WAD has no texture anymore

[Spenkie]

Hi guys,

 

So basically I'm completely new to Doom modding, but I tried to delete the custom weapons and enemies in the Paradise mod because it wasn't 'compatible' with other weapon mods, like GMOTA or Trailblazer. I also didn't want to keep the customized enemies of Paradise (again, because of GMOTA). So I downloaded Slade and deleted the files where the demons get replaced by their updated variants, but when I start the mod the textures won't load. Winrar says that the "Access is denied" for the texture pack. How fucked am I? Should I just stop trying to make this work?

 

Thanks in advance.

[smeghammer]

OK so what EXACTLY did you do within Slade to end up with a ZIP file? That link is a PK3 file - which is itself just a renamed extension ZIP file.

 

COPY IT FIRST!

 

Change the extension of the copy to .ZIP

 

make a root directory for the zipfile contents (~/t-paradise-v2/ or something)

and extract the zip file contents  here.

 

When done, you should see a directory structure like so:

 

 

You should then be able to remove the refs to the actors - look at the DECORATE file in the root (this decorate file just loads all the other decorate files defining the actors and weapons in /actors/weapons and /actors/monsters/), comment out the weapons, monsters etc. you don't want to be loaded.

 

Here, I just multiline commented all monsters:

 

/*** MONSTERS 
#include "actors/monsters/PyroDemon.dec"
#include "actors/monsters/TorturedSoul.dec"
#include "actors/monsters/Behemoth.dec"
#include "actors/monsters/Fusionite.dec"
#include "actors/monsters/Imp.dec"
#include "actors/monsters/DarkImp.dec"
#include "actors/monsters/MechaDemon.dec"
#include "actors/monsters/HellKnight.dec"
#include "actors/monsters/Draugr.dec"
#include "actors/monsters/PainElemental.dec"
#include "actors/monsters/LostSoul.dec"
#include "actors/monsters/ShotgunGuy.dec"
#include "actors/monsters/Cacodemon.dec"
#include "actors/monsters/Agathodemon.dec"
#include "actors/monsters/Exile.dec"
#include "actors/monsters/ChaingunGuy.dec"
#include "actors/monsters/CyberBaron.dec"
#include "actors/monsters/PlasmaZombie.dec"
#include "actors/monsters/Warlock.dec"
#include "actors/monsters/Slow.dec"
#include "actors/monsters/Diabolist.dec"
#include "actors/monsters/Cyberdemon.dec"
#include "actors/monsters/MachinegunGuy.dec"
#include "actors/monsters/SpiderMastermind.dec"
***/

You will end up with either the vanilla overrides no longer happening (e.g. imps) or you will see a bunch of questionmarks where new monsters were present (there is still a monster with a spawn ID placeholder on the map, but because the DECORATE code is no longer loaded, the engine doesn't know what to do with the thing there) - So you may need to remove these in your map editor. OR, just comment out the overridden monsters (look for the loaded decorate defs in /actors/monsters/ with a ThingName replaces ThingName) if you are confident that this is all that is needed to prevent conflicts.

 

The same thing will apply to the /actors/weapons/ overrides as well - just comment out the decorate lines in the root decorate file that load the custom weapons (I don't know if they are ALL overrides, so check that) IDK what other mod you are loading, but if it is just a weapon mod you are using, removing the weapon overrides might be all you need.

 

A couple of things to note:

 

 - Doing the above with the monsters and/or the weapons should not affect the textures at all! (there seem to be loads, in the /textures/* namespace)

 - The exploded ZIP file ROOT folder with your extracted files (e.g. /t-paradise-v2/) can be drag/dropped onto a GZDoom desktop icon directly, and the mod will load (just checked this and it works - nice mod BTW)

 - Zipping up the directory contents isn't necessary for testing - in fact it makes manipulating the data much easier to leave the directory structure in place until you are done.

 - when you ARE done, zip the contents of your root folder (DO NOT zip the root folder itself, otherwise the namespaces will not be correct). NOTE: You will end up with the zipped file as a direct child of the folder you created for the unzipping in the first place, so move it out!

 - a ZIP archive with the correct namespaces will load just like a PK3 with GZDoom.

 - you can therefore simply rename the .zip -> .pk3 once you are done.

 

Oh, and you probably won't need Slade at all. 

 

>>> EDIT <<<

Note: reading the tips, it's probably safer to use Slade to create the archive (though I haven't had any issues archiving with the Windows shell).

 

>>> EDIT #2 <<<

It's probably worth reading the /README (and maybe the /DOCUMENTATION) file(s) in the root of the PK3 structure as well - you will find some info about using gameplay mods

Edited May 8, 2023 by smeghammer
added note re location of resulting zip file

[ramon.dexter]

1) which mod? When speaking about a mod, paste a link. Dont expect others to know every mod for doom out there.

2) you really dont open wads with winrar.

3) godalmighty, why winrar? 7zip is waaaay better alernative.

[Spenkie]

Whoops my bad. Here is the link for the doom mod: https://www.moddb.com/mods/paradise . I also always unzip my wads with winrar and it has never given me any issues, but I guess I can give 7zip a try.

 

[Mr.Rocket]

Are you trying to access the wad with Slade while it's still compressed? ~ only reason I'd figure it would give an access denied..

 

Edited May 2, 2023 by Mr.Rocket

[Spenkie]

No, I don't think so. I unzip the edited wad, make a new folder for the textures (for some reason, it can't make it on its own) and then I load the wad, but with no textures present.

Also, the textures folder has to be manually made or else I get an error, so I kind of suspect that the problem lies there.

 

[Mr.Rocket]

I haven't downloaded it from there, either way, it shouldn't be that complicated to edit or at least look at a wad, i'm getting the impression that the archive is possibly corrupt?

[IcarusOfDaggers]

1. Delete the version you have.

2. Download the file again.

3. If it is a zip file, extract it. If it is a .wad or .pk3, ignore this step

4. open .wad or .pk3  with slade.

5. Click save as, save as a new seperate file

6. modify and save it.

Test it, if it still does not work, post it here.

[Spenkie]

Alright so basically I only deleted the codes with "Actor replaces: (original thing, like monster or weapon). Saved it, tried to extract it, because Slade turned it into a .zip. I tried it with bot WinRar and 7zip, but I get the same message: The system cannot find the path specified. I'm guessing it's hinting to a bunch of textures in the original wad that don't have a specified folder in Slade, because I have to manually make a "textures" folder to even run the modified mod, but then I get the whole "textures are missing" deal when I start my modified version. 

 

Btw, tried to upload the mods, both original and my modified one in my comment, but its too big apparently :/ . So I'll just have to answer everything as detailed as possible if that's alright.

[Spenkie]

Let me just state right away that this did work splendidly, so thanks for your help. The textures loaded perfectly and the monsters are back to their old vanilla selfs again. The weapons too are getting correctly converted when I load gameplay mods (or at least, the ones I tested.)  But I still have a few kinks I want to work out:

 

1. Some enemies are loading perfectly, but the zombieman doesn't, weirdly enough? Or at least it doesn't in the first level, but in the bonus maps they are spawned at random. Like I see an exclamation mark at one place where I know a zombieman is supposed to stand and I turn the corner and then there are four in a row just chilling :/. And it isn't even 100% random which will spawn and which won't spawn, I can point to the ones I know won't spawn and which will spawn. I just saw those exlamation marks like you said, but I didn't do anything special with its code that I also didn't do to the rest, which are loading correctly. So that's why I'm a bit puzzled.

I think the same also goes for the cyberdemon, but I didn't check every level so it might be okay in other levels, I don't know.

 

2. I also kept some of the original monsters, but when I try to keep the "Diabolist" (which shares a lot of code with the Arch-Vile I think?) it won't even load. Says that it "tried to define class: DiabolistFire" and things like that, but it also gives me problems with the "Agathodemon" all of a sudden? Like, I try to load 1 custom monster and it starts giving trouble with 2 different monsters?? Yeah, that last part is the weirdest part.

 

3. Not so much a problem as a question, but if I want to convert the sprites of new monsters back to their vanilla counterparts, do I just go to sprites/monsters and start deleting folders?

 

Again, thanks for the help, I really made some progress and I can't thank you enough.

[smeghammer]

You are welcome. :-)

 

It's OK to leave the actors where they are, and the associated sprites. It's the DECORATE code that is important. Like I said, some are NEW actors - these are the question marks you see - and some are over-ridden actors. The decorate files indicate which are over riden. The removal method I indicated is very crude...

 

1: Its possible that it is a new actor that looks/behaves like a zombieman? 

2: Possibly commenting out one will also not load another? Sometimes, you will see > 1 actor definition inside a decorate file. There's nothing stopping you splitting them out into separate files - just remember to load the ones you need...

3: Don't delete stuff. Removing a decorate that overrides an existing one *should* revert that monster to vanilla (and use the dafault sprites) Not sure what is going on here. I may have  a look at some point. 

 

XCan you let me know what you commented out? (I can try here later on)

 

Removing the actor/sprites rather than the decorate code will likely result in errors on startup because the decorate code WILL load, but won't be able to find sprites and/or the actor definition(s).

 

I don't know about the randomly spawned ones - I guess there is other decorate / ACS that randomly spawns an actor - and if it tries to spawn one that is commented out (i.e. does not exist any more), you will see the question marks again.

 

Someone more versed in the details of DECORATE may be able to assist more, but hopefully what I gave you is a starting point. 

Edited May 9, 2023 by smeghammer
added responses to questions

[Spenkie]

Yeah so I commented out all the ones that had "Actor (...) replaces  (...) in /actors/monsters/ and /actors/weapons/ and that's it.

 

Also try to keep the Diabolist in the WAD and check the Error tab, it's really weird. I checked the code for the Agathodemon and it doesn't even look like there's a connection between the two? I just find it weird. At least the WAD is now a bit more "playable", what with the custom monsters/weapons being replaced by other mods like normal. If you can't find a solution then that's fine to me. It's just a bit of an eyesore, but as far as I know the WAD is still playable, so I don't really care either way  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. 

Just try it out for yourself and let me know what happened if you can.

 

Edit: Just noticed that you also get an error when you comment out the /actors/keys/, but not when you comment out something else like /actors/AmmoPickups/ or /actors/HealthArmorPowerups/. If you got the time, then I would appreciate it if you checked that out too.

Edited May 10, 2023 by Spenkie