ZDoom

Hi all!

How do people decide on numbers to use for actor spawn IDs for new custom actors in DECORATE.txt?

Is there a way, such as a global database (apart from the lists on the Wikis for the games) which people are able to upload which numbers/IDs they have used so others can see which numbers/IDs are free/spare?

I have found a relatively good way to extract all the used actor spawn IDs from various text files from some mods using RegEx and have compiled a list for the following games/mods (see attached files):

EDIT: Can't see if that list uploaded, here is a pastebin version!

• BRUTAL DOOM
  BRUTAL DOOM HELL ON EARTH STARTER PACK
  CHEX QUEST
  DOOM 1
  DOOM 2
  HERETIC
  HEXEN
  PROJECT BRUTALITY
  RAVEN
  SKULLTAG
  STRIFE
  VAVOOM
  ZDOOM

I can see some nice gaps to use for my custom actor spawn IDs, such as between [9511] (Copy ceiling slope - ZDOOM) and [9800] (PointLight - VAVOOM) which would give me a nice chunk of 289 spare IDs.

Or is it case of use the numbers you want, building your own mod with other mods in mind, and hope that people can play your mod with others without ID conflicts?

Much thanks!

It's an interesting question. Nowadays if you don't need the actor placed in a map, you might be able to get away without assinging a DoomEdId at all, since actors can be spawned from scripts, etc. by class name.

Thanks Eliot, I'm modding a version of oblige and am reliant on using the spawn number at current. This has helped me rethink how I will spawn certain actors though!