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Doom Editing Digest Vol. 01 Nr. 072
From: owner-doom-editing-digest
To: doom-editing-digest@nvg.unit.no
Subject: doom-editing-digest V1 #72
Reply-To: doom-editing
Errors-To: owner-doom-editing-digest
Precedence: bulk
doom-editing-digest Friday, 2 December 1994 Volume 01 : Number 072
Jeezus Christ! Get A Grip!
Re: How to edit the ".exe"
Re: Illegal stuff
Re: Jeezus Christ! Get A Grip!
Re: Illegal stuff
legal issues -> rec.games.doom.misc
Re: On a lighter note (Heretic?)
Modifying the exe and modification in general
Well-known bugs in DEU 5.21 [rec.games.computer.doom.editing #521]
Overlapping sectors - methods to cheat
Re: Modifying DOOM(2).EXE
Re: How to edit the ".exe"
Re: Overlapping sectors - methods to cheat
Re: Well-known bugs in DEU 5.21 [rec.games.computer.doom.editing #521]
Re: Well-known bugs in DEU 5.21 [rec.games.computer.doom.editing #521]
Re: Well-known bugs in DEU 5.21 [rec.games.computer.doom.editing #521]
----------------------------------------------------------------------
From: thekid@ornews.intel.com (Brian Kidby)
Date: Thu, 1 Dec 1994 18:23:42 -0800 (PST)
Subject: Jeezus Christ! Get A Grip!
I'm sorry, but this talk about what's 'legal' and what's 'illegal' has
gotten completely out of hand. Okay, I understand the emotion of feeling
betrayed, but I really don't think Id's actions are as severe as some
here are making them out to be.
Jay's legalese was directed specifically at modifying the .EXE files
wasn't it? Okay, so save-game editors, randomizers, texture utils, and
map editors are still okay. Right? Did I leave anything out?
My point is that very few of the current Doom-editing utils fall into
Jay's category of illegalness, and I really can't see Id rushing out to
hunt the author(s) down. If Id gets concerned enough with DeHackEd, they'll
send an e-mail to TREE and ask him to 'pull it'.
In the mean-time, let's all take a chill-pill. Make some maps or something.
Jeezus Christ!
Brian
- --
- -------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Kid My thoughts and actions are strictly my own.
thekid@ornews.intel.com Do not hold my employers responsible.
- -------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------
From: Stanley Stasiak <stan@yarrow.wt.uwa.edu.au>
Date: Fri, 2 Dec 1994 11:57:44 +0800 (WST)
Subject: Re: How to edit the ".exe"
> diskedit is an illegal doom exe modification utility. Possession of such
> a utility is a voilation id's copyrights, and doom's licensing agreement.
>
> You're knee deep in shit, Buddy. If you haven't been apprehended already by
> the FBI/SPA, you'd better haul ass out of the country, like RIGHT NOW.
>
> FYI, DEHACKED.EXE and DEBUG.COM are also illegal, as well as any other
> hex editors. If you've got any of these, DELETE them before it's too late.
Hmmm yah but lets blame microsloth for all this...
Bill... oh Bill... you've been a bad boy...
------------------------------
From: Stanley Stasiak <stan@yarrow.wt.uwa.edu.au>
Date: Fri, 2 Dec 1994 12:04:46 +0800 (WST)
Subject: Re: Illegal stuff
>
>
> Here's a theory on why Jay said what he said. Every copy of DOOM sold
> every has had LICENSE.DOC in the package, and LICENSE.DOC has always said
> that "map" editing (judging by the stance of id, this actually means wad
> editing) is ok, but editing the exe is not. This hardly leaves id any room
> to move. If id were to say that modification of the exe was ok, they would
> be contradicting their own license! Perhaps Jay was bound to say what he
> did, regardless of what his real opinion was.
No, I don't think that's it... If they wanted to do an about face later on
they could just release an updated clause to the license. Of course
they might not be inclined to do so since it may legally bind them
(in some way) to withdraw the older licences from circulation or ensure
their ammendment... Not altogether easy. look what microsloth had to do
after trouble space fiasco.
...but then again this is another theory
Stan.
==============================================================================
.-_!\ | Stanley Stasiak
/ \ | (stan@yarrow.wt.uwa.edu.au)
I am here! --->> P_.-._/ <<---- Australia| Perth, Western Australia
==============================================================================
------------------------------
From: hsimpson@unixg.ubc.ca (Enigma)
Date: Thu, 01 Dec 1994 21:57:28 -0800
Subject: Re: Jeezus Christ! Get A Grip!
>In the mean-time, let's all take a chill-pill. Make some maps or something.
>Jeezus Christ!
This is a doom-editing news-group, not the Bar Association. If you'd like to
carry on conversation of a legal, and not doom-editing, topic, please (for
the love of god) keep it personal!
???siht-gnidaer-uoy-era-yhw-edam-reve-emag-tseb-eht-si-mood-egassem-terces
enigma <hsimpson@unixg.ubc.ca>
TTUL from my corner of the world: Vancouver, B.C., Canada where its one of
two distinct things: rainy, or raining. (It's probably shi**y too)
------------------------------
From: cgasparo@cymbal.aix.calpoly.edu
Date: Fri, 2 Dec 1994 02:14:01 -0800
Subject: Re: Illegal stuff
>Here's a theory on why Jay said what he said. Every copy of DOOM sold
>every has had LICENSE.DOC in the package, and LICENSE.DOC has always said
>that "map" editing (judging by the stance of id, this actually means wad
>editing) is ok, but editing the exe is not. This hardly leaves id any room
>to move. If id were to say that modification of the exe was ok, they would
>be contradicting their own license! Perhaps Jay was bound to say what he
>did, regardless of what his real opinion was.
I'm not complaining, I can live with just maps. But what I want to
really know is *why* they waited till now? DeHackEd has been around for
quite awhile. And as the staff of id tends to dip in this list now and
again, they must have heard some mention of it and it's abilities. Just
curious!
- -Steve
------------------------------
From: Bernd Kreimeier (++49-228-550-247) <Bernd.Kreimeier@nero.uni-bonn.de>
Date: Fri, 2 Dec 1994 12:11:57 +0100
Subject: legal issues -> rec.games.doom.misc
I understand the interest in speculating about legal issues.
Nevertheless, *please* let's move this thread to rec.games.doom.misc,
thus everybody is able to skip the thread. I would
appreciate a comment from the list's caretaker, too.
Some people asked why Id changes policy. They don't. It's just
the first time somebody asked *and* made the reply public.
Note that they even can't. Id has no choice in this matter. They
only had a choice prior to releasing this LICENSE.DOC and Data
Utility License.
Yes, it is a relationship of mutual benefit. They knew from the
very beginning. Quote: "We feel that the distribution of new levels
that work with the shareware version of DOOM will lessen a potential
user's incentive to purchase the registered version." Consider
this some kind of acknowledgment. It's probably flattery, too ;-).
Yes again, it's an essential part of a succesfull sales strategy.
They offered us a deal, fair or not. It's our choice to or not to
accept it, delivered "as is".
IMHO, of course. Follow-ups to rec.games.doom.misc, please.
BTW, it seems that the potential designer's incentive to create
maps and add-ons is already lessening ;-). Would there still be
a doom-editing list without this useless thread? Everybody going
to wait for QUAKE now?
B.
- ---------------------------------------------------------------
THIS SPACE INTENTIONALLY
Bernd.Kreimeier@nero.uni-bonn.de LEFT BLANK ...
- ---------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------
From: gran@mikro.ee.tu-berlin.de (Christian Gran)
Date: Fri, 2 Dec 1994 12:16:51 +0100
Subject: Re: On a lighter note (Heretic?)
> Seeing as how we've all been ranting about legal implications of=20
>EXE hacking, thought I'd introduce a breather and see if anyone knows
>when and where Heretic would be released (This IS December 1st...)
>
> Any plans to start a heritic-editing mailing list???
>
>
>--=20
>+--------------------------------------------------------------------------=
- --+
>Christian Antkow cant@softchoice.com
>Opinions are my own and in no way reflect those of the SoftChoice=
Corporation
>+--------------------------------------------------------------------------=
- --+
>
>
Yeah - I=B4am also interested, when and where Heretic will be available.
Ciao
Chris
------------------------------
From: Tom.Holmes%224@satlink.oau.org (Tom Holmes)
Date: 01 Dec 94 22:27:02 -0500
Subject: Modifying the exe and modification in general
* Reply to msg originally in Netmail (Private)
al> Greg,
al> I really hate how they're(Jay) is treating you. You're not
al> some lowly geek trying to squeek some bucks out of this. I can
al> respect what you've done and are trying to do. My problem with
al> this is that he's giving you a major brush off.
I think that the only thing that Jay has done wrong is to hint a little
too subtley. He has never hesitated in the past from making his points
perfectly clear. I don't believe that his evasiveness in this instance
is accidental. He is saying, in effect, "If you modify the exe, you are
violating the licensing agreement. We (id Software) will not
jeopardize our legal standing by allowing general exceptions to weaken
the licensing agreement. If you violate the licensing agreement, we
reserve the right to prosecute you to the full extent of the law." Now,
what Jay didn't say, but what may be implied, is "However, if you shut
up about it and don't force me to make an 'official' ruling on it, we'll
turn a blind eye to it as long as it benefits the game and thereby, us."
al> And when they get their act together legally, won't Quake
al> just be so much fun! I mean a game that is completely and utterly
al> illegal to hack! That *has* to be a first.
Get real guy. Romero said (right here in this forum) that QUAKE will be
completely configurable. He said *nothing* will be hard-coded. Jay is
a very bright boy who knows well where his bread is buttered. He is
also bright enough to not give potential or active competitors carte
blanche to profit from id's endeavors.
al> I was going to comment that this list was supposed to be about
al> editing. But, if there is nothing left to edit, there won't be much
al> to talk about, eh?
Your fears are misplaced. What you should be afraid of it that we (as a
group) whine and complain so much that id becomes disenchanted with us
and cuts us out of the loop.
al>
al> -!- GIGO+ sn 153 at satlink vsn 0.99 pl3
- --- Blue Wave/RA v2.12 [NR]
- --
|Fidonet: Tom Holmes 1:363/224
|Internet: Tom.Holmes%224@satlink.oau.org
|
| Standard disclaimer: The views of this user are strictly his own.
| From C.F.Satlink +1-407-240-7781 (ANSI or Vt-100 _required_).
------------------------------
From: eedraq@eed.ericsson.se (Raphael Quinet)
Date: Fri, 2 Dec 94 12:52:17 +0100
Subject: Well-known bugs in DEU 5.21 [rec.games.computer.doom.editing #521]
Hello there!
I just posted the following message on rec.games.computer.doom.editing.
Some of you may be interested, so I'm forwarding it to the list.
- ------ Forwarded Article <3bmtdv$881@erinews.ericsson.se>
- ------ From eedraq@eed.ericsson.se (Raphael Quinet)
[...]
Here are the three most annoying known bugs in DEU 5.21 and how to avoid them:
* Stupid bug (it's all my fault) in the REJECT builder: if your WAD contains
more than 512 sectors, DEU will crash if you try to rebuild the NODES, REJECT
and BLOCKMAP data.
- - Solution: if your WAD contains more than 512 sectors, save your WAD without
rebuilding the NODES, etc. Then use BSP12X or another external NODES builder
to rebuild the missing data.
* Missing test for one-sector WADs. In a previous version of DEU, there was
a test for one-sector WADs which prevented you from saving these invalid
levels (a WAD for Doom must contain at least two sectors). I removed this
test and now some people are trying to save one-sector WADs, which crashes
DEU during the NODES building phase.
- - Solution: make sure that your level contains at least two sectors.
* If you create a WAD which contains a new texture (with DeuTex, for example),
DEU will crash when trying to display this texture. This is because the
texture viewing routine tries to read a 64K block from your file, and
usually gets an error because the file is shorter than that. Of course,
this problem never occurs with the normal textures, because DOOM.WAD is a
lot longer than 64K.
- - Solution: add at least 64K of data after your texture. DeuTex has an option
to do this automatically. When your WAD is finished and you won't have to
edit it again, you can remove this junk from the file.
- - Other solution: use an older version of DEU to edit the walls using the new
texture. DEU 5.0 didn't have the speedup routines which read a 64K block
from the WAD. Of course, you will then miss all the 5.21 features.
Other known bugs for DEU 5.21 (they do not crash DEU):
* The NODES builder still has some bugs. Sometimes you will see the "Hall Of
Mirrors" effect because some walls appear to be semi-transparent. This
occurs when some walls are not correctly inserted in the BSP tree.
- - Solution: don't use the built-in NODES builder. Use BSP12X or another
external NODES builder. You can also post-process it with a REJECT builder.
* When you select "Align textures (Y offset)" in the "Misc." menu, DEU will not
only change the Y offset but also the X offset. This strange behaviour occurs
because a "break" statement is missing in the code. So after having aligned
the textures vertically, the program continues and executes the code for the
next option in the menu, with is the horizontal alignment (X offset).
- - Solution: the best solution is to add the missing "break" statement in the
code (between options 8 and 9 of the MiscOperations function in editobj.c)
and recompile DEU. If you don't have a compiler, you will have to live with
it until DEU 5.3 is released. Fortunately, it's just annoying but not too
serious.
* Some LineDef or Sector type descriptions are wrong or missing.
- - Solution: get a recent list of LineDef types (like the list posted by John
Romero) and enter the numerical ids for the missing types.
* A few other bugs or missing features exist. Of course, you all know that
DEU 5.21 does not support Doom II maps. But remember that DEU 5.21 was
released in June - long before Doom II. There are also some strange things
that happen, especially if you are not aware of how the WAD format works
internally. For example, if you move or copy several sectors from one place
to another, you will get some "sector not closed" warnings. Another annoying
"feature" of DEU (and most other editors) is the fact that when you edit a
level and save it, only the level info is saved: if you have new sounds,
new textures, etc. in your WAD, they are not saved.
- - Solutions: while you are waiting for DEU 5.3, you can create Doom 1 maps
and convert them to Doom II with an external WAD translator. For the other
fixes, you will have to wait.
Please spread the word: distribute this list of bugs to all DEU 5.21 users
so that they are aware of these bugs and will be able to create more great
levels without any problems.
You may wonder why I am reporting these bugs myself. Here are my reasons:
- - If DEU users are aware of the bugs, they will avoid them and build better
WADs easily.
- - Since I know about these bugs (and I already fixed them in DEU 5.3), you
don't need to report them anymore. I received several bug reports about
the same problems (my mailbox will soon explode...). Please do not report
these problems if they are already well known.
- - I don't want to deny that my editor has some bugs [insert ironic comment
about some other people here]. Nobody is perfect...
- - Several people are using the DEU source code to build their own editor. If
they know about these bugs, they will be able to fix them in their own
program. Let's share our knowlegde...
- - And last but not least, you will be even more pleased to see DEU 5.3 if you
know that all these bugs have been fixed in the new version.
Release date for DEU 5.3: soon. :-) Don't ask. Thanks.
- ------ End of Forwarded Article
That's it...
- -Raphael
- --
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Finger: finger quinet@finger.montefiore.ulg.ac.be for some useless info. |
| Mosaic: http://www.montefiore.ulg.ac.be/~quinet (NEW: preview of DEU 5.3) |
| E-mail: eedraq@chapelle.eed.ericsson.se or quinet@montefiore.ulg.ac.be |
| S-mail: Raphael Quinet, 9 rue des Martyrs, 4550 Nandrin (Belgium) |
| or: Raphael Quinet, Kapuzinergraben 2, 52062 Aachen (Germany) |
| --* Send your questions about DEU to: Deu_Help@boblab1.bobst.nyu.edu *-- |
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
------------------------------
From: Nicholas Fenwick <nrf94@ecs.soton.ac.uk>
Date: Fri, 2 Dec 1994 12:27:31 +0000 (GMT)
Subject: Overlapping sectors - methods to cheat
Hi there,
Sorry for posting a message about Doom editing, but I've got a question
(*gasp*). Cast your minds back a week or two when we were talking about
making sectors that _appear_ to overlap. It was mentioned that you can
have corridors that seem to overlap and be at different levels, by using
clever linedefs and moving ceiling and floors, so that when you cross a
part of the corridor the floor raises, and you can walk over the same
spot from a different direction and it appears to be at a different
level. Hmm. Follow that? Well, here's my attempt (crap ascii art follows):
+ + +-----+-----+-----+
| | | : : |
| | | : : |
| | | G : F : E |
| | | : : |
| | | : : |
| +-----+/////+-----+/////+
| : : : |
| : : : |
| A : B : C : D |
| : : : |
| : : : |
+-----------+/////+-----+-----+
| |
| |
| H |
| |
| |
+ +
OK, there you go. It's a spiral (kind of) that you walk through - I've
labelled the sectors A-H, in the order you walk through. A,B,C and D are
at height 0, E,F,G and H are at level 72, with E being a lift. Dotty
lines are 2S, and usable as triggers. As you cross the line between C and
D, B raises to floor height 72 (all the ceiling heights are 144). This
works well - you walk from A to H without noticing anything, and the
floor seems to be solid and continous, but you also go up by 72. OK, no
problems yet. BUT, I can't get the reverse to happen. I want to have
the line between B and G, when you walk 'north', to lower B so that you
can walk clockwise round the spiral and end up at floor level 0, but I
can't get the linedef to work 'one-way'. It should only be triggered
when walking in one direction. If I set it to lower B, then when walking
counter-clockwise you try to pass over the newly-raised B and it suddenly
sinks, cos you've triggered the 'lower' linedef. I can't find a way
round this - is it possible to make a linedef 'one-way', so it's only
triggered when you walk, say, from its front to its back? This has
really got me stumped.
Sorry if this is really obvious, but I can't find anything that'll do
the job. I'm using DEU 5.21 (the best editor out, IMHO) and have Doom
1.666. Thanks for your attention, and all that.
Nick.
+-------------------------------------------------+---------------------------+
| _ _ _ _ ___ Nick Fenwick _ _ | |
| | \| (_)__| |__ | __|__ _ ___ __ _(_)__| |__ | nrf94@ecs.soton.ac.uk |
| | .` | / _| / / | _/ -_) ' \ V V / / _| / / | Computer Science Student |
| |_|\_|_\__|_\_\ |_|\___|_||_\_/\_/|_\__|_\_\ | Southampton University |
| 'Smoke me a kipper, I'll be back for breakfast' |
+-------------http://whirligig.ecs.soton.ac.uk/~nrf94/cv.html-----------------+
------------------------------
From: "D.J.S. Damerell" <djsd100@cus.cam.ac.uk>
Date: Fri, 2 Dec 1994 13:36:25 +0000 (GMT)
Subject: Re: Modifying DOOM(2).EXE
On Thu, 1 Dec 1994, Scott Coleman wrote:
> The real questions are these:
> Utility and PWAD authors have thus far been fairly willing to abide by
> id's wishes - no PWADs run with shareware DOOM, no WAD editors or item
> randomizers will edit the shareware WAD, etc. etc. Tree, do you really
> want to cross this particular line in the sand?
I think that's because iD's wish not to have the shareware game improved
or extended was entirely understandable: the whole point of the SW game
was that it was meant to be too small, and making it bigger would defeat
that.
More to the point, as regards the legality: neither DeHackEd or a
DeHackEd patch are modified .EXEs. They are tools to do so, true - but
just because you can use a crowbar to break into a house doesn't mean
that the laws against housebreaking forbid the ownership of crowbars.
> Personally, hacking the frame tables with dehacked was never more than a
> mild curiosity with me.
> By withdrawing it, id stays happy, Tree stays safe from
> (potential) legal hassles, and everyone else's DOOM playing is only
> minimally affected. Hell, if id complained about my RanDOOM utility, I'd
> withdraw it in a minute. It's not like these things are ESSENTIAL for
> keeping DOOM "alive" and continually interesting - nobody asks me to play
> RanDOOMized DEATHMATCHes, either - they are merely cool hacks.
Come on. AliensTC is practically a whole new game, and that wouldn't be
possible without .EXE hacking.
> IMHO, id
> isn't being unreasonable, and is fully within their rights. Why should
> we start having problems respecting id's wishes NOW, over something so
> relatively minor?
Because the justification is unclear. The reason that no-one produces
utilities or PWADs for S/W DooM is that the reason not to is clear: if iD
explain why DeHackEd is a Bad Thing, I'm sure everyone will be happy to
comply. Until then, it just seems like an arbitary decree from on high.
> As a final though, remember that Quake is just around the corner (mid
> '95?). At that time, people will jump from DOOM to Quake and all this
> will be rendered moot. ;-)
We'll be waiting for QUE 5.3, then.
David Damerell, GCV Sauricon. djsd100@cus.cam.ac.uk RL: Trinity, Cambridge
WOODHAL2.WAD on infant2. CUWoCS President. METLMAZE.WAD sometime soonish.
|___| Loneliness pours over you: Emptiness can pull you through. |___|
| | | Your mother's eyes, from your eyes, cry to me... Queen, '39. | | |
------------------------------
From: Chainsaw Jim <jimu@point.cs.uwm.edu>
Date: Fri, 2 Dec 1994 08:05:53 -0600 (CST)
Subject: Re: How to edit the ".exe"
> >FYI, DEHACKED.EXE and DEBUG.COM are also illegal, as well as any other
> >hex editors. If you've got any of these, DELETE them before it's too late.
>
> He-he. Wait, wait, lemme get this straight. Is it illegal to *own* a hex
> editor? Or is it only illegal to own a hex editor if doom is on your
> system.
> -Steve H.B.
> "Watch out! I got a hex editor maaan! And I'm not afraid to use it!"
Curiosity regarding the use of hex-editors and doom constitutes intent
to commit illegal hex-editing of doom executables. There IS no excuse
for mind-crime.
I suggest you disappear for a while, Steve; BEFORE the id-cops come
a-knock'in.
------------------------------
From: quinet@stud.montefiore.ulg.ac.be (Raphael Quinet)
Date: Fri, 2 Dec 1994 15:05:54 +0100
Subject: Re: Overlapping sectors - methods to cheat
[nice ASCII picture and long description deleted]
> This
> works well - you walk from A to H without noticing anything, and the
> floor seems to be solid and continous, but you also go up by 72. OK, no
> problems yet. BUT, I can't get the reverse to happen. [...]
The solution is easy. You cannot have "one-way LineDefs", but you can
put two LineDefs with opposite effects close to each other. Imagine the
following:
- - you start in sector A and you go to sector B, which is already down.
- - you follow the normal way (C, D, ...). At some point, you cross a
"lower sector B" which does nothing. Then a few steps later, you
cross a "raise sector B" line, which raises B to height 72.
- - you can then continue your way and go from G to B, then H, etc.
- - when you come back, you will cross the "raise sector B" line, which
will have no effect.
- - but then you will cross the "lower sector B" immediately, which will
lower sector B to 0.
And this has already been done by no other than Id Software! If you
have Doom II, look at the south part of level 15. You will see some
stairs and a sector which raises or lowers depending on where you
come from.
- -Raphael
------------------------------
From: fenske@rocke.electro.swri.edu (Robert Fenske Jr)
Date: Fri, 2 Dec 94 08:30:41 CST
Subject: Re: Well-known bugs in DEU 5.21 [rec.games.computer.doom.editing #521]
>* Missing test for one-sector WADs. In a previous version of DEU, there was
> a test for one-sector WADs which prevented you from saving these invalid
> levels (a WAD for Doom must contain at least two sectors). I removed this
> test and now some people are trying to save one-sector WADs, which crashes
> DEU during the NODES building phase.
To get nit picky, this is NOT true. The real requirement is to have
at least two subsectors. So as long as your one sector is non-convex (has
at least one interior angle > 180 degrees), the two-subsector criteria will
be satisfied.
Now as a practical matter, testing for two sectors is sensible
(quite simple and very fast), as the node tree would have to be built
before you could test for two subsectors. Alternatively, you could just
check for interior angles > 180 degrees.
Robert Fenske, Jr. rfenske@swri.edu Sw | The Taming the C*sm*s series:
Electromagnetics Division /R---\ |
Southwest Research Institute | I | | "The Martian canals were the
San Antonio, Texas USA \----/ | Martians' last ditch effort."
------------------------------
From: brian@phyast.pitt.edu (Brian K. Martin)
Date: Fri, 2 Dec 1994 10:18:32 -0500 (EST)
Subject: Re: Well-known bugs in DEU 5.21 [rec.games.computer.doom.editing #521]
Maybe a dumb question, but how can I save without building
in 'expert mode'? Do I have to go in and change the code
for this or am I overlooking something?
brian
------------------------------
From: quinet@stud.montefiore.ulg.ac.be (Raphael Quinet)
Date: Fri, 2 Dec 1994 17:16:48 +0100
Subject: Re: Well-known bugs in DEU 5.21 [rec.games.computer.doom.editing #521]
[Note: for the Nth time, the network crashed while I was telnetting to
my old account and replying to one message. If you see another (empty)
message from me before this one, then it was sent when the connection
broke. Sorry if this happens.]
Robert Fenske wrote, quoting me:
>
> >* Missing test for one-sector WADs. In a previous version of DEU, there was
> > a test for one-sector WADs which prevented you from saving these invalid
> > levels (a WAD for Doom must contain at least two sectors). I removed this
> > test and now some people are trying to save one-sector WADs, which crashes
> > DEU during the NODES building phase.
>
> To get nit picky, this is NOT true. The real requirement is to have
> at least two subsectors. So as long as your one sector is non-convex (has
> at least one interior angle > 180 degrees), the two-subsector criteria will
> be satisfied.
> Now as a practical matter, testing for two sectors is sensible
> (quite simple and very fast), as the node tree would have to be built
> before you could test for two subsectors. Alternatively, you could just
> check for interior angles > 180 degrees.
>
Yes, I know. That's why I removed the test for one-sector WADs. But I didn't
go into the trouble of checking the angles. And now people have problems
because the first thing they try is to build a square room and of course
this doesn't work. So I reported this bug in the simplest way (without
telling about non-convex sectors) because it's easier for newbies to
understand.
BTW, in DEU 5.1 it was possible to save one-sector WADs even if the
sector was convex: a part of the code "cheated" with the NODES tree and
flipped one line in order to split the single convex sector into two
sub-sectors. But I removed this feature in 5.2 and 5.21 because I wasn't
sure that it would work with future versions of Doom (remember, the latest
version at that time was 1.2).
- -Raphael
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End of doom-editing-digest V1 #72
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