Help me finish my first map!

So, I've developed some six or seven maps over the last few years, none of which have been released, and most of which are very close to completion. What's been holding me back is the desire to add a few basic extra features, but I just haven't gotten around to it yet. I tend to get intimidated by modding, but I feel that my maps are worth playing and I want to contribute positively to the community. So, in order to get my first map out, I'd like to:

• Use my own music, either in mp3 or ogg format (whichever is most cross-compatible).
• Add a 1024x128 sky image.
• Change the name of the map.

The map is in vanilla, but my desire to add an mp3/ogg will force it to be played on a source port that can play that format. What source port should I specify in the text document, and what program(s) should I use for adding the features I mentioned?

GoatLord said:

What source port should I specify in the text document, and what program(s) should I use for adding the features I mentioned?

It seems strange that you are asking this.
I would have thought that you are familiar with the DOOM scene.

For source ports, probably ZDoom/GZDoom/Zandronum, which have the most following.
And thus, for map editing, GZDoom Builder.

Else, consider Risen3D, Doomsday, Eternity, 3DGE.

For editing lumps, there really is only one frontrunner, Slade3.

I've heard prboom supports ogg. I don't know for sure if the complevel being played matters though.

PrBoom-Plus supports many different sound formats, .ogg and .mp3 inclusive. Large sky textures are supported in Boom (complevel 9, you will also have to use a sky transfer). Map name can be changed via dehacked (vanilla and everything else) or mapinfo (zdoom only).

ClumsyDoomer said:

Large sky textures are supported in Boom (complevel 9, you will also have to use a sky transfer).

Large skies can also be assembled from four 256x128 patches for vanilla compatibility.

Usually mp3/ogg music is in a "music addon" wad, so it doesn't restrict the map compatibility. It would be a same to lose vanilla compatibility just for that.

For changing names, use dehacked and maybe those mapname graphics to have the correct map names in intermissions.

Keep in mind that 90% of people will play in prboom+ and zdoom.

GoatLord said:

what program(s) should I use for adding the features I mentioned?
• Add a 1024x128 sky image.

Use an image editor (Photoshop, GIMP, etc) to chop your 1024-wide sky image into four separate 256x128 patches. If you want the in-game sky to run in the same direction as your image, you'll need to horizontally mirror it, as well; Doom draws its skies, column-by-column, counterclockwise.

Then, use a lump editor (SLADE 3) to import those patches into your wad, convert them to the Doom image format, and add them to the patch table. From there you can assemble them into a texture definition, align everything, and name the texture to replace the vanilla sky.

• Change the name of the map.

You can do this with dehacked, which you can either edit directly as a text lump, or by using a dedicated editor like Whacked 4. For full vanilla compatibility, you'll need to replace the IWAD graphics used for the map's name in the intermission screens, as well, though at least some ports can take care of this part for you.

• Use my own music, either in mp3 or ogg format (whichever is most cross-compatible).

Most of the popular ports (Eternity, ZDoom and family, PrBoom+, Doomsday) have support for MP3 / OGG music. Generally, engines like Chocolate Doom and derived (e.g. Doom Retro) won't. For PrBoom+, at least, it works just to import an mp3 into a wad and rename it to whatever music file you're replacing (i.e. D_RUNNIN).

What source port should I specify in the text document?

Everything but the music can be done in a vanilla-compatible way, so calling it 'vanilla compatible' depends on how okay you are with people playing it on something like Chocolate Doom and having no music. Otherwise, you could just call it "limit-removing+" or something, and mention clearly in the text that it can be played as a vanilla map by any port with MP3/OGG playback.