Lnuxguy's Wii Development

IWAD Question with WiiDoom (alternate subject: Hello again!)

2009-07-14T08:31:00.002-04:00

Yes, I'm still alive and keeping an eye on the homebrew scene, more recently lately...

I got this question in my email and wanted to answer it publicly, since it's a very good question, and one I asked myself midway through WiiDoom:

"...i was under the impression that the same engine was used for the Hexen/Heretic games but when i try and add those wad files they dont even read. i was wondering if this would be a pain to ask for or if not, would you know someone who would be able to work in a compaitibility or new wii homebrew that would allow us to play these old games as well..."

Here's the thing about the Doom engine, as it relates to Doom,Hexen, and Heretic. This is going on memory, but it's still somewhat fresh in my brain LOL.

The Doom engine was somewhat tailored to the game it was packaged with (i.e. Doom, Heretic, Hexen) and the engine will look for the specific IWADs, as well as checking the IWAD once it opens them to look at the header. It *really* gets the version of Doom (I, II, Final, Ultimate) from the header, and turns on various features based on that. It seems that with each new game id software made, they enhanced the engine, adding better special FX.

It's very easy to add the checks for the other games (Hexen, Heretic), but then the various features that need to be enabled have to be added as well. I think it was Hexen that had some special things like the fog. The fog effect would have to be added, which would touch quite a number of files (probably the r_* files). ZDoom and a few other 3rd party engines had done this, so I know it's possible, it's just not a very easy thing to do. It is much easier (and cleaner) to port the individual engines over. I looked into porting hexen over, and was messing around with that before I basically ran out of time to work on homebrew. I'd REALLY love to do that again.

If anyone else has a question, let me know. I'm not saying that I'm resuming development (yet), but I am really considering it once another side project of mine is finished.

Moving On

2009-02-07T10:30:00.001-05:00

Because of the imminent death of the Twilight Hack, and not having enough time when I'm home, I'm stepping away from WiiDoom. If anyone would like to take over this project, let me know and I'll hand over the GoogleCode site. It's been so much fun working on this, and I'm very grateful for everyone's support.

I may resume work on this or another project in the future. We'll see....

WiiDoom 0.4.1 is released

2008-12-05T08:02:00.002-05:00

I fixed the bug that caused the shareware wad to crash in 0.4, so I'm releasing a version that includes only this fix. The homebrew browser can't put out the newest WiiDoom unless the shareware wad (which is packaged with it) works, so this was a high priority for me. Teknecal just confirmed that it's working, so he's putting it out in the next day or so.

Most people won't need to download this new update, unless they wan't to ~~increase the download count via HBB~~ have the latest version. :)

Does anyone play with the shareware wad?

2008-11-25T08:04:00.002-05:00

Just wondering if anyone is currently playing 0.4 with the shareware wad file. I've gotten a report of a crash dump when loading it up.

WiiDoom 0.4 is now compatible with HBC

2008-11-19T08:01:00.003-05:00

Thanks to everyone who responded to my request for testers. We've verified that this new package works great with the Homebrew Channel, so I've updated the zip file and put it out on the Google Code site (it's still 0.4, since only the packaging changed). Thanks to everyone giving me such detailed info on the issue, I got it fixed much faster than I thought I would.

Go download and enjoy!!!

Still need a tester

2008-11-18T16:32:00.001-05:00

If anyone can test this out on the HBC, please email me directly (lnuxguy@gmail.com) so I can send you the new zip file.

Vin is my hero today

2008-11-18T13:53:00.004-05:00

Vin tested out a fix for the HBC bug, and found that it works if you copy the prboom folder to the apps\WiiDoom folder. I'm pretty sure all you need are prboom\images and prboom\fonts in that apps\WiiDoom folder, but I'm verifying with vin. For more details, please check out the comments thread of "WiiDoom 0.4 HBC bug". Vin, you're the man, thanks so much!

I'll be posting a new zip file as soon as I can finalize the fix.

WiiDoom 0.4 HBC bug

2008-11-17T18:22:00.004-05:00

This issue is only when launching via HBC. I just blew away my WiiDoom install on my SD card, and copied only the 0.4 installation files (plus doom.wad). It works just fine.

I'm not sure what's different about the HBC method. I'm using absolute file paths, so it shouldn't be an issue. If anyone wants to work with me on it, I'd appreciate it. I don't use the HBC, so if I come up with anything, I'll need a few testers. If anyone wants to test, lemme know.

Until then, 0.4 is being re-released, for those that are using the Twilight Hack launch method.

WiiDoom 0.4 has been released

2008-11-17T12:59:00.002-05:00

Go get it from the Google Code site until the homebrew browser is updated. Please download, enjoy, and spread the word!

[UPDATE] There's some issue with the distribution package (I think) of WiiDoom. Stick with 0.3.1 until I can get it resolved. I'll post when it's fixed.

WiiDoom to be released in the next few days

2008-11-16T14:50:00.000-05:00

Get ready.

What next?

2008-11-13T11:27:00.002-05:00

There's a lot of activity in the homebrew scene, most of which are ports of games. What would you like to see ported over next?

WAD Loader Screenshot

2008-11-12T18:35:00.002-05:00

Here's what it looks like:

The "Start button" fades in and out, and the PWAD menu (on the right) can scroll using the DPAD left/right.

I'm finishing up this, and then I'm putting out the next version.

Never underestimate the power of crash dumps

2008-11-12T08:01:00.004-05:00

Warning: programming jargon ahead...

Let me set this picture up for you. I've got a loop in the wad file loader (the main loop) that , among other things, constantly "paints" the wad files on the screen. This repeats until the user hits a button to start up Doom. At the bottom of this loop I check for various button presses (select wad, quit to wii menu, load wiidoom, etc..). I've had this code running for a few weeks. Last week I start to add one line of code to check to see if the DPad-right button is pressed. One simple line of code.

And WiiDoom crashes. If you haven't seen the Wii crash, picture a BSOD in Windows, but no blue. A black and white screen that pisses me off because now I have to get off the couch, reboot the wii, restart Twilight Princess, and get ready to boot the hack again.

I checked the code I just added, and it looks exactly like the other button press tests. I change the button I'm checking for, and..... another crash. I change it to a button I'm already checking for (like A). Crash. WTF?

One week later, while taking some long needed advice, I analyze the crash dump information, and find out the game is crashing due to some code I've got to write the wad filenames to the screen. WAAAAY up further in the procedure. The same code that's been running for quite a while (development-wise, anyway). I correct the bug, and everything starts to work.

[EDIT] Here's the wiibrew.org page that helped me - http://wiibrew.org/wiki/Debugging

That is one of those slap-yourself-in-the-face moments where you wish you'd thought of that earlier. If you've seen any of my code in WiiDoom, you'd probably see my method of debugging on the Wii.

Print out a debug message
Suspend (sleep) the program
Resume

That's still the best method in my opinion if you don't debug via gecko (or whatever that device is), but I now will be checking the crash dump a little more often (as opposed to never!).

Anyways, now that it's not crashing, maybe I can get enough done to crank out a screenshot...

Check out this template

2008-11-07T12:55:00.001-05:00

If you want to use it, here's where I found it:

http://www.eblogtemplates.com/wii/

WiiDoom 0.4 big new feature

2008-11-05T07:57:00.004-05:00

I'm starting to finalize the 0.4 release of WiiDoom now. I hope to release this within 2 weeks (at the most). It's take a lot of work, but I've got a WAD loader working now. It will launch before the WiiDoom engine (of course), and will allow you to select the version of doom (IWAD), and any additional levels (PWADs) you want loaded. I'm still touching up the graphics for it, and will continue to polish it even after this release. I'll post a screenshot in the next few days.

Music is still a challenge for WiiDoom. The SDL_mixer for the wii is absolute garbage. I haven't found anyone who's gotten it to work. I'm going to have to use an additional library to play the MIDI/MP3 music file. That's something that I should get working on the next release (but we'll see).

Anyways, thanks for your support, and start getting your PWADs ready!!!!

WiiDoom 0.4 bugfixes so far

2008-10-30T12:42:00.003-04:00

Here's what's fixed so far in the new version:

When you finish the game, you can now advance through the "cast"
Fixed config file saving/loading
Enabled classic stairbuilding by default
IR Crosshair can be disabled in the menu
IR Crosshair only appears when in a level (not automap, etc..)
Vertical resolution adjusted so the entire screen fits. (bottom and top used to be offscreen)
Fixed Twilight input bug (finally)

I may be adding a few more bugfixes, and I'm almost done with the "big" new feature.

Look for a release fairly soon...

Working on next release

2008-10-19T09:20:00.003-04:00

Just wanted to let everyone know that I'm working on the next release of WiiDoom. This will mainly be bugfixes, BUT I will be including a new feature that everyone's been asking for for a while. This will be a MAJOR feature, but you'll have to wait longer to find out what it is... :)

P.S. There's one person out there that knows what it is, but he better keep quiet! :P

WiiDoom 0.3.1 released

2008-10-10T12:23:00.002-04:00

WiiDoom 0.3.1 is now out on the google code site. Download and enjoy!

WiiDoom 0.3.1 being released tomorrow

2008-10-09T18:54:00.002-04:00

I'm still not able to get any music working (or even written to the SD card), so I'm releasing 0.3.1 to include all of the SVN changes since 0.3. Here's the changes:

IR input based on raw values (and seems smoother, IMO)
BFG/weapon switching bug fixed
Added (small) IR crosshair, to help with aiming

I'll try to put this out around noon EST

Info on next release of WiiDoom

2008-09-24T08:04:00.000-04:00

We're primarily working on bug fixes for the next release, and will try to enable music, also. Due to the way Doom writes all music MIDIs to the sd card before playing them, music will be disabled by default, and you'll have to enable it (somehow).

WiiDoom 0.3 Has Been Released

2008-09-21T16:13:00.003-04:00

WiiDoom 0.3 is now up for download. I've switched from boot.elf to boot.dol, so delete the elf before putting the new version on your sd card. Here's the changes in this version:

Saving/Loading works (using Nintendo-style save slots)
Messages are now correctly displayed on screen
Automap works (panning, zooming, and follow mode)
Boot.dol distributed instead of Boot.elf (much smaller file)
Preliminary PWAD support (one wad at a time)

WiiDoom 0.3 to be released this weekend

2008-09-20T08:16:00.003-04:00

I'm going to release WiiDoom 0.3 this weekend. Here's the list of changes:

Saving/Loading works (using Nintendo-style save slots)
Automap works (panning, zooming, and follow mode)
Boot.dol distributed instead of Boot.elf (much smaller file)

That's all..... OH WAIT! I just remembered, I was about to call it a day, until Scramble suggested I a way of adding preliminary support for PWADs. I tried it, and it worked. Here's the deatils:

One PWAD file is supported at a time. It MUST be named pwad.wad, and it MUST be placed in the "prboom" directory on the SD card. If you do that, it will be loaded. Like I said, this is preliminary support, until I get a full WAD selection screen for IWADs and PWADs.

BIG thanks to Scramble for suggesting this!

Quick update on WiiDoom

2008-09-19T09:14:00.002-04:00

I've got Saving/Loading games working, as well as a few other fixes. I'm trying to get the Automap integrated before releasing a new version, but I'm not going to work too much longer before releasing what I've got.

Question: How many people even use the automap???

FreeDoom is no longer included

2008-09-10T12:57:00.002-04:00

I've pulled the FreeDoom WAD file out of the distribution package. The file size was WAY too big, there were compatibility issues with the levels, and there's no need to re-download it every time there's a new WiiDoom version.

Also, because of the compatibility issues, FreeDoom is no longer supported with WiiDoom. If we can iron out the bugs, it'll be supported again, but that's the lowest priority right now, so don't hold your breath. :)

WiiDoom 0.2 IS OUT

2008-09-10T12:55:00.000-04:00

I've finalized all changes to WiiDoom, and can't hold it back any longer. We've gotten a LOT of stuff smoothed out, including sound, brightness, and oh yeah... IR TURNING. This is quite an update, so download it now! Here's the full changelog:

-- Version 0.2 --
[NEW] Remapped Wii controls to joystick handling code
[FIXED] Control stick no longer stalls
[NEW] Joystick code extended to handle nearly all currently supported device inputs
[NEW] IR controls partly implemented
[FIXED] Menu navigation made consistent with Wii titles
[FIXED] Audio now plays at correct pitch
[FIXED] Brightness/Gamma set to low value
[NEW] Framerate uncapped
[NEW] Weapon switching via Left/Right on D-pad
[CHANGED] IR is now linear

WiiDoom 0.2 beta being finalized

2008-09-02T15:22:00.005-04:00

I'm finalizing the changes on version 0.2, and upgrading it to beta status. The following changes will be included in v0.2:

Basic turning via IR
Weapon changing via ~~- and +~~ Left/Right D-pad
~~Minimap access via C button~~ Postponed until later
Menu selection via B A (instead of 1 & 2 buttons)
Tweaked Nunchuk movement
Brightness (Gamma) correction

I'm not sure when this release will be out, but I DO know it will be soon, so keep checking back...

New download available on WiiDoom code site.

2008-08-26T13:14:00.001-04:00

Due to the number of complaints trying to download the FULL WiiDoom ? package (including FreeDoom?), I added a "CORE" package, which doesn't include FreeDoom?. Download this if you intend on copying your own Doom WAD file into the prboom directory. THIS WILL NOT WORK WITHOUT A DOOM WAD FILE!!!

Go to the Google Code site to download this file (2.4MB).

A few comments about the inclusion of FreeDOOM

2008-08-24T08:31:00.003-04:00

There's been a few questions about FreeDoom, what it is, and why it was included, so I wanted to clear up a few things:

The original Doom levels are STILL commercial, so they're not free. While I CAN have free reign over the engine, I cannot include the levels. That is one of the reasons someone started the FreeDOOM project. It is independent of id Software, and is NOT an official Doom version. If you have the commercial Doom levels (Doom, Doom II, Ultimate Doom, Final Doom), you can use that instead. I just didn't want to put out WiiDoom without having an option for people who don't own Doom levels.

To me, it doesn't get any better than the original levels, and that's what I play.

WiiDoom 0.1.1 released

2008-08-23T14:03:00.005-04:00

WiiDoom 0.1.1 is now online.

Changes include fixing the "Quit" bug, as well as a few other places where you had to hit "Y". Now you just hit A.

I also replaced the Homebrew Channel icon to Funkamatic's.

Download the new release from the Google Code site.

WiiDoom 0.1 source code now online

2008-08-22T17:34:00.003-04:00

I just finished checking in the source code into Google Code. Go to the Google Code site to download.

WiiDoom 0.1 Alpha Released

2008-08-22T12:37:00.004-04:00

The first alpha release of WiiDoom has been released. Please go to the Google Code site to download (http://wiidoom.googlecode.com). Download, test, enjoy, and have fun!!!!!

One thing to note: Nunchuk detection is a little flaky right now, so once Doom comes up, disconnect and reconnect the Nunchuk.

FreeDOOM will be included with WiiDoom

2008-08-21T18:39:00.005-04:00

I haven't played FreeDOOM before, but it looks pretty neat. I'll be including FreeDOOM in the WiiDOOM package (including the alpha) in case you don't have the commercial (or shareware) Doom IWADs.

I'm packing everything up today, so I think tomorrow I'll out out the alpha and publish the source on Google Code.

http://code.google.com/p/wiidoom/

WiiDoom alpha being finalized!!

2008-08-20T09:00:00.003-04:00

I've got WiiDoom stable enough to release an alpha, but there's a few other minor things I want to get in place first. I'm shooting for this weekend (pun intended), so get ready....

I WILL be releasing the source code around the same time, so don't worry about that.

MAJOR update on WiiDoom progress

2008-08-09T12:46:00.002-04:00

Ok, the force must have been with me yesterday, because I got a lot of things working:

Sound is now FULLY working
Graphics palette was switched to SW palette to fix colors
Controls are working with Wiimote (although they tend to stick).
I am working on the Nunchuk controls now, to match the Metroid/Quake still controls.

Doom is now playable on the Wii. Using the Wiimote, I can load up a new game, move around, shoot, etc... Once I get the Metroid/Quake style controls working, I'll put out an alpha version.

TODO:

Finish control scheme
Weapon icons and face image are disabled because they will crash
Currently hard-coded for Doom2.wad, need to fix that

Another update on WiiDoom

2008-08-08T07:38:00.002-04:00

Here's where I'm at on WiiDoom:

Menu comes up and controls are working.
Video is crashing when trying to paint the icons (ammo count, player picture, etc..). I may disable that temporarily to get a working prototype.
Sound is still disabled for now.

Hopefully I'll get more time to work on it this weekend...

Update on WiiDoom

2008-07-31T07:20:00.001-04:00

Here's an update on the progress:

The game now loads up on the Wii to the splash screen, menu also comes up
Game crashes while trying to load up the first demo, fixed by disabling the demos (temp fix)
Currently implementing the control scheme using the Wiimote and nunchuck
Sound has been disabled until I get controls setup

This is progressing quite nicely, and I'm also starting to poke around with the Hexen source code...

PrBoom port for Wii

2008-07-24T07:26:00.002-04:00

I'm currently working on porting PrBoom (DOOM) to the Wii. I'm in the initial stages of the porting process. It compiles now using libogc and the SDL port. I've disabled all networking support since the SDL port doesn't have it.

I'll put out another update as I get closer.

First post

2008-07-24T07:21:00.000-04:00

This is my blog, where I'll post about various Wii homebrew projects I'm working on. Stay tuned for updates.