
                          DEBUILD v0.2

                   A DUKE NUKEM 1 LEVEL EDITOR
                      WRITTEN IN QUICKBASIC


INSTALLATION

  Place all the Duke Nukem files you have in the DATA/ folder
  located inside DeBuild's directory. This should include all
  graphic files (ANIM, MAN, OBJECT, SOLID, BACK, DROP) as well
  as level files (for convenience's sake.)

  Duke doesn't exactly support mods, but it will load any file
  you feed it. It means that new content has to replace existing
  files. That's why you should backup your installation of Duke
  Nukem before attempting to modify it.


EDITOR SCREEN - BARS

  The bar on top of the screen is the title bar. It provides the
  full name of the board currently loaded. It shows "Untitled"
  if the board has not been saved yet. All the way to the right
  is a small "X" button that can be clicked to exit the program.

  The bar at the bottom of the screen is the status bar. When
  the cursor is hovering buttons, it provides a short
  description of what it does. If the cursor is above one of the
  two frames (see more info below,) it provides the cursor
  location in cells (columns and rows) as well as the tile
  number in hexadecimal. When multiple cells are being selected,
  the status bar provides the starting location and the width
  and height of the selection.


EDITOR SCREEN - FRAMES

  The large frame to the left is the MapView. This is where the
  board is designed. Elements can be copied any time by pressing
  the right mouse button, drawing a rectangular selection and
  releasing the right mouse button to copy to the active
  clipboard.

  The narrow frame to the right is the TileBox. It contains most
  of the graphic tiles available in Duke (some are hidden and
  the list was sorted to be more user friendly.) In the TileBox,
  tiles can be selected by pressing the left mouse button over
  a tile (multiple tiles can be selected at one by holding the
  left mouse button.)

  By default, tiles are stored in the active clipboard, which is
  usually the "immediate clipboard." There are 10 clipboards
  you can use by pressing (and holding) one of the numeric keys
  below the function keys. Release the numeric key to return to
  the immediate clipboard. The content of clipboards is saved in
  an external file for each episode, so they can be re-used
  across multiple sessions.


EDITOR SCREEN - BUTTONS

  BOARD MANAGEMENT

  Clear board ("Sparkling sheet")
    Left click the button to erase the whole board. There's a
    warning beforehand if you ever click it by accident.

  Load board & save board ("Disk out" and "Disk in")
    Left click those buttons to open the file browser and load
    (or save) a board. The bar on top of the browser provides
    the active directory, the list on the left contains folders
    and the one on the right contains files that may be loaded
    (or saved.) Left click in the field in the bottom left to
    edit the filename, then click the "Load" (or "Save") button
    to proceed. Click cancel to close the browser. If the toggle
    box is checked, the program will re-load proper graphics
    such as tiles and backdrop when necessary.
    Duke will only load boards named WORLDALx.DNy, where "x" is
    the level number (in hexadecimal) and "y" is the episode
    number.

  GRID DISPLAY

  Grid checkbox
    Click the checkbox to enable grid display in the MapView
    frame.

  Origin and dimensions
    Click the left and right arrows of X, Y, W, and H to change
    the horizontal and vertical origin of the grid, as well as
    the width and height of a cell.


  DRAWING TOOLS

  Pen tool ("Pen")
    Left click the MapView to place the content of the active
    clipboard in the board, using the top left corner as the
    starting point of the pattern.

  Rectangle tool ("Check board box")
    Left click and hold into the MapView to select a rectangular
    area, release to fill the selected area with the content of
    the active clipboard, using the top left corner as the
    starting point of the pattern.

  Auto-box tool ("Check board A")
    This tool only works with a 3x3 clipboard. Left click and
    hold into the MapView to select a rectangular area, release
    to fill the selected area with the content of the active
    clipboard; the first and last rows are always drawn on the
    top and bottom rows of the selection, the first and last
    columns are always drawn on the left and right columns of
    the selection.

  Fill tool ("Paint bucket")
    Left click the MapView to fill an area with the content of
    the active clipboard. The top left corner of the pattern is
    located where the click occurred.

  Replace Tool ("Magic wand")
    Left click the MapView to replace a specific tile by the
    content of the active clipboard.

  Displacement Tool ("Four Arrows")
    Left click a tile in the MapView to set the initial
    coordinate, move and hold the mouse button to choose the
    destination coordinate and release to wrap the whole map
    to that location (rows and columns are preserved, not
    cropped.)


  SPECIAL TOGGLES

  TileBox customization mode ("Eye")

    Left click to toggle TileBox customization mode. When the
    mode is enabled, left click and hold a tile in the TileBox
    to move it around, release to drop it and reorganize the
    tile set. Right click a tile to hide or show it.
    When the mode is disabled, left click (and hold) to fill
    the active clipboard with one (or a group) of tiles.

  Toggle tile type overlay ("White flag")
    Left click to toggle display tile types; some tiles are
    solids, some are non-solid, others are active and few can
    be interacted with using the claw. When the overlay is
    enabled, a Check board is drawn on top of the sprite, as
    well as a little letter in the top left. Backdrops appear
    gray with a little "D," non-solid appear green with an "N,"
    solids are red with a "S," active items are blue with an
    "A," and climbable tiles are purple with a "C."


EXTRA INFO

  UNIQUE ACTIVE ITEMS

  Some active items are unique can only appear once per level.
  Having those items more than once may crash the game in the
  worst case scenario, or not appear at all. That is the case of
  Duke's starting point, the exit door, unique pickup items
  (gloves, shoes,) etc. The editor will always attempt to move
  unique items out of the way whenever possible. Always use the
  Pen tool if you want to place a unique item.

  KEYBOARD SCROLLING

  Place the cursor above the map view or tile box, then use the
  Up, Down, Left or Right Arrow key, to scroll one cell. Insert
  and Delete to move one page left or right, Page Up and Down to
  move one page up or down, Home and End to jump to the top left
  or bottom right of the table.


I think that's about it. Have fun!
- Mike Hawk, July 27th 2026