The preferences panel, accessible from the Edit menu, allows you define many default properties for Hellmaker.
General Preferences:
 
You can define the Inactive Group Tag used in Group Mode (generally, this should be left as zero). You can also turn on and off the display of the Thing sizes in Thing Mode, and specify how the sizes are to be displayed (with a rectangular or circular outline).
Sector Preferences:
 
The sector preferences affect all newly-created sectors for DOOM II, DOOM and Hexen levels. You may set the default floor and ceiling height values. These will be used if (a) the new sector has no adjacent sectors, or (b) the boxes marked "Use Adjacent Height" are unchecked.
If there is an adjacent sector, and the box is checked, the new floor or ceiling height will be derived from those of the adjacent sector(s) as follows: if there is only one adjacent sector, its heights will be used. If there is more than one adjacent sector, the new height will be the (a) the highest from the floors/ceilings of the adjacent sectors, or (b) the lowest from the floors/ceilings of the adjacent sectors, or (c) halfway between the highest and lowest floors/ceilings of the adjacent sectors. The choice of (a), (b) or (c) above is determined by the setting beside the "Use Adjacent Height" boxes.
You may also specify the default light level in a newly created sector. This will be used if (a) the new sector has no adjacent sectors, or (b) the box marked "Use Adjacent Level" is unchecked.
If there is an adjacent sector, and the box is checked, the new light level will be derived from that of the adjacent sector(s) as follows: if there is only one adjacent sector, its light level will be used. If there is more than one adjacent sector, the new light level will be the same as (a) the brightest of the adjacent sectors, or (b) the dimmest of the adjacent sectors, or (c) halfway between the brightest and dimmest adjacent sectors. The choice of (a), (b) or (c) above is determined by the setting beside the "Use Adjacent Level" box.
Default Textures:
 
There are separate panels for DOOM II, DOOM and Hexen textures, and different default textures may be specified for each. The three boxes labelled Wall, Floor and Ceiling allow you to specify the default textures that will be used for newly created sidedefs (walls) and sectors (floors and ceilings).
The default wall texture will be always be used for upper and lower textures in all new sidedefs unless the "Use Previous Selected" box is checked. If this is the case, the textures from the most recently selected sidedef will be used. For the first sidedef added to a linedef, the middle texture is set in the same manner. When a second sidedef is added to a linedef, the middle textures of both sidedefs are always set to "-", i.e. transparent.
The default floor and wall textures will be used for new sectors, unless the "Use Adjacent" box is checked and the new sector has one or more linedefs in common with other sectors. In that case, the floor texture from the adjacent sector with the closest floor height will be used for the new sector's floor texture. Similarly, the ceiling texture from the adjacent sector with the closest ceiling height will be used for the new sector's ceiling texture. If the above applies to more than one adjacent sector, and those sectors have different textures, the texture(s) from the most recently created adjacent sector will be used in the new sector. (Phew! I wonder if anyone will understand that.)
Door Preferences:
 
There are separate panels for DOOM II, DOOM and Hexen doors, and different door types may be specified for each. Choose the door type you want to define from the buttons at the top of the panel.
The DOOR TEXTURE is the texture that will be applied to the (upper texture) outside of any two-sided linedefs of the door sector. The TRACK texture will be applied to any one-sided linedefs. The CEILING TEXTURE is applied to the ceiling of the door sector, and the FLOOR TEXTURE is applied to the floor. If any of the LEAVE UNCHANGED checkboxes are checked, the texture given is not used and the texture in the door sector will not be changed.
The FUNCTION is the linedef function that is applied to all two-sided linedefs for the door sector.
Lift Preferences:
 
There are separate panels for DOOM II and DOOM lifts, and different lift types may be specified for each. Choose the lift type you want to define from the buttons at the top of the panel.
The OUTER TEXTURE is the texture that will be applied to the lower texture of the outside of any two-sided linedefs of the lift sector. The INNER texture will be applied to any one-sided linedefs and also the lower texture of the inside of two-sided linedefs. The CEILING TEXTURE is applied to the ceiling of the lift sector, and the FLOOR TEXTURE is applied to the floor. If any of the LEAVE UNCHANGED checkboxes are checked, the texture given is not used and the texture in the lift sector will not be changed.
The UPPER FUNCTION is the linedef function that is applied to all two-sided linedefs where the floor of the adjacent sector is at the same height or higher than the floor of the lift sector. The LOWER FUNCTION is applied to the two-sided linedefs where the floor of the adjacent sector is lower than the floor of the lift sector.
