_______________ _____ __ __ ______ __ __ ______ \ \/ ____| | | | / __ \| \ | | __ | | ,-------, | |__ | | | | | |__| | \ | | || | | | | | __|| | | | | ____ | \| | || | | | | | |___| |_| | | | | | |\ | ' /' | | ,| |______|\_____/ |__| |__|__| \__|___/' | | ,/ / | | ,/ /'----.------.---. .---. | | / /| __ | __ | `\ /' | Level Construction | `' /' | || | || | `\ /' | _ _ | /' | `' | `' | |\ `' /| | | `\_/' | | /' '\____/'\____/|___| `\__/' |___| |_|\_/|_| iNi-TuToRiAl | /' /' _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_ Legal Stuff: Any precise names, within this document, referring to a product or company (possibly) protected by copyrights and/or trademarks are hereby acknowledged: id Software DEU DoomEd Any other mentionings of copyrighted or trademarked material not listed above are also hereby acknowledged. Also, if you decide to extract any portion of this file for your own purposes *don't* attach my name to it. In other words, if you alter this text file, *you* are responsible, not me. This includes the deletion of this message! _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_ I. Getting Started A. What Editor to Choose? . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 B. Understand the Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 C. Understanding the Construction Features . . . . . 3 II. Building a New Level A. Inserting Vertices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 B. Inserting Linedefs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 C. Inserting a Sector and Automatic Sector Linking . 4 E. Understand the Flags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 F. When to Choose Textures (Upper, Normal, Lower). . 5 III. Step-by-Step Tutorial A. Setting up the Level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 IV. Starting Doom with a custom PWAD . . . . . . . . . . . 9 --,--,--,--,--,--,--,--,--,--,--,--,--,--,--,--,--,--,--,--,--,--,--,--,--,--, _/._/._/._/._/._/._/._/._/._/._/._/._/._/._/._/._/._/._/._/._/._/._/._/._/._/ _________________ ________ | Getting Started | | Page 1 | |_________________| |________| What Editor to Choose? ---------------------- The choice of editor is primarily based upon the person wanting to create a new level; some prefer DoomEd while others prefer DEU. I will not go into great lengths about the features of all the editors; only DEU, since it seems to be sweeping across the world with great gusto. The following tutorial will instruct the user how to create a level with DEU, but, don't think that the same concepts cannot be applied to other editors. If, for instance, you would rather create a level quickly and be done with it, you may want to use DoomEd. Those people with the "down and dirty" type person- ality may enjoy DEU. For those who are new, DEU can be located at the follow- ing sites, and it may or may not be there! ocf.unt.edu /pub/doom/deu wuarchive.wustl.edu /pub/MSDOS_UPLOADS/games/doomstuff Name: DEU5BET4.ZIP or DEU5.ZIP or DEU50.ZIP If you are still unable to locate the file, you can contact me (the author) and I'll see if I can't locate the file for you. Cleary there are advantages to retrieving the newest release of any program, right? Well, you will have to decide this for yourself. Currently, DEU 5.0 BETA 4 provides a clean executing graphical user interface for con- structing Doom levels. The only catch lies within *how* the user must build his/her level. DEU 5.0 BETA 4 requires that *everything* in regards to vertices, linedefs, and sectors (explained below) be precise and in accor- dance with the reconstruction phase, often known as the compilation phase. Should you, the user, fail to abide by the strictness that BETA 4 requires, you can lose all of you *current* work. Fortunately, DEU, in the newer releases, will create a backup copy of your WAD file using the .BAK extension. Several people have had their masterpieces saved because of this handy feature. The newest version of DEU, version 5.0 non-BETA, will warn the user of possibly open-ended sectors, but, it will still compile the level. Once again there is a catch. DEU 5.0 (non-BETA) tends to add a slight clipping effect and therefore may produce undesirable results. It is up to you, the user, to decide which version or editor to use. The tutorial assumes that you have already obtained an editor capable of constructing a level from scratch. ________ | Page 2 | |________| Understanding the Editor ------------------------ Before you begin entering the world of Doom construction, you should first understand exactly what the editor is dealing with. As mentioned above, Doom uses vertices, linedefs, sectors, and the elusive "nodes" in order to construct an interactive world consisting of walls, ceilings, and floors. Of course, things, like weapons, add to the realism; however, they won't affect the outcome of compilation. So, let's dig deep! VERTICES: points on the map that designate the beginning and the ending of LINEDEFS. LINEDEFS: lines on the map (marked at the beginning and end with vertices) that eventually represent walls, walk-over triggers, windows, and much, much, more. SIDEDEFS: definitions attached to LINEDEFS requiring a reference to a SECTOR. A single SIDEDEF cannot exist without its respective LINEDEF. SIDEDEFS permit the user to define what their wall textures look like. There can only be two SIDEDEFS per LINEDEF and there must be at least one SIDEDEF for every LINEDEF. Furthermore, every SIDEDEF must be linked to an enclose region, called a SECTOR. When creating a new SIDEDEF, whether first or second, DEU automatically links the SIDEDEF to the newest SECTOR. If no SECTORS exist, then SIDEDEF is assigned the number -1. I have never left any SIDEDEFs assigned in this fashion and therefore do not know what will happen if they are left this way. SECTORS: An *enclosed* region that is bounded by a collection (at least, three) LINEDEFS. Say, for instance, you want to build a pillar, the surface of the pillar will be one enclosed SECTOR and so will the region of space surrounding the pillar. A SECTOR doesn't need to be referenced in order for Doom to operate, but, SECTORS referenced by SIDEDEFS must bound a region of space. I realize this definition is seriously lacking, and I apologize for this. NODES: Fortunately the editor takes care of this portion of the the level construction. NODES, if I my information is current, assist Doom in deciding what regions to render and how to render them. The editor, DEU, from a quick glance resembles a CAD program, but, the best part is that you get to interact with the world you create. If you do not have a mouse, you should get one. Also, if you have the newest of DEU, you may or may not want to use resolutions higher than 640x480 since DEU provides a "fake cursor" for editing, however, this cursor does not track when you are using some of the menus. Pressing the F1 key will bring up a list of commands, but, you should really be familiar with the editor before using the tutorial. In other words, print out the documentation file and keep a list of commands handy. ________ | Page 3 | |________| Understand the Construction Features ------------------------------------ DEU, like most editors, permits the user to add just about every single keyword defined above; with the exception of nodes. So, after reading the documentation file, you can obviously switch to the appropriate mode and insert that type of object. The DEU instruction manual explains just how to do this, but, in my step-by-step tutorial, I will instruct which keys to press. The same holds true for deleting these objects, whether you have selected a thing, a linedef, or a sector. These rules do not apply to sidedefs. Sidedefs can be added to linedefs by selecting the lindef, or a group of linedefs, and selecting the edit mode (middle mouse button or ENTER). Fortunately, DEU will not damage any of your work when you "group select" some objects on the screen. For instance, say that you already have two linedefs with sidedefs, but, you switch to vertex mode, insert a new vertex, click on two vertices, and add a new linedef. This new linedef won't have a sidedef defined, until you, the user, define the first sidedef. Like- wise, if a linedef doesn't have a first sidedef, adding a second sidedef will only result in adding a first sidedef. Just remember, first sidedef must always come first. Now, getting back on track. If you "group select" these three lines, which can be done by clicking the mouse on the line and repeating this process for ...
TolekBananas