deh vs bex?

i'd already started off a monster mod using a deh file but now that whacked can do bex should i transfer it across? what mega advantages would i get in bex mode?

also i'm killing off the cyb and making it into something else (no... not a rocket-launcher zombie) but in bex mode the color flags dont seem to work i.e. changing the sprite's green bits to red works in my deh file but not in my bex file... what gives? (yes the flags are set, yes it's using the flag names in bex mode)

AND... if i give the cyb respawn frames will it magically be able to be resurrected by archies/nightmare mode?

Well, it's a lot easier to edit frames (so you can create new monsters) and you'll get better text string editing (no more length limits and many new strings to edit). And your existing dehacked stuff won't be affected, so there's nothing to lose, basically. (except the fact you'll be limited to Boom-compatible ports rather than vanilla and any dehacked-supporting port)

ok, any ideas about the color flags issue?

Dunno about that one - what port are you using?

ok, i figured it out and this is probably quite important info

my problem lies with the fact that prboom does not recognise the mnenomics used for the bitflags as generated by whacked2. the solution i found is to copy the bex file and change them back to bitvalues (fortunatley whacked2 tells you the value you need). then prboom (202 224 230) will recognise and impliment the bex file correctly

zdoom is perfectly happy with both mnemonics and bitvalues.


my next problem is this: i gave the (changed) spiderdemon and cyberdemon respawn frames (frames stolen from the ss nazi/commander keen) and these work fine in zdoom, but again, not in prboom. also my monster that replaces the pain elemental should NOT have respawn frames but prboom impliments them anyway! it would appear that prbomo's respawn frame "detector" (when it comes to archviles at least) is hard coded.. thoughts?

i suppose i can manage without my new monsters being respawnable, but it'd be nice


next: i think this is hardcoded too, i cant get the new monster that replaces the lost soul to "fall" when it dies. it just hangs in the air and/or dissapears (even if the last death frame is duration -1 or not). and therefore my respawn frames for that monster are also useless. bah

help?

cycloid said:

my next problem is this: i gave the (changed) spiderdemon and cyberdemon respawn frames (frames stolen from the ss nazi/commander keen) and these work fine in zdoom, but again, not in prboom. also my monster that replaces the pain elemental should NOT have respawn frames but prboom impliments them anyway! it would appear that prbomo's respawn frame "detector" (when it comes to archviles at least) is hard coded.. thoughts?

There was a bug in older PrBooms regarding the respawn frame. I don't know whether it was fixed completely. For versions 2.2.3 and lower any patch altering a respawn frame will make the WAD unplayable. It can well be that the fix wasn't done properly. (which version did you test this with?)

glboom 2.2.4 is my main test bed but other bugs that appear to be prboom related i test out in 2.0.2 and 2.3.0... i cant say specifically exactly but as far as i can tell all my prboom related bugs are the same in all versions of prboom i've tried :-|

if they are bugs tho i'll work around them as i dont want it to be zdoom only

cycloid said:

if they are bugs tho i'll work around them as i dont want it to be zdoom only

Eternity also supports BEX and shouldn't have these problems.


The one thing I don't understand with your problems is why PrBoom doesn't recocnize the flag names. They should be supported by it.

well,. they're not "my" flag names they're whacked2's :-) i've tried editing the file so that there's no spaces "Bits = FLAG+FLAG+FLAG" as suggested by the boom docs but that didnt help


next issue: prboom (2.2.4 and 2.3.0) breaks the lost soul (it ceases to float) if i change any of the flags, i.e. setting the "effects kills %" flag. i assume a way around this is to specify all the correct flags that the lost soul should start with but i havent managed it yet. i've also noticed that changing any of the cacodemon's flags has the same effect.



this is part technical question, part preferential... i'm changing the chainsaw into a new melee weapon. the idea being that, once owned, it becomes a permenant replacement for the beserk power up (which i intend not to use). looking through the source suggests that the beserk multiplies the punch strength by 10, which is a bit much for what i had in mind so my question is: how many "saw" actions should i use at once? currently i'm using 4, the default saw uses two, but it does repeat very fast and i'm also implimenting a bit of a delay (for you to swing the melee weapon about) .... i plan for it to be less mean than the ssg but probably better than the chaingun, heh. (as, technically, the beserk is better than the ssg for damage over time)

i'll be experimenting, just thought i'd ask


edit: yup it all appears to work fine with the latest beta of eternity, so all my issues are prboom related it would appear... though i havent got legacy working yet...

Prboom 2.2.4 and 2.3.0 do indeed still have some deh issues. Most STRAIN and Hacx demos quickly desync with them, so it's clear that all is not well.

cycloid said:

next issue: prboom (2.2.4 and 2.3.0) breaks the lost soul (it ceases to float) if i change any of the flags, i.e. setting the "effects kills %" flag.

No, you used it wrong. You have to specify ALL flags, even the ones an object already has. For the Lost soul it is:

FLOAT NOGRAVITY and SOLID.

yeah i thought i'd have to set them *all* ... but i'm farily certain i tried it. no worry i'll have another go tomorow. odd though, that (pr)boom's boom support isnt very good! heh

Graf Zahl said:

No, you used it wrong. You have to specify ALL flags, even the ones an object already has. For the Lost soul it is:

FLOAT NOGRAVITY and SOLID.

Really unfortunate that they didn't address that issue in BOOM. I fixed it in EDF by adding the addflags and remflags fields, but that doesn't help with BEX obviously.

(according to whacked2)

FLOAT+NOGRAVITY+SHOOTABLE+SOLID+COUNTKILL = 4211206

does not work, the lost soul uses steps etc and will not change height

FLOAT+NOGRAVITY+SOLID+COUNTKILL = 4211202

also does not work and, you guessed it, it's not shootable


prboom? whacked2? me? what?

I double checked the bitvalues in Dehacked, and yes, WhackEd2 is correct.