OK, right?
  A1-iv: No!!! You need cd0:libs/mathtrans.library ! Otherwise the game screen wouldn't be shown after the level is loaded.
            You can only hear sounds at the black screen. It causes if the game couldn't refer to mathtrans.library .
  Q1-v: So, if that CD has also libs/mathtrans.library , everything is OK ??
  A1-v: Not! The game would hang up after you complete the 7th level of the first episode.
            The game saves data to cd0:Gloom_3/sg after the player complete the current episode, however,
            as you know, cd0:Gloom_3/sg file is NOT writable if it is in CD-rom. You cannot start the 2nd episode!

Q2: I have a hard disk. How to install Gloom3?

A2: Simply copy cd0:Gloom_3 (folder and files inside) to your hard disk. Don't use its install program.

......Make sure that your hard disk has c/assign , c/setpatch , libs/asl.library , libs/diskfont.library and libs/mathtrans.library.
 Don't forget to run setpatch and assign Gloom3: in advance. Command lines example (if you named your hard disk device name "Work") is:
 setpatch
 assign Gloom3: work:Gloom_3
 Of course you must remove both of "med1" and "med2" from ../Gloom_3/sfxs folder
 if you can't expand even 1MB FAST RAM.

Q3: I don't have a hard disk. How to play Gloom3?

A3: Create your own "Amiga CD" version or "CD32 version" or "Disk" version.

......Make sure that you also need cd0:c/assign , cd0:c/setpatch , cd0:libs/asl.library , cd0:libs/diskfont.library and cd0:libs/mathtrans.library.
 Don't forget to run setpatch and assign Gloom3: in advance. Create your own cd0:s/startup-sequence .
 Startup-sequence example is:
 cd0:c/setpatch
 cd0:c/assign libs: cd0:libs
 cd0:c/assign Gloom3: cd0:Gloom_3
 cd0:Gloom_3
 gloom2
 Of course don't copy both of "med1" and "med2" to cd0:Gloom_3/sfxs folder if you can't expand even 1MB FAST RAM.
 In addition, you have to force the program to overwrite ../Gloom_3/sg file after you complete the 5th episode on WinUAE in advance.
 Then you must copy that "sg" file to cd0:Gloom_3 .
 Be careful not to copy original "sg" file when you copy Gloom_3 to cd0: (your own CD-R) .
 Thus you can select the 1st ~ the 6th episode even if your CD-R is not writable on your Amiga.
 ...But it matters whether your CD drive / CD32 surely read your own CD-R , ...or not !
 As "nittamituaki" who is a Gloom series enthusiast, I recommend you to try Disk version.
 Don't worry, I uploaded my own ADFs to my webpage. Transfer them into your diskettes.

Q4: How to complete the 7th level of the 1st episode (E1L7)? Many zombies appears!

A4: It's not a bug. The author made zombies to appear up to infinity at the certain point.


......Citizen zombies appears limitlessly as long as you stand on the Event Line #23.
 I know almost players tend to stop at that point to fire bullets against enemies in front of them, however,
 you should cross that line #23 in an instant even if you think you touch enemies in front of you!

Q5: Is it tougher than Gloom Deluxe? Actually I can't restart from Episode7 or 8.

A5: No, Gloom3 is easier than Gloom Deluxe even if you cannot resume the game from Episode7.

       Mainly it is due to design of maps.

       The difficulty doesn't always increase proportionally to the total number of enemies.

......By the way, there is a reason why we cannot restart the game from Episode 7 even if we reach it once.
 It is said that save-data ("sg" file in this case) saves up to 8 saving-points, however, actually only 6 saving-points at most.
 If each name of episode has many characters (= long name), it saves up to only 5 saving-points.
 In Gloom3 game, 5 saving-points are allowed. They're the first levels of Episode2,3,4,5 and 6.
 So you must complete Episode 6, 7 and 8 (=15 levels in total) before your all 3 lives run out.
 But it would be easier than 7 levels of "Hell" , the 3rd episode of Gloom Deluxe. See the number of stars expressing difficulty.

Q6: How to see the intro (creepy zombie picture and gloomy voices) ?

A6: Simply doubleclick cd0:Gloom_3/Intro!/Intro..info  or  cd0:Gloom_3/Intro!/gdemo5 .

......Make sure that the intro requires libs/mathtrans.library , otherwise nothing happens!
 For CD32+Analogic FDD users, insert your own Workbench diskette (it has df0:c/loadwb & df0:libs/mathtrans.library) then insert that CD.
 Tested by me. It does not require any FAST RAM.
 Unfortunately some versions of WinUAE cause a strange glitch like this screenshot.
 

Q7: What's Gloom 3 engine? Is it faster than original Gloom Deluxe engine?

A7: It's the same engine. Just it uses better c2p routines.

......Exactly, Gloom 3 engine is the edited one, partly decrunched file of Gloom Deluxe's one to hack messages and enemies' parameters.
 So it would be useful to create new total conversion.
 Speaking of c2p routines, first Peter McGavin uploaded new c2p routines on Jan 4 in 1996,
 then Iain Barclay improved them in August 1997. Gloom 3 uses them.
 Ah just so you know, "Default-Ze_1" is the quite same file as original "blackmagic_1" .

Q8: Original box says "Ultimate Gloom consists of the award winning original Gloom and Gloom Deluxe" ,

       Is it right?

A8: No, it's not correct. See details.

Q9: What's "Gloom: Special Edition" ? Was it really released as commercial?

A9: No way!! If you surely think so, you are the one I don't want to make friends with!

......Gloom Special Edition was just a hack that the author replaced some sprites such as enemies and gun.
 Someone of developers leaked it. I mean that you nuts if you really cannot even judge whether it's commercial or not by yourself.
 Gareth Murfin lightly mentioned like following:
 " GloomSE/Gloom97 was just a demo I made to show publishers that it was feasible to make modded versions of the game,
   to pave the way for my Gloom3/ZM ones. It was never meant to get out into the wild I dont think, but somehow it did :)

Q10: I don't have FAST RAM. The game crashed when E5L4 or E7L5 are loaded.

       How to avoid those crashes?

A10: It is because those maps load many sprites of enemies.

       So you have to save your RAM space by several methods. See next section below.

My own Disk version features:

Download from this website. (Latest version was created in 2015.)
See instructions. (It shows how to start the game.)

1. Minimum requirement: Only 1.8 MB chip RAM.

......Originally I created disk version to play the game on my CD32 + analogic FDD.
 ( i ) Removed "med1" and "med2" from Gloom_3/sfxs folder. = No music, though.
 ( ii ) Edited ../misc/script of Disk 2. Remember that the program copy only latest picture file to RAM temporally except for "../pics/title" & "../pics/gloom".
        In other words, the program would remove a previous temp file from RAM immediately when it loads a new temp file.
        Even if this "a new temp file" doesn't exist actually, the game would not crash.
        In this game, E5L4 & E7L5 load lots of enemies' sprite files, so I edited script before E5L4 / E7L5 to avoid crashes.(See my example.)
 ( iii ) Edited 2 objs file (../objs/player and ../objs/terra). I cut out their 33th~40th patterns
        because they don't become "Pain state" the moment they are shot. See this description.
 ( iv ) You can select "Almost soundless mode" to use Gloom_3/sfxs2 instead of Gloom_3/sfxs.
         Thus the program wouldn't crash when E7L5 is loaded even if you use Gloom Deluxe engine, not Classic Gloom engine.
 ( v ) Sorry, it still crashes when E5L4 is loaded. Choose "Classic Gloom" at the "Gloom Setup Utility" window
         before you play the 5th episode (Car Parks). Instead, you can play the game with full sound effects.

2. You can also start the game from Episode 7 & 8.

......As you know original version doesn't allow us to resume the game from Episode 7 due to an issue of Gloom_3/sg itself.
 But this disk version consists of 3 disks. "Sg" file in Disk2 has already saved 4 saving-points. They're the first levels of Episode2,3,4 and 5 .
 "Sg" file in Disk3 has already saved 2 saving-points. They're the first levels of Episode7 & 8 .

3. Edited ../misc/gun.bin .

......As you know, original Gloom3's gun sprite corrupts when you shoot 4th or 5th gun.
 This bug occurred if original gun.bin.iff didn't have 3 dummy dots
 even if the author didn't want to show flame/explosion when player shoot a gun.
 That file has been edited, and your gun would not corrupt anymore! (See screenshots.)

Enemies:

See this page and click "Gloom3: Zombie Edition" tab.

Maps:

See this page and choose "Gloom3: Zombie Edition", then choose one you want.


>>Return to the Amiga FPS main page