Folks, I need tips. Send 'em in to reeltime@voicenet.com. Incidentally, if you want credit for rumors, say so. I'll assume anonymity is desired, unless you tell me otherwise.
News is the exact opposite, however. If you are the author or designer of a MacDoom tool providing me with a solid news or an update, I'll give you an ample helping of 'Net fame -- unless you say that you don't want it.
Rumors
Normally I'd fill this space to the brim with all of the rumors I could find. Except that this month I couldn't find much. No one sent me a single tip, and Usenet was unusually quiet.
It's ironic, since I expected the first issue of MDR to be dead in this department, and for the second issue I'd be bombarded with tips from the folks who read MDR#1 and wanted to help out.
So, this month I'll fill the rumor mill portion of this page with my own thoughts and wish list for MacDoom tools.
In the MDR interview with Douglas Grounds this month, you heard him say that he thought that patches that affect the Doom engine, like the DOS world's DeHackEd, wouldn't work on the Mac. I think -- and this is based largely on my personal faith in the quality of Mac hackers out there -- that it is possible. All DeHackEd does (from what I've read) is adjust some game variables so that, for instance, a weapon can have a different firing rate, or monsters can take a greater (or lesser) amount of damage before croaking, or they react differently during gameplay. For instance, a Mancubus is a slow moving little bugger. But suppose you replaced him with a Tasmanian devil or some serpent creature. You'd want him to move faster, right?
I also think it's probably possible to record demos with the current MacDoom engine, but I suspect someone will have to write a system patch -- an Extension of sorts -- that can generate and save the data in the format used in LMP files during game play, and then develop a facility for playing them back.
But those sorts of things will come much later, if it all. What I really would like to see emerge first is a drag-and-drop tool for applying PC WAD patches. Currently, if you want to play Barney or Simpsons Doom, or some other WAD that requires patching, you need SoftWindows, a PC, or the patience to download a pre-patched version of the WAD that is generally 2-4 megabytes in size.
Next it would be cool to see a resource browser, similar to ResEdit, that lets you peer inside a WAD file at all of the juicy sounds, graphics, and other elements. You could export some of the pieces for use in another WAD, or remove parts (like demos and music) that conflict with the MacDoom engine. In fact, it would be most excellent to have a grinder, one of those drag-and-drop tools like Stuffit Expander, that could remove demos from WADs as well as extract PC music files and convert them to a QuickTime MIDI track suitable for use with MacDoom.
That would be sweet. And we're not even getting into WAD construction. But then, these tools are already in the works, as you'll see below.
I'm sure I haven't exhausted all of the possibilities for dream tools for MacDoom. If you have one that sounds remotely plausible, send it in to MDR. And if you're actually developing one of these beauties, be sure to let us know as soon as you think it's going to work. That's the kind of news we'd like to hear!
 
I did get two last minute missives that bear mentioning. According to one reliable source, an id Software employee confirmed that Hexen will be ported to the Mac (someday). The exact quote from the id staffer, forwarded to me via e-mail, was: "Hexen will be ported to the Mac." Another source previously told me that Heretic may never be ported for Mac users, but I find that a little hard to believe. For one thing, from what I know about it, Heretic is pretty close to the Doom engine -- meaning a port would be less time-consuming now that Doom is essentially done. Besides, there are tons of Heretic PWADs out there, making it a pretty attractive target.
Only time will tell.
The second message came from someone purporting to know something about a Doom Edit Utility (DEU) port to the Mac, possibly separate from the team planning to port DEU that's mentioned in "News" below. Apparently, DEU author Raphael Quinet is cooking up a portable graphic Application Programming Interface that will, in theory, make it simpler to port DEU and other Doom WAD development tools to various platforms, including the Mac. Problem is, according to the source, that the folks working on the project don't know diddly about Macintosh.
Maybe the two DEU teams should get together on this.
News
Just after MDR#1 came out, we heard back from Walter Duque de Estrada <duque@grad.csee.usf.edu>, who indicated in MDR#1 a strong desire to port DEU to the Mac.
As a service to MacDoomers, we quickly posted the update to the MDR Web site. Incidentally, you may want to check there regularly. If any earth-shattering news reaches us between issues, we'll be sure to post it online. Please don't bother the programmers unless you have something very important to contribute to the project. (Or if they fail to provide us with an update before MDR#3!!!)
Seriously, though, you don't want to delay development of a WAD editor by even a micro-second, do you?
Anyway, he said:
"I have joined the DEU team to port it to Mac. All I will say is that its a work in progress. PLEASE no EMAIL; I will post updates if they are landmarks."
And that's it. Haven't heard a peep since then. But DEU is probably the most portable of all of the PC Doom WAD editors. It has already been translated successfully to Windows and several flavors of UNIX. I have high hopes.
Which is why we're offering an impromptu...
DEU Profile
DEU's core code is not very PC dependent but it needs a Mac-compatible end user interface. That means creating menus and toolbars that interact with the WAD editing routines. Hopefully we'll get one that's better than what the PC users have, but probably not on the first release.
I finally found out what WAD stands for. It's not an acronym, but rather a description of what the file is: an amorphous collection of resources. It's filled with maps, WAV-format sound files, BMP graphics, and other elements that go to make up a Doom level or collection of levels.
DEU is a powerful WAD editor. It includes a number of error checking routines, which makes it harder to create a flawed WAD file. It's context sensitive when you generate map elements, automatically selecting defaults that are appropriate to what you are doing. For instance, if you create a sector (basically, a discrete room area) and place it next to an existing sector, it will join them and give the new room a basic wall texture. If, however, you place a small sector inside of another sector, it will assume that you want a column, not a sector, and build one -- perfect for dodging the onslaught of fireballs from the Imps you no doubt have scattered about.
If you don't want a column (or the standard wall textures in the first example), you select can the sidedef attribute for the line(s) you want to change and you can make them take whatever pattern you like (even none, for, say, a pool of blood or acid). Selecting multiple lines in various parts of the same WAD level and changing them together is a simple task using DEU. You can also edit linedefs, which allow you to add doors, switches, lifts, and even secret passages.
DEU is not a tool for adding custom textures, editing sprites, or manipulating and adding sounds. You will need another program to insert custom graphics and other elements if you want your WAD environment to differ from the defaults. But once new graphics have been added, you'll be able to use DEU to place them when you create maps, insert monsters and objects, and create new levels worthy of MacDoom.
I'll have more when we actually get an update on the DEU port...
ΓÇôDave Kramer
Editor, MacDoom Review
If you have any tips or news of any new Macintosh WAD tools not covered here, please send them along for a future issue of MacDoom Review. Drop an e-mail to reeltime@voicenet.com.
