Even more questions and stuff

Still in the process of converting my TC to Eternity, and running into problems / questions as I go. As IE ate my previous attempt at posting, this one's a bit shorter.

1) How to use the new bridge-flag? Specifically, how to add that flag to a linedef. See my thread "CLED" in the editing forum.

2) How to use the mapinfo lump? How to group levels into episodes, or how to customise secret exits? What's the status of hublevels?

3) How to use Eternity-specific dehacked stuff? Does Eternity understand a DEH patch that combines old-fashioned pointers and the new BEX-like pointers? How to create new Things without replacing existing ones?

4) TerrainTypes. The current version works, but is limited. Player projectiles that hit the edge of a TerrainType sector sometimes cause a splash, sometimes don't. Monster's projectiles never seem to cause splashes.

In my opinion TerrainTypes ought to be extended. As I see it, there can be several kinds of sound associated with a particular flat:

a) walking/running into a sector (splash when hitting water)
b) landing in a sector (feet hitting floor, or big splash)
c) moving inside a sector (wading sounds in water)
d) leaving a sector (water falling away from player)

Then you can also have:

e) sound when beneath a particular flat. Instead of looking at floor flat, you look at ceiling flat to determine this, eg. underwater diving sounds. Maybe extend this with normal walking sounds and running sounds (footsteps), for those so inclined to implement that in their levels.

You could have a definition file like the one below, to be converted into a lump. You can have general lumps, and level-specific lumps.

(TYPES)

FLOOR_DEFAULT
walk = 
land = dsfeet
move =
leave =
below =

FLOOR_WATER
walk = dssplash
land = dssplash
move = dswade
leave = dsgurgle
below = dsdeep

FLOOR_METAL
walk = 
land = dsfeet2
move =
leave =
below =

(DEFINITIONS)

FWATER = FLOOR_WATER
FMETAL = FLOOR_METAL

In this example with three flat types, a flat with name FDIRT will default to the default definition, eg. the normal feet-landing-on-dirt sound when hitting the floor after a jump. The flat FWATER will have extensive splash sounds for every occasion. The flat FMETAL is similar to the default TerrainType, except that it plays a more metallic feet-landing sound more suitable for metal surfaces.

I mean, why limit yourself when implementing new stuff? :)

"1) How to use the new bridge-flag? Specifically, how to add that flag to a linedef. See my thread "CLED" in the editing forum."

This is documented somewhat in editref.txt that comes with the latest version of Eternity (v3.31 beta 1). You must add the new flag value (1024 I believe) to a 2S linedef, and then set its x and y offsets such that the texture is positioned exactly how you want it. Using textures that are 24 units or less tall will allow you to make steps out of them. See the brtst.wad file available in the example wads zip available from the Eternity page for a very specific example. You should put monster blocking flags around the outside of pseudo-3D constructs, or else monsters walking on them will hang half way off the edge. BTW, DETH can allow you manually add flag values, if you do not want to use CLED.

"2) How to use the mapinfo lump? How to group levels into episodes, or how to customise secret exits? What's the status of hublevels?"

MapInfo data goes into the level header. add_fs can do this, but it is not a very good program. SoM has written a much better replacement, but it is not publically available yet due to lack of time to get it ready. There's not currently any ability to "group" levels beyond the MapInfo features that allow you to change episode boundaries by moving or deleting intertexts and changing sky textures manually. A custom episode menu will be possible through Small, but that is not available yet. Secret exits can be set in MapInfo currently. Hubs are still broken, sorry.

"3) How to use Eternity-specific dehacked stuff? Does Eternity understand a DEH patch that combines old-fashioned pointers and the new BEX-like pointers? How to create new Things without replacing existing ones?"

You shouldn't use the old-style codepointer block, its considered deprecated and is highly limited compared to using a BEX [CODEPTR] block. I will be releasing a detailed code pointer reference along with EE v3.31 beta 2, time permitting. You can't create totally new things yet. This feature needs EDF, which we have not started on, as it needs Small and ExtraData to be complete, which we are working on for release in beta 2.

"4) TerrainTypes. The current version works, but is limited. Player projectiles that hit the edge of a TerrainType sector sometimes cause a splash, sometimes don't. Monster's projectiles never seem to cause splashes."

TerrainTypes were conceived and implemented while my skill at programming was still immature, therefore the system is limited. I have already considered expanding it in the future. I may take some of your suggestions into mind, but wading sounds are highly unlikely. DOOM's player animation is not well sync'd to the player's movement, and therefore wading sounds are difficult to do properly.

Also, only projectiles that have the BOUNCES flag can activate TerrainTypes. Normal projectiles will not. What you are seeing is probably the blast radius activation from a rocket. Any blast radius 128 units or closer to the floor will trigger a TerrainTypes hit.