readme.b

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README for Linux DOOM Source distribution
=========================================


DISCLAIMER
----------
This is not "The DOOM Source Code" dump for a bunch
of reasons. It is based on a DOOM development directory
snapshot as of January 10th, but has been stripped and
changed. Thus it is the DOOM source, but there are many
minor differences to the source as last used by id
Software.

Note that thus neither John Carmack nor Dave Taylor nor
anybody else at id is responsible for the contents of
this archive, or the changes introduced to the original
source.

If there are any questions, contact me at [e-mail],
or preferably post to the mailing list at

                [e-mail]

(send mail to [e-mail], content just
a single "info doom-editing"). I will post any updates
or notifcation of corrections there. I will probably
put some stuff at 

          http://www.gamers.org/dEngine/doom/

as well. Look there for the "Unofficial DOOM Specs" as
minimal recommended documentation.



REMARKS
-------
I made a few minor bug fixes, added some experimental sound
code, and, and changed the handling of IWAD dependend game
modes. Most of the changes though have been shuffling
around sources in a sometimes futile attempt to separate
modules more cleanly, and make certain parts easier
to locate and modify. There is still much left to do, but
I hope that the current source is a good base to start
with, especially with a cooperative effort in mind. Those
so inclined will find the source prepared for CVS.  

There is a list of changes and fixes I did not get around
to in TODO, and an incomplete worklog in ChangeLog, that
also includes some minor ToDo statements scattered throughout
the log. 


a) Linux SVGA
There is no SVGA support. For development and debug
purposes, the X11 version seems to be more handy.

b) Sound - see README.sound,
    and the sndserver.tgz archive.

c) GLDOOM - see README.gl

d) Win32
There was no Win32 support in the original dump.

e) DOS
Original DOS support (including the texture
mapping and fixed point assembler) has been
removed, mainly because of the lack of sound
support.

f) DoomEd
The NeXTStep DoomEd sources in the dump were
garbled (filenames - prolly an issue of ISO9660
with or w/o extensions). Somehow  Bear never got
around to send me a list of the correct filenames,
and I won't bother guessing without a NeXT box
at hand.

There is a plethora of useful editors
for DOOM. I suggest using DEU for X11.

g) BSP Tools
The BSP builder and other tools have
been released by John Carmack long ago,
and since improved/replaced by others.
Again, I recommend taking a pick among
the tools available for Linux.  

h) DOOM game tools
There are a number of tools that have
not been released, namely those which
compiled the Things and State Tables,
the frame animation LUT's, sound tables
etc. Basically, they compile similarly
complex LUT's to generate C files. The
tools are omitted from this distribution.

There are some files in the
distribution (info.h/c, sounds.h/c)
that are essentially the output of these
tools. This is the data that defines
DOOM (as a game) for all practical
purposes.

I recommend keeping them, as they are
part of the source. In the long run,
handling them as well as the action/
animation functions as a separate game.so
library (as with Quake2) seems to be a
good idea.

i) Artwork
Neither the original artwork nor the
misc. WAD files are included in this
archive. You will at least need the
shareware WAD file to run the executable,
but it shouldn't be to difficult to get
a hold of that.

Note that the mechanism to detect the
presence of a registered or commercial
version is still in the source, and
homebrew maps are still disabled. This
is easily removed now, but as FinalDOOM,
Ultimate DOOM and DOOM 2 are still in
the shops, it is probably polite not
to distribute a source or binary without
that mechanism.

This version of Linuxdoom supports Plutonia
and TNT WAD from FinalDOOM as well. No
guarantees, though.


Enjoy!

 
                          b. 97/12/22