WadGadget is a console-based, interactive WAD file editor for Doom engine games (and others that reuse the WAD format).
The program is a love letter to TiC's New WAD Tool, a '90s WAD editing tool that I have continued to find useful even two decades after its last release. The user interface is inspired both by orthodox file management tools like Norton Commander but also by the unfinished 1.4 beta release of NWT which was going to have a two-pane interface for viewing two WAD files simultaneously.
A two-pane WAD editing tool has several advantages. Firstly, when editing Doom WAD files, one develops PWADs as a patch against the original IWAD file. The result is a merger between the two, and it's helpful to be able to explore this and see the effect of one on the other. Secondly, WadGadget fully integrates both the filesystem and WAD views; the actions of importing, exporting or copying between WADs all take place through a consistent interface.
WadGadget aims at minimum for feature parity with NWT; this goal has not yet been met. It also adds new features and a more logical GUI, but is likely never going to include as many features as other tools like the excellent SLADE.
The following table gives a brief summary of the current state:
| NWT | WadGadget | SLADE | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Operating System | DOS | Linux, macOS, BSD, other Unixes | Windows, macOS, Linux |
| Software License | License-free; v1.3 source is public | GNU GPLv2 | GNU GPLv2 |
| Interface | Text UI (80x25) | ncurses (~any screen size) | GUI (wxWidgets) |
| Two pane view | ✓ (in 1.4 beta) | ✓ | ✓ (multi-tab) |
| File formats | WAD | WAD | WAD, ZIP, PAK, HOG, many others |
| Basics: Create, Delete, Rename | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Rearrange lumps within WAD | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Filesystem navigation | ✓ | ✓ (fully integrated with WAD view) | ✓ |
| Basic file management | ✓ (open, copy, delete, rename files) | ✓ (kind of, via OS file open dialog) | |
| Quick search within WAD | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Open/edit via external editors | ✓ | ||
| Quick summary of lump contents | ✓ (graphics, demos) | ✓ (graphics, demos, SFX, PC speaker sounds) | ✓ (almost everything) |
| WAD clean/compact | ✓ (via command line) | ✓ | ✓ |
| Undo | ✓ (multi-level, plus redo) | ✓ (multi-level, plus redo) | |
| Hexdump view | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| View ENDOOM | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Viewing graphics/flats | ✓ | ✓ (for terminals that support Sixels) | ✓ |
| Graphics import | ✓ (GIF, PCX) | ✓ (PNG) | ✓ (many formats) |
| Graphics export | ✓ (GIF, PCX) | ✓ (PNG) | ✓ (many formats) |
| Edit graphic offsets | ✓ | #11 | ✓ |
| PNG grAb chunk support | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Audio playback | ✓ | #13 | ✓ |
| Audio import | ✓ (WAV, VOC) | ✓ (WAV, VOC, FLAC, others) | ✓ (many formats) |
| Audio export | ✓ (WAV, VOC) | ✓ (WAV) | ✓ (many formats) |
| Music playback | ✓ | #14 | ✓ |
| Music import | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ (many formats) |
| Music export | ✓ (MUS) | ✓ (converts MUS to MID) | ✓ (many formats) |
| Palette/colormap import | ✓ (PNG) | ✓ | |
| Palette/colormap export | ✓ (PNG) | ✓ | |
| Texture editor | ✓ | WIP (#9); can be edited as text as a stopgap | ✓ |
| PNAMES editor | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Online help | ✓ | ✓ (browser tabs to access help/wiki) | |
| View/edit levels | ✓ | ||
| Edit ACS scripts | ✓ | ||
| Source port features | ✓ | ||
| Scripting | ✓ (via Lua) | ||
| Online help | ✓ | ||
| A zillion other features | ✓ |
Can I use this under Microsoft Windows?
There is not yet a native Windows version. You can probably make it work by using Windows Subsystem for Linux; I have not yet heard from anyone who has tried this.
Will you add {my favorite feature here}?
Firstly, WadGadget is never going to implement every feature found in other editors like SLADE. Some of the planned features are listed in the table above. If there is a particular feature that you think is important to add to the program, file a feature request.
What features will never be implemented?
The goal of the project is to develop a curses-based Doom WAD editor. This necessarily means that various features will always be out of scope. Some examples are:
- It will never include a level editor, or anything else that requires a graphical display (like an image editor). It's better to delegate that kind of thing to other programs.
- It is unlikely to ever include any kind of GUI or GUI integration
- It is unlikely there will ever be support for other archive formats, like
.zip/.pk3(used in some Doom source ports), or formats like.pakor.grpused in other games.
The project also tries to avoid "useless" features -- for example, configuration options to change the colors of the interface (Commander Mode is the one such feature that is the exception).
Why is this ugly/slow on FreeBSD?
The version of curses shipped with FreeBSD seems to be very limited or an
old version for some reason. Make sure you compile against the version from
the ports database, and also install the terminfo database. You can do this
with pkg install ncurses terminfo-db.