Skin Submission Rules:
Due to difficulties I have experienced in the past, I have decided to add the following rules to this site.  Some of these rules are in place to make the addition skins to the emporium easier for me to do.  Other rules have been put in place to protect skin authors themselves, and ensure the quality of the skins on the emporium for the skin users at large.
 
The rules listed here will be enforced at my discretion.  These rules apply partially to skins added to the Epidermis Emporium up until (and including) the December 15, 2000 update of the emporium,  and will apply fully to all skins submitted to the emporium after this time.  I reserve the right to add, remove, or modify submission rules as necessary at any time without prior notice.

 
 
1.) Make sure that the file you submit is actually a skin.

This may seem like a needless rule, but it did happen that an author once sent me a graphics patch, believing that it was a skin.  The pwad he sent me merely replaced the default player sprites.  It did not include an S_SKINxx lump, and one could not switch the “skin” on and off.  It was not a true skin file, and I was forced to reject it.  The author, who will remain nameless, was inexperienced, and was unfamiliar with the proper way to set up a skin at that time.  (He has since become an accomplished skin builder, and has contributed many excellent skins to this site.)

The most important thing to remember is the S_SKINxx lump.  The S_SKINxx lump is what defines a file as a skin.  Without this lump, your file is not a skin.  It is just a pwad.  For complete information on how to properly set up a pwad as a skin file, please consult The DooM Legacy Skin Specs in the tutorials section of this site.  You may also want to read Creating Skin Files using Wintex 3.4 and Wintex 4.2 in the tutorials section as well.


 
2.) Make sure that your skin is complete and fully functional.

In the past, I have received skins that were not in a functioning state, and was forced to complete them myself.  In future, it is likely that I will reject any non-functioning skins I receive.  An e-mail will be sent back to the author of the skin, informing him that the skin is non functional, and a request will be made that he complete and/or repair the skin before resubmitting it to the emporium.

To make sure that your skin is working properly, please look over the following check list, and be sure to test the skin using DooM Legacy.  Since the specifications for skins were originally created for Legacy, a skin that works for Legacy should also work for other DooM ports that use skins (i.e. ZDooM).
 

Check List:
  • Your pwad must contain at least one S_SKINxx lump.  Otherwise, your file is just a graphics pwad, not a skin.
  • The names of all replacement sounds must begin with the letters “DS”.   If a sound’s name does not begin with “DS” DooM Legacy will only play a pistol shot when the sound is called.
  • Replacement sprites must be included for all phases (frames) used by the DooM marine.  If any sprites are missing, DooM Legacy will crash when it attempts to use these sprites.  The phases used by the DooM marine are:
A – D
 Walking
E
 Aiming Weapon
F
 Firing Weapon
G
 In Pain 
H – N
 Normal Death
O – W
 Exploding Death
  • If you include a new statis bar face in your skin, you must include replacement graphics for all of the marine face graphics, including the background (STFB0).  If any of these graphics are missing, Legacy will give you a rude message and quit at run time.
  • DO NOT include the “SPRITE” command in your S_SKINxx lump.  Even though this command has been part of the DooM Legacy Skin Specs for quite some time, current versions of Legacy are unable to recognize this command, and will quit with an “Unknown Command” error when encountering it at run time.  (I recently brought this bug to the attention of the Legacy team.  Hopefully, it will not be a problem for very long.)

If you are continuing to have difficulties with your skin, please check out The DooM Skins Trouble Shooting F.A.Q. in the Tutorials section of this site.
 
Note:  If for some reason I must repair and/or complete a non functioning skin myself, I will consider myself a co-author of the skin, and deserving of credit as such.  I will add my name to the skin’s documentation, and list myself as a co-author of the skin on the emporium.


 
3.) No duplicate skins.

The pig from Hexen can only be converted into a skin so many times. 

If a skin is submitted to the emporium that duplicates a skin that already exists on the site, that skin will be rejected in favour of the existing skin. 

The only time a duplicate skin will be accepted will be if it is part of a skin pack.  I hope, however, that you will check the emporium when compiling a skin pack to make sure that the skin is not already included in one of the existing skin packs first.

A skin will not be considered a duplicate skin if it contains some significant difference from the existing skin (i.e. a new exploding death, a new statis bar face, etc.,)


 
4.) Include appropriate documentation for your skin in the same .zip file that contains your pwad.

I frequently delete e-mails from my in box to keep it from becoming cluttered.  If there is no documentation included in your skin’s .zip file to tell me who you are, and the e-mail the file was sent with is no longer in my e-mail account, I will likely be forced to list the skin’s author as “unknown” on the site.

Your documentation should be in .txt, .doc, or .wri format, and should include the following information:

  • Your name and/or your web handle (i.e. Boingo the Clown)

    •  
  • Your e-mail address (i.e. boingo_the_clown@hotmail.com)

    •  
  • The completion date of the skin.  [It is advised that you do not use the XX/YY/ZZZZ format for the date in your documentation.   This is because some people write the date as Month/Day/Year, and some people write the date out as Day/Month/Year.  It is best to avoid confusion by writing the date out in full (i.e. July 4, 1776).]

    •  
  • The date of your most recent update (if applicable).  [Write the date out in full as advised above.]

    •  
  • The name and/or web handle of the original graphics’ author (if your skin is a conversion of another author’s graphics), and the source from which the graphics were derived.  This should be included even if the original graphics have been altered.

    •  
  • A reasonable length description of the skin/s, how and why you created the skin/s, and the editors you used.

    •  
  • The location/s where users can obtain copies of your skin.  This would include the address of the Epidermis Emporium, of course (http://www.newdoom.com/hosted/skins/), and any other places where your skin can be obtained (i.e. your home page).
If the skin you are submitting is an updated version of a skin you already have in the emporium, including the appropriate updated documentation will prevent me from mistaking the updated skin for a duplicate skin and rejecting it by accident.

For your convenience, I have created a new skin submission form.  The raw form is downloadable from the Contacts page, and covers all of possible information you may want to include with your skin.

As an added precaution, it is strongly advised that you add as much information to the skin’s S_SKINxx lump (in the form of comments) as possible.  This is because computers, which act as severs in DooM Legacy deathmatch games, automatically download skins to other machines connected to them, if they do not already have the skins being used in the game.  Since the text file accompanying the skin is not sent with the skin, adding your information to the S_SKINxx lump is a good way of preventing yourself from becoming anonymous.


 
5.) Do NOT pack multiple .wad files into a single .zip file.

It saves me the trouble of unzipping all of your skin files and rezipping them into individual .zip files.

If you want to create a skin pack, it is probably best if you merge all of your skins into a single .wad file.  Not only is it convenient for me, it is also convenient for players using your skin pack, since they won’t have to load several individual skin files into the game at start up.  (This was my reasoning when I compiled Stephen Rhodes’ Heretic skins into a single file.)


 
6.) Do NOT include unnecessary files in your .zip file.

Your .zip file should contain your skin pwad and its documentation file.  That’s it.

Do no include any previews, animations, screen shots, or other files that are not required for the function of the skin.  The only person who will see them will be me—just before I remove them.


 
7.)
DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES
CLAIM ANOTHER AUTHOR’S WORK AS YOUR OWN!

The vast majority of skins sent to me are conversions of graphics from either the DooM engine games (DooM, DooM II, Strife, Heretic, and Hexen), other commercial games (i.e. Duke Nukem 3D), or taken from the many pwads and total conversions created for DooM over the years.  If you are submitting a skin using graphics converted from one of these sources, it is expected that you GIVE CREDIT to the ORIGINAL AUTHOR/s of these graphics.  Even if you have altered the graphics in some way, it is still best to give proper credit to the original author/s for his/their work.  Taking credit for sprite graphics you did not create is considered FRAUD here at the Epidermis Emporium, much as claiming to be the painter of the Mona Lisa would be considered fraud by the French police.  If I receive a skin containing graphics, which I recognize as coming from a specific source, and if the author/s of the original graphics is/are not credited, I will send the “author” of the skin an e-mail requesting that the documentation for the skin be changed to include the necessary credit.  If a skin makes its way into the emporium, and is later discovered to be the work of another author, the skin will be immediately removed from the site.  The “author” of the skin will be contacted (if possible) and asked the add the proper credit to his documentation.  He may also be asked to add a letter of apology to his documentation directed towards the original graphics’ author/s.  Until such amendments are made, NO FURTHER SKINS WILL BE ACCEPTED FROM THE OFFENDING “AUTHOR”.  Previous skins by the offending “author” may also be removed from the site if I feel their authenticity is suspect.

This may seem like a harsh penalty.  The distress that would probably be felt by the original author of a set of sprite graphics upon discovery that his graphics had been stolen, however, justifies the scope of this action.  (The only exception to this rule would be for authors who convert graphics from the DooM engine games, since most—if not all—DooM players can instantly recognize the source of these graphics.)

If you are converting graphics from a pwad, and you do not know the name of the original author, simply state this fact in your documentation.  You may also want to include the file name of the pwad in your documentation as well to help in finding the author’s name in the future.


 
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