| 4.1 | Getting Started | |
| 4.2 | What other changes can I make to Doom? | |
| 4.3 | Dehacked patches | |
| 4.4 | How do I put more than one level into a PWAD? | |
| 4.5 | Common Problems | |
| 4.6 | Where do I upload my files? |
If your level editor doesn't have one built in (DCK does), you will also need a BSP builder. I recommend the unimaginatively titled BSP...
Doom is very versatile - you can change practically everything about it. Here are a few of the things you can do, and how to do them... For all of the below I recommend you use either WinTex or NWTPro. WinTex is a Windows util, NWTPro is a DOS one. Take your pick. Making dehacked patches is different, and is covered in section 4.3.
| Change wanted | How to do it... |
|---|---|
| Textures | Simply design the texture you want to appear on your wall using a paint program. Make sure it is the right size -
check through the original Doom/Doom2 WAD to see what sizes are OK to use... Generally 64 wide by 128 high is
a safe bet. Remember what the name of the texture you're going to replace is.
Once you've designed your texture save it as a 256 colour BMP file (if you're using WinTex or DeuTex) or as a 256 colour GIF or PCX file if you're using NWTPro.
Next load up your utility...
|
| Ceiling/Floor textures | All ceiling/floor textures (hereafter referred to as 'flats') are 64x64. They cannot be transparent. Replacing flats is
similar to replacing wall textures. Just follow the instructions above, except this time you will need to find a valid
flat name to call your new texture... And if you're using WinTex select 'flats' instead of 'patches' from the bar at the
bottom of the window...
NOTE that to use the WAD you will need to install ALL the Doom flats into your WAD, even if you replace just one. To avoid having to distribute a WAD containing all the Doom flats, just include a copy of DeuSF in the ZIP file with your WAD... They can then use the command DEUSF -af YOURWAD.WAD (where YOURWAD.WAD is the name of your WAD file) to add all the flats to your WAD. If you're really nice you can include a batch file that will do this automatically in your ZIP file. |
| Monster/weapon/item graphics | This is called adding 'sprites'. Sprites are pictures of monsters/weapons/items. Find out what frames the thing
you want to replace uses - what they are called, and what they do. For example, monsters usually have movement,
pain, death and attack frames, often from several different angles. You will need to replace ALL of these unless you
want to get your hands REALLY dirty with a dehacked patch...
Once you've made replacement sprites (they don't have to be the same size as the original ones), just load them all into your WAD, selecting 'sprites' if you're using WinTex... Once again, for your WAD to work properly it will need to include ALL the Doom sprites as well as your own modified sprites. You can put a batch file and a copy of DeuSF into your ZIP file, like with 'flats'. This time you will need to use the command line DEUSF -as YOURWAD.WAD, or DEUSF -append YOURWAD.WAD if you are replacing both flats and sprites... |
| Sounds | You can use either NWTPro or WinTex to find out what all the sounds are called. WinTex will also tell you what the
sound actually is (ie, Imp attack, Player in pain...) You can replace any sound with one of your own. Just record your
sound as a WAV file and use your chosen utility to load it in... Really long samples may cause problems, and you need
to make sure the sample is 8 bit mono.
Note that new sounds can take up a LOT of room in a WAD. It's usually best to make an entirely seperate WAD for your sounds, and distribute it in a seperate ZIP file to the rest of your add-on so that people don't have to download it if they don't want to... |
| Music | Just write your music as a standard midi file. Once you've finished, you will need another utility called MIDI2MUS. Simply use the command line MIDI2MUS YOURFILE (where YOURFILE is the name of your midi file). You will now have a file YOURFILE.MUS. You can load this file into your WAD using NWTPro or WinTex... |
| Demos | You can record your own demos using the command line DOOM -RECORD FILENAME (where FILENAME.LMP is the name you want the demo file to have). You can then load this file into your WAD using either NWTPro or WinTex. For WinTex, select the entry type 'lumps'. |
| End titles | Just download a little program called ENDOOMER which allows you to make your own end screen. You can load the result into your WAD using NWTPro or WinTex. The entry type is lumps and you should call the entry ENDOOM... |
| Other graphics | You can also make your own title screens (HELP, TITLEPIC, CREDIT), level titles (anything starting with CWILV), letters, numbers, and other text... Just use NWTPro or WinTex to browse through the Doom WAD to see what's there. If it's there, you can change it. Your replacement must be the same size as the original graphic, though, or it may cause the game to crash. In WinTex, select the green 'gfx' button in the bar at the bottom of the window to select this kind of entry... |
Dehacked patches are used to change the way that players, monsters, items and other objects behave. It can also change the text you see displayed during the game, and allow you to animate monsters and other things in interesting new ways. There's few limits to what you can do with dehacked patches, but it takes a lot of practice. If you want a good example of what CAN be done, look around ftp.cdrom.com for 'The Wheel of Time Total Conversion'. This features all kinds of crazy effects, including health potions that chase you round!!!
To edit or use dehacked patches, you will need a copy of Dehacked (funnily enough!).
Many level editors won't correctly save more than one level to a single file. To get around this, you can use WinTex's merge facility. In the top directory listing select the single level WAD, in the bottom directory listing select the WAD you want to add it into. Then select 'Join PWADs'. It's that easy...
There are all kinds of problems you might have with your level. Here are a few common ones. More will be added later, and if you have a problem not covered here, just drop me a line at JohnBye@tripod.net and let me know and I'll try and help...
| Problem | Cause/Solution |
|---|---|
| Sparkly bits on my walls
"The Tutti Frutti Effect" |
Tutti frutti (named after the ice cream flavour) looks like a load of sparkly, brightly coloured bits that appear all in a texture. The "TFE" occurs for a number of reasons. The most common is that you've tried to give a one-sided line (ie, a solid wall, or a lower or upper texture of a two-sided one) a transparent texture. The other is that the texture you've selected is shorter than the wall. This often happens with doors. To correct it, simply make sure that the sectors on either side of the door have heights less than or equal to the height of the door texture you're using. Put a frame around the door if necessary. It's good practice anyway... |
| The walls leave trails
"The Hall Of Mirrors Effect" |
HOMs look like a section of wall that flickers and swims around as you look at it. If you're not sure if you've got a HOM or not, there's one easy way to check - walk up to the offending area, face the suspected HOM, and fire your pistol at it. If you leave a visible ghost image in the effect, then it is a HOM... The "HOM" effect usually occurs because you've forgotten to assign a texture to an upper or lower part of a wall that needs one. Otherwise, you may have a sector that isn't closed properly (ie not all the lines surrounding it meet up properly, or one of the lines references the wrong sector). If you've got a very detailed, or very large room, it could be that Doom is running out of "visplanes". See visplane overflows, below... |
| The floor texture seems to follow me
"Sector Leak |
Sector leaks occur because you haven't closed a sector. The floor, ceiling and light info from one sector will leak into another, and will appear as a triangle with you at the apex and the leaky sector at the base. To fix this, just work out which sector is leaking and then check that all the lines surrounding that sector join, and that they all reference the right sector... |
| The game crashes with a "Visplane Overflow" error | Visplane overflows occur when you are in a very large and/or very detailed area... The only way to solve this problem is to make your area less detailed, or else to put in walls to cut up the area so you can't see it all from any one place... |
Once you've completed your WAD, you can upload it to a number of places. By far the best is ftp.cdrom.com. First make a text file to go with your WAD. Just
download somebody else's and modify it to describe your own WAD - that's the easiest way to do it... Then ZIP up the whole lot using PKZIP or similar. Then
go to the pub/idgames/incoming directory. Upload both your ZIP file and the text file that
goes with it. Within a day it should appear in the 'newstuff' directory, and then it will be moved to the appropriate place...
While it's in the newstuff directory, if it includes single player levels, I will be testing it for my Doom Level Of The Week feature.
Put a hello message to me somewhere in the credits at the start of the file and I'll be sure to e-mail you and let you know what I thought of it, even if it doesn't
make Level Of The Week.
One final note. DO NOT upload your first WAD. Unless you are a total genius, your first ever WAD will be terrible. Mine was. You don't believe me? OK, well
download Sacrifice, my first ever level for Doom I. Not only is it flat, boring and hideously textured, it also includes many of the bugs
listed above - there's loads of leaky sectors and a few nice examples of the tutti frutti effect on doors. Go on, download it and have a laugh at my expense. Then
check out my Doom WAD page to see how far I've come since Sacrifice...
The moral of this story is, practice makes perfect. I'm glad I didn't release my first WAD when I made it, because at the time I thought it was great. It was only after
playing a lot of other people's WADs and practising myself, that I made Hall Of The Mountain King (about my fourth or fifth WAD), which I felt was good enough
to release...
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