Introduction

• A regular Doom level. This is a level designed for Doom or Doom 2 as released by id Software.
• A Boom level. This is a level designed for Team TNT's Doom port, Boom.
• A ZDoom level. This is a level designed to take advantage of ZDoom's features, which are based on Hexen.

BOOM levels are treated just as they are with BOOM with the following exceptions:

• Translucent lines always use a fixed amount of translucency. (ZDoom levels do not have this restriction.)
• The 242 linedef can be used to set palette blends as well as colormaps. Just use a texture name of the form "AARRGGBB" instead of a colormap name.
• Generalized doors cannot switch the lighting in a sector between two levels.

It is a good idea to have, at the very least, looked over the Unofficial DOOM Specs. Other useful documents are the Official Hexen Specs, and the BOOM reference document. If you don't already have DOOM or Hexen specs (some editors come with them), you can download them from:

• ftp://ftp.cdrom.com/pub/idgames/docs/editing/dmspec16.zip (DOOM specs)
• ftp://ftp.cdrom.com/pub/idgames/docs/editing/hexspc09.zip (Hexen specs)

Most of this reference discusses editing Hexen-like maps using ZDoom, since that is where the bulk of the new features apply. Some parts of this document, however, describe features applicable to both DOOM and Hexen-style levels (such as ambient sounds).

If you want to make a ZDoom-specific level, you currently have two options available:

1. Make the level entirely with an editor that supports it. DeeP97 has some support, the ZDoom Editing Package contains a .wcf file for use with WadAuthor, and ZETH is a DETH-based editor with ZDoom support built in.
2. Make a regular DOOM level with your favorite editor, convert it with zwadconv, and then make any additional changes, as neccessary, with one of the editors listed above.

If an editor supports Hexen editing and is configurable, it should be possible to edit ZDoom levels with it, although it may take a bit of work convincing the editor that the game really does work with the Hexen type of level. For instance, to use WadAuthor to create ZDoom levels, you first need to run your IWAD through zwadconv to produce an IWAD with Hexen-style levels. I would recommend saving the new IWAD with a different name, because if you don't, you won't be able to make non-ZDoom levels, and the IWAD will only work with ZDoom.