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Venk

creating my own doom episodes?

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Hey need a quick hand. Old doom fan, wanna make my own episodes for the game to challenge friends and such. Any idea where to start fellas? Any helpll be appreciated

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Download Doombuilder

Game configuration in Doombuilder should be Doom/Ultimate Doom for episodes.

If you've literally NEVER made your own wad (map) before, then i suggest looking up tutorials on the basic principles of map editing. You can find this info all over the place.

Example: http://doomwiki.org/wiki/Editing_tutorials

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Yeah I have doombuilder and have been starting to learn. I like the simplicity of it but I heard it could not be used to create full episodes? I want to work the maps to tell a story for a new chapter of doom, complete with storyline. And is it possible to run these maps with brutal doom?

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Doombuilder is fairly easy to create an episode with. Make nine maps with different mapnumbers but have the same episode number (e3mX, etc) then pick one of your maps and save the remaining maps into your first map. done.

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So you're saying you want to make your own story using the Doom 1 episode format? Ookay then:

-First, I recommend you get SLADE3. SLADE3 allows you to change the music, graphics, sound effects, you name it. You can find tutorials floating around for it if you look hard enough, or you could ask. :)

-If you're making your wad vanilla or Boom compatible, I recommend you get DeHackEd. There's a different version called WhackEd if you're running a Windows computer as well. DeHackEd allows you to create DeHackEd patches that can change the map names in the automap and the intermission text, among other fun things. :D I quite enjoy fooling around with DeHackEd patches myself.

-Lastly, Brutal Doom will function alright with wads as long as there aren't any prominent changes to gameplay, such as new monsters or weapons. There's probably other things you have to watch out for, but I don't know all of them considering I don't play Brutal Doom much.

Hopefully all this helps. PM me if you want more info.

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When making your first few maps, make sure they are smaller so you will learn from your mistakes when you create more maps and it would be easier to fix up.

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Venk said:

Is it possible to make a storyline screen for each map?


Dehacked Allows you to do that.

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Venk said:

Is it possible to make a storyline screen for each map?

Six said:

Dehacked Allows you to do that.


No it doesn't; Dehacked only allows you to modify the existing story screen text, not add new story screens.

One way it could be fudged in Vanilla Doom, is to replace the map title graphics on the intermission screen with new images that have story text baked onto them (ala Perditions Gate or Hell to Pay).

To add proper new story screens, you need to look at source port specific features; the likes of Mapinfo (ZDoom derivatives), Infine (Doomsday derivatives) etc; different ports have different ways of doing it.

But yes, as indicated though, since yourself is new to Doom modding, I'd focus on the maps first rather than gimmicks like story screens.

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Vermil said:

No it doesn't; Dehacked only allows you to modify the existing story screen text, not add new story screens.


I assumed he was referring to editing the text screens at the end of each episode.

My apologies.

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You'll have to also delve into MAPINFO.

Just concentrate on creating your maps with DB2, and then you can setup the episode.

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Alright thanks fellas. Really appreciating this help. Dunno how I would figure this stuff out without doomworld.

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Venk said:

Hey need a quick hand. Old doom fan, wanna make my own episodes for the game
to challenge friends and such. Any idea where to start fellas? Any help will be
appreciated


Depending on what format you are mapping for, you can think of the progression of an episode as linear,
as in vanilla DOOM maps, or as random, as in hubs introduced with HEXEN.

The approach for linear progression is quite archaic:
design maps from ExM1 to ExMx, either in vanilla DOOM format or use some port format.

However, since you like Brutal Doom, maybe mapping in (Doom in Hexen) or (UDMF) format, for ZDOOM,
GZDoom or ZANDRONUM may be a better choice. This would give you the ability to add new monsters and/or
weapons with DECORATE, or introduce some refinements with SCRIPTS, or use the hub system.

The development of ZDoom and GZDOOM, yes they are in constant flux, are closely linked. Zandronum is
about a year behind in features, and more then likely on a different track in feature development.

If you are curious about the hub approach, take a look at Rex's PHOBOS-V.
He also made a good tutorial about How to construct a HUB.

Map Editor
Into this category fall, as you mentioned already, Doombuilder.
However, Codeimp has superceded this with Doombuilder2, which is far more capable.
Especially with the GZDoom Visual Mode.

Superceding Doombuilder2 is MaxEd's GZDoombuilder. This builds on Doombuilder2 with many more features,
to make mapping more enjoyable.

Lump Editor
To add new lumps, such as textures or music, or replace existing lumps.

Here you can use XWE, the development of which has been suspended.
Some mappers swear by it, others have problems with it.

Or use the more recent Slade3 (a map/lump editor combination) which is still in development, but the lump
editor part is now very robust.

Links
Codeimp's website http://www.doombuilder.com/
MaxEd's thread http://forum.zdoom.org/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=32392
Slade3 website http://slade.mancubus.net/
Rex's website http://doomnexus.drdteam.org/

Editors and Ports http://svn.drdteam.org/

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Wow you guys are helpful ** thanks for Alla this. Just to clarify, I am entirely new to this. I have barely fooled with doombuilder 2 and don't know much about anything. I can do basic rooms and doors, texture and such, but nothing else ** I dunno what a vanilla doom, or boom is, or nothing ** in the future, I want to be able to make my own doom episodes to challenge people I know. And I have Phobos v, it inspired me to learn this actually.

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Let me preclude,
I map solely for GZDoom (DOOM in Hexen format) or GZDoom (UDMF format), depending on the mood I'm in, with GZDoombuilder.
But I will use whatever engine to play a pwad it was designed for.

---------

Vanilla DOOM refers to the original DOOM game. Essentially, a linedef could take one and only one
linedef special, for example to open a door or lower a lift. I believe there were 141 specials in
the original DOOM engine.

In the early days, to change some of the behaviour of doom actors or some of the text screens, one
had to hack the DOOM executable. This is done through DEHACKED (DEH) patches which when loaded change
the appropriate parts in the DOOM engine. This is still being used by some diehard fans.

Then TeamTNT came along with BOOM, which extended the functionality of the DOOM engine.
Especially, the number of linedef special was increased. Then, when HEXEN was introduced , everything
changed. Enhancement in the form of scripting meant, that no longer were linedef specials limited to
just one action, but scripts could act on several actions at once. Plus, scripting included a
rudimentary set of C, which allowed decision making.

Ever since then, new ports strove to improve the limits of the original DOOM engine and to extend what
you could do with it. Many ports have come and gone over the years. Not that they were badly made, but
it was more a matter of staying with it. After all, it is a great commitment to devote time to keeping
once engine alive.

I cannot speak for the development of other ports, but each port basically lives or dies on the support
of its community. ZDoom is one of those engines which has endured and endeared for a long time. A major
role in this was the receptiveness of it's programmer to input from the gaming community. No suggestion
was too small. Then GZDoom came along to add OpenGL to ZDoom, with some eyecandy. Then DECORATE made
ZDOOM even more powerful. Anyways, read this: http://zdoom.org/About

In parallel, the development and subsequent acceptance of editors also played a major role. Some major
editors were Wadauthor, Deth and Deepsea, to name just three. All have fallen by the wayside for one
reason or another. Although they are still used by some, today.

With Doombuilder2, the mapping process received a major boost, especially for those who map for the
G/ZDOOM (Hexen) or (UDMF) formats, with the introduction of GZDoom Visual Mode. Another boost was given
to the mapping experience with the arrival of GZDoombuilder, which was based on Doombuilder r1493.
The editor received many new features and refinements.

In addition to a map editor you will also need, sooner or later, a lump editor. Slade3 is a good choice.

As to mapping formats, check the folders
Doombuilder2\Configurations
and
Doombuilder2\Configurations\Other_Configurations
for which port is supported.

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Alright, thanks. I'm gonna try and keep it to simple map editing for now, nothing too impressive. My only real questions, is making transparent walls, like iron bars. I can't quite figure it out. Same with creating stairs, and windows that can be crouched and walked through

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Alright, I'm making great progress on my episode now, and would like to ask if it will be possible to run these in brutal doom, when I used the vanilla doom resources in doombuilder? Or have I done something wrong? Because when I hit test map while it is running in zandronum, I am not getting the crazy gore and action, and weapons

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When I referred to hub design in my earlier post, I erroneously linked to Rex's PHOBOS-V. Instead I should have linked to his PHOBOS-G.
Sorry about the mixup.

About using Brutal Doom as a resource in Doombuilder2 or GZDoombuilder:
I don't think that it is possible as is. I suspect that the directory structure of Brutal Doom is to be blamed.

The only thing I can suggest is to save your map and load it and Brutal Doom into GZDoom.

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That's what I was about to do. A friend of mine is about to get me gzdoom to use with my brutal doom

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Can anyone tell me how to make spots in the floor that open doors and such when stepped on?

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Venk said:

Can anyone tell me how to make spots in the floor that open doors and such when stepped on?

Here's one. The prefixes (W1, WR, etc.) translate to how the action is triggered and if it can be repeated. If you want to make walking trigger the door, then you need either W1 (trigger once, never again) or WR (can be triggered repeatedly (useful if you want the door to close under certain conditions)).

Then you just need to give the linedef and the door itself (the sector that is the door) the same tag.

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Venk said:

Can anyone tell me how to make spots in the floor that open doors and such when stepped on?

It's not so much "spots in the floor" as it is "lines in the level". You want a linedef action that opens the door when walked over. In the standard Doom format, type 90 (WR Door Open Wait Close) tagged to the sector with the door would suffice; in Hexen format or UDMF, you want 12 ("Door Raise") tagged to the door sector with a "Player Walks Over" trigger and whatever parameters feel good enough.

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Can anyone tell me how I can make my maps flow into each other and how to Make them a pk3 file that I can drag into zandronum for brutal doom

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Venk said:

Can anyone tell me how I can make my maps flow into each other

My best guess is a Hexen-styled hub level, really. You'll technically snap into the relevant player start instead of it being a smooth transition like Half-Life's... I think Gooberman over in WADs & Mods had an example of a less jerky level-to-level transition.

Venk said:

and how to Make them a pk3 file that I can drag into zandronum for brutal doom

This should get you started on that.

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