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CodenniumRed

DooM Builder and HeXen:

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I have a problem where I can't get any HeXen level I make in DooM Builder to run. I have no trouble with DooM, DooM 2, or Heretic maps. With Hexen, however, I try to create a level under the standard 'Hexen' catagory, and then I save it; but when I load up either vanilla HeXen or J-HeXen, the level crashes!

More specifically, the game itself DOES load; the crash occurs when I try to load the corresponding level number itself. In J-HeXen it crashed in mid-load; in vanilla HeXen the level completes loading for a split-second before crashing to the desktop.

I've tried the simplest of simple test levels (two sectors), as well as projects I decided to continue on nonetheless, (I can still save levels properly) but nothing works. I browsed around these forums a bit and it turns out that HeXen had not been fully supported at one point... is this still the case? And, is there any way I can after all use DooM Builder - by far the best DooM engine level editor - to create playable HeXen maps? There aren't enough of those being produced these days, unlike the steady influx of DooM stuff. Thanks for your time, and long live both the classics and the newer games! :)

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What do You do to compile Your maps? Zennode? Zdbsp? I'm not quite sure what properly compiles Hexen maps, but try different options.
Another tought-try perhaps making a small "script holder", like open the script editor and make a small script like
#include common.acs
script 1 OPEN
{
}
perhaps Hexen doesn't like when there is not script in the map. Have You tried playing the map with Zdoom? Try different solutions, but according to the fact that it loads into the editor there is probably something wrong with compiling the map while saving it.

Long live classics!

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This sounds like an error with unclosed sectors, make sure no sectors are open. Sadly, there is no way to check for this in DB. Deepsea can check for unclosed sectors, however. Also it could be your nodesbuilder, like mentioned above. Try zennode or zdbsp(reccommended).

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I tried both Zennode and Zdbsp, as well as creating a script. Either nodebuilder yields the same result, the same crash when I attempt to load the level.

I've also tried out the script, but when I try to do the script you gave me:

#include common.acs
script 1 OPEN
{
}

I get the following error while compiling:

Line 1 in file "script.acs" ...
script.acs:1: String literal not found.
> #include common.
> ^

The ACS compiler did not compile your script.

I'm experimenting with a bare-minimum two-sector level, so there aren't problems with sectors being closed. in fact, I copied and pasted the stuff I've been working on in HeXen into a DooM level, changed around all the textures and it works fine. I'm pretty sure the problem has to do with scripts... I've taken some programming in school, but maybe I should learn some of the HeXen notation to be able to do such basic things like, say, change the level name, music, sky and even fog at the very least. Can't be too hard once you learn it. Thanks for your time everyone. :)

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Common.acs needs to be in quotes.

#include "common.acs"
script 1 OPEN
{
}

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THAT WAS THE PROBLEM!!!! IT'S FIXED!!!! I CAN MAKE HEXEN LEVELS NOW!!!! Now, to know how I can add the commands for different music, level names, etc....

Thanks everybody.

P.S: If anybody knows simple commands to do that sort of stuff, E-Mail me at CodenniumRed@hotmail.com or simply respond to this thread.

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What exactly do You mean by "commands"?
Do You mean scripts?
Then off to the Wiki --> http://www.zdoom.org/wiki/
Please keep in mind that some stuff mentioned in the Wiki won't work with Hexen, because it has less features than Zdoom. Still I think You will find it useful.

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Try this. It was made specifically for Hexen, and it's what I used to learn the basics (that and decompile the scripts from hexen.wad and hexdd.wad).

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There are two ways to use different music in Hexen-format maps, really. The first way is with a MAPINFO lump, like so:

map MAP01 "OMG LEVEL"
music "OMGMUSIC"
The second, much lazier way, is with a simple open script, like so:
#include "common.acs" //or "zcommon.acs"

Script 1 OPEN {
SetMusic("OMGMUSIC", 0);
}
The only real ways to change the map names is through either DeHackEd or with a MAPINFO lump. All other map stuff (except par times) has to be done with MAPINFO; the par times can be done with WHacked in Boom format.

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Thanks yet again. :) But two things:

1) What are the song names? OMGMUSIC doesn't seem to have any effect, though compilation of the script is fine.
2) How can I make a new MAPINFO lump? Can DooM Builder do it? How do I associate it with the wad? etc, etc.

I'm in no hurry to figure these things out, though, as I'm already making the physical architecture of the hubs. :D

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That's a ZDoom based script. It won't work in Hexen, and that was just an example music anyway.

As for the mapinfo, open up a wadfile (say, hexen.wad) in WinTex. Then select the data section. There you will find the mapinfo lump, which is nothing more than a text file. You can save it as such and then you can alter it however you want. When you're finished, load it into a wadfile (WinTex won't allow you to load it back into the hexen.wad iwad, so you'll need a custom wadfile). You should see the changes whenever you test your map.

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To edit the Mapinfo lump Your best choice will be probably XWE, which can edit the already in wad Lumps (works with HeXen). First You'll need an empty mapinfo lump. Extract one from the IWAD, clear it (easy) and import it into Your Pwad via XWE. Now, edit it, and remember to save it often via script->save in XWE. Mapinfo can assign skies to maps, cdtracks, add fx like lightning or scrolling skies. The best way to learn them is looking at the one in the IWAD, and try different options.
To search for songnames locate the SNDINFO lump in the main IWAD and search for the song names. In the SNDINFO You can also assign music to Your level (or define a song and asign with Mapinfo).
I'm not sure but I don't think that You can change music during the game with scripts in vanilla Hexen. Get Zdoom anyway :-)

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No you can't change music while a map is playing, but you can at least change what song that map plays by changing the entries (the music entries are at the very bottom) in sndinfo.

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