Wad files

Wad files

Postby jobro » Wednesday, 15.April 2009, 00:20

I have got this neat idea for Werkzeug1 and maybe Werkzeug3. The last 16 years there has been a file format available for game developers that hasn't been used very much. What I'm talking about? The WAD format that is available for maps in Doom 1&2, Heretic and Hexen. Now I know that some of you might ask "Why on earth use such an old format?". Good question with a good answer. Instead of having to mod everything through WZ1 / WZ3 we could take a chunk off the process from it, and use tools that are designed for doing map construction:

CodeImp has created a splendid tool called DoomBuilder. It is freeware, and it has a good 3d mode that lets you get a good feeling for how your level will look like. It has support for extra textures that you can import in the tool and that will be saved with the level.

"DoomBuilder for Doom you say? But the Doom engine is 16 years old..."

Just because the original doom engine is 16 years old there has been substential work done after this. Several new engines have been released, where Zdoom or GZDoom would be the best way to walk. GZDoom has support for dynamic lightning, and alot of different features. Now the best part is that you can with this Doom clone script an entire map from start to exit through a script language called ACS that was initially designed for Hexen, but has been severely extended from that game until today. If you create a map in "GZDoom for Hexen" you benefits all the extras that GZDoom can use.

"So what benefits are we talking about?"

ACS scripts are just the start. The next neat thing is DECORATE. This is a function that you could use to create new objects. And the important thing is. IF we could use DECORATE to create placeholders for effects to be shown in the demo then we could create the effects and asociate the right DECORATE ID to it. Then as the level is played the right DECORATE is replaced with the right effect.

This is a dream, I know. But it is worth bringing forward to see what you guys think about it.
jobro
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