About this beta
---------------

Ok, hi, and welcome, etc.  Be sure to change 'dmapedit.ini' if you doom
files aren't as follows..

doom:     c:\doom\doom.wad
doom II:  c:\doom2\doom2.wad

Lately memory has been the biggest problem of all.  Not anymore, though!
DMapEdit has been ported to DJGPP, and it is working great.  It can use
all available memory in your machine, instead of just conventional memory
(640k area), allowing very huge maps to be created if you wish.  Also, it's
a lot faster than the Borland version.  Node generation went from 28
seconds on the Borland version to 10 seconds.  Error checking also zipped
by at warp speeds.  I've went through it and fixed whatever problems I
could find, so it should be working fine, but I may have overlooked
something.  So, please let me know if of anything not working correctly
in it that worked fine in the Borland version.

Node generator has been fixed up.  Guess there were a bug I introduced 
when I rewrote some of it.  Fixed it though.  As far as I know, it is 
now flawless.  Every map I've run through it has worked perfectly.  If 
you have a wad it fails on, let me know.

Blockmap generator has also been rewritten, and is working great now.  
It also creates a packed blockmap, merging all empty blocks, so it uses 
less space usually.  I have tested it out, and it has worked fine for 
me.  If anyone runs into problems with the blockmap, let me know.

Btw, might interest you to know that both the nodes and blockmap I 
generate is smaller than the original ones id generated for their maps.  
My nodes also eliminated the 'sliver' bug that id had.  One such sliver 
was in beginning of the zig-zag room of E1M1.

Ok, new stuff..  If the last version you used was v3.01 (or below) then 
there's so much new stuff I couldn't begin to list it all here.  Play 
around and you should find it all.  Or, of course, read the docs.. :)
Dunno really what state the docs are in, though.  Probably not very up to
date, but might be half up-to-date.  For those who had a recent beta,
though, here's what's new:

* 3D preview!  It's not perfect yet, but it does work very well, and it is
   fast.  As I later improve the methods of rendering, it may slow down.
   If it slows down too much, though, I'll have it under a different method.
   At present, there are 3 render modes.  'W'ireframe, 'H'ide non-visible
   panels, and 'S'olid.  Just press the key of the method you want to use
   to switch methods.  Rendering the whole level may be slow and hard to
   view properly.  Thus, you may wish to mark sectors & sidedefs you wish
   to view.

* Auto staircase-builder.  Type 'b' to get it going.  Should work without
   and problems.  The ceiling problem has been fixed.

* Polygon generator.  Selectable from the misc menu.

* Convert sector to door function.  Type 'd' to activate it.

* Demo record/playback.

* Rectangle mode is in.  Only way to get to it right now is with F5.
   So, press F5 and drag yourself some boxes.  I think you'll enjoy it.  
   Currently only overlapping horizontal and vertical lines are checked 
   for and merged, but the other checks are on the way.

* Sidedef edit mode is in.  Use F6 to get to it.  It displays textures on
   the currently highlighted sidedef, and it is also handy for editing
   groups of sidedefs.  Ever wanted to edit all the sidedefs of a sector
   at once?  Just mark a sector in sector edit mode, switch to sidedef
   edit mode, and press spacebar.  Well, kinda.  I'm still working on it
   so it probably won't work correctly, but it will soon.

* Pretty minor, but when box-marking, or making a rectangle in rectangle 
   mode, you can press the delete button/key to cancel.  You will be 
   holding down one of the buttons already (for stretching the box), so 
   the remaining buttons (excluding the delete button) will switch you 
   to the opposite corner of the box.  Handy if you started the box but 
   found you slipped slightly from where you wanted to start.

* New lines are created smarter now.  If the line is single sided, it 
   won't have a '-' for the middle texture.  If it's double sided, but 
   has a multi-patch texture for the middle, it'll change it to '-' 
   automatically for you.  So, creating lines shouldn't introduce 
   sidedef errors of any type anymore.

* The merging problems with rectangle mode I decided to handle in the 
   add new line function.  So, new lines you create from line edit mode 
   will also merge.  Like I said, though, only the horizontal and 
   vertical overlap cases are currectly detected.

* add/remake sector function has been fixed up and improved.  Void 
   detection worked much better now, and should be flawless.  It also 
   won't alter anything if it fails during the process.  It's also much 
   faster, since void checking is done 'as it goes' instead of before it 
   even attempts to do anything.

So, being a beta, feedback would be appreciated, both bug reports and 
ideas or impressions, etc.  However, there are some bugs that I already 
know about..

* Fix lines stills seems to have some problems.  Will look into it.

* Not really a bug, but the global commands summary isn't quite up to date.
   I'm going to hold off on updating it until pretty much everything is
   done, because I'm getting tired of changing it all the time.

Happy beta testing!

  -Jason

