So what the heck is this WADenizer thingee, anyway?
It is a freeware program to convert annoying PC Wads into well-behaved MacDoom WADs.
What is a WAD?
A WAD is an add-on file for Doom or Doom II. By using WADs, you can change just about any aspect of Doom, such as the maps, graphics and sounds. Most WADs are created on MS-DOS PCs, and there are small differences between the file structures that can cause problems.
So what does the WADenizer actually do?
The main function is to expand sprites and flats. Sprites are weapon, item and monster graphics; flats are floor and ceiling tiles. Due to a quirk in Doom, if a WAD contains one sprite, it must contain all the sprites. This means lugging a 3+ megabyte file if you change only 1 picture, not very efficient. To solve this, DMADDS11 and later DeUSF were created on the PC. These add the missing pictures to a sprite/flat WAD so it can be played. This way, if you want to have a rocket launcher which launches chickens (CHOOK.WAD), you can download the 200K version instead of the 4.2 megabyte expanded version.
The WADenizer also has a lot of other nice features, see the feature listing.
How will know the WADenizer is needed?
Look in the readme for the WAD. If you see a reference to DeUSF then the WADenizer should be able to run it. If you find references to DMGRAPH or lots of files with the letters .GIF and .WAV, those files will not be usable.
Is this a port of DeUSF?
Definitely not, this is a 100% Macintosh program. It should be able to handle anything DeUSF uses. DeUSF has lots of other features, most importantly the ability to compress the file, which the WADenizer does not. Conversely, the WADenizer has lots of features DeUSF doesn't.
Feature Listing (from 1.0.1 version)
1) Expands sprite and flat files
2) Converts demos to 1.9 so they run on MacDoom.
3) Allows user to pull WADs apart, separating sprites, textures, and maps.
4) Eliminates music and PC speaker sound effects, these are not usable by MacDoom.
5) Converts Doom I maps to Doom II. Although you do need to load the included Doom1-2.WAD when you load the converted WAD into Doom II or it will crash.
6) Converts the file type so when you double-click it, it starts Doom.
7) Drag-Drop is supported, just drop a file on WADenizer and WADenize it!
What's new in 1.1?
1) Batch mode - read all about it in its own section
2) Preferences - also in their own section
3) Doom I converted files now always map to Doom II maps 1-9. This avoids pointless Warping to level 10. I have yet to see a PWAD with 2 missions in it, anyway.
4) Save to existing file now supported. If the new file fails, the original is not affected.
5) Fixed a large memory leak (80K per file opened!)
What's new in 2.0?
1) Sprite/flat expansion uses entirely new method. Basically, it works with more WAD files, such as Army of Darkness.
2) WADenizer shuts down if started from drag-drop automatically
3) It also shuts down when the Mac shuts down
4) Added Misc option, previously it was always ignoring anything else in the WAD
How to use it
Required setup
In order to expand sprites and flats, a copy of the DOOM2.WAD that came with Doom II must be located. If you do not have Doom II, the DOOM.WAD from Ultimate Doom should work as well. Shareware Doom might work, but you can't load the WAD into Shareware so what would be the point? Use DOOM2.WAD if you have both versions, this way files will work with either product.
Once you have decided what Doom WAD to use, make an alias of it, rename the alias "Doom IWAD" and put it in the same folder as the WADenizer. Why IWAD? That is Doom's internal code for the main WAD file, so I used it.
If WADenizer cannot find the Doom WAD, it will give you a warning at startup. If you get this warning, sprite and flat expansion will not take place. Everything else will work correctly.
Menu Operation
When the program starts, a very small menu bar appears. The Menu Bar has only the Apple and File Menus. The File Menu has three options. Open opens a file, Preferences allows you to set preferences, and Quit exits the program.
Selecting open will open the Mac standard gimme-a-file box.
When you open the file, one of two things will happen:
1) You'll get a message box saying the file was not a Doom WAD
2) A dialog box full of check boxes appears
While the file is open, no other operations are possible.
Main Dialog Box
At the top of the box will be the filename, followed by several checkboxes. Most likely, some of the checkboxes will be dimmed and unusable. This is because the WADenizer did not find that type of information in the WAD. The checkboxes indicate what information is to be written:
Copy Maps: If you check this, map information will be written to the new file.
Convert Maps to Doom II: Only appears if a Doom I map was found. If you check this, any maps written out will be written in Doom II format. You will need to load both the saved WAD and DOOM1-2.WAD into Doom II or you will get an error saying Texture Not Found in some weird Doom error language.
The episode levels are mapped to levels 1-9, this is a change from WADenizer 1.0.1. If you convert and a demo is found, the demo will be converted also.
Copy Sprites: If checked, sprites will be copied to the new file. If sprites are copied and the Doom IWAD was set correctly, sprite expansion takes place automatically.
Copy Sounds: If checked, sounds will be copied. This does not include music, which is unusable, but does include everything else.
Copy Demo: Some WADs come with a demo showing (and spoiling) features. These demos would frequently crash MacDoom, causing a reboot and a steady stream of profanity in many cases.
After the WADenizer converts them, they will no longer crash so you don't need to sit there waiting to hit enter.
Copy Textures: If this is checked, the wall, floor, and ceiling textures will be copied. As are sprites, flats will be expanded automatically if the Doom IWAD is set up correctly. Be warned that copying maps without textures could cause Doom to crash.
Copy Miscellaneous: New in 2.0. If this is checked, anything not covered above will be copied. This includes startup screens, difficulty names, lighting, skies, interface elements (such as the face), and anything else that shows up.
Making the new file
There are also two buttons, Cancel and Make. Cancel will make the box go away, close the file, and give you back control over your Mac. Make will bring up the Mac standard what-file-to-save-as box. If you enter a filename, it will write a Mac-friendly version of the opened WAD file to the specified location. Creating the file usually takes only a few seconds, longer for sprite replacements. When finished, you'll see a new file with the WAD icon on it.
Preferences
WADenizer 1.1 added some simple preferences. These are saved in a file called WADenizer Prefs in the Preferences folder. The preferences dialog looks like this
The options are as follows:
Add Doom1-2 to converted files: if this box is checked, the contents of the Doom1-2.WAD file will be appended to any files converted from Doom to Doom II. This makes the converted WAD file standalone so you don't need to worry about having converted WADs which crash if you don't use them correctly. The downside is that the WAD takes an extra 750K, which adds up in a real hurry and I wouldn't upload them. Also, you must have Doom1-2.WAD in the same folder as the WADenizer, or at least an alias (with the " alias" part removed). If you don't have the file, then this option will be temporarily shut off when it attempts to do the conversion.
Save Backup: If you save over an existing file, the WADenizer can make a backup copy of the original file. This option uses more hard disk, but I recommend using it, especially for batches using the Save to Same option. The backup will have "(Back)" and maybe a number attached to the end. For example, DEATH.WAD would backup as DEATH.WAD(Back). If a DEATH.WAD(Back) already existed, the file would become DEATH.WAD(Back)01.
Save to same file: For batch mode operation, the file saved to will always be the original file. Use of the Save backup option is highly recommended, since the WADenizer can (and will) destroy data in the file.
Save to folder: Batch mode operation will always place the WADenized file into the specified folder. This way, all of your converted files are in one handy location. If you use this option, make sure to set the folder using the...
Set Folder: This brings up a slightly modified form of the Save dialog that looks like this:
The dialog allows you to create a new folder or select an existing one. If you use Save to folder and do not specify a folder, you will probably have the files dump to your WADenizer directory as a default, but this is not certain. Be safe, set the folder.
Batch Mode
Batch mode is intended for people who want to process lots of files quickly. If you drag-drop more than 1 file at a time, a box will pop up asking if you want to use batch mode. If you do, then hit the Yes button, if not, hit No. Batch mode will process all the files dropped without further input. All the check boxes except Convert to Doom II will be considered checked, the preferences specify if you want to convert in batch. The destination file is either the original, or the same name in a destination folder. Again, this is set in the preferences.
Batch mode operation is very minimalist, all you see is a little Finderish status bar and a message telling you what file is being processed. If the WADenizer's batch contains a non-WAD file it is simply ignored. This is so you can just drop 'em all, and let WAD sort it out. If any errors occur, the error message will have a second button "Abort Batch". Hitting this, surprisingly, aborts the batch, ending it immediately. Otherwise, the normal accept will go on to the next file. Batch mode operation is very fast, I converted 100 Doom I files to Doom II in about a minute. If you wish to WADenize more than 50 files or so, increase the memory given to the WADenizer, or it can run out.
Questions/Quirks
When I load the converted WAD into Doom, it says something about invalid filename?
WADenizer is an original Mac program, it allows any filename. Doom II is a converted MS-DOS program, it does not. In order for MacDoom to load your new file, the name must be in PC format. 1-8 Uppercase letters, a period, and the letters "WAD". i.e. XXXXXX.WAD. This is a limitation of Doom itself.
Doom complains it can't find the WAD
You tried running Doom when the WADenizer was still running. The two programs are fighting over who has the DOOM IWAD, and WADenizer was first so it won. Do not run Doom while the WADenizer is still running.
The demo is confused, why is the player shooting empty space?
Demos only contain movement info, there is nothing about the map in the file. This means that a demo frequently consists of our hero valiantly running around the entry room unable to find the door and shooting at the empty air. Oh well, at least it doesn't crash anymore. There isn't anything I can do about this, you should probably remove the demo.
What/where is this Doom 1-2.WAD file?
The original release of WADenizer came with this 750K file called Doom1-2.WAD. This file contains textures to mimic those not included in Doom II. It is required to play converted files. If you choose, the WADenizer can add Doom1-2.WAD info to converted files, otherwise you just need to load it into Doom II when playing. There are two WADenizer packages. The WAD Works homepage (http://msn.fullfeed.com/rmidthun/WADWorks.html) has Doom1-2.WAD in a separate SIT file. The WADenizer sent to Info-Mac and UMich includes the Doom1-2.WAD file in it.
Future Plans
This version of the WADenizer (2.0) is the final version. Of course, I also said that about version 1.1. Unless there are some grevious bugs hanging around, this is it. I have several other projects (some Doom, some not) that I will spend my time on instead.
Technical Info
WADenizer was written by me, Ron Midthun. My email address is kallisti@msn.fullfeed.com.
You can send me bug reports and enhancement ideas, but I do have a day job so I may be slow in responding.
WADenizer is not PowerPC native, I didn't see any point in it since it spends all of its time in disk oparations.
WADenizer was written using CodeWarrior 8+9, lots of Mountain Dew, and lots of books by Apple, Dave Mark and Dan Parks Sydow. This is my first Mac program ever, so I needed lots of good information.
I used the Unofficial Doom Specs 1.666 by Matt Fell. This contains almost everything you ever wanted to know about WADs.
The map converter only changes the name ExMy to MAPyy.
The Demo converter generally changes the first byte of the demo LMP to 109. Thats all that was needed to keep your machine from crashing, ONE LOUSY BYTE.
There is an older demo version which doesn't contain all the info. For these, I set respawn=no, fast=no, nomonsters=no, view=player1 and mode=deathmatch if player 2 exists, otherwise normal. This is about the best I can do, and frankly, I have never actually found one of these older demos.
DOOM1-2.WAD was taken from the PC side of the Total Ruin CD-ROM. The original readme file is part of the WADenizer release package.
Acknowledgements
First one goes to Matt Fell, whose Unofficial Doom Specs is essentially the root of every WAD ever made.
Next goes to Mike Trent. Without his encouragement, knowledge, and help, this program probably would never have been written.
paolo@netcom.com - creator of DOOM1-2.WAD
David Kramer of MDR had lots of good suggestions.
Eric Harnisch and Austin Katt for help testing out the WADenizer and getting me to play Doom in the first place.
Progress Bar CDEF 1.3 by Eddy J. Gurney.
The find folder uses source code found on the net, the author is:
Chris Larson
5305 Parkmor Rd. #3
Calabasas, CA 91302
larson@kingston.cs.ucla.edu
(sort of) Legal Stuff
WADenizer is FreeWare. Although I retain copyright, I give everyone permission to distribute anywhere as long as you don't charge for it. I give permission for it to appear in CD-ROM and Magazine collections, 'cause I think CD collections are cool. The WADenizer and this document must both be included and not modified. The Doom1-2.WAD file doesn't need to be included, although CD collections certainly should include it.
I do not guarantee that WADenizer will do anything, and am not responsible for anything WADenizer does. Uploading WADs made with WADenizer could represent a copyright violation, if this bothers you, then don't upload. I am not reponsible for any copyright infringement using the WADenizer.
