Deathday Collection/dday.bin/edit/doomeci/doomex.txt

Text File | 1994-09-11 | 8KB | 176 lines

DOOMEX - DOOM Resource Export Utility
         Version 1.0 as of 9/1/94

NOTICE: The author of DOOMEX, DOOMIM, and DOOMCV will not be held
        responsible for damage or problems that may occur through
        use of this software. You accept full responsibility for
        the consequences of using this software.


DOOMEX is part of a collection of 3 utilities used to import, export, and
convert the resource objects in any DOOM WAD file. The other 2 programs in
this set are DOOMCV, for converting modified data files (PCX, WAV, MUS, and
MAP) into raw DOOM resource image files (DRI), prior to reinsertion to a WAD
file, and DOOMIM, the batch import utility.

DOOMEX is very simple and very plain. Its job is to extract resources from
a WAD file and convert the data as necessary into individual files. DOOMEX
makes no assumptions about the WAD file, whether it is a PWAD or IWAD, or
whether it is from DOOM or DOOM II. The extracted files can be passed
onto some editing program(s), modifed and then reinserted into an existing
WAD file or a new patch WAD file using DOOMCV and DOOMIM.

DOOMEX assumes some knowledge of the entries in the WAD file. For example,
you should be aware that entries that begin with DS are sound sample
resources, entries that begin with D_ are music resources, and entries
contained between x_START and x_END zero length entries can be floor/ceiling
textures, sprites, or wall patches (raw graphic resources). If you wish to
work with level data, editors such as DEU, DOOMCAD, and DOOMED will work
directly with the resource entries for any level. DOOMEX will export map
level entries as numeric matrices with an extenstion of .MAP. You can edit
MAP files like any other DOS text file, and then reinsert the MAP files back
into the WAD file. DOOMEX does not identify any WAD entry name with a
formal description (such as using "Spider Demon" to identify WAD entry
SPIDA1D1). This ensures that new or unknown WAD entries won't confuse
DOOMEX.

DOOMEX comes with a small data file called DOOMEX.PAL. This is the default
DOOM color palette using when generating PCX files. If you don't have this
file, use the following procedure to generate the file:

doomex doom.wad playpal
ren playpal.dri doomex.pal

Don't worry about the file size of the PLAYPAL entry. DOOMEX only needs the
first 768 bytes of data.


DOOMEX Calling Syntax:

DOOMEX [-q] [-c] [-t] [-l[File Name]] [-m] <Wad File> [Entry Name] [Location]

1. Option -q will suppress all screen echoing during execution.

2. Option -c will convert specific entries to an appropriate external format.

   If the directory entry is a sound resource, the output file will be
   stored as a .WAV file.

   If the directory entry is a music resource, the output file will be
   stored as a .MUS file.

   If the directory entry is bounded within a sprite (S_START/E_END) area,
   a wall patch area (P_START/P_END) or a floor/ceiling texture area
   (F_START/F_END), the resource will be stored as a .PCX file.

   If the graphic resource is NOT a floor/ceiling texture, another
   file will be created with an extension of .DGH (DOOM graphic header).
   This file contains the width, height, left, and top offsets (insertion
   point) in a 1 line DOS text file. You MUST have this file available for
   conversion of the graphic using DOOMCV. You only need to modify the
   insertion point (top/left offset) if you change the graphic size.

   Like the program DMGRAPH, transparent areas will be shown with palette
   entry 247, which is set to CYAN (R=0,G=255,B=255) unless you override
   this with the -t option (see below).


   If the directory entry does not fit any of the above formats, then the
   resource will be stored as a PCX file ONLY if a valid image header in
   the resource can be located. WARNING! the check for whether a resource
   is an image or just some arbitrary data (such as PLAYPAL) is not
   bulletproof. Make SURE you know that a resource is a graphic image
   before using the -c option (if the resource falls within the sprite or
   texture entry areas, you can be sure that a proper PCX file will be
   generated).

   If you specify a map entry for exporting (i.e. E1M1), then the 10
   associated resources for that level (THINGS, SIDEDEFS, LINEDEFS,
   SECTORS, SSECTORS, NODES, REJECT, BLOCKMAP, VERTEXES, SEGS) will be
   dumped as numeric matrices in a file with an extension of MAP. The size
   of this file may be incredibly large (i.e. E2M7 will be more than half
   a megabyte in size). If you want to look at or edit this map file, you
   may choose to do so, but with many easy to use level editors available
   for changing this information, you'd be better off not modifying the
   MAP file.

   If you do NOT use option -c, then all entries will be dumped as
   raw image resource files with an extension of .DRI. This is the format
   DOOMIM needs for reinsertion of resources into a WAD file. The file
   size and contents will be exactly as they appear in the WAD file.

3. Option -t will cause the transparent color in the DOOM color palette to
remain black when an image is stored in a PCX file. Without using the -t
option, the transparent color will be changed to cyan so that you can see
what areas of an image show through.

4. Option -l will dump entries in the WAD file to a file that immediately
follows the -l parameter (i.e. use '-ldoomdir.txt', not '-l doomdir.txt').
No export function will be performed in this case. If you do not specify
a directory entry, the entire WAD directory will be dumped. If you do not
specify a file name, the entries will be listed to the screen.

5.Option -m will enable the entry name to be used as a wild card match string.
Matching is done from the first position of a WAD entry name. For example
to extract all player image data, use

    doomex -c -m doom.wad play

Since player sprites start with a 4 character prefix of 'PLAY', all player
sprites are extracted.

As another example, to export all sound samples in a WAD file, use the syntax:

doomex -m doom.wad ds

Thus, the -m parameter permits you to perform a batch operation on multiple
related resource objects at one time.

6. The location parameter can be used to extract entries that have the same
name (i.e. THINGS entries can occur more than once in a wad). Use the
starting location that is provided in the listing generated with the -l
option. You will rarely, if ever, need to specify the location of the
resource.

7. Exported resources will contain the same name as the directory entry,
unless the entry uses illegal DOS file characters, in which case a warning
will be given. You can override the naming of the exported file name by
following the WAD entry name with a colon and the file name (NO extension).

Example: doomex -c doom.wad spida1d1:spider

This example will generate 2 files: spider.pcx and spider.dgh. The override
mechansim is NOT valid when extracting a batch of files using the -m option.



Some examples of using DOOMEX follow:

doomex -ldoomdir.txt doom.wad
(list entire wad file to doomdir.txt)

doomex -m -c doom.wad d_
(export all music resources and convert to MUS format)

doomex -t -m -c doom.wad boss

(export all BOSS sprites as PCX files, don't change transparent color)

doomex doom.wad playpal

(export PLAYPAL as PLAYPAL.DRI)

doomex -m -c doom.wad f_
doomex -m -c doom.wad s_
doomex -m -c doom.wad p_

(export ALL floor textures, sprites, wall patches as PCX files, respectively)

Comments/Suggestions to:

Alan Peters
5475 Turney Drive
Mississauga, Ontario
Canada
L5M 1A3