Vertex

Doom level format
Things Linedefs Sidedefs Vertices Segs Subsectors Nodes Sectors Reject Blockmap
Extensions: FraggleScript ACS GL nodes Macros Leafs

Vertices are nothing more than coordinates on the map. Linedefs and segs reference vertices for their start-point and end-point.

The vertices for a map are stored in the VERTEXES lump, which consists of a raw sequence of x, y coordinates as pairs of 16-bit signed integers. The bytes are in little-endian order (least significant byte first).

Due to the 16-bit signed two's complement format, each coordinate can range from -32768 to +32767.

Vertex structure

Offset	Size (bytes)	C99 type	Description
0	2	int16_t	x position
2	2	int16_t	y position

Lump size

The number of vertices displayed in an editing utility is less than the size of the VERTEXES lump divided by 32 bits. This is because the map designer cannot manipulate the extra vertices required for all segs to have endpoints; these are generated deterministically by the node builder (and then concealed from the user by nearly all mapping programs).

PlayStation / Doom 64 format

Midway's ports of Doom to the Sony PlayStation, as well as Doom 64 for the Nintendo 64, feature additional precision by storing vertex coordinates as fixed_t (32-bit integers where 16 bits are used for the integral part and 16 for the fractional part). The range is therefore the same as in the original format, but fractional coordinates are possible.

Offset	Size (bytes)	C99 type	Description
0	4	int32_t	x position
4	4	int32_t	y position

Sources

• Discrepancy in VERTEXES and other on-disk structs counts, thread at the Doomworld forums
• The Unofficial Doom Specs version 1.666, especially section 4.8