How to Make Switches in Slade?

[WASFDDDDD]

This might sound like a stupid question, and it is, but how do I make switches in Slade? Like, literally just switches, to open doors or something. I'm trying to use Sector_Setlink, and whilst so far I don't think that's gonna work, doors also gave me trouble until I figured out you had to make the linedefs double sided for some reason, so IDK. I'm a complete beginner, and I find this very simple thing is absurdly unintuitive, and a complete lack of documentation doesn't help. (They seem to expect you to have at least a novice-level grasp on Doom mapping)

 

Below, I've provided some screenshots of the sector properties that might help.

[Stabbey]

Have you considered trying Ultimate Doom Builder instead? That's the current most popular option for editing maps, and there's an extensive set of tutorials you can find on these forums (Well, they use GZ Doombuilder, but that's the predecessor to UDB so it should be close enough for learning purposes):

 

 

Edited December 21, 2023 by Stabbey

[WASFDDDDD]

19 minutes ago, Stabbey said:

Have you considered trying Ultimate Doom Builder instead? That's the current most popular option for editing maps, and there's an extensive set of tutorials you can find on these forums (Well, they use GZ Doombuilder, but that's the predecessor to UDB so it should be close enough for learning purposes):

 

 

Yes. I tried it, I hated it, and now I want to use Slade instead.

[boris]

Making a switch is the same in Slade and UDB anyway, so changing editors wouldn't help.

[Gez]

8 hours ago, WASFDDDDD said:

doors also gave me trouble until I figured out you had to make the linedefs double sided for some reason, so IDK. I'm a complete beginner

Yeah, indeed. Doors have to be double-sided so that they can actually be opened. A single-sided line cannot be opened because, well, it is single-sided, what would it even open to if there's no other side?

 

Considering this, I wonder why you are trying to use linked sectors. They're kind of an advanced thing. You should focus on the basics first before attempting Rube Goldbergian complexity of having sectors that move when another sector moves. Because if all you want to do is have a switch that opens a door, you really don't need to use sector links.

[WASFDDDDD]

12 hours ago, Gez said:

Yeah, indeed. Doors have to be double-sided so that they can actually be opened. A single-sided line cannot be opened because, well, it is single-sided, what would it even open to if there's no other side?

 

Considering this, I wonder why you are trying to use linked sectors. They're kind of an advanced thing. You should focus on the basics first before attempting Rube Goldbergian complexity of having sectors that move when another sector moves. Because if all you want to do is have a switch that opens a door, you really don't need to use sector links.

Thought so. Now can you tell me how I actually do it?

[Aurelius]

A door, for example:

1. Set a tag for your door sector.

2. Edit the linedef you want to activate the door.

3. From Special tab set Door_Open or Door_Raise for your door, depending on the behavior you want.

4. From the same tab select the activation method, like Player Use. Also set Repeatable if you need it to, well, be repeatable.

5. From Args tab set the Sector tag (the one you set for the door sector), Speed etc. until you're satisfied with how it behaves.

6. Make sure the front side of the linedef is pointing in the direction you want it activated from. You can use F to flip two-sided linedefs.

 

Note that a door is essentially a ceiling that raises 4 units below lowest adjacent ceiling, so make sure your sector geometry makes this possible.

 

Line action reference: https://zdoom.org/wiki/Action_specials

Edited December 22, 2023 by Aurelius

[WASFDDDDD]

On 12/21/2023 at 10:17 PM, Aurelius said:

A door, for example:

1. Set a tag for your door sector.

2. Edit the linedef you want to activate the door.

3. From Special tab set Door_Open or Door_Raise for your door, depending on the behavior you want.

4. From the same tab select the activation method, like Player Use. Also set Repeatable if you need it to, well, be repeatable.

5. From Args tab set the Sector tag (the one you set for the door sector), Speed etc. until you're satisfied with how it behaves.

6. Make sure the front side of the linedef is pointing in the direction you want it activated from. You can use F to flip two-sided linedefs.

 

Note that a door is essentially a ceiling that raises 4 units below lowest adjacent ceiling, so make sure your sector geometry makes this possible.

 

Line action reference: https://zdoom.org/wiki/Action_specials

Right, so this didn't work when I applied it to my exisiting switch, but when I made a new one, it just worked like a charm. Are there any things which will often mess it up, for some reason?

[Aurelius]

1 minute ago, WASFDDDDD said:

Right, so this didn't work when I applied it to my exisiting switch, but when I made a new one, it just worked like a charm. Are there any things which will often mess it up, for some reason?

My guess is you had accidentally borked the original by attempting to make it work, and by starting again from scratch you got it right. It's fairly common, sometimes it's good to just reset the setup and try again (I do this pretty often).

 

Wrt common issues, probably mostly just forgetting to tag either the sector or line, or to set the activation method.  With Slade you can also forget to set the speed, which is not an issue in DB-family editors since they (fortunately) default to something other than 0. The rest are often specific to the actions themselves, like with doors you have to make sure the lowest adjacent ceiling is at a height you want the door to raise to.