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I need some help people. I can't seem to figure out how to change the messages that are displayed at certain points in the game like the one before level 7. I would be a big help if someone could tell me how.

Thanks

Oh, uh you can change that with dehacked. It's in the utilities page on this site.

Those texts are written in the engine (the EXE.) If you're using doom95 you can't change them, unless you're very good with a hex editor. If you're using the original DOS engines, you can use DeHackEd (search for dhe31 at doomsearch.com.) Most other newer source-based engine mods can also read DeHackEd patches, and some have expanded formats for these.

Direct Dehacked download
Dehacked txt file

Well I usually am quite observant, but I guess I must have missed that one. Thanks much for the help!

I'm finding Dehacked a tad ... how should I put this ... confusing. I think I may need a little help with it. It would be a big help if someone could explain how to edit the messages with dehacked.

P.S. I at least got it running so don't worry about that.

P.P.S. I'm wondering how to change the messages on Iwads like Cyberdemon.wad, Scott.wad, etc.

Thanks Much

Unless you use Zdoom (or other ports that read MAPINFO lumps), you won't be able to change the messages with a wad, you'll need a deh patch (made by dehacked).

here is a great place for learning how to use DeHacked, done by none other than our own forum Enjay. :)

And hey, if you're not sure with my link, ReX's link is always open, located below me ;)

scott231ca said:

I'm finding Dehacked a tad ... how should I put this ... confusing. I think I may need a little help with it.

Check out Nigel Rowand's Little Place of DooM and Other Stuf. He has detailed and well-written tutorials on DeHacked.

Thanks guys. I feel all warm and fuzzy now :-)

Enjay said:

Thanks guys. I feel all warm and fuzzy now

Warm and fuzzy enough to release Aspects? ;)

Btw, I saw the amazing screenshot with LWM's 16-sided sprite. Excellent marble-toned skins. Cool-looking arches in the background. Then I re-checked out the other screenshots and salivated some more. (Goddamn Pavlovian response!)

P.S. If it looks like I'm trying to worm my way into your circle of "a few close friends" you're very mistaken. My flattery and obsequiousness are genuine and entirely devoid of ulterior motives.

P.P.S. There's this bridge I acquired as an investment property in London. (It seems that there's a children's song written about it too.) I'd be willing to part with it for a reasonable consideration. Heh.

I've succesfully been able to change the text, but it has some glitches! If I try to use IDCLEV it crashes! If I try to load up Dehacked again after I've written the file it complains about the edited exe and the Doom2.exe to be different versions! So I can't even edit it more than once. I also still don't know how to edit the messages on different wad names like Cyberdemon.wad. I need some help. Those tutorials haven't answered all my question, but if it wasn't for them I would have never got the darn thing working properly.

HELPING IS GOOD RIGHT?

ReX said:

P.P.S. There's this bridge I acquired as an investment property in London. (It seems that there's a children's song written about it too.) I'd be willing to part with it for a reasonable consideration. Heh.

London Bridge is always fallin' down,
But there it stood within the heart of town
Reminding everyone of life behind and life to come


:P

scott231ca, make sure that the two EXEs (normal and editable) defined in dehacked.ini are the same size:

# For DOOM ][
editname = d:\doom\hack2.exe
normalname = d:\doom\doom2.exe

Also, make sure the version is correct (3 is for the DOOM II EXE as well as for the pre-ultimate DOOM EXE):

# Doom version #
# 0 for Doom 1 1.666
# 1 for Doom 2 1.666
# 2 for Doom 2 1.7, 1.7a
# 3 for Doom x 1.9
# 4 for Ultimate Doom 1.9
version = 3

If you're using Final DOOM's EXE comment the above and uncomment the size definition, like this, setting the size as shown here:

# The size of the user-defined Doom exe file.
size = 722629

You guys REALLY know your editing don't you. All I had wrong was the version. I didn't actually think that would affect the files. Thanks to your help I've perfected switching things in Dehacked, but how exactly do I change messages and what not with Zdoom as you keep saying. Or is what you really mean I need to download a patch for Dehacked.

scott231ca said:

... but how exactly do I change messages and what not with Zdoom as you keep saying. Or is what you really mean I need to download a patch for Dehacked.

Changing messages with DeHacked, and changing them with ZDooM are entirely different things. (Of course you can use DeHacked to change some messages, insert the DeHacked patch into a ZDooM wad, and use a MAPINFO lump in ZDooM to add other messages. But I won't get into that, as it's a little involved.)

In Dehacked you can change the messages that are hard-coded into DooM2.exe, including the names of maps, as you've already discovered. In ZDooM you can change some of the same text (e.g., map names) using a MAPINFO lump. The difference is that a DeHacked patch can be used with vanilla DooM and practically all source ports, whereas the ZDooM MAPINFO lump can only be used with a ZDooM wad.

A MAPINFO lump is simply a text file in which you create your definitions (using the proper syntax, of course). Download any recent ZDooM wad, and you're likely to find a MAPINFO lump in it.

The advantage of mapinfo (if you're using ZDoom) is that you can make the map names as long as you want (which you can't do in dehacked)

Yes, but you can also use BEX, which is compatible with many engines and allows strings of any length.

Would I be able to just add the Dehacked patch as a lump into another one of my Pwads and merge that with my Cyberdemon.wad to change the messages. I do that with sound and music files. Would it work with Dehacked patch files?

myk said:

Yes, but you can also use BEX, which is compatible with many engines and allows strings of any length.

And if you are using a BEX patch with Zdoom, there are even more strings available for changing via BEX, including the quit game "funny" messages which most ports do not support, but also all the Zdoom specific obits etc. Hmmm, should a Zdoom specific BEX/DEH file really be called a ZEX file?

Although, if the project were to be for Zdoom, MAPINFO is the way to go for level names, intermission texts and a boat load more of other stuff too.


Old information, but most of it still correct. Gives you an idea of what MAPINFO can be used for

http://zdoom.notgod.com/reference/mapinfo.html

scott231ca said:

Would I be able to just add the Dehacked patch as a lump into another one of my Pwads and merge that with my Cyberdemon.wad to change the messages. I do that with sound and music files. Would it work with Dehacked patch files?

If you put your dehacked patch into a WAD as a lump called DEHACKED, then as long as it is one of the WADs loaded, and as long as no other WADs loaded also have a dehacked lump, then your patch will be applied by any port that supports an imbedded dehacked lump. If other wads that contain a dehacked lump are loaded after your one, then that dehacked lump will be used instead.


And yes, you should be able to merge that with your cyberdemon wad, and it should work, provided the port you are using supports the feature of embedded dehacked lumps. Basically, most ports these days do. The original EXE will ignore it, EDGE won't use it (I don't think) not sure about Legacy (think so) or JDoom, but pretty much the rest will.

Legacy does (Nimrod has one) and JDoom doesn't (it uses DED files instead).

Many thanks Enjay! Sounds like you invented the thing or something.

I'm pretty sure the latest Vavoom has dropped DeHackEd support completely.