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| Rev | Author | Line No. | Line |
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| 736 | leod | 1 | |
| 2 | ======================================= |
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| 3 | | The EDuke32 autoload Thingy | |
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| 4 | | by LeoD | |
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| 5 | ======================================= |
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| 6 | | Version: 1.3 (2023-05-30) | |
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| 7 | ======================================= |
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| 8 | |||
| 9 | |||
| 10 | Copy mods, HRP, or Voxel Pack files into the autoload folder and they will be |
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| 11 | loaded automatically without additional parameters. |
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| 12 | (Check the according option in the startup window, or add the line |
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| 13 | "NoAutoLoad = 0" to the [Setup] section of your eduke32.cfg file.) |
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| 14 | |||
| 15 | "autoload" is usually located in your Duke3D/Ion Fury installation directory, |
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| 16 | alongside the EDuke32/Fury executable and its *.cfg files. |
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| 17 | Other possible locations (not checked): |
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| 18 | - Windows: %USERPROFILE%\AppData\Roaming\EDuke32\autoload |
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| 19 | - Linux: ${HOME}/.eduke32/autoload |
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| 20 | |||
| 21 | Put only the currently required ZIPs into autoload. (Accepted file extensions |
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| 22 | are: zip, grp, pk3, pk4.) |
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| 23 | |||
| 24 | Packs which build upon other packs only need to have a file name "later" in the |
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| 25 | alphanumerical sort order to override or add to other ZIP contents if necessary. |
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| 26 | |||
| 27 | A common misconception is that the packages are actually "loaded" by EDuke32. |
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| 28 | Better consider their contents a bunch of sheets laid over each other with, |
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| 29 | say, zzz-mypack.zip on top. |
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| 30 | EDuke32 will only 'see' the lower priority files where (all) the layers above |
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| 31 | have a hole ( = file not present in their ZIP/GRP/folder). |
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| 32 | |||
| 33 | |||
| 34 | Priority from bottom to top: |
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| 35 | |||
| 36 | 1. default GRP (shipped with your game, usually DUKE3D.GRP, fury.grp, etc.) |
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| 37 | 2. -gamegrp GRP/ZIP |
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| 38 | 3. autoload GRPs |
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| 39 | 4. autoload ZIPs |
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| 40 | 5. -g GRPs/ZIPs in parameter order |
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| 41 | 6. -j [dir] files in parameter order |
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| 42 | 7. files in the current working directory |
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| 43 | |||
| 44 | |||
| 45 | Many mods, especially the bigger ones like DukePlus, are not meant to be put |
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| 46 | into autoload in the first place, but some may still be able to use it the |
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| 47 | other way round. You could play a CON-only mod with the HRP for example. |
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| 48 | Always consult their accompanying documentation first. |
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| 49 | |||
| 50 | Because some shitty operating system(s) won't differ between upper/lower case |
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| 51 | letters, which affects the sort order, it is recommended to use |
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| 52 | lower case letters only for filenames in autoload. |
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| 53 | |||
| 54 | I recommend to not have plain game files in your autoload folder, |
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| 55 | only ZIP or GRP packages. |
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| 56 | |||
| 57 | Do NOT set autoload as "Custom game content directory" in the startup window, |
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| 58 | that's very bad practice. The same goes for "-j autoload". |
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| 59 | |||
| 60 | Do NOT name a folder containing game files "DUKE3D.GRP". That's even worse IMO. |
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| 61 | |||
| 62 | The -noautoload command line option will temporarily override the current |
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| 63 | setting without altering the configuration file. |
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| 64 | |||
| 65 | In order to turn a game contents folder into an autoload package, zip up what's |
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| 66 | inside it, NOT the folder itself. |
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| 67 | |||
| 68 | |||
| 69 | The behaviour of other Duke Nukem 3D ports (BuildGDX, Raze, etc.) and even |
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| 70 | other games based on EDuke32 (NBlood, VoidSW, etc.) may differ from EDuke32, |
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| 71 | concerning either autoload, command line parameters, or both. |
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| 72 | |||
| 73 | |||
| 74 | What I know about DukeGDX (BuildGDX): |
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| 75 | |||
| 76 | AFAIK BuildGDX doesn't take any command line parameters. |
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| 77 | |||
| 78 | Phredreeke added: |
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| 79 | For DukeGDX, ZIP files in the autoload folder are actually loaded separate |
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| 80 | and isolated from each other (a DEF file in a ZIP file can not define an |
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| 81 | image found in another ZIP file). |
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| 82 | |||
| 83 | This means that you couldn't use the Z-Pack on top of the HRP, for example. |
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| 84 | (The current DukeGDX v1.15 (BuildGdx v20.081) can't deal with many of the |
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| 85 | HRPs DEF parameters anyway.) |
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| 86 | |||
| 87 | From BuildGDX' 1.15 readme.txt: |
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| 88 | Autoload folder can be used to load mods at game startup. These can include |
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| 89 | custom music packs, voxels, maphacks, HRP etc. |
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| 90 | ***You are not supposed to put custom campaigns into autoload folder*** |
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| 91 | BGDX will automatically load all zipped files in the autoload folder and |
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| 92 | execute the following .def files: |
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| 93 | - unpacked .def files |
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| 94 | - .def files inside .zip archives that have the name of the port |
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| 95 | (dukegdx.def, bloodgdx.def, swgdx.def, rrgdx.def, psgdx.def, |
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| 96 | twgdx.def, lspgdx.def, or whgdx.def) |
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| 97 | |||
| 98 | |||
| 99 | LINKS: |
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| 100 | ------ |
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| 101 | Duke4.net ................................... https://duke4.net |
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| 102 | Duke Nukem 3D High-Resolution Pack .......... https://hrp.duke4.net |
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| 103 | DukePlus / Attrition ........................ https://fissile.duke4.net |
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| 104 | EDuke32 port ................................ https://eduke32.com |
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| 105 | EDukeWiki ................................... https://wiki.eduke32.com |
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| 106 | |||
| 107 | |||
| 108 | Advertisement: |
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| 109 | -------------- |
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| 110 | Other stuff by LeoD ....... https://forums.duke4.net/index.php?showtopic=3513 |
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| 111 | |||
| 112 | |||
| 113 | CHANGELOG: |
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| 114 | ========== |
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| 115 | |||
| 116 | 1.3 (2023-05-30) |
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| 117 | ---------------- |
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| 118 | about autoload folder location |
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| 119 | |||
| 120 | |||
| 121 | 1.2 (2021-11-09) |
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| 122 | ---------------- |
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| 123 | turn game folder into autoload package |
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| 124 | |||
| 125 | |||
| 126 | 1.1 (2021-09-13) |
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| 127 | ---------------- |
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| 128 | clarifications |
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| 129 | |||
| 130 | |||
| 131 | 1.0 (2021-08-23) |
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| 132 | ---------------- |
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| 133 | initial release |