Basic operations with XWE: (for Doom2)

Adding new wall textures
Adding new flats
naming new textures
Animated textures
Adding new sprites
Adding other new graphics
Adding new music and sounds
Making a multi-map wad
About entry types
Final notes

*These instructions are for use with Doom2 only. Everything here should work in all source-ports and the original Doom2 game engine.

*I have not yet been able to get anything new added to a Doom1 wad. If anyone could offer instructions on how to use XWE to do these operations for Doom1, Please e-mail me. I would be very thankful (as would others,) and full credit will be given to the author(s).

Adding new wall textures:

1. Select "Entry" from the menu at the top of the screen, then "New".

   Name the new entry, P_START.

   This will create a new marker in your wad.

   Repeat this process to create a new entry named P_END.

2. From the same entry menu used in step one, select "Load".

   This will bring up a search box. Use it to find and load the new wall texture you want to add.

   Use Ctrl + U and Ctrl + D to move the texture entry between the P_START and P_END markers.

   Repeat this process to add as many new wall textures as you wish.

3. Right click on each of your new wall textures and select "Add to texture" from the drop-down menu that will appear.

   This will automatically create two new entries in your wad. One will be named, "PNAMES" and the other "TEXTURE1".

   Move these two entries between the P_START and P_END markers also.

   Repeat this process to add each of the new textures to the PNAMES and TEXTURE1 entries.

*If you are adding replacement textures that are animated, these need to be listed in the proper order or they won’t work right and can crash the game. For example: SLADRIP1 must always be first, followed by SLADRIP2 then SLADRIP3. (see below)

Adding new flats:

1. Select "Entry" from the menu at the top of the screen, then "New".

   Name the new entry, F_START.

   This will create a new marker in your wad.

   Repeat this process to create a new entry named F_END.

2. From the same entry menu used in step one, select "Load".

   This will bring up a search box. Use it to find and load the new flat texture you want to add.

   Use Ctrl + U and Ctrl + D to move the texture entry between the F_START and F_END markers.

   Repeat this process to add as many new flat textures as you wish.

3. Select each of your new flat textures, then click "Image" on the top menu.

   Select "Save as Doom Flat" from the drop-down menu that appears.

   Repeat this process to save each of your new flat textures as a Doom flat.

Naming new textures:

The new wall, floor, and ceiling textures that are added to your wad must have a name. This name can be almost anything you wish, but it must follow a few simple parameters.

1. The name must be no more than 8 characters long.

2. It must be letters and numbers only, with the exception of the "_" character.

3. The name CANNOT be the same as any other in the Doom2 iwad, EXCEPT if it is intended to replace one of the animated texture sets. (see below)

   If you want to import textures from the Doom1 iwad that were not included in Doom2, then you can safely use the original names.

Animated textures:

There are three animated texture sets from Doom1 that are not used in Doom2.

Using these sets of names is an easy way to add a waterfall, blinking computer console, or any other animated wall effect that you wish.

1. BLODGR1-4:    (4 images)
2. SLADRIP1-3:    (3 images)
3. WFALL1-4:    (4 images)

Simply name your animation bitmaps the same as these, then load them into your wad as you would any other wall texture. Just be sure they are in the proper order.

Adding new sprites:

Adding custom sprites to your wad is even easier than adding textures and flats. Simply create two new markers, S_START and S_END and load your sprites between them.

Adding sprites this way is actually replacing those that the game engine would normally used, so the ones that you add must use the same names. This must be taken into consideration as it means that the original sprite will not be available in your modified game wad.

As decorations, if you are making a Tech/Base level, then you can replace the Gothic/Hell type sprites with computer monitors and lab equipment.

Many of the sprites are intended to appear hanging from the ceiling. I think this can also be changed using tiling settings in XWE. I've never done this however

Another thing to remember is that many of the sprites are animated and you will need to replace all the frames for them to look proper. The game engine will use the original in the iwad if you forget to replace one.

All of the enemies in Doom games are also sprites, and can be replaced the same way as shown above. The same rule applies to enemy sprites as it does animated scenery sprites; make sure you replace all of them or it is going to look very strange while playing.

Adding other new graphics:

The same basic process described above is also used to add new sky textures, map name graphics, and the TITLEPIC / INTERPIC images in the game.

With these graphics, they only need to be loaded into the wad. There is no need to create any markers. It also does not seem to matter where in the wad they are located, but I usually keep them together to be more organised.

Two essential notes about these graphics:

1. It must be named properly so it the game knows to replace the original.

2. In most cases, it must also be sized properly.

Skies must always be named RSKY1 to replace the sky seen in Doom2 in maps 01 through 11.

RSKY2 then replaces the original in maps 12 through 20, and RSKY3 for the rest.

Sky graphics must be 256 wide and 128 pixels tall for Doom2. (Boom compatible source ports can accept skies that are 256 wide and 240 pixels tall.)

TITLEPIC and INTERPIC screens must always be 320 wide by 200 pixels tall.

To make these work properly, it is often necessary to adjust the "Tile" values.

Make sure both variables are set to zero and it should display properly.

The map names that the Doom game engine uses are always named, "CWILV" followed by two numbers. Map01 is CWILV00, map02 is CWILV01 and so on.

There is some room for variation in the size of these graphics. I am not sure of the limitations, but if you make your names of a similar size to the originals they should work fine.

Adding new music and sounds:

Almost any midi sequence can be used as new music in a Doom2 map.

Basically, download the program Midi2mus then drag and drop your midi file onto it.

If it creates a new file with a .mus extension, then it worked and you can add this to your wad.

(There are some limitations on size and/or number of channels. I don't know what these limitations are, but some midis I have not been able to convert to .mus format.)

Like the game graphics, the new music will actually replace the original, so it also must be named properly for the map it is intended. The complete list of names is available here.

Simply load the new music lump into the wad and it’s done.

All of the other sounds in Doom, (weapons firing, doors opening, the noises of enemies, etc.,) are .wav files that can also be replaced. These also need to be loaded with the proper name, so the game knows what sound it is supposed to replace.

There are probably limitations to the size of these other files as well.
(Even if you have a .wav file named and loaded properly, it may be impossible for the Hell-Knight to recite Churchill's speech as he attacks you.)

Making a multi-map wad:

Many map editing programs will only allow us to make one map at a time. If you want to make a wad with several maps, or a complete mega-wad, then XWE can be used to combine all your maps together.

1. After deciding what order you want your maps to be in, open each in XWE and right click on the map number entry. Select "Rename entry" and type in the map number you want. (be sure to always follow the proper format.)

2. Once all of your maps are renamed, open up your MAP01.

   Select "File" then "Merge" from the drop-down menu.

   Browse to your MAP02 and select it. XWE will automatically put the wads together.

About entry types:

I have noticed that XWE does not always recognise the type of entry it is working with, even if it is properly placed within the correct markers. Sometimes just restarting the program will correct this and sometimes not.

This list is to help in verifying that it has processed the entries properly.

The type of an entry in the wad can be seen and changed by right clicking it and following the drop-down menu to the "Change type" option.

Map    =    type 2

Sprite    =    type 31

Flat    =    type 32

Wall    =    type 33

Graphic and map names    =    type 34

Sky    =    type 35

Music    =    type 56

Marker    =    type 57

Final notes:

The data lumps for each map need to be kept in the proper order for that map. Groups of texture patches, flats, and sprites also need to be kept together and between the specific markers. Animated textures (as mentioned,) also must be listed in the proper order. Other than this, it doesn't seem to matter where anything else is located. As long as everything that needs to be there is in the wad somewhere, the game engine should be able to find and use it.

I really don't know if it is even important or not, but things are always easier to find and work with when they are organised. Personally, I try to keep everything in alphabetical and numerical order. XWE has handy controls for doing this. After highlighting an entry, CTRL + U can be used to move it up in the list. CTRL + D moves it down. This also works if you need to move several items at once.