138 lines
6.8 KiB
Plaintext
138 lines
6.8 KiB
Plaintext
From: Tom.Holmes%8n1@hyit.oau.org
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A few days (weeks?) ago, the subject of a Doom editor's FAQ arose on
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ALT.GAMES.DOOM. As you know, the Doom FAQ is very popular and has a
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wealth of interesting and useful information in it. It does not,
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however, go too deeply into the technical side of Doom, the side where
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all of you level-editors out there spend your time. You can learn alot
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by reading the documentation for the individual editors (DEU and the
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attendant tutor doc comes to mind), but there is no single source
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available for all of the information that a wad hacker needs to know.
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Those unfortunates who don't have access to USENET newsgroups have no
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resource for getting their questions answered except for massive
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research, which may never yield the correct answer.
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I am therefore proposing a new FAQ called 'DOOMHACK.FAQ' or
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'DMHACKXX.FAQ' to fill this void. I will volunteer my time and effort
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to do the grunt-work involved in compiling, editing, formatting and
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corresponding, but I will need the help of many competent people to get
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this project off the ground. What follows is a list of the things I
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will need from all of you to get the ball rolling. I am not going to
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attempt to make the list comprehensive, and it should not be considered
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exclusive. If you have an idea for an addition or change, please feel
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free to e-mail me.
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1. In-depth reviews of every currently supported Doom editor out there.
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Should include features, pros and cons, and a goodly amount
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qualitative assessment. BUT....Don't review it if you know you
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don't like it. If an editor's author(s) wants to plug his product,
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he/she should feel free to send me their thoughts, but the review
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itself should be done by a disinterested third party.
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2. Comparative reviews of two Doom editors. These should be shorter
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than the one-product reviews, and the editorializing should be kept
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to an absolute minimum. These should be pure, point-by-point
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comparisons of where the two editors differ and not a 'my editor is
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better than your editor' tirade. Objectivity is of prime
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importance.
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3. A generic, but in-depth tutorial on PWAD building, explaining terms
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and methods that all wad-hackers need to know. The writer MUST know
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his Doom very, very well. This will be a cross between Doomspec and
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the DEU tutor. The form should be narrative and ASCII illustrated,
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but the level of detail should not be on the order of Doomspec,
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that's what Doomspec is for!
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4. One tutorial each on placing custom graphics, sprites, sounds and
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music in PWAD and IWAD files. These tutorials should use DMGRAPH,
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DMAUD, and DEU (where necessary) as the example tools, although
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notes on other utilities should be included, where appropriate.
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5. In-depth articles on very specific tricks-of-the-trade, such as
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aligning textures, implementing difficulty levels, effective
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deathmatch techniques, etc. The list of possible subjects is
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endless and unrestricted. Any subject that is beyond the scope of
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the generic tutorial is fair game.
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6. An 76-column by 23-row PWAD information template for inclusion with
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custom-made PWADs. Yes, I know there is a good template already
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available, but it would be nice to see all of the important
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information on a PWAD in one screen. This would also be a good
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candidate for the text file included with uploads to FTP sites,
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since many FTPers can't stop the screen from scrolling when they
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'show' a file.
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6a. A good FILE_ID.DIZ template. BBS operators would simply love to see
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FILE_ID.DIZ's included in all files. They are easy to make and
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simplify the creation of file descriptions enormously.
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7. A list of reference documents of interest to editors.
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8. A list of FTP sites and BBS's which carry third party doom software.
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9. A checklist of qualities possessed by a 'professional' PWAD. This
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checklist would includes such items as 'textures aligned', 'no
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hall-of-mirrors or other significant bugs', 'demo file included',
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and any of a myriad of other possible criteria. This checklist
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would later be used to compile a list of PWADs that met or exceeded
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these criteria.
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10. An eighteen column nutshell review format for PWADs. An example
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might look like this.
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123456789012345678
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******************
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SUPERWAD 1 4 3 8 5
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These nutshell reviews would emphasize the PWAD's value to another
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PWAD writer, for examples of technique. For instance, A PWAD with
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some very cleverly executed, though impossible to survive traps
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might rate fairly high on the editor's review scale, even though it
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would fair poorly in a player's review.
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11. A list of doom-hacking experts who are willing to promptly answer
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e-mail questions about building a level. This list would include
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their internet mailing address and/or other information on how to
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contact them. For instance, some kind soul might be willing to list
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his or her phone or fax number for people in their local area to
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obtain help in real-time.
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12. A list of volunteer victims, er, ah, I mean beta-testers who would
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be willing to help others in finding the bugs in their levels.
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As I said previously, there are (no doubt) a dozen or so things I've
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left out, but we'll get there.
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Here are some things I DON'T want in the DOOMHACK.FAQ:
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- A rewrite of the DOOMSPEC
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- A list of modem players (this is for editors, not players)
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- Fictional stories for our amusement (that's for a future
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compilation :)
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- A blatant rip-off of ANY existing text files. Subtle rip-offs
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are OK :)
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- An article about how badly the WadMeister editor sucks.
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- In general, information which is well documented in some other
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forum and not in the spirit of a true editor's FAQ, such as in
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depth reviews of PWADs (already done), etc.
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Well, that's it for now. I know there isn't one of you out there
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reading this who doesn't have something to contribute to this project,
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even if it's just for beta testing PWADS. You can contact me through
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any of the places listed below. Please contact me BEFORE putting in
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endless hour of toil, just to find out that someone else has beat you to
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the punch. If I receive multiple volunteers for the same thing, I'll
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use the second and subsequent volunteers as informed editors on the
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first person's work.
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Internet E-mail address: Tom.holmes%8n1@hyit.oau.org
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Fidonet address: Tom Holmes 1:363/224
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Snail Address: 4444 South Rio Grande #402D
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Orlando, FL 32839
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BBS Number: (407)438-1568 - up to 28.8kbps
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Home Number: (407)438-8687
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