Text File
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Primary purpose : No levels included
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Title : WadSpy v1.1
Filename : ws.exe
Release date : 2012-07-01
Author : Oliver Brakmann
Email Address : obrakmann@gmx.net
Description : WadSpy is a tool to view .WAD statistics and
estimate a level's difficulty.
This version (1.1) has been modified to work on
64 bit operating systems too.
Additional Credits to : Randall R. Spangler, for the original WadWhat
André Majorél for the initial Linux port
My buddy Christian for the Windows executable
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* What is included *
New levels : None
Sounds : No
Music : No
Graphics : No
Dehacked/BEX Patch : No
Demos : No
Other : Yes, utility program for viewing .WAD statistics
Other files required : None
* Construction *
Base : Modified wadwha11.zip
Build Time : A few days probably
Editor(s) used : Geany
Known Bugs : None at this time
May Not Run With : WADs that use custom monsters (DEH, BEX, or DECORATE)
Tested With : Ubuntu 12.04 x86_64, Win XP x86_32, Win7 x86_64
* Copyright / Permissions *
This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or
(at your option) any later version.
This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
GNU General Public License for more details.
You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
Foundation, Inc., 675 Mass Ave, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
* Where to get the file that this text file describes *
The Usual: ftp://archives.3dgamers.com/pub/idgames/ and mirrors
Web sites:
FTP sites:
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* Detailed Documentation *
1. What it does
----------------
WADSpy takes a look at a Doom map and shows which monsters are present
on each skill level. Then it calculates the total number of ammunition
available and, based on that and the number of all the monsters' health
points, generates a difficulty ratio.
Aside from that, it also lists all available player starts and thus
which play modes a level supports.
Complete list of features:
- shows which opposition you can expect in a level, either in a brief, one
line or a detailed long format.
- shows which maps are contained in a .WAD and which levels they replace.
- tells which play modes (single, coop, dm) a level supports.
- lists all available ammunition, armor and health.
- prints the average brightness, number of secrets, number of nukage
floors and the number of tagged linedefs.
What changes to WADWhat are there?
- new '-m' cmd-line parameter, which lets you specifiy a single level
from megawads
- thing counting code heavily optimized.
- brief output was changed somewhat to accommodate all the Doom II
monsters.
The downside of this is, however, that the brief output no longer shows
any player starting points.
2. How to use WADSpy
---------------------
ws.exe [-bn[M]] [-m map] file1 [file2 ...]
-bn brief output at skill level n only
-bnM brief output at skill level n only, multiplayer
-m do output for level "map" only. (note the space)
"map" can be either ExMy or MAPxy format.
Examples: ws.exe -b4 doom2.wad eternal.wad requiem.wad
ws.exe -m E4M1 doom.wad
I suggest that you either redirect WADSpy's output to a file or pipe it
through more
ws.exe -m E2M9 doom.wad | more
3. The output
--------------
Run on Doom II's IWAD with -b4, the output looks like this:
WADSpy v1.0 (07/18/2000) (c) by Oliver Brakmann <obrakmann@gmx.net>
## Monsters Weapons Equip RATIO
---tr-sg-cg-im-de-sp-ls-ca-hk-rv-ar-pe-mc-av-br-sd-cy-ic-cs2mrpb-bvsiral-------
DOOM2.WAD:
26 0 2 14 27 0 1 29 23 0 0 0 0 3 0 2 0 0 0 ..D456. B..IR.. 0.617
27 18 22 11 21 16 9 7 0 21 21 4 4 13 2 1 0 0 0 1.D4567 BVSI.AL 0.468
28 3 5 6 24 6 17 12 1 7 17 12 5 2 4 0 2 0 0 1.D4567 BVS.... 0.982
29 13 21 11 22 0 1 0 15 5 6 0 4 4 1 3 0 1 0 ..D4.6. B.S.R.. 0.720
The first column says which level is displayed, ie. in this case MAP26
to MAP29. In Doom I, it's similar, E2M7 would show 27 there.
The following columns show the monsters:
tr = Trooper sg = Sergeant cg = Chaingunner
im = Imp de = Demon sp = Spectre
ls = Lost Soul ca = Cacodemon hk = Hell Knight
rv = Revenant ar = Arachnotron pe = Pain Elemental
mc = Mancubus av = Arch-Vile br = Baron of Hell
sd = Spiderdemon cy = Cyberdemon ic = Icon Thrower
Please note: the brief output does not list the Wolfenstein guy where the
long output does. These are used for the ratio nonetheless in both cases.
The weapons are numbered as in the game, so 1 is the chainsaw, 3 the
shotgun and so forth. 'D' denotes the double-barrelled shotgun.
The next columns hold the items:
B = Backpack V = Invulnerability S = Strength/Berserk
I = Invisibilty R = Radiation suit A = Computer map
L = Light amp goggles
The last column shows the difficulty ratio. More on that now...
4. On difficulty ratios
------------------------
The difficulty ratio is the result of all the monsters' health points
divided by the total amount of ammunition (from all sources) available
in the map. In other words, the higher the ratio is, the more difficult
the map is. A ratio of greater than 1.0 means that you can't kill all the
monsters with all the ammo, but that you have to set them to fight among
themselves.
The difficulty ratio provided by WADSpy is supposed to indicate how
challenging a map is. This, of course, can only be an educated guess,
because the difficulty of a level is quite a complex thing. For optimal
results, one should also take into account the amount of health and
armor available, the layout of the level and also which non-monster
hazards there are (such as crushing ceilings and nukage floors).
Anyway, as a general rule of thumb, WADSpy serves its purpose quite
well, and so I give some sample ratios for some Doom levels.
Hardest regular Doom I map: E2M4 (0.778, Ultra-Violence)
Hardest secret Doom I map: E2M9 (0.915, Ultra-Violence)
Hardest Episode 4 map: E4M4 (0.994, Ultra-Violence)
Hardest Doom II map: MAP08 (1.423, Ultra-Violence)
Easiest Doom II map: MAP30 (0.013, Ultra-Violence)
Hardest Plutonia map: MAP11 (0.710, Ultra-Violence)
Hardest TNT map: MAP07 (0.782, Ultra-Violence)
5. Limitations
----------------------
This program is ignorant of:
- Skulls spawned by Pain Elementals
- Monsters spawned by Icon Throwers
- Monsters resurrected by Arch-Viles
- Splash damage from rockets and the BFG9000
- the players' starting with 50 bullets
- monsters modified or created by DEH and BEX patches or DECORATE lumps
Also,
- WADSpy assumes you do not use the BFG9000
(shooting 40 cells with the BFG results in 100 points of damage on a
direct hit, whereas with the Plasma Rifle you'd only get 80 points)
- there's a problem with the megasphere and the berserk pack, because
those two items do not _add_ health (& armor) to the player, but rather
set them to a fixed value. This cannot be correctly taken care of with
the counting system employed by WADSpy. So as of now, the berserk pack
_adds_ 100 health points and the megasphere both 200 points of health
and armor to the player. I'm aware that these values are way too high
but I don't know how to address this in a satisfying way.
- the brief output doesn't list the Wolfenstein guy, 'cause I can't fit
him on the screen. Damn 80 chars limit.
- for some odd reason, R. Spangler decided to only list the available
player starts, and not on which skill settings they appear.
I have kept to that, because I think that most start positions are
present on all skills anyway.
By Dari · PostedI'm not usually a fan of slaughterwads (maybe I'm being too harsh, but the slaughter label does def apply to some of the maps), but I set that aside for this wad. Sure, some parts are cheap and the later levels could use a bit more spice, but it's still a mostly enjoyable experience throughout.
By Maximum Matt · PostedAn old-school classic. The part where (SPOILER ALERT!!!!!!) the lake drains to reveal a bunch of monster closets is genius.
By AmethystViper · Posted"Pills? I can't swallow those!" "Well then, good news: It's a suppository."
By JoJo_BadDoom · PostedDoes what it says on the tin. And, I learnt a little about the Geneva Conventions and the Red Cross while I'm at it! Can't ask for much more from a WAD, really.