Tags\flags

[Guest SoulMuncha]

(In case it helps, I use WadAuthor and bsp)

I'm realatively new to Doom editing, and I've been reading through the special effects tutorials. With the boom bit, it referrs to sector flags and sector tags, seemingly interchangeably.

What exactly is it referring to? I mean, say you want to make a remote door, you tag the door sector and the switch linedef with the same number, and set the linedef property to remote door. So when it's talking about giving sectors tag numbers to control things like sector properties (light fx, poison etc.) is it talking about the same thing? It sounds a bit strange.

If not (and I'm pretty sure not) how do I edit this? I'm guessing I need to use the "edit raw data" function, but what exactly do I do there?

Hope someone can help :)

SoulMuncha

[ReX]

A tag is simply a unique identifier, generally assigned to a sector in DooM. (In ZdooM and in other ports, however, you can also assign a tag to a thing.) To trigger an action in the sector (raising door, crushing ceiling, raising light level, etc.) you assign the action property with the associated tag to a linedef. It works the same way, whether you're opening a remote door or turning the lights on.

You do not need to use the "Edit Raw Data" function, although you may choose to do so. Simply double-click on the trigger linedef to pull up the Map Object Properties. From the "Class" menu, select your action (e.g., Remote Door). Decide how you want the action to work (e.g., door opens when player walks over the line once, W1: Open; door may be opened repeatedly when switch is pressed SR: Open/Close, etc.) Put in the proper tag number in the Sector Tag field in the bottom right corner of the Map Object Properties window. Put in line attributes as appropriate (e.g., block enemies, etc.), make sure you've assigned a texture as needed, and you're all set.

[Guest SoulMuncha]

Whoops. I wasn't being very specific. I meant the details in the flags section of the boom stuff section of the editing tutorials, like "sector friction" which you don't get in Doom (or if you do, you don't get to select it with WadAuthor)

SoulMuncha

[Mordeth]

SoulMuncha said:

I'm realatively new to Doom editing, and I've been reading through the special effects tutorials. With the boom bit, it referrs to sector flags and sector tags, seemingly interchangeably.

A door in Doom is TAGGED by a trigger that controls it. A poison floor is FLAGGED to do damage to the player. You could say that flags are a sector's intrinsic property, not controlled by any trigger. Counting as a secret, damaging floors, flickering lights... these are all flags. Boom has additional flags to make sectors have eg. alternate friction properties. It is possible to add up different flags into one combined flag, such as 'secret' + 'alternate friction'. If your level editor doesn't support these flags, you can add them to your level using CLED.EXE, to be found in the Boom Utilities package.

More info at the Doomworld Boom tutorials section. Hope this helps,

[DeePsea]

SoulMuncha said:

Whoops. I wasn't being very specific. I meant the details in the flags section of the boom stuff section of the editing tutorials, like "sector friction" which you don't get in Doom (or if you do, you don't get to select it with WadAuthor)

SoulMuncha

You are correct - there are only 2 editors that can edit BOOM and ZDOOM with the new flags directly - DeePsea and ZETH (ZDOOM)/DETH(BOOM). There are new flags in Things, Linedefs and Sectors that only DeePsea and ZETH/DETH can directly show and edit.

Raw hex editing has to be used for those editors that are not aware of the new flags and also are not aware of the ALL the specials that are available. The "added" configuration files supplied represent only a portion of the specials available.

The raw hex editing thing is something that has always had me curious, since hex editing "fulltime" is not exactly fun (IMO).

I suspect a lot of designers (especially beginners) don't realize there are a lot more options available, so they don't miss what they don't know about?:))

[Wildman]

SoulMuncha said:

Whoops. I wasn't being very specific. I meant the details in the flags section of the boom stuff section of the editing tutorials, like "sector friction" which you don't get in Doom (or if you do, you don't get to select it with WadAuthor)

SoulMuncha

For WadAuthor you will need to add any flags you want to the appropriate wcf file. Open the wcf file in notepad and look for the section [Sectors.Types]. Under that heading add the needed sector type. Here is an example (ZDoom):

Flags Description
0x0b51 Light flickrs, -10/20% health & frict enab

Here we have flickering light, -10/20 health and friction has been enabled for this sector. The number 0x0b51 is a hex number and is 2897 decimal. You can use a decimal number in the wcf if you like.

Just add up the flags like Mordeth mentioned and add it to the wcf file. You're good to go.

[DeePsea]

That's a partial answer to the original question. The example given just solves ONE combination - not the universe of combinations possible.

The total number of "additions" to take care of just the sector flags is pretty large. There are 3 exclusive damage settings and 3 any combo flags that any sector can special have. That's just for sectors. The same applies to the 2 extra linedef flags. The permutations possible generate a pretty large list.

And that's just for ZDOOM (in Hexen mode). He was asking about BOOM and there we have even more. (What was the number of combos given by the BOOM docs anyway?)

From a practical POV, there is no solution to cover all the flag variations with "adding" them individually. In the end, one has to rely on memory and add the hex hack manually. I suppose one could make a huge superset but that would be extremely awkward to navigate.

User friendly solutions work with full native flag support.