DN1 Level Editor

[Admiral_Bob]

After revisiting this game a few days ago, I was actually contemplating maybe I could write a better level editor for Duke Nukem series 1 (all 3 episodes), since right now I don't really have much else to do in terms of programming projects.

I know there's already one on the 3DR download page (Dave Bollinger's DukeEdit), but after having a look at that, it leaves a lot to be desired, espescially since it's text mode and the symbols are hard to decipher (especially the solid objects, requiring looking up tables of hex numbers).

I was thinking of writing one that actually gives a WYSIWYG editing mode, and supports the mouse, and has cut+paste style editing features etc. The graphics file formats of DN1 are pretty easy to figure out if you've dealt with image binary files, so I can actually display the sprites.

Besides, I've got a lot of Borland Pascal 7.0 units that I wrote some years ago that are lying around unused, and I was thinking I should put them to the test.

I'm just asking whether anyone around here would appreciate such a program (if you'd like to create and distribute sets of levels), or would it just be a waste of my time (shouldn't take that long to write though). I'd probably release it either as freeware or under the GPL.

Any comments or suggestions, feel free to post them in this thread.

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[Volte]

I say go for it! You can't go anywhere from here but up.

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Man, I love the idea of a new Duke Nukem 1 editor.
I always had the idea of making one, but I don't have the time and experience for it, else I already have started it.

If it's finished I'm really going to make some levels for it. That's for sure.

[MrEricSir]

Duke Nukem I rocked. I want a good level editor for it.

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[Theseus314]

If it looks good, and works well, I'd use it.

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[jazzie40]

David Bollinger made a version 2 of DukeEdit and it is WYSIWYG. It is a really good editor. I downloaded it from the internet a few years ago but cant find it anywhere now, however i still have a copy on my computer.

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[jazzie40]

David Bollinger made a version 2 of DukeEdit and it is WYSIWYG. It is a really good editor. I downloaded it from the internet a few years ago but cant find it anywhere now, however i still have a copy on my computer.

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[Admiral_Bob]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by jazzie40:
David Bollinger made a version 2 of DukeEdit and it is WYSIWYG. It is a really good editor. I downloaded it from the internet a few years ago but cant find it anywhere now, however i still have a copy on my computer.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Would it be ok if you could email that to me?

Thanks for your feedback guys.

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[Admiral_Bob]

Question for Joe: Do I have to perform any form of security checking to prevent users from distributing levels that work with the shareware version? The shareware game itself is easily fooled into using replacement levels, so if I were to use some sort of mechanism it would probably end up similar to the encryption Dave Bolligner's used in DukeEdit 2.0.

I'll probably start work on it when I next have free time. I can't give any guarantees when it will be finished, but I can post here to tell you how it's going.

FEATURES IN THE WORKS (Suggestions welcome)

<UL TYPE=SQUARE><LI>Edit multiple levels of an episode at the same time.
<LI>Block cut, copy, paste and fill options.
<LI>Wizards for drawing platforms etc (just click at start and end points, then fills in the gaps and puts end bits on the edges of the platform).
<LI> Supports EGA, VGA or VESA 16-colour screen modes (if your monitor's big enough you could probably view the whole level on one screen).
<LI> Three levels of zoom (0.5x, 1x, 2x)
<LI> Toolbar to select tiles from.
<LI> Special effects like mirroring, random degrade (add cracks to concrete in random places) etc..
<LI>Full WYSIWYG (draws stuff exactly how you see it in the game, incl background).[/list]
I'll either write it in Turbo Pascal 7.0 (Real mode) or Free Pascal for DOS (32-bit protected mode), depends if I can cram all this stuff into 640k of memory. Would anyone really care if you can't actually run this program on a 8086/88 or 286 anyway?

[This message has been edited by Admiral_Bob (edited 10-02-2000).]

[MrEricSir]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Admiral_Bob:
I'll either write it in Turbo Pascal 7.0 (Real mode) or Free Pascal for DOS (32-bit protected mode), depends if I can cram all this stuff into 640k of memory. Would anyone really care if you can't actually run this program on a 8086/88 or 286 anyway?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Oh yeah, I really want to run this on my 8088.

Have you considered writting it for Windows, instead? It could be a simple point and click level editor, like in Jazz 2.



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[Admiral_Bob]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Oh yeah, I really want to run this on my 8088.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Rhetorical question

Just wondering if there's anyone out there still enjoying Duke 1 on their IBM XT, and doesn't want to be inconvenienced!

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Have you considered writting it for Windows, instead? It could be a simple point and click level editor, like in Jazz 2.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I'd rather not really stuff around with Windoze programming for a program as trivial as this, as I've got a considerable number of Turbo Pascal 7 units that I've written that should already fit the task in mind, they just need a small amount of fine tuning. It's going to be an intuitive graphical mouse interface so don't go thinking about consoles and messy commands.

Besides if I do release it as a DOS program there's nothing's stopping you from running it in a Win9x DOS box. I don't have any reason to use the sound card etc. so you shouldn't have any DOS box problems you may experience with other games.

Besides, 3DR's Tech Support do not provide assistance if you run DOS games under Win9x, and writing the editor for Windoze would encourage users to do this. Not that they'll always run into problems, though it's just to be on the safe side, you never know

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[Volte]

I'll make one for Windows if someone can get me the file format for the levels and pictures. I'm also interested in that WYSIWYG editor. Upload please.


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[Admiral_Bob]

You mean Dave Bollinger's DukeEdit 2.0?

I'm still investigating the format of the level files/graphics files, and how the sprites are drawn, but when I finish my editor, I'll probably include my findings on those formats in the documentation so you can write your own editor if you wish.

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[Vetek]

Maybe you could also think about making one for the Keen 1 series. There was that one editor, and geoff sims editor. But Geoff's had no load capabilities, and crap like that, and he canceled it off, or whatever

It would be great to have a good WYSIWIG editor for keen!

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[Admiral_Bob]

If I decide to release it under the GNU Public License (GPL), I'll also release the sources for it so you could modify it yourself into whatever editor you wish.

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[Lon Matero]

I wonder if the editor for Dave GNukem can be converted to edit Duke1 levels. The Dave game is a clone of Duke1, but runs on Linux and Win32 with full source included. You can see a nice screenshot of the GUI editor on the site.

Here is the website: http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Lofts/2018/djgame.html

- Lon Matero

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[Flaose]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>But Geoff's had no load capabilities, and crap like that, and he canceled it off, or whatever<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

We've got a WAY better version in production, loading, saving, quick views, and Keens 1-3 support! Keen 1 and 2 are done, and keen 3 are 2/3s done. Expect stuff within two months...

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[MrEricSir]

A Keen editor with a nice GUI would be bitchin'.

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[Admiral_Bob]

Okay, so far, the editor's making progress nicely. I've only been able to work on it a few hours each week because I've been rather tied up lately with other things, but I'll keep working on it when I can. Official due date is "when it's done" - Hey if 3DR can do that so can I!

So far, I've managed to fully decode the level and graphics formats, and got the sprites sorted out. Expect a DOS-based* full screen graphical mouse-driven editor, which drawing the graphics exactly the way you see it in the game (including animations), and the ability to work on 12 levels at the one time. Plus a nice assortment of tools, including multiblock cut-and-paste, block fill, auto-complete (draw a platform and it closes off the ends), multi-level zoom, and more...

*You can also run it under a Windoze DOS box if you wish.

I've also decided I'm going to release my editor under the GNU General Public License, which means that I will also be releasing the sources, and you may freely modify and redistribute it providing you follow the rules of the GPL.

It should be a relatively easy job to convert it to edit Keen1-3 or Crystal Caves/Secret Agent levels providing you can figure out the level/graphics formats.

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[Marcos_Edson]

A new editor for Duke 1, I'd love to see it!

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There can be only one...

[MrEricSir]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Sliver:
In what language is it written?
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Borland Turbo Pascal 7.0. Read the friggin' posts, man!

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In what language is it written?

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[Admiral_Bob]

Progress update:

Unfortunately over the past 4 weeks I've had a tonne of uni assignments, then exams and some other job work to plod through, so I really haven't had the time to work on the editor for a while. However I'll be able to resume work on it shortly when I get through my last exam tomorrow, so be on the lookout for more progress reports in this thread, possibly screenshots.

Thanks for all your feedback in this thread, I do appreciate it

I'm still going to release it under the GPL, and if I ever decide to abandon it before I finish it (probably unlikely), I'll post the existing sources up somewhere so anyone else who's interested can carry on with it.

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I would love a new editor for DN1,DN2 & DN3!
Can somebody upload DukeEdit2 please? Or email it to me? My email is [email protected]

De Zeurkous
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Friggin' Machines!

[This message has been edited by De_Zeurkous (edited 12-07-2000).]

I tried writing a Keen 1-3 editor a long time ago. In QBasic. I actually got to the point where I could load the RLE-encrypted levels and display them to the screen (this was when I was 13 or 14, and I didn't even really know that RLE was a standard, mind you.) I was going to make a graphical, mouse-driven editor, but I never figured out the graphics format. If anyone knows anything about it and wants to help me for some reason, e-mail me or something.

Or, since all the other level-editor jobs seem to be taken, maybe I'll write an editor for some less popular game like Crystal Caves or Dangerous Dave.

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