ReX

No arguments there at all. In fact it reminds me of when I learned to play the guitar twenty-some years ago. I learned the hard way, with no teacher, no benefit of music theory, and strictly by ear. I improved simply by being dogged and practicing for several hours a day. As time went by and I got interested in music theory I realized how I had approached the whole thing completely wrong. I guess what I'm trying to say is that a newcomer would need dedication and patience to go the extra mile that the HeXen format requires. Most newbies are typically eager to build that first map quickly, and perhaps release it. The process could take longer when there's more to learn [or when things are learned the right way ;)]. That's pretty much how I picked up ZDooM editing too, except I kept bugging people on the forums with questions too. Heh.

Sorry, dude. Still can't get in. Will try again later. (I suppose it's called GeoShitties for good reason. As Nigel said, I can't see how the number of visitors from posts in DW or ND would cause that much traffic for GeoCities to clamp down.)

Indubitably, my good man. I consider every penny I've spent on id's stuff money very well spent. On the other hand, the Wizard Works CDs, the Master Levels CD, the Lost Episodes of DooM Book & diskette, the Aliens TC and Star Wars TC that I bought on diskette at a computer show, and other sundry purchases have made me question my financial judgement ;) Actually, strangely enough, I enjoy playing other peoples' wads more than I enjoy playing my own wads. Of course I do get my rocks off by building levels.

And then there are the levels published by Wizard Works, in which they pretty much did the same thing as id did for the Master Levels CD. They trawled through cdrom.com and indiscriminately compiled any level they could download. Most of them are as shitty as the generic ones on the Master Levels CD. Again, I stand guilty as charged for buying two of their CDs. Back then I didn't have an internet connection, and this was one of the few ways to play the endless variations that DooM has to offer. (The other way was to create one's own levels. But the editing bug didn't take a chunk out of my ass until many years later.)

I frequently insert linedefs (or modify linedef attributes) so that they are not snapped to even a 2*2 grid. I find this useful in, for example, creating difficult-to-find secret areas. There are other applications as well, such as creating a painting or wall hanging (e.g., PANBLUE) above a doorway, when it's not possible to have the right-sized sector above the door. The closer the linedef is to the wall, the more believable the wall hanging will look. Having it 1 unit close to the wall achieves this effect. Another thing to point out about using a 1*1 "grid". A couple of years ago I was working on a map with triangular shaped areas, which made it impossible to keep a linedef "perfectly" straight after splitting it more than once and moving vertices around. Jack pointed out that for all practical purposes, the linedef will appear straight in-game, even if the line does not appear perfectly straight in the editor. I've found this to be true, so I no longer obsess about the alignment of oddly-angled linedefs.

Much of what you've said is absolutely true, Nigel. Still, there is an arguably bewildering array of options in a source port, especially when starting from scratch. A simple example is that of a Door_Raise action for a local door. In vanilla DooM you choose a regular or turbo speed, repeatable or not, and method of opening, all in one line. In ZDooM you first have to insert the 3 arguments -- tag number, door speed, and delay before closing. After that you must select the method of opening, and then whether or not the action is repeatable. Another simple example is for a lift in vanilla DooM -- you pretty much have to decide on fast or turbo, single use or repeatable, and walk or "switch" operated, again all in one line. In ZDooM you can have up to 5 arguments, complex lift functions, plus the repeat & method of activation selections. Now once you've learned all this, then editing for vanilla DooM becomes child's play. But a newbie would need to go through a period of trial and error before realizing the optimal operation of the various functions. Having said all this I must point out that learning how to edit with ZDooM or other source ports can be extremely rewarding. But like most other tools that are powerful and versatile, it typically takes longer to learn (and master) such tools than those that aren't as powerful.

Too bad about Ragnarok. Back then, that was TeamTNT's project that I was most looking forward to. Dale, you indicated that the resources have not been released because the team still has plans for them. Any updates?

Yes, I was one of the feeble-minded masses that lined up to hand over my hard-earned bucks so that I could own a piece of id Software (so to speak). The Master levels themselves are reasonably good, and yes, the rest of the levels were shit. But by today's standards even the Master levels seem to pale in comparison. My Master Levels CD is in a dark corner somewhere, but this thread may just have prompted me to dust it off and try them out again.

I'll be the first one to recommend ZDooM as the .exe of choice for building levels. However, if Deadsmple is new to editing then perhaps it would be better to learn the ropes of editing with DooM.exe or DooM2.exe, then graduate to ZDooM or some other source port. You have to admit that the specials and features available in ZDooM and other source ports can be quite intimidating to the newcomer. Still, more power to the newbie that decides to tackle a source port first. More immersive, and hopefully enjoyable, levels for us to play!

I created a map just this morning to test it out, and sure enough the sector only rose by 64. I tested it with MARBFAC2, GRAY4, DBRAIN, DOOR1, and SHAWN3. I was using DooM2.exe too. I tried it with an all-indoor set of sectors with ceiling height of 128, then again with an all-outdoor set of sectors (i.e., sky ceiling) with ceiling height of 256. The sector only rose by a maximum of 64. On the other hand, I remember discussions from way back, when people pointed out that the sector would rise by the height of the texture. I don't know how to reconcile these two things. Btw, on the ZDooM editing forum I asked a question about Thing_TeleportNoFog. If you have a moment would you pop in there and see if you have a solution? Thanks.

Actually what it does is raise the sector up by the height of the texture on the sector's front lower sidedef, to a maximum of 64. In the case of the original Map07, the relevant front sidedef texture is STEP1, which has a height of 16. Therefore, killing the arachnotrons raises the sector by 16. If you were to replace the STEP1 by, say, MARBFAC1 (which is 128 tall) the sector would only rise up halfway. Likewise, if you replaced the texture with DOOR1 (which has a height of 72) the sector would rise up almost all the way -- just 8 units short.

Is the ceiling that won't scroll a sky flat? The scroll special will work on regular flats, but not on the sky flat. You mentioned an inside ceiling. Is that also a sky flat? If so, you run into the same problem.

Of course a message could pop up when the switch is used, and the player will (hopefully) be able to tell what's happened and where. (Unlike in Hexen, where the player sometimes did need to guess about what event had occurred. But then, Hexen was a lot about puzzles, wasn't it?)

To expand on what Mordeth said, you need 2 different graphic patches for a switch if it is to change appearance. One is for the "off" position, which you will insert into your SW1 texture, the other is for the "on" position which you will insert into your SW2 texture. (Or, if you prefer you can insert the "on" graphic patch into the SW1 texture, and the "off" patch into the SW2 texture.) For the typical kind of switch, make sure the x- and y-offsets for the two patches are identical in their respective textures.

Target acquired. Calibrating dynamics for deployment. (Oops! Gonna have to wait until I get off work to give this bird a whirl.)

I think it might be a bit too early to find DooM 3 based sprites.

Actually I was thinking of making a medieval-type level in keeping with the original Map18. However, if there's a shortage of tech-base levels in the CC I'll be happy to make mine tech-base.

You don't need to use it as your map editor, as that's the only area with the shareware limitations. As a lump management tool it is quite versatile. I assume you want to use a 128*128 (or 256*256) flat that is not simply made up of 4 (or 16) 64*64 flats. In other words, the larger format flat is not simply a tiling of smaller format flats, but is a larger image (e.g. the kind you'd get if you tiled DEM1_1 through DEM1_4). Large format flats don't have to be hi-res for you to be able to insert them into your wad.

That was hilarious. As a matter of fact, in the carnival level in Episode 1 you had to kick a zombie-head through the mouth of this grotesque clown face to open a secret area. Funny and grim at the same time. IMO Blood was in many ways better than Duke3D, which I thought was a very good game.

Yes. In the past I have emailed Randy about some ZDooM-related questions and he's replied. In any case, you have nothing to lose.

Computer shows are great places to get old and out-of-date software. Back before I had internet access I had heard about a Star Wars TC for DooM I and of course the Aliens TC. I found both of these at a computer show. (But the 10 bucks I paid for each was a rip-off, as those guys simply downloaded it for free and put it on diskettes!) I recently bought a Redneck Rampage & Redneck Rampage Rides Again pack for $10 from the bargain bin at Best Buy. Also Star Trek Voyager: Elite Force for $10. Haven't seen Blood, though.

Don't forget about the beating hearts they dropped, which gave the player 25 health points. Blood! An excellent game, creepy and atmospheric.

Heh! Myk and I posted at the same time.

Here. And yes, XWE has had the ability to view .art files from games using the Build engine for quite a while. Wally is another program with that feature, but XWE is also an excellent DooM editor.

It's official. I got an email yesterday from CadMan informing me that I have been assigned Alex's slot for Map18. At this point the name Alex gave for the map (Legion) sounds like a good working title. An alternative that I had thought of was Reckless Endangerment, but we'll see. It's good to be part of the team, and I look forward to a terrific final product.