Jump to content
Search In
  • More options...
Find results that contain...
Find results in...
MrDoomMaster

Best Level Editor?

Recommended Posts

hey guys, I know this is something that's been asked a million times here, but I have to try my luck! lol...

I wanna know what the most widely-used level editor is. I've tried Deepsea, and it seems okay... but if there is a better one, something I don't have to pay for, then I would be grateful! Thanks for any comments.

Those who find this annoying, I'm sorry. I did actually try to search for "best editors" and stuff in the forums, didn't really see anything I liked. I hope I can get more enjoyable answers if I just post.

Thanks again everyone!

Share this post


Link to post

I use Deepsea and just love it. The paltry few dollars for the full editing version is the best money I ever spent. The full graphics editor is in the download and is free to use no time limit.

The which is the best editor question will never be truly answered because of the many people that use all the various editors.

Most of the guys around here tend to use wadauthor and Deepsea so the answer is heavily weighted towards those two.

Share this post


Link to post

yeah I downloaded Doom Builder, I think I like it better.

Deepsea is definitely awesome, but it has too many options right now for me. I don't even know how to make a fully functional map yet.

I think once I learn the basics, and maybe get into making some complex maps, I'll get into more advanced editing programs like Deepsea.

Thanks for the info guys, you all get an A+!!!

Share this post


Link to post

I know well that some people here agree with my opinion and the rest will stone me, but I don't care. :-P

MrDoomMaster: If you don't think DeePsea or Doom Builder are right, try WadAuthor. That's my solution. The first two are rather alike, although Doom Builder's a bit easier to use... at any rate, I rely on WadAuthor for my map building. This is because it builds the sectors and does some of the more complicated stuff for you. You'll find that you won't get unclosed sectors nearly as often, because you won't have to draw the lines that make up the sectors. It's "the n00bs editor," so to speak; it always seemed to me that the others expected you to either read some lengthy tutorial or figure everything out on your own. But WadAuthor can also do pretty much everything the others can do.

While there are no dumb shareware limitations (like in DeePsea), it DOES have a one-time $20 registration fee after one month. Of course in theory you could simply set your date back to continue using it... but IMO, it's well worth it. Best $20 I've spent in quite a while.

Share this post


Link to post

why is creating a door so difficult? my god... I even read the tutorials... this is crazy. Depending on what direction I have the linedefs pointing, the graphics get all screwy... it seems like I have to have the back ends pointing outwards in order for the textures to show correctly.

I have tried so much to make this work, I can't do it. Can someone tell me how to make a damn door? I need to know what I'm doing wrong. If someone could take a look at my map, that would be great.

Share this post


Link to post

Deepsea has that interactive tutorial that will help speed you on your way. Run it and draw a few simple things with it to get the feel for mapping. It will help you a lot.

It covers the basics of rooms and doors and such. Well worth the few minutes it takes to run it.

Share this post


Link to post

I just need to know how to assign certain line defs to a sector. If there is a linedef making up the sector of a door that is attached to a sector of a room, I want that one line def to be used for BOTH sectors. I don't know how to do this. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Remember, I'm using Doom Builder.

Share this post


Link to post

One linedef has 1 or 2 sides (sidedefs). One side is always related to one and only one sector. Sectors should be closed shapes, unless doing some fancy things, but you're not at that chapter yet ;)

Lines can be triggered. When they are, you can let them change one or more sectors in some way (raise their floor, turn light off, etc). To tell Doom what sectors to change with what lines, you give them a tag. This is just a number that you assign to one or more sectors and to one or more lines (it is really nothing more than that). So you give a line an effect (select from list or so) and you give it a tag number, for example, 5. Then the effect will be applied to all sectors with tag number 5 when the line is triggered.

All standard doom effects are based on that and thats how you make a door too. But for the most simple doors (effect number 1 for example), you dont need a tag, you just have to make sure the front side of the line (the side with the little indicator) is outside the door sector.

Share this post


Link to post

I was going to suggest DETH since that has been my choice of editor for about 5 years but it doesn't sound like he could handle it. I'm not sure he would know what a vertice IS.

Share this post


Link to post
Brad_tilf said:

I was going to suggest DETH since that has been my choice of editor for about 5 years but it doesn't sound like he could handle it. I'm not sure he would know what a vertice IS.


I'm sure he wouldn't. Cause I don't know what a vertice is. That's because such a word doesn't exist. The singular form is vertex and the plural can be either 'vertexes' or 'vertices'.

Share this post


Link to post
Brad_tilf said:

I was going to suggest DETH since that has been my choice of editor for about 5 years but it doesn't sound like he could handle it. I'm not sure he would know what a vertice IS.


Sure, go getting all technical and shit on me.

Doesn't matter what you call it, I know how to use it and I can design better maps with DETH than you can make with Deepsea.

Share this post


Link to post
dr_st said:

I'm sure he wouldn't. Cause I don't know what a vertice is. That's because such a word doesn't exist. The singular form is vertex and the plural can be either 'vertexes' or 'vertices'.

Heh, smartass :P

Share this post


Link to post

.
@MrDoomMaster

As you may have deduced from the preceding posts, there are many opinions about which editor is best.

The plain fact however is, if you start with one editor and get used to it, then it is a major pain to change to something else later on.

Let me state here, that I am building levels for ZDoom, just to get any misunderstandings out of the way.

I had started out with DETH and moved along with its development right up to ZETH 4.17. It is an excellent editor, which presents all facets of the building process plainly and simply on the screen.

DeepSea is another good editor. An immense wealth of features to do just about anything to a pwad you can imagine. If I hadn't gotten used to ZETH, this is the one I would be using now. However, the menus seem a bit cluttered, which irritates me more than a little bit.

WadAuthor is a good editor. I like the feature of cut and paste, where I can take one section of one pwad and transfer it into another pwad. However, the advanced features of the newer ports are missing.

DoomBuilder has a good layout and looks quite spiffy. But it is still too buggy. And Gherkin just threw in the towel. No further development, unless somebody else steps in.

I like to compare ZETH to a manual transmission. You are master of your domain. You make a right or wrong move, you did it. The other editors are more like an automatic transmission. You go along with the prescribed process.

If you have an opportunity to do so, try them all for a little while. I know, you are probably anxious to burn the midnite oil and get this super pwad build. But take your time and build a few small levels with each one of them. Then decide for yourself which one to use.
.

Share this post


Link to post
MrDoomMaster said:

I wanna know what the most widely-used level editor is. I've tried Deepsea, and it seems okay... but if there is a better one, something I don't have to pay for, then I would be grateful! Thanks for any comments.


dck

Share this post


Link to post
Kappes Buur said:

.
DoomBuilder has a good layout and looks quite spiffy. But it is still too buggy. And Gherkin just threw in the towel. No further development, unless somebody else steps in.


Not entirly true. I've used the new patched form of Doom Builder and haven't run into even one error that stopped me from mapping. If your referring to 3D mode, well that is a lot of advanced programming so don't whine and cry about it. I now can do every bit of mapping in one great editor so I love it. And if your worried about missing things and such, put them in yourself, it's not hard. Frankly Doom Builder is great and basically bug free. And another thing, Gherkin didn't throw in the towel, he just decided he's not touching that thing for a long time because he has gotten himself all pissed off at it by trying to get version 1 out. Well now we have version 1.1 and it rocks so we should all praise Gherkin for the best editor of all time and let him take his break. Even if we don't see a change made by him until 2005. One thing though, if you want to compile scripts in Zdoom and such, be sure to get ACC 1.31 Windows or else it doesn't seem to work. Unless I just used to new of a script. Heh...

Share this post


Link to post

Brad_tilf said:
Doesn't matter what you call it, I know how to use it and I can design better maps with DETH than you can make with Deepsea.


I very much doubt that ;)

Share this post


Link to post
Mordeth said:

I very much doubt that ;)

Depends on the skill of the mapper, and not the editor used :P

I generally use Doom Builder now, although sometimes ZETH is in order to use some of the ZDoom specials not yet supported by Doom Builder (yeah I know I could add them to the DB config, but I'm lazy :P)

Share this post


Link to post
SlayeR said:

(yeah I know I could add them to the DB config, but I'm lazy :P)


LMAO yeah and instead of doing that so it works forever you take like an extra 5 minutes everytime switching into a DOS editor implementing your changes, building Nodes, and such. I think your path is for people who AREN't lazy. Lazy people add it to the config and never have to bother with it again (Unless the have to add something else).

Share this post


Link to post

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×