Editing the Level Title

Is there a way to change the level title to something different instead of leaving it to say "Entryway" or "Underhalls"?

Yes.

Okay, so, um, how can I do it?

Most source ports provide a way to do this but it depends on the source port. If you're developing a Vanilla-compatible WAD you can make a dehacked patch to do it.

I'm making a GZDoom WAD.

Then you'll probably want to add a MAPINFO lump to your WAD.

Okay, but how do I add it?

Create it using a WAD Editor, the easiest one i know is Slade 3 :
1 - Create a new Entry
2 - Name it MAPINFO
3 - Edit that entry as a text
4 - Follow the instructions given in the ZDoom Wiki .

DMGUYDZ64 said:

Create it using a WAD Editor, the easiest one i know is Slade 3 :
1 - Create a new Entry
2 - Name it MAPINFO
3 - Edit that entry as a text
4 - Follow the instructions given in the ZDoom Wiki .

Follow as DMGUYDZ64 said.

To help develop an understanding of this process, Doom has its natural order of maps, names, music and sequence of level progress. It's pretty much hard coded and argued it cannot or SHOULD not be altered. Major problems may occur if you do. However if you use a wad editing program (not Doom Editors but rather Slade), you can create a file that piggy backs off the doom code and capable of re-directing the said maps sequence, names and music etc without messing with the hard code.

In Slade you can create a file called MAPINFO which basically forces doom to obey what it has to say (as long as it makes sense) and that's where you can create a custom name, what level you can go next, what music to play and so forth. What I'm doing with my wad, I copied and pasted a MAPINFO of all Doom 2's 32 vanilla levels and added it to my wad via Slade, then I changed the information to what suits me.

It will look something like this;

map MAP01 "My Custom Map Name Goes Here"
{
cluster = 5 ................ I haven't mastered this but I believe it works like a chapter system
levelnum = 1 ............... What level this map is
music = "D_ADRIAN" ........ What music it should play
sky1 = "SKY1" .............. What sky it should show
next = "MAP02" ............. When the level is completed, what numbered map it leads to
par = 100 .................. Basically a record time for 100% completion or something
}

map MAP02 "The Second Map Names Goes Here"
{
cluster = 5
levelnum = 2
music = "D_STALKS"
sky1 = "SKY1"
next = "MAP03"
par = 130
}

Chezza said:

par = 100 .................. Basically a record time for 100% completion or something

Nah, par times are not for 100% completion, they're for straight speedrunning. It's often impossible to get 100% and be under par: just compare the times for UV speed and UV max.

And if by 100% you mean 100% kills, 100% items, 100% secrets, then it's probably impossible for all levels. (UV max is only about reaching 100% kills and 100% secrets, items can be ignored.)

Frisky said:

Okay, but how do I add it?

If all you want to do is rename the map name, then you can include a very simple MAPINFO lump as a New Entry. Then there is also no need to include anything within the curly braces.

uhoh, pie in the face.
I just tested this with a multimap pwad. Gez is right. I goofed, sorry about that.

Okay, no.

If all you want to do is change the map name, what you have to do is to edit the LANGUAGE lump and put code like this inside:

[enu default]
HUSTR_1 = "My map";

(See list of identifier for map names here.)

If you do what Kappes Buur said, you will not have any sky, music, or next map defined, and as a result instead of reusing the default, your map will have:
- No sky texture: instead a white and blue checkerboard will appear in the sky
- No background music at all
- An exit that loops back on itself: when you finish the map, you start it right back up.

in the mapinfo lump put this

map map01 "hi this is my map NAME HURR DURR"
{
next = map02
music = "SONGYOULIKE"
par = 1
cluster = 1
sky1 = rsky1 , 0.0 //go with rsky1 if you like
}


//and incase you want a text screen
clusterdef 1
{
music = "HURRDURR"
flat = BRICK11
exittext = "hurr durr this is text",
"ok"

}

The spoonfeeding is strong in this thread :-D

Sorry to go off topic, but many people are quick to suggest MAPINFO for map name changes, and since the wad is for GZDoom, I can understand why. But Dehacked patches work in just about all source ports right? I mean, if he were to use a Dehacked patch simply to change the maps title, it would have the same effect as MAPINFO would right?

I know I'm being a bit pedantic here but why is it so common to teach new people simple things by exposing them to port specific stuff? Doesn't it just make the transition to other ports that much harder? Why not just teach them to write a dehacked patch and be done with it? Do deh patches have conflicting issues with other port specific lumps, even if only used to change a map title string? Or is it simply frowned upon in the gzdoom community to not use only zdoom related things?

DeHackEd string replacement are weird, unless you use a special DeHackEd editor. BEX string replacement are better, though.

40oz said:

Sorry to go off topic, but many people are quick to suggest MAPINFO for map name changes, and since the wad is for GZDoom, I can understand why. But Dehacked patches work in just about all source ports right? I mean, if he were to use a Dehacked patch simply to change the maps title, it would have the same effect as MAPINFO would right?

I know I'm being a bit pedantic here but why is it so common to teach new people simple things by exposing them to port specific stuff? Doesn't it just make the transition to other ports that much harder? Why not just teach them to write a dehacked patch and be done with it? Do deh patches have conflicting issues with other port specific lumps, even if only used to change a map title string? Or is it simply frowned upon in the gzdoom community to not use only zdoom related things?

I recommend mapinfo. dehacked would be way too hard.

riki2321 said:

I recommend mapinfo. dehacked would be way too hard.

Sorry, what? Last I checked, changing a map name in Dehacked is as simple as loading up WhackEd and changing a single text string, and making a custom CWILV graphic.

making a mapinfo is much easier than making a custom dehacked. once you understand them both and how they work the difference is trivial, but in terms of learning mapinfo is much simpler to understand

Quite frankly I do not understand why so many mappers suggest something so archaic as DEHACKED when the map is intended for GZDoom.

While it is not difficult to change a map name with DEHACKED, the extra step of having to conjure up a custom CWILV graphic kills using DEHACKED right there.

Using a simple ZMAPINFO or MAPINFO lump for either a single map or multi map pwad, such as

map MAP01 "new map name for MAP01"
{
	music = "D_DDTBL2"
	sky1 = "SKY1", 0
	next = "map02"
}

map MAP02 "new map name for MAP02"
{
	music = "D_THEDA3"
	sky1 = "SKY2", 0
	next = "map03"
}

map MAP03 "new map name for MAP03"
{
	music = "D_DDTBL3"
	sky1 = "SKY3", 0
}

where a custom CWILV is not required to display the new map name in the AUTOMAP or a the end of the map.
Plus, being able to specify which music, which sky to use for the map makes using MAPINFO a nobrainer.