DOOM Editing - A Getting Started Guide
--------------------------------------

First Upload Date:  4 July 1998 v1.03                                             | 
First Revision:     2 January 2002 v1.04                                          |
Author:             John Bishop  
EMail:              jb_sharx@hotmail.com                                          | 
Web:                http://www.users.waitrose.com/~sharx                          |
FTP:                ftp://3darchives.in-span.net/pub/idgames/docs/editing/        |


What is the Getting Started Guide ?
-----------------------------------

This document will give you an overall idea of what's involved in DOOM WAD 
creation and editing. 

The problem is that you can't do this with a single utility, in fact I must
have used or reviewed some thirty different utilities during the creation of
my WADs, and it has taken me a lot of time and effort reading stuff and asking
other people for help to find out what is often something really simple. And it
takes a long while to sift through all the utilities there are out there to find
the ones you really need.

So, this won't be a guide to WAD editing per se because there are some great 
documents out there already but it will give you a conceptual overview, 
an idea of the many things you can do when WAD editing and probably most 
importantly, links to the utilities and documents you will need. Hopefully,
this will save you a LOT of time if you are just starting out, and may also 
be of help to the less experienced WAD authors.

The guide is also available in HTML format on my web pages at:

 http://www.users.waitrose.com/~sharx/dmstrtd.htm                                 |


DMGUIDE.ZIP contents
--------------------

DMSTRTD.TXT    A text only version of the DOOM Editing 'Getting Started Guide'.
DMSTRTDW.DOC   The 'Getting Started Guide' in Microsoft Word 97 format.           | 
DMGUIDE.TXT    This file.


Installation
------------

Unzip DMGUIDE.ZIP into any directory using PKZip or WinZip. Use any text editor
to view/print the text only guide, and Word to view/print the DMSTRTD.DOC. 

Note that Word supports internet hypertext links so all the FTP/website 
links have been left as in the original HTML version and will work directly
from within the document provided your PC is connected to the internet.


Notes on the January 2002 Revision                                                |
----------------------------------                                                |
                                                                                  | 
The key part of this document is the set of links at the end to the key documents | 
and utilities. Since the closure of ftp.cdrom.com and the subsequent move to the  |
3d gamers archive, all these links needed revising. Further, the author of RMB    | 
the reject map builder, Jens Hykkelbjerg, removed his DOOM pages from the web and |
on top of all that the excellent WAD Designers Handbook was moved at least twice. |
Finally, Rand Phares, the DCC author, uploaded a new version which also needed a  | 
correction in this document.                                                      |
                                                                                  | 
So, this new version has had all the links corrected and re-tested. While I was   |
at it, I added a new section on Lighting which was well overdue, along with a     |
Document History section and Late Breaking News section. My website is still      |
getting a lot of hits on this document so I guess some new map authors are        | 
finding it useful.                                                                | 


Credits
-------

Just too many to mention individually, but my heartfelt thanks and respect goes
to all the software and text authors who have provided such a wealth of 
utilities, WAD editors, manuals and other information without which the DOOM world
would be a much poorer place. This guide would not have been written without them
and I hope in some way it gives back something to the community that has given me 
so many hours of interest and pleasure over the last few years.   



John Bishop
Surrey, UK.
July 1998, January 2002.