Does WED Refuse to Start When...

Posted By: WolfCoder

Does WED Refuse to Start When... - 03/25/09 20:11

I know the actual engine quits running after the trial expires and the map compiler also probably refuses to compile, but does WED refuse to start when it expires?

I own a copy of the A6 commercial edition, but now all I want to use is the WED to create levels. I'm writing my own engine and map compiler which reads the .wmp and makes maps in my custom compiled format out of them. It's an OpenGL engine made for RPGs and runs under Linux and probably works if compiled on a Mac as well- and it's open source. It's also free for anyone to use in their own projects and is as easy as dumping the .c and .h files into a folder and linking compiling directories.

The reason I ask this is because it might be nice to use an updated version of WED because WED is all I want to use. The WED that came with my version can set materials for every side and everything, it's all up to the engine I'm writing to make it look as pretty as I say it should be in WED- so I'm all set for a few more years as implementing fancy new Graphics features is a matter of modifying just the engine.

By theory, I could do all this even with the really old near-A4 editor I used to have, but it would be nice to know if WED will continue to at least edit .wmp files. I don't need to compile or use any of the other tools. It's just the interface being fun to use issue.

I could find this out for myself, but I would rather not have to wait the full 30 days.

UPDATE
Nevermind, it looks like they want to make it harder for people by changing from a text format to a less portable proprietary level format. This officially ends my loyalty to using 3DGameStudio for anything.
Posted By: Quad

Re: Does WED Refuse to Start When... - 03/25/09 21:08

you could use .map format and qoole99 (i guess this is what WED and valve Hammer is based on right?) or DeleD for map editing. You already have your format and can read it, but you will need a new compiler or converter or exporter for this editors.
Posted By: WolfCoder

Re: Does WED Refuse to Start When... - 03/26/09 18:19

That's not what I'm talking about. .WMP used to be a text format including documentation. Now it's some proprietary binary format there's no documentation for. It's not so much the fact that the new .WMP files are binary files, but the fact that they're not documented so I can't easily write a reader.

Update
I found the format of a .WMB file instead. I could just use that and the problem of lights is already taken care of.

The thing is, I really, really don't want to write my own Level Editor when I've got one. I want my engine to read as many formats as possible, and it's open source so people can add more formats, mix n' match.

The engine chops off the file extension to every entity if there is one- it loads the required sprites and models using simple names in it's database. For example, every sprite in the level has a copy in the .WIP image packs (which contain sprites, textures, or both in 24 or 32 bit formats).

As a bonus, the engine will work on anything that supports SDL and OpenGL. It will even read the skill values you set in WED and the first to strings and look up the action in the database.

Even if I personally decide not to use it, it would still be nice for other people if it works with .WMB files. I see I can do all the light maps and have a beautiful level, and the material names are all in there as well. It's going to be easier to implement than a text-based format and the documentation says that the format is very strongly backwards compatible.
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