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mr papercuts

source-port get-started faq?

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so i'm all into doom but i have a massively tiny attention span. i can build my own wads and have a great time dooming, but there are also random oddments, some of which are probably quite simple to a lot of you, that i just have no idea about. like i'm running the doom95 frontend, on windows xp, and even though it's clearly offered it never runs in a window... but who cares. more importanlty, i wanna prettify and three-dee my doom, but i have no idea if i should have gldoom or boom or zdoom or if i can or should have all three or what else i should have, etc. etc. and it's taking me forever to read through all these docs... has anyone ever or ever thought of putting together a "hey, how to get started in fan-expanding your doom! faq"??
can anyone offer quick advice on what's the coolest and basic stuff to grab?

thanks.

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Okay, well, you're running WinXP so of course you know the original DOS doom executables are emulated, so they may run slow or without sound or not at all or whatever.

First thing you need is a source port. Anyone here will tell you Doom95 sucks and not to use it, so uh don't. Get a better source port...

Zdoom: I don't like it but most people do, it's probably the most popular port. It changes the gameplay of the original Doom a tad bit so if you're a hardcore purist don't dl it.

Legacy: My favorite port. Has opengl/glide mode, CD audio, mouse code is good, feels more or less the same as the original doom with some spiffy editing features and graphic candy.

PRBoom: The ultimate oldschool port, doesn't even let you go past the default res if you're not running it in Opengl if i'm not mistaken.

I'd just say give those three a shot and see which one you like best. If you want an eyecandy port, your choices are pretty much Legacy in GL mode, JDoom, and ZdoomGL. JDoom is blurry as fuck and it plays funny, ZdoomGL is buggy as fuck and it's well... zdoom, so I'd recommend Legacy GL.

Download Zdaemon if you want to play online, it's a client server version of Zdoom... uh, 'optimized' for netplay.

Also, don't bother reading the documentation for every port. Ports all work the same - put them in the same folder as your doom or doom2 IWAD file (doom.wad or doom2.wad) and run the port's .exe file. Just play around with all of them until you find one that suits you.

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Liam the Bard said:

JDoom is blurry

I think I'm gonna shovel 8x anisothropic filtering into yours and Lüt's asses.

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I dont really like JDoom much really, although it's better than Legacy. I prefer ZDoom over all other ports (it would be ZDoomGL if it didnt crash randomly upon startup...)

Vavoom is cool too, if you have a decent computer anyway (on mine its too damn slow).

Haven't tried PRBoom or any of those (MBF, Eternity, Boom, etc.) very much. They are OK, I guess...

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command line

legacy.exe -opengl

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Doom II Guy said:

Can you explain that? You'll have to excuse my idiocy :)


1.) Open up DOS prompt or Windows 'run' box

DOS PROMPT

c:\>cd\doom\ (or wherever legacy and your doom iwad is)

c:\doom\>legacy.exe -opengl

WINDOWS RUN COMMAND PROMPT

c:\doom\legacy.exe -opengl

run it

BASK IN WINDOWS OPENGL GLORY

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jDoom if you have powerful computer
ZDoom nice and popular with lots editing possibilities.
EDGE it has 3d floors and massive weapon mods.
Legacy nice basic port
Vavoom if your computer can't run jDoom

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jDoom, and it has 3D models of all monsters, items, and decorations. It also has particle generators to create smoke, blood, and other things.

Of course using all of these will require powerful hardware, but it works fine enough on my 900MHz celeron + TNT2.

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Doom II Guy said:

Yesterday I got JDoom to work. Which looks better, JDoom or Legacy in GL?

JDoom has more eye-candy, but some people think Legacy plays/feels better...?

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Well in my case, Legacy run's nearly any wad with 35 FPS, but jDoom hardly ever goes that fast. (ZDoom shows 36 FPS (?))

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yeah, I noticed some slowdown while opening doors sometime. Just curious, if I was to use one for most of the wads I play, should it be JDoom or Legacy?

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Also, don't bother reading the documentation for every port. Ports all work the same

Not exactly. There's quite a bit of difference in options, default folders, blah blah. Quite a bitch actually to learn a port's various options. Look at the -opengl option answer you gave. ZDOOM has -heapsize xx. Just 2 of many various differences. You have to know them or some levels flat out won't run or they run poorly.

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Yes, always read the docs. 99% of the questions asked in these forums are actually answered in those docs. At any rate it will likely save you from getting an angry "RTFM!!" reply or two :)

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Doom II Guy said:

yeah, I noticed some slowdown while opening doors sometime. Just curious, if I was to use one for most of the wads I play, should it be JDoom or Legacy?


jDoom doesn't support Boom, so if you're going to play WAD's with Boom special's you should use Legacy, in any Doom (2) compatible WAD you should use jDoom.

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Okay, but now in JDoom I'm seeing all of these multi-colored dots on the floor for some levels (like Goldeneye), anyway to get rid of them?

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Did you build a .GWA file? If not, there should be a dos program in Doomsday folder named glbsp.exe. Use this to create the .GWA file.

If you don't have this program for some reason, you can download it from here

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Doom II Guy said:

yeah, I noticed some slowdown while opening doors sometime. Just curious, if I was to use one for most of the wads I play, should it be JDoom or Legacy?


ZDoom.

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Yeah, if i can't run it with jDoom, i use ZDoom. (or EDGE, if i want to use weapon mods).

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thanks for clearing things up, i was under the assumption that sorce ports were more like a permanent change to the program and you could apply as many as you'd like. i liked doom95's ease of access to different levels and wads and shiznit, but the consoles and options menus of most of these ports are better. my comp seems to be fast enough to run jdoom.

anyway, so i'll be in some wad for a while killing stuff. thanks.

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