Recommended tools and ports for differing needs?

I've been trying out various source ports, and have an interest in making custom content. There are 2 projects I'm looking to get into, but I'm not very familiar with which tools are preferred, and if the requirements of development change depending on which source port(s) the content is being made for.

The first project isn't serious. More than anything I'd just like to be able to get started quickly, and to be able to start making levels as easily as possible. It'd likely be a just-for-fun kind of thing with no intent to distribute the results.

For the second project, I would like to learn all the ins and outs necessary to make a full iwad, maybe even to be able to distribute it as a stand-alone package (sort of like how Harmony is distributed). The concept I have in mind would play like something more akin to Strife.

I realize there is likely a wealth of documentation I can/should dig into first. I want to get the opinions of others who have experience with these things as well.

For tools, there are pretty much only two that you need:
1. SLADE 3 (for managing resources and stuff)
2. Doom Builder 2 (for actually making maps)

As for your projects:
For a quick and dirty training projects, you should probably go with vanilla Doom specs. The limits on the amount of features you can use should help you concentrate on things like mastering layout and visual presentation.
For your Strife-like idea, if what you mean by Strife like is map hub, item inventory and dialogues with NPCs, I'd recommend ZDoom because there you can do that without having to ape the exact same things as what's hardcoded in Strife itself.

Gez said:

As for your projects:
For a quick and dirty training projects, you should probably go with vanilla Doom specs. The limits on the amount of features you can use should help you concentrate on things like mastering layout and visual presentation.

Only if he doesn't mind if his maps have visplane overflow on doom2.exe, because it's a pain to manage when you are very inspired on details. Yet it is a good advice because mapping with vanilla specs is really easy in general.

So, stick to vanilla to begin until you are familiar enough with mapping to try new things or to optimize your vanilla love. Boom mapping is very easy too, with more freedom on sectors and linedefs behaviors.

Thanks for the replies. I suppose it makes sense to edit within vanilla Doom restrictions at first. Am I correct in assuming I would be testing my work on Chocolate Doom than?

Yeah, for the second concept, it's mostly the open hub design, and dialogue-tree capabilities I'd want. What makes ZDoom the preferred choice, exactly? Personally, I kind of like how Edge has full 3d environments. As much as I enjoy classic Doom, I think the properties of raycasting gives me vertigo.

Oh! Also, how much control am I able to have over things like enemy-respawns and item drops? Like, would it be possible to have one of a number of items drop from an enemy, based on chance?

You can use whatever you want for testing a project that you don't intend to release. Chocolate Doom would allow you to enjoy the full range of bugs and limits from vanilla Doom. ;) If you want to be limited by features without having to worry about running into walls, you can use a limit-removing and bug-fixing port. Just make sure not to get sidetracked into toying with that port's additional features. For example, because of your comment on raycasting, you might want to use GLBoom+ instead.

As for the other project; if you want OpenGL rendering, you can use GZDoom. It's ZDoom with an OpenGL renderer added, and a few associated extra features (sloped 3D floors, model supports, and more stuff...).

ZDoom has the advantage of having a friendly text-based conversation script format, so if you want to make dialog trees, it'll be quite practical.

Item drops are also entirely configurable. The first option is of course the DropItem property, but if you don't want to create new actors, you can handle that with a script.

Gez said:

As for the other project; if you want OpenGL rendering, you can use GZDoom. It's ZDoom with an OpenGL renderer added, and a few associated extra features (sloped 3D floors, model supports, and more stuff...).

I'd like to point out that regular ZDoom also has support for 3D floors, just not sloping ones (yet).

ZDoom and related ports allow for a great number of gameplay changes, ACS being a rather powerful platform for making stuff behave however you want. Decorate allows you to create very complex actors.