Which editor to use?

[AtmaWeapon]

I'm kind of new to Doom, but I've already got some good ideas for maps from playing for a while. The trouble is, there's a lot of links to editors and no real ratings or indications of which ones are better than the others. Can someone point me to the editor that is generally accepted as the best, or at least point out which ones I should try and decide which one I like the best?

[SyntherAugustus]

Here lemme point you to a quick one.

http://www.codeimp.com and click doombuilder.

[Psyrus]

Whichever you feel comfortable using. All I can say is experiment with a couple of popular ones like WadAuthor and Doombuilder.

However, expect a vast majority of people telling you to use Doombuilder.

[Darkhaven]

AtmaWeapon said:

I'm kind of new to Doom, but I've already got some good ideas for maps from playing for a while. The trouble is, there's a lot of links to editors and no real ratings or indications of which ones are better than the others. Can someone point me to the editor that is generally accepted as the best, or at least point out which ones I should try and decide which one I like the best?

Doom Builder - Really good & easy
DETH/ZETH - Steep learning curve, but very powerful
DEU/WinDEU - The editor DETH and ZETH are based off of
WadED - Powerful but easy to screw up a wad
IDE* - Odd, but good
ADE 1 or 2* - Same as IDE
WadAuthor - Great for beginners but it's shareware
DeepSEA - Pretty dumb, linedef-based, but has alot of neat tools for importing lumps
DoomCAD - Powerful but unreliable under WinXP
WHY* - Wierd but great
XWE - Pretty dumb
EdMap Very solid sector-based editor
DMapEdit Very good, but unreliable under WinXP
DCK Great, but also unreliable under WinXP

I'm going to add the links in a few minutes.

* = Sorry, ya gotta find these yourself.

[The Ultimate DooMer]

There are quite a lot out there (as you've seen) all doing different stuff, but these are the main three for making maps:

WadAuthor - Probably the easiest to learn, can run on even the slowest machines and it's especially good for ZDoom/Hexen scripting, but has many annoying bugs and is not updated (meaning some workarounds for source port mapping).

DeePsea - Has all the features you could wish for, including the definitive off-map editing suite (graphics/sounds/music editing etc.) but ZDoom/Hexen scripting is iffy and mapping itself has restrictions unless you buy the editor.

Doom Builder - A bit slower and more fiddly than WadAuthor, but it is the most up-to-date and has a cool Duke-style 3D editing mode to boot. This is probably your best bet, as it's always being updated and is becoming more popular as time goes by.

Personally, I'd recommend WadAuthor if you have a slow machine and you only plan on vanilla mapping (where there are fewer problems with this editor), DeePsea is worth having for it's off-map editing stuff (which is unrestricted) and Doom Builder is best if you have a quicker machine and/or you're planning to map for source ports (either now or in the future).


[offtopic]Perhaps a more detailed guide of editors in the FAQ might work.[/offtopic]

[nightice]

I would go for DCK, it's quite newbie friendly. JUst switch to the rectangle or polygon tool, drag stuff out, move the vertexes/linedefs around, and you've got a map realy quick. Unforunately, I never got it running any version of windows, so you're going to have to be able to reboot into DOS.

(IIRC, the same guy made WorldCraft for Quake, which is quite possibly the worst shit I have ever used.)

[leileilol]

Worldcraft is awesome, I love it. Quark and Radiant I can't stand.

DCK unfortunately does random freezing after a while, even when in pure DOS. And it's only most functional in pure DOS too :(

I use Doom Builder.

[deep]

Interesting points, but not always correct:

DB draws basically the same as DeePsea. I'm pleased that everyone now accepts "line drawing" as a better way to go - after literally 8 years of debate :)

DCK is of course exactly the same and that would probably still be -very- popular if it worked in Windows. IOW, DCK can't be unreliable in windows, since it can't run in Windows :) And the same for some of the other editors (DOOMCAD for example) - they won't run in XP, but some do in Win9x or if the resolution is 640 x480 depending on your vid card. It's hard to generalize without trying on one's own machine.

However, DS can also do stuff exactly like WA+ using the sector drawing prefab tools or the infinite prefab imports from any WAD.

The only 2 editors that are up-to-date (only matters if some of the newer port features are desired) are DS and DB. Most users don't get that much into that and some editors can be updated anyway via external files to take care of most (but not all) of the new specials.

ATM new stuff is being added to DS - most for 3D mode editing, but some of the PWAD tools. For example, a very cool & simple automatic 3D positioning command. Plus I'd like to add code to also move sprites around in the level. Of course all this means more "user learning", but that's true for any new stuff.

ALl this takes time since I'm working indirectly with another coder giving him ideas and code. Plus RISEN3D is a real GL PORT which is very cool in that you see the level as it actually looks (sky, sprites, doors, underwater, etc). This also presents a problem for correcting for initial editing mistakes in making the port more forgiving when editing.

Scripting is not syntax highlighted, but you can do that with many freely available editors. I couldn't see reinventing the wheel when stuff out there is so good. One great one is EdPad Pro. Need to post the config file for that someday.

Compiling is the same and very flexible since scripts are always external files anything can edit them and compile them. That's why any editor with syntax highlighting can work. It's true I need to update my own ACC compiler for ZDOOM since that puts out better error messages, but you can substitute any compiler, so for now ACC will have to do. Similarly, WA can also can the latest compiler.

Speed for most (a few are real slow) of the editors is only noticeable if you have a PIII450 or less or for some texture browsing or when sprites are shown on the map when a lot are present and you have an old machine. But you can toggle all that stuff in most that have that option.

The choice is always up to an individual and it varies depending on background, learning skill and of course convenience and cost.

[Torn]

it took me a hard learning to get used to line building (I was using wad author), but it was worth it.

[Darkhaven]

Hey, deep, here's an idea: MAKE DEEPSEA FREEWARE. Heh.

I never really could get the hang of DeepSEA for some reason, though.

[Jayextee]

Darkhaven said:

Hey, deep, here's an idea: MAKE DEEPSEA FREEWARE. Heh.

Future reference on this topic, Darkie; SHUT UP.
deep charges to make a living. People pay for a product that they consider is worth the money (Else they wouldn't pay). It's a system, it works. Leave it out.

[CapNapalm]

Doombuilder.
It's the bee's knees.

[Darkhaven]

Jayextee said:

Future reference on this topic, Darkie; SHUT UP.
deep charges to make a living. People pay for a product that they consider is worth the money (Else they wouldn't pay). It's a system, it works. Leave it out.

Future reference on my own stupidity, Jayextee: IT WAS A JOKE.

[MasterOFDeath]

If its a joke then shouldn't you say something that kind of hints the fact that is a joke, maybe with an emoticon or something? :P

[Darkhaven]

MasterOFDeath said:

If its a joke then shouldn't you say something that kind of hints the fact that is a joke, maybe with an emoticon or something? :P

Doomworld forums don't allow smilies/emoticons.

[Ichor]

You just quoted one.

[MasterOFDeath]

Darkhaven said:

Doomworld forums don't allow smilies/emoticons.

An emoticon is a set of symbols that represent some kind of expression. :) is a smiley face, for example. The now common pictures you see are just little additions added by forums and messengers. Just because the pictures are disabled does not mean that emoticons are disabled.

[Darkhaven]

MasterOFDeath said:

An emoticon is a set of symbols that represent some kind of expression. :) is a smiley face, for example. The now common pictures you see are just little additions added by forums and messengers. Just because the pictures are disabled does not mean that emoticons are disabled.

The little pictures thing was what I was talking about. Not to sound like a troll, although I probably do sound like one by now, but I know what an emoticon is. And I figured that some would've figured it out if I added the "Heh." at the end... Guess I was wrong.

[Ichor]

They're disabled for Great Justice™.