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i have been learning to edit doom for the last 2 weeks. i find it much more difficult than working in quake engine games. it is harder to work in 2d than 3d. the concept is totaly different in some areas and i have a few questions.

what are tags? line defs, sectors and such and what do they do

above door holes, like the carve tool, however it dosnt put a texture above the hole. maybe i did it wrong, but ifnot how do i texture that?

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I think this would have more luck if it was posted in the editing forum. It is where people usually ask and answer questions about Doom editing.


What you seem to need is a good honest tutorial, unfortunately I cannot remember any links right now. Doesn't your level editor come with one?


And yes, the pseudo 3d editing of the Doom engine is quite unlike anything else.

Vertexes, linedefs and sectors are the basic components of a Doom level. Vertexes are simple coordinates. Linedefs are lines connecting the vertexes. Sectors are polygonal planes created by linedefs.

What makes Doom levels "3d" is that the sectors can be assigned two values. One for floor height, and one for ceiling height. The sectors also carry information about floor and ceiling textures (called "flats"), light levels and floor properties, such as hurting nukage floor.

The linedefs can be either one-sided or two-sided. They have a front and a back side (the front side is usually marked with a short "peg") The one sided linedefs define the boundaries of the level. The backside of a one-sided linedef must always face the "void". Two-sided linedefs are those that faces two sectors at once. Linedefs carry other data such as wall textures and trigger effects.

Things are all kinds of items such as monsters, player starts, goodies and scenery. There are also a set of more specialised things such as teleport destinations and boss spawners.

A sidedef is simply one of the sides of a linedef.

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Sephiroth said:

what are tags? line defs, sectors and such and what do they do

above door holes, like the carve tool, however it dosnt put a texture above the hole. maybe i did it wrong, but ifnot how do i texture that?

Good lord. Read a tutorial. If you don't know what a sector is, much less sidedefs, then there's no way you can make a good Doom level.

Doom editing is easy once you get the idea. It's just putting down lines, which usually are given sidedefs, that usually form enclosed sectors.

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Just to clarify the definition of "sector:" A sector isn't truly just the plane that is formed by the linedefs. A sector is a set of data referring to how a set of linedefs should display floor/ceiling height and texture information. The sidedefs also define what sectors are connected to which side of the line.

It's important to think of it this way because you can have more than one box-set of linedefs referring to a single texture -- meaning you can have, for instance, five different rooms on opposite ends of the map, but which are all the same sector.

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Linedefs work with sectors to perform actions (Lights going out, ceiling crushing, etc.) The linedefs are the "cause" and the sectors are the "effect" if you see what i mean. You give a number tag to the linedef you want to act as a switch and give the same number to the sector you want it to activate. Pretty basic. Here's what you have to keep in mind:

-2-sided Linedefs that you walk over to activate can only activate sectors if you enter them from the right side (as in not left) Any editor will tell you which side is the right one.

-Different types are activated in 2 different ways. Some are hit like a switch, others are walked over.

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Yes, the Editing Forums would really be your best bet, Seph. Trust me, once you get the hang of editing Doom levels, it's quite simple.

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Open some wads with your editor. You'll be able to see how doors, tags and other stuff is made.

Sephiroth said:

above door holes, like the carve tool, however it dosnt put a texture above the hole. maybe i did it wrong, but ifnot how do i texture that?

That would be the "Upper texture".

It's ok if you run into problems when you start making wads; it took me quite some time before I really got the hang of it myself.

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Have patience, young grasshopper. Time will tell if you can perform your task.

OMG!! OMG!! Words of wisdome from ME! Who woulda thought?

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TheHighestTree said:

don't worry...you misspelt "Wisdom" :P

He just did that to make sure you were paying attention, heh.

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