Adding new Skys Via MAPINFO (Gzdoom)

[Phade102]

Hi, I'm looking at some skyboxes I'd like to add to my wad, but I wasn't sure how I could go about it. do I have to replace the default sky textures? or can I actually add new ones? if I can just add new ones, could someone possibly give me a link to a step by step guide on how to do so? The default doom 2 skies are rather...bland.

[Voros]

https://zdoom.org/wiki/MAPINFO/Map_definition for starters.

 

Or you can just replace the RSKY lumps and edit the TEXTURE1 lump to make your skies have a unique 360 degrees look.

[Empyre]

Yes, you can add new ones. Assuming you know how to add a new texture, here's an example MAPINFO, the one from my empyrion wad:

defaultmap
{
sky1 = "SKY6", 0
sucktime = 0
evenlighting
}

map MAP01 "Wheel in the Sky"
{
music = "D_MAP01"
par = 900
sky1 = "SKY4", 0
next = "MAP02"
}

map MAP02 "Spaceport"
{
music = "D_MAP02"
par = 900
next = "MAP03"
}

map MAP03 "Basement"
{
music = "D_MAP03"
par = 1800
next = "MAP04"
}

map MAP04 "Fortress"
{
music = "D_MAP04"
par = 1800
next = "MAP05"
}

map MAP05 "Cave"
{
music = "D_MAP05"
par = 900
next = "MAP06"
}

map MAP06 "Castle"
{
music = "D_MAP06"
par = 2700
totalinfighting
next = "MAP07"
}

map MAP07 "Dungeon"
{
music = "D_MAP07"
par = 2200
next = "MAP08"
}

map MAP08 "Temples"
{
music = "D_MAP08"
par = 3300
next = "MAP09"
}

map MAP09 "Descent"
{
music = "D_MAP09"
par = 3300
next = "MAP10"
}

map MAP10 "Into Hell"
{
music = "D_MAP10"
par = 3300
sky1 = "SKY3", 0
next = "MAP11"
secretnext = "MAP31"
}

map MAP11 "Hellkeep"
{
music = "D_MAP11"
par = 3300
sky1 = "SKY3", 0
next = "MAP12"
}

map MAP12 "Infernal Tower"
{
music = "D_MAP12"
par = 2700
sky1 = "SKY3", 0.05
next = "MAP01"
}

map MAP31 "Hypercube"
{
music = "D_MAP31"
par = 1800
sky1 = "SKY3", 0
next = "MAP01"
secretnext = "MAP32"
}

map MAP32 "You Gotta Be Kidding"
{
music = "D_MAP32"
par = 900
totalinfighting
next = "MAP11"
}

map OLD01 "Spaceport from the 90s"
{
music = "D_OLD01"
par = 3600
nojump
nocrouch
next = "OLD02"
}

map OLD02 "Castle from the 90s"
{
music = "D_OLD02"
par = 2700
nojump
nocrouch
next = "OLD03"
}

map OLD03 "Dungeon from the 90s"
{
music = "D_OLD03"
par = 2200
nojump
nocrouch
next = "OLD01"
}

clearepisodes

episode MAP01
{
name = "Empyre's Big Adventure"
}

episode OLD01
{
name = "Empyre's Old Maps"
}

 

Here is ZDoom Wiki's page about map definition in MAPINFO.

[Phade102]

Thanks! I know how to do the mapinfo, i've already changed the sky textures (using the stock doom2 sky) and the map names and such. I'm just still a bit unsure how to add new textures. is there a guide on that that you guys would know of?

[Gez]

Use a texture editor if you want to make composite textures.

 

Otherwise, you can just stick graphics in the textures namespace and you're done.

 

Relevant links:

• TX_START
• Namespace
• TEXTURES
• How to Import Textures
• Sky

 

[Phade102]

Managed to get some textures added, trying to add the tnt sky textures but i'm having difficulty figuring out how, they dont seem to be just a single texture in the list...Im sure ill figure it out. Thanks Gez and everyone else.

[Phade102]

Okay, it seems i'm having trouble adding textures from realm667, because I already have a pnames and texture1 lump. Is there an easy workaround for that? I wanted to add the tnt textures, and some other little pieces for like, supports and such.

[Gez]

15 hours ago, Phade102 said:

trying to add the tnt sky textures but i'm having difficulty figuring out how, they dont seem to be just a single texture in the list...

They are composite textures: textures made up of patches.

 

Again, use a texture editor. If you use SLADE, you can open TNT.wad in a tab, your PWAD in another, then open the texture editors for both. Now go to the texture editor tab for TNT, select and copy the sky textures, go to the texture editor tab for your PWAD, paste the sky textures, and there you go, it's done.

[Phade102]

8 minutes ago, Gez said:

They are composite textures: textures made up of patches.

 

Again, use a texture editor. If you use SLADE, you can open TNT.wad in a tab, your PWAD in another, then open the texture editors for both. Now go to the texture editor tab for TNT, select and copy the sky textures, go to the texture editor tab for your PWAD, paste the sky textures, and there you go, it's done.

Ah, so, leading on from that, the texture wad  contains 208 tnt textures. however, if I move them into my wad, only 194 show up. would that be due to the composite textures just merging into one sky texture? Sorry for asking all these questions Gez, I just wanna learn.

[Gez]

Please try to use the lingo; it'll make everything easier. I have no idea what precisely you mean by 208 textures that become 194.

 

 

So, for example, in TNT.wad, there are 2484 graphic lumps. They are decomposed like this:

• 292 interface graphics (status bar stuff, menu stuff, level names, full-screen images like the title picture and casting call background, and so on).
• 1381 sprites (monsters, items, weapons, decoration, SFX, and whatever else).
• 664 texture patches. These are what textures are made of, but they are not textures! They're patches. Call them patches.
• 147 flats. They're textures for the floors and ceilings, but don't call them textures, just call them flats.

292+1381+664+147=2484. Those are the entirety of every single image inside the TNT IWAD. Note how there isn't a single texture in that (besides flats).

 

If we open the texture editor, we see there are two or three relevant lumps: TEXTURE1, TEXTURE2 (optional), and PNAMES. In TNT, there is only TEXTURE1 and PNAMES. Let's look at PNAMES first. There are 666 patches in there (that number might not be a coincidence). Here you should ask "but there were only 664 patches in the graphics! Why are there two more here?" The answer is that two sprites are used as patches, too. (Specifically: TFOGF0 and TFOGI0, used in textures SLAD10 and SLAD11. It's part of that computer screen animation where "UAC" is replaced by "TNT".) You can use sprites as patches because they are in the same format. You could also use interface graphics as patches, all you need to do is add them to PNAMES and there you go.

 

There are 562 textures in TEXTURE1. So: 666 patches, 562 textures. The number of patches isn't necessarily the same as the number of textures. This is because:

1. The same patch can be used in several textures
2. The same texture can be made of several patches

Typical example: switches. SW1BLUE is made of three patches (COMP03_1, COMP03_2, SW2_7) and SW2BLUE is also made of three patches (COMP03_1, COMP03_2, SW2_8). The first two patches are also used in the texture COMPBLUE. In fact SW1/2BLUE are pretty much just COMPBLUE with a switch on it. SW2_7/8 are also used for several other textures, like SW1/2HOT, SW1/2MARBLE, and more. So in this example, with four patches, we have defined three textures (one plain, one with an unactivated switch, and one with an activated switch).

 

Inversely, some textures are made of only one patch. BRONZE1 is made of RW10_1. RW10_1 is used only in BRONZE1. Sometimes, a textures is made of only one patch, but used several times: BIGDOOR6 is made of DOOR11_1, but there are three DOOR11_1. (In that case, it's because DOOR11_1 is only 120 pixels wide, and BIGDOOR6 needed to be 128 pixels wide, so the two cloned patches are used only for 4 columns each on the sides.) Another good example is LITE3. Each individual lamp is made of three patches (WLITA0, WLITB0, WLITC0), with B0 being doubled. And there are 16 lamps. So in the total, LITE3 uses WLITA0 16 times, WLITB0 32 times, and WLITC0 16 times.

 

Really my biggest advice here is to play with the texture editor a bit just to understand how it works. Don't try to do anything serious yet, just get a feel for it.

[Phade102]

Thank you Gez. I think i'm going to do just that. I'll open my old wad (not my current one) and play around with adding some textures and such.