Beginner question.

[Green_Doomulon]

Hello. I recently started using doom builder with the intention of making hexen maps. I've already played around with the builder and gotten the hang of the basics of map making. As a newbie though, I was wondering if there were any go-to tutorials or wikis to help get started on making hexen maps proper. Also forgive me if I have posted this in the wrong section. (I say hexen specifically because I understand hexen maps are a different beast to doom maps).

[Dark Pulse]

43 minutes ago, Green_Doomulon said:

Hello. I recently started using doom builder with the intention of making hexen maps. I've already played around with the builder and gotten the hang of the basics of map making. As a newbie though, I was wondering if there were any go-to tutorials or wikis to help get started on making hexen maps proper. Also forgive me if I have posted this in the wrong section. (I say hexen specifically because I understand hexen maps are a different beast to doom maps).

Hexen is definitely a trickier beast because you have to learn several other things beyond regular Doom mapping (most notably, ACS). Or rather, you don't HAVE to use ACS... but Hexen's main selling point was the scriptability that ACS provided it that made it unlike any other game on the engine.

 

While there's no dedicated "make a Hexen map" tutorial, the ZDoom Wiki has plenty of tutorials related to ACS that you can look into.

Edited January 14, 2022 by Dark Pulse

[Dusty_Rhodes]

1 hour ago, Dark Pulse said:

While there's no dedicated "make a Hexen map"

And that's a problem. I've been wanting to map for Hexen for a long time now. Every time I open the editor, I get lost. It's a different beast entirely to Doom and Heretic. The way tags and poly objects work elude me. Anything would be a great help.

[Dark Pulse]

3 hours ago, Dusty_Rhodes said:

And that's a problem. I've been wanting to map for Hexen for a long time now. Every time I open the editor, I get lost. It's a different beast entirely to Doom and Heretic. The way tags and poly objects work elude me. Anything would be a great help.

But... those are covered. You just need to do a little searching.

 

Note though, these tutorials only apply to the Hexen map format. If you're attempting to do UDMF, that's an entirely different beast.

Edited January 14, 2022 by Dark Pulse

[Green_Doomulon]

OK that's on me. I should have mentioned I'm attempting to do udmf. Would it be a better idea to try to make a regular hexen map?

[boris]

Does your target port support UDMF? Then use UDMF. Otherwise don't.

[Green_Doomulon]

By target port I'm guessing you mean gzdoom or zandronum. I test play the map I've made on gzdoom so I'm assuming it supports udmf. Again forgive my lack of knowledge here I have only been using doom builder for a few weeks.

[Dark Pulse]

18 hours ago, Green_Doomulon said:

By target port I'm guessing you mean gzdoom or zandronum. I test play the map I've made on gzdoom so I'm assuming it supports udmf. Again forgive my lack of knowledge here I have only been using doom builder for a few weeks.

GZDoom definitely supports UDMF. (In fact, most of the "main" ports do - Eternity, GZDoom (and its variants), 3DGE, Vavoom, ZDoom, Skulltag, and Zandronum. Supposedly Doomsday will support it at some point as well. Tool support is also via ZDBSP, Doom Builder 2 (and its successor forks such as Doom Builder X/GZDoom Builder Bugfix/Ultimate Doom Builder) and SLADE 3.

 

UDMF is a lot trickier because, as you said, a lot of it actually is really different from standard Doom (and even Hexen) mapping. A lot of properties are basically a lot more "directly settable" for lack of a better phrase.

 

Chubzdoomer had a pretty good video explaining the different formats.

 

 

[Sneezy McGlassFace]

I guess there's not much talked about hexen format, since it's considered obsolete. Instead, udmf is being highly encouraged. I love hexen format just because my favourite editor doesn't support udmf, so I'm either stuck with vanilla or hexen. Zdoom wiki has articles on all the linedef specials (the numbered actions) so I recommend looking through those. 

 

But as others said, if you can use udmf, use udmf instead of hexen. 

[smeghammer]

2 hours ago, HrnekBezucha said:

hexen format, since it's considered obsolete

Dunno about that... For us Linux users, the only realistic option natively is Eureka, ands this does not (yet) support UDMF. There is plenty of scope to make some pretty cool stuff using DiHF. Agreed, UDMF does have some neat additional features over DiHF but you can be pretty creative with Hexen format too.

[Sneezy McGlassFace]

@smeghammer Don't get me wrong, I love Hexen format. And I love Eureka. Slade is on all the platforms and does support UDMF. Or you can run UDB through Wine, I've heard it works just fine. Just need graphics card that supports OpenGL 3.3 or better. If you're running a modern windows machine, and want to escape the shackles of vanilla mapping, UDB with UDMF is arguably the best option.

 

I make maps in Hexen format because it lets me do a bunch of awesome stuff and fits my limitations.

[Green_Doomulon]

Thank you for all your help and assistance. I have made my first map. And would like to share it with you all once I've gone through it with a fine tooth comb.