Are there ways to begin making doom WADS without the use of a laptop or pc?

[Reinhard]

I know somebody who doesn't have either a laptop or pc. It may sound dumb, but are there any ways to begin making maps without them to any extent?

[Stupid Bunny]

Well...the short answer is no.

 

The slightly longer answer is no, but what do you have in mind exactly?  Like on a smartphone, for example?  If that's the case then the answer is still no, I checked and it looks like no effort to put SLADE or any other WAD editor on mobile has gotten far, which isn't too surprising.  Otherwise...um, draw them on paper and see if anyone is keen on mapping them?

[EsmerInHell]

no

[Snarboo]

I was in a situation just like this a few years ago! The short answer is "no," the long answer is "yes, but only if you want to setup DOSBox on your phone/tablet/tv/whatever, and use an outdated map editor that has no visual mode and is liable to crash." There's no reason a map editor for Doom couldn't exist on phones, especially given Doom itself has been ported, but the effort involved must not be worth the payoff of mobile map editing.

 

Edit: It should also be noted you'd still need some way of testing your map, and Android's file system isn't really up for that.

Edited February 19, 2021 by Snarboo

[Pegleg]

3 hours ago, ReinhardHydra said:

I know somebody who doesn't have either a laptop or pc. It may sound dumb, but are there any ways to begin making maps without them to any extent?

 

While this person won't be able to open a modern map editor and use it to make a map, that is only part of the creative process. If this particular someone without access to either a laptop or a desktop computer is interested in making maps, they could take this opportunity to begin working through their creative process by planning out the maps they would want to make.

 

Otherwise, their only option would to be borrow someone's computer and make maps on it. Now, if that borrowed computer already had an editor on it, they they would have to open it and map. Otherwise, they would have to get one. As there are no online-only editors that I am aware of, they would have to download one. Chances are that they wouldn't have administrative access, but they could always use Eureka, which doesn't require you to have administrative access to the computer for installation and use.

[Arrowhead]

You could write up a pretty good blueprint via ol' pen and graph paper, (I've done that a couple of times) but other than that, you might be out of luck.

[Mr.Rocket]

In the meantime.

I suppose someone could install Windows 10 or the like, or even Linux on a tablet and go from there but I have no idea to how well touch screen editing would work. 

 

Edited February 19, 2021 by Mr.Rocket

[PeceMan]

If they have A LOT of free time and a knack for mathematics, they could write a TEXTMAP lump. Basically, if you make a wad in UDMF and then open the wad with slade, you'll find a TEXTMAP item. It is a text file that contains all the information necessary to play a map. If someone else then helps them by placing their text file on a new wad,  they effectively could make a wad.

 

However, this requires A LOT of pen and paper, and even more patience. It's definitely a last resort. Best thing they can do, instead, is probably 

1 hour ago, Snarboo said:

you want to setup DOSBox on your phone/tablet/tv/whatever,

 

[Doomkid]

I'm guessing they're too young to have an income? You can get a laptop capable of creating Doom maps and playing the most bare-bones Doom ports for $100. Probably even cheaper if they buy used.

[ReX]

One could create a Zork-like experience using just text to describe the environment and action. (This is not quite the same as making a DooM wad.)

 

@PeceMan's suggestion to create a TEXTMAP is probably the best way to create a wad without a traditional map editor. A tedious way, unquestionably. But the best way in the absence of a computer.

[Mr.Rocket]

Man that would be like using Wad Author without seeing the 2d grid/image.

 

@Doomkid yeah probably so, and low-end laptops are pretty cheap now days.

Edited February 19, 2021 by Mr.Rocket

[ReX]

1 minute ago, Doomkid said:

 Probably even cheaper if they buy used.

I have a half-dozen old computers that I'd gladly donate, and each one is capable of running DooM, most of its source ports, and most of its map editors. However, no one wants a mini-tower running a 15-year old operating system.

 

(The only reason I haven't tossed them in the trash is I don't want to clog up the landfills. F*ckin' bleedin' heart that I am.)

[Doomkid]

I'm the same, I have a bunch of old tech bits I haven't tossed out just because I want to keep them away from the landfill as long as I can.. Not to get too off topic or anything!

[Mr.Rocket]

@ReX and @Doomkid, same here man.. I don't have any real reason, I just don't want to get rid of them lol.

Edited February 19, 2021 by Mr.Rocket

[thelazyqdude]

Looks like the real takeaway from the answers here are: 

 

No, but there are ways. Except you have to be genuinely insane to try any of them.

[Lawrence]

No.

 

However, the hardware needed to develop and test Doom maps is pretty modest these days.  The DOS version of DOOM runs extremely well on anything Pentium or later and requires no graphics card--as in as long as you have a computer made in 1994 or later you should be OK. 

 

Limit-removing source ports and GZDoom isn't particularly demanding for machines made since 2005 or so unless you load extremely huge maps on it.  Brutal doom adds some requirements on top of that.

 

What I'm saying is if you get some cheap old laptop from 2011 you'll be mostly fine.  WADs aren't huge files, so even if you have no permanent Internet connection the files can be moved back and forth easily via a cloud service on something like a hotspot or public Wifi (you could even use a USB drive to transfer to a friend's house if you wanted), and it won't matter if you have an SSD or not.

Edited February 19, 2021 by Lawrence

[Sectorslayer]

Well, the way Doom mapping works is obviously not a very good fit for touch UIs. But this is basically a challenge for creative  developers!
 

What I would like to have is a way to edit on a tablet or without a mouse when I’m not at my desk. This way one could a t least sketch some map flows...

[Mr.Rocket]

Tablet with a stylus may be doable?

[ReX]

11 hours ago, Lawrence said:

The DOS version of DOOM runs extremely well on anything Pentium or later and requires no graphics card--as in as long as you have a computer made in 1994 or later you should be OK.

I originally started playing DooM on an i486 machine, which predates a Pentium. The game was very playable.

[Pegleg]

17 minutes ago, ReX said:

I originally started playing DooM on an i486 machine, which predates a Pentium. The game was very playable.

 

I also started playing Doom on a 486, specifically a 486 DX-33 (that's 33 MHz for those who can't fathom a computer running below 1 GHz) and I don't remember there being any issues at all. The game was very fluid. I think it was supposed to be able to run decently even on a 386, but I can't personally vouch for that; the only other computer we had back in 1994 was a 286 that only had a 40 MB hard drive and a 5.25" floppy disk drive.

[ReX]

30 minutes ago, Pegleg said:

.... the only other computer we had back in 1994 was a 286 that only had a 40 MB hard drive and a 5.25" floppy disk drive.

I had a 286 with only 20 MB hard drive + 5.25" floppy drive. I recall playing the original Prince of Persia on that computer.

 

But staying on topic, I also think that creating maps using pen and paper can be a creative way to do things. Others have suggested this, and I wholeheartedly endorse this idea. (Granted, the map won't be playable until it is translated into an actual wadfile, but it will allow for spatial visualization, game-flow and progression, and combat.)

[Retro Dino]

I used to want a program like Doom builder on the PS4, that would be pretty cool. 

[roadworx]

you could try hex editing on a smartphone if you have a few years of freetime