Getting back into WAD making. Need help to find the right materials.

[Interior]

I haven't played doom or made any WADs for about 7 years. The last time I went into doom to make a WAD was around late 2015 to early 2016. After that I had went to college, recently finished college and I've been thinking of getting back into doom. However i don't know what's changed and what hasn't. I used Doombuilder and another program to insert custom textures into my maps. The issue is, I don't remember the name of that texture import program nor do I remember how to correctly import textures. If someone knows the name of it or has a download link I'd much appreciate it if you could link it in a reply. If anyone also has a tutorial on how to add custom textures that be much appreciated too. If someone could link a tutorial on 3D platforms as well I'd appreciate that. It's been ages since I last played. Even now I'm skeptical of trying to get back into doom because of how long I've been away.

 

On a side note, I never released my WADs as they're sort of a artform to me. Even if I wanted to they've been lost to time. I uploaded most of my WADs to a private archive site at some point, something similiar to google drive. The website has since been shutdown or has changed its name

[RonnieJamesDiner]

More than likely you were using Slade to insert custom textures into your WADs, it's still the one-stop-shop for adding anything to your projects (textures, music, sprites, etc.). Though, in case you've forgotten, in order to use custom textures in the editor while building your map you'll also need to load them as a resource. Say for instance you download OTEX, you can simply load otex.wad in your map resources through the editor (File > New Map > and in the Map Options window that pops up, go down to "Add resource..." and find the texture wad you've downloaded).

 

If you were using Doombuilder, you'll want Ultimate Doom Builder (UDB). It's the most advanced and up-to-date version of DB, still (very) actively maintained and updated. Another popular fork(?) (or continuation) of DB is an editor called Doom Builder X (DBX), I'm not very educated on the differences between the two but I know the latter has a strong fanbase, as well. Personally, I stick to UDB and it's been fantastic, but someone else can probably explain the pros and cons of each. For all intents and purposes, UDB will probably serve you well.

 

I'm sure there's been plenty of activity in the world of source ports over the past 7 years, but one of the more recent ports I'm aware of is DSDA (a fork of PrBoom+um). A very lovely port if you want to stick closer to the "traditional" game feel. GZDoom is still actively maintained and updated, and probably the most popular (easy to use, runs just about anything, and has a truck load of "modern" features). For a fuller list of source ports you can visit the page on the Doomwiki here. Zandronum and Odamex are popular options for multiplayer that I'm aware of, Eternity is an equally brilliant engine / source port, and I hear good things about Crispy Doom and Woof! as well. Someone more knowledgeable could probably help, in this regard.

 

As far as finding specific tutorials, there's more resources today than ever and a simple Google / Youtube search will yield results. I strongly encourage you to get comfortable searching for things on your own, not necessarily because people don't want to be bothered or that you shouldn't ask questions, but in my experience it's 10x faster (most of the time, anyways). And you'll probably discover a dozen other useful things that you otherwise wouldn't have.

 

Hope this helps!