twinfalls@netcourrier.com

What is Dungeon Builder ?
With this kit you can make dungeons that have a likeness to the famous Dungeon Master game.
To make a 3D dungeon is as simple as assembling blocks together to build a kid's castle.
You will find an editor: TwinEd , a set of blocks: Wall, Corridor, Door, Monster, , , ,and dungeon samples.
To fully enjoy this kit you need the Heretic II CD by Raven Software. This game is based on the Quake engine.
Without this CD, you can use TwinEd as a mapper, assembling 2D tiles.
My kit is expandable. You can make and add your own tiles to it. You can replace all tiles with yours if you like.

How to install TwinEd ?
Download     TwinEd.zip        300 K.
Extract to any place you like. It will not spill files all over. All is contained in one folder.No DLL.
De installing  is simply: suppress one folder. No trace left.

How to use TwinEd ?
Execute TwinEd.exe Click on LOAD. Pick a dungeon among the .TWF files.
You see a Tool box, and a work area showing a Top view of this dungeon's first floor.
Making changes to the dungeon should be self explanatory.
One can delete a tile from the Top view, select a tile from the Tool box, paste a selected tile into the Top view.
The selected tile can be rotated, can be mirrored, before it is used.
Right clicking on the Top view reselects the pointed tile.
One can go to the upper or lower floor. Type on the U or D key when the Top view window is active.
To save your changes, click on SAVE. Put your dugeon in a new .TWF file or replace the one you loaded.
To start from a blank dungeon, LOAD the NULL.TWF file.
To export your dungeon, click on BUILD. This makes a .MAP file which is your dungeon in the format required by QuakeEd.

How to proceed with QuakeEd ?
You use QuakeEd to make a .BSP file from the .MAP file made by TwinEd.
The .MAP file must be moved or copied in the QuakeEd work folder : Heretic II \ base \ maps \
Start QuakeEd. Use the Bsp menu, pick : bsp_FullVis(grad -extra).
Be patient, this a lenghty processing on large maps.

How to play your game ?
The .BSP file must be in the folder : Heretic II \ base \ maps \
Start the Heretic II game. Activate the console, with the ESC key.
At the console line, type: MAP MYGAME assuming your game file is MYGAME.BSP 

How to make new tiles ?
You need a fair knowledge of QuakeEd, which I found easier than other Quake Editors. You need a good practice with files and folders.
Dungeon Builder is made of an engine TwinEd.exe and texte files. With no change to the engine, you can tailor what it does to your needs changing the texte files. You have full control and visibility with texte editors like Notepad.
In the TwinEd folder you have:
_ TwinEd.exe: The engine.
_ A set of .bmp files: The 2D tiles. Open with Paint, you see they are 32x32 256 colors images. Empty.bmp must be here
_ A set of .map files: The 3D blocks. Open with QuakeEd, you see they are cubes with various contents, all the same                         size.Open with Notepad. They are texte files that I made with QuakeEd and verified with Notepad.
_ Tiles.cfg: the list of tile / block names. Open with Notepad. An empty line must be here.
_ works, another folder that contains the dungeons you make.
In the works folder you have:
_ A set of .twf  files: Open with TwinEd or Notepad. Null.twf must be here, it is an emty file.
_ A set of .map files: Open with QuakeEd or Notepad.

When making changes do not change this file organisation.
To add a new tile, you must add two files in the TwinEd folder and an entry in theTiles.cfg file.
1. Make MyNewTile.map with QuakeEd. It is wise to verify it with Notepad.
2. Make MyNewTile.bmp with Paint.
3. Write MyNewTile in the Tiles.cfg file with Notepad.

Why this tool?
To make a dungeon with QuakeEd is not that easy when it becomes large with many floor levels. Hence I made this editor to fasten this work.
Two kinds of programmers can work together, with my TwinEd.
1. Dungeon makers that use already made tiles. They are mostly concerned by their scenario. They want tiles that are easy to use, that mesh well together, to make complexe combinations
2. Tile makers. They meet the challenge of providing such tiles. They workout and debug the technical details inside tiles.

Enjoy
Start with very simple things. Save regularly under different names.
twinfalls@netcourrier.com