Difference between revisions of "Installation and execution of 3DGE"

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* For advanced users, [[DEBUG.txt]] is also generated.
 
* For advanced users, [[DEBUG.txt]] is also generated.
  
== DDF Folder Setup <!-- NOTE: Supported games each have their own DDF folders (doom_ddf, her_ddf, rott_ddf, etc)! --> ==
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== <!-- NOTE: Supported games each have their own DDF folders (doom_ddf, her_ddf, rott_ddf, etc)! -->DDF Folder Setup  ==
  
 
When EDGE is extracted, you will notice that there are a few folders, suffixed with '''_ddf'''. These folders tell EDGE how to load all of the [[Doom Definition File]], [[Radius Trigger Script]], and [[COAL Manual|COAL]] gamecode.  
 
When EDGE is extracted, you will notice that there are a few folders, suffixed with '''_ddf'''. These folders tell EDGE how to load all of the [[Doom Definition File]], [[Radius Trigger Script]], and [[COAL Manual|COAL]] gamecode.  

Revision as of 16:33, 12 November 2018

How to install EDGE under Windows

This is a short guide on how to install EDGE under Windows.

For users running Windows XP, you will only be able to run the x86 builds of EDGE!

  1. Download and Install the newest version of EDGE (stable: 2.1.0 Test3, devbuilds: 2.1.0 DRDTeam Builds).
  2. Extract all files from 7Z/RAR to a new directory.
  3. Use a compatible IWAD. If two DOOM IWADS are found, EDGE will load them in order and only one at a time, starting with DOOM II. However, you can also load DOOM and DOOM II together and play them in one contained session.

How to start EDGE

  • Depending on what version of EDGE you have, the executable name might be different. Starting with 1.36F, the name will always be "EDGE".exe.

To play an unmodified game, simply double-click EDGE.exe, or a shortcut to it, or call it from a command line.

For playing mods, you need to tell EDGE to load the relevant mod files. Since EDGE does not integrate a front end for choosing mods, the following are just a series of standard methods to open an executable with one or several files as parameters.

Using a front-end

This might be the best method. Select a frontend and install it. Instead of starting EDGE directly, start the frontend. This will let you select which mod to load and set additional command line parameters as well. Said front-end should come with documentation.

Drag-and-drop

The simplest method. Select the mod files to load, and then drag and drop them over EDGE's executable. If the mod files are not in the same directory as EDGE, you will need to open a file manager window in each directory. You can also drag the mod file over a shortcut to the EDGE executable.

Send to

Add a shortcut to EDGE in your SendTo folder. Depending on the version of Windows you use, the path to the SendTo folder may differ. In XP, it is in C:\Documents and Settings\<userid>\SendTo. In Vista or 7, it is in %APPDATA%\Microsoft\Windows\SendTo.

Simply add a shortcut to EDGE in that folder, and now you can right-click->send to->EDGE any file you want. You can edit the shortcut to add command line parameters to it as well.

Note that you may need to set Windows Explorer to show hidden and system files for it to accept to show you the SendTo folder.

Open with

In Windows Explorer, select Tools -> Folder Options, then under "File Types" associate the file types wad with EDGE.exe. (If .wad is not listed in the "Extension" column, click on "New" to create it.) Once this is done, you can double-click on a wad file and it'll launch EDGE with that file automatically. If the file type is associated with several programs (for example, EDGE and other source ports), then use right-click -> Open With to select EDGE.

Shell extension

You can create shell extensions in Windows Explorer to make new context menu entries. As for the "Open With" method, select Tools -> Folder Options, then under 'File Types', select the wad extension (if it is not already present, create it), then click on "Advanced" near it. Click "New..." to create a new action. In the "Action" field, describe what you want the shell extension to display, for example, "Play with EDGE". In the "Application used to perform action" field, place an instruction for the shell extension to activate, with the full path to EDGE.exe (between quotes if there are spaces in a directory name), followed by -file "%1".

Right clicking on WAD files should now list whatever you marked earlier in the Action field, and should perform the action listed in the second field. Again, you will have to do this for each file type.

With the command line

A simple command line window can be shown with Start->Run (or the Windows key + R keyboard shortcut). Click on "Browse" to find EDGE.exe, and then you can add command line parameters as needed; for example to load "foobar.wad" from the same directory, simply add "foobar.wad" after EDGE.exe on that command line.

Another possibility is to open a command line window. With Vista or 7, hold shift while right-clicking in an empty area of the EDGE folder, or on the EDGE folder itself. The "Open command window here" option will appear. You can now type your command line with the appropriate parameters, as explained above.

With batch files

You can create batch files for combinations of mods and other command line parameters that you use often. Just type the command line in a text file, rename it with a .bat extension, and then you can double-click on the batch file.

DOOMWADPATH, DOOMWADDIR

EDGE supports those naming conventions so you don't need the IWAD in the directory to play the game.

Logfile

When EDGE begins to load it sets up the required environment and checks for possible errors. You can see remnants of this in the console when the TITLEPIC is displayed.

To access this log,

  • Open up EDGE2.LOG for general information.
  • For advanced users, DEBUG.txt is also generated.

DDF Folder Setup

When EDGE is extracted, you will notice that there are a few folders, suffixed with _ddf. These folders tell EDGE how to load all of the Doom Definition File, Radius Trigger Script, and COAL gamecode.

Some mods have their Data embedded in the WADfile or Archive, or in another folder not named "doom_ddf". The mods that do not do this will need their doom_ddf folders renamed. Alternatively, you can set the path of your (original or modified) DDF files with the -DDF parameter.

Regardless, EDGE will need access to the original ddf folders at all times, unless the mod is a Total Conversion or a separate game, which incorporates what EDGE needs at run-time. Alternatively, you can self-contain the script LUMPS.