WADS of WADS/WadsOfWads.1994.zip/UNSORTED/WM150.ZIP/WM.DOC

Text File | 1994-06-23 | 12KB | 252 lines

WadManager v1.50
----------------

Disclaimer
----------
I hold no responsibility for any loss or damage caused by the use of WadManager
I have tested this version thoroughly and it shouldn't cause any problems. Of
course I know the program and know what it's supposed to do, and what it isn't,
but I have tried to make it crashproof and hopefully foolproof. Use and enjoy!

Introduction
------------
Hello DOOMers, here is a small utility I have created that allows you to
easily choose and load all those extra levels that have been uploaded to the
DOOM sites. WadManager works with DOOM 1.2 only.
The WadManager distribution is composed of 4 (four) files :

    WM.COM - The executable - run this by typing WM at the prompt
    WM.EXE - The main program - do not run this
    WM.INI - Configuration file
    WM.DOC - This file

Requirements
------------
    DOOM 1.2 - If you don't have this...
    a mouse  - Sorry, no keyboard support yet ( if ever )
    a VGA    - Well, if you have DOOM...

How to setup WadManager
-----------------------
Edit the WM.INI file to reflect your configuration.
The available settings are :

  DOOMDIR - Where DOOM is, obviously
  WADDIR - Where your WADs are stored
  IPXDRIVER - The name (no path) of the IPX driver (default IPXSETUP.EXE)
  SERDRIVER - The name (no path) of the serial driver (default SERSETUP.EXE)
  IPXSOCKET - The network socket you usually use (default 0)
  MODEMNUMBER - The number of your favourite DOOM modem user
  AUTORET - YES/NO if you want WadManager to put a return keypress in the
    keyboard buffer automatically in network/modem/serial modes. If your
    serial/network driver expects input before running DOOM then put NO
    here, otherwise put YES (default YES)
    If used in combination with the MODEMCFG option, then WM will put the
    relevant keys in the buffer so you don't have to do it yourself.
    Warning : this last part hasn't been fully tested, so if SER4 doesn't
    work report it to me and I'll fix it.
  AUTOLOAD - A semicolon separated list of the WADs you want WM to
    automatically select on startup. Useful for WADs with graphics and
    music. (default none).
  MODEMCFG - YES/NO if you are using SER4 this will modify the MODEM.CFG so
    that parameters can be passed to DOOM. WM expects MODEM.CFG to be in the
    DOOMDIR. (default NO) WARNING : This has not been fully tested.
    If you use this feature, leave the lines for episode, savegame,
    no monsters, respawn and devparm blank.
  COM - 1,2,3 or 4. The COM port you want to use in serial/modem modes.
    (default 1).

Only WADDIR and DOOMDIR are compulsory, all the others have the standard
default values.

Now you're ready to run WadManager.

Using WadManager
----------------
Just type WM at your DOS prompt and WadManager's main screen will appear
showing all the available WADs in three columns. If the WADs don't fit on the
screen two arrows will appear at the bottom of the screen so you can scroll
up and down. Clicking with the left button on these arrows will scroll one
line at a time, while clicking with the right button will scroll a whole page
at a time.
    The first WAD on the screen will always be the original DOOM.WAD.
If you have put any WAD names in the AUTOLOAD setting they will already be
selected. You can select a WAD by left-clicking on it. Doing this will remove
all previous selections. If, instead, you want to select a WAD without
deselecting all the others, right-click on it. Selected WADs have a number
on the left indicating the order in which they will be loaded. You can
deselect a previously selected WAD by right-clicking on it again.
    The maximum number of WADs you can select is 9, and if this seems to you
like an annoying limitation, bear in mind that the DOS command line can't be
longer than 127 characters, and if you select lots of WADs and extra options,
you can understand that it can grow to enormous sizes. Blame Microsoft ( as
usual ). If only iD allowed the use of a response file... maybe 1.4 will.
Anyway WM will tell you if the command line is too long. I have chosen to
allow a maximum of nine WADs to be loaded because that is the number of
missions in an episode.

After you have selected the WAD or WADs you want to load just click on OK
and a dialog box will appear letting you choose from Standard, Network, Modem
and Serial games, what level to start from and what difficulty skill. You
can also choose No Monsters and Respawn. If you have selected multiple WADs,
WM will check that these WADs don't change the same levels. If this happens
you will be presented with the option of returning to the WAD selection screen
or continue. Be aware of the fact that DOOM will use the resources in the last
loaded file first, working its way backwards.

Click on the DOOM button to start DOOM or the CANCEL button to return to the
list of WADs.

If you have chosen Serial, Modem or Network game, instead of starting DOOM, a
second window will appear allowing you to change the settings for that
particular mode. You can choose Cooperative or Deathmatch modes, starting from
a particular saved game, what IPX socket to use or what phone number to call.

After you have finished playing, quit DOOM and you'll return to WadManager
where you can choose other WADs or exit by clicking on the QUIT button.

Other Functions
---------------
The DELETE button will delete all selected WADs from your hard disk. If your
selection contains DOOM.WAD, then you won't be able to delete the other WADs.
Just deselect DOOM.WAD and press the DELETE button again. WM asks you to
confirm your choice, but it DOESN'T ask for confirmation for every file.
If you delete a WAD by mistake, quit immediately and undelete it, before any
other program overwrites the disk space.

The ABOUT button is self explanatory.

The INFO button gives more information about the tagged WADs : what levels
they contain, if they have new sounds, music, graphics or demos. If you click
on a WAD, another window will pop up allowing you to change the missions in
it. To do so just drag and drop the ticks from their original position to the
new one. By clicking on the SAVE button, WadManager will change the PWAD to
reflect your edits. This feature is useful if you want to play with multiple
WADs, but some of them have clashing levels, or have missions in different
episodes, or you prefer another mission's music. Beware that SAVE doesn't ask
for confirmation. Notice : a WAD that changes the instruments mapping
information has a tick in the music column even if it doesn't contain any
music. This is for GUS1M.WAD and similar PWADs.
In the Info window, if you click on the WAD's name a text window will appear
displaying the TXT file associated with the selected WAD. Tabs and multiple
spaces are converted to single spaces and lowercase is converted to uppercase
because of the screen width limitation (320 pixels). Sorry if the font is not
very readable, but it's the best I could come up with in a 4-pixel width.
WM will now read UNIX-style text files without any problem, apart from MSDOS-
style ones.

WARNING : DO NOT run WM.EXE !!! Always run WM.COM. WM.EXE will not run anyway.
  If you just type WM, MSDOS will automatically run the COM.

About WadManager
----------------
WadManager is written in Borland Pascal 7.0 and Turbo Assembler 3.2 using my
XLibPas v2.0 library.
WadManager is completely free and you may distribute it as much as you like.
Some users have actually suggested that I distribute this as shareware, but
I don't agree with this for a number of reasons :
  1) I don't believe this small effort of mine is worth much.
  2) I can't ensure that I will always continue support and development for
     WadManager because of other projects I have. Don't worry though, I'm a
     perfectionist and, while people are still sending me suggestions to
     improve WM, I will update it.
  3) I don't think people should be hassled by messages all over the place
     about the fact that if they have been using a certain program for more
     than a certain number of days, then they are breaking the law and should
     register as soon as possible : they don't anyway (apart from DOOM I
     hope :-).
One important thing though : if you like using this program please send me a
postcard of your hometown at the following address :

        Tristan Tarrant
        Via Lucinasco 15
        22070 Montano Lucino (CO)
        ITALY  (Yes, Italy !!!)

If you have any problems/comments/suggestions email me at the following :

        [e-mail]

You can get the latest version of WadManager from :

    infant2.sphs.indiana.edu /pub/doom/misc

though I suggest checking the incoming directory first for any recent uploads.
And if I can get on to wuarchive.wustl.edu, it will also be in the MsDos
uploads DOOM directory somehwere.

I might also be persuaded in sending you the latest version of WadManager in
uuencoded format.

Some things I might add in the future :

    Renaming the WADs.
    Ability to have different WAD directories
    Ability to select soundcard settings
    Ability to edit the multiplayer macros
    No need to be smaller than SETUP.EXE, it can be as big as I want
      to :-)

Thanks to the guys at iD Software for creating such a great product as
DOOM...

This is also the last version I will be releasing for a while : it's time for
a holiday now. See you in September, when hopefully DOOM II : Hell on Earth
will be out (if it isn't out in two weeks ;-)

P.S.
If my Software Engineering tutor had a look at my code, he would definitely
say that it's the worst example of bad cohesion he's ever seen...

Versions
--------
v1.0 - Initial release.

v1.01 - WAD sorting added.

v1.05 - WAD scanning added : now WadManager knows what missions are available
      in the selected WAD and displays them in a different colour.
      Added WAD deletion. 1st release.

v1.06 - Maximum number of WADs now 512 (was 128). Added possibility to choose
      No Monsters and Respawn.

v1.07 - Added Autoload feature.

v1.08 - Added multiple WAD selection and deletion. Fixed a little bug in the
      selection mechanism.

v1.09 - Fixed nasty bug when deleting files that were in the AUTOLOAD. Also
      fixed fact that in certain occasions it wasn't possible to view
      all WADs.

v1.10 - Added Info button.

v1.11 - Added ability to change mission numbers. 2nd release.

v1.11a to v1.11c - Various minor bugfixes.

v1.11d - Now WadManager automatically selects the first available mission.
       Now it's possible to select in the INFO box only those WADs that
       have extra missions.

v1.11e - There was one...but I can't remember what it fixed.

v1.12 - Added page scrolling with right button.

v1.13 - Added support for SER4 and bugfixes in WM.INI code.

v1.14 - Added TXT reading. 3rd release.

v1.14a - Fixed SER4 code where COM2 became COM1, COM3 became COM2 and so on.
    Also added COM directive in WM.INI

v1.50 - Added swapping : now WM only takes 1336 bytes in memory when running
    DOOM. If I hear someone complaining about WM taking up too much
    memory... Also DELETE now deletes the TXT files, if they exist.
    Added QUIT button to the TXT reading display. Fixed CR/LF problem in
    text files : now WM reads and displays properly any text file.
    Question mark in the font used for TXT reading was screwed. Various
    bugfixes. Added WAD count at the bottom of the screen and in INFO box.
    4th release.