WADS of WADS/WadsOfWads.1994.zip/OTHER_ED/DMFE/DMFE.DOC

Text File | 1994-01-23 | 10KB | 200 lines

    DMFE version 0.0.1 - DMAUD Front-End, January 1994 by Douglas Reedy

               Because good code requires little documentation,
                      this documentation is lengthy.

    WHAT?
    -----
    DMFE provides a simple front-end to Bill Neisius' excellent utility,
    DMAUD, which allows you to swap out the sound files used by i.d.
    Software's great DOOM adventure game with sound files of your own
    choosing. DMAUD supports WAV, VOC, SND, AU, and other formats
    at any sampling rate; DMAUD will convert them as necessary.

    DMFE creates a DOS batch file that calls DMAUD to quickly replace
    the current DOOM sounds with your selections. DMFE can also recall
    your selections for later tweaking if you pass the name of the DOS
    batch file (usually MAKEMAUD.BAT) back to DMFE on the command line.

    DMFE relies on DMAUD for the following tasks:

        1) To preview sounds in the DOOM .WAD file
        2) To finally alter the DOOM .WAD with the sounds you've selected
           from your own personal collection via the MAKEMAUD.BAT batch file.

    In short, you'll need DMAUD for DMFE to be of any use whatsoever.


    WHY?
    ----
    We're not really sure. Assumably because you've played DOOM until
    your eyes have begun to bleed. In your twisted state, you've
    rationalized that playing DOOM just ONE MORE TIME would somehow be
    justified if the sounds were different. Enter DMAUD.

    DMFE is the parasitic tick that feeds on the life blood of DMAUD.
    Swapping DOOM sounds becomes easier with DMFE, and you can reuse
    your new selections later when you to tweak one or two of them.
    DMFE creates a simply batch file, MAKEMAUD.BAT, that feeds the
    hungry DMAUD beast with the DOOM slot numbers and sound files you
    select during your DMFE session.


    HOW?
    ----
    First, make sure you have extracted DMAUD to your DOOM directory.
    DMAUD works with the DOOM.WAD or DOOM1.WAD file, depending on your
    version of DOOM. If DMAUD can't see the .WAD file, it will tell you
    so during your DMFE session. This can be rather messy.

    Second, extract the DMFE files to your DOOM directory.
    DMFE works with DMAUD, and if DMFE can't see DMAUD, it will tell you
    so during your DMFE session. This can also be rather messy.

    You are now ready to start DMFE:

        E:\DOOM> DMFE [ENTER]

    DMFE checks for the presence of a configuration file, DMFE.CFG.

    If found, DMFE will load the locations of directories that contain
    sound files on your system. Presently DMFE only loads 3 directories;
    one per WAV, VOC, and SND formats, in that order. You can edit
    the DMFE.CFG file with the editor of your choosing, assuming said
    editor writes standard ASCII text. DOS 5/6's EDIT is a sound choice.

    If DMFE.CFG is not found in the current directory, you will be prompted
    for the three afore-mentioned directories in a very spartan, no-frills
    way. This means that you only get one chance to type things correctly.
    Use your DOS editor to change DMFE.CFG, or just blow it away and run
    DMFE again.

    In addition to the pathnames to your sounds files, DFME prompts for the
    name of a DOS sound player utility which presumably came with your
    sound device. For example, the Pro Audio Spectrum comes with a utility
    called PLAYFILE.EXE which plays WAV and VOC (but not SND) files from DOS.
    A great utility for general-purpose playback of WAV/VOC/SND/AU/etc files
    is PLANY by DMAUD's author, Bill Neisius.

    Once you've given DMFE the configuration information (or once the
    existing configuration file is found and loaded), DMFE will attempt
    to load all of the sound files it finds in the directories you entered.

    If DMFE can't find any sound files at all, it will terminate with an
    error message telling you so. You'll need to either edit the DMFE.CFG
    file or delete it and run DMFE again to correct this problem.

    If DMFE finds sound files, it proceeds to display a list the 49 DOOM
    sound slots, a description for each slot, a sample number, and a
    filename for the replacement sound, ie:

         1: Pistol fire                              0:  [ none ]
          .
          .
          .
        49: Player punching                          0:  [ none ]

    The following keystrokes are active during your DMFE session:

    KEYSTROKE       DESCRIPTION
    --------------  --------------------------------------------------------
    Down Arrow      Increment slot number (move down the list of slots)
    Up Arrow        Decrement slot number (move up the list of slots)
    Right Arrow     Increment the soundfile list by one (1)
    Left Arrow      Decrement the soundfile list by one (1)
    PageDown        Increment the soundfile list by ten (10)
    PageUp          Decrement the soundfile list by ten (10)
    Home            Go to top of soundfile list (0)
    End             Go to end of soundfile list (x)
    Delete          Remove (zero) replacement sound from current slot (0)
    ENTER           Playback the replacement sound using your DOS player
    Ctrl-ENTER      Playback the original slot sound using DMAUD
    Any other key   Jump to the next soundfile whose name begins with <key>
    ESC-ESC         Save your selections to the MAKEMAUD.BAT batch file.
                    (Any existing MAKEMAUD.BAT will be renamed automatically.)
    ------------------------------------------------------------------------

    NOTE: DMFE attempts to redirect any textual output from your DOS sound
          player to the NUL device to prevent your DMFE session from getting
          cluttered with extraneous messages. If your DOS player bypasses
          the BIOS or does not recognize the command-line options provided by
          DMFE, previewing a replacement sound file by pressing ENTER may not
          be worthwhile. The solution here is either to simply not press ENTER
          or to obtain a well-behaved player such as PLANY.

          DMFE also attempts to redirect the textual output from DMAUD to
          the NUL device when Ctrl-ENTER is used to playback the original
          sound file from the current DOOM .WAD file. However, any error
          messages from DMAUD will not be redirected.

    WHEN?
    -----
    The first time you run DMFE and save your selections with ESC-ESC,
    the initial MAKEMAUD.BAT batch file will be created. If a MAKEMAUD.BAT
    file already exists in the current directory, DMFE will rename it and
    write a new MAKEMAUD.BAT batch file. The name DMFE selects is based on
    your computer's internal clock, so pay attention to the message DMFE
    spits out when you press ESC-ESC.

    You may wish to later tweak the replacement sound settings after you
    have saved them with DMFE and given them a test drive in DOOM. To do
    so, simply pass the name of the .BAT file DMFE created back to DMFE
    when you start the program, ie:

        E:\DOOM> dmfe makemaud.bat [ENTER]

                      or

        E:\DOOM> dmfe 172382.bat [ENTER]

    In order for this to work properly, DMFE must be able to find the
    the exact same sound filename in the directories you've told it to
    scan. If you rename, move, or delete a sound file or change the
    original search directory in DMFE.CFG, you'll see "[ none ]" in the
    slot where the sound file had been. Common sense is applicable here.


    WHERE?
    ------
    If you have any comments or suggestions, feel free to write me on
    the internet: [e-mail].

    DMFE is freeware. Distribute it wherever you like, just don't alter
    the original archive in any way or a host of Demon Lords will pay
    a visit to you as you sleep. And you'll get a nasty hangnail, too.

    And now, the obligatory disclaimer: use DFME entirely at your own risk.
    But using DFME, you agree to hold me harmless for whatever misfortune
    might befall you, for whatever reason.

    For example, I am not responsible if, when you run DFME, your:

        ■ hard disk stops spinning or suddenly bursts into flames
        ■ monitor explodes and rips off your face
        ■ monitor implodes and sucks in your toupee
        ■ CPU superheats and burns through the motherboard
        ■ floppy drive motors spin in reverse, and only on Sundays
        ■ sound device feeds back and blows your speakers
        ■ CD-ROM becomes a write-only read-once device
        ■ heart stops because you over-exerted yourself typing "DMFE"
        ■ modem starts calling up young boys to come over and "play"
        ■ modem starts dialing 1-900 or 1-976 phone sex numbers
        ■ keyboard becomes pressure-sensitive and will only operate
          at high velocities.

    These, and any other problem you experience, are yours to keep.
    I am not, will not, and will never be held responsible for anything.
    Period. If you don't agree to these terms, you aren't licensed to
    run DMFE on any system you own and I invite you to delete DFME now.

    Isn't it sad that needs to be said at all?

    For the rest of you, I sincerely hope you find DMFE useful. Your
    comments/suggestions will serve to motivate me to improve DMFE.

    Enjoy!

    Douglas Reedy
    [e-mail]