URGENT Slade (or other util) questions to help fix patch/texture tables

The patch table is a simple list, and texture definitions use the order of the patch table to assign numbers to patches.

So if you start removing patches, then it changes the order of the patch table, and every patch after the removed one is no longer at its original position. As a consequence, the textures that used those patches will now use the wrong patch. This is, of course, extremely annoying and will completely screw the texture definitions.

It sounds like this is what happened to you.

10 hours ago, Gez said:

The patch table is a simple list, and texture definitions use the order of the patch table to assign numbers to patches.

 

So if you start removing patches, then it changes the order of the patch table, and every patch after the removed one is no longer at its original position. As a consequence, the textures that used those patches will now use the wrong patch. This is, of course, extremely annoying and will completely screw the texture definitions.

 

It sounds like this is what happened to you.

Something like that but I haven't begun really mapping for the project.

My questions are:

Is there a way to fix (remove non-existing patches and add missing ones) patch table? But I guess I could delete and redo it completely in XWE (it's more familiar tool to me) but more importantly, is there a way to remove textures that don't have corresponding patches and is there a way to add textures from patch table that are missing from textures table? The main problem here is that I cannot delete textures table as I have put too much time in creating composite textures (which still work and look fine in Slade). Is there any way to fix it?

Sorry that it's hard for me to be coherent and short.

EDIT: I thought about bumping this but chose to edit, PLEASE HELP ME! I _really_ don't have the time to go through ~6000 files again. I'd also be fine if there was a tool that detected composite textures and saved 'em so I could re-import them? They have the proper texture names and alignments and I have a lot of big many-part textures which would be hell to re-make with this old slow cpu let alone use bit by bit manually in UDB and every (256+ px) sky would also break etc :/

I really hope my broken english (coupled with a broken head) is coming through. IF in 30 years nobody has written such a tool (or some else solution for this problem?), that would optionally fix patch table and more importantly would compare patch table and texture table and add patches to textures that are not there. Does one exist or could it be coded or scripted? I know nothing about scripting, and coding skills are limited to beginners pascal so I wouldn't be able to write a tool even though I'd like to :( How hard can it be to go through patch table and fix the numbers so that they're evenly numbered, remove entries that don't have graphics for them (maybe also add possibly missing ones) and then compare patch table to texture table, add missing ones to it and after that take out textures that don't have patches for them?

Right now my patch table is a mess but I can rebuild it with XWE but I'm missing some random but very necessary textures from the texture table and have some textures that don't any have patches for them - I don't understand how is this not already a feature in Slade or something to help fix these things or have I missed it? And googling revealed nobody else even asking about fixing Doom's tables? I mean to fix patch table and most importantly add patches to textures that are missing from the texture table and after that remove textures that have no patches in them? If somebody would help me archieve those things I'd be _eternally_ grateful! I'm paniccing what to do as I have very little time. Hoping to make some sense, I'm dead tired, stressed out etc but want to make a working resource file to maybe build maps with later.
 

EDIT2: Also why does Slade warn about flats and textures being the same names? I read that it shouldn't matter, does it?

13 hours ago, poisonhead said:

 

Something like that but I haven't begun really mapping for the project.

 

My questions are:

Is there a way to fix (remove non-existing patches and add missing ones) patch table? But I guess I could delete and redo it completely in XWE (it's more familiar tool to me) but more importantly, is there a way to remove textures that don't have corresponding patches and is there a way to add textures from patch table that are missing from textures table? The main problem here is that I cannot delete textures table as I have put too much time in creating composite textures (which still work and look fine in Slade). Is there any way to fix it?

 

....

 

Right now my patch table is a mess but I can rebuild it with XWE but I'm missing some random but very necessary textures from the texture table and have some textures that don't any have patches for them - I don't understand how is this not already a feature in Slade or something to help fix these things or have I missed it? And googling revealed nobody else even asking about fixing Doom's tables? I mean to fix patch table and most importantly add patches to textures that are missing from the texture table and after that remove textures that have no patches in them? If somebody would help me archieve those things I'd be _eternally_ grateful! I'm paniccing what to do as I have very little time. Hoping to make some sense, I'm dead tired, stressed out etc but want to make a working resource file to maybe build maps with later.
 

EDIT2: Also why does Slade warn about flats and textures being the same names? I read that it shouldn't matter, does it?

As a general rule, whenever I've REMOVED textures from a file I'm working on, I immediately delete these lumps:

PNAMES

TEXTURE1

and any with the name S3DUMMY

If you're messing around with other resource managers such as XWE, I would also delete a lump called AASHITTY.

---using SLADE here---+

Once I've removed the textures I no longer want and these lumps I just mentioned, select ALL of your textures,

(not flats!!), and right-click, select Graphics -> add to TEXTUREx. I know it sounds like you should just be able to

edit your way around the patch table but doing it the way I describe really is the path of least resistance. Playing

around with the properties of the patch table is just asking for trouble because, well, we are human, we make

mistakes and in this regard, we're our own worst enemy.

Also, I know you *think* you know XWE best but the sooner you can accomplish things with SLADE instead, the

better off you'll be. XWE is notorious for biting even seasoned authors in the butt. There are a myriad of reasons

for this.

You might want to read this thread:

https://www.doomworld.com/forum/topic/40297-whats-the-story-with-aastinky-and-aashitty/

I still don't quite get it, how it's impossible.

Anyway I, at least temporarily, discarded days of work and rebuilt both pnames and textures. Now I opened the file before that operation and can see at least the biggest custom composite textures by making Slade's texture editor sort them by size (I guess there's no option to view custom or multipatch textures separately? it would help). Anyway, now I'd like some Slade guru to tell me how to _properly_ copy them to my latest resource file? (which already has the patches they require)

I'm so afraid of corrupting the file again and simply don't know what happens when copying a texture, will it also copy the patches too? Will there be two patches? I'd be happy if I could get this simple procedure made safely and quickly, my time is very limited and besides limited time, this computer may overheat and shutdown when making a really big patch.

Sorry for being stupid and THANKS if someone can enlighten me to a safe path of copying multi patch textures to a file that already has the patches they need :)

PS. Kinda funny how I've never had an accident with XWE (I tend to backup before every operation though) and ended up having this problem with Slade. I'll be more careful and hope to learn what copy, cut, paste etc actually do. I still don't understand why if I copy a lump, then another, then another etc and paste it pastes ALL of them and not the latest like every other software on the planet. Can I make copy/paste behave like in Windows? (that if I want multiple files to copy, I'll keep ctrl or shift pressed)

Sorry very much for double upping my thread but I try to put it shortly:

I've got resources144.wad before I screwed up the tables and now going on somewhere around resources147.wad which has all the patches I'd need but I'd like to copy the textures from resource wad before screwing up and rebuilding the tables so how can I properly and safely copy textures from the previous file to the newest iteration (which has all the flats, more sprites and stuff but missing every custom texture). I'd REALLY APPRECIATE quick answer as to how to safely copy textures from wad file to another? And I'm still unclear about Slade, if I copy textures, will it copy patches too? Should I delete the patches I've made the textures from (do they copy automatically when copying a texture?) or can I just import the textures? I've made many custom ones (most of the ones I see when setting Slade to sort by texture size). It's _SLOW_ to make textures with this 2009 laptop which overheats and shuts down when too much taxed. I'd give almost a limb if somebody helped me to restore the textures without having to rebuild every one of them? I've got a DEADline, unreal how stupid and inhumane doctors are, fed me benzoes, opioids and pregabalin at high dosages 20 years for REAL illnesses that will not heal and even though the ANXIETY and PAIN has gotten stronger psycho doctors cut off _all_ prescriptions without tapering off! My pension is 70€/week and I need at least 400€/week to buy minimum medicine to cope and unable to do crimes so I've sold almost everything (including my copy of Doom!) so time's running out. More than anything I'd like to get some kind of version out of this long and taxing project. I beg of thee, please help me.

The MAIN PROBLEMS are:

-How to safely copy textures from older resource file which has the same patches as a newer file but without texture definitions? (I don't want duplicate patches or any trouble, just would like to transfer the textures from older file to newer without having any unnecessary trouble etc)

-Regarding my unsuccesful dehacked thread, when making an ambient sound thingy, is it enough to set the walk frame (invisible when I'll get it to work, got a WIP speaker sprite ATM to help me with positioning IF it works) and alert sound or do I need to do more? I can't understand how there's not a single guide to vanilla/boom ambient sounds let alone examples that would help, the only one I found had only one frame and I didn't get it to work or how it should work.

I'm so close to _finally_ having a resource wad (I went a _bit_ overboard, like close to 6000 textures and flats etc, some borrowed but most either made or edited by me). Got a few cool ones amongst the bad (and also have the original files of most etc so if somebody would like I could send higher res/colour versions etc). It's been both a pain and pleasure to turn cr*pload of image files into Doom format. But I'm at a loss why isn't there a single understandable and working guide for how to make ambient sound thingy and also about Slade's behavior? Can I make it so it only copies the last selected file? One of the reasons that got me to mess things up is it's weird behavior that if you copy several files (differently, one by one) it ALWAYS pastes _every_ file you've copied during the session. And like said, I'm unclear when copying/pasting textures does it copy the patches too? Will I end up in the same position, having duplicate patch entries which ended up in me having messed up tables and/or unworking textures (don't know which patch to delete if there are two).

Sorry for being brain damaged, stupid, dead tired and unable to write short coherent messages but I would REALLY appreciate and give credit if somebody could help which also reminded me to ask if there are any Doom editing chats where I might get faster answer when I got a quick question? I'm really on a DEADline and very sorry :/ Thank you VERY MUCH if somebody read this let alone can help with my Doom editing dillemmas.

EDIT: I have the same problem with XWE as Slade when trying to manually fix textures. Is there a way to delete patch and texture at the same time? If I delete a patch, a broken texture remains. If I delete a texture, useless patch remains? Can anyone help my stupidity please :(