Slade 3 advice please - exporting sprites

[whatever]

I just downloaded and installed Slade 3, and I'm trying to export sprites (monsters, weapons, obstacles, light sources, etc.) from Heretic and Hexen and import them into my GZDoom wad (UDMF), but the program is complicated and not very intuitive. I found the graphics and sounds with no problem, and I figured out how to save them as files, but how do I find and extract the behavior lumps, and what do I do next? Is there a tutorial or something? Please advise.

[wildweasel]

If all you're wanting to do is import Heretic and Hexen actors into Doom, you should (in theory) only need to provide their graphics and sounds, as ZDoom already loads all of the actor definitions for them from zdoom.pk3, regardless of which game is being loaded. So you shouldn't need to do any extraction of the actor code to be able to do what you're wanting to do. Bear in mind, though, that due to sprite naming collisions, some actors' sprite sets get renamed based on which game is being run (for example, the Iron Lich, among others); see [wiki]Sprite#Conflicting_sprite_names[/wiki] for more info there.

[whatever]

Sorry, I'm confused. If I only import the graphics and sounds, how will the game engine know they're there? How would I select and place the new sprites onto the map? Up until now all I've been able to do is import stuff from Realm 66 by using the merge command, which doesn't always work. When it does, an icon appears on the thing menu in one of the standard categories (like LIGHT SOURCES) or in the new DECORATE category that was created. On the other hand, if I simply import the graphics and sounds into the wad, nothing happens. The Realm 667 monster files seem to be the most complicated, and they all have lumps like SNDINFO, DECORATE and GLDEFS. I assumed those files were needed to tell the game engine what to do with the graphics and sounds. If I don't include such data how do I get the game engine to recognize the imported files and how do I utilize them? I could really use some help here.

[whatever]

Okay, I'm starting to understand this concept a little better. The reason some files from realm 667 weren't working was because of sprite # conflicts or missing sprite #'s. Thanks to your tip I got almost every one I downloaded to install and work properly. Now what I'd like to know is how to make this kind of file so I can extract sprites from Heretic and Hexen into GZDoom. I don't even want to edit the contents to make new stuff, just transfer them as they are. As I said, exporting the graphics and sounds is not a problem, but locating and packaging the data regarding behavior lumps and related files is baffling me. I've examined the files I downloaded and studied the program for hours, and I have some idea what needs to be done, but I still have no idea how to do it. So even though Slade 3 looks like a very well conceived program, without instructions it's pretty much useless. Guess I'll go back to trying to figure out DeePsea. Why is it that most program designers are so good at making software and so bad at explaining how to use it? It's like creating an awesome sports car that no one can drive without training, and then not providing any training. It kind of defeats the purpose of making the thing in the first place.

[wildweasel]

A thing you should realize about the Heretic and Hexen monsters is that you do not need to export/import the code that drives them, as ZDoom.pk3 already contains all of the behavior information needed to run the monsters. You should only need to provide the sprites and sounds, then you can summon them by their actor names (see [wiki]Classes[/wiki] for a list) or however you choose to add them to the game.

The only code needed would be if you want to directly place them into the maps from Doom Builder or the like. This Decorate string will give the Heretic gargoyle the editor number 3555:

Code: Select all

ACTOR HereticImpNumbered : HereticImp 3555 {}

[whatever]

I do intend to place these sprites on the map using Doom Builder rather than having them summoned. So if I understand you correctly, I need to do two things: 1) Place the graphics and sounds for each sprite somewhere in the Doom wad so the game engine can activate them, otherwise the sprites will be invisible and silent. 2) Create DECORATE lumps for each sprite similar to the example you provided and give each sprite a new sprite # to avoid conflicts. So I think all I need to know now is the ACTOR name for each sprite. I tried the link you provided, and it went to a blank page. Do you know anyplace else to get the names?

[wildweasel]

Well, damn it, this is why I need to check my Wiki links before I post them. The page you actually want is this one: [wiki]Classes[/wiki]

Time to go see if I still have a wiki account so I can add a redirect there.

[whatever]

DRAT! It didn't work. I tried it with the Hexen afrit, which is named FireDemon. I created a DECORATE file and wrote ACTOR HexenFireDemonNumbered : HexenFireDemon 30181 { }. An icon appeared in the DECORATE folder called HexenFireDemonNumbered, but when I placed it on the map all that appeared was a red diamond-shaped symbol with a yellow exclamation point. No afrit. Did I do something wrong?

[wildweasel]

The problem is in the way Decorate inheritance works; the first name you enter can pretty much be anything you want, but the second name MUST be the class you're inheriting from. To be more specific:

Code: Select all

ACTOR ThisGuyHasANumberBecauseIToldHimTo : FireDemon 12345 {}

Referring to [wiki]Classes:Hexen[/wiki], the actor name for Hexen's Afrit is FireDemon (not HexenFireDemon), so that is what you would want to inherit from.

[whatever]

I'm getting really close. I got everything to work except the sound. The afrit looks great and behaves perfectly, but it's silent. This is how I imported the data:

DECORATE
S_START
(all graphics files)
S_END
(all sound files)

I basically used the same order as the wads I downloaded from Realm 667, but the sound files aren't working. I tried moving them to different locations, but nothing changed. Any idea what I'm doing wrong?

[wildweasel]

Oh pooh, I forgot one big thing about the hexen monsters! Hexen had its own sndinfo lump (find it in hexen.wad) where all the sound effects are defined. You could maybe get away with copying the entire file from Hexen to your project, but if that causes problems, start removing stuff from it that doesn't seem relevant (you wouldn't need door sounds, for example).

[whatever]

YES! Success! I copied the SNDINFO file and deleted all sound references except for the monsters I want to transfer, and so far it's working. The afrit now has sound and functions perfectly. I still have 8 more monsters to import, but barring any unforeseen problems this should work. Thanks a lot for the advice. I'm sure I couldn't have figured this out on my own. I'm stoked now. I can't wait to add these creatures to my map. Thanks again.

[wildweasel]

I'm happy that I (eventually) got you to where you wanted to be, heh.

[whatever]

I have one more question, if you don't mind. I successfully imported the Afrit, Ettin, Stalker and Wendigo from Hexen. I wanted to get the Green Chaos Serpent too, but apparently the actor class is wrong. Every web site I checked said the class name is "Demon1," but that doesn't work. I tried variations on that, like "Demon," "Demn," "Demn1," "T-Demon," "T-Demon1," etc., but no luck. I get the same result each time, and it's the same result I got when I had the Afrit's name wrong, so it appears that "Demon1" is not the correct class name. Any suggestions?

[Blue Shadow]

so it appears that "Demon1" is not the correct class name.

It is the correct class name, I'm afraid: http://zdoom.org/wiki/Classes:Demon1

How does the code for it look like?