Requesting Zdoom Compatibility Expertise!

I would like to make Zdoom version 2.2.0 (r748) to behave as much like original Doom as possible (let's say version 1.9 but I don't really know the differences between versions)

Is this possible with Zdoom? There is a compatibility menu in Zdoom, but I don't know what any of it means. I don't want to use chocolate doom or vanilla doom because they don't keep health status on full screen mode or use higher resolutions than 320x200 (640x384 gives a pretty good old school feel while being compatibile with my 22" widescreen). Also, because I DM in Zdoom and I prefer to use one port. I like to keep my Doom simple!

The "compatibility" features I'm most concerned with is physics. I'll list things that are most important to me to see behave like original Doom did:

1. Rocket behavior and damage. (I swear Zdoom has messed with this over the years)
2. Visual (I'd like to turn off the scuffing up of the doom walls with bullet holes and fireball soot etc.)
3. I'd like monsters to be infinitely tall, wall running, and I'm not sure if monsters see the player for the first time when he has invisibility in normal doom? and any other things that doom has been "fixed" over the years.

The only thing I don't want re-implemented is vis overflow errors and limits of that sort.

Some of these things I've found in the compatibility menu, such as wall running and removing monster/thing z-axis, but I don't know what a lot of the other settings mean or whether they are set to original doom settings or not.

Thanks!

Hellbent said:

I prefer to use one port.

Well here's your problem.

Download PrBoom or Prboom-plus.


Edit: Okay fine, I'll be more helpful. It's possible to return to behaviour that is closer (though not identical) to the original behaviour in all of the cases you mention, but instead of painstakingly changing compatibility settings and manually setting variables, you really could just download PrBoom and run it with -compat 2 for vanilla maps or -compat 9 for Boom maps. Doom will instantly feel exactly how you want it to.

Also, another important compatibility option you missed is that decorations block projectiles in ZDoom, and I'm not sure that ZDoom offers original behaviour for that. GZDoom does have that as a compatibility option, but if you're changing ports anyway, just get one of the ports I mention above.

We all use multiple engines. That's just part of what being a Doomer includes. I'm home for the holidays, so I've been establishing myself on one of my family's computers, and I've already put five different engines on it.

ZDoom is clearly not the right port for you.

Although you can do a few things on your list, other things will be close to impossible:

1. Rocket damage depends on many things that have changed over time. You won't be able to restore the original behavior completely.
2. Go to the console and type 'cl_maxdecals 0'.
3. There's compatibility options for that as you found out.

But since you are concerned about physics mostly I agree with Creaphis. Use prboom and disable all Boom and MBF features.

thanks guys.

I can pretty much guarantee Chocolate Doom will work on your monitor.

EDIT: try odamex

exp(x) said:

I can pretty much guarantee Chocolate Doom will work on your monitor.

EDIT: try odamex

I tried choc doom--on my big monitor 320x200 looks too pixelated

It wasn't filling up the whole screen either.
i'll look at odamex--off to a din and a movie now
I couldn't find an exe for prboom-plus??

exp(x) said:

I can pretty much guarantee Chocolate Doom will work on your monitor.

But it's clearly not what he wants:

The only thing I don't want re-implemented is vis overflow errors and limits of that sort.

PrBoom/PrBoom-Plus would suit you fine. There's even a default compatibility level you can set so that as much as possible behaves like Doom 1.9.

Hellbent said:
I tried choc doom--on my big monitor 320x200 looks too pixelated

That doesn't depend as much on the size of the monitor as on one's habits. The only way DOOM is not going to be pixelated is if you use something really tiny, like a 4" monitor. It's pretty normal that if you're used to playing DOOM at high resolutions when you switch to low resolution it'll be evidently blurry or pixelated. At least from personal experience, low resolution gets more comfortable once you use it more, especially if you don't go back to high resolutions too often.

It wasn't filling up the whole screen either.

Unless your monitor is wide-screen, it's because it's not stretching the image vertically as it should. Try the "Correct aspect ratio" option in the "Configure display" section of the Chocolate Doom Setup utility.

In any case, like the guys said, the PrBooms should suit what you're asking for, but you might want to have a working Doom or Chocolate Doom to compare some settings, particularly ones that aren't affected by the Doom compatibility levels, like visuals and interface features.

Hellbent said:

I couldn't find an exe for prboom-plus??

Here's the download page for PrBoom-Plus 2.5.0.1