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cycloid

which port to use for demos

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i'm a zdoom player myself but all this talk of demo compatibility has me wandering which port to use to record demos. i quite fancy prboom but the music is really loud and wont turn off, heh. my main problem with it though is i don't know the bloody hex codes to remap the keys! oh and the version i've got crashes on starting a new game (224) .... thoughts? some prboom docs would be handy too!

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Zdoom is very stable overall, it just doesn't have demo_compatibility with different versions of Zdoom or different source ports.
I'd always use a command-line (or front-end) to record a demo -- don't start or stop recording at the console (if your port allows that).
You can change the sound settings in Prboom in the menu... or start the game with -nomusic or something.
and in every advanced source port, you change your keyboard setup as you would in any modern game: in the menu in the game. note that some ports (like Zdoom) allow key bindings and aliases too.
short answer: record with Zdoom from a command-line; just annotate with version you recorded with.
gl.

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cycloid said:
i quite fancy prboom but the music is really loud and wont turn off, heh.

What version is that, 2.3.0? I've run the stable version (2.2.4) on both Windows 98 and Windows XP (using different sound cards) and the sound is perfectly adjustable. I did have some problems with 2.3.0, but it's supposed to be buggy anyway, it's just a testing beta (it shouldn't be expected to work right in every respect.)

For all I know you could even be running 2.02, the old version at teamtnt.com, which also had that sound volume problem.

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I find the prboom.exe to be quite unstable, and always use glboom.exe. It's just the same, but it uses an OpenGL renderer rather than software mode. I highly recommend it if your video card is suitable. The visual appearance is pretty similar to software mode - just cleaner-looking and brighter. You don't get the gl holes or mess that often puts people off other gl ports.

I use the Windows volume control to set the music level (you can adjust the midi volume separately). You can even do this without exiting the program - just pause the game (press the Pause key) and go to Windows (Ctrl-Esc works even if you disabled that blasted Windows key). You can then return to glboom, unpause and continue.

I'm currently using version 2.2.4, and almost always record with -complevel 1 (Doom2.exe version 1.9 compatibility). That seems very reliable. The only other complevel I have used is 5 (Boom 2.02). [important edit]But I was wrong! In version 2.2.4, the settings changed: for Doom2.exe version 1.9 compatibility, use -complevel 0; and -complevel 5 for Boom compatibilty.[/important edit]

The nice thing about recording with doom2.exe compatibility is that pretty much everyone has something they can play it back with, and that you can be fairly sure that it will continue to be supported by any ports that value compatibility with the original game.

BTW, Vile has reported a few problems using 2.2.4 on NM. I recorded quite a lot of NM demos in 2.2.3 and never had any playback problems.

I'd only ever use zdoom to record if a wad actually required it. Firstly because the exe changes so often (it's a pain to keep dozens of versions and switch between them each time you want to watch a demo), and also since zdoom changes the gameplay quite a lot - I'd rather experience a map the way it was intended and playtested.

Eternity works fine for watching demos; I don't know what options there are for recording in Eternity, or if you can only record demos that will play back with Eternity.

If you're not an XP user, then you might consider recording with the original game. There are a couple of tricks (novert and joyb_speed 29) that make that much more pleasant than you'd expect.

The main trouble I had when switching to prboom/glboom (from Legacy) was the control set-up. Actually my previous set-up had been lousy anyway, but a change was forced upon me because you don't have so much freedom to set up the mouse however you want. I therefore went from using the right-hand mouse button for "use", to having it for "strafe on", and remapped the keyboard accordingly (this is very easy to do within prboom/glboom: options - set up - key bindings).

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i found the keybind menu in prboom... doh! and now run it with -nomusic. i thought the compatibility modes would help with cross port demo recording... however i get this error on 2.2.4

Z_ChangeTag: freed a pointer without ZONEID

i'll have a go with glboom, heh

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cycloid said:

however i get this error on 2.2.4

Z_ChangeTag: freed a pointer without ZONEID



i get the same error when i set it to 800x600 but it never happends at 640x480

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i can playback demos ok but it occurs when i try to play a game myself. odd. i've got glboom going now and have managed to record a demo from the command line of me getting slaughtered on bndaly8, then played it back on vanilla prboom, yay. any idea how to up the brightness in glboom anyone? now all i need is an optical mouse, hmmmm

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cycloid said:

any idea how to up the brightness in glboom anyone?

You have the same gamma-change options as in the original game (F11). Otherwise, you can of course change your monitor's brightness, contrast, etc. :)

Oh, and feel very free to attach any demos you record here, even unsuccessful ones, if you'd like other people to test that they play back or if you would like comments on them. One of the reasons for this forum to exist is to encourage people to have a go at recording demos, after all.

Sweet Prince: thanks for the tip; I'll try that on the rare occasions when I use the software-rendering exe.

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Grazza said:
I find the prboom.exe to be quite unstable, and always use glboom.exe. It's just the same, but it uses an OpenGL renderer rather than software mode. I highly recommend it if your video card is suitable. The visual appearance is pretty similar to software mode - just cleaner-looking and brighter.

Total bunk. You call that brightly lit clean-room enviroment DOOM??? v2.3.0 and glFog is a step in the right direction, but still pretty messed up - try playing Trinity for an example.

Wait, you were talking about recording only? Never mind the above then.

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yeah it works fine in 640, however my monitor is a bit, er, slow and doesn't like much being hammered back and forth between 640 and 1024 :-)

i'm gonna find a smallish wad and have a demo run about now so i may well post up a test demo to see how it works.

BTW i used to record HL TFC demos waay back in the day when i was in a clan, just small ones of particular map tricks/rocket jumps/grenade jumps/spots/runs. my fave was the demo man pipe bomb jump up the lift shaft in shutdown ... no one thought it was possible. heh, but concing etc was in it's relative infancy back then :-)

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it took 18 attempts but i did a uvmax run of stylin2.wad (http://www.doomworld.com/idgames/index.php?id=12159) in 3:23.... though i did do a very back and forth route which can easily be made more efficient. by far the hardest part is the first 30 seconds where one has to grab a shotgun and then take out 6 imps THEN clear an escape route without running out of shells. it got a bit hairy in the middle too (watch my health!) let me know if it runs ok and i might have a go at something meaner...

i still need a new mouse, this one's great for making quick left turns though, heh.

oh, and my readme is a vague attempt at some sort of demo lmp text file template as i've noticed that everyone does it different.

 

styln323.zip

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I think that is an extremely promising first recording. A good choice of map too - not difficult in itself, but it starts to become very tricky when you try to run through it faster. I liked the way you didn't wimp out when your health got low. You're right that you can't afford many missed shots at the start.

Obviously, I had no problems playing it back (I watched it in prboom and eternity).

The textfile was fine - the only thing that really matters is that all the vital information is there.

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worked fine for me in Prboom 2.2.4 and i must say you had me on the edge of my seat there, i was thinking it would mess up but no you took all the lumps and just kept on going.. tho you were lucky, good gooing :)

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heh, i knew where the health i needed was and that i couldnt even take a grunt bullet on my way there! once there of course that bloody seargent appeared behind me, heh. the main problem that caused my health to drop so low was when i got stuck trying to run backwards on some architecture in the first outdoor area tackling the last of the pinkies. bah

thanks for the positive noises you guys made.... i think i can do it faster though :-)

so, aside from bndaly8 are there any smallish maps anyone reccomends i attack? i think uvmax is my natural inclination BTW

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yeah i know what you mean about uvmax, speedruns a great and fun to watch in awe at all the tricks and shortcuts... but at the same time using every last scrap of ammo a level has and leaving it void just FEELS right... i hate not killing everything if i can.. tho gotta save ammo for the next maps and im not so great blah blah but for demos why not?

i might make some uvmax runs in The Darkening ep1 i really love it but im only pretty good at map 1, 2, and ok at 9 10 and 11.. i havent played many addon wads tho so i dont know what you should try next but i'll be sure to watch it!

-Andy SP

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cycloid said:

so, aside from bndaly8 are there any smallish maps anyone reccomends i attack? i think uvmax is my natural inclination BTW

Oh, so many... You could try this - I did an NM and NM Pacifist, but no Maxes have been done AFAIK (it would be quick and violent). Or there is AvantGarden if you want more of a challenge - I reviewed it in this week's /newstuff Chronicles. Should take about 9 minutes, and make sure you have plenty of rockets (and a plan) for the final room.

These are just two random suggestions though.

BTW, note that there are demopacks for both Darkening Episodes - look here.

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oh thanks Grazza, i've been looking for demos of The Darkening, i really LOVE this wad, i might make some demos anyway for the hell of it... i mean as long as its a good run (max, speed, whatever) i could post on the board sometime a see what ppl think.. aww anyway thanks for the link i try and watch them soon

good night

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