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 playing with wood blocks to make a castle.
You will find an editor: TwinEd , a set of blocks: Walls, Corridors, Doors, Stairs, Monsters, . . . 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 ?
( Archive     TwinEd.zip    9/20/2000     300 K. )
Download     TwinEd.zip    29/01/2001    340 K.
Extract to any place you like. It will not spill files all over. All is contained in one folder.No DLL.No entry in the registry.
De installing  is simply: Suppress one folder and all its contents. No trace left.

How to use TwinEd ?
Execute TwinEd.exe .You see a Tool box, and a work area .
Click on LOAD. Pick a dungeon among the .TWF files. You see 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 pasted.
Right clicking on the Top view reselects the pointed tile.
One can go to the upper or lower floor. Type on the Page Up or the Page Down key when the Top view window is active.
To save your changes, click on SAVE. Put your dungeon 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 HereticEd.

How to proceed with HereticEd ?
You use HereticEd to make a .BSP file from the .MAP file made by TwinEd.
The .MAP file must be moved or copied in the HereticEd work folder : Heretic II \ base \ maps \
Start HereticEd. 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 HereticEd, 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 text files. With no change to the engine, you can tailor what it does to your needs changing the text files. You have full control and visibility with text 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. Unknown.bmp must be here too.
_ A set of .map files: The 3D blocks. Open with HereticEd, you see they are cubes with various contents, all the same size.Open with Notepad. They are text files that I made with HereticEd and verified with Notepad.
_ 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 empty file.
_ A set of .map files: Open with HereticEd 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.
1. Make MyNewTile.map with HereticEd. It is wise to verify it with Notepad.
2. Make MyNewTile.bmp with Paint.

How to use links?
A link is used when you want, for instance, a button in a tile to open a door in another tile.
To work with links, check the Link box. Your mouse buttons do no update tiles anymore, they update links.
To set a link: Push the left button, drag the mouse, release the left button.
To remove a link: Do the same over that link.
The right mouse button is to show links at a selected tile, all other links are hidden.
To set a link between different floors: Push left button, start drag, change floor with the PageUp or PageDown key, finish drag, release left button.

How to make new tiles that will be linkable?
HereticEd creates names like "t1" "t2" "t3" when you make links with Ctrl K. Keep this as is for links inside a tile.
TwinEd gives a special meaning for the name "t0".
"t0" is the hook to attach links between tiles.
A trigger tile has one ( or more ) entity with "target" "t0" . See: WallLever.
A target tile has one (or more ) entity with "targetname" "t0" . See: DoorRotating.
A tile may be trigger and target. See: Door2Buttons. The two buttons are triggers while the door is a target.
When you link "trigger and target" tiles, do not create a loop. It cannot work, the game crashes as soon as Corvus activates that loop.
An exception to the above rule: To link for teleporting, use: "target" "k0" "targetname" "t0".

Why this tool?
To make a dungeon with HereticEd 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