Boingo and TUCQ Appreciation Thread

[Chukker]

I am not alone in being dismayed at hearing that The Ultimate Chex Quest has been effectively cancelled. It was not suprising news though. Hobby projects of all kinds get put away never to be looked at again, especially ones you've been working on for years and Boingo has worked on Chex Quest longer than anybody. I do not keep up with forum politics and I don't care to hear about them. So please leave commentary on that subject out of this thread. This thread is to give accolades to one of the Doom community's most skilled modders and his excellent creation, The Ultimate Chex Quest.

Lemme start by stating that Chex Quest 3 only exists because of Boingo and The Ultimate Chex Quest. This is for two reasons. Firstly the work he did on improving the original Chex levels was so impressive that it ignited my creativity and got me interested in a game universe I hadn't given a thought to in years. Secondly his compilation of Chex 1 and 2 into a single wad file made including those levels in Chex 3 possible. When we did Chex 2, we were so under the gun with time constraints that we were only concerned with making something quickly and made some bad decisions regarding importing new textures. Thus tons of texture and flat definitions were overwritten, resulting in a real mess if you brought the Chex 2 levels into the Chex 1 wad. Boingo sorted all that out which was not an easy or fast thing to do. Thanks again, Boingo.

Seeing that TUCQ has been cancelled, it has become my desire to cement Boingo's Chex legacy (pun somewhat intended) and bring over much of what he accomplished into Chex Quest 3. Naturally I will add additional level design to Boingo's already significant CQ3 credits. I won't be getting around to this anytime soon, so there will be ample opportunity for him to veto this notion if he so wishes. Since TUCQ was built with Legacy, I won't be able to recreate everything he did to the original levels but I will do my best to approximate them.

Here are some of my favorite elements of The Ultimate Chex Quest:
- The Arboretum: The large window panes really sell the concept of an arboretum and really make me scratch my head and ask, "It's so obvious, why didn't we do that originally?"
- The Diner: This is probably the best example of original level beautification in my opinion. The space feels so much more functional with Boingo's rework of the walls/booths/windows and showcases Boingo's mastery of Legacy's 3D sector feature.
- The Cinema: On Boingo's TUCQ site there was a screenshot of a test environment he was creating for a re-imagined cinema. He also had started at least one thread of proposed improvements to this sub-par level design. I began to agree that the Cinema needed a makeover and took inspiration from what he did when I made the new one for CQ3.
- The Museum: One of our big failings when we made the original levels was not thinking about interior vs. exterior space. Thus throughout Chex 1 and 2, you climb stairs in interior spaces that seemingly don't exist when you look back towards the same area outside. The museum was particularly bad in this regard. When I saw his large exterior walls from the starting courtyard, the level made so much more sense.

Best of luck with whatever projects you are involved with now, Boingo. Thanks for everything you've done to excite Chex Quest fans with your excellent mod.

[Replica]

Boingo cancel TUCQ??? 

Well, I guess I'll find out in the cancel thread aye?  I love how you planned to move the things from TUCQ into CQ3. There's some many things you can do... and even more with ZDoom! If you need an help, I'll be glad to help you. Or if you make a port to GZDoom, then you'll have all the stuff you need from Legacy. ZDoom has 3D water though! I'd tell you how to do it, but I forget how.

[Richie]

Amen, Chukker.  TUCQ is legendary.  I thank Boingo for his hard work, and I wish him only the best. 

[Strife]

Boingo once stated on the TUCQ website that his main reason for pouring so much time and energy into the game was to help CQ recover from a troubled past. The "first" Chex Quest 3 was pretty much a collection of stolen and retextured levels from other Doom mods, and if that wasn't enough, a company named Scifience compiled Chex Quest 1 and 2 and redistributed them under their name. Both of these situations were sad examples of plagiarism.

However, Boingo was willing to pour so much of his time, energy, and heart into making TUCQ. He effectively brought an old classic into the 21st century while at the same time helping fans of the game come together under one community. I agree completely with what Chukker is saying, and i'm sure I speak for everyone here when I say that we thank you for what you've done, Boingo. Best of luck with your future projects and ambitions! ^_^

[Manny Cav]

I'll say again what I've said several times in the past: TUCQ made CQFF. No ifs, ands, or buts.

I suppose one more pinned thread wouldn't hurt.

[matthias720]

I give my best regards to Boingo for all the time and effort he put into TUCQ.  I know I haven't been around as long as some of the others, but I feel that he departure will mark the end of a legacy.  Boingo, if you're reading this, I want you to know that you have my profound thanks for making TUCQ.  You will be missed!  Goodbye.

[ChexCommander]

It's sad to see one of the first and best come to an end.

Thank you Boingo, for all your hard work.  I remember playing TUCQ, the first CQ mod I played, and feeling the joy from being able to look at all the revisions and the combined CQs.  It was, and is, truly a great mod.  Without you, many of the mods here would not be in existence.

All good things come to an end, I guess.  I bid you farewell, Boingo, and happy travels.

[Loremaster]

His was the first. His is still the best. There is nothing more that I can add to that to elaborate. It simply is so.

[Atariangamer]

I'll second that amen. After xbolt got me introduced to the community, TUCQ was my favorite game. It has to be the best thus far. We've had others come and go, and many releases have done many new things. This, however, is the foundation of all of our work. I've said alot before, and most of y'all know where I stand.

My thoughts on CQ3's future additions would be to upgrade to GZDoom's engine. The only thing that will be lost is software rendering. Legacy is the only engine that has kept good features in software. (there is another one or two, but nothing like Legacy) Adding Boingo's additions will be great. He added so much to CQ in his project its not even funny.

[arch129]

The Ultimate Chex Quest is and always will be the best Chex Quest Mod ever!

[ChexCommander]

The Ultimate Chex Quest is and always will be the best Chex Quest Mod ever!

Amen.

[Alice Jameson]

TUCQ and Chex Quest 3 is what inspired me to even begin making my Chex Quest mod. I loved TUCQ. His additions were truly great. I hate to repeat what others have said but I also would like to wish Boingo the best of luck with whatever he may be working on now.

[xbolt]

Without TUCQ, there would have been no Newmaps. In fact, I probably wouldn't be a member here at all. The only reason I joined, was specifically to show off Newmaps.

If only he had released his GZDoom work before he left, though...

[ChexCommander]

What did that GZDoom patch SuperChex released do? Did it just add 3D models to CQ or something or what? Why was it in the TUCQ section?

[Atariangamer]

SuperChex's patch ATTEMPTED to change his custom DEHACKED to DECORATE. (It really didn't do it well)

He also tried some hires textures and 3D models, which had a few flaws.