Help adding custom sprites to the THINGS menu

Having looked for information on this, and not been able to find anything useful so far, I decided to come here and see if someone can help me with this.

Using XWE, I added some new sprites, but I'm unable to place them in Doom Builder. I read that you could add them manually to the .cfg file so they would show up in the Things selection menus, but when I did, I only got an error trying to start DB. I'm using ZDoom, also. Does anyone have a really good explanation or tutorial on how to add custom sprites to DB's "THINGS" menu? Thanks in advance.

Are the sprites located between "SS_START" and "SS_END" markers? If they're not replacing sprites in the IWAD - are they accompanied by a DECORATE script? I'm assuming they're for a ZDoom map, in which case another good place to look for answers is the ZDoom forums.

Yes, they're between the "SS_START" and "SS_END" markers, but I don't know how to do a DECORATE script...and Google has so far failed me. I'm rather new to mapping for DOOM, you see. :v None of my mapping know-how from making Wolfenstein and Duke 3D maps helps much.

Yes, they're for a ZDoom map. I've figured out how to do MAPINFO lumps and such, but not the DECORATE one. Is there a tutorial for how to make one? I heard for XWE you can just create a new entry lump named "DECORATE", yet I haven't been able to find out what info is supposed to go in there.

I remember adding things to doom builder and i forgot how,i looked in the doom builder config file for doom 2 and found this at the bottom:


Asis
{
color = 4; // Red
arrow = 0;
title = "Asis";
width = 16;
sort = 1;
height = 20;
blocking = 0;
hangs = 0;
8001
{
title = "Power Shell";
sprite = "SELLA0";
height = 25;
}
8675
{
title = "Chew";
sprite = "GUNWA0";
height = 25;
}
4445
{
title = "Sing";
sprite = "SINGA0";
height = 25;
}
8679
{
title = "Bouncy Ball Weapon";
sprite = "ABCDA0";
height = 25;
}
8005
{
title = "Bouncy Balls";
sprite = "ABCCA0";
height = 25;
}
8680
{
title = "Bouncy Ball Thrower";
sprite = "ABCDA0";
height = 25;
}
}
}
This created a new subject called "asis" at the bottom of the list.
Copy this:

Hello
{
color = 4;
arrow = 0;
title = "Cat God25 is stupid";
width = 16;
sort = 1;
height = 20;
blocking = 0;
hangs = 0;
8001
{
title = "Power Shell"; //This is what you want your object to be called
sprite = "SELLA0"; //The sprite it uses
height = 25;
}
into your doom 2 config, paste at the bottom (make sure you make a copy first, and that you paste it above the last bracket) And this should add your object into there.
Also, when adding sprites in XWE, make sure your in the sprites section, otherwise it might not work.

Alright, I'll give it a try. :D Thanks for the help.

It won't show in doom builder, only as a question mark. but will show in game.

Blindly editing the config files is a great way to get Doom Builder to crash and burn. Using a DECORATE lump is the preferred way of adding to the Thing Types list when mapping for ZDoom and it's relatives, config file changes - on the other hand - are high maintenance, unneccessary and counter-productive.

B!ohazard said:

I've figured out how to do MAPINFO lumps and such, but not the DECORATE one. Is there a tutorial for how to make one? I heard for XWE you can just create a new entry lump named "DECORATE", yet I haven't been able to find out what info is supposed to go in there.

There's a handful of tutorials here and plenty of examples scattered throughout the DECORATE reference. It'd be possible to give you more specific assistance if we had some clue as to what the sprites are for.

They were just decorations, nothing overly complicated. All the information I seem to come across is only for adding monsters or weapons, not a single deocrative object such as a lamp or a pile of skulls, something like that.

That's the simplest, so there was no real need to document them, contrarily to complex actors such as monsters and weapons. Remember that the wiki is not just a reference, it is also a wealth of examples. All the standard actors are defined in Decorate now, so if you wonder how an item such as the heart column or the tech lamp are created, just look at their code, copy it, and adapt it as appropriate to your actors.

From this page you can access all classes.

A few abstract examples:

ACTOR SomeDecoration <doomednumber>
{
   Game Doom // Optional for your mod, since it's not likely to be  run with other other games so it won't interfere
   Radius 16 // Or whatever other value is appropriate
   Height 34 // Likewise
   +SOLID
   States
   {
   Spawn:
      DECO A -1 // Replace DECO and A by the name and frame of your sprite, of course
      Stop
   }
}

ACTOR SomeAnimatedDecoration <doomednumber>
{
   Game Doom
   Radius 16
   Height 34
   +SOLID
   States
   {
   Spawn:
      DECO ABCD 5 // Cycle through four frames, adjust as appropriate
      Loop
   }
}

ACTOR SomeShinyAnimatedDecoration <doomednumber>
{
   Game Doom
   Radius 16
   Height 34
   +SOLID
   States
   {
   Spawn:
      DECO ABCD 5 Bright // With that keyword they're always fullbright
      Loop
   }
}