Current tools for mapping

[LordMeow]

Some days ago I feel the itch to map again for Doom and took a look at the current tools.

Last time I looked Doom Builder 2 was the Tool-to-go, with a GZDoom branch aiming for GZDoom development.

Which one is the current build/fork of Doom Builder?

 

What map editor would you recommend for:
* Vanilla
* Eternity Engine
* GZDoom

 

I also saw some evolution in node builders, which one would you recommend?

 

Thanks!

[MadGuy]

Doom Builder.

[Doomkid]

Don't be confused by it's absurdly confusing name: GZDoom builder is perfectly suitable for making Vanilla format maps, or any format really.

 

The name is dumb but it is an absolutely fantastic tool. It's more or less a beefed up version of Doom Builder 2. I pointlessly avoided using it for a while because I don't make GZDoom-only projects...

 

EDIT: Many people swear by Doom Builder X as well (which has a way more badass name 🤘🤘) but I haven't spent any time with it

Edited October 28, 2019 by Doomkid

[LordMeow]

40 minutes ago, Doomkid said:

Don't be confused by it's absurdly confusing name: GZDoom builder is perfectly suitable for making Vanilla format maps, or any format really.

 

The name is dumb but it is an absolutely fantastic tool. It's more or less a beefed up version of Doom Builder 2. I pointlessly avoided using it for a while because I don't make GZDoom-only projects...

 

EDIT: Many people swear by Doom Builder X as well (which has a way more badass name 🤘🤘) but I haven't spent any time with it

So GZDoomBuilder is not GZDoom-specific... I was under that impression, thanks!

[phoo]

I use GZDoomBuilder for any kind of mapping. 

[Kappes Buur]

Might as well link to this tutorial

[LordMeow]

9 hours ago, Kappes Buur said:

Might as well link to this tutorial

Now I see the Doom Builder lineage and why I was confused about GZDoomBuilder...

 

So to be up to date, better check both GZDB and DBX, which also seems to be active.

 

And let's not forget SLADE3, three editors to check out is better than five or six.

 

What about nodes builder? BSP was the cream of the crop back when I fiddled with mapping, along with ZenNode which was quite novel back then, how has this evolved?

[ketmar]

if you're targeting some modern advanced sourceport, you don't even need to build nodes, because most advanced sourceports can do that automatically on map loading. also, ZDBSP is quite fast, and can build both GL and normal nodes (at least i think it can build normal ones ;-). there is AJBSP too (modern version of GLBSP), but it cannot build nodes for UDMF maps. if you want only normal nodes, there is ZokumBSP, which does quite a good job on compressing blockmaps while retaining compatibility with vanilla.

[Gez]

Map editors:

• GZDoom Builder-Bugfix, aka GZDBBF, is probably the most popular. Lots of features. Aims to fully support all of GZDoom's advanced editing features, but perfectly capable of making vanilla, Boom, Eternity, etc. maps too.
• Doom Builder X. The other Doom Builder fork, it's less focused on port-specific features and more focused on additional functionalities. Its star feature is its support for the Lua scripting language, allowing to write scripts to automatize some tasks.
• SLADE. An all-in-one editor for Doom, not as fully featured than the Doom Builders on the map editing front but still complete enough, but more importantly something that can help you manage all your game data. For handling lumps, textures, and so on, you'll need it. You can use it in addition to a Doom Builder, and even call a Doom Builder from inside it.
• Eureka. The underdog of the lot. Its advantages are simplicity and speed.

Resource editors:

• SLADE. There's not much competition here, SLADE is the only game in town that isn't hopelessly outdated. At least as far as programs with a GUI are concerned.
• DeuTex. This old-timer is still useful for if you'd rather build the WADs from separate files instead of editing it directly. This is command-line, so you should probably write some batch scripts with all the right commands to build your files if you want to use it often.
• JeuTool. A more recent alternative to DeuTex, and likewise a command-line utility, perfect for being integrated in build scripts.

Node builders: like ketmar said.

[LordMeow]

Never heard about JeuTool... last time I used DeuTex was almost 19 years ago!