DeHackEd can't find DeHackEd.ini file

Hello, I'm having a problem with running DeHackEd and I'm not sure what to do to fix it. I have all the DeHackEd files in the same folder as I have Doom2. When I try to run DEHACKED.exe I get a message on the command prompt that says "DeHackEd.ini not found." which then proceeds to say "Checking for doom.exe... not found!" and "Checking for doom2.exe... not found!". I have specified all the correct path names and directory names and what-not inside the .ini file, but it's telling me that it flat out can't even find the .ini file, which just doesn't make sense to me.

What OS are you running it under, first off?

Windows XP

How are you trying to run dehacked? It sounds like, for what ever reason, it is using a different "working directory" to where the files are actually located.

Oh, and if you get past that hurdle, you may find something useful here if you are unsure about any other aspects of dehacked.

http://www.zen64060.zen.co.uk/dehacked/index.html

I had the same problem (v3.1). I tried editing DeHackEd.ini but nothing worked. Deleting the INI file fixed it for me.

Well it seems that deleting the .ini file and making a new one pretty much fixed it. However now I'm running into another problem. In the thing editor all of the sounds and sprites have "ERROR" next to them and when I click on them they'll say "Not a valid sound number" or "Not a valid frame number". Am I missing something?

I'm guessing the version of your DOS executable and the version option in the INI don't match. You can get Doom v1.9 from the shareware package. That's the executable used for DOOM II and DOOM (the three episode version.)

If you are using doom2.exe, remove the pound sign from the For Ultimate DOOM line in the INI.

^ ?

The pound marks that have to be removed are the ones preceding editname and normalname under whatever game one wants to edit, while leaving the marks on the lines for the other games. Not that DHE really cares what game the executable is for, as long as the version is marked correctly.

The version is near the bottom, and should be 3 for the executable from the shareware, DOOM II or DOOM, and 4 for the one from The Ultimate DOOM.

I have the DOOM Collector's Edition, not sure if that matters or not. Also I checked the version and it said mine is 3. Would I have to downgrade to 1.9 in order to use DeHackEd?

[EDIT] To be more specific, I mean the version of my Doom 2 is 3.0

The DOOM collectors edition usually includes only Doom95, which can't be hacked with DeHackEd. Get the DOS executable (DOOM.EXE) from this file.

Yoshinat0r said:

However now I'm running into another problem. In the thing editor all of the sounds and sprites have "ERROR" next to them and when I click on them they'll say "Not a valid sound number" or "Not a valid frame number". Am I missing something?

Enjay said:

Oh, and if you get past that hurdle, you may find something useful here if you are unsure about any other aspects of dehacked.

http://www.zen64060.zen.co.uk/dehacked/index.html

From that site:

Doom has been updated a number of times. The newest version is 1.9 and you should have that by now as that is the version most ports require, but dehacked supports other versions. There is a list in dehacked.ini of which number corresponds to which version. For anyone nowadays the only decision should be do I have the normal version 1.9 or the ultimate doom version 1.9. If you get it wrong you will soon know when you start dehacked and see error messages in many of the data entry fields.

:(

Thanks for your help guys. I replaced my Doom95.exe with the DOOM.exe I got from the download and everything seems to be working fine now. :)

I have added a little bit to the web page to explicitly tell people that doom95.exe will not work with dehacked.

http://www.zen64060.zen.co.uk/dehacked/deh03.html

I do have a few slight problems with this executable. The resolution in-game looks horrible, there is no sound, even though the music and sound effect volumes are turned up, and the controls are not at all how I like them. In the Doom95 executable you are first taken to a launcher screen where you can configure all of this stuff, but I can't seem to find a way to change any of this in this executable.

Why not simply ignore the executable as far as playing is concerned? Of course it has a low resolution and odd key configuration. You're using a program (effectively) from 1993. The reason that sound doesn't work is because the DOS exe doesn't run well under Windows XP and beyond.

You'll either need to use DOSBox or try a source port that supports dehacked patches (pretty much any of them). You only really need to use the DOS doom.exe to get dehacked working. Other than that, saving your deh patches and loading them into a source port would be the best option. A modern source port will give you all the key configuration and resolution options that you are looking for.

Here's a suggestion: why don't you grab a copy of Chocolate Doom, and a copy of WhackEd2/3, make a DeHackEd patch that works to your liking (no patching executables because Chocolate Doom will read patches directly), and distribute the patch with your wad and let others worry about how they'd like to load the patch. These days, there is no need to even mess with DeHackEd (the program) unless you're specifically trying to patch a Doom executable. WhackEd2/3 will create identical DHE 3.0 patches, and Chocolate Doom is a great alternative to doom(2).exe because it's meant to mimic vanilla Doom as closely as possible, and runs without the aid of an emulator on newer operating systems.