Shadow Warrior/SWARRIOR.bin/goodies/doc/README.TXT

Text File | 1997-08-25 | 11KB | 263 lines

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Getting Started Customizing Shadow Warrior
Written By Keith Schuler
(c) 1997 3D Realms Entertainment
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This file briefly explains how to get the Shadow Warrior utilities installed
and running on your computer. These utilities include BUILD (an editor for
creating your own levels), EDITART (allows you to put your own artwork into
the game), and SLABSPRI (a utility for creating Shadow Warrior's 3D sprites.)

Refer to these documents in the \GOODIES\DOC directory on your Shadow
Warrior CD for other important information:

ADVANCED.TXT - Brief explanations of room-over-room, sector objects, and
other advanced Shadow Warrior mapping topics.
EDITART.TXT  - Instructions and reference for using the EDITART program.
EXAMPLE.TXT  - Documentation to accompany EXAMPLE.MAP, which includes
demonstrations of almost all of Shadow Warrior's map functionality.
SLABSPRI.TXT - Instructions and reference for using the SLABSPRI program.
SWSOUNDS.TXT - An index of the sound effects and ambient sounds.
SPRITAGS.TXT - Sprite tagging reference. Your guide to all the special
sprites in Shadow Warrior and how to use them.
SWBUILD.TXT  - A tutorial and reference guide to using the BUILD editor.
WALLTAGS.TXT - Wall and sector tagging reference. These are all the wall and
sector tags used in Shadow Warrior.
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---------
Contents:
---------

Where To Look On The CD                                 1
How To Create A Working Directory                       2
        Why A Working Directory?                        2.1
        For Experienced Users Only                      2.2
        Creating The Directory                          2.3
                Using KEXTRACT                          2.3.1
                Using KGROUP                            2.3.2
Installing BUILD                                        3
        BUILD.EXE                                       3.1
        TILES000.ART - TILES021.ART                     3.2
        SWVOXFIL.TXT                                    3.3
        *.KVX                                           3.4
        PALETTE.DAT                                     3.5
        SETUP.DAT                                       3.6
        BSETUP.EXE                                      3.7
        TABLES.DAT                                      3.8
        *.MAP                                           3.9
Installing EDITART                                      4
        EDITART.EXE                                     4.1
        TILES000.ART - TILES021.ART                     4.2
        PALETTE.DAT                                     4.3
        TABLES.DAT                                      4.4
Installing SLABSPRI                                     5
        SLABSPRI.EXE                                    5.1
        PALETTE.DAT                                     5.2

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1.      Where To Look On The CD
-------------------------------

BUILD, EDITART, and SLABSPRI can all be found on the CD in the \GOODIES\TOOLS
directory. RTSMAKER, the utility for creating your own RTS taunt files,
can be found in the \GOODIES\RTS directory.


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2.      How To Create A Working Directory
-----------------------------------------

┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ This information is provided as is.  It is very possible to corrupt  │
│ your copy of Shadow Warrior, so make backups!!!  3D Realms & Apogee  │
│ cannot and will not support the use of this program.  If you choose  │
│ to use it, you do so on your own.  We cannot help with questions     │
│ about this program or its use.                                       │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

2.1     Why A Working Directory?

You should do all of your customizations to Shadow Warrior from a "working
directory." This is another directory containing the Shadow Warrior game,
plus the utilities and files you plan to use or need. Since you're going to
be modifying the actual Shadow Warrior game, its best to modify the
working version rather than your "clean" version. There are a three chief
reasons for this:

        1. If you change your game data, you probably won't be able to play
           a multiplayer game with somebody else, unless they've got the
           same modifications. It's good to have a clean version to play
           versus their clean version.
        2. You may accidentally corrupt the game data, in which case you
           may no longer be able to to play the game at all, even in solo
           mode. If this happens, it's nice to not have to re-install from
           the CD.
        3. Even if you don't corrupt the game, you may want to start a new
           modification from scratch, in which case again, its easier to
           recopy the clean version rather than re-install from the CD.

2.2     For Experienced Users Only

Another warning at this point: modifying Shadow Warrior files is best left
to experienced MS-DOS users, and probably not a good idea for novices. If
you find the task of using simple MS-DOS commands to be daunting, then you
may want to spend a little time learning DOS before you go about tackling
these Shadow Warrior utilities. None of them will run properly under
Windows 95, and they are anything but user friendly.

2.3     Creating The Directory

Create a directory ("md swwork", for instance) and copy all of the contents
of your Shadow Warrior directory into that directory. Then copy the contents
of the \GOODIES\TOOLS directory on the CD into your working directory. You
will then need to use KEXTRACT.

        2.3.1 Using KEXTRACT

        KEXTRACT is a utility for extracting files from the SW.GRP file.
        To use it, the command line format is:

        KEXTRACT [group file][@file or filespec...]

        The group file is SW.GRP. @file would be used to specify a list file,
        while filespec is the name of the actual file or files to extract.
        Wildcards are accepted. You will probably want to use the following
        command:

        KEXTRACT SW.EXE *.MAP *.ART *.DAT *.KVX *.TXT

        This will extract all of the necessary art and data files, as well
        as all of Shadow Warrior's level maps.

        2.3.2 Using KGROUP

        KGROUP is the opposite of KEXTRACT. You won't need to use it right
        now, but you may wish to use it later in order to pack your new
        data into the SW.GRP group file. The format of KGROUP is:

        KGROUP [group file][@file or filespec...]

        Again, wildcards are accepted. An example would be:

        KGROUP SW.GRP *.MAP

        This would pack every .MAP file in the directory into the SW.GRP
        file.


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3.      Installing BUILD
------------------------

BUILD needs all of the following files in the working directory. These can
all be extracted from SW.GRP by using KEXTRACT (see above.)

        3.1     BUILD.EXE

        This is the editor itself. See SWBUILD.TXT for more information
        about how to use this.

        3.2     TILES000.ART - TILES021.ART

        These are the art files. These contain all of the game's 2D art.
        If these aren't in the same directory as BUILD.EXE, then you won't
        be able to see anything in 3D edit mode.

        3.3     SWVOXFIL.TXT

        This is a script file for BUILD and the Shadow Warrior game itself.
        It tells these programs which sprite picnums are to be replaced by
        voxels (3D sprites.) If this isn't in the working directory, you
        won't be able to see the voxels in 3D edit mode.

        3.4     *.KVX

        The .KVX files are the voxel files themselves. The .KVX file is
        output by SLABSPRI.EXE.

        3.5     PALETTE.DAT

        This is the palette and translucency table for BUILD and the game.
        Without this, the colors will be wrong, if the program even runs
        at all.

        3.6     SETUP.DAT

        This is the configuration file for BUILD. It is produced by BSETUP.

        3.7     BSETUP.EXE

        This is a utility for configuring BUILD. Be warned that a -lot- of
        features in this program are actually not available or
        configurable. Your best bet is to use the default SETUP.DAT
        we provided, and never run BSETUP.

        3.8     TABLES.DAT

        This is additional information about the tile set. Required by BUILD
        and EDITART.

        3.9     *.MAP

        A .MAP file is the level data produced by BUILD. These should be in
        the same directory with BUILD so you can load them into the editor.
        BUILD will run without them, but you'll only be able to build a map
        from scratch.


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4.      Installing EDITART
--------------------------

You may as well keep EDITART in the same directory with BUILD. EDITART is
used to import custom 2D art into the Shadow Warrior. You will need the
following files in the same directory with EDITART in order to use it:

        4.1     EDITART.EXE

        This is the actual editing program. See EDITART.TXT for more info
        about how to use this.

        4.2     TILES000.ART - TILES021.ART

        These are the art files. These contain all of the game's 2D art.
        If these aren't in the same directory as EDITART.EXE, then you'll
        only be able to start a new set of .ART files from scratch.

        4.3     PALETTE.DAT

        This is the palette and translucency table for BUILD and the game.
        Without this, the colors will be wrong, if the program even runs
        at all.

        4.4     TABLES.DAT

        This is additional information about the tile set. Required by BUILD
        and EDITART.


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5.      Installing SLABSPRI
---------------------------

SLABSPRI is the utility for creating Shadow Warrior's voxels (3D sprites.)
You might want to keep SLABSPRI and its accompanying files in a directory
separate from BUILD and EDITART, and copy .KVX files over as you create them.

        5.1     SLABSPRI.EXE

        This is the actual voxel editor. See SLABSPRI.TXT for more
        information about how to use this.


        5.2     PALETTE.DAT

        This actually isn't entirely necessary, but it's not a bad idea to
        include it in the same directory.