DLE-XP Very Buggy

[Swazook]

I used to build levels in 1996 and 1997 with both Devil and DMB.

Recently I downloaded the DLE-XP and I have found it to be extremely bug-filled and it constantly crashes windows. I managed to build a small level and then I tried to load it from rebirth and it simply backed out of Descent and would not load. Thank goodness I didn't spend hours on it.

Are there any plans to build a different level editor that will work in windows XP? Or are we stuck with struggling with DLE-XP?

[Sirius]

I vaguely recall you mentioning making a skybox for Speed Racer Pro - if that's what you were testing, it wouldn't work in Rebirth because Rebirth doesn't support skyboxes.

The 1.8 branch of DLE-XP changed a lot of stuff behind the scenes which made it easier to modify (from how I understand it), but also brought in quite a few bugs. These are constantly being fixed, so it does pay to look for updates frequently if you're using 1.8. At one point it wouldn't load at all for a lot of people, but it's been pretty stable in the last few versions for me at least. If you find something that crashes it, best bet is to:

• Update DLE-XP
• Try the same process that caused the crash last time
• If you get it again, please report it on the DLE-XP bug tracker on SourceForge (if this is too big a stumbling block and you give good repro steps I can do that for you but if a torrent of bugs is sent my way I may reconsider this offer )

I've also had decent success just by regularly saving and backing up the levels I'm working on. That way, even if something does crash, it doesn't matter - I didn't lose any real work. Incompatibilities with Rebirth are a separate issue - if you're building a standard D2 level (as opposed to a D2X-XL level, which I wouldn't expect to even load), you shouldn't have these, but you also shouldn't use any features that weren't available in standard D2. That list is pretty long, but most people who played D2 for a while back in the day would have a pretty good feel for what they were.

As to the last part of the question, as far as I know, nobody is working on any other level editors. There were updates to Devil at some point, but I don't know how well it works in Windows XP even after that. Obviously DMB2 isn't being developed any longer - DLE-XP is basically the continuation of that editor. If neither of them work for you, DLE-XP is pretty much it.

[Swazook]

You are right, DLE-XP being pretty much it is a big-time bummer for us old level builders. I don't run the D2X-XL version of D2 either. I've also found it to be riddled with bugs, and I believe it also damaged my video card and display.

I am not sure what you mean by Rebirth doesn't support skyboxes, because I was in a skybox while running Rebirth. Was very nice actually.

I've posted over at the Rebirth forum asking if they can develop a level editor that is stable. I have found the Rebirth exe to be extremely more stable than the D2X-XL version. In fact, I haven't had a single problem with it.

[Sirius]

I'm almost positive Rebirth doesn't support the same kind of skyboxes. You could fake it, for sure, but it would be a little unwieldy in comparison. I'm not sure which method you were using though.

I also find it difficult to imagine how any game can damage your video card or monitor... that isn't supposed to be able to happen regardless of what you put through them. I've heard (very rarely) of certain kinds of sounds wrecking speakers that are used to play them, but not with display hardware so far...

P.S. Actually as a somewhat \"old-time\" level builder myself I have to say DLE-XP is much better to design with than DMB2 was - it's significantly faster, the toolbars don't get in the way, and that was before you could do anything new with it. Bugs suck, but they don't last forever.

I have also heard of a DLE.NET under development, now that I think of it - that's basically a rewrite of DLE-XP to use newer technology (which will help for speeding up the rendering). I think it's on the back-burner at the moment though.

[Sirius]

For those still reading: bug reports and fixes for DLE-XP have slowed down and it seems to be much more stable again. As always though, reports for anything you do find are appreciated (as long as they are usable ).