WadC

WadC
The WadC interface
Developer(s)	Wouter "Aardappel" van Oortmerssen, Jon Dowland
Initial release	1.0 (2000-10, 24 years ago)
Latest release	3.1 (2022-06-27, 2 years ago)
Development status	Active
Written in	Java, C
Target platform	Cross-platform (Java)
License	GPLv2
Website	jmtd.net/wadc
Source Repository (Git)	GitHub

WadC, short for Wad Compiler, is a programming language and IDE designed for constructing Doom levels. Originally written by Wouter "Aardappel" van Oortmerssen, it is now maintained by Jon Dowland.

Compared to a traditional level editor, WadC may seem very awkward to use. WadC's strength is with structures that can be procedurally generated: a function can be written to create a pillar, for example, and then invoked any number of times to create many pillars.

History

• Version 1.0 was released in October 2000
• Version 1.1 was released in July 2001 - The last version by Aardappel
• Version 1.2 was released in December 2011
• Version 2.0 was released on 22 September 2015
• Version 2.1 was released on 22 September 2016
• Version 2.2 was released on 13 November 2017
• Version 3.0 was released on 20 February 2019
• Version 3.1 was released on 27 June 2022

Interface

The IDE takes the form of a two pane window. In the left pane, WadC code can be written. A preview of the resulting level is displayed in the right pane. Messages and errors encountered when processing the WadC code are displayed in the right-hand side, below the map preview.

Recent releases of WadC included a command-line interface as an alternative to the IDE.

Language

The WadC language is a lazy, normal-order evaluated functional language with a strong resemblance to a macro language.

Example script

The results of running water.wl

The following script generates a corridor of steps that descend under water.

/*
 * water.wl - a demonstration of the Boom water routines
 */

#"standard.h"
#"water.h"

main {
    waterinit_fwater(-16)
    movestep(0,64) -- out of the way of control sectors
    pushpop(movestep(32,32) thing)

    -- a ramp of rooms, descending in floor and ceiling height
    fori(0, 7,
        set("floorheight", sub(0, mul(i,24)))
        set("ceilheight",  add(128, get("floorheight")))
        water(
            box(get("floorheight"), get("ceilheight"), 200, 256, 256),
            get("floorheight"),
            get("ceilheight"),
        )
        movestep(-256,0)
    )
}

Notable levels

Perhaps the best known WadC maps were created by Aardappel himself, including his submission, MAP32: Hexagon to Doomworld's 10 Sectors competition, and Crucified Dreams MAP12. The source code files for both maps are included in the WadC zip file as hexagon.wl and tulip.wl respectively.

• Jon Dowland's BRutal EXtinction International Tournament (Doomworld/idgames) was the first PWAD released using the vanilla conveyor trick. The source code is found in the WADSRC lump as vanilla_conveyor.h which can be used to build vanilla conveyors for other PWADs.
• Cybermind's The Last Sanctuary (Doomworld/idgames) utilizes WadC to simulate (compute) a day and night cycle system utilizing dozens of linedefs and sidedefs.

External links

• WadC home page
• Gallery of examples
• WadC repository hosted on GitHub
  • language reference hosted on GitHub
  • basic tutorial hosted on GitHub
• Wouter's original WadC page