Problems running DeHackEd

It's become apparent to me that I will probably need a DeHackEd patch for my wad. But DeHackEd isn't working. I just downloaded it and changed the ini file to work right. But I see red "ERROR" things everywhere. When I get to the text screen, which I want to change, I see a lot of blank entries and the rest are just gibberish.

I should note that I use Doom95, and that may have a lot to do with it...

that has everything to do with it. you need to use one of the original exes. you can get doom2.exe in the ports section here on doomworld and the 1.9 shareware exe should work too if you're map is for original/ultimate doom

Actually, the EXE for the Ultimate DOOM is different. But it's here:

http://www.doom2.net/~mykdoom/command.htm#01

Okay... well, a DHE patch can work with Doom95 right? Once it's finished, that is?

DeHackEd loads Ultimate Doom first, right? How do I get it to load Doom 2 first?

Change the INI

And it won't work with Doom95.

Doom95 is obsolete. Might I suggest doom(2).exe?

What line of the INI do I change?

Ravage: Uh... didn't Doom2.exe come before Doom95? See, both my Dooms are for 95, but they have separate folders and launcher programs.

Comment the paths to doom's WAD and EXE and uncomment the ones to doom2's making sure they are correct. Also, set the doom version to 3 below.

I'm still getting "error" signs everywhere. I downloaded doom2.exe and unzipped it into my Doom II folder, and changed the ini accordingly:

# For Ultimate DOOM
# editname = c:\progra~1\ultima~1\doom95.exe
# normalname = c:\progra~1\ultima~1\doombak.exe

# For DOOM ][
editname = c:\progra~1\doomii~1\doom2.exe
normalname = c:\progra~1\doomii~1\doom2bak.exe

I also switched the "wadname" and "pathname" accordingly. I changed the version to 3. But I still get error signs...

At first, I forgot to change version "4" to "3." It asked me if I wanted to make a new file. I did. I had errors then, because it was expecting an Ultimate Doom wad. So I changed the version to 3, but this time it didn't ask to make a new file. I'm now getting the same stupid errors...

Make sure your two files (normal and editing) aren't different. You aren't saying exactly what error you're getting now, so I'm not sure what's wrong. The thing works, something must be wrong in there.

Oh... well, see, before I downloaded doom2.exe, I made a copy of Doom95.exe and renamed it doom2bak.exe. I'll change that...

Now, Ling said DHE patches don't work with Doom95. Not at all? Never? If not, is that executable I downloaded fully functional (can it run wads and patches)? How about ZDoom - can it run patches? If so, what command line would I use?

yup, zdoom can run patches like this:

c:\north\doom2\zdoom -file input.wad -deh patch.deh

Kick ass! I have one problem with my patch, though: I changed the some of the level names (for instance, "Level 1: Entryway" was changed to "L1: The Gateway"), and they just don't change right. I know someone else asked this a while back, but I didn't use DHE at the time...

You should also check out WhackEd, which is a port of dehacked to Windows. I haven't tried it myself, but a lot of people seem to like it.

netnomad312 said:

Kick ass! I have one problem with my patch, though: I changed the some of the level names (for instance, "Level 1: Entryway" was changed to "L1: The Gateway"), and they just don't change right. I know someone else asked this a while back, but I didn't use DHE at the time...

That's just a ZDoom thing - it always says "map01: the gateway" regardless of whether you put "level 1:", "L1:", "1:" etc. before the map name.

I noticed that last night...

Now, I tried running the doom2 exe with the patch, but nothing happened (with the patch). Did I do the command wrong? Is there something different I have to do with the exe?

Are you trying to run the patch using doom2 with the -deh parameter? It doesn't work like that. The EXE listed under "editname" in the dehacked.ini has to be modified, and it is changed only if you typed "w" within DeHackEd. Simply saving a DEH patch will not modify the editable engine. If you open DeHackEd, load the patch (with "l", for load) and add it to the EXE (with "w", for write) you'll be able to test the patch on doom2 by simply running that engine instead of the normal doom2. Actually, I suggest giving the "normal" engine the usual name (doom2) and some other name to the editing one (such as hack2 or whatever your WAD is called.) Otherwise it's a bit confusing.

Ah. So theoretically I could call my second exe "tower.exe," which would just be a copy of Doom II with tower.deh attached?

In DeHackEd, how do you change the value of armor and health bonuses? I'd like them to give 5 or 10 points each...

Yeah.

You can't (some people imitate this by placing many bonuses stacked in one place in the map, like in Map31... it looks like one but gives a bigger bonus.)

Exactly, that's what I've been doing; I was trying to save a little space...

You know what stinks? I tried changing the cheats, and I couldn't use any of the ones which had a "t" because in Zdoom, that always brings up a chat bar...

My current cheats:
Music Change: MUSIC
Chainsaw: CLIPPERS (Says "Hedge Clippers. Oh yea.")
Degreelessness Mode: BOOYA
Ammo & Keys: Still IDKFA... not sure yet
Ammo: LOOT (Says "Now you're packin'")
No Clipping: GHOST
Invulnerability: IMSCREWED (All items now say "You got it" like in Heretic)
Berserk: REDBULL (At first I used STEROIDS, but then the T thing...)
Inviso: BLURRY (At first I used PHANTOM; same reason)
Rad Suit: NUKEAGE
Computer Map: SHOWALL
Light-Amp: GOBRIGHT
BEHOLD menu: WASSUP (Just says "WASSUP!?" - couldn't think of anything better to do with it...)
Warp: WARPME
Position: WHEREMI
Automap Enhancer: EYES (Couldn't do any better with 4 chars)

I'll go try the tower.exe thing now...

Not to be picky or anything, but why are you changing the cheats? I find it pretty irritating when someone does that. Sometimes I wanna cheat damnit! This is just out of curiosity.

I just tried it because I could, is all...

The new exe works... more or less. I tried viewing one of my storyline changes (the one after level 11), though, and when it got to the bottom line, it quit with an error; I used one to many lines... even though I actually used less characters than DeHackEd required and just used spaces for the rest! Any ideas what the hell I did wrong?

Also... when people package their wads with a DHE patch, they don't all include a copy of doom2.exe, right? How do they usually do it?

It's funny, see... a year or so ago, when I was more naive to the workings of Doom, I hated complex installations with a vengence. Now I'm going to be using one. Ironic, huh?

The texts don't give problems unless you use too many or too few characters.

People don't normally include the EXE, but on big projects it might not be a bad idea to do so if you feel many people that would use the EXE as opposed to another engine with the patch are going to play the WAD. If it's a smaller release or you don't think many people are going to use the old DOS engine, just include the patch (people can patch the EXE anyway.)

A WAD with a DEH patch isn't too complex in itself; all it requires is the additional -deh parameter, or using DeHackEd once to make the modified EXE. Just make sure you say somewhere in the TXT that the patch should be loaded to play the WAD.

A complex release would be something forcing the user to download various accessories of to go through various setup steps.

Changing cheats support was removed from Zdoom about 2 years ago both because it was causing some problems, and due to popular demand. With every cheat having another way to get the same effect via console commands, it's pretty irrelevant anyway.

Well, the primary use of this wad isn't for ZDoom anyway. Some of the stuff that ZDoom gives you *Coughjumpingcough* would seriously affect the gameplay of it...

Then to include a deh file, I'd also have to include dehacked and a batch file. I'm already including Deusf because of new sprites. Now this is the kind of installation which would send me away a year ago. And I don't want to alienate people like I was then; people who just browse the archives in search of a decent wad... with no complex install. Only problem with including a copy of the exe is that it packs an extra 400-odd K into the zip...

So If I made an install.bat file, how would I get it to create the copy of the exe? The only way I know is to open DeHackEd, and I certainly don't want all the people who have no idea how to have to do that. There must be some command.

Basically, if I include an install.bat, which had to install the new sprites and then create the new exe, what would the .bat file say?

Don't worry about it too much. People who don't use -deh supporting ports are not n00bs, but seasoned veterans. They know how to use the patches.

Just make a zip with the wad, deh file and other stuff you want. That's more than plenty for over 95% of people who are ever going to play your wad.

This gets rid of Deusf too, since ports can load graphics from pwads.

netnomad312 said:

Well, the primary use of this wad isn't for ZDoom anyway. Some of the stuff that ZDoom gives you *Coughjumpingcough* would seriously affect the gameplay of it...

Then to include a deh file, I'd also have to include dehacked and a batch file. I'm already including Deusf because of new sprites. Now this is the kind of installation which would send me away a year ago. And I don't want to alienate people like I was then; people who just browse the archives in search of a decent wad... with no complex install. Only problem with including a copy of the exe is that it packs an extra 400-odd K into the zip...

So If I made an install.bat file, how would I get it to create the copy of the exe? The only way I know is to open DeHackEd, and I certainly don't want all the people who have no idea how to have to do that. There must be some command.

Basically, if I include an install.bat, which had to install the new sprites and then create the new exe, what would the .bat file say?

Excerpt from the output of 'dehacked -?':


dehacked [path] [-reload] [-load <patch1> ...] [-save <patch>]

path specify a different directory for doom(2).exe
-reload load original exe data into hacked exe
-load patch(es) load one or more patch files into the Doom exe file.
-save patch save the current Doom exe to a patch file

Hope this helps.

But don't forget to also put the deh file into the WAD as a DEHACKED lump. This will life a lot easier for all those who are using a port that supports it (which are most that support Dehacked)

Even sprites? I can't test that theory yet, because I didn't put the sprites in there yet. At this point I can use the sprites because I created a separate wad for them a while back and merged it using deusf. Every wad I play now has a green key in it...

What about those nOObs who haven't even tried source ports before? That was me. I never did because years ago I tried one which screwed up my system. But that wasn't ZDoom. I forgot what it was, actually. Point is, I find it hard to believe I was ever one of the 5%...

A bit off-topic, but... I hate the fact that in ZDoom, monsters can open turbo doors. That was crucial in my wad to prevent the monsters from exiting the rooms they were in. Now a lot of stuff is screwed up!</rant>

Graf Zahl said:

Excerpt from the output of 'dehacked -?':


dehacked [path] [-reload] [-load <patch1> ...] [-save <patch>]

path specify a different directory for doom(2).exe
-reload load original exe data into hacked exe
-load patch(es) load one or more patch files into the Doom exe file.
-save patch save the current Doom exe to a patch file

Hope this helps.

But don't forget to also put the deh file into the WAD as a DEHACKED lump. This will life a lot easier for all those who are using a port that supports it (which are most that support Dehacked)

I still don't get that line.

Oh, and my wad isn't supposed to be played in a port anyway...

Yes, I doubt only 5% use the standard EXEs. Many of the people reading these forums do use mod engines (but duh, they learn about them from the site) but that is certainly not everyone who plays WADs. A bunch play with doom95 or doom2.

It's not necessary to include DeHackEd and a batch in my opinion, if you give good instructions as to how to load the patch through a mod engine or through DeHackEd (the command line parameters Graf Zahl pointed out are useful for the latter.) And you don't need DeuSF, especially since you are already working with a DeHackEd patch. Check this out:

http://www.doomworld.com/tutorials/fx2.shtml