Editing tips and tricks

[elend]

While modern Doom editing tools are quite well documented, I have the feeling that some of the more subtle functions are stuck hidden somewhere in the programs. While some things may seem obvious to the veterans, bear in mind that there is a constant influx of new people starting to Doom map and they may have not yet discovered certain functions. I do encourage RTFM, though.

 

Aligning Flats (UDMF, GzDoomBuilder)

With pressing "A" flats can be aligned. And just recently I found out, that the direction of the texture depends on the linedef you pointed at with your crosshair.

 

 

Select linedefs / sectors / vertices paint style (GzDoomBuilder)

Thanks to Bridgeburner I now know, that you can paint-select by holding "shift + the middle mouse button" and moving the crosshair over the sectors you want to select.

Hold "ctrl" to deselect.

 

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[Bridgeburner56]

glad i could help :P

 

Tbh, watching mapping streams is a good way to learn all these subtle things.  It can take years to pick it up by yourself and you can accelerate both your technical skills and the quality of your maps learning off people who have been doing this for a while. Keep it up! Your maps are fucking sexy

[Aquila Chrysaetos]

I don't use the paint selection. I can go into visual mode, mass select what I want, and come back out into classical view mode and edit what I just selected and vice-versa.

To make GZDoom Builder remember what you selected, you need to enable the "Synchronize selection between Visual and Classic modes" option in Preferences under the Editing tab.

 

Also, learning the hotkeys is the best way to make your work so much faster, without fumbling with the mouse to use stair builder, you can just do shift+s and tell it what you need to do, or use shift+c to curve lines, etc.

 

Gradients are also your friends to make lighting gradients or steps quickly.

 

I also find that textures that have some sort of naming scheme behind them are the best to work with, because when I want a texture, I can type whatever I need and filter out a thousand textures I don't want, rather than having to scroll through the texture menu to find which one I want. The same thing goes for Things, remembering DoomEdNums and names makes selecting them easier and faster.

[elend]

Two more things I recently found out:

 

Incrementally increase brightness (thanks, @Bridgeburner56 ) (GzDoom Builder Bugfix)

 

When in the "Edit Sectors" requester, put in +++8 in the "Brightness" field, to incrementally increase all the selected sectors' brightness by 8. If you hover long enough around that brightness field, a popup will show you more options. Now that I've read them, they sound very understandable, yet it was only until Bridgeburner told me, that I truely understood, what this does. Thanks!

 

Spoiler

 

Adjust Flat Rotation (GzDoom Builder Bugfix Visual mode - UDMF)

While I knew already, that you can lower and raise sectors via the mouse's scrollwheel, or lower and raise its brightness while additionally holding ctrl, it was new to me, that you can adjust Flat rotation (in 5° steps) while holding ctrl+shift and using the scrollwheel. Neat little trick, which might come in handy in techbase maps, which are rigidly aligned to the grid.

[Empyre]

I am confused.  With ++8, you are adding 8, but with +++8, you are incrementing by 8.  What is the difference?  Either way, it becomes 8 more than it was.

[Bridgeburner56]

@Empyre if you select multiple sectors and enter +++8 then the first will go up by 8, the next 16, the next 24 ad infinitum. This can be done for heights as well

[elend]

Changing the GzDoom Builder crosshair

 

Recently Bauul (?) was wondering, if he can decrease the Crosshair size in GzDB. While you can't do this via the options, you are free to change the Crosshair.png in /GzDB/textures. And while you're at it, why not change it completely to your liking?

 

Example:

 

 

Alpha transparency is supported and it is very easy to make your own or, alternatively, browse the internet for ready made crosshairs in PNG format. This is one of the first links for example: http://clipart-library.com/crosshair-png-cliparts.html (I love the one with the deer xD)

[PeterMoro]

Hey guys, I've been trying to figure out how to paint-select in visual mode. I've seen it done before but I can't figure it out. I'm using UDB. My paint select key is configured to the mouse button, which is default. Any idea what I'm doing wrong?