Is there a good way to organize your Doom folder?

I have been collecting stuff for close to a year now, and it's starting to become a mess of source-ports, iwads, pwads and some mods. How do you organize it to know where everything is? 

I throw the .wad/.pk3/etc. archives into Doom Launcher which automatically copies them to its own managed directory tracked by a database. The GUI then lists out every file, with or without metadata (ex. a text file), and I can set columns to filter between files, plus category tags that let me tab between sets of tagged files. Doom Launcher also sets up launch access to any source ports I want, as well as setting default files to load per port (ex. automatically using Smooth Doom when selecting both GZDoom and Doom II). I even use this manager for recording and playing back demos. Most of this can be automated through new versions of ZDL and other launchers, but I find the managed database approach of Doom Launcher most convenient. It's a bit heavier on system resources, but nowhere near enough to become an issue.

An unmanaged approach basically involves replicating the above but with your own sub-directories below the parent one (ex. "Doom"). I'd set up separate folders for single maps, minisodes, episodes, megawads (15+ maps), etc. I'd still use a launcher like ZDL to centralize source port access and command line options, then just load the unarchived game files into its GUI which I manually select to play. It's all about finding your ideal tradeoffs between convenience and total control. For instance, a manager like Doom Launcher lets me save custom configs for as many combos of game file/source port/skill/command line that I want, same as ZDL's batch files. Making batch files is a good skill to know, just not as fast as I'd like.

Lots of sub folders. One main directory, then a labeled folder each for iwads, pwads, source ports, soundfonts, projects, mods, launchers, sprites, midi, etc. and each one of those folders has their own mass of sub folders for each thing I download. Some folders like the one with source ports also have an archive folder for outdated versions that I may want to keep for whatever reason when updating so that there aren't too many versions of the same thing in one place. Some sub directories can still get out of hand, and for that you can always create different folders by year, style, favorites, or something like that.

I only started playing PWADs and mods pretty recently, but I downloaded ~80 files that seemed neat and just use subdirectories to organize them. I have  Played/Playing/To Play files, and in "To Play" I break up downloads in megaWAD, mappacks, single levels and total conversions. 

I've given a few details about my exact methods of organization in conversations before now, but this gives me an excuse to post a full description.

Throw all wads into one folder and hope alphabet sorting will do the job for you.

Here's what I did

1.- In Desktop, I created a dedicated Games folder that is easy to find for me

2.- On that folder, I made a dedicated folder named "Doom", the same for other games like Heretic, HeXen, ROTT, Wolf 3D, etc.

3.- Inside that "Doom" folder, I create a dedicated folder for each of the ports I use, each of them having the same wads.

It ended up looking like this

2 hours ago, Shikamaze said:

How do you organize it to know where everything is? 

I divide into 5 main categories:

1) Documents

2) Resources

3) Sourceports

4) Utilities

5) WADs

I subdivide 'Resources' into MIDIs, SKIES, and TEXTURE PACKS.

I subdivide 'Sourceports' into ZDOOM-based / not ZDOOM-based.

I subdivide 'Utilities' into LAUNCHERS, MAP EDITORS, and OTHER TOOLS.

I subdivide WADs into ARCHIVES, SHOVELWARE, DM MAPS, .LMPs, MEGAWADS, EPISODE  REPLACEMENTS, SINGLE WADs, and 'MY MAPS'.

Each WAD gets it's own folder. I never throw them all in one 'pot' - that's too messy... :P

Here's how I do it:

Firstly, there's a main "Doom" folder on my desktop, which has the following contents:

Pretty self explanatory, it's all source ports, however two BIG folders are going to be "wads" and if you're a modder/mapper, "utilities".

(the "DOOM" shortcut at the bottom leads to Vanilla Doom, and Doom2/Final Doom are also there in their own sub directories.)

I have my Wads folder organized as shown below:

When I download wads manually, I can just put them in the proper directory without issue.

When I join a multiplayer server, wads automatically download to this folder, then after I'm done playing I just put them in the appropriate folder accordingly (when I'm not being lazy, lol).

My Utils folder is organized as shown below:

Whenever I download a new source port, editing tool, or wad/mod, it's easy to know where to put them and thus where to find them later on!

I guess if you want to make your own, you should focus on 3 categories:

• WADs
• Source Ports
• Tools/Editors

You could add a 4th if you play Mods.

WADs should, at least, be categorized according to IWAD; Doom, Doom 2, Final Doom, Heretc, Hexen, etc. If you want to go very specific, you could then add sub-folder either for dates, # of levels, or authors, etc. Do take into account that the more sub-folders you make, the more of a hassle it becomes to organize everything, but it's ultimately pretty nice if you're especially obsessed with order, like me :P

Usually, with the 3 main you can start organizing your stuff in a more specific manner. Source ports can be just a simple folder with your main ports, or you could categorize them according to their compatibility.

Tools/Editors, nowadays it's pretty much just SLADE and UDB, but if you have more or want to collect them, you can create subfolders for each kind of tool you have.

From that point on, you can evolve your folder as you want, but I think those 3 main folders are necessary.

Oh, and don't forget a launcher. They will make your life much, much easier and save you a lot of clicks.

I just make folders with source port names and version like GZDoom 4.7.0 or Zandronum 3.1, then in this folders there are source ports files and executable with Wads and mods to run mods easily(Drag n drop to executable).

iwads

pwads 

sourceports

within pwads u can add gameplay mods i guess, i never used those tho.

you could use a launcher also

maybe tools folder for doom editing but i usually have them somwhere else.

Curiosities contains all sorts of random other ports I either stopped using or only use occasionally, along with manuals and other ephremia.

GZDoom is the latest stable build, GZDoom Dev is the DRDTeam devbuild whenever I need to check compatibility with the future.

Mods is other people's mods.

Projects is my mods.

The rest are self explanatory.

The mods folder:

` CACOWARDS is the leftovers of when I was doing writeups late last year. I should probably dissolve it into the other folders and archive it.
Doomsought is whatever Doomseeker downloads on the once-a-century chance I play multiplayer.

The rest speak for themselves.

Mine looks like this:
Doom

-- prboom-plus.exe, iwads and must-have pwads

-- "WAD" folder

-- -- 20+ folders with pwads and batch files for playing them

-- "Other" folder

-- -- lzdoom & choco

-- -- editors (slade)

-- -- multiplayer stuff (doom explorer, odamex, zdaemon, zandronum)

Folders, folders and more folders!

I gotta come back to this tonight. I'm in dire need of organising my stuff. 

I guess it is all a matter of preferences and/or taste. For me -for historical reasons- the main folder  has to be a labelled DOOMDATA and it must be located directly on the root directory of my first HDD/SSD. Does this ring somebody's bell?  ;-)

Pretty standard. Got a Doom folder with subfolders for Ports, Saves, Screenshots, Source, Stuff, Tools, and Wads. Pretty explicit mostly. Source is for source code, stuff is for miscellanea like the scanned manuals or historically relevant text files and so on. Wads contains subfolders Autoload (which is for stuff that can be autoloaded without gameplay impact, rather than for stuff that is actually set up to be autoloaded...), Custom, Doom, Doom2, Doom64, Heretic, Hexen, IWAD (that's where all IWADs go), Plutonia, Resources, Strife, Test, TNT.

Resources contain subfolders for music, sprites, textures, sounds, palettes, etc. The textures subfolder also contains its own doomworldthread and zdoomforumthread subfolders to download the stuff posted in the "post your textures" threads. Test contains a bunch of simple maps made just to test a feature or replicate a bug, as well as a bunch of various resources (sound files, images, whatevers) that for some reason caused problems when loaded in SLADE or in GZDoom.

Despite all that, there's a load of "things I'll get around to sort one of these days" that sit directly in the main Doom or Doom/Wads folders. Plus the stuff that hasn't been moved out of the Downloads folder. Ugh.

Out of very old-fashioned habit I have each of my source ports located in their own folder in my root directory, and a folder (also in the root) for all my of WADs. This is subdivided into IWADs, PWADs, “official” PWADs for things like NRFTL and Deathkings of the Dark Citadel (I have no good explanation as to why I do this), and resource WADs like widescreen assets etc. The PWADs are all in their own subfolders within these. I then use a launcher and a load of saved configurations to pair WADs with source ports and play.

3 hours ago, DoomGater said:

I guess it is all a matter of preferences and/or taste. For me -for historical reasons- the main folder  has to be a labelled DOOMDATA and it must be located directly on the root directory of my first HDD/SSD. Does this ring somebody's bell?  ;-)

Well, mine is just C:\DOOM for vanilla Ultimate Doom - got Doom2 in C:\DOOM\DOOM2 just to have it all under one umbrella.

Having the vanilla EXEs anywhere other than right on the C: drive feels wrong for me too - that's just where I've always kept 'em! Pretty sure most Doom/Doom2 CDs install it there by default.. (right?)

Newfangled ports were/are always in a separate Doom folder on the desktop, which also has the modding tools and all that junk. (Although I have a "DOS utils" folder in C:\DOOM\UTILS, just for fun though.. I always use the new, sleek tools that run on modern OSes)

I’m such a casual that I just have a folder with everything in it so I can drag n drop into GZDoom. I just keep copies of stuff I’m actively playing or are about to play, aside from a few gems that always stay downloaded.

The most turbo lazy method I use is just dump it all in one folder and either use a shortcut with the -file parameter or even better yet, open 2 instances of the same folder, have one centered on your drag n drop port of choice and then just drag from the second instance onto the first one.

Peak laziness creating unnecessary effort that ironically defeats the idea of being lazy.

Just BTW and FYI... C:\DOOMDATA\ is the location where doom/doom95 (when started directly from CDROM) 

put  savegames and stuff without asking. So it was always the most important folder. It only contained combat

hardened fragbits and idbytes. No binary garbage as in C:\DOS or (even worse) C:\WINDOWS.

When you come across a harddisk containing this folder you can be assured to see the data storage

device of one of the knowing.

I can't praise Doom Launcher enough, as it has columns for the file name, the actual title of the wad, author, total maps in the wad, release date, date downloaded, and date last played, along with a separate field for the description. If you throw a zip containing a text file at it, it'll autopopulate these fields. It has idgames integration, and will likewise autofill those fields when downloading a wad from there in-application.

Here's how I have mine set up:

If you're not interested in Doom Launcher, I'd recommend the rough layout of my backup folder:

A semi-offtopic protip I've got for Windows 10 users [dunno about 11]:

Use your start menu as a launcher. If there's a file type that doesn't give the option to be pinned [ex: Steam shortcuts are links], create a folder in C:\Users\[Username]\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\ and start it with a symbol if you want it at the top of the list. Then, navigate to the folder through the "All apps" button in the start menu. I've never been unable to pin anything this way. The only thing worth noting is the shortcuts might not show up in the All apps folder immediately. Restarting explorer might do it, I know for sure rebooting your pc will because the few times they didn't show up I just said welp and played those games through the \Windows\Start Menu\Programs\ folder I was already staring at and figured I'd pin it next time I remembered.

Here's a picture of my current set up, along with the name of the directory so you could hypothetically save it and forget it:

*revanant scream* HIRES

Graphic design is my passion.

Games
   Chocolate Doom
      // To run stuff in Choco, I have batch files that reference GZDoom folder
   Doom Editing Tools
      Doom Builder 2
      Doom Builder 64
      Doom Writer
      GZDoom Builder
      Projects
         // All my projects go here, with subfolders for their resources
      SLADE
         resources
            // Sounds, textures, sprites, graphics all go here
   GZDoom
      // In this root folder, I have batch files labeled "[WAD Title](IWAD required).bat", for example: "Memento Mori (Doom 2).bat" which references custom and base folder and runs gzdoom.exe with those files
      base
         // Files I use very often with most custom WADs, like crosshairs, high quality sounds, lights, brightmaps etc.
      custom
         // All WADs, PK3s, text files go here regardless of intended port
         dzone-levels
            // Folder just for these shovelware levels because there's a shit load of them
         music-packs
            // Only music packs here

I'm so messy with how I organize, I just have all the wads I play inside the source port I use lol. My brother organizes a lot better. He separates things into folders by if it's a mod, a wad, or a source port. In general I think if you are able to find it, it doesn't really matter how you organize it, so long as it makes sense to you. But splitting things up into folder is best for really large collections.

5 hours ago, StalkerZHS said:

*revanant scream* HIRES

I showed this earlier in my post, but when I want to "sticky" a folder at the top of the list regardless of alphabetical order, I usually just use a "`" character and usually a space. Takes up way less space than going full-Revenant and I haven't had it break anything in the however-many years I've been doing it.

this is my setup

as launchers I use 9 batch files (3 engines x3 games) which let me choose any map/mod combination I've setup

(ie: BlackOps/Smoothed are on by default, but will be disabled when I choose to play a map with custom weapons/enemy)