So I'm looking for a good engine and WAD creator...

Hello, I'm a long time DOOMer and I've visited Doomworld a decent amount in the past, and I've just now registered with the forums.

That said, I have a question.

I'm looking to create my own custom DOOM WAD.

The concept of what I want to do is really quite simple:
I just want to be able to replace the enemy/character sprites with my own sprites, and I want to replace the sound files with my own sound files.

The concept is the same as Simpson's DOOM - All of the enemies are, in essence, exactly the same, as are the levels, but their sprites have been replaced with Simpsons character sprites and their sound files with sounds extracted from the show.

What would be the best doom engine and WAD to use to create this? Keep in mind I'm very new here...

I appreciate any information. Thanks!

Slade: Modern and maintained. Few bugs, lots of features, cool interface. My preference.
SLumpEd: Good editor. But older, and not regularly updated.
Extendable Wad Etitor: very outdated but handles wad files quite niceley and slightly easier to learn to use (imo) But not as many features and possibilities as the 2 above.

Provided you stick to the Doom palette and 11k sound samples that aren't overly long - a Simpsons-style sprite & sound replacement should run in any of the current source ports.
As for wad editors, there's not a lot to choose from - Slade 3 is the only one currently in development, some people prefer the feature set of XWE though it can be a little temperamental, DeePsea is said to be a good wad editor though I found it's user interface rather daunting, then there's WinTex which might be too old for your hardware and DeuTex if you don't mind running stuff from a DOS command prompt.

If it is that you only want to replace the sprite graphics or maybe also the texture graphics
then the already suggested lump editors SLADE3 and XWE will do. Replacing the sprites for the
vanilla DOOM engine is simply replacing the graphics by retaining the sprite names. You just
have to keep in mind that the DOOM colour palette has a very limited colour selection. To
overcome this limitation, you could use png graphics, which then need a port like ZDoom or GZDoom.

To make the graphics you need to use a program like Paint.net, Gimp, Paint Shop Pro etc. and then
import them into the pwad with the lump editor. In the original DOOM engine, sprite rotations are limited
to eight angles. In ZDoom, for example, you can use up to 16 rotations for a smoother look, but it
is also a lot more work.

However, if your creativity drives you a bit further and you want to alter the behaviour of
the monsters, enemies etc., then you will have to use something like DECORATE, which is supported
by ZDoom, GZDoom, Skulltag. I'm not sure if EDGE, ETERNITY, DOOMSDAY or VAVOOM do have a similar
feature.

If, eventually, you want to take it a bit further still and want to change the behaviour of the map,
then using ACS (scripting) is the way to go. But then, before you actually realize it, you want to create
new maps from scratch and you will need a map editor like Doombuilder2 or Deepsea (which needs a bit of
getting used to).

If you decide to use ZDoom, then a vast amount of information can be gleened from the WIKI at
http://zdoom.org/wiki/Main_Page

Remind it, never use SLumpEd and XWE at the same time! After some hours of their "teamwork", you'll definitely come across some weird mess-ups.

Kappes Buur said:

However, if your creativity drives you a bit further and you want to alter the behaviour of the monsters, enemies etc., then you will have to use something like DECORATE, which is supported by ZDoom, GZDoom, Skulltag. I'm not sure if EDGE, ETERNITY, DOOMSDAY or VAVOOM do have a similar feature.

EDGE - DDF (Doom Definition Format)
Eternity Engine - EDF (Eternity Definition File)
Doomsday Engine - DED (Doomsday Engine Definition)
Vavoom - VavoomC

Kappes Buur said:

by ZDoom, GZDoom, Skulltag. I'm not sure if EDGE, ETERNITY, DOOMSDAY or VAVOOM do have a similar feature.

Yes for them all.

Thanks a lot to all of you! I appreciate the help. I'll start looking into all of the ones you've referenced here.