[halkun]

When making a TC, is there a bare-bones .grp and con files that you can start with and build from there? It would be nice not having to rip out all the duke stuff bit by bit om order to just get a baseline to start a new game from.

[NightFright]

Isn't it smarter to just create a new groupfile from scratch with e.g. GRPViewer instead of "filling" an empty groupfile? You also wouldn't request an empty zipfile to fill it with data, or would you?

[Kawa]

NightFright, on 16 January 2017 - 11:59 PM, said:

You also wouldn't request an empty zipfile to fill it with data, or would you?

It's funny cos one of the ways (?) Windows Explorer's "New" feature works is by copying in a template file. There do happen to be blank ZIP and RAR files in WinRAR's directory. On a whim I replaced zipnew.dat with one I prepared earlier, and using Explorer's "New" feature to make a ZIP does get me an archive with all sorts of stuff in it already.

So yeah, you would.

[icecoldduke]

halkun, on 16 January 2017 - 06:25 PM, said:

When making a TC, is there a bare-bones .grp and con files that you can start with and build from there? It would be nice not having to rip out all the duke stuff bit by bit om order to just get a baseline to start a new game from.

I wouldn't start with a grp file, instead I would get the barebones loose assets that would be needed to get the game to startup. There is no need to build a grp file until your game is ready for release. Unfortunately I haven't seen anyone create a package with a bunch of free to use barebones assets that would be needed to make a game from scratch on build.

You can try using the assets from kenbuild maybe?

[Mark.]

I made a LOT of extra work for myself when making my Graveyard TC. I actually went into the game's con files and removed code chunks I new I wouldn't be needing with the hope of making things run faster. I also made a list of textures used and removed all the HRP textures that I didn't use, which was most of them. It was a lot of def file editing for that. Many hours of tedious searching and deleting. I can see why he is asking for a bare-bones setup already made. This was done towards the end as I was cleaning up the project. I will find a smarter way next time which means planning for it at the start.

[Trooper Dan]

Also, it's not entirely clear what "bare-bones" means. Some tile numbers and sound numbers are hard-coded to be used in the startup screens and menu, others have hardcoded functions within the game. Then there is the Duke 3D palette -- you definitely need a palette, but it doesn't have to be that one. CON files are needed too, but they don't have to be the standard ones (I guess you could just have an empty GAME.CON file).

[Mark.]

I was thinking about the minimum list of files needed to start a TC but then realized we would need to know how deep you plan to go with custom content.
Will you use ( with tweaks ) existing AI and sound FX and just replace enemy models with your own or would you replace everything including all the code to run them. Same with weapons, props, textures, etc...

Depending on what and how you plan to replace assets will determine what your "bare-bones" files will be. There is no single minimum setup that will work for everyone.