Allow autoloading support for DEH and BEX files

[Marphy Black]

ZDoom's autoload feature is quite handy for automatically running a common set of modifications across multiple sessions. You can autoload most any format the engine already supports: WAD, pk3, and so forth. However, I've run into two conspicuously missing formats: DEH and BEX files.

Loose DeHackEd patches still in DEH or BEX format can be run directly in ZDoom either by the -file command line launch parameter or simply dragging and dropping the DEH/BEX file onto the executable. However, loose DeHackEd patches do not take effect if you try to add them into the autoload section in the ini configuration file. Put a DEH file in the autoload list and it just won't work. The only way to autoload a DEH file is to add it as a lump in a WAD file and autoload that WAD. This seems like a superfluous step as loose DEH files can be loaded manually anyway. Hence, I request the ability to autoload DEH/BEX files just as any other supported format can be autoloaded.

Example usage: I have created a compilation of minor Doom 1/2 DeHackEd fixes to accompany a minor sprite fixes WAD I also put together some time ago. In order to retain vanilla executable compatibility, these DeHackEd patches are provided as loose DEH files. Just as I autoload my minor sprite fixes WAD in ZDoom, I would also like to autoload my minor DeHackEd fixes DEH files, like so:

[doom.doom2.commercial.Autoload]
Path=C:\games\doom2\D2DEHFIX.DEH

Despite being correctly defined in the ini file as illustrated here, this method currently doesn't work.

For the record, I'm not sure if this behavior is a bug or not, so I'm posting this as a suggestion.

[The Zombie Killer]

I believe this only works if the filename is dehacked.deh or dehacked.bex

[Gez]

You can autoload any lump, so if you name it dehacked.deh it's not really different from autoloading a sndinfo.txt or whatever. You could autoload dehacked.d2dehfix for example, ZDoom will only look at the file name and ignore the extension.

[Marphy Black]

You could autoload dehacked.d2dehfix for example, ZDoom will only look at the file name and ignore the extension.

Well, this is strange. I renamed my patch file from "D2DEHFIX.DEH" to "DEHACKED.D2DEHFIX", and ZDoom will then correctly autoload it. However, the autoload doesn't work with either the DEH or BEX extension, as originally mentioned. Is this therefore a bug?

Edit: Further testing suggests that something is indeed wrong here. Using my originally named "D2DEHFIX.DEH" file, the following autoload definition does not work, as stated:

[doom.doom2.commercial.Autoload]
Path=C:\games\doom2\D2DEHFIX.DEH

However, the following autoload definition does work:

[doom.doom2.commercial.Autoload]
Path=C:\games\doom2\D2DEHFIX

There are no alterations to the DeHackEd file here. It's still named "D2DEHFIX.DEH". The only change is the removal of the extension in the ini file. ZDoom will not autoload the patch file if the ".DEH" extension is included in the autoload definition.

[NeuralStunner]

For loose files (not wad/pk* archives), the "lump name" is checked and the extension is ignored. Pretty much any [wiki=Special_lumps]supported definition lump[/wiki], as well as graphic replacements, can be loaded loose this way. There's little difference to ZDoom whether you're giving it DEHACKED.something or a wad file containing a DEHACKED lump.

As far as not working with the extension: I seem to vaguely remember a ZDoom feature where loading "SomeMod.wad" would also load up a "SomeMod.deh" if it's present. Might this have anything to do with it?

[Marphy Black]

My bad, scratch everything I said about the extension in my last post. I forgot I had a test WAD file with the same name that was nothing more than a container for the DEHACKED lump. Removing the file extension in the ini file's autoload definition caused ZDoom to load the WAD file by default, not the DEH file.

I've checked again, and I can confirm everything that has been stated so far. To clarify and summarize the current behavior, ZDoom's autoload feature will only accept a DeHackEd patch file if it is named "dehacked". The extension does not matter as the engine merely identifies it by the special lump name. However, this means that a DeHackEd patch file with any other file name will not be accepted by the autoload. This is the problem as it means one cannot autoload DEH or BEX files if provided in loose form with unique names, hence this feature suggestion.

[Gez]

Yeah, I think autoloading dehacked patches might require a different ini section (something like [doom.doom2.commercial.autodeh] for example) since loading a deh/bex file uses a different semantic from loading an archive (such as the -deh parameter instead of -file).

[Graf Zahl]

Too much work for too little gain. Why don't you put the patches into the WAD as well in addition to the loose versions?