Welcome to the first in a series of guides that aim to get you making levels for Doom in no time. There are many different ways to create levels for Doom, and none of them are incorrect! That being said, there are recommended ways of doing things and best practices. These guides will reflect the way I make Doom WADs and what I’ve learned over the years.
Note about PC specs: I’m usually playing Doom and making levels on Windows 10 64-bit. I have a modest desktop and everything runs smooth. I also use a MacBook Pro from 2013 with Bootcamp that runs everything smoothly as well. I tried mapping and running GZDoom on a Dell XPS from around 2013 and it ran HORRIBLY. There are ways to tone down the graphics for GZDoom and GZDoom Builder 2 so it runs smoother for you, but don’t expect it to look amazing if you have older hardware.
A Little History
A Doomer named CodeImp developed a program called Doom Builder and it was a very easy way to create Doom levels. One of the best features was a Visual Mode that let you preview and edit your map in 3D. This sped up the level design process and eliminated a lot of time spent with guesswork and testing your map every time you made a change.
Since then, CodeImp released a new version of the editor called Doom Builder 2. It improved on almost everything from Doom Builder. Since the source code is open source, many have improved on it even more. My favorite improvement to use is GZDoom Builder 2, which allows the popular Visual Mode to render many GZDoom related effects such as slopes, 3D floors, colored sectors, and more.
Here is the main website for Doom Builder 2 for your reference. Here is a forum post on ZDoom.org for GZDoom Builder 2. Here is the DRD Team Development Build page for GZDoom Builder 2.
Step 1: Download and Install 7-Zip
7-Zip is a free .ZIP file software that allows you to open .7Z files. It’s a safe program so there’s no worries about installing it. Here’s the download page.
Step 2: Install Prerequisite Software
Go to the DRD Team Development Build page for GZDoom. You’ll see a download titled GZDB_Prerequisites.7z. Extract it using 7-Zip to a folder somewhere (you can right-click the file in your Downloads folder, use the 7-Zip context menu, and select “Extract to GZDB_Prerequisites”). Install all three programs inside. If any of the three say you already have them installed, great! Just move on to the next one.
Step 3: Download GZDoom Builder 2
Now it’s time to download the latest version of GZDoom Builder 2 from the same site. At the time of writing this, it’s the download that says GZDoom_Builder-r2787.7z.
Extract this folder somewhere nice. Maybe in a Dropbox to sync across computers? Maybe near your other Doom folder? Once it’s extracted, I would also rename it something prettier like “GZDoomBuilder”. Also, make a shortcut for convenience (or pin it to your taskbar!) Now go ahead and open Doom Builder…
Step 4: Set Preferences
Go to Tools > Preferences… in the menu bar to change some of the default settings.
- Interface Tab
- Check “Black background in image browser” to help your eyes a little bit
- Controls Tab
- Drawing Section
- I set “Start Drawing” to “Alt+Menu”
- Edit Section
- Confirm “Clear Selection” is set to “C”
- Modes Section
- I set “GZDB Visual Mode” to “Q” since it’s right next to ESDF (the visual mode movement keys)
- Visual Modes Section
- Confirm “Auto-align Textures X” is set to “A”
- Confirm “Copy Texture” is set to “Ctrl+C”
- Confirm “Paste Texture” is set to “MButton”
- Confirm “Reset Texture Offsets” or “Reset Local Texture Offsets (UDMF)” is set to “R” (The UDMF setting may only appear later on after some more configuration)
- Drawing Section
- Appearance Tab
- I personally have some issues with my eyesight so I crank up the “Textures and flats brightness” to +5y to see things better inside the editor
- I turn “Anisotropic filtering” to None
- I turn “Edge anti-aliasing” to None
- I keep both settings about “Bilinear filtering” off to keep the pixelated look.
- Editing Tab
- I check “Synchronize selection between Visual and Classic modes” to help with some tricky editing
Step 5: Set Game Configurations
Go to Tools > Game Configurations… in the menu bar to let Doom Builder know where our Doom IWADS and GZDoom are at.
Place a check mark beside “GZDoom: Doom 2 (UDMF)”. This is the format we will be mapping in. Click here if you want to learn about UDMF. Inside the settings for this configuration, go to the Resources tab and click “Add resources…”. Navigate to your Doom folder and select Doom2.wad.
On the Testing tab, select your gzdoom.exe in your Doom folder. I test on Ultra-Violence but it doesn’t really matter what you select here. It’s all up to you 🙂
Step 6: Create a new map
You’re almost there! No go to File > New Map in the menu bar. You’ll see a Map Options dialogue box. Select your Game Configuration (GZDoom: Doom 2 (UDMF)), set the Script Type to “ZDoom ACS“, leave your Level name at “MAP01“, and press OK.
Nice work! You are now ready to start mapping! Read the next tutorial to get started!
