Here's a new version of eHeretic 1.0B. I have made a number of changes to the sound code which should make it more reliable and failsafe. I don't intent to do anything more with this code. My stand alone DOS machine recently 'blew up' and is no more. It is too much of a pain to keep rebooting from Windows into DOS mode to check for correct operation :.( If I do any more work on the code it will be purely for Windows/DX.

I have just uploaded a binary, if you desperately want the source email me.

As promised I have put up a new tutorial. I had originally planned to waffle on about something or other. I've put up a tutorial about the Doom Zone Memory Allocator instead. I'm not sure I have everything right in there so I would love some feedback on the tutorial. You can get it from the downloads page by the way. Happy hacking! Tony

Had a few problems updating the site. Anyway just to confirm everything should be uploaded now. Check out the downloads page. The dev diary has also been updated and the source page changed.

Yep another update - phew!

Well a new year fast approaches and I decided to tidy up the web-site a little - did you notice? :) I've uploaded the complete eHeretic project so far, including all source. You should find a link on the download page. There are a couple of nice projects in there for someone who wants to cut their teeth with the Heretic code. Check the readme.txt for more info :)

Well where to now? I'm going to have a go at porting eHeretic to Win32/DX. There are several reasons. The win32 work ties in with some other work I'm doing and the VC++ environment is to die for :) I never did get the debugger working in Watcom and the editor not being part of the IDE turned out to be a pain.

I've got my VC++ and code organised nicely now and am starting to learn a bit more about Direct X. I hope to use a more modern sound library too if possible. SEAL does work in Windows so I may keep it for the first version but I'm keen to try out something else.

I WILL be *maintaining* the DOS version. At the moment I am working with 'Jboy' to get the game running without crashing on his machine. :)

In case you were wondering I abandoned the web editor and am editing this HTML by hand in VC++. I liked DreamWeaver but couldn't afford to register :(

Again, if anyone wants the source to what I've done I've tidied it up quite a bit and it's available.

I saw the programmer over at Heffo Quake was bemoaning the lack of Modders to assist with his project. It does seem that level designers, artists, modellers etc. are less abundant than programmers. However, my two cents is that most Modders will probably elect to work with the current crop of commercial engines such as Q3A, UT, Half-Life and more recently Deus Ex. The reasons are pretty simple really, they want to work with the latest cool stuff and if they are looking to get into the industry (which most of them probably are) it will be expected that they work with the latest tech. There isn't really much of an incentive for them to work with less current engines, even if they have been enhanced. Unlike programmers, from whom the interesting code is hidden in current commercial engines, this matters not a jot to the arty types :)

Can anyone clarify for me the legal status of the Hexen 2 source code? I was expecting it to have been released under GPL but it doesn't seem to have been. I'm ambivalent either way really but as I understand it:

Raven license = you can have closed source mods + you can't sell it

GPL = must open source mods + you can sell it

Well back in the latter part of August I got sound and music up and runing after a fashion. I got some stupid bugs killed. Still the sound was not perfect and there were still a couple of niggly bugs to eliminate. Then work hit - big time. Now is the first chance I've had to have a look at the eHeretic code since then. Rather than dig around in my old code I've decided to draw a line under that. As before, I'm not uploading the code to this site, but if anyone wants what I've got just email me.

eHeretic was always a learning experience for me and I have indeed learnt a few things by playing with the source: 1) Digging around in other peoples code is a hard and frustrating task. 2) Doom engine source projects are a huge time sink. Based on my experience I would say don't bother unless you can devote *at least* two full hours per day or preferably a whole wad of time (like three months). 3) Do it for the love of the game - there ain't no money in this. 4) Work with others where possible. A fresh pair of eyes on a problem often reveals a glaring oversight. Time and time again I was able to call on the help of Robin McLeod (at wHeretic) for advice and tips, without his help I would not have got even the basic game up and running.

So where now? As I said I have learnt a great deal from the work done so far and it has been (sort of) fun and rewarding. still, I think I would like to draw a line under that and move on. This doesn't mean the end of eHeretic and there are still a few of my original goals left to accomplish but they will have to be completed as and when time allows. I'm going to spend this week deciding where to go next with the project, I have an idea in mind and it will be quite different. But who knows, who cares? ;)

Other interesting news was that it looks like the Watcom C Compiler will go open source some time next year. I've enjoyed using Watcom during this project so far but in terms of support for different CPUs you can't beat GCC.

Don't forget, if you want any of the code I've done so far just email me.

Again a big thanks to Robin McCleod over at WinHeretic for his useful advice. That man has seen it, done it and bought the T-Shirt when it comes to Heretic hacking. ;)

I've also been working with the Hexen source code a bit. I managed to get the code compiling fairly easily, but it seems as written it will only work with the Registered WAD (which I don't have at the moment).

Not much to add other than work slowly continues.

I'm planning a couple more tutorials soon. I'd like to do a couple of tutorials for those starting out on the wonderful world of source code hacking. I felt it was more important to actually make some progress on eHeretic first.

Also found out I was one of the winners in the 100th caption contest over at 3DRealms :) It's a fun contest, you can find the links at www.3drealms.com

The old eHeretic news has now been moved to the archive.

Various fixes to the site including the all important mention of the supercool RAVEN GAMES who are hosting this site. Many thanks again to X-MAN William Mull who has to cringe at my awful web design. Trust a few - fear the rest!