Which sourceport do you use the most and why?

I use LZDoom because the specs on my laptop aren't very high, and newer GZDooms always give me the OpenGL error, so LZDoom I am able to play most wads in with no problem. I do still like to use ZDoom for a simpler setup every once in awhile, especially if I am just playing DOOM straight without any additions.

Started with GZDoom, but after realizing it's not quite faithful, started looking for others, and am now using PrBoom+, Chocolate, and Woof, which are all excellent and i can't quite choose between them.  Ultimately think my choice will be either Chocolate or Woof, but then, i haven't tried Crispy yet, and there's others..

i do like playing without port in DosBox, too, the original game.  And even if i'm totally happy with the experience of playing with those ports, am also trying to find an old P1 or P2 computer.. just coz it'd be a fun challenge and i enjoy setting up such things.

I use GZDoom for Doom games and ZDoom for Heretic/Hexen, mainly so I can play one or the other without the controls getting messed up. 

GZDoom or Doomsday usually. Mostly GZ. If I’m playing completely vanilla I have the Unity releases on my XONE and iPhone and I quite like them so that’s what I’ve been using lately.

I started off with GZDOOM, but I switched to PRBoom+ because it's more vanilla, and I just realized how different GZDOOM is. And decino recommended PRBoom+ soo...

I use a homemade port that is based on Chocolate Doom but adds uncapped framerate, truecolor rendering, supersampled column/span rendering, removes a few static limits, and adds a colored fuzz effect. I like having a vanilla experience that is easier on the eyes but was annoyed with some of the changes that Crispy Doom made.

It's between Zdoom and Prboom+, I like the "crispy" feel to Zdoom and Prboom+ is smooth to play..

GZDoom, it runs almost everything I need.

Zandronum and ZDaemon for some mods and multiplayer rounds from time to time.

On 12/15/2020 at 3:42 AM, Lol 6 said:

By the way, why do some people dislike and even hate Gzdoom?

Can't speak for others but what I find annoying is that it looks like a silly modded version of Doom yet seems to be so often regarded as some modern standard.

I'm quite content with Woof! source port for any wad and I wish it sees continued support. It runs everything Boom compatible and looks and feels just right in 320x200 with classic framerate.

My current ranking of favourite source ports is:

1. Woof!
2. Crispy Doom
3. Chocolate Doom
4. PrBoom+
5. Bethesda Port
6. Eternity Engine

DOOM Retro for me - it has all the vanilla features plus some extra fun content. Deep liquid, super shotgun gib, color blood, glow-in-the-dark lights and switches plus a simple WAD launcher that pretty much fits all my needs. It also allows for multiple saves for different WADs and taking screenshots which is nice.

Woof! is also a great alternative, and I kind of wish I would use it more. Still, there are plenty of great sourceports out there and it's fun to mix things up once in a while. ZDaemon is my go-to for multiplayer.

I mainly play with GZDoom because I'm not really a fan of the way ports like PRBoom + feel. (blockmap bugs, infinite thing heights) It's my go to port for casual doom gameplay. Also I load it up with a few cosmetic mods like Perkristian's enhanced sfx pack, smooth weapon animations and Nashgore to make the game feel a bit more satisfying to play.

Here's my list of my favourite ports and why:

1: GZDoom

2: Eternity Engine

3: Russian Doom

used prboom+ forever, now oscillating between eternity and dsda-doom, trying to decide which I like best and whether I wanna make maps aimed at them!

just happened to notice shifts in prboom+'s active devs and started wondering whether it was worth remaining loyal, and then the idea of loyalty to a sourceport started making me laugh so I have been trying everything.

my third fave is always doom.exe. dunno, I grew up with DOS, there's something gnice about going back to it.

On 1/19/2021 at 7:07 PM, Wagi said:

I use a homemade port that is based on Chocolate Doom but adds uncapped framerate, truecolor rendering, supersampled column/span rendering, removes a few static limits, and adds a colored fuzz effect. I like having a vanilla experience that is easier on the eyes but was annoyed with some of the changes that Crispy Doom made.

That sounds interesting, especially the truecolored part. Does it have a name? :)

On 12/13/2020 at 12:58 PM, SF. said:

GZdoom used to be my go to sourceport until I switched to GLBoom+ for a more vanilla experience. I'm now using PrBoom+ because I can't stand the lighting mode in GLBoom+ anymore. I think classical style maps look better in software mode and more modern stuff on Open GL. I still have GZDoom as my backup sourceport and will use it for specific WADs such as Eviternity and Zdoom maps (if I ever get to them)

For GLBoom, you should be able to switch the rendering mode to like "8bit" or 15/16-bit and that'll switch it to software style rendering

2 hours ago, Wavy said:

There's also Russian Heretic and Russian Hexen, meaning wide-screen demo-compatible ports for those two games as well.

BTW speaking of Heretic, there is also DSDA-Doom that is a fork of PrBoom+ that supports Heretic. Widescreen + demo-compatible

38 minutes ago, ReaperAA said:

 

BTW speaking of Heretic, there is also DSDA-Doom that is a fork of PrBoom+ that supports Heretic. Widescreen + demo-compatible

Interesting. I may need to try that out. Thanks for the info!

.

I use GZDoom mainly because a fuckton of mods and maps are made for it, and I haven't had a reason to use any other sourceport yet. I have used ZDoom in the past, though.

GlBoom+
I like accuracy and demo compatibility. I also like high performance.

Eternity. It has good options and graphics, and eternity mods are INSANE!

Second would be Odamex for multiplayer. It is the fastest and closest to vanilla out of the multiplayer ports.

I will occasionally use GZDoom for mods that require it, like The Golden Souls.

I use Chocolate Doom for GOG when I want to just play OG DOOM/DOOM II and 

for source port I tend to use Zandronum,

Works well for me but to be fair I have 

not tried all of the source ports out there yet

5 hours ago, Wavy said:

Here's my list of my favourite ports and why:

 

1: GZDoom

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For regular Dooming. It has a lot of options so I can make it play, look, and sound how I want it to. And it's highly modifiable. easily gives the most amount of freedom as compared to other ports.

 

2: Eternity Engine

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For a nice mix of modern and vanilla Doom. I use it to record demos and play mods that have issues in GZDoom. It even has its own Decorate-like scripting language (EDF) and its own map formats.

 

3: Russian Doom

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A nice vanilla and IMO quite an underrated source-port. Its a fork of Chocolate/Crispy and has features from Doom Retro, giving some nice options like brightmaps, swirly water effects, coloured blood variations, and even its own difficulty level, while still retaining its vanilla look. And it unlike other ports has Jaguar Doom and press release beta emulation. There's also Russian Heretic and Russian Hexen, meaning wide-screen demo-compatible ports for those two games as well.

 

Ohhhh, I think I need to give Russian Doom a go now!

Doom Retro and good old ZDoom 2.8.1, occasionally Chocolate Doom. I don't like the feel of any other port.

On 4/9/2021 at 7:57 AM, Redneckerz said:

That sounds interesting, especially the truecolored part. Does it have a name? :)

I was told there was a branch of Crispy Doom that had truecolor, so I decided not to release it, and thus doesn't have a name. The F5 key toggles between "Low Detail" (Vanilla high detail mode) and "High Detail" (turns the enhancements on) to see how big of a difference it makes, even at 320x200.

Entryway comparison

Limbo comparison

UDMX MAP16 comparison

I've only used Crispy Doom up to this point. Chose that one at first cause it seemed like a pretty simple port and it can do demos which I eventually planned to do. Chose it over chocolate doom since I planned to stream it to some friends while I played from time to time and crispy doom has some graphical improvements so might as well go with that. Don't know the limits to it though as far as the popular wads go, I haven't started delving into stuff outside of Doom 1, 2, and Final Doom, but will soon so that means I'll probably get another source port for that stuff specifically.

48 minutes ago, BaileyTW said:

I've only used Crispy Doom up to this point. Chose that one at first cause it seemed like a pretty simple port and it can do demos which I eventually planned to do. Chose it over chocolate doom since I planned to stream it to some friends while I played from time to time and crispy doom has some graphical improvements so might as well go with that. Don't know the limits to it though as far as the popular wads go, I haven't started delving into stuff outside of Doom 1, 2, and Final Doom, but will soon so that means I'll probably get another source port for that stuff specifically.

crispy will play anything requiring vanilla or limit-removing, so in terms of the newer popular wads, unfortunately you won't be able to play anything that requires a boom-compatible port. that means things like eviternity, sunlust, valiant, etc will be unplayable in crispy

however, woof can take care of that!! it's made by the same person who made crispy doom and is pretty similar to it in terms of how it feels

Thanks for the suggestion. I'll probably do some research when I finally do get around to it, but I'll keep that in mind.

i've switched to MBF after got my DOS/Win98 computer working.  If i need more than that, i use Win98 compatible ZDoom.  If the WAD needs a modern computer, GZDoom.

My go to source port is now @kraflab's DSDA source port. Given that I'm also practicing Doom speedruns on weekends, I'm spoiled by DSDA's quality of life modifications of PrBoom+. It feels like home, like in 2006 when I played vanilla DOOM for the very first time as a kid.
Although I used to use GZDoom back then, and actually still is, though I only use GZDoom for more sophisticated gameplay/TC mods in recent days, and I no longer have interest in Brewtel Dhewm.