::|CONTENTS
- First Steps
- Creating a Level
Welcome! It appears you've recently discovered that BotB does, in fact, have the Doom Map format, and you want to make an entry for it. Well, if you don't know what you're doing, you've come to the right place.
One of the unique things about id Software's hit 1993 "3D" first person shooter game Doom was its file structure. Because of the way the game's engine worked, it became extremely easy to decompile and create your own custom map .wads for the engine, especially so after the release of the source code in 1997.
In this article, I'll outline how to set up an editor, make some basic things with the vanilla game, and some tips for how to make your levels interesting and fun.
For this tutorial, we'll want to be using
Ultimate Doom Builder, which is considered by most to be the definitive Doom editor on the market, thanks to its visual rendering mode.
First Steps
First thing's first, you'll want to make sure you use the
right compatibility settings and
the right resources. When you open up Ultimate Doom Builder, click File > New Map. A prompt should pop up asking you about the map's options.
Map Configuration
From the dropdown menu under Game Configuration, select
Doom: Doom 2 (Doom format) (or, if you're entering the Boom format on the site, select
Boom: Doom 2 (Doom format). This will ensure compatibility with the original version of the game, and won't give you any advanced ZDoom features, which aren't allowed on BotB.
Next, click "Add Resource", which will bring up a second prompt. Make sure you're on the "From WAD file" tab, and use the file picker to select your copy of
doom2.wad or, alternatively,
freedoom2.wad. Don't check any of the other boxes, as they aren't required.
Then, press "OK" and you should be all set! Do note that changing the map name in the vanilla Doom format won't let you find it within the game unless you are using a source port with a developer console. Unless you really want to make a Dead Simple map, there's no reason to use anything other than MAP01 for the meantime.
Creating a Room
Now, you should be looking at a big grid onscreen. This is the main editor view. Navigate to the left side of the screen and select the
"Draw Rectangle Tool". Use it to make a 256x256 square on the screen (or any size, really). Then, go down into
"Things Mode" and right-click within your rectangle to place a Player Spawn. Make sure it appears on all difficulties and have it facing the angle 90.
Now, here comes the fun part - hover your mouse over the square onscreen press the "Q" key on your keyboard. You should now see the map in 3D, rendered as it might appear within the engine! Use the E, S, D, and F keys to move around (not sure why these don't just use WASD, but...) and inspect your creation. You should see a player marine standing in a room with four walls, a floor, and a ceiling. You can press Q again to toggle in/out of the visual mode.
Testing the Map
Time to see if our map works! Go into Tools > Game Configurations > Doom: Doom 2 (Doom Format). Click the "Testing" tab and navigate your way to a .exe file of your chosen source port, such as Chocolate Doom or Crispy Doom. Click it, set whatever difficulty setting you want to test at by default, and press "OK". Then, click the little green play button on the top toolbar. Your source port should launch and will take you straight to the map you've been editing.
Congratulations! You've created a very simple, yet functional Doom WAD!
Creating a Level
(tba)
See Also
doom (format)
boom (format)
Doomworld, a Doom forum
A very thorough Ultimate Doom Builder tutorial
