SLUMP documentation

Overview

SLUMP is a random map generator for FreeDoom that makes Doom2-compatible maps. SLUMP exists as both a binary for Microsoft Windows and as *NIX source code.

SLUMP generates an entire 32-map megawad for FreeDoom/Doom2. The size of each level in the megawad can be chosen by the user, and, if the users wishes, they may generate the same megawad again by choosing the same random number "seed" and level size.

The maps generated by SLUMP do not use any non-standard extensions, and are compatible with ID's Doom2 program and any Doom-derivative that can play ID's DOOM2 maps.

License and copying

SLUMP is GPL-licensed code that is derived from David Chess' SLIGE. If you wish to make you own derivative of SLUMP, while not requied by the license, please do not call your program SLIGE, and please let David Chess know what you are doing. His email address is at the domain "theogeny.com" with the name "chess" placed before the at symbol.

Obtaining SLUMP

In order to use SLUMP to make random maps, you will need both the SLUMP program and a BSP program to convert SLUMP's output in to a playable FreeDoom/Doom2 map. For Windows users, I have a zipfile (100k download) that contains both SLUMP and "BSP" for making random maps. For non-Windows users, there is source code for SLUMP (116k download) and source code for BSP (160k download) available.

Compiling SLUMP

Windows users may skip this step. On *NIX systems (including Mac OS X), it is easy to compile both SLUMP and BSP. To compile SLUMP, extract the SLUMP "tarball" file. From a command prompt (or terminal window):

	tar xvjf slump-0.003.02.tar.bz2

Now, enter the slump-0.003.02 directory:

	cd slump-0.003.02

And compile SLUMP:

	make

Once this is done, there will be a file called slump that you can install:

	cp slump /usr/local/bin/

The process of extrating and compiling BSP is similar, with only the compile step being different:

	./configure
	make

The complete process for compiling and installing BSP is:

	tar xvjf bsp-5.2.tar.bz2
	cd bsp-5.2
	./configure
	make
	cp bsp /usr/local/bin

It is possible to compile both programs in Windows if Mingw32 and MSYS are installed.

Using SLUMP and BSP

To use both SLUMP and BSP, one has to be at a command prompt. In Windows XP, to get to a command prompt, either go to start -> all programs -> Accessories -> Command prompt (this has a C:\ icon), or go to start -> run, and type in "cmd". The process for getting to a command prompt in *NIX depends on the *NIX you are using; please read the documentation for your *NIX implementation on how to get to a command prompt.

Once you get to a command prompt, you have to enter the directory that you extracted the zip file in to. For example, if you extracted the zip file on your desktop, you can get to the folder with the zip file with these commands:

	cd desktop
	cd slump-0-003-02

If you extracted the zipfile in your "my documents" folder:

	cd "my documents"
	cd slump-0-003-02

Note that if you're using a foreign-language version of Windows XP, the directory names will be different. In Spanish, for example, the desktop directory is called "Escritorio".

Once you are in the slump-0-003-02 directory, you can generate a random map by typing in the following two commands:

	slump
	bsp SLUMP.OUT

You will now have a file, named tmp.wad, that is a randomly generated 32-level megawad.

SLUMP also supports the command-line switches -seed, which determines which random numbers are used to generate a given map (slump -seed 67, for example, always generates the same random map), and -rooms which determines how big the maps are.

-seed can be any number between 1 and 20019; if it is not specified, the seed is randomly chosen. -rooms can be any number between 2 and 37; if it is not specified, a map with 17 rooms is generated. 2 makes tiny maps; 7 makes small maps; 17 makes medium-sized maps; 29 makes large maps; and 37 makes huge maps. Note that, when the number of rooms is changed, the map generated is also completely changed.